Federal cutbacks sacrosanct, says Labor party finance chief

This is better than could be expected from most conservative finance chiefs

The Federal Government remains completely serious about cost-cutting even though resources revenue is likely to continue rising, a senior minister has said. Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner said today the economy generated huge revenues over the last four to five years - which the previous government spent on getting itself re-elected. Consequently, he said, the new Labor government had to deal with a serious inflation problem as well as rising interest rates with the Reserve Bank of Australia tipped to lift interest rates further next week. "It may well be that revenue ends up being stronger that was previously projected," he said on Channel 10. "We can't assume it, we are going to ensure that we do cut into government spending, get rid of wasteful inefficient programs and put serious downward pressure on inflation."

Mr Tanner said it was important to get the message out that the government was going to substantially increase the budget surplus. "We are going to push it higher so that it puts downward pressure on inflation and on interest rates," he said.

Mr Tanner said Australia was not immune from pressure from the United States but was nowhere near as influenced by what happened in the US than once was the case. "The story for our economy is that for the past 4-5 years we have had huge amounts of additional income flowing in mostly from China because of the mining boom," he said. "The former Liberal government, rather than investing or exploiting the proceeds from that huge increase in income by putting it into infrastructure and skills and building our economic capacity for the longterm future of this country, chose to spend that money on trying to get re-elected."

Mr Tanner said the result was a a serious inflation problem. "We have got to reduce government spending overall and redirect spending into things like better skills and more infrastructure so our economic capacity grows and we can absorb that huge increase in income that is coming from the mineral boom," he said.

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Justice, NSW style

Accused walk free without trial

Accused criminals walk free every day because of a shortage of police trained in court work. The NSW Police Force's leading Children's Court prosecutor has quit his post in protest, citing an intolerable workload. Senior Sergeant Allan Treadwell had been trying to hold down a supervising prosecutor's role at Parramatta and oversee legal and administrative operations for Sydney's entire south-western sector, senior police sources said.

"It got to the point where he kept telling headquarters it was impossible for him to continue," said a colleague, who asked not to be named. "He was in court every day and then trying to be a full-time paper-shuffler at night and they just kept saying it was tough luck. In the end, he told them to shove it." It is understood Sergeant Treadwell has accepted a lower-profile position at the same rank.

Fairfield prosecutor and NSW Police Association official Frank Reitano said the once steady stream of police recruits keen to work in the court system had simply dried up. Quoted in the union's monthly Police News, Sergeant Reitano said probationary constables working general duties could potentially earn more in allowances than some of his colleagues. Efforts to address the issue had stalled at the top level, he said. As a result, prosecutors were being forced to work under extreme stress, crucial briefs of evidence were not being checked before being presented to magistrates, and problem cases were being withdrawn or thrown out when it was realised there was no time to fix them. "[It] makes us look bad in the eyes of the community, not to mention the upset it causes informants, victims and witnesses," Sergeant Reitano said. "We are doing the best we can with the little that we have."

Senior sources said the prosecutor shortage was the key factor in cases "falling over" and alleged offenders being let off "virtually every day of the week". In tacit recognition of the problem, some magistrates had even begun opening their courts 90 minutes later each morning to give police a last-minute chance to prepare cases.

Opposition police spokesman and former policeman Mike Gallacher said some police officers were cynically referring to themselves as "owner-builders" because they believed the force was only interested in taking criminal prosecutions to the "lock-up stage", rather than seeing them through to the end. Mr Gallacher also said the officer shortage had been highlighted earlier this month, when a prosecutor at far-western Dubbo called in sick, triggering a statewide scramble to replace him for the day. A sergeant was sent from Bathurst because there was no one closer available. Another sergeant then had to be dispatched to Bathurst from Katoomba, and yet another from Penrith to Katoomba.

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Insurers cash in on "obesity" hysteria

It's actually people of middling weight who live longest so this is just a scam

A "FAT tax" is being imposed on the obese, with life insurance firms charging at least 50 per cent more on their premiums. The increased charge can be as much as 300 per cent if obese applicants fall into other high-risk health categories, such as being a smoker or having previous medical conditions. All major insurance companies have introduced the policy, according to brokers.

Lifebroker Financial Assurance, Australia's leading online life insurance broker, told The Sunday Telegraph that overweight people should expect to pay higher premiums. Chantelle Pain, insurance consultant with the firm, said: "Some insurers are more lenient than others, but the premium which obese people pay ranges from 50 per cent extra. "Being significantly overweight means you are at greater risk of contracting certain diseases. It is the same as increasing a smoker's premium or someone who has previous medical conditions."

A body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more is attracting the price hike. This is assessed when you fill out an application form that requires you to provide your personal details including height and weight. A BMI of 20 to 25 for adults is considered healthy, but some doctors believe a BMI figure may not always be an accurate measure of health, as athletes often have a high weight-to-height due to the muscles built up for their sport.

For a healthy, non-smoking 55-year-old man with no weight problems, life insurance should cost about $1700 a year for $500,000 of cover. If he were obese, the annual premium could cost an extra $850.

While agreeing "there has to be consequences for lifestyle choices", Dr Steve Hambleton, a spokesman for the Australian Medical Association in Queensland, said companies were simply cashing in on the country's obesity crisis. "It seems rather opportunistic of insurers to be adding as much as 50 per cent on simply because someone is obese," he said.

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Religious and ethnic ghettoes forming in Melbourne

Migration is helping to bolster non-Christian religious enclaves in some Melbourne suburbs, Census figures show. The concentration of Islamic residents is growing to the city's north, while the number of Buddhists is on the rise in the outer south-east. Traditional areas of Judaism like Caulfield are becoming more Jewish. At the same time, mainstream Christian faiths like Catholics and Anglicans are losing adherents, according to a Herald Sun analysis of 2006 Census data.

About one-third of residents in the northern suburbs of Coolaroo and Meadow Heights are Muslim -- up from a quarter a decade ago. The area is home to large Turkish and Iraqi communities. Broadmeadows also has a big Islamic population -- 28.3 per cent, up from 21 per cent in 1996.

The suburb with the biggest concentration of residents from a non-Christian religion is Caulfield North, with 43.6 per cent identifying as Jewish in the last Census. The figure a decade ago was 39 per cent. In neighbouring Caulfield and Caulfield South, the Jewish population is 39 per cent.

For the Orthodox Jewish Marom family, who migrated from Israel via New Zealand, Caulfield has always felt like home. "I like going around the streets and seeing other Jews around," said Nitza Marom. "I like the middle-class feel . . . it's a beautiful place, close to the beach, close to the city."

But in Springvale, Buddhists are making their presence felt, with the proportion jumping from 17.2 per cent in 1996 to almost one-in-three now. This reflects the substantial Vietnamese and Cambodian communities in the suburb.

Conversely, the big Christian churches are losing ground. Greenvale has a Catholic population of 55.9 per cent, but the figure has dropped by almost 5 per cent since 2001. Mt Eliza is the top Anglican suburb with 26.1 per cent, down from 30.4 per cent a decade ago. At the last Census, 27.5 per cent of Victorians identified as Catholics, followed by Anglicans (13.6 per cent), and Uniting Church members (5.6 per cent). Buddhists comprised 2.7 per cent of the population and Muslims 2.2 per cent. One in five Victorians had no religion.

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A happy day for Brisbane

I have often attended a Christmas service at St. John's. It is a truly magical place. The sermons are just fluff, though




Brisbane's St. John's Cathedral is now 17m closer to heaven after two copper spires were lifted on to its roof. Each weighed more than nine tonnes and crowds packed Anne Street and nearby Cathedral Square to watch as cranes fitted the spires. Bishop of Brisbane John Parks said it was an "extraordinary moment", bringing construction of the Gothic cathedral one step closer to completion. "We began building the cathedral in 1906 and almost 102 years later we're in the process of finishing it. We will have it done by the end of the year," he said.

St John's is believed to be the only stone-vaulted building in the southern hemisphere and the last Gothic cathedral to be completed in the world. More than $3.95 million had been raised for the facelift since 1989, with another $3million still needed. "There are some people who have given us more than a $1million of their own money and some who have given $10 because it's all they can afford," Bishop Parks said. "There have been a mountain of people who have contributed and I'm grateful to each and every one of them."

He said the revamp had spiked a "huge" amount of interest. "Since we've had that western door open, we've found people wander in off the street and our congregation has grown, strongly," he said.

Construction is set to be completed by December 1. "It will be a pretty special Christmas, indeed," Bishop Parks said.

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