Australian SAS soldier Mark Donaldson awarded Victoria Cross

What a man! I am so glad that the old warrior genes are still among us. Yet again we see that the Australian army uniform is one to be worn with pride. At this time my thoughts also turn to Major Peter Badcoe VC, another very exceptional Australian who will long be remembered

Mark Donaldson has become the first Australian soldier awarded the Victoria Cross in 40 years, for his "exceptional bravery" in service in Afghanistan. Trooper Donaldson has been awarded the nation's highest military honour in a ceremony in Canberra this morning by Governor-General Quentin Bryce.

Trooper Donaldson was serving with the SAS in Oruzgan province in Afghanistan on September 2 last year when his unit was hit by an ambush, wounding nine Australians. He deliberately drew enemy fire to allow wounded soldiers to escape and be taken to safety. Then, "with complete disregard for his own safety" Trooper Donaldson ran back 80m across exposed ground to rescue a wounded coalition force interpreter and take him back to a vehicle. His citation said he "displayed exceptional courage in circumstances of great peril" and saved the life of the interpreter.

An official Defence account of the action in December detailed the ambush and heroism of Australians, referring to Trooper Donaldson as Trooper F. Major General Tim McOwan said a joint US, Australian and Afghan Humvee convoy was ambushed when returning to base after inflicting 13 Taliban kills a day earlier. "In order to regain the initiative several SAS soldiers reacted to the ambush without regard to their own safety," Major General McOwan said. "One soldier, whom I shall refer to as Trooper F, moved between positions of cover to engage the enemy, using anti-armour weapons as well as his personal weapon. "The soldier deliberately exposed himself to enemy fire on several occasions in order to draw fire away from those soldiers who were already wounded in the initial heavy fire."

During an attempt to move the convoy away from the heavy enemy fire, a severely wounded Afghan interpreter fell from a truck. "Trooper F saw he had fallen and was lying to the rear in the open in ground being raked by machinegun fire," Major General McOwan said. "Without prompting and without regard to his own safety, Trooper F went back to recover the wounded Afghan. He ran across about 80m of fire-swept and exposed ground, drawing intense and accurate machinegun fire from the entrenched enemy positions." Trooper F lifted the wounded man on to his shoulders and carried him back to the vehicles before applying first aid and then returning to the firefight. The Taliban ambush resulted in nine Australian soldiers being wounded, the most in a single action since the Vietnam War. Ninety six Australians have been awarded the Imperial Victoria Cross.

Trooper Donaldson becomes the first recipient of the Victoria Cross for Australia, which replaced the imperial honour in 1991. The first Australian to be awarded a Victoria Cross was Captain Sir Neville Howse VC KCMG CB KStJ in 1900 during the Boer War. He also served in World War I and later as commonwealth minister for health, defence and repatriation.

The most recent Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross was Warrant Officer Keith Payne VC OAM in 1969 for gallantry during the Vietnam War. Under heavy enemy fire Warrant Officer Payne instigated a daring rescue of more than 40 men, many of them wounded, and led the party back to the battalion base. Along with Mr Payne, the only other surviving Australian VC recipient is Victorian Edward Kenna, who won his award for service in New Guinea in 1945.

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Religious, political and business leaders outraged at Muslim veil ban

Western women are not allowed to wear their normal Western dress in many Muslim countries so it is hard to see why it is unfair to ban Muslim dress in Western countries.

A push to ban customers wearing Muslim garb or hooded tops in shops and banks has outraged religious, political and business leaders. A retail lobby group wants laws forcing all customers to uncover their faces before entering stores. Scott Driscoll, a spokesman for the Queensland group, said yesterday full-face hijabs and hoodies were a security risk. It was only a matter of time before armed robbers and shoplifters donned hijabs for disguise. He rejected claims such a ban would be discriminatory. "This is a really simple situation of treating everyone equally," he said.

But acting Victorian Premier Rob Hulls likened the Queensland association's views to those of former One Nation leader Pauline Hanson. "These Hansonesque views . . . have no place in a modern, multicultural, tolerant society," he said.

The Federal Government last night said a ban would never be allowed. "The Government would not consider such a ban to be acceptable," a spokeswoman for acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard said.

Retail king Gerry Harvey said laws against Muslim women wearing hijabs would be bad for any business. "Maybe you have to put the debate on the table but it's a terrible thing to debate," he said.

Banks already require customers to remove motorbike helmets before entering. But Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission chief Helen Szoke said forcing women to remove their hijab before they entered banks or shops would be discriminatory. She rejected a claim by Mr Driscoll that allowing women to wear the hijab because of religious beliefs was political correctness gone mad. "Showing respect for different religious beliefs is not political correctness, it's appropriate in the multi-cultural community we have in Victoria," she said.

The president of the Islamic Council of Victoria, Ramzi Elsayed, said calls to ban hijabs were an over-reaction. He said wearing the hijab scarf was an individual choice made by Muslim women. He warned that discussions about laws prejudicing Muslim women could lead to divisions in the community.

Peak industry body the Australian Retailers Association last night distanced itself from the rival Queensland group. ARA executive director Richard Evans said the ban was "misguided, uneducated, fearmongering and disturbing in its nature". "Mr Driscoll's comments are extreme and harking back to a day when xenophobia was rife and serves to create a culture of angst, anger and mistrust," Mr Evans said.

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Amazing emergency room incompetence in public hospital

A pensioner [senior citizen] who claims a doctor at Wynnum Hospital was unable to administer an insulin shot has become embroiled in a dispute over the emergency department's level of care. Richard Supranowicz, an insulin-dependent diabetic, said the doctor told him he would need technical advice from either the Redlands or Princess Alexandra hospitals on how to administer the insulin needle. "He also explained his experience was very limited, and his main duties were to supervise admitted patients," Mr Supranowicz said. Mr Supranowicz, directed to Wynnum after phoning a Queensland Health hotline, said he had to be transferred to Princess Alexandra Hospital to be treated for high sugar levels.

A spokeswoman for Health Minister Stephen Robertson said he had ordered a full investigation into the issues raised by Mr Supranowicz. Mr Robertson said: "Doctors at Wynnum Hospital are qualified and registered medical practitioners who can handle emergencies and provide resuscitation and stabilisation of emergencies until transfer or retrieval to a higher level service. "A doctor is rostered on and is on site at all times."

Mr Supranowicz, however, described the situation as "absolutely disgraceful". Wynnum specialist physician Dr Brian Senewiratne said Wynnum Hospital was a ``write-off''. ``It has been a write-off for a long time because it doesn't have the beds, the trained staff or the facilities, so everyone is referred to the PA which doesn't have the beds either,'' he said. ``There is the obstinate refusal of the administration to admit there is a problem.''

Queensland Health's website lists the facility's hospital services as being ``acute medical'' and ``emergency services''.

Dr Senewiratne said Wynnum deserved better because patients especially those who were elderly needed practical and emotional support from nearby family and friends.

Opposition health spokesman Mark McArdle said: ``I think it is a reasonable expectation that a hospital that is described as offering acute medical and emergency services on the Queensland Health website should actually do this.''

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Goodies for Australian scientists with flexible ethics

One of the world's largest research grant pools for climate change adaptation, about $30million, is expected to be allocated over the next two years, the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility announced yesterday. The $50 million NCCARF, set up in contentious circumstances by former environment minister Malcolm Turnbull during the 2007 election campaign, is preparing to take research application grants across eight priority areas.

Based at Griffith University, NCCARF recently published the first three of eight draft research priority plans: for health, disaster and emergency management; marine biodiversity; and resources. Research adaptation plans for terrestrial biodiversity, primary industries, water resources, human settlements and social, economic and institutional dimensions will follow this year. Last year Griffith and James Cook University signed a research deal aimed at positioning themselves ahead of the proposed new national research priorities of tropical science and climate change adaptation.

In what appears to signal the emergence of the first university research hub, Griffith and NCCARF will host a series of seven university-based research networks on climate change adaptation. This will include three of the Group of Eight research-intensive universities. Under the JCU- Griffith deal, the universities will do joint research and supervise each other's postgraduates to position themselves as research leaders in tropical science and climate adaptation for the Asia-Pacific.

JCU deputy vice-chancellor, research, and leading UN climate change author Chris Cocklin told the HES the alliance had been formed in response to the Rudd Government's proposed new national research priorities. "Both universities want to consolidate our research on tropical knowledge, and it's also no secret that it's a direct response to (Innovation) Minister Kim Carr's policy to build capacity (hubs) in areas of national priority," he said. "Tropical solutions", especially their subset issues of technology transfer to Australia's neighbours, is one of nine priorities in the Cutler innovation review released last September.

NCCARF director and former Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change impact and adaptation author Jean Palutikof told the HES that the field of adaptation research was not well advanced and the emphasis would be on developing resilience. "We are hopeful about making a (research application) call over the next few months for the first three plans, and the other five as soon as possible thereafter," she said yesterday. Professor Palutikof said a fellow IPCC author, British-based Neil Adger, had described the $30million as "one of the biggest pots of money ever put up for adaptation research; it's a significant investment internationally".

She said the extent to which Australia, already challenged by climate extremes such as drought and tropical storms, could adapt to climate change was restricted by the lack of precise predictions of changes at the local level, especially for rainfall. "Even under such uncertainties, we can plan for the future. Adaptation will be easier for resilient systems, and research is needed into what makes systems and institutions resilient and what actions we can take to enhance resilience," she said. Heat extremes, extreme weather, vector-borne disease, mental health and healthcare systems and infrastructure are among the research priorities identified in the health plan.

Last October, Climate Change Minister Penny Wong announced a $10 million grant under which Griffith and its NCCARF would host a series of mainly university-based research networks. NCCARF expects to allocate about $20 million this year and the remaining $30 million in 2010, Professor Palutikof said.

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