Third man jailed over $1m drug haul

The fifth man to face court over an interstate drug ring worth more than $1 million has been sentenced to three years in prison.

He is the third person of the group to be given a term of imprisonment.

In January, NT police arrested five people involved in trying to smuggle large quantities of drugs from Adelaide to Darwin.

In court today, Thomas John Morris was sentenced to three years in prison, suspended after six months.

He was caught south of Tennant Creek with commercial quantities of cannabis and speed worth more than $300,000 in the trailer of his motorcycle.

The court heard Morris agreed to transport the drugs because he was struggling financially after chronic back pain left him unable to work.

Man jailed for sex attack on mother

A Northern Territory man who had sex with his mother has been sentenced to three years' jail but will be eligible for parole this month.

The 26-year-old man pleaded guilty to having sex with his biological mother twice earlier this year while he was affected by alcohol and other drugs.

Justice Sally Thomas said the victim was suffering from a debilitating illness requiring a wheelchair, which made her vulnerable.

The prosecution asked for a penalty that would serve as a general deterrent.

But the judge said while the case affects public morals and community standards it was extremely rare and she could find no precedent in the Northern Territory.

The man was sentenced to three years in prison, eligible for parole after six months.

He has already served more than five months in jail and could be released at the end of this month.

15 years jail for sex offender

A Northern Territory man from Borroloola has been sentenced to a maximum of 15 years jail for the sexual abuse of a four year old.

55 year old, Rex Fisher has been found guilty of four sex abuse charges in the Northern Territory Supreme Court today.

The court heard how in one instance, Fisher forced the girl to perform oral sex on him and tried to have sex with her.

On another occasion, Fisher gave the girl beer and a cigarette before he abused her.

Chief Justice, Brian Martin described the crimes as particularly abhorrent and said the man had shown no remorse.

Justice Martin also said there was nothing in the man's personal circumstances that mitigated the offences.

He said the offender had not had a dysfunctional or impoverished life, and there were no cultural aspects to the crimes.

Justice Martin said Fisher's crimes caused the girl physical pain and psychological problems.

The judge said due to the 55 year old's age and ill health, there was a risk he would die in jail.

NT intervention increasing murders

The North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) is blaming the federal intervention for an increase in the number of murder cases it is defending in the Northern Territory.

NAAJA solicitor Michelle Swift says since March the number of murder and manslaughter cases has increased astronomically.

She says the Intervention measures like dry camps and income management have pushed people from remote communities into Darwin's town camps in search of alcohol.

And she says the conditions are leading to increasing numbers of violent deaths.

"It's a result of urban drift, where people that are trying to access alcohol are coming into Darwin and into the town camps," she said.

"Most of these issues, most of the deaths are related to people who have been under the influence of alcohol when that happened."

Calls for Darwin restrictions
She says once people move away from their families and support networks they are isolated, stressed and more likely to be involved in violence.

"People come into town to drink," she said.

"When they could, there was some managed drinking that was happening in their communities before, but one of the problems with the policies of the intervention is that it hasn't made alcohol in Darwin any harder to access."

She says the problem of alcohol abuse affects the whole community and there should be blanket restrictions on grog sales in Darwin for at least two nights a week.

"It's not only Aboriginal people that have a problem with alcohol," she said.

"The number of road deaths that we've seen shows that alcohol is an issue for the Territory and some reduction or some restriction perhaps during weekdays or certainly for large parts of the weeks certainly would be appropriate for the whole community."

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Police cannot cope with backlash
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Forced to live in hunger

Peter Yoomarie, no more NT intervention

SUGAR, flour, milk powder and bread account for half the calories consumed by people in remote Aboriginal communities, a groundbreaking study reveals.

Fruit accounts for only 1 per cent of energy consumption, and vegetables - including potatoes and hot chips - just 5 per cent in one community in north-east Arnhem Land.

It is the first study to investigate the link between poverty and inadequate nutrition among Aborigines in the Northern Territory. While it focused on the one unnamed community of 2000 people, it offers a damning insight into a broader crisis in the nutrition of indigenous Australians.

It found that fruit and vegetable consumption was a third that of the wider Australian community. Cheap but poor-quality food heavy in carbohydrates made up two-thirds of the diet. This put adults at risk of obesity-linked diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart attack and compromised children's development, said the study leader, Julie Brimblecombe.

Residents were consuming three times the recommended quantity of salt - a major cause of high blood pressure. The unhealthiest foods were the cheapest, with sugar about 30 cents for 1000 kilojoules versus nearly $10 for broccoli - a result of the high cost of transporting fresh food to remote areas.

Dr Brimblecombe, who presented the results to the Australian Indigenous Women's Health Meeting in Darwin, organised by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said previous research had emphasised the quality of the food supply but had not "looked at how people's socioeconomic circumstances affect food choices. They call [flour and sugar] 'long life' foods - foods that are filling them up and keeping them going … When you've got only a bit of money to spend on food and you don't want your children to go hungry, you don't worry so much about the quality."

The study - based on a questionnaire completed by two-thirds of families and analysis of the food available in the local shop, takeaways and school - excluded healthier traditional foods, an important part of the local diet.

But preliminary analysis indicated that a diet that met government nutrition recommendations was not affordable on the budget available, Dr Brimblecombe said.

Short-term measures - such as distribution of fruit and vegetable hampers - were needed to address the immediate problem.

But structural change was also necessary because people did not want to depend on handouts.

Aboriginal Voters Reject Labor (over NT Intervention)

With both major parties supporting the NT Intervention those voters who opposed the Intervention and recognised the many negative features and problems associated with the Intervention were forced to seek some other way of expressing their wrath at both the party political megoliths – Labor and the LCP -- the Tweedledum and Tweedledee who by their actions oppose Aboriginal human rights in the Territory.

To have their voices heard Aboriginal voters and others opposed to the Intervention were forced shout their opposition in silence. They did so by not voting. Throughout the whole of the Territory the average voter turnout of was only two-thirds of those enrolled. Where dissidents did vote, they voted whenever possible for the only political party that had openly supported them in their struggle to stop the intervention – the Greens.

In the electorate of Braitling the Greens polled 3.5% higher than the ALP , and polling booths in Greatorex also showed the vote for the Greens was higher than that for Labor. Both of these electorates cover Aboriginal Town Camps in Alice Springs.

Commentators on the landslide swing against Labor in the Federal Elections have ignored such critical issues as: low turnout at the polls; the high level of informal votes; the dramatic rise in votes attained by the Greens; and swings of up to 18% against Labor in some electorates.

This shows the need for the ALP to drop their support for the NT intervention. Events are being organised around the country to continue the campaign against the Intervention, particularly on September 27, when a national day of action has been called.

Posted August 14th, 2008 by WGAR - Working ...

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Govt, union defend remote community schooling
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Sea levels could rise 4m this century

An expert in climate change says the world's sea levels could rise by up to four metres this century.

The head of the climate change unit at the Australian National University and science adviser to the Federal Government , Professor Will Steffen, says he believes the scientific community is underestimating the speed at which the climate is changing.

Professor Steffen has raised the concerns at the Coast to Coast Collaboration Conference in Darwin.

He says polar ice sheets across the northern shelf are melting quickly and last year was a record year in the loss of ice.

"The evidence over the past 12 to 18 months suggests that we have underestimated how fast this aspect of the earth's system can change," he said.

"We see things happening much faster than we thought."

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Climate change hot topic at youth 2020 summits
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Greenpeace to give Treasurer carbon capture petition
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NT election turnout lowest in 20 yrs

The raw final figures from the Northern Territory election have revealed the lowest level of voter turnout in at least the past two decades.

Final counts from the tally room have been posted on the NT Electoral Commission's website.

They show that last weekend almost 25 per cent of the electorate did not cast a vote.

That is a dive of more than 4 per cent compared to the 2005 election and the lowest figure in the past 20 years.

There were also more than 3,000 informal votes.

Labor scraped back into office with a drastically reduced majority after last weekend's election.

Country Liberal Party president Rick Setter says voters wanted to punish Labor for calling an early election on the basis of securing a gas plant for Darwin Harbour.

Quote: What about the informal votes? None of the above?

Mills concedes defeat in NT election

Northern Territory Opposition Leader Terry Mills has officially conceded defeat to Paul Henderson and Territory Labor.

The likely outcome of the election is 13 seats to Labor, 11 to the CLP and one independent.

Chief Minister Paul Henderson held a press conference and while stopping short of claiming victory, he described Labor's prospects as very good.

He says he has learned lessons from the swing he suffered, but declined to outline exactly what they were.

"Mistakes have been made in the election campaign, I acknowledge that, I take those on my shoulder," he said.

Territorians go to the poll today

Territorians go to the polls today to decide who will govern the Northern Territory for the next four years.

Some 119,814 voters are enrolled in the NT, with booths opening at 8am (CST) at numerous sites around the major centres.

Thousands have already voted at hundreds of mobile polling stations dotted throughout the vast outback, with a quarter of voters located in remote areas.

The lightning 19-day campaign has been a relatively drab affair, dominated by development, lifestyle and law and order.

Two seats have already fallen to Labor in a territory first, after the opposition failed to find candidates for the Top End seat of Arnhem or the Central Australian seat of Macdonnell.

Man jailed after stealing 29 payphones

A man will spend at least 14 months in jail for stealing 29 payphones from the Darwin area.

The 48-year-old said he wanted the money inside the phones for alcohol and DVDs.

Gregory Guy Smith pleaded guilty to stealing payphones worth $78,000 between September 2006 and January last year.

He used a chisel and a sledge hammer to break open the cashboxes and took $2,500 in coins.

He shared the proceeds with a co-offender.

The payphones were then dumped in bushland.

He also admitted stealing up to $26,000 worth of items including jewellery from the Framed Gallery in Stuart Park, as well as selling tools he stole from the back of a truck for $1,000.

Chief Magistrate Jenny Blokland described the crimes as serious and sentenced Smith to 28 months in jail.

He will be eligible for parole after 14 months.

International warships gather off Darwin

The Defence [Military] Department says international warships are sailing into waters around Darwin in preparation for major maritime wargames next week.

The Australian Defence [Military] Force is hosting the offshore simulated war exercise, dubbed Kakadu IX.

Royal Australian Navy Commander Charles Huxtable says navy and air force representatives from 10 countries are gathering for the event.

"We have ships from Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, Japan and Thailand taking part plus observers from India, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and South Korea, so it's a much larger exercise," he said.

"There'll be approximately 12 or 13 ships taking part.

"An extra 2,000 sailors will be in town over the period of the following week and then the weekend at the end of the exercise. So you'll see a lot more sailors and a lot more ships in the harbour."

The exercise runs for 19 days and begins on Monday.

Quote: War is a Lethal Meme. Defence is an excuse to wage war. What we need now is a Humanitarian Aid Group that can defend against any attack. Not an alleged defence force that wages illegal and degrading war and crimes against humanity like in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Iraq oil output, exports hit post-war high


Oil production has climbed to a post-war high of more than 2.5 million barrels-per-day.

Iraq has raised oil exports to a post-war high, earning billions of dollars to fund reconstruction after Baghdad cracked down on sabotage of its strategic pipelines, Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani says he expects 2008 oil revenues to reach $70 billion if oil prices stay high and there are no output disruptions. Mr Shahristani was optimistic Iraqi forces would be able to sustain tight security at oil facilities. That could raise the confidence of [foreign] investors who have been discouraged by [resistance to; the pre-emptive strikes on Iraq by the coalition of the killing, false flag operations by them, to encourage civil war, sectarian violence, Al Qaeda and powerful Shiite militants who had a tight grip on Basra, home to Iraq's biggest oilfields.

"In May, we have exceeded for the first time 2 million barrels-per-day (bpd) as an export rate," Mr Shahristani said. Production had also climbed to a post-war high of more than 2.5 million bpd, he said. Mr Shahristani was confident Iraq could pump up to 2.9 million bpd by the end of 2008. He declined to comment on export levels for June, but senior Iraqi oil officials said last month shipments would run slightly higher because of extra Kirkuk sales from the north.

Unknown News
"News that's not known, or not known enough."

-- IN IRAQ --

30,000 IRAQI TROOPS KILLED
and 90,000 SERIOUSLY INJURED Aug. 2003

785,957 IRAQI CIVILIANS KILLED
and 1,414,723 SERIOUSLY INJURED June 2007

3,615 U.S. TROOPS KILLED
and 50,677 SERIOUSLY INJURED June 2007

287 OTHER COALITION TROOPS KILLED
and 861 SERIOUSLY INJURED June 2007

160 U.S. CIVILIANS KILLED
and 288 SERIOUSLY INJURED June 2007

251 OTHER COALITION CIVILIANS KILLED
and 452 SERIOUSLY INJURED June 2007

-- IN AFGHANISTAN --

8,587 AFGHAN TROOPS KILLED
and 25,761 SERIOUSLY INJURED July 2004

3,485 AFGHAN CIVILIANS KILLED
and 6,273 SERIOUSLY INJURED July 2004

342 U.S. TROOPS KILLED
and 1,026 SERIOUSLY INJURED Jan. 2007

278 OTHER COALITION TROOPS KILLED
and 834 SERIOUSLY INJURED June 2007

? U.S. and COALITION CIVILIANS KILLED
and ? SERIOUSLY INJURED

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New NT laws: 'more Aboriginal people jailed'

The Australian Council for Civil Liberties says more Aboriginal people will go to jail under proposed mandatory sentencing laws in the Northern Territory.

The Territory Government plans to introduce new measures that would see anyone who commits a violent assault behind bars.

Australian Council of Civil Liberties president Terry O'Gorman says when mandatory sentencing laws are introduced it will be those who are most vulnerable in society that are hardest hit.

"You will see that the result of this particular measure, if it's implemented, will mean many more people from the Aboriginal community jailed," he said.

"Already the Northern Territory vies very close with Western Australia for the highest amount of Aborigines jailed in any state or territory in Australia."

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Serial rapist gets indefinite sentence

A serial rapist and paedophile whose crimes date back to the 1970s has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in jail.

Northern Territory Chief Justice Brian Martin took the unusual step of imposing an indefinite sentence without parole.

Fifty-two-year-old William Gordon Turner pleaded guilty to child sex crimes committed over a four-year period involving a girl who was 11 years old on the date of the first offence.

In sentencing, Chief Justice Martin said Turner was grooming children for sex and showed very serious patterns of sexual offending.

He listed a 30-year history of sexual crimes against women and girls, starting in the early 1970s.

The judge imposed an indefinite sentence on Turner, saying if released it was highly likely he would commit further offences as he was unable to control himself.

A co-accused woman, 32-year-old Patricia Rayment, was sentenced to at least five years' jail for her role in four of the sex crimes.

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It has been revealed that over the past year more than 60 per cent of sex offenders released from Western Australian jails did not complete rehabilitation programs targetting their crimes.

Indonesian men cleared of fishing illegally

Fifty-five Indonesian fishermen have been cleared of fishing illegally off Australia's northern coast and will be compensated for their boats being wrongly destroyed.

Federal Agriculture Minister Tony Burke has told Parliament the 55 fishermen are being held in a detention centre but will be transferred to a Darwin motel today and sent home on Saturday.

Mr Burke says five of their boats were destroyed when they were caught last month and the fishermen will be compensated.

He says those still in detention will be transferred to a Darwin motel and sent back to Indonesia on Saturday.

"As can be the case in any law enforcement activity, genuine errors can be made," he said.

"Given the numbers of people involved, I did feel it was important to inform the house directly of these matters.

"The Indonesian consulate is expected to provide travel documents for this group by noon tomorrow to assist their return to Indonesia."

The Indonesia Consul in Darwin is happy with the outcome.

Harbangan Napitupulu says investigations into other Indonesian boats apprehended in April are continuing.

He says he was surprised 33 boats were apprehended across three weeks.

"We felt that perhaps there was something wrong with these apprehensions," he said.

"We met the fishermen, most of them mentioned that they are still in the Territorial water."

Union urges PM to act on Stolen Generations promise

The Australian Education Union (AEU) wants the Federal Government to follow Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's apology to the Stolen Generations with a significant funding boost for Indigenous education in the Northern Territory.

AEU president Angelo Gavrielatos says despite the intentions of the Federal and Territory governments to improve the standards, funding is still inadequate.

"Kevin Rudd's sentiment in terms of what he decides for Indigenous students and all students is correct," he said.

"The sentiment expressed by the Northern Territory Government in terms of Indigenous educational outcomes is also correct but it falls in the absence of adequate resourcing and adequate funding."

In his apology to Indigenous Stolen Generations, Mr Rudd resolved over the next five years to have every Indigenous 4-year-old child attending an early childhood facility.

The AEU argues this will not happen under current funding.

"It's now time to give substance to the education revolution and it's also time to give substance to what needs to happen beyond the national apology - it's time for the Rudd Government to invest dramatically in education and invest dramatically in Indigenous education," Mr Gavrielatos said.

The AEU will meet in Darwin today to reiterate its call for $1.7 billion to be invested in the Territory over the next five years to improve the poor education standards of Aboriginal children.

Mr Gavrielatos says the Commonwealth must significantly increase funding for an extra 14,000 teachers.

"It requires a dramatic investment in teachers and it requires a dramatic investment in infrastructure,'' he said.

NT Eduction Minister Marion Scrymgour says there has been an increase in funding from the Territory Government.

"None of it's easy - if we found an easy solution for this many years ago it would have been implemented,'' she said.

The AEU estimates 7,500 Indigenous children in the Territory are not getting an education.

Related:

Union calls for $2.9b to fund education shortfall
The Education Union is calling on the Federal Government to provide an extra $2.9 billion in funding for public schools

Govt, union defend remote community schooling
The Centre for Independent Studies says Aboriginal students in the Northern Territory are finishing school with the numeracy and literacy skills of five-year-olds.

CFMEU calls for household formaldehyde probe

Australia's biggest building union is calling for the Federal Government to start an urgent large-scale investigation into the use of formaldehyde in household products.

The Government has already confirmed up to 50 Northern Territory intervention staff and police officers were exposed to concerning levels of the substance in the converted shipping containers they were living in for six months.

The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) says high levels of the dangerous carcinogen could be found in thousands of Australian homes as it is used in particle board and furniture.

The CFMEU's health and safety coordinator, Martin Kingham, says union members are exposed to the potentially carcinogenic substance in their daily work.

He says the health concerns extend to householders as well.

"There's also a long-term health effect for ordinary householders - particularly when you think of a kitchen, kitchen cupboards, that's where you store food, and tests have indicated that the formaldehyde cures out of the product into the air for up to 20 years after it's been installed," he said.

Stolen Generations children 'in leprosy tests'

Aboriginal children were used as guinea pigs for medical tests and some were injected with leprosy serum, a member of the Stolen Generations has told a Senate Inquiry in Darwin.

The inquiry is examining a compensation scheme for the Stolen Generations.

Greens senator Bob Brown said he was "shocked and alarmed" by the allegations, heard today by the Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee's inquiry into a Stolen Generation Compensation Bill 2008.

On the first day of hearings in Darwin today, Kathleen Mills from the Stolen Generations Alliance said the public did not know the full extent of what happened to some children.

And efforts to obtain records that support the claims, such as that children were injected with serums to gauge their reaction to the medication, had been hampered, she said.

"These are the things that have not been spoken about," Ms Mills told the inquiry.

"As well as being taken away, they were used ... there are a lot of things that Australia does not know about."

Outside the inquiry, Kath Mills said Aborigines at a site in Darwin were used as test subjects for leprosy.

She says Aborigines have not spoken about the tests because they feel ashamed by it.

"My uncle worked as a medical orderly, he gave me the name of the medicine and I'm not going to talk about it but it made our people very ill and he said the treatment almost killed them," she said.

"But that was what was used - now that's going to be in Health Department archives."

Senator Brown said it was important to get to the bottom of the claims, which he called "very, very serious".

"It needs investigation. If within the indigenous community there is a feeling that children may have been experimented upon for a treatment for leprosy or anything else, the air needs to be cleared."

Senator Brown said there was a national responsibility to help Aboriginal people to get to all the records, including those being held by church institutions.

"This is about their identity, this about their sense of being, their history," he said.

The compensation bill aims to pay money to victims of the stolen generations, including living descendants, out of a Stolen Generations Fund.

Ex gratia payments would be set at $20,000 as a common experience payment with an additional $3,000 for each year of institutionalisation.

Rodney Dillon, from the National Sorry Day Committee, said that while the government debated action more Aboriginal elders entitled to some form of compensation were dying.

"We are going to lose a lot of people between now and the next time this bill is put on the table," he said.

"Although it does not have all the things in it we would like, I think we should push ahead."

Zita Wallace, chairperson of the Stolen Generations Alliance, said it was time to act "with urgency".

"Because I know we are dying and all of us elders from the first generation we will be all gone ... maybe the government would wish that would happen, then they would not have to pay compensation."

Girls aged 12 'temporarily sterilised'

ABORIGINAL girls as young as 12 have received long-lasting contraceptive implants, according to the Queensland opposition, which claims "temporary sterilisation" tacitly approves of under-age sex, but fails to prevent sexually transmitted infections.

Jann Stuckey, the opposition spokeswoman on child safety, said at least four - and possibly five - adolescent girls had received the implant Implanon over the past two years, in Woorabinda, central Queensland.

She said the information came from four different sources, and one girl had three sexually transmitted infections.

"If this is policy, this is an absolute disgrace," the Liberal MP said, describing the attitude underlying the contraceptive's administration as: "We've got to stop them from being pregnant, but we're condoning rape."

Implanon is a small plastic rod inserted under upper-arm skin. It contains a hormone which stops ovulation, lasts at least three years, and has a low failure rate compared with other contraceptives because users do not have to remember to take a pill.

Mrs Stuckey, who used to be a nurse, said the implants increased the likelihood of girls having sex, tacitly approved under-age, unsafe sex, and were visible to potential sexual partners.

She did not know how widespread the practice was, and yesterday sought figures from the Queensland Government on how many teenage girls with the implant also have sexually transmitted infections.

The state's acting Chief Health Officer, Linda Selvey, issued a statement, saying in "extreme cases" education was of limited help in minimising possible harm, particularly for those not able to make informed decisions about sex and contraception.

"Health professionals have to weigh up the health risk of using such a device versus not using the device, and I can guarantee you that these measures are not considered lightly," Dr Selvey said, and would involve the parents.

David Molloy, a gynaecologist and spokesman for the Australian Medical Association of Queensland, said while doctors discouraged patients from having sex too young, they had to confront the reality of teenage pregnancies.

Govt, union defend remote community schooling

The Centre for Independent Studies says Aboriginal students in the Northern Territory are finishing school with the numeracy and literacy skills of five-year-olds.

The "Indigenous Education in the Northern Territory" report says the Territory education system in the bush is second rate and is forcing Aboriginal people into a lifetime of welfare dependence.

Professor Helen Hughes says remote schools don't follow mainstream curricula, have inadequate space and lack sufficient teaching materials, and argues 10,000 young Indigenous people in the Territory are unemployable because they can't speak English, are illiterate and non-numerate.

Professor Hughes says the Territory Government has known for 10 years that the education system for Aboriginal students isn't working, but has failed to act.

The Northern Territory Education Minister Marion Scrymgour says the claims are based on one remote school and can't be substantiated.

"Helen Hughes is talking about Yilparra. I just find it astounding that she bases a report and a generalisation across the Northern Territory Aboriginal communities based on one small homeland centre that she has visited."

The Northern Territory president of the Australian Education Union Nadine Williams has also attacked the report, saying teachers in Aboriginal communities are being unfairly targeted.

"It would be helpful if Helen Hughes had ever been to some of the places she's talking about and if she could possibly cease to stop generalising from a number of individual children and young adults she's met and had experience with to what she says are all homeland schools or all remote schools."

The Territory Opposition Leader Terry Mills says the Professor Hughes report concerns him and he wants an independent inquiry to determine the standard of Aboriginal education in the bush.

"The Territory Government has no option but to immediately implement an independent assessment as to whether the claims made by Professor Helen Hughes are correct or not. Now there is no other option."