ANAO says Customs missing most contraband

CLOSE to half a million prohibited items could have evaded Customs mail screening in 2012-13, allowing guns, drugs and quarantine risk items into the community.

THE Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) says Customs' seizure of 67,123 prohibited imports represented around 13 per cent of potential prohibited imports.

In a 2012 report on its own performance, Customs cited the increasing number of successful seizures of contraband and concluded that this demonstrated "low level of leakage of a small number of prohibited imports of a minor nature."But the ANAO said Customs really didn't know as it had never calculated its leakage rate - done by sampling cleared mail items.ANAO did its own calculations and estimated Customs missed 467,893 prohibited items in 2012-13."Customs' high estimated leakage rate, particularly in unscreened non-letter class mail would suggest that Customs' screening activities miss a large number of prohibited imports," it said.ANAO acknowledged screening was a challenging job.In 2012-13, Australia Post reported that around 180 million international mail items arrived in Australia. Over the last five years, parcels have increased 200 per cent with the rise in online shopping.Most pose no threat but some contain drugs, guns and risky plant or animal products.International mail arrives at four Australia Post gateway facilities in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth where it's screened by Customs and Agriculture visually and by x-ray scanners and sniffer dogs.Where previously everything was screened, it's now done according to risk assessment.Since 2006-07 the number of items screened by Agriculture has reduced by 76 per cent and 45 per cent for Customs. The government provided funding this year to increase the screening rate.ANAO said Customs described its targeting approach as "intelligence-led and risk-based".But in practice targeting decisions were often not documented and did not align with risk analysis, providing little assurance that it was adequately and consistently targeting high risk mail groups.Customs and the Department of Agriculture have agreed to ANAO recommendations to improve screening procedures.

20.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Therapy need sent abuser abroad: Marists

THE former head of the Marist brothers in Australia has denied he made a hasty decision to put a prolific child sex abuser on a plane to Canada three days after it became known police were investigating him.

ALTHOUGH he knew the brother had confessed to molesting a boy who later committed suicide, Brother Alexis Turton, the order's provincial in 1989, thought it best to get Gregory Sutton therapy at a Canadian centre for priest sex offenders.

He denied repeatedly at a child sex abuse royal commission hearing in Canberra on Wednesday that he sent Sutton to the Southdown centre near Toronto because police had begun asking questions.Sutton was extradited from Canada and jailed for 12 years in 1996 after pleading guilty to multiple charges of assaulting children in schools in NSW, ACT and Queensland from 1975 to 1986.He had quit the Marists in 1991 and Br Turton said he lost track of him after that.Br Turton said he sent Sutton to Canada because treatments in Australia had not worked.One Australian therapist had said he could not work "with this man (Sutton) because he does not have sufficient self awareness to have true therapy with me".A document dated August 31, 1989, produced at the commission showed that Sutton was telling people at the centre his provincial had sent him "due to the fact that investigations were occurring on himself for school activities five years ago regarding his child abuse."Br Turton said on Wednesday: "No. That is incorrect. That is wrong."When it was put to him that sending Sutton to Canada was first raised by him on August 15 and he was on a plane on August 18, Br Turton said: "I didn't see it as excessive haste, I saw it as continuing the process that we had been through to get him through to intensive therapy".At the time, parents of children at St Thomas More School in Campbelltown, NSW, had gone to police alleging Sutton had abused Year 5 girls.Simeon Beckett, counsel advising the commission, put it to Br Turton that his account to the commission of why he sent Sutton to Canada was false."That is not correct your honour," Br Turton said.He also denied writing a memorandum detailing Sutton's history of abusive behaviour with children going back to the 1970s.The document used a name other than Sutton's and Mr Beckett suggested the false name was an attempt to deceive readers such as police or civil litigants."I am totally mystified by this document. I can't make any other assessment of it," Br Turton said.He was also asked if it was Marist Brothers' practice to transfer a brother from a school where an allegation or admission of child sexual abuse had been made."I can't say it was the practice. Certainly we have a number of cases (where) that happened. Yes."The commission has been told that the order normally moves brothers around a lot.Br Turton said assurances by alleged offenders they would cease their inappropriate behaviour was often accepted when no complaint of specific sexual molestation was received.

20.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Australia 'on notice' to protect reef

Leonardo DiCaprio has spoken of the devastation he's witnessed on the Great Barrier Reef. Source: AAP

THE World Heritage Committee has given Australia seven months to prove it is protecting the Great Barrier Reef or risk having the reef listed as in danger.

UN cultural agency UNESCO warned Australia of the "serious decline in the condition" of the reef and said "a business as usual approach to managing the property is not an option".

UNESCO's annual World Heritage Committee meeting in Doha on Wednesday called on Australia to submit a report on its actions by February 1, 2015.A decision will be assessed on whether Australia has implemented a list of recommendations set out by the committee in 2012.In documents presented at the meeting on Wednesday, UNESCO raised particular concern about the approval in December of the Abbot Point coal port and allowing the dumping of three million tonnes of dredge waste within the marine park waters.Any in-danger listing for the reef would admit Australia to an undesirable club that includes the likes of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has all five of its World Heritage sites on the danger list.The committee welcomed progress made by Australia, specifically around water quality and its endorsement of a 2013 Reef Water Quality Protection Plan.Australia's intention to restrict future developments to current port blueprints along the Queensland coast was also commended.But the committee added that because the Queensland Ports Strategy could not be applied retrospectively, Australia needed to ensure developments outside these areas are not approved.It requested Australia ensure the decision to dump the spoil offshore wouldn't impact the reef's "overall universal value" and was the least damaging option available.WWF-Australia spokesman Richard Leck, who attended the Doha meeting, says the committee has effectively put Australia on notice to prove it is protecting the reef."The committee has stood firm on the need for stronger reef protection," he told AAP."They've really put the government on notice that they need to lift their game."Queensland Resources Council chief executive Michael Roche says the committee has delivered a vote of confidence in Australia's management of the reef."The decision is global acknowledgment that Australia is on track to deliver a long-term plan for conservation of the Great Barrier Reef's outstanding universal value," he said.Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt said the World Heritage Committee had recognised the significant work and progress made by the state and federal governments in managing and protecting the reef.He said protecting the reef was an "ongoing challenge" but he's confident Australia is up to the task.The state and federal governments jointly contribute $180 million a year to protecting the reef, including work toward improving water quality, he said.Mr Hunt said the decision to approve the Abbot Point project complied with Australia's obligations under the World Heritage Convention and was subject to rigorous environmental assessment.Australian Marine Conservation Society reef spokeswoman Felicity Wishart said Australia needed to take urgent and concrete action to ensure the reef wasn't put on the committee's list of shame."The first step must be to immediately ban the dumping of dredge spoil in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Area," she said.She said this was an outdated practice that polluted the reef waters.

20.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Burned Ukrainian boy jubilant he can walk

IHOR Lakatosh struggles to describe his life before surgery, when his severe burns went untreated for years in his native Ukraine, leaving him with one arm fused to his body, unable to walk and abandoned by his mother.

THE 11-year-old boy, however, smiles widely and repeatedly makes the sign of the cross when he describes how he feels now, after a series of surgeries and physical therapy at a Boston charity hospital.

"Thank you I can walk. Thank you I can walk. Thank you Lord, I can walk," he says through an interpreter.Ihor returned to Boston early this year for a second round of procedures, and has been spending time showing off his newfound ability to walk, take off his jacket and climb onto a bed.No one knows the details surrounding the fire that burned 30 per cent of Ihor's body when he was about three years old. He was severely malnourished and unable to walk or bend his arms when neighbours in Lviv, Ukraine, urged his mother to take him to a hospital in 2011, doctors said. She did, and never came back.The hospital couldn't pay for extensive treatment of Ihor. Staff there thought he was mentally impaired and took him to a special orphanage for children with cerebral palsy.The orphanage director contacted a Ukrainian burn physician, who got in touch with Boston-based anesthesiologist Dr Gennadiy Fuzaylov, also Ukrainian, and sent him a photo of the boy.Fuzaylov and plastic surgeon Dr Daniel Driscoll run a non-profit organisation, Doctors Collaborating to Help Children, which works to improve medical care for children in various countries. Through the organisation, they brought Ihor to Boston's Shriners Hospital for Children two years ago. The philanthropic hospital specialises in severe burns.He was about 8 or 9 years old when he arrived and weighed less than 13.6 kilograms, half the average weight for a boy his age. The boy hadn't walked since he was burned."His initial surgery was done to bring his arm away from his body where it had completely scarred to his torso. That was a big one," Driscoll said. Other operations gave Ihor the ability to bend his knees and each was followed by extensive physical therapy to straighten elbows, shoulders and legs.Physicians struggled to figure out why the boy wasn't eating properly, until they discovered 14 rotten teeth they had to extract.Doctors also determined that Ihor wasn't mentally impaired at all; he simply had never been to school and his time spent with mentally impaired children also undermined his development.Ihor was sent back to the orphanage in Ukraine after his first set of surgeries and will return there next month where he remains up for adoption.But for now, he is focused on enjoying his new life in his improved body, relishing his favourite food (chicken) and trying to entertain just about everyone around him. The painful surgeries and therapies have not diminished Ihor's enthusiasm to reclaim his childhood."I can do everything now. I can go to school ... I can go outside and play. I can eat by myself. I can go home and do my homework. I can go to bed by myself," he said through an interpreter. "I can do everything by myself. I can live a life now."

20.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Slipper says he's been vindicated

James Ashby says he is ditching his case against former parliamentary Speaker Peter Slipper (pic). Source: AAP

FORMER house of representatives speaker Peter Slipper says sexual harassment claims by a former staff member caused enormous personal stress which require ongoing psychiatric treatment.

MR Slipper said he'd now been vindicated by the decision of James Ashby to drop his sexual harassment claim.

He said the impact of those allegations had been "immeasurable and irreparable.""The allegations brought by Mr Ashby have caused enormous personal stress which has required ongoing psychiatric and psychological treatment and many weeks of inpatient hospital care," he said in a statement on Wednesday."My mental illness is both ongoing and debilitating."Mr Ashby announced on Wednesday he would drop his legal action.That started in 2012 when he revealed lurid details of alleged sexual harassment by Mr Slipper, then the Labor government-appointed house speaker.His appointment was highly controversial as it had increased Labor's majority in the finely balanced parliament. At the height of the scandal, Mr Slipper stood down from the speaker job.In a scathing decision in 2012, Federal Court Justice Steven Rares threw out Mr Ashby's case, finding his main purpose was to pursue a political attack against Mr Slipper.However, the full bench of the Federal Court reversed that decision and the case was set to proceed on June 30.Mr Ashby said he was aware of reports Mr Slipper was mentally unwell and he did not want to continue lengthy proceedings that could cause further harm."After deep reflection and consultation with those close to me, I now have decided to seek leave to discontinue my Federal Court action against Peter Slipper," he said in a statement."This has been an intense and emotionally draining time for me and my family, taking its toll on us all."Mr Ashby also cited the potential costs, given the Abbott government had confirmed the Commonwealth continued to cover Mr Slipper's legal fees.He said this kind of "deep pocket litigation" was fundamentally unfair for an ordinary person seeking justice.Mr Slipper said the decision came as a complete surprise and it meant no court had ever found sexual harassment occurred."I very much regret that these horrendous allegations have meant that I was never able to complete my reform agenda for the House of Representatives," he said.However, Mr Slipper, 64, still faces three criminal charges relating to dishonest use of a taxpayer-funded Cabcharge card for trips to wineries near Canberra in 2010, before he became speaker.After failing in a Supreme Court bid to have those charges thrown out of court, he's now set to argue they should be dropped on grounds of his mental illness. That's listed for the ACT Magistrates Court for next Wednesday.

20.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Double blow for Rebels bikie boss

Minister Scott Morrison has defended cancelling the visa of Rebels bikie gang leader Alex Vella (c). Source: AAP

REBELS motorcycle club leader Alex Vella has suffered a double blow with the cancellation of his Australian visa and loss of a close mate and fellow senior club member.

THE Rebels national president had planned to return from a visit to his native Malta when he discovered the federal government had cancelled his visa.

It was cancelled on character grounds last Friday, the Immigration Department says.Mr Vella, 60, is understood to be in Malta figuring out his next move.With the high profile leader gone, the Rebels club have taken another hit with the death of the club's Sergeant at Arms, Simon Rasic.Mr Rasic, son of former Socceroos coach Rale Rasic who guided the national team to the 1974 World Cup, died on Sunday night.Friend and Rebels member "Little Mick" Kosenko said Mr Rasic, who had been a club member for more than 20 years, died suddenly."It was very unexpected," the United Motorcycle Council Queensland spokesman told AAP on Tuesday."He was a very fit and healthy person. It's a great loss."Mr Kosenko said Mr Rasic, a father of four, died following complications from a recent operation.He said Mr Vella had already planned to cut his trip short to attend his sister-in-law's funeral on Tuesday prior to Mr Rasic's death.Mr Vella has struggled with his Australian visa since he was convicted in 1995 of possessing a trafficable quantity of cannabis.Supporters have leapt to Mr Vella's defence, painting the bikie boss as a churchgoing, motorcycle enthusiast."This man actually goes to church every week and is always willing to lend a helping hand, unlike the hypocrites that sit in government," Motorcycle Clubs Australia posted on Facebook."What has he done to deserve what they have been doing to him for so many years?"Everyone has a hobby in life and his is riding motorcycles."Speaking about the visa cancellation, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said it was his duty to respond to the work of state and federal law enforcement agencies.

20.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

French train workers clash with police

FRENCH riot police have fired tear gas at striking train workers, who hurled bottles and blocked traffic in anger over a bill to reform the state-run railway system.

A WEEK-LONG strike by French rail workers is heating up as the draft law goes to the lower house of parliament for debate on Tuesday.

Several hundred workers staged a protest near the National Assembly on Paris' Left Bank, waving red union flags. The bill would pave the way to opening up the railways to competition, and opponents fear it will lead to job losses and safety problems.The protesters blocked cars and tried to approach the parliament building, firing flares and throwing bottles. Officers responded with tear gas and wrestled a few protesters to the ground.

20.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bitcoin faces biggest threat yet

THE bitcoin digital currency system is in danger of losing its credibility as an independent payment system because of the growing power of a group that runs some of the computers behind it.

IN recent weeks, a British-based "mining pool" called GHash has amassed nearly half of the Bitcoin computing power and has briefly gone over 50 per cent. Miners operate the computers that keep track of bitcoins and create additional coins.

Miners pool their computing power to spread the financial risk of their operations. If GHash amasses more than half of the computing power devoted to bitcoin, it could in theory control the flow of transactions, freeze people out of the network and keep all future bitcoins for itself.Although GHash says it's committed to preserving bitcoin as a trustable technology, the mere fact that one player can amass majority control could undermine trust in the currency, which is worth only what people are willing to pay for it."The entire premise of bitcoin relies on the fact that no single authority would control the majority of the mining power," said Ittay Eyal, a Cornell University researcher who studies bitcoin vulnerabilities.The value of bitcoins has fallen 6 per cent in a week to around $US600 ($A649) as the threat posed by GHash has become clearer, although the decline is within the range of normal fluctuations for the volatile currency.Bitcoins allow people to send money over the internet without going through banks. This means transaction costs are low, but it also means they're useful for illegal activities such as money laundering and drug sales.Bitcoins have also become a target of speculators betting on a continued run-up in the currency. Its value has grown a hundredfold over two years.From a technical standpoint, bitcoins are sequences of numbers, painstakingly produced by computers churning through millions of calculations. Bitcoin transactions are recorded in a virtual public ledger, known as the blockchain. Miners are in charge of maintaining the blockchain. As their computers perform the calculations to do that, the process rewards them with newly minted bitcoins.A single mining computer might take years to produce a single block of coins, and there's no way to know when that might happen. In pools, miners divide the bitcoins they create among themselves in proportion to the work done, providing with them with a steadier stream of income. The pools aren't created to threaten the trust placed in bitcoin; it's a side effect of the pool's growth.GHash is controlled by a British company, CEX.IO Ltd. The company said in a statement on Monday that it wants to protect bitcoin, but it doesn't want to turn away people from the pool or impose other temporary solutions to back away from the 50 per cent threshold.GHash said it's arranging a "round table" meeting of key players in the bitcoin system in July to "with the aim of discussing and negotiating collectively ways to address the decentralisation of mining as an industry".

20.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Liberia links seven more deaths to Ebola

A HEALTH official says seven people believed to have the Ebola virus have died in recent days in the Liberian capital, in the first reported deaths in Monrovia.

DEPUTY Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah said on Tuesday that brings to 16 the number of people believed to have died from the virus in the West African country since the outbreak began.

The deaths are worrying because no new cases had been confirmed in Liberia in more than two months.The outbreak appears to have begun in neighbouring Guinea and has also spread to Sierra Leone. In all, the World Health Organisation says nearly 250 people have died of the virus, which causes severe bleeding and high fever.

20.48 | 0 komentar | Read More

Qld woman charged over missing 3yo girl

A search is continuing for a three-year-old Queensland girl who has been missing for 24 hours. Source: AAP

A WOMAN has been charged over the disappearance of a three-year-old girl from her southern Queensland home.

THE child was reported missing from her Toowoomba home, west of Brisbane, about 10am on Monday and was found safe and well more than 24 hours later.

Police on Tuesday charged a 23-year-old Toowoomba woman with two counts of removing a child from custody.She will appear in the Toowoomba Magistrates Court on August 11.

20.48 | 0 komentar | Read More