Jellyfish sting victim furious over hospital wait

Ain't government medicine grand?  I would like to see some of our socialist politicians wait 6 hours with a jellyfish sting

A man who was stung by an Irukandji jellyfish in Top End waters says he had to wait six hours to be treated in Royal Darwin Hospital.

Jason McCarthy was working on a fishing boat near the Tiwi Islands on Monday when he was stung by the potentially deadly jellyfish.

Mr McCarthy says the navy came to his rescue and took him back to Darwin for treatment, but he then faced an agonising wait in the Emergency Department.

"It was disgusting to tell you the truth... I waited from 2pm, I didn't see a doctor until 8pm," he said.

"In that time I watched everyone in the same boat that came in there, just in pain."

He says after several hours, he approached the counter and asked to see a doctor.

"They said there wasn't enough doctors and there wasn't enough beds. There was nothing they could do, he said.

In a statement, the director of Medical Services Dr Sara Watson says emergency treatment at Royal Darwin Hospital is based on a triage system and the most urgent cases are dealt with first.

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Can you believe two FEET of rain in two days?

That's what Tully got.  Since drought signifies warming (so the Warmists say) we sure must be getting cool.  Odd that it feels hot, though

Flooding has cut roads and forced the closure of the train line between Townsville and Cairns after torrential rain across north Queensland.

Hundreds of millimetres of rain has fallen as a result of ex-tropical cyclone Oswald and central Queensland communities are now preparing for flooding as the system moves south.

The ex-cyclone is now about 85 kilometres west of Cape Tribulation and is moving slowly south, bringing damaging winds and heavy rain.

Senior Forecaster Ken Nato warns the big rain is heading south of Townsville.

"Today and tomorrow we are expecting towns like Bowen and Townsville which is already starting to see some of the weather, down to Mackay and even down to St Lawrence by tomorrow," he said.

Queensland Rail (QR) has been forced to close the Townsville to Cairns rail line because of water over the tracks at a number of places, including Tully, Bilyana, Aloomba, and Deeral.

Crews will assess damage when flooding subsides.

A QR spokeswoman says passengers will have to wait in the cities because they cannot arrange alternative transport due to road closures.

About 130 millimetres of rain has been dumped on Ingham, north of Townsville, in the past three hours.

Residents there are being urged to stock up on supplies as the Herbert River continues to rise and is expected to peak at 11 metres later today.

Tully has recorded more than 600 millimetres of rain in 48 hours, and almost 200mm has been recorded at Mission Beach and near Cairns.

Further north, Weipa has recorded 300 millimetres of rain since 9:00am (AEST) yesterday.

Police are warning drivers to avoid travelling through Tully until further notice.

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Greenpeace warns against expanding coal exports

The facts have never mattered to Greenpeace

A new report has warned Australia to stop expanding coal exports or risk inflicting "catastrophic" effects of climate change on the world.

The Greenpeace-commissioned study identifies the expansion of Australian coal exports as one of 14 proposed coal, oil and gas projects around the world that will raise greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent by 2020.

The study predicts Australia will increase coal exports to 408 million tonnes a year, producing an estimated 1,200 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Greenpeace's Georgina Woods says if the projects go ahead, they will warm the globe more than two degrees Celsius.

That is considered the temperature limit to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

"Our coal exports are already our biggest single contribution to climate change, and part of a global fossil fuel expansion enterprise that will push us beyond the point of no return in climate change," she said.

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Apology demand after gay and lesbian group's signs deemed 'offensive'

PARRAMATTA'S lord mayor is facing a social media backlash after a gay and lesbian youth group invited to a family fun day was asked by the council to remove its "offensive" signage.

Council staff told Twenty10 that a banner promoting its "support services for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, same-sex attracted and gender diverse young people, their families and communities" was inappropriate at last week's Rediscover the River festival, Twenty10's acting managing director, Terence Humphreys, said.

The request prompted Twenty10 to pack up its kite-making stall and leave, posting on Facebook that it could not support an event if a sign describing the group had been "deemed to contain offensive language".

The council has been inundated with complaints as news of the January 17 incident has spread. A change.org petition calling for an apology had attracted more than 6000 signatures in a matter of hours on Monday.

The council said in a statement that organisers asked that two banners be removed "in response to numerous complaints by members of the public" but at no stage did it request Twenty10 to leave. It declined to say what aspect of the signs was deemed to be offensive.

Independent councillor and former mayor Lorraine Wearne apologised for any offence caused but labelled some of the response an overreaction.

Labor's Julia Finn said the council's reasoning was inadequate. But independent councillor Paul Garrard said Twenty10 should not have been at the family day as it was no place for "semi-political" groups.

More HERE