Hospital in the dark over rape claims

THE medical regulator failed to tell a Victorian hospital its only obstetrician was being investigated over rape allegations.

Regulators banned Stawell Hospital's Arthur Obi from examining patients alone pending a police investigation that ended with his acquittal in December.

The ban took effect last January and remains in place.

A Herald Sun investigation has established that the hospital was not told of the ban until April and that even now, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency has still not told them why it was imposed.

"(The agency) ... does not share sensitive information that could compromise internal procedures," a spokesman said.

The agency last night conceded in a statement to the Herald Sun that it should have alerted the hospital before April and that it had changed its systems to ensure it did not happen again.

Spokeswoman Nicole Newton said doctors also had a legal and ethical responsibility to inform their employers and Dr Obi's conditions had been on the regulator's public database for a year.

Its records show Dr Obi, who also works in a private clinic in Stawell, is not permitted to perform "intimate examinations" without a female chaperon in the room.

He is also required to display a sign telling patients of the chaperon order.

The Herald Sun has confirmed through court records that Dr Obi's conditions relate to allegations he digitally raped a patient in 2008 and 2010.

Dr Obi denies the claims and was found not guilty on six counts of rape and sexual assault in the Ballarat County Court in December.

The court heard Dr Obi was also the subject of complaints of harassment and unprofessional conduct from nurses and doctors.

One doctor allegedly complained that Dr Obi failed to communicate with medics during the resuscitation of an infant in 2010.

One of Dr Obi's lawyers told the court Dr Obi thought he had verbally mentioned the chaperon condition to the hospital and that any failure to comply was unintentional.

He also told the court the regulator had resolved to take no further action over the claims of harassment and unprofessional conduct.

The hospital confirmed to the Herald Sun it terminated his contract in May.

Dr Obi moved to Stawell from London after a global recruitment drive. His sacking has divided the town, with hundreds supporting his reinstatement.

heraldsun.com.au 27 Jan 2012

Another timeless example of how the system fails the citizens, but no the corporates.

Toyota sickies claim sparks fury among Aussies

A ROW has erupted over the work ethic of Australians after Toyota president Max Yasuda claimed his company had a sick-day epidemic around long weekends.

Toyota union representatives labelled the claims "nonsense", while Prime Minister Julia Gillard said there had always been workers who abused sick leave.

But research has found almost a third of businesses believe non-genuine sick days are on the rise, with Australian employees taking 9.4 days' sick leave a year on average.

Absenteeism is estimated to cost the economy $30 billion a year.

Workers in the health, banking, hospitality and government sectors are most likely to call in sick, each averaging more than 10 days per worker. Manufacturing workers had 8.5 days sick leave on average.

Absenteeism expert Paul Dundon, of Direct Health Solutions, said the power of unions in Australia contributed to the sick-day culture.

"High absenteeism makes workplaces unproductive, but unions have a lot of power and there's fear among business to do something about it," he said.

Ms Gillard yesterday admitted some Australians took unnecessary sick days. "I think we have just got to be a little bit sensible here - yes, there are times when people take sick days they shouldn't have," she said.

Mr Yasuda sparked outrage when he claimed in the Australian Financial Review that absenteeism was as high as 30 per cent at the company's Altona plant, particularly around long weekends.

But Paul Difelice, regional secretary for the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union vehicle division, said the only time sick leave hit that figure was last Friday - the day after Australia Day, giving absent workers a four-day weekend.

"They are ill-informed comments," Mr Difelice said. "Saying sick leave is a problem at Altona is nonsense."

The spike in sick leave last Friday came in the same week Toyota sacked 350 workers.

Ian Jones, federal secretary of the AMWU vehicle division, said he was "puzzled" by Mr Yasuda's comments and demanded a meeting with him to explain them.

heraldsun.com.au 3 Feb 2012

Another misrepresentation coming from the mouth of a so called 'leader', from a nation of slave labour.

The pressure is put on the Japanese workers that if you take your owed holiday period, you are seen as a non company person.

The company has one objective only, and that is to have high profits, at the expense of working conditions or company morale.

The sacking of workers is a move only to maximise profits.

What a bunch of party plankers

THE Commonwealth Bank is celebrating its home-loan selling success with a "pirate party", days after raising interest rates on customers to protect mega-profits.

The bank is flying 200 of its "mobile bankers and mortgage innovators" from throughout the country to Lorne for a gala dinner on a "treasure island".

CBA staff are ordered to come dressed as a "pirate, wench, rascal, scoundrel or villain", with those refusing to join in the fun ordered to "walk the plank".

What do you think of the CBA's pirate bash? Have your say below.

But CBA workers are mocking the party, saying most customers believe bankers are already pirates.

They say the party is just another slap in the face for customers faced with "over-priced loans".

The bank said last night it was not paying for the March 5 party. Third-party suppliers were footing the bill.

Consumer group Choice urged the Commonwealth Bank to make the pirate outfits official uniform.

"This is definitely showing they are determined to be different - CBA has really nailed their colours to the mast," Choice spokesman Christopher Zinn said.

"Don't stop with just the party, they should come to work dressed as blood-curdling pirates with cutlasses, eye patches and great big hats."

It comes as French bank Societe Generale said yesterday Australia's big four banks' claims they needed to increase their interest rates this month because of funding costs were "dubious."

And ANZ was lashed with harsh criticism last week after the Herald Sun revealed it was sending its top performers on a luxury cruise to Malaysia's Langkawi islands.

In a "reply all" to an email invitation to the party at Lorne's Mantra Erskine Beach Resort, a Commonwealth Bank staff member wrote: "How ironic, theme for Lorne is pirates.

"Just been listening to 3AW today and they are having a field day on the CBA after announcing interest rate increase. They are calling us pirates, so I guess on that note we could all wear our Corporate Wardrobe at Lorne."

Thrive PR account manager Alicia Grabowski said both the Commonwealth and ANZ banks had shown disrespect to their customers by failing to cancel their celebrations.

"You can lose all the money in the world and still operate a business, but if you lose your reputation you are bankrupt," she said.

The pirate party is part of the Commonwealth Bank's 2012 national conference for mobile lenders, March 4-6.

The bank hit the mortgagees with a rate rise of 0.1 of a percentage point last week, pushing its variable rate to 7.41 per cent, as it posted a $3.57 billion half-year profit, which was up 7 per cent.

A CBA spokesman said: "The bank's focus on its customers has seen its customer satisfaction ratings reach all-time highs and the gap continuing to narrow between the CBA and the highest-rated competitor.

"The bank will continue to place emphasis on customer satisfaction and ensuring customer needs are met."

ninemsn.com.au 22 Feb 2012

Police bungle on a huge scale

THREE-QUARTERS of Victoria Police officers have confessed to illegally preparing affidavits used to get search and other warrants.

An investigation by the force has identified almost 3000 pending criminal cases in Magistrates' courts which could be affected by the affidavit bungle and faulty affidavits will also be an issue in 299 upcoming Supreme and County Court cases.

Hundreds of convicted criminals are also likely to try to get their convictions overturned by arguing evidence obtained from dodgy affidavits was wrongly used against them.

"There are certainly cases we will be losing and there are others where we will lose some of the charges,'' Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Tim Cartwright said yesterday.

The more than 9000 police who recently admitted failing to correctly swear affidavits were flushed out by Chief Commissioner Ken Lay's promise not to take disciplinary action against officers who confessed.

Mr Lay's amnesty, which was revealed in the Herald Sun in December last year, resulted in 75 per cent of the force signing disclosure forms admitting to incorrectly preparing affidavits.

A Victoria Police probe into the problem revealed the practice of officers failing to swear affidavits started at least 15 years ago and involves ranks right up to deputy commissioner.

The Herald Sun has also discovered:

POLICE will stop investigations and not lay charges in some cases as a result of faulty affidavits.

SOME of the forces most experienced detectives, including from the Purana gangland killing taskforce, the homicide squad, the Ethical Standards Department and the drug taskforce, have admitted flouting the law for years by not swearing affidavits.

THE embarrassing debacle has also infected the vast majority of suburban and country police stations.

Mr Cartwright stressed that not swearing an affidavit did not mean the contents of the affidavit were false as officers believed that by signing it they were attesting to its accuracy.

But he said he wasn't making excuses for so many in the force having incorrectly prepared affidavits for so long.

"It is deeply regrettable that we have actually had to go through this,'' Mr Cartwright said.

"We have 9000 members who say basically we got it wrong, or we are not sure we got it right. We shouldn't have got to that situation.

"Having said that, once we have discovered the problem we have worked really hard, and we continue to work hard, to fix it.''

"What the challenge is now is to make sure that in future we don't have other similar problems and that we have fixed whatever it is that is the root of this problem.''

Tony Mokbel and notorious underworld heavy Sean Sonnet have already seized on the police stuff-up to try to get off drug and conspiracy to commit murder charges.

The revelations in today's Herald Sun are expected to prompt hundreds of others to follow their lead as accused and convicted criminals discover there is every chance their cases involve unsworn affidavits.

Mr Cartwright said some long-serving members of high profile squads involved in major drug and organised crime cases had admitted to never having correctly sworn an affidavit.

"So you can imagine that every case that will have come out of those particular areas will be tested,'' he said.

Mr Cartwright said it was impossible to say how many prosecutions would be affected as the problem was being handled on a case by case basis as each accused or convicted person came before a court.

He said it will be up to the magistrate or judge in each case to decide whether or not to admit evidence obtained as a result of police using unsworn affidavits.

A judge in one current high-profile case, who can't be named for legal reasons, recently ruled evidence from search warrants was illegally obtained through improperly prepared affidavits.

But the judge used his discretionary power to still allow the evidence into the trial, saying doing so was more desirable than throwing it out.

"The probity value outweighed the prejudicial value is basically what he has found,'' Mr Cartwright said.

Police and prosecutors are hoping many more judges and magistrates come to the same conclusion as the thousands of cases affected by dodgy affidavits get to court in coming months.

WHAT THEY SHOULD HAVE DONE:

Sworn an oath or affirmation as to the truth and accuracy of the contents of the affidavit - which takes about 15 seconds.

WHAT THEY DID:

Just signed the affidavit in the presence of a senior officer authorised to witness affidavits.

WHAT JUDGES AND MAGISTRATES HAVE TO DO IN EACH CASE INVOLVING UNSWORN AFFIDAVITS:

Use their discretionary powers to decide if the desirability of admitting the evidence outweighs the undesirability of admitting evidence gained as a result of unsworn affidavits being used to get search and other warrants.

THE NUMBER OF PENDING CRIMINAL CASES WHICH COULD BE AFFECTED:

Just under 3000 in the Magistrates' courts and 299 in the higher courts.

HOW THE PROBLEM WAS IDENTIFIED:

Defence lawyers in a County Court drug trial in October last year challenged aspects of search warrants used to get evidence against the three accused, prompting a Det-Sen-Sgt to admit he had never used a bible to swear to the truth and accuracy of affidavits.

The judge then asked that a senior Victoria Police officer be called to give evidence as to how widespread the practice of not swearing affidavits was.

That senior officer told the court he had conducted a quick poll in the crime department and 25 detectives told him they didn't swear affidavits.

THE NUMBER OF POLICE WHO TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF AN AMNESTY TO ADMIT TO NOT SWEARING AFFIDAVITS:

More than 9000.

WHO IS ALREADY TRYING TO USE THE BUNGLE TO GET OFF CHARGES?

Tony Mokbel is attempting to use the affidavit debacle as grounds to be allowed to change his guilty pleas on drug trafficking charges to not guilty.

Would-be hitman Sean Sonnet pleaded guilty to conspiring with now-dead crime boss Carl Williams to commit murder. Sonnet is due in court this week to try to use the unsworn affidavit issue to change his plea to not guilty.

news.com.au 23 Feb 2012

A bungle is understood to be a mistake due to sloppy or ineffieient work,

The article should read as Police fraud on a huge scale.

Police are also involved in the drug syndicate, give free passes to ciminal bikie members, and fraudulently hand out thousands of road fines, but this information curiously does not make it out into the public arena.

Facebook 'accessing users' texts'

Facebook is accessing the private text messages of smartphone users who have downloaded its internet app, according to a British newspaper investigation.

The social network giant admitted reading users' messages, saying it was using the data to help launch its own messaging service, London's Sunday Times reports.

The newspaper said other companies accessing smartphone users' personal data included Flickr, the dating site Badoo and Yahoo Messenger.

It was claimed that some apps enable companies to intercept phones calls, and that YouTube was capable of remotely operating accessing and operating users' smartphones to take photos and video.

ninemsn 27 Feb 2012

Another 'breach' in user privacy by the corporate giants.

User data is being shared by the world's I.T companies hidden in plain sight in the terms and conditions in the EULA (End User License Agreement) by companies like Apple, HP, Micorosoft and many others.

Users 'trust' the companies with their data, but this trust is broken, as this data is used and sold between different entities.

In the corporate world there are no penalties for these kinds of breaches, rather rewards.

More News How Ted Baillieu's website airbrushed 'be a man' jibe from history

PREMIER Ted Baillieu's office is under fire after critical remarks from a talkback caller were deleted from the official transcript.

The caller accused Mr Baillieu of avoiding tough questions, and challenged him to "be a man".

But when the transcript of the airwaves encounter appeared on the taxpayer-funded website premier.vic.gov.au the criticism had vanished.

Instead, the transcript listed the question as "inaudible" - despite it being clearly understandable on recordings of the interview by the State Parliament library.

During the interview, 3AW listener Brendan phoned Neil Mitchell to say he had "one statement and one question".

"Ted, you're no different to every other premier," he said. "You only answer the questions that you want to answer.

Why can't you stand up and be a man and just say 'Yes' and 'No' and give us the real facts instead of pussyfooting and dancing around? It's just unbelievable."

Mr Baillieu's spokesman, Paul Price, said the comments had not been deliberately omitted.

Mr Price said a Government media adviser recorded the February 3 interview on a digital device at the 3AW studio but the caller's comments were not clear.

He said the recording was given to a staffer in either the Premier's office or the Department of Premier and Cabinet, to be typed into a transcript and published online, but the caller's comments were deemed "inaudible".

"We don't tamper with transcripts," he said.

"At any of the doorstops we have, the Premier is often the focus of negative commentary and that is spelled out directly in transcripts.

"This was just a function error of the audio that was taken on the day."

Mr Price also denied Mr Baillieu or any of his advisers had ordered editing of the transcript.

The premier.vic.gov.au website is Mr Baillieu's official website, which records his speeches, publishes his media releases, provides his contact details and contains transcripts of press conferences and media interviews.

Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews accused the Government of intentionally editing out all negative references to the Premier's performance from the transcript before posting it online.

"The Government doesn't have a plan to keep Victorians in work, but has found the time to doctor transcripts to protect the Premier's reputation," Mr Andrews said.

"If the Premier actually started doing some work, maybe he wouldn't be copping criticism."

It is not the first time the Government has been accused of doctoring transcripts.

Mr Andrews claimed in State Parliament last August that the Premier had removed the word "inflation" from the transcript of an ABC radio interview about the Government's wage policy that appeared on the same website.

Greens MP Greg Barber said Mr Baillieu and his Government had "selective hearing and this is only one small example".

"They spend a lot of money printing out every word from the leader that holds him up in a good light," Mr Barber said.

"But then they airbrush the leader to make him look as a guy who never puts a foot wrong."

heraldsun.com.au 19 Feb 2012

Another lies perpetuating from the mouths of politicians.

Trying not only to distort the truth but also rewriting history as to the actual events that have taken place.

Immediate dismissal should follow such fraudulent presentation of facts.

Botton of the class for Aussies students

More dollars but less sense training our teachers and kids

AUSSIE high school students have fallen up to two years behind Asian students in reading, maths and science.

Poor teacher training is blamed for the staggering divide.

"If a kid (in Australia) is that far behind (in a classroom) we would consider him disadvantaged. They would likely be put into the remedial class," said researcher Dr Ben Jensen, director of the school education program at the Melbourne-based think tank the Grattan Institute.

Its report, Catching up: Learning from the best school systems in East Asia, reveals Australian high school students are more than two years behind Shanghai students in maths and 15 months behind in science.

We trail Shanghai students by 13 months in reading and are also significantly behind Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore in key learning areas.

Researchers say that a huge increase in education spending - 44 per cent in the past decade - has been wasted because it failed to invest in making our teachers better.

Nor did universities properly train new teachers for the pressures of the classroom. "Being nearly two years behind (Shanghai) is staggering. It really is a long way," Dr Jensen said.

He said individual teachers were not to blame, because their training was not up to scratch. The answer lay not in hiring more teachers, but in more effective ways of helping students learn.

"Other Asian countries are constantly working out ways of how kids can be better taught. We don't," he said. "The main difference is (teachers overseas) are trained as researchers and they are continually trying new things with children's learning. If it has been successful, they keep it."

Dr Jensen said though spending in education had drastically improved, it was being diverted to new buildings and schools.

"We are spending a lot of money ... but we are spending in the wrong places. We should be spending it on how to better improve our students' learning," he said.

"The OECD and the World Bank are very clear that the most important economic reform is improving student performance."

US and UK students fare even worse than our own, with both nearly three years behind Shanghai students in maths.

heraldsun.com.au 18 Feb 2012

Another indication that educating the children of the masses is NOT a government priority and never will be.

Education is still kept in the hands of the ruling elite, whereas blue collar education and a focus on sport is giver to the children of the masses.

With a lack of education, the young minds can be easily steered in the direction that is beneficial to the powers at large.

Defence Department security bungle

THOUSANDS of high-level security assessments in the Defence Department were compromised by incorrect data that was used by ASIO to issue official clearances.

Many of the compromised clearances remain in place as Defence and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation wade through thousands of reports to remove incorrect data.

So far, about 3100 high-level clearances have been validated from around 5300 applications made before whistleblowers lifted the lid on poor work practices.

The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security, Dr Vivienne Thom, slams Defence management, and particularly the Defence Security Authority, for the huge breach, and she makes 13 recommendations to fix the problems.

Defence has accepted all of them.

The inquiry found a culture of mismanagement that included delayed and inadequate systems upgrades; inadequate formal documentation and manuals; and inadequate training.

heraldsun.com.au 10 Feb 2011

More News Melbourne ranked eighth most expensive city in the world

MELBOURNE might be the world's most livable city, but research has found it is almost 50 per cent costlier than New York.

The strong dollar is being blamed for squeezing Aussie wallets, with five of the nation's capitals ranked more expensive than destinations such as London, Hong Kong and Berlin.

Melbourne was named the eighth most expensive city, one place behind Sydney, in the Worldwide Cost of Living Survey.

The survey found the cost of a loaf of bread in Melbourne almost doubled in the past decade, while petrol prices rose three-fold and rice almost quadrupled.

Report editor Jon Copestake said the cost of living in Melbourne was up dramatically compared with 10 years ago when it was more than 25 per cent cheaper than the Big Apple.

"Exchange rates have been the greatest influence, with the Australian dollar seeing its value relative to the US dollar double," Mr Copestake said.

"Local price inflation, especially last year, has also played a part."

HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham said 20 years of economic growth had helped fuel the increases.

"The cost base does tend to increase when that happens," Mr Bloxham said. "In some ways, it's the cost of success."

But inflation remained in check and income growth outpaced price increases.

"That's supporting our ability to meet local costs," Mr Bloxham said.

"And then, of course, the strength of the Aussie dollar is also meaning that we can afford to buy more things from overseas."

The survey, conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, compared the price of 160 products and services in 130 cities.

Zurich was the world's most expensive city, overtaking Tokyo. Perth (12th), Brisbane (equal 13th) and Adelaide (equal 17th) also made the top 20.

In a separate study, Melbourne rated best in the nation in the world's top 50 university cities.

The inaugural QS Best Student Cities survey said Paris was the world's best location for education with Melbourne fourth and Sydney sixth.

heraldsun.com.au 15 Feb 2012

Another report from credible sources, that puts Melbourne in the list of the most expensive cities to live in the world.

Politicians lawmakers and fianciers are responsible for the financial climate of the nation.

If the report is to be believed then this is an assault on the average citizen to put them into financial slavery at the mercy of the banking elite.

High unemployment, large unskilled migrant labour influx, together with a lack of infrastructure compounds to the daily struggle that Melbournians face.

A direction that is tightly controlled by the ruling elite.

Asylum Seekers $10000 welcome pack

The $10,000 welcome pack for asylum seekers who wait for their refugee claims to be processed.

Range $7100-$9800 depending on size of family

Washing machine

Fridge

Lounge, min 4-seat

Table & chairs, min 5 piece

Coffee table

Radio alarm

Wall clock

Heater or fan

TV, min 21-inch

TV stand

DVD player

Phone

Bed base, mattresses

Bedside tables

Mattress protectors

Wardrobe, if none built in

Clothes hangers

Pillow, pillow cases

2 blankets per person

Quilt

2 sheet sets per person

2 towels per person

2 face washers per person

Microwave

Rice cooker

Toaster

Electric kettle

Frypan or wok

Pots and pans

Knife set

Dinner ware including plates, mugs, bowls, cutlery and glasses, min 16 pieces

Chopping board

Ovenware

Baking items

Glass container set

Measuring cups and spoons

Salt and pepper shakers

Colander

Salad bowl

Food storage, 15 pieces

Canister set: sugar, bread, biscuits, tea, coffee

Kitchen utensils: Slotted spoon, ladle, egg flip, potato masher, wooden spoon, vegetable peeler, scissors, can
opener, tongs, whisk, grater

Dish cloths

Tea towels

Pot holder, oven mitts

Mop and bucket

Broom, dustpan, brush

Toilet brush

Iron and ironing board

Indoor rubbish bin

Vacuum cleaner, bagless

Laundry basket

Clothes pegs

Shower curtain

Shower caddy

Cleaning bucket

Smoke detector

Fire extinguisher

Fire blanket

First aid kit


CAN BE ASKED FOR

Rugs

Additional heaters/blankets

Additional fans


ITEMS WHICH CAN BE APPROVED

Computers and internet access

Mobile phones

Bicycles, skateboards, rollerblades

Sewing machines

Student desks

iPod or other music storage device

Game consoles

Baby kit: Mattress, blackets, towels, baths, high chairs and prams worth $750

heraldsun 17 Feb 2012