Huge erosion of individual liberties

St Vincent de Paul Society ordered to pay $27,500 to president sacked for not being Catholic. If religious people cannot choose to associate with people of the same religion, what other associations might be forced upon us?

The St Vincent de Paul Society of Queensland has been ordered to pay $27,500 to a voluntary president it sacked because she was not Catholic. The landmark decision in the Anti-Discrimination Tribunal has massive implications for the welfare organisation. State president John Campbell said the organisation was disappointed at the decision and had sought legal advice over whether it should appeal or try to have legislation amended, The Courier-Mail reports.

The $27,500 has been awarded to Kingston woman Linda Walsh for "offence, hurt, embarrassment and intimidation" following the society's decision to stand her down as president of the Migrant and Refugees Logan Centre. According to documents tendered to the tribunal, Ms Walsh's work for the centre was her reason "to get up in the morning". After volunteering for the society in 1997, she first became a president of a St Vincent "conference" - or group of people who respond to calls for assistance in the community, according to the charity's website - in March 2003. By the end of the year, she was working unpaid seven days a week.

But trouble started in January 2004 when objections to her not being Catholic were raised. Ms Walsh said she was asked when she first joined the society whether she was Catholic and there were no objections to her being Christian only. She also was accepted as a conference president in 2003 despite not being Catholic. But, in 2004, the society gave Ms Walsh three options - become a Catholic, resign her position and stay only as a member, or leave the society.

Eventually, Ms Walsh took her case to the Anti-Discrimination Tribunal. Ms Walsh told The Courier-Mail she felt betrayed by the society to which she had devoted her life. "They put me through the wringer and back," she said. "It hurt, it really hurt." [Does it hurt to take $27,500 out of the mouths of the needy too?]

In its tribunal documents, the society argued its primary function was to "inculcate the Catholic faith in its members" and the charity aspect was secondary for presidents, which meant they needed to be Catholic.

The tribunal found the society did not prove its case and awarded compensation to Ms Walsh as well as court costs. Mr Campbell said that although Ms Walsh did volunteer work, she also was a member and they believed they should have the rights to choose their members, just as a bowling club did. He said the rule that all presidents should be Catholic was "understood", even if it hadn't been written prior to Ms Walsh's membership. He declined to comment further.

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NSW police thugs again

BlackBerry seizure an 'abuse of police powers'

A MAN detained and threatened with arrest under the Terrorism Act for filming police on his mobile phone has alleged police abused their powers. Nick Holmes a Court, CEO of web-based media companies BuzzNumbers and ShiftedPixels, was walking to his home near Kings Cross in Sydney about 10pm on December 19. He told couriermail.com.au that police forcibly took his BlackBerry phone and threatened him with arrest both under the Australian Anti-Terrorism Act and for allegedly disobeying a police directive.

Mr Holmes a Court said he had started filming what looked like a search after he noticed a group of police walking down his street. "I went to one guy and asked what was going on but he told me to move along, and if I didn't they'd be able to arrest me," he said. "So I moved down the street a few hundred metres to where my apartment was, pulled out my phone and started filming."

Mr Holmes a Court said he had stopped filming before two of the police officers approached, demanding he surrender his BlackBerry mobile phone and telling him he had committed a crime if he had recorded them. "It was in my hand, and they were saying, 'Give me your phone, give me your phone,' but I just kept repeating, 'I do not consent to a search of my phone'," Mr Holmes a Court said. "It was pulled out of my hand - it wasn't me handing it over to her - and now I've got this girl looking through my phone and all my content - my contacts, photos, text messages and emails."

Mr Holmes a Court said he repeatedly complained to the police while they tampered with his phone, but was told to "shut up". "They forcefully did it in front of me, wouldn't give me my phone back until they deleted it, and just kept telling me to shut up."

Queensland Council for Civil Liberties president Michael Cope said police did not have the authority to confiscate cameras or stop people from taking pictures of them performing their duties. "It's not appropriate for the police to be stopping people taking pictures of them," Mr Cope said. "They've got no power to do that, none whatsoever, and they've got no power to confiscate cameras. "Why should they be fighting being scrutinised?"

In August this year NSW Civil Liberties Council president Cameron Murphy was responding to concerns about a similar incident where a student was arrested and pressured to delete footage of a brawl involving police when he said police could seize footage only if it was needed as part of an investigation. "There has been a steady increase in police powers to stop people, search them and move them along," Mr Murphy said. "This is very dangerous and it's the sort of thing that over time will lead to a police state."

Mr Holmes a Court went to Kings Cross police station on Boxing Day to make a complaint, but decided not to pursue it formally after a duty inspector said he would speak with the officers involved. "He said we were in fact allowed to film the police if you weren't hindering or in the way of an investigation," Mr Holmes a Court said. "He said my complaint would be logged as a verbal complaint, and he would get the media training department to come and make police aware that citizens and the media are allowed to film them."

NSW police media were aware of the incident involving Mr Holmes a Court, but would not comment because a formal complaint had not been made. News of the incident first broke when Mr Holmes a Court sent a message out on microblogging service Twitter just minutes after getting his phone back from police. "I got searched and my phone confiscated for filming a police search in kings cross, I was threatened with arrest and detainment. Police state," he said in his tweet.

Independent and mainstream media outlets began to pick up the story after freelance technology journalist Ben Grubb wrote a short article on his website and posted an audio interview with Mr Holmes a Court.

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Victoria's public hospitals 'fudging' figures

A Melbourne doctor has blown the whistle on data fraud in Victorian hospitals, claiming staff routinely fudge patient figures to meet Government benchmarks for bonus payments. Andrew Buck, a senior emergency registrar with a decade's experience in the state health system, made the allegations in a submission to a Victorian parliamentary inquiry into hospital performance data earlier this month. Dr Buck said senior doctors and nurses were "shifting numbers" to make it look like hospitals were meeting targets for funding and put pressure on junior staff to follow suit. "I am regularly ordered to 'admit the patient to short stay (unit) so they don't blow their time'. This is against DHS (Department of Human Services) policy yet is routine practice in my day-to-day work, and I do it under direct orders from senior medical and nursing staff," he says in the submission.

The revelation comes after a survey of 19 Victorian emergency department directors by the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine found nearly 40 per cent of them were "admitting" patients to "short stay" and other units on computer systems when they were languishing in emergency waiting rooms or on trolleys. The doctors, who remained anonymous for fear of repercussions, said the "virtual wards" were used purely for "creative accounting" to receive funding and avoid "performance watch".

Public hospitals get bonuses for reaching State Government benchmarks, including one which requires that 80 per cent of patients be admitted within eight hours of arrival. Studies have shown that patient care is compromised by spending long periods of time in emergency departments.

When The Age published details of the survey in May, Health Minister Daniel Andrews said he would look into the doctors' claims, but then refused to launch an investigation. He said there was no evidence to suggest the alleged practices were happening. In September, the DHS warned hospitals to submit accurate data. As well, earlier this month the Auditor-General's office confirmed an investigation into the allegations.

Dr Buck said in his submission that Government benchmarks had created "perverse incentives" that put unnecessary pressure on overworked doctors in emergency departments. He expressed anger at Mr Andrews' refusal to act on the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine survey and said a "culture of fear" prevented doctors from talking about the real state of the health system. "If he won't accept hard data and admissions of guilt by emergency department directors, what hope have we got and why should I give a stuff about making the numbers look good?" he says.

Dr Buck's submission could affect the new health-care agreements between the Commonwealth and state and territory governments after federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon said in August that any evidence of fudged patient data would be of serious concern. A spokesman for Mr Andrews said this week he did not know if the minister had seen Dr Buck's submission but "anyone with an issue should raise it through the proper channels and it will be dealt with". Opposition health spokeswoman Helen Shardey said Dr Buck's submission was a "cry for help" that could not be ignored.

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Government-run railway runs true to form

$130m subsidy for Brisbane-Cairns Traveltrain. What government-run railway anywhere ever pays its way? Passenger rail is obsolete

TAXPAYERS are paying $900 to subsidise every Traveltrain passenger between Brisbane and Cairns - the equivalent of flying eight people for free. Despite the tough economic times, the State Government has failed to act on its "use it or lose it" ultimatum for the struggling service and will spend $130 million on subsidies this year. But Transport Minister John Mickel has flagged a review, saying the Government was committed to subsidising Traveltrain in "broad terms" but wanted value for money. "The Government wants to be satisfied that taxpayers' money is being well spent, and that these outlays can continue to be justified," he said.

Opposition treasury spokesman Tim Nicholls said the Government had wasted money by failing to run the services efficiently. "The Bligh Government must explain how it will deliver these services and provide better value for Queenslanders," he said.

An analysis of Budget figures has revealed the cost of subsidising each passenger has more than tripled in only six years as the appeal of train travel dwindles against competition from discount air fares. Figures show the subsidy for every passenger per kilometre was 50c in 2007-08, meaning the real cost of the journey from Brisbane to Cairns was an additional $900, compared with the 15c a kilometre subsidy in 2001-02, or $270 extra for the same journey. Without the massive subsidy, a fare-paying adult passenger travelling this route on the Sunlander, which is marketed as "comfortable and affordable", would pay $1112.30 for a basic seat at normal prices. A first-class cabin would cost $1661.20.

The standard adult economy price is $212.30. A discount fare of $170 is on offer at present. Brisbane-Cairns flights were on sale this week for as low as $109, so the Government could fly eight people for free at the same price it forks out for a single Traveltrain traveller. The train journey also takes up to 31 hours. A Brisbane-Cairns flight takes 2 hours 25 minutes. The blow-out in subsidising each passenger has been caused by plummeting passenger figures. A significant number of the remaining travellers have discount concession cards. In 2001-02, 632,000 passenger trips were made on Traveltrain, falling to 425,600 in 2007-08.

Queensland Rail was predicting an additional 150 passengers a week on Traveltrain in 2008-09 but this forecast was made before the recent Tilt Train derailment. Former premier Peter Beattie warned last year that the Government would have to consider withdrawing funding, forcing services to be cancelled, if patronage failed to increase. Mr Mickel said the level of the subsidy would be assessed when the Traveltrain contract was renewed next year. "This will provide an chance for the Government to examine that the level of subsidy being provided is justified," he said. "At the same time the Government will consider funding injections for the upgrade of the trains used to provide these services." Mr Mickel said he was encouraged by the latest Traveltrain figures - a 10 per cent or 20,000 passenger rise compared with the same period last year.

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