Racist do-gooder judge again: Six months' jail for raping 13-year-old girl

Black kids are not entitled to the same protection as whites, apparently. This is not the first time judge Martin has put the law second to the depraved values that have become common in dysfunctional black communities. He condones the depravity instead of fulfilling his duty to correct and discourage it

The Northern Territory's chief judge has warned men in Aboriginal communities to stop condoning child abuse after a 20-year-old was sent to jail for having sex with his 13-year-old promised bride under her parents' roof. However, child abuse campaigners yesterday criticised as inadequate the six-month sentence given to the offender by Chief Justice Brian Martin, who accepted that the 13-year-old victim, who fell pregnant as a result of the abuse, had "actively encouraged" the relationship.

Yesterday, in the Supreme Court at Alice Springs, Justice Martin said senior figures in Aboriginal communities "must learn to accept" that sex with children was illegal. The judge made the comments after acknowledging that both the parents of the victim and offender, as well as senior figures in their remote Aboriginal communities, had accepted the sexual relationship between the 13-year-old child and the man, who was 19 at the time the offences took place, as normal.

The offender, who cannot be named, pleaded guilty to three charges of having sexual intercourse with a child over a two-month period in 2006. Lawyers for the offender had pointed out in submissions at his plea hearing that the victim's father was an Aboriginal community police officer in the remote central Australian settlement where the offences occurred. The Australian is unable to name that community as it would identify the victim.

In sentencing the 20-year-old man yesterday, Justice Martin accepted that the offender was a young man with an immature understanding of sexual matters who had been "subject to conflicting messages" within his community. "Those who might be expected to tell you that a sexual relationship with a child was wrong took the opposite view and encouraged your relationship," Justice Martin said. "You had approval for the relationship not only from your parents, but also from the child's parents. Their approval extended to occupying the same bed together within the homes of both sets of parents."

The court heard yesterday that the victim had been subject to violence within the relationship by her promised husband, who abused alcohol. She had also fallen pregnant as a result of the abuse, and when she was seen at a community clinic, health workers discovered that she had contracted three different sexually transmitted infections. The court was told that the young victim's baby had died in-utero.

Justice Martin said that the "tragic and traumatic" consequences of the sexual abuse were a "graphic illustration" of the dangers of such relationships within Aboriginal communities. "There is a need to send a message to men in Aboriginal communities, both young and old, that sexual intercourse with children is never acceptable and is against the law," he said. "The message must go out that whatever view may be held by a community or individual Aboriginal man about traditional marriage or traditional relationships with young children, sexual intercourse with children is against the law and will result in offenders being sent to prison."

Bernadette McMenamin, chief executive of the anti-child abuse group Child Wise, said the sentence was inadequate, and slammed Justice Martin's suggestion that the victim had "actively encouraged" the sexual relationship.

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Shifty Leftist politician

An empty suit trying to dodge responsibility for negligence over what IS his responsibility: The on-job safety of his Department's employees. He should resign to make way for someone who IS willing and able to get on top of his Department

BESIEGED Health Minister Stephen Robertson has come under renewed pressure for producing different versions of events surrounding his knowledge of the alleged rape of a nurse in the Torres Strait last month. The latest development in the saga came yesterday after the Opposition released a leaked Queensland Health report prepared between February 25 and 29 in response to the alleged rape on Mabuiag Island three weeks earlier.

The Occupational Health and Security Environmental Scan reveals the departmental team that prepared it was given "previous risk assessments and reports" to help them in their work. The team included a senior bureaucrat in QH headquarters in Brisbane.

Mr Robertson has repeatedly maintained he was unaware of any risk assessments written before the alleged rape occurred until media reports about the incident on March 4. He tabled in Parliament last week a 2006 risk assessment report that highlighted problems with locks, doors, windows and other security features on accommodation used by nurses in Torres Strait. However, Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg revealed the report had been sanitised and that it downplayed the urgency and seriousness of the problems.

Mr Robertson yesterday said he was told about the scan on February 27 but insisted he was not told about about the 2006 risk assessment report. He also said he did not have any contact with the bureaucrat who wrote it, principal occupational health and safety consultant Peter Clarke. However, when questioned further, Mr Robertson appeared to become confused. Asked if he found out about the alleged rape when work on the scan began, Mr Robertson said: "Yes, it would have been around about that time."

He then backed away from the comments and refused to discuss them further. "If you are now asking me for an absolute version of events about what happened when, I'll go back and check because the last thing I want to do is say something (wrong)," he said. A spokesman for Mr Robertson later changed the story again, saying the minister was told about the alleged attack on February 7, two days after the alleged rape.

The contradictions came as Mr Springborg repeated his accusations of a cover-up, saying it was no longer credible for Mr Robertson to claim the only person who knew about the 2006 report was the district manager in the Torres Strait at the time. "It wasn't 2000km away in the Torres Strait islands as the minister would have you believe," Mr Springborg said. "It was actually two floors away in his own building. His defences are crumbling by the day. He is either dishonest or incompetent."

The Queensland Nurses Union has threatened staff will walk off the job in the region unless basic security is not improved by March 28. They also want more than one nurse stationed on each island.

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Scum Muslim doctor still registered to practice

A doctor who was able to continue practising after sexually assaulting two patients, lied about his indiscretions in an attempt to become an eye surgeon, the Medical Tribunal has heard. Dr Fahreed Bahrami, 44, was found guilty in 2002 of rubbing his penis against a one female patient and of touching the breasts, buttocks and thighs of another female patient before placing her hand on his penis. However the former Iranian refugee was able to continue practising on the condition he have a chaperone present during intimate examinations, after the NSW Medical Tribunal in 2003 found he was unlikely to reoffend.

Bahrami was again before the NSW Medical Tribunal yesterday, accused of altering his medical registration to "conceal that his practice was conditional," according to counsel for the Health Care Complaints Commission, Philip Strickland. Mr Strickland told the tribunal that Bahrami had tried to apply for membership to the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Opthalmologists and in doing so had falsified his registration certificate to appear that he had general registration. Bahrami then signed a false statutory declaration and submitted the false registration card to the college, the tribunal heard. False applications were submitted and rejected three times before the college became aware of the discrepancy, Mr Strickland told the tribunal.

Mr Strickland said in lying about his registration status Bahrami's conduct had been "dishonest" and "deceptive" and he should be deregistered. He said Bahrami was guilty of unsatisfactory professional misconduct and that in falsifying the documents and later withholding that information from the tribunal that he was not of good character.

Dr Paul Beaumont, an opthalmologist and mentor of Bahrami's over a two-year period said his charge was "probably" a truthful and trustworthy member of the medical profession. However he agreed with Mr Strickland that Bahrami had been "repeatedly dishonest" in his dealings with the tribunal and in regards to his medical registration.

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Temporary work permits for immigrants heavily sought in Australia

Computing professionals led the list of top 15 occupations for primary 457 visa grants in 2006-07, the Immigration Department said. Britain contributed the most workers in the past six months, followed by India

As the new temporary foreign workers change the face of Australia's workplaces, business groups last week called for an immediate boost to skills training positions and unions expressed concern that increasing reliance on developing-country workers risked lowering general wages.

Immigration Department figures obtained by The Weekend Australian provide a snapshot of temporary foreign workers brought into the country on skilled migrant visas, which allow the employees to stay for up to four years. The figures show the breadth of the skills crisis runs across the economy, as industries ranging from the healthcare sector to communications, mining and manufacturing import skilled workers to fill vacancies.

Workers from India, China and The Philippines are flooding into Australia's hospitals, factories and construction sites as employers increasingly look to developing countries to combat chronic skills shortages. In 2006-07, 46,680 temporary permits, known as 457 visas, were issued to foreign skilled workers. Health and community services accounted for 16 per cent of all 457 visas issued, communication services 10 per cent, property and business services 10 per cent, manufacturing 9 per cent and construction 9 per cent. Professionals exceed the number of other 457 classes, making up seven of the top 10 skills categories.

But as employers search for workers, Australia is increasingly turning to developing countries to fill its vacancies. Britain contributed the most workers in the past six months (6130), followed by India (3670), The Philippines (1870), China (1850) and the US (1570). British workers were most likely to work as doctors and nurses or in the property and business service sector. Americans were concentrated in communications.

But the use of Chinese workers grew rapidly, particularly in manufacturing. Indian workers were concentrated in communications and health, while workers from The Philippines were imported for building sites and manufacturing.

The rate at which the visas are issued continues to grow. While 46,680 visas were issued in the 12 months to June 30 last year, 25,750 were issued in the six months to the end of December - a 10 per cent increase on current trends. While the resource-rich states of Western Australia and Queensland have been driving the so-called "two-speed" economy, the slower growth states of NSW and Victoria took the greatest numbers of 457 visa holders.

The chief executive of the Australian Industry Group, Heather Ridout, said the 457 program had grown quickly and business had become "dependent on it". "But the economy is also very dependent on it and we're going to be very dependent on it if we want to keep the economy growing," she said.

The director of the Centre for Population and Urban Research at Monash University, Bob Birrell, said the most striking trend was the high take-up rate among citizens from the developing world. "In the six months since the end of the financial year, China has overtaken the US. That's a pretty good indication of where the program is going," he said. "Five or six years ago, that was not the case."

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