Brand-new road closing for maintenance already

This is absolutely typical of government roadworks, sadly. I have seen it often. Just on my drive this morning I found a road half closed that opened only weeks ago. Anybody who wants to put more things into the hands of government reveals his appetite for destruction of the society he lives in.

The Tugun Bypass [connecting Qld. roads with NSW roads] will be closed for three nights from tonight for routine maintenance, despite only having been open for three weeks. The closures will take place between the hours of 9pm to 5am tonight, Wednesday and Thursday, but the new road will remain open throughout the day. Several detours will be in place for drivers, with most having to use the Gold Coast Highway through Tugun.

A Main Roads spokesperson said the maintenance would be carried out as part of traffic management system's commissioning period. ``Our aim was to implement the works at a time which would be less of a hassle for drivers so that's why the operations are being conducted at night,'' she said. ``All the work is concentrated to within the tunnel and we will be looking thoroughly at the intelligent transport system. ``This is being done because we're still in the commissioning process and are making sure that everything is running smoothly."

The long-awaited Tugun Bypass opened a day late on June 3 after heavy rain prevented final line marking work from being completed in time for the scheduled opening. A boom gate malfunction on June 11 left southbound motorists stranded for up to an hour at the entrance to the bypass tunnel, with traffic further back diverted through Tugun.

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Crass public hospital management kills little girl

Exhausted doctor didn't notice brain bleed. What was the hospital management thinking of to assume that a doctor did not need sleep? It's a wonder this sort of disaster does not come to light more often. The hospital manager should be sued for manslaughter

DOCTOR fatigue and the safety of bunk beds are among the issues being probed by an inquest into a girl who died hours after she was sent home from hospital. Elise Neville, then 10, struck her head in a fall from a bunk bed while on a family holiday at Caloundra, in Queensland, in January 2002. Bleeding in her brain went unnoticed by Dr Andrew Doneman, who was in the 20th hour of his 24-hour shift at Caloundra Hospital. The hospital had a policy of not admitting children and the Toowong, West Brisbane, schoolgirl was discharged.

She went to sleep on her parents' bed in Caloundra but was critically ill when her family woke at 7am. An unconscious Elise was flown to Brisbane for treatment. and died days later.

The court was told that in 2004, Dr Doneman pleaded guilty to unsatisfactory professional conduct but the issue of fatigue was raised. Health Practitioners Tribunal judge Debbie Richards said then that it seemed "extraordinary" that anyone should be working such long hours. "If this tragedy does nothing else, it should lead to the abolition of such brutally long shift hours," she said.

Queensland Health's acting director of medical workforce advice Suzanne Le Boutillier said an "alert doctors" strategy was being rolled out to help make doctors aware of fatigue. "Focusing solely on the hours of work does not make patients safe," she said. "There are a whole range of other factors that contribute to fatigue." Ms Le Boutillier said the strategy had gained support among doctors. "The great successes are where doctors drive this on the ground," she said.

The safety of bunk beds will also come under the scope of the inquest and how future deaths might be prevented.

Outside court, Elise's parents Gerard and Lorraine, said they hoped the inquest would identify and improve deficiencies in the health system. "There's been changes, that's great, but I need to see more," Mr Neville said. He said many Queenslanders lived in places removed from Brisbane and the bigger centres and they needed care too. "We were only one hour from Brisbane - one hour - and this is what happens," he said. Mrs Neville said: "I want people to see how beautiful she was and she's just always going to be a part of our lives. "We're Elise's voice and we'll see it through."

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"Child protectors" lose girl

The Department of Community Services says it will review its procedures after a 13-year-old girl it placed on a train alone from Parramatta to Dunmore, near Wollongong, vanished. Lauren Maree Ryall was reported missing on Monday afternoon after she failed to arrive at her destination. Police today said she had still not been found. DOCS caseworkers had dropped the girl off at Parramatta station about 1.40pm on Monday. She was given a train ticket and lunch money, said Helen Freeland, DOCS executive director for operations. "Lots of 13-year-olds travel on their own on the train," she told 2UE.

But her mother, Judith, said Lauren should not have been left to travel alone. "It should never have happened it should never happen to any child," she told 2UE. "Now my child is missing and DOCS have since told me that they can't do anything to help look for her because it's now in the hands of the child protection agency and police."

DOCS director general Jenny Mason said it was working with police to find Lauren as soon as possible. "Unfortunately she did not go to the agreed destination and in hindsight there may have been a more appropriate response for this child," Ms Mason said. "We are looking at our procedures and policy to minimise the chances of this happening again."

Judith said Lauren had called her on Tuesday night to say she was with a friend in Wyong. But Lauren hung up after less than two minutes when she found out police were looking for her, Judith said. Lauren had travelled to Wyong with a girl, who had also been placed on the train at Parramatta by DOCS on Monday. She had been placed in DOCS' care at the weekend after returning to her Wollongong home from a friend's house and finding her mother missing. "She had gone out on Friday, I'd given her permission to go to a friend's place [and] I'd come to my cousin's house," said her mother. "Lauren didn't realise I was at my cousin's place and gave herself to police on Sunday night." Police were duty-bound to report the matter to DOCS, Judith said.

Lauren's parents were separated, and her father lives in Queensland, 2UE reported. Lauren's mother said she had previously contacted DOCS to help "straighten my family out". But she was upset DOCS had placed her daughter on the train alone. "If I can just save one child or one parent what I've been through in the last 48 hours, all of this would be worth it," she said.

Ms Freeland said: " The choice that our caseworkers have to make is do they spend a whole day either driving her home or taking her by train or do they go out and respond to the urgent cases that have come over the weekend, and these are very difficult choices that we make every day."

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Climate policies will increase fuel prices even further, says Kevin Rudd

He obviously wants to lose the next election

KEVIN Rudd has warned that energy prices - including petrol - will rise under his green emissions-trading scheme due to start in less than two years. The Prime Minister told Parliament yesterday that higher energy costs were an unavoidable fallout of slashing carbon emissions. But he said the Federal Government would introduce a comprehensive compensation package to help families and business cope as he accused the Opposition of running a scare campaign. "If you adopt a position of acting on climate change it does have an impact on energy prices. That is just the truth," he said.

Mr Rudd did not say how much petrol prices would increase but the Opposition has claimed they could jump by as much as 30c a litre. A major petrol company has warned of a price hike of 17c a litre. But, as revealed by The Courier-Mailyesterday, one option being considered by the Government is the phased introduction on an emissions trading scheme over two years. This would allow the scheme to start in 2010 but petrol would be left out until 2012 - well after the next federal election.

Mr Rudd acknowledged that petrol had risen sharply in the past year and told Parliament that the Henry tax commission would examine the federal petrol excise of 38c a litre. It came as the nation's consumer watchdog Graeme Samuel strongly defended the Government's proposed FuelWatch scheme and the plan to penalise service stations which lower prices during the day. Mr Samuel said a system of hefty fines would force retailers to offer their best price all day. "They have their backsides up against the Bunsen burner every day," he said.

In Parliament, Mr Rudd seized on a landmark study by the State Government into the impact of climate change in Queensland to argue the need for urgent action. The report, entitled "Climate Change in Queensland - What the Science is Telling Us", said Queensland had more to lose than any other state from global warming. It identified the Great Barrier Reef and wet tropics rainforest as especially vulnerable. Most of the population, which lives on the coast, could face severe flooding from sea levels expected to rise by up to 2m by the end of the century.

"Queensland, because of the structure of our economy and the distribution of our people, has more at risk because of climate change than any other state in Australia," Queensland Climate Change Minister Andrew McNamara said.

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