Man not guilty due to mental illness

A man who stabbed his wife to death has been found not guilty due to mental illness.

The 36-year-old man stabbed his 31-year-old wife in her Randwick unit in Sydney's east in November 2007.

The New South Wales Supreme Court heard he accused her of having an affair and days before exhibited disturbed behaviour, telling his wife he almost stabbed her friend.

After the stabbing the man fled with [his eight year old] child and was eventually found by police on the south coast of NSW.

Today Supreme Court Justice Peter Hidden ruled the man is not guilty of murder due to mental illness.

He ordered him to be detained in the hospital unit at Sydney's Long Bay prison until released by the due process of the law.

Labor suffers swings in local govt election

It has been a bad night for Labor in New South Wales, with swings against the party in many of the local government elections.

Candidates say the State Government has been a big problem for the party.

The Greens have done well in many of the key battlegrounds including the Sydney councils of Ashfield, Leichhardt, Randwick and Waverley.

Independent and the Liberal Party have also done well in many key local government areas, including Hurstville and Canada Bay in Sydney's west, and Gosford to the north.

In the City of Sydney, Indepent Clover Moore will comfortably retain her job as Lord Mayor.

Labor candidate Meredith Burgmann says the result reflects recent upheaval and scandal in the state Labor Government.

"It was very hard campaigning in the circumstances of a Labor government in turmoil," she said.

The final count for all councils is not expected to be known for up to a fortnight.

Disabled 'deserve secret ballot'

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission says it is time for New South Wales to introduce better voting methods for people with disabilities.

The call comes after the New South Wales Electoral Commission was found to have discriminated against a blind man, who was not able to cast a secret ballot in braille during the 2004 local government elections.

Darren Fittler asked for an application in braille four weeks before the Randwick City Council election so he could vote in secret.

But the commission failed to provide him with one.

The New South Wales Administrative Decisions' Tribunal ordered the state electoral commission to pay $5,000 for hurt and humiliation suffered.

The Electoral Commission says it will offer ballot papers in braille in the future.

But Human Rights Commissioner Graeme Innes says New South Wales lags way behind other states and territories in providing equality.

"This is a real wake-up call for the New South Wales Electoral Commission," he said.

"Many of us have been drawing it to their attention for some years. It really sends a signal that it's about time that they let everyone have a secret ballot and not just the majority of people in New South Wales."

Quote: The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission may be right here but everyone knows that they are just another stooge and arm of government and will only push what the government will allow them to. In other words if it is too hard for them and the government won't allow it then they wouldn't take any legal action to providing equality. So I particlularly don't think there is any need whatsoever to give them any credit, at all, for the likes of this article, opposed to all the other inequality and human rights abuses, right under their noses, that they have overlooked, especially during the John Howard government. For the likes of Graeme Innes all human rights abuse and inequality is a real wake up call for Australia. Not just when someone else has to take the action. Quote: "Many of us have been drawing it to their attention for some years."

Domestic violence bad in east

DOMESTIC violence has emerged as a serious problem in Sydney's eastern suburbs: there has been a 21 per cent increase in the number of assaults reported to police in the past two years, the state's latest crime statistics show.

The director of the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, Don Weatherburn, said the big jump in assaults in Sydney's east surprised him, and although he had no firm evidence, he suspected the cause was alcohol-related.

Domestic violence was especially bad in Randwick, and was particularly serious around Christmas, the statistics show.

Dr Weatherburn said property offences in NSW were at the lowest levels in a decade because of the heroin shortage. Break and enter offences fell by 10.4 per cent and robbery with a weapon (not a firearm) had also decreased by 7 per cent.

"The same can't be said, unfortunately, for offences such as assault. This offence has been stable for the past few years but the prevalence of assault in NSW is nearly double what it was just over a decade ago," Dr Weatherburn said.

Related:

Alliance tackles drunken violence
A survey of 1000 Australians found more than three-quarters of those questioned about attitudes to drinking said there was not enough public education about the dangers of alcohol, despite the Rudd Government's promise of a multimillion-dollar binge-drinking strategy.

Figures from Nielsen Media Research show that alcoholic beverage companies spent $122million on media advertising in the 12months to November 30, up 11.9percent on the year before.