Updated May 18, 2018 10:58:01
![]() A winemaker is leading the push to register Tasmania's own regional appellation scheme for wine, saying if it is good enough for the French, Tasmania should have similar protections. But the locals know a visiting delegation of European Union officials may be surprised by Australian winemakers calling for the Tasmania way of doing things to be protected in the same way mthode champenoise is, by geographic indicators (GIs) that stop pretenders hitching a ride on the growing reputation of the island state's industry. ![]() This week, the touring party from the EU arrived in Hobart to discuss the use of GIs, which control the use of names such as parmesan, prosecco, balsamic vinegar and champagne which are also regions or towns. Noted Tasmanian winemaker Andrew Pirie said the state developed its own sparkling wine appellation scheme back in the 1980's, to legally define and protect produce from a geographic area. "We've had a strong belief ever since the foundation of the modern wine industry, that the region of origin and the grapes that come from it are really important to the quality," he told the Tasmanian Country Hour. While the exclusive use of the appellation mthode champenoise has benefitted approved makers in Champagne, Mr Pirie said there was no such protection for the appellation sparkling method, which he believes produces wines as good, if not better, as the one developed in France. He explained consumers could be faced with a wide choice of wine described as being of the sparkling variety, but at vastly different prices and quality. "I am going to propose we register Tasmanian method, which we'd expect would be supported by the EU and would be recognised globally. "They are here to teach us about name recognition, and we are going to say 'we are learning quickly, let's put it into play'." ![]() Tasmanian wines, made according to the sparkling method, should have exclusive use of that appellation, which should also be more rigidly defined, he said. "We want to preserve the uniqueness of our wines and we don't want to open the door to cheap imitations. "If you do something really well, people will trade off it, freeloaders," he said. But how to tell the difference between a great sparkling wine and fizzy plonk? There is a way, Mr Pirie explained. "The bubbles are different, the pressure is different. If you put a pressure meter on the bottle, the cheaper method is a much lower pressure." The true Tasmanian sparkling method "gives you those fine bubbles that last a long time in the glass". "The cheap bubblies have big bubbles and they fade pretty quickly." ![]() Ambassador of the European Union to Australia, Dr Michael Pulch, told ABC Hobart an exclusive use of a name like Champagne helped both producers and consumers, describing it as a "win-win". "Many people do like to have the authentic taste from certain regions of the world, and they know the quality they get if it is certified from that region, they're prepared to pay more for that, for that quality and traditional production," he said. "That helps local economies, so it is a win-win situation we are creating." Dr Pulch said there were about 8,000 products worldwide that are covered by geographical indications. "This helps remote economies, keeps production and employment, and helps to maintain the traditional way of producing goods and in particular agricultural products." He urged producers of wine and other products to rise to the challenge of forging their own brand linked to location. "Champagne has been accepted worldwide as being a particular product that comes from a region in France; so what happens then?" he said. "Other producers had to develop their own branding and across Europe, they have developed different ways of producing a similar product [to Champagne]. It has launched new initiatives and we see this across the board with other products. "Rather than calling it a name from a region you don't come from, why don't you give it a name from a region you come from and be very proud of your own product? Those seeking to pass a product off as Champagne face a fate similar to a Californian winemaker in 2008, when Belgian authorities seized and destroyed a shipment of 3,000 bottles. ![]() Andrew Pirie, who in 2001 was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for services to the Tasmanian wine and tourism industries, said the locals had been in the game almost as long as the French. ![]() "The French started the modern systems of production 1820 ... we are not too far different," he said. "In 1848 there is a mention of a pink sparkling wine produced in New Town, Hobart which they said was delicious and infinity superior to the imported product. "In recent years, Tasmania's sparkling wine has started to attract significant attention overseas. "Only 18 months ago, a Tasmanian sparkling wine, of the traditional method, in a blind tasting beat four Grand Marque champagnes, which are the best companies in champagne." Pinot noir is the most common grape variety grown in Tasmania, followed by other cool climate varieties like chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, pinot gris, riesling, as well as cabernet sauvignon, merlot and gewurztraminer. Topics:viticulture,agricultural-crops,food-and-beverage,beverages,lifestyle-and-leisure,hobart-7000 First posted May 18, 2018 05:36:02 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-18/tasmanian-wine-method-should-be-protected-like-champagne/9771848
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By Nick Alexander Updated May 17, 2018 12:24:57
People around the world are today marking what is billed as the 'single most important date for LGBTI communities to mobilise on a large scale'. Despite being celebrated in more than 120 countries, the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT) does not receive a great deal of attention in Australia. But for people like Kris Stevens, a Dubbo resident featured in the ABC short film Pride Out West, the day is an important part of the LGBTI community's ongoing struggle for acceptance. "I think it's something that the community is trying to focus on as a positive way of educating about bullying and homophobia, depression and verbal abuse all sorts of things that impact on gay lesbian, transgender youth as they're growing up," Ms Stevens said. "It's a day to show your solidarity really, in the workplace, in the community, anywhere you happen to be on the day. "I'm hoping that awareness grows and that each year more and more people know about this and can help promote it and celebrate it within their communities." ![]() Ms Stevens has witnessed an enormous shift in attitudes towards LGBTI people over the course of her lifetime most notably the emphatic result of last year's same-sex marriage postal survey. She said Dubbo, where she and her wife Bizzi Mason (herself a "'78er") grew up before returning to settle down some 40 years later, was a "pretty difficult" place for young people up until the turn of the century. "Bizzi and I were both in high school in the early 70s, and I didn't feel comfortable about telling anybody who I really was," she said. "And it's very interesting now, having gone to some school reunions, to find out that I wasn't the only gay in the village. "There's a whole group of us that were all at school together but didn't realise, because we couldn't seek support from anyone because we were too afraid to say anything." Cyberbullied to the brink of suicide In a nightmarish echo of her own adolescence, Ms Stevens, then still not publicly "out", watched on as her daughter was driven to suicidal despair as she grew up in Dubbo in the 1990s. Then in Year 9, Ms Stevens' daughter was forced to contend with a new technological phenomenon: the internet. If you or anyone you know needs help: "She was cyberbullied and outed online and all sorts of things," Ms Stevens said. "And I went through all of that with her it was a horrific time, and she actually became depressed and tried to commit suicide as a result of what was happening to her at school. "And cyberbullying was quite new in the 90s, so I got no support from the school. "They told me it wasn't happening in the school, it was happening outside, so there was nothing they could do. "So an awareness has grown in the last 20 years." External Link:Trans youth mental health survey results (in percentages) Keeping it local Ms Stevens believes days like IDAHOBIT can lead to young LGBTI people staying on in regional and rural communities rather than leaving town the instant they finish school, as her wife and daughter both did. "I think it's become more acceptable for young people to stand up and say, 'this is me, this is who I am'," she said. "It's still not easy, but because they show that strength of character, then the wider community there's two degrees of separation, and you know someone who's gay, you've got a family member who's gay, and you come to realise that because they're more out there and visible now, that you accept them. "You can see they deserve to be treated as equals and not to be bullied and not to be fearful of losing friendships and families over something that they're really got no control over." ![]() Ms Stevens said events such as Dubbo's pride march, spearheaded by Nicholas Steepe whose own confronting story is featured in Pride Out West also help to increase the confidence of LGBTI people and the way they are perceived by their neighbours. "Good on Nic for staying in town after what he went through, which was similar to my daughter, and there are other young people that've stuck around and made a difference," she said. "Being high-profile, people see them, people see that they're doing good within the community. "It's like critical mass, it just got to a point and that's nationwide where people are going 'yes, everyone should be equal', and approaching it from that perspective." Topics:gays-and-lesbians,discrimination,suicide,mental-health,bullying,social-media,marriage,dubbo-2830 First posted May 17, 2018 06:44:42 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-17/global-idahobit-protest-special-meaning-in-dubbo-pride-out-west/9767992 Updated May 16, 2018 08:39:45
![]() The phenomenal growth in the humpback whale population has resulted in some of the giant beasts of the ocean beginning their migration north almost a month early. Whale-watching season for tourism operators such as the Sunshine Coast's Whale One traditionally begins on the first weekend in June. But a number of sightings off Caloundra and Alexandra Headland in the past two weeks has prompted Whale One owner John Matterson to bring his season forward by a week. "The whales have come up very early this year," Mr Matterson said. "There have been quite a few reports and particularly ones in close from Caloundra to Point Cartwright and Alexandra Headland. It is very unusual." Southern Cross University Marine Ecology Research Centre founding director Peter Harrison said whales were moving earlier because their numbers had grown so large. Whale numbers were decimated between 1959 and 1961, mostly by illegal whaling, until there were only a "couple of hundred left". This season, about 33,000 whales are expected to make the 5,000km migration north from the Antarctic to Queensland's warm tropical waters. Whale population grows to highest level Professor Harrison said the humpback whale population had grown so large, it was now the biggest it had ever been. "As far as we know, the population is now larger than it was prior to whaling," he said. "Researchers have gone back to look at catch records and our best estimates are the whale population [pre-whaling] was hovering around 26,000 for the natural population size. "That was almost completely decimated, mostly by illegal whaling from a Soviet fleet which was estimated to have killed 25,000 whales between 1959 and 1961. "After this, there were possibly only a few hundred whales left and there was almost total extinction." In 1962 the whaling stations at Tangalooma, on Moreton Island and in northern New South Wales were closed and there were not enough whales left to make whaling viable. The population has grown steadily every year, but Professor Harrison said it would start to slow, and there was no concern it would grow too big to be sustainable. "What will happen is the rate of population increase will start to slow and come back to a normal level of growth," he said. ![]() Office of Environment and Heritage wildlife team leader Susan Crocetti said there were increased distances for Migaloo in New South Wales this year to give him "a bit of extra space that he gets in Queensland". "We actually believe that there is more than one Migaloo out there, so we anticipate we will get news of a white whale any day now," she said. "We think we might have up to three, maybe even five white whales that migrate up the coastline, and we have an extra distance of 500 metres for any white whale. "We just think it's an unusual colour morph of a whale and they're just predominantly white whales. I think Migaloo is still sort of regarded as a unique solely white whale, but we do have other whales that are predominantly white." Killer-whale sightings increasing With the recovery of humpbacks also comes other whale species that are associated with humpbacks, such as killer whales. "We've had quite a lot of reports in the last few weeks of killer whales being seen off the coastline," Ms Crocetti said. ![]() "Killer whales have always been around, but in terms of the frequency and the numbers of humpbacks being seen, it certainly does seem to be an increasing trend how many we are observing. "They will try to prey upon humpback calves. Killer whales tend to love tongues, so sometimes we might get footage of a humpback whale calf that's unfortunately been attacked by killer whales and they'll only take the tongue, which is just amazing." Craig Sergant, a commercial skipper in Port Macquarie, said orcas predominantly liked to chase female whales with their newborns. "Those females generally close very close to the coastline with their calves, so the orcas have to come in close to find those," he said. "I've found a calf offshore here at Port Macquarie that we assumed the orcas had only just left the calf and removed its jaw. "We're lucky in Port Macquarie because through the mid-season we've got whales going in both directions for about four weeks." Topics:mammals---whales,conservation,marine-biology,port-macquarie-2444,alexandra-headland-4572,southport-4215,caloundra-4551 First posted May 13, 2018 16:10:48 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-13/whale-watching-season-starts-early-humpback-population-grows/9752644 Updated May 14, 2018 17:03:29
![]() A man accused of abducting a 12-year-old boy on the Gold Coast has arrived in Queensland after facing an extradition hearing in New South Wales earlier today. Zhen Jie Zhang, 53, will be formally charged with kidnapping for ransom ahead of appearing in Southport Magistrates Court tomorrow. Police issued an amber alert on Friday night, hours after the boy was allegedly pulled into a car outside his home at Mudgeeraba about 3:30pm. He was found about 12:00pm on Saturday some 240 kilometres away in Grafton, New South Wales, after a member of the public called police having seen the dark blue 2013 Jeep Compass mentioned in the amber alert. The boy was found inside the car. Police allege Mr Zhang was the driver of the car. Mr Zhang faced the Grafton Local Court today, where Magistrate Karen Stafford approved his extradition to Queensland. The extradition hearing in Grafton was delayed earlier this morning pending the arrival of an interpreter. His lawyer said the extradition was unopposed Throughout the hearing, Mr Zhang sat impassively in court in handcuffs and dressed in prison greens, ![]() Speaking through a Cantonese interpreter, Mr Zhang told the hearing: "I had no intention of doing what I did". He then asked if he could explain his case. Magistrate Stafford told Mr Zhang he could do that in Queensland. Mr Zhang is due to appear before the Southport Magistrates Court on Tuesday. Accused allegedly known to boy's family Police said Mr Zhang was known to the boy's family and allegedly made requests for money in the lead-up to the alleged abduction. ![]() Detective Inspector Marc Hogan on Sunday said police were investigating whether the alleged extortion attempt was related to gambling debts. He said police believed both parties were known to each other and there were financial issues involved in the lead-up to the abduction of the child. Detective Inspector Hogan said it was in relation to "personal loans" and police were also investigating the possibility of other people being involved. Boy treated for scratches The boy's family arrived in Grafton on Saturday and were reunited with him at the police station. "He had some slight scratches," Detective Inspector Hogan said. "As a precaution the boy was taken to the hospital just for an examination." He said they used traffic cameras to track the vehicle. "New South Wales police put up a number of staging points along the highway, and just through a matter of trial and error we narrowed it down to a certain area," he said. "A member of the public recognised the vehicle, called it into police, and the boy was located in the vehicle with the male person. Topics:courts-and-trials,law-crime-and-justice,grafton-2460,nsw,australia,brisbane-4000,qld,mudgeeraba-4213,southport-4215 First posted May 14, 2018 06:24:21 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-14/extradition-grafton-alleged-kidnap-12yo-boy-gold-coast/9757550 This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced.
AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-13/humpback-breaching/9756168 This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced.
AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-12/rally-against-fracking/9755020 Updated May 11, 2018 18:22:00
A former Queensland policeman who killed his baby son with a "sickening" single punch has been jailed for nine years. Brisbane's Supreme Court heard Colin David Randall "forcefully punched the defenceless 10-week-old" so hard it caused fatal abdominal injuries, in an attack at the family home at Victoria Point on Brisbane's bayside in 2014. Justice Peter Davis said in sentencing it was "obvious that once you had delivered the blow to the defenceless baby's abdomen, his death was inevitable". "His liver was shattered, other organs had been severely damaged and his aorta ruptured," Justice Davis told the court. "Once you had delivered the blow, no medical treatment could save him." The fatal blow was delivered the first day Randall had been left alone with his son, while his wife and four-year-old daughter went to the shops. Justice Davis said Randall instinctively lied after it happened firstly to his wife, then ambulance officers and ultimately investigating police. "You then pretended that the injuries which were later found were caused accidentally by you and perhaps others when applying CPR," Justice Davis told the court. "This, of course, was complete nonsense." As a former police officer, Randall will serve his sentence in solitary confinement. He will not be eligible for parole until 2021. The court heard the defendant was frustrated at the time due to a lack of sleep from working night-shifts, co-sleeping with children and his wife being sick with the flu. A failed attempt to transfer from Wynnum to Hervey Bay station also factored in Randall's frustration. The court heard he wanted to move to be near a female officer he had an affair with. 'A willed act of violence to a defenceless infant': Judge The 41-year-old had maintained his son had suffered some unexplained health issue and that his injuries were caused by the application of CPR. Justice Davis said Randall persisted with that "ridiculous" story until a week before his murder trial, when he decided to plead to the lesser charge of manslaughter. "He was a 10-week-old baby and totally innocent of the world," Justice Davis told the court. "He had no idea of the duty you had to care for him." The court heard that while the Crown accepted the blow was "utterly spontaneous", that did not mean there was no intent. "It was a punch it was a willed act of violence to a defenceless infant," Justice Davis said. "A punch is an act which is intended to hurt." The baby was in a swing when the punch was delivered. Randall remained without emotion during the hour-long sentencing hearing. Justice Davis did not accept that Randall was remorseful and said his decision to enter a late guilty plea to manslaughter was a matter of "self-preservation". The charges came after a year-long joint investigation by the Queensland Police State Crime Command, child protection unit, Ethical Standards Command and the Crime and Corruption Commission. The officer was suspended on full pay a month after his son's death. The Queensland Police Service suspended Randall without pay when he was charged and will now go through the formal process of discharging him. Topics:crime,murder-and-manslaughter,courts-and-trials,police,qld,brisbane-4000 First posted May 11, 2018 11:41:09 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-11/policeman-who-killed-baby-son-with-punch-jailed/9751080 Updated May 10, 2018 17:49:09
![]() For five years Scott Hammond's mother Josie waited for the news that her son's killer had been caught. But Mrs Hammond died just one month before police would arrest and charge Kenneth Christopher Washbrook with Scott's murder. "She would be relieved," Scott's niece, Rachael Taylor, said. "Even though they lived in different states they were still close and they spoke every day. "Unfortunately my nanna isn't here to find out the good news, but the rest of us are very relieved that [someone] has been arrested." Ms Taylor said Mr Hammond's death had deeply affected her grandmother, "but we got on with life as much as we could, still waiting for that day when we got that phone call and today was that day." Scott Hammond had been found dead in his Tahmoor home, about 100 kilometres south-west of Sydney, on July 1, 2013. The 48-year-old's head had been bashed viciously and repeatedly, his pit bull was also injured and remained in the house. Mr Hammond's demise came as no surprise to his neighbours, who at the time described him as "not very nice at all" and a known drug dealer. At the time, police said they had a long list of suspects in the town of about 5,000 people. ![]() Mr Washbrook, 47, was charged with one count of murder following his arrest during raids at Heckenberg, in western Sydney this morning. He did not apply for bail at Campbelltown Local Court this afternoon, and it was formally refused. The matter will next be heard at Picton Court on July 10 when Mr Washbrook will be required to appear by video link. Hammond 'would set dogs onto my kids': resident The year before his death, Mr Hammond was fined for setting his pit bull on several locals. "Scott used to have dogs sitting up the front and my kids would ride their bikes past and he would actually skitch the dogs onto my kids," said one resident who did not want to be named. "My kids were too afraid to ride past his house, they would ride around the long way around the block just to avoid Scott's house." He had lived in the town for decades and had a bad reputation. Neighbours said Mr Hammond's house was often targeted by people, who broke his windows and threw Molotov cocktails at it. "It [his death] took longer than what we thought," one Tahmoor resident said in 2013. "We thought it would happen a lot sooner because he's not very nice at all." Another resident, who lived opposite Mr Hammond and did not want to be named, said the arrest came as a relief. "I'm so glad that someone has been finally caught after all these years," they said. He was 'caring, supportive' to family Ms Taylor said despite her uncle's reputation, she had always found him to be "a great person". "He was caring, he was supportive. He did everything that he knew to show us the he was a good person and that was the only thing that mattered," she said. When asked what the people of Tahmoor might think of the development in the case, Ms Taylor said she could not speak for the community even though she had lived in Tahmoor her whole life. "We understand that there will be some different perspectives on it but that is not my concern," she said. "I'm just worried about how my family is feeling today." Camden Police Area Commander Detective Superintendent Ward Hanson said today's result was a tribute to the hard work and tenacity of the investigative team. "Many of the investigative team on the strike force have been on this case since day one," Detective Superintendent Hanson said. "Today's result came about through persistence, old-fashioned policing and tugging on coats. Police said Mr Washbrook and Mr Hammond had no relationship to each other, but "were not strangers". Police would not be drawn on a possible motive for the alleged murder. Topics:law-crime-and-justice,crime,police,murder-and-manslaughter,tahmoor-2573 First posted May 10, 2018 12:35:42 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-10/man-charged-with-murder-over-bashing-death-of-scott-hammond/9746466 Updated May 09, 2018 19:30:38
![]() Armenian refugee Mano Derboghossian looks like any other affectionate father as seven-month-old Hasmig bounces on his knee. As the sun streams in through the window of their Chatswood unit, the bubbly Sydney-born baby has no concept of the challenges her parents have been through to reach this moment. Mano and Hasmig's mother, Nairi Kazanjian, fled the Syrian conflict and arrived in Sydney one-and-a-half years ago. Adjusting to their new life could have been daunting, without the help of their community sponsors, the Northern Beaches Refugee Initiative (NBRI). ![]() "We weren't that scared [about coming to Australia] because we had family here already, who had settled a while ago," Nairi said. "And we had a lot of help, for example from [our sponsors] NBRI. "They greeted us really well and helped us out a lot and they helped with pretty much everything after we had Hasmig. "If we needed anything we would let NBRI know and they would always find a way to help us." ![]() The young family are now flourishing Mano has a job as a driver and Nairi is expecting their second baby. Community sponsorship gets results NBRI is a project run by church and community groups, who pool their resources to support new refugees financially and socially. While it only operates on a small scale in Sydney's north, a consortium of major human rights groups say the success of such projects shows a similar sponsorship program should be introduced on a much larger scale. Save the Children, Amnesty International, The Refugee Council of Australia, the Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce, Welcome to Australia and Rural Australians for Refugees have launched a campaign lobbying the Federal Government to establish a sponsorship program that will support 5,000 refugees per year on top of the current humanitarian intake. They say it could be expanded to 10,000 per year within five years. Save the Children policy advisor Lisa Button said the group was confident it could attract enough sponsors to support the project. "We think that the evidence from past programs where community have supported refugees in other ways suggests that there is that generosity," she said. ![]() "And the thing about private sponsorship is, we have a target of 10,000 per annum, [but] If we don't find enough sponsors to meet those numbers, then those places don't get filled. "If on the other hand, we are correct in our view that there is a lot of good will and generosity, then those places get filled at minimal cost the taxpayer." How it would work Under the group's proposed Community Refugee Sponsorship Initiative, community groups would volunteer to sponsor potential asylum seekers. They might be church groups, or other religious or secular groups. The groups would raise money to cover the cost of the initial stages of settlement, including airfares and medical checks before departure, as well as covering living costs for the first year of living in Australia, including food and accommodation. The sponsor group would take responsibility for helping the refugee with all aspects of their transition to Australian life showing them around the neighbourhood, finding accommodation, making sure they get the health services they need and crucially, helping them find a job. "This form of refugee resettlement is very good for integration outcomes of refugees, because it enables refugees, once they arrive in Australia, to tap into the social capital of the community that they land in," Ms Button said. "So rather than being isolated and alone, struggling to find their feet, they arrive supported by a group of people who have said, 'we want to help these people.' "And we think that that can make all the difference in terms of integration outcomes." The program would be open to people identified as genuine refugees by UNHCR, as well as refugees seeking to re-unite with family in Australia. Flaws in the current system Australian currently has a scheme that allows for sponsorship of refugees, called the Community Support Program. It has a quota of 1,000 places within the existing humanitarian intake. Ms Button said the Community Support Program was a step in the right direction, but had a number of flaws. To be eligible for sponsorship under the current system, a refugee must be "job-ready" before their application is approved. ![]() She said that requirement rules out a huge number of refugees, who need English-language training before they are ready for the workforce. Ms Button also said the cost of the current scheme was prohibitive, as a visa application for a typical family costs more than $30,000. The other criticism she had of the current system was that the quota is within the current humanitarian intake, rather than in addition. She said that meant for every sponsored place created, the government shifts the cost of supporting one refugee within its own quota. 'Down payment on a nation's economic future' Consortium's proposed new program is largely based on the Canadian system, which was established in 1979 and has settled around 300,000 refugees. The Canadian system experienced a surge after 2015, when the world was horrified by the bloodshed in Syria's civil war and community groups put their hands up to sponsor more refugees. Independent Canadian senator Ratna Omidvar, from the province of Ontario, said Canada had settled more than 30,000 refugees since then. She said sponsorship groups know how to mobilise their contacts to get refugees up and running. "The Canadians who form these teams have connections and they surround the family, not just with the financial support," she said. "The system is so complex for them when they arrive, so you actually have to accompany them to the hospital, to get the health card, to get their immunisation. "[Being a sponsor] is more than a full-time job." Ms Omidvar said with Canada's declining birth-rate, its sponsorship program should also be seen as a down payment on the nation's economic future. "Over time it has been shown, time and time again. The children of Vietnamese refugees [from 30 years ago] are doing very well," she said. "The same with the Afghanis, the same with the Kosovans and the Sri Lankans. "The first generation always has a harder time and the second generation seals the deal." Topics:refugees,charities-and-community-organisations,sydney-2000 First posted May 09, 2018 18:18:21 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-09/refugee-sponsorship-program-proves-the-importance-of-community/9739762 Posted May 08, 2018 17:35:05
![]() A man has been charged with historic child sex offences dating back to the 1960s. The 74-year-old former youth worker was today charged with nine offences, including buggery, indecent assault of a male, and soliciting a male to commit an indecent act. Police said the charges related to six alleged victims. The man was arrested at a Basin View home on the New South Wales South Coast early this morning, before being taken to Nowra Police Station for further questioning. Police from Strike Force Eckersley have been investigating complaints about the alleged sexual assault of children at a Western Sydney boys' home that were referred by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Twenty years of alleged offences The offences allegedly took place between 1965 and 1985 at the Daruk Training School at Berkshire Park near Windsor, while the man was working there as a youth officer. Strike Force Eckersley has been investigating complaints related to the alleged abuse at the Daruk school since 2016. The South Coast man was granted strict conditional bail and will appear in Nowra Local Court on Wednesday. The arrest is one of three relating to the same boys' home since the strike force was established. Police are continuing their inquiries into the matter. Topics:law-crime-and-justice,crime,police,sexual-offences,child-abuse,youth,schools,royal-commissions,nowra-2541,berkshire-park-2765,basin-view-2540 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-08/74yo-charged-with-historic-sex-offences-western-sydney-boys-home/9739874 |
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