For champion jockey Damien Oliver, even winning the Melbourne Cup on Irish raider Media Puzzle could not ease the pain of losing his brother Jason, killed last week in a trackwork fall.

"Melbourne Cups don't mean a thing to me any more," an emotional Oliver said as he returned to scale before an emotion-charged Flemington crowd of 120,000.

"I'd give it back right now to have my brother back."

Damien and Jason, both jockeys, also lost their father Ray in a race fall at Kalgoorlie in 1975.

Oliver, who rode in a pair of his brother's riding breeches, will fly back to Perth for Jason's funeral today and won't ride in the final two days of the Melbourne carnival.

The Cup was a triumph for legendary Irish trainer Dermot Weld, who became the first European to win Australia's most famous sporting event when Vintage Crop took the prize in 1993.

Despite numerous tries no other European galloper had been successful in the 3200m feature until Media Puzzle yesterday.

Weld also saddled up the favourite Vinnie Roe (9-2) who finished a gallant fourth after hitting the front rounding the home turn.

Oliver rode Media Puzzle (5-1) to perfection, settling him midfield before gradually making ground and being poised to strike at the top of the straight.

When Oliver asked him to sprint Media Puzzle dashed clear and had too much in hand for the fastfinishing George Hanlon-trained Mr Prudent and beat him by two lengths.

Godolphin's Beekeeper (8-1) was a long neck away third.

"I got there [to the front] too early but he was just too good," Oliver said of Media Puzzle, who gave him his second Melbourne Cup victory after he took out the 1995 feature on Doriemus.



The worst predictions about a radiation therapy crisis have been realised, according to a Canberra medical oncologist Dr Paul Craft.

Severe staff shortages at Canberra Hospital have meant valuable machines have been shut down and cancer patients forced to wait 10 weeks for treatment.

Dr Craft said many patients had travelled to Sydney, Wollongong and Wagga Wagga for radiation therapy which caused "severe stress" among cancer sufferers and service providers.

"The number of patients treated with radiation therapy in the Canberra Hospital has fallen by more than 20 per cent in the last year," Dr Craft wrote in the latest Canberra Doctor trade magazine.

"This decline has occurred despite an increase in funding allocated to this service by the ACT Government and an increase in the need for treatment in our community."

Dr Craft said successive Commonwealth governments had failed to plan ahead and train enough radiation therapists which had left a 10 per cent vacancy rate.

The Commonwealth had belatedly increased university places by 50 per cent but the benefits would not start to be seen until 2006.

Radiotherapy facilities were struggling now to meet demand for treatment.

"For many years, radiation oncologists and others have warned that the number of unversity places for radiation therapists was far too low and that a critical shortage would occur," he said.

"Unfortunately, the worst of their predictions have eventuated. At a national level, the chronic shortage in radiotherapy facilities means that some Australians who would otherwise benefit from treatment are missing out altogether. For Canberra residents, it means a distressing wait or travel to another city, staying away from home for periods upwards of six weeks."

In the ACT, the Canberra Hospital's recruitment campaign had gradually reduced staff shortages and new equipment was being installed to improve treatment efficiency and quality.

"Impediments to recruitment, such as lower rates of pay in the ACT compared to NSW, are slowing being fixed," Dr Craft said.

"[But] the rate of progress has been frustrating and initiatives so far are only short-term solutions."

Dr Craft said the local hospital sector needed flexible management and secure, adequate funding. The medical community was also working to set up an ACT Cancer Service - a central body to focus on quality care, research and teaching.

"Faced with the chronic staff shortages and frequent bouts of budgetary constraint, innovative approaches will be needed if we are to maintain, let alone enhance, out cancer services into the future," he said.




Farmers would be paid possibly billions of dollars after Federal Cabinet backed yesterday a plan to pay them compensation for the loss of water.

Cabinet agreed to a package from Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson that sets the scene for a showdown with the states.

The package would see a farmer's right to water given the same legal status as property.

With pressure mounting on governments to take water from farmers to save the environment, farmers would be compensated for the loss under the proposal. No final costing on compensation has been made, but experts believe it could run into billions of dollars.

Mr Anderson said ahead of Cabinet's decision that without water property rights, development in country areas would be stifled.

"Stable and properly defined water property rights are critical to ensuring investment security, otherwise farmers aren't going to take the punt," he said. "The lack of investment security at the moment is hampering not just economic production, but . . . it's also inhibiting looking after the environment."

But the push for water property rights faces opposition, the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Australian Democrats both attacking the idea.

ACF executive director Don Henry said property rights could end up costing billions of dollars in compensation, preventing expenditure on remedial works.

Democrats Leader Andrew Bartlett said his party backed an environment levy, but could not support the effective privatisation of water resources. "The Democrats do not support the introduction of water property rights as a means of determining compensation for farmers who are required to reduce their water allocation," he said in a statement.

State governments, including Queensland and NSW, have expressed serious reservations about paying compensation out of their treasuries, arguing that the Federal Government should be responsible.

Cabinet's proposals will go to the Council of Australian Governments' meeting planned for the end of the month.

The decision came after some of Australia's most prominent scientists told Cabinet up to $20 billion had to be spent on saving the nation's waterways.

The scientists, members of the Wentworth Group, gave a private briefing on a series of proposals to protect waterways, including a ban on broadacre clearing of native vegetation and massive spending on water infrastructure.

Under the group's proposals, farmers would win water property rights while also being paid to either take environmentally sensitive land out of production, or to plant trees.

Prime Minister John Howard refused to be drawn on how to finance the proposals, saying the Government was open to the ideas of the Wentworth Group and other, non-scientific organisations.

"I don't think this is an issue where you declare that one group is right and the other group is wrong - it's a question of looking at all the available evidence and trying to work towards solutions," he said.AAP




For the second time in a decade the Melbourne Cup will go home to Ireland with trainer Dermot Weld, but Media Puzzle's victory yesterday had the whole country cheering home Damien Oliver.

Oliver's brother Jason died a week ago from head injuries suffered in a fall at Perth's Belmont racetrack and Oliver dedicated his second Melbourne Cup win to his "best mate" before flying home to Perth for Jason's funeral today.

Weld, who won the Cup in 1993 with Vintage Crop to become the first and still the only European to claim Australia's most famous race, praised Oliver's decision to ride and said he was also extremely proud of Media Puzzle who careered away in the straight to beat durable stayer Mr Prudent by two lengths.

Beekeeper proved the best of the trio from the world's biggest racing operation, Dubai-based Godolphin, finishing another long neck away with Media Puzzle's stablemate, topweight and favourite Vinnie Roe fourth, another 1-lengths away.

"It was a very special day for me when I saw my two brave horses come into the straight leading the Melbourne Cup," Weld said.

"I targeted this race two years ago with Media Puzzle but he fractured his pelvis in a training mishap and couldn't make the trip.

"I always knew he would be the right type of horse to bring to Australia and Vinnie Roe ran a superb race as well.

"But the firm ground today suited Media Puzzle while it was too hard for Vinnie Roe with the 59kg on his back.

"It was a brilliant ride by Damien, and the team who have been looking after my horses here including my son Mark have done a great job."

Weld was prepared to wait until the last possible moment for Oliver to decide whether he wanted to ride Media Puzzle in light of his recent tragedy and said he would not have considered an alternative until then.

"I only arrived here last Thursday and I was very proud of my son Mark when I read the newspaper and saw that he'd said there were more important things in life than a horse race.

"That puts it into perspective."

For Oliver the decision obviously wasn't easy but he had committed to Media Puzzle almost two weeks ago when he rode him to a devastating win in the Geelong Cup, breaking a long-standing track record in the process.

Oliver's biggest concern was that he wouldn't have been able to do the horse justice but after returning to ride at Flemington on Saturday, he said yesterday was a little easier.

"I talked it over with my family and it's what my brother would have wanted," Oliver said.

"The hardest thing on Saturday was so many people coming up to offer their sympathy but I'm glad I rode then, because it made it a little easier today.

"I knew I had to keep my emotions together. I had to concentrate, I have a job to do.

"A lot of people had a lot invested in this horse and I couldn't afford to let them down."

Oliver said the race worked out as well as he could have hoped.

"I was one or two further back than I'd planned but I followed County Tyrone who was going really well at the 1400 and then at the 700 I saw Beekeeper who I knew was going to be right there," Oliver said.

"I moved out to give Media Puzzle some room and was outside Vinnie Roe at the top of the straight and I knew my horse would run it out strongly.

"That's the beauty of the European horses, you can make a sustained run whereas most of our horses are sit and sprint types.

"The Geelong win was the best Cup trial I've ever ridden, even better than Doriemus's Caulfield Cup win in 1995.

"And Dermot Weld didn't bring him out here for the scenery."

Weld said he had hedged his bets on Melbourne's weather by bringing Media Puzzle to Australia with Vinnie Roe although he wasn't certain to get into the race until he won at Geelong.

"I've got one horse who likes it wet and one who needs it firm so we had a chance whatever happened," Weld said.

"If Media Puzzle hadn't made it into the Melbourne Cup then I had the back-up plan of the Sandown Cup in a couple of weeks.

"But they'll both go home now and hopefully Vinnie Roe will be back again next year."

Godolphin trainer Saeed Bin Suroor said the sheiks would also be back next year having registered two seconds and a third in the past four years.

"I was very happy with Beekeeper and he may be back next year," he said.

"He will be a better horse next year.

"The ground was just too hard for our horses."

Godolphin's other runners Pugin and Hatha Anna, who led early, finished the race 18th and 20th respectively.

Meanwhile, well-supported New Zealander Distinctly Secret, who started 6-1 third favourite, struggled over the final stages of the race finishing six lengths behind in sixth place. AAP


A nation-wide ban on semi-automatic handguns moved closer yesterday after a meeting of police ministers in Darwin.

The summit agreed to a 19-point plan that will tighten access to guns and give clubs more controls over prospective members.

The ministers agreed to introduce new laws and regulations for the registration of firearms, new licensing requirements, new rules for the revocation of licences, reporting requirements, storage requirements and penalties for illegal possession.

The ministers were at first irritated by the dogmatic nature of the 27-point document tabled by Justice Minister Chris Ellison.

However, after a day of bargaining, they reached broad agreement on 19 points while the rest needed further investigation.

Senator Ellison's proposals include:

A handgun buy-back.

A 12-month waiting period for new firearm owners.

Gun clubs to have the right to expel members.

Mandatory psychological testing for those applying for a gun licence.

A major sticking point was the buy-back, with states and territories unsure of the Federal Government's commitment to the scheme nor their likely cash contribution.

The meeting agreed only to explore options for the buy-back.

Another point of contention was the definition of handguns that will be legal for sporting events.

The Howard Government is pressing to ban all handguns not needed for Commonwealth and Olympic Games competitions, or by police, security organisations and the military.

Senator Ellison has identified 250 types of handguns that would be banned under that definition.

The police ministers adopted the broad thrust of the federal proposals, including restricting legal handguns to those needed for sporting competitions and giving more control to gun clubs.

ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said last night he was pleased with the agreement reached at the meeting.

"We have gone a long way, we made very significant progress today," he said.

Some of the measures agreed to are:

Restrict handguns that can be imported or owned for sporting purposes to those needed for Olympic and Commonwealth Games sporting shooting.

Explore options for a buy-back scheme.

Accelerate national standards for registering and tracking firearms.

Develop a system of graduated access to handguns for legitimate sporting shooters based on training, experience and event participation.

Require that a sporting shooter must be a member of a club to obtain a gun licence and allow clubs to ask police for background checks on prospective members.




This is a Canberra taxi driver's last fare, caught by a new security camera in his cab minutes before he was viciously attacked.

The 42-year-old Gungahlin man had his skull and eye socket fractured in the attack in Manuka about 3am on Sunday.

Police are seeking these two men and issued yesterday the photograph taken by the camera in the cab. All Canberra Cabs were installed with the security cameras in August but it is the first time police have used them in this way.

Canberra Cabs chief executive John Muir said the attack and the resultant photograph vindicated having the cameras in the cabs.

"We were pleased they were in operation for this particular incident," he said.

"We would not have been able to have this result without the cameras in the car, that's for sure."

Mr Muir said the driver was just doing his job when the attack happened.

"Our feeling is simply that we would like to see the full force of the law brought to bear on the perpetrators of these sorts of crimes," he said.

"It is quite unfair that taxi drivers should have to live in fear of this sort of thing happening to them when in fact they are only out there all hours of the day and night providing a service to the community."

Mr Muir hoped that the cameras would act as a deterrent and stop any similar incidents.

All the cabs have notices warning passengers about the cameras.

Mr Muir said the attackers would have seen the signs and known that they could be photographed. "It makes them vicious," he said.

AFP Constable Shane Scott said the taxi driver had picked up the two men at the taxi rank in Alinga Street in the city about 2.45am.

He took the men to Franklin Street near St Christopher's Cathedral in Manuka when there was a argument and the driver was assaulted. The two men then took off with some money.

"It appears unprovoked and very vicious," he said.

Constable Scott said having the photograph was a real help to the police.

"It is a great movement forward for police to have access to this sort of technology to assist us with our inquiries," he said.

One of the men in the photograph is described as about 25 to 35 years old, 183cm tall with a heavy build. He was growing a beard. He was also wearing a light-coloured silky shirt. The second man was fair-skinned, about 20 to 30 years old, 180cm tall, of slight to medium build.

Police appealed for anyone who may have seen the incident near St Christopher's in Manuka or recognise the men in the photograph to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.




MELBOURNE: Damien Oliver saluted the heavens yesterday as his triumph in the Melbourne Cup was tinged with the heartbreak of losing his brother Jason.

"Melbourne Cups don't mean a thing to me any more I'd give it back right now to have my brother back," an emotional Oliver said minutes after his victory on the Dermot Weld-trained Media Puzzle.

Oliver cut short Cup celebrations last night to fly home for his older brother's funeral in Perth today.

Jockey Jason Oliver died last week after a fall during trackwork.

It's rare that a jockey and not a horse provides the biggest story at the Melbourne Cup, but Damien Oliver carried not only the hopes of punters but the best wishes of a nation, which was well aware of his tragic loss.

Oliver wore his brother's riding breeches in the race and said Jason had been on his mind when he punched the air and looked to the heavens after crossing the winning post.

"I was just looking up and just thanking him and just telling him that this was for him," he said.

At the presentation ceremony, he dedicated his win to Jason, 33, who died in Royal Perth Hospital last Tuesday.

"I know you are up there mate," he told the 102,000-strong Flemington crowd.

"I couldn't have done it without you buddy, so this one is for you."

It was 30-year-old Oliver's second Melbourne Cup win but his first, on Doriemus in 1995, was also dedicated to a lost loved one.

The Oliver brothers' father, Ray, was killed in a race fall at Kalgoorlie in 1975.

Back in Perth, Oliver's mother Pat Rudland sought solace with friends and family as she watched her son's win on TV and prepared for Jason's funeral.

Oliver said that he hoped his win would bring a little bit of happiness to his family.

"It's so tragic to lose someone in your family so young.

"You should never take anything for granted and always appreciate your loved ones."

Jason Oliver suffered fatal injuries when the two-year-old Savage Cabbage snapped a foreleg after a 400m trial at Belmont last on Monday.

Damien Oliver's friends knew the pressure he was under going into the race, and shared the bitter-sweet emotion of his victory.

Oliver's triumph almost overshadowed another great Melbourne Cup story.

Media Puzzle became only the second European galloper to claim Australia's most famous race, and Weld was also the first to do the trick with Vintage Crop in 1993.

"It's a wonderful day and a great day for Ireland," Weld said.

Media Puzzle careered away in the straight to beat durable stayer Mr Prudent by two lengths. AAP




JAKARTA: Indonesian police had arrested a man matching the composite sketch of a suspect wanted in the Bali nightclub bombings that killed nearly 200 people, a spokesman said yesterday.

The news came as hundreds of students marched on the Australian Embassy in Jakarta to protest against Australia's raids on Indonesians suspected of having links to the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah.

National Police spokesman Colonel Prasetyo said investigators detained the 28-year-old man, identified only as Zulfan, in North Sumatra on Monday.

He was picked up for using a fake identity card, but police said he also resembled one of the suspected bombers.

The arrest came six days after police issued sketches of the three suspected bombers and launched a nation-wide manhunt.

Police said the sketches had produced at least 10 promising leads, and expressed confidence that the probe into the October 12 attacks was making progress.

Brigadier-General Edward Aritonang said investigators had determined the identities of three suspects in the bombings. He refused to disclose any names, but said detectives believed the three were "low-level operatives".

Waving banners saying "Reject foreign intervention" and "Australia loves terrorism, Go to hell", the protesters blocked the embassy gates for more than an hour in the middle of the day.

Police watched over the noisy but peaceful protest by at least 300 students, believed by staff to be the largest outside the embassy since the Australian intervention in East Timor in 1999.

Demonstrators said they objected to Australian police and Australian Security Intelligence Organisation raids last week on Indonesian families in Australia thought to have links with JI.

The radical Islamic group is suspected of being behind the Bali bombings on October 12 in which more than 190 people, half of them Australians, died.

"We think the Australian Government is overreacting to what's happened in Indonesia," a student, Mifahul Ilmi, said.

"What happened in Bali, that's a national tragedy. We think the Australian Government is overreacting by capturing our citizens."

The students, all from the University of Indonesia, also protested against the introduction of an anti-terrorism regulation by the Indonesian Government.

The protest came as Indonesian Justice Minister Yusril Mahendra reiterated Indonesia's view that Australia's recent handling of the attacks was "heavy-handed".

"I think the Australian Government should explain to the public what they are doing, especially to Indonesian families, because it's very sensitive," he said.



Canberra's landmark Captain Cook water jet in Lake Burley Griffin could be switched off and the Cotter dam brought back into service if drought conditions persist around Canberra through summer.

Water restrictions are predicted within the next 10 weeks and the National Capital Authority and the ACT Government are implementing drought strategies to help conserve water.

Among the measures are reduced watering of lawns and parks, checks for leaks in watering systems, and limits on how often cars are washed.

Authorities are also moving to ensure that the scene in the above picture, taken yesterday and showing extensive parkland irrigation occurring during the middle of the day against advice to landowners to water gardens only during the cool of the evening or early morning, will not be repeated in the ACT.

Automatic watering systems are to be reset to irrigate during the morning and evenings, and contractors responsible for manual watering will be ordered to do likewise.

Authority spokesman Jeremy Lasek said yesterday that the authority was considering restricting the use of the Captain Cook jet and several other fountains to reduce evaporation.

"There's a lot of water that goes up and not all of it comes down," he said.

As well as being a practical measure, limiting the use of fountains was a symbolic way of promoting water conservation.

"Like all businesses and organisations we have to do our bit to save water this drought," he said.

Other NCA measures included the reduction in the amount of water used in areas of the Parliamentary Triangle by 8 per cent, and limiting manually operated sprinklers to late in the evening or early in the morning.

However, some watering would need to continue regardless of the severity of water shortages because the cost of replacing lawns maintained by the authority would be at least $5 million.

ACT Urban Services Minister Bill Wood said the ACT Government, which would decide whether water restrictions were necessary, had also begun reducing its water use.

Sprinkler systems at Urban Services buildings had been switched off for the duration of the drought, and fleet vehicles would be washed only once a month.

Low priority car parks and road medians would be removed from the watering program.

Mr Wood said district parks such as Eddison and Telopea parks would have their water allocation reduced, and premier locations such as Northbourne Avenue, Glebe Park and Lennox Gardens were being reviewed.

Meanwhile, Actew chief executive Paul Perkins said yesterday the Cotter dam was being upgraded in case it was needed to supply water to Canberra and Queanbeyan this summer. The dam, built in 1912, was no longer used because of its age and the poor quality of its water supply.

Water needed to be pumped to the Mount Stromlo Water Treatment Plant before it could be used, but the dam was available as a "last resort".

"When you get into a period like this you'd better make sure all the things can be used if they need to be."

Water levels at Googong, Bendora and Corin dams were still adequate to supply Canberra for several months, but the Cotter dam could be used if supplies dropped to critical levels or there were problems with pumping systems.

"There's always the risk of breakdown, or there could be bushfire this season, therefore the contingency of Cotter would have to be considered," Mr Perkins said.



What better way to celebrate 51 years of marriage, thought Angus Donald, than to jump out of an aeroplane with his wife?

After all, he had only been a spectator when his wife Heather took the plunge a year before for their 50th anniversary.

Yesterday they celebrated by free-falling from 10,000 feet on to an oval in Deakin, assisted by tandem jumpers Graeme Windsor and Bryce Anderson, of Aerial Skydiving.

Mr Donald, 74, of Curtin, said he had been wondering what they could do to surpass the jump on their 50th anniversary. He decided on skydiving again, only this time he would go as well.

He kept the jump a secret from Mrs Donald, 73, until yesterday morning.

"I told her and she said, 'All right,' went away and was ready 15 minutes later," Mr Donald said. "If I had said we're getting in a boat and crossing Lake Burley Griffin, she would've said no. She doesn't like boats."

But she apparently loves skydiving. Both Mr and Mrs Donald regularly enjoy tennis, golf and the outdoors.

"You only live once," she said. "It was wonderful. It doesn't really feel as if you're falling. And you see everything."

Troubling winds threatened to put off the jump, which was scheduled for the morning. But by 6pm, the winds calmed and they were on the plane.

The Donalds' three children and seven grandchildren were awaiting them on the ground, greeting the parachuting couple with champagne.

Soon after they landed, the unavoidable question began: what was the next airborne adventure they were going to try for anniversary number 52?

"We'll wait and see," Mrs Donald said.



A BLISTERING audit report which includes evidence from former finance minister John Fahey has slammed the tender process for the $351 million outsourcing of the Health Group Information Technology cluster.

The five-year contract was signed in December 1999 after a flawed process in which the winner, IBM GSA, was mistakenly given computer discs containing its competitors' bids before the tenders closed.

IBM GSA lodged its own revised bid after the deadline.

The problems with the Health cluster were one of the triggers for the abandonment of the controversial ''whole-of-government'' policy of IT outsourcing.

The Australian National Audit Office has slammed the then Office of Asset Sales and Information Technology Outsourcing, saying, ''On the basis of the evidence available, ANAO is not able to provide an assurance that no tenderer unfairly gained a competitive advantage in the Health Group tender process.''

The auditors found a lack of transparency in the way probity issues were considered by OASITO, especially in the inadvertent passing of sensitive price information to IBM GSA, its subsequent revised price offer and substantial price reductions made in the August 2 repricing round by two of the three tenderers.

Deficiencies in documentation and inconsistencies in individuals' recollections of events had not allowed the auditors to conclude that probity issues were appropriately and effectively managed. There were a number of areas in which the handling of the probity issues could have been improved.

In September 2002, Mr Fahey told ANAO, ''When the disc containing all three bids was delivered to IBM GSA in error my reaction on being informed directly by OASITO was to cancel the tender. I could not see that a tender process with integrity could continue.''

He had conveyed this to OASITO and requested that all parties to the tender be informed and their views obtained; that the probity auditor be informed and that all subsequent dealings be conducted in the probity auditor's presence.

''At the conclusion of the tender I was both disappointed and annoyed at the limited role of the Probity Auditor and the absence of a separate report on this issue.''

The audit office also said OASITO's documentation was inadequate; requests for legal and probity advice on the disclosure had been oral and there was no record retained by OASITO of its conversations.



Organisers are stressing that runners should prepare today for The Canberra Times Family Fun Run tomorrow, since expected temperatures range between 12 and 30 degrees.

By following the hydration tips for running on a hot day, entrants should have an enjoyable run.

Runners should increase their fluid intake today, tonight and tomorrow morning. A good idea is to have a water bottle by the bed tonight and keep up their intake during the night.

On a 10km run, runners should drink before they actually feel thirsty.

There are four drink stations. The first is at the baggage-deposit area at the start, near the junction of Justinian Streets and Yamba Drive, Phillip. The second is 4km along the route, in Adelaide Avenue, at the Kent Street overpass, and the third at the 8km mark at the intersection of Kings Avenue and National Circuit. The final station is at the finish line on the Rond Terraces in Commonwealth Park, where water, Powerade and fruit will be available.

If entrants are suffering from illness or injury, it is a good idea to withdraw. If runners feel distressed during the event, they should stop and rest. An ambulance will be following runners. St John first-aid stations will be at the second and third water stations. St John volunteers will also have mobile first-aid assistants roaming the course on bicycles.

A moderate start makes a strong finish. The majority of competitors start too quickly. It's much more fun to pass people along the way than to have everyone pass you. Caps or hats and sunblock are also a good idea.

The 10km run starts at 9am in Yamba Drive, Phillip, at the junction with Justinian Street, and follows Yamba Drive through Yarra Glen to Adelaide Avenue, State Circle, Kings Avenue to finish in Commonwealth Park across the lake from Old Parliament House.

People who still wish to enter may do so. Late entries will be accepted at Canberra College Woden campus (formerly Phillip College), Launceston Street, Phillip, from 7.30am. The late entry fee for an individual is $20. Family Fun Run T-shirts will be on sale for $19.80.

The baggage truck will be at the start. Runners who wish to have their gear taken to the finish should deposit their gear before 8.40am.

Car parking at the start is at Canberra College Woden campus. Parking at the finish is restricted to the car parks of Anzac West and East and the CIT car parks, entered from Constitutional Avenue.

Runners who finish the 10km within 90 minutes will have the chance to win thousands of dollars of lucky draw prizes including a $3000 savings account with CPS Credit Union and $1000 in cash from Walter & Turnbull. The official presentations will start at 10.35am. The lucky draw prizes follow.

A section of Yamba Drive, between Wisdom and Kitchener Streets, will be closed from 8am to 9.30am and northbound lanes of Yarra Glen, Adelaide Avenue, State Circle and Kings Avenue from 8.30am to about 11am.

An alternative route for city-bound traffic from Woden is through Theodore Street, Carruthers and Kent Streets to Yarralumla, then Alexandrina Drive and Coronation Drive to Commonwealth Avenue.



A nine-bed convalescent care unit officially opened yesterday would ease pressure on the ACT public hospital system, Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said.

Calls for a step-down or convalescent care unit in the ACT date back almost 40 years and now the pleas appear to be answered.

The service would provide a place for hospital patients to recuperate and regain daily living skills and physical functions before returning home, he said.

"We recognised that some people, especially the old and frail and those who live alone, need support after they leave hospital."

Patient Margaret Haylock broke her wrist on Saturday, spent two days in Canberra Hospital and was moved to the new unit at Calvary Hospital.

Ms Haylock, who has friends but no family in the ACT, said she could have found it difficult to cope at home.

The southside resident said the facility was "excellent".

"I can take time to work out what I can and can't do, like doing my hair and doing up buttons," she said.

The unit has nine beds - six for Canberra Hospital patients and three for patients discharged from Calvary Hospital - a lounge room and kitchenette.

Patients can stay for up to two weeks in the unit which is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Older Women's Network and Transitional Care Reference Group member Julia Biles said the unit was welcomed but the community would continue lobbying for a stand-alone facility.

The ACT Government set aside $2.49 million over four years in the 2002-03 Budget to fund the service.

And Mr Stanhope said yesterday the Government would support the 11-bed transitional care service at Morling Lodge for another 12 months.

The convalescent care service at Calvary Hospital would benefit patients and their families, the community and health system.

"By providing appropriate and accessible care to people as they recover from surgery or an illness, we are relieving pressure on our public hospitals and ensuring they are better able to meet the needs of the community when required," he said.

For more information about the service telephone 6201 6683.



AUSTRALIA is at a crossroads in having to make key decisions on population levels, resource use and environmental quality.

In choosing what Australia's population should be in the future we can't rely on technology alone in the decision-making process, CSIRO researcher Barney Foran, co-author of Future Dilemmas: Options to 2050 for Australia's population, Technology, Resources and Environment, said. "We believe that we have at last begun to get a handle on the extremely complex relationships inherent in Australia's economy and ecology, and we have created a tool which will be useful to successive generations of governments and planners," he said.

In 1999, the Commonwealth Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs commissioned the CSIRO to study the environmental impacts of different levels of population growth.

Using ground-breaking computer modelling, the study created three alternative possibilities.

The first "low" scenario looked at the consequences of a zero net immigration rate, and a population of 20 million by 2050.

The "medium" scenario gave a population of 25 million, and the "high" resulted in a population of 32 million by 2050.

Mr Foran said that sustainability for Australia needed more than simply attempting to manage future levels of immigration and population.

"We'll have to take a long, hard look at our infrastructure, lifestyle, energy usage, international trade, and technology," he said.

"The real challenge in the population and resources debate is how we reduce the volume of energy and materials we consume, while still maintaining our standard of living."

Mr Foran was optimistic about Australia's immediate future, but cautioned that direct population effects will be significant in several major areas including fisheries resources, oils stocks, and air quality.

"All three scenarios show continued growth in a range of key sectors of the economy until at least 2020," he said.

"This gives us a window of opportunity."


It was a bit like a scene from the movie Forrest Gump yesterday when the winner of The Canberra Times Family Fun Run, Gemecha Woyecha, just kept running.

After crossing the finish line in 29min 31sec, Woyecha slowed down long enough to check his stopwatch before taking off again through Commonwealth Park.

More stories, photos - Page 12

It seemed the 10km distance wasn't long enough for an athlete more accustomed to running marathons.

So while the rest of the 2475 entrants straggled across the line and drifted into the comfort zone for some fluids, fruit or a massage, Woyecha went missing.

Plenty of people suggested that he might have been running back to Woden to pick up his car, but that has not been confirmed.

He became an international man of mystery, as race organisers and fellow runners speculated about his origins and previous credentials in his absence.

At first it was thought he was from Kenya, then Qatar, but it turned out he was born in Ethiopia and is going through the process of becoming an Australian citizen.

Later, in broken English, Woyecha explained that he had gone for a lengthy warm-down run because the race had been a "little short".

It was tough to find him even when the prizes were being handed out and, it took the announcer a couple of minutes to bring him running from the crowd.

He was in a bunch sprint to the finish and crossed the line ahead of unlucky losers Martin Dent and James Barker.

"I'm a long-distance runner, but I want to improve my times, so I run short distance as well," Woyecha said. "It was a little bit windy, but I am very happy, it was great. I wanted to win, but everyone feels the same way."

He came to Australia for the Sydney Olympics and decided to stay.

He lived in Melbourne for two years and moved to Canberra a month ago to train alongside another Ethiopian-born runner, Sisay Bezabeh.

He's run in the previous two Canberra marathons, and now hopes to improve his times under the coaching of Dick Telford.

For Dent, second place is becoming a habit. He managed to win the event in 1998, but for the past three years he's been beaten to the line.

Woyecha opened up a 20-second lead in the final kilometre of the race, and Dent couldn't run him down.

"I'm running a marathon in four weeks, so I will see how that goes," Dent said.

"If it goes well I might stick with marathons or go back to the track."

Runners endured temperatures in the low 20s and windy conditions that ensured Rob de Castella's race record of 29min 1sec was not under threat.

England's Sarah Salmon was the first woman home in 34min 26sec, and showed plenty of the men a clean pair of heels to finish 11th overall.

Salmon moved to Canberra to be with her boyfriend, track athlete Corey Tucker, but is not planning to switch her allegiances to Australia in the near future.

She has represented England at school level in cross- country and track, and then moved to the under-23 level and participated in the World Cross Country titles.

"My coach is Australian, all my training partners are Australian, but I don't know what my family would think if I swapped," Salmon said.

It was a clear victory for Salmon, who finished more than three minutes ahead of Jane Zeller and Angela Bateup.


When Superintendent Geoff Hazel started with the ACT police 30 years ago, the job was simply a matter of taking the reports and locking up the criminals.

The superintendent in charge of communications, who joined in September 1972 seeking some stability after being transferred with the army six times in five years, said he had seen many changes for the better.

The ACT police acknowledged those changes yesterday during a dinner to celebrate 75 years since the formation of a police service for Canberra.

Superintendent Hazel said the major changes were in the way the police did its business and its interaction with the community.

"In the early days it was just a matter of go out, grab the criminal and lock them up if you could. These days there is a lot more emphasis on the victims and rightly so," he said.

"In the old days we knew everybody in town, so when somebody's house got burgled you knew who had done it as soon as you went there, it was just a matter of getting the evidence together to go and get them. Drug offences in those days were few and far between."

Superintendent Hazel said there were now many different jobs and opportunities with the police that weren't available 30 years ago.

"Then you were either a general duties officer, on a motorbike as a traffic member or in investigations," he said.

Now officers could go on UN missions, move internationally, go into counter-terrorism or intelligence roles.

If Superintendent Hazel is one of the older officers, Constable Anna Sollar is one of the new breed of police.

A mother of three boys, aged three, five and seven, the 39-year-old has been in the job five months and is loving it.

She had always wanted to be a police officer but went to university where she graduated with honours and then started a family.

ACT Chief Police Officer John Murray said the opening of Parliament House in 1927 led to the creation of a police service for the ACT to enforce local laws and to guard Government House.

Seventy-five years ago the police force for the ACT consisted of 10 men: today there are 750 male and female members.

"Quite a lot has changed in 75 years but one thing remains constant - we have bushrangers in 1927 and we still have bushrangers in 2002, but with a slightly different dimension," he said.

Police had become more professional, consisting of people chosen for their life experience, their intellect and their ability to mix.


Nick Walshe is competing in The Canberra Times Fun Run for the fifth time, but the heat is on this time around.

Walshe, 24, of Farrer, said warm weather would be a factor in this year's race, which is usually held in September.

The Bureau of Meteorology was forecasting a high of 30 degrees Celsius and a low of 12 for Sunday, with temperatures ranging between 18 and 23 between 9am and 11.30am while the race was being run.

Walshe said he had run in hotter conditions, although usually over middle distances, and on a track. At 10km, temperatures in the high 20s would be uncomfortable.

"[For] the City to Surf in Sydney earlier this year, it was a hot day, 28 degrees," he said. "I drank over a litre of fluids before the race and I still got dehydrated."

South Canberra-

Tuggeranong Athletics Club coach Mike Sainsbury said effective hydration was properly done in the 24 hours before a race, not just before, during or after it.

"Stay off the alcohol, minimise the coffee," he said.

"Generally, water is good, but sports drinks are okay. Stick to what you're used to."

He said that runners would lose 1-2 litres during the race, which was why a 24-hour build-up was essential.

"If you stop sweating, that's a danger sign. With hydration, it needs to be pre-emptive."


About 500 anti-war protesters rallied in Garema Place yesterday to oppose Australian involvement in military action against Iraq.

Organised by the ACT Network Opposing War, the hour-long rally heard from a range of speakers including NSW Greens Senator Kerry Nettle and 15-year-old Daramalan student Peter Krbavac.

The colourful rally attracted placards and signs from a range of local organisations including the Uniting Church, the Quakers, Women in Black, the Nuclear Disarmament Party and the Greens.

Organiser Diana Abdul-Rahman described the turnout as "fantastic".

A similar rally in Brisbane yesterday attracted 600.

"People are starting to realise war is not the option," Ms Abdul-Rahman said.

"When we started having these rallies they were only small in numbers but they've prolifically increased."

She said Australia should not be involved in a war it had nothing to do with, rather the search should be for peaceful solutions.

Senator Nettle called for a long-term peace plan that would see Saddam Hussein removed and the Iraqi people supported to choose their own replacement.

She said the example of Afghanistan in which a collection of rival warlords was put in place was "the message of how not to do it".

"South Africa had regime change and there was no bombing," she said.

"People supported the civilian population and they got a leader who was supported."

Senator Nettle said the international community should lift its sanctions against Iraq which were impacting on the humanitarian needs of the population.

"But we need to keep in place a sanctions regime which ensures a weapons capability is not afforded them."

Member of the socialist youth organisation Resistance Peter Krbavac told the rally war was not the answer.

"Peace is," he said to loud applause.

Twenty-one year-old university student Josephine Hunt described the recent talk of war as disgusting.

"We're going to do to innocent people in Iraq the same thing the Bali bombers did to us," she said.

At the conclusion of the rally, the protesters marched on Liberal Senator Margaret Reid's office in Northbourne Avenue and Labor MP Bob McMullan's office in the nearby Melbourne Building.

Another rally is planned for noon on Sunday, November 30 outside the US embassy, concluding with a march to The Lodge, the Prime Minister's Canberra residence.



THERE are 544 days worth of water left in Canberra's four dams.

And Actew is spending $150,000 a month extra to use water from Googong dam as an emergency supply for the national capital.

The Googong dam, south-east of Queanbeyan, is already at an historically low level 5.5m below top-water level.

Water restrictions have also been flagged for Canberra as early as Christmas.

The hot conditions are sucking dry the four dams used by Actew. Bendora is at 65 per cent, Corin is at 46 per cent and Googong is at 72 per cent. Cotter, a much smaller, reserve supply, is being kept at 100 per cent.

Actew chief executive Paul Perkins said a fifth dam, which would cost $200 million, would have to be built in 20 years, under the worst-case conditions, or, at best, in 40 to 45 years.

"The Government's position is we should avoid a dam at all cost," he said.

"Actew's position is a dam is inevitable in the future but if we work hard on recycling and conservation we can put it off."

Late on Friday, there was a total of 135,925 megalitres of water in the four dams 6975 in Bendora, 34,890 in Corin, 4700 in Cotter and 89,360 in Googong. Mr Perkins said daily consumption was 250 megalitres leaving 544 days' worth of water if it didn't rain.

Mr Perkins said there was no risk of Canberra running out of water because water restrictions would manage the supply.

"Our water supply will last," Mr Perkins said.

The aggregate percentage of water in the dams is 62 per cent. Water restrictions will start when it gets to 50 per cent.

"We are at an historic low for this time of year," Mr Perkins said.

Mr Perkins said the Googong dam was usually used to supply Canberra only for a "short, sharp period in summer". It had been in use for the past 15 months and was now costing Actew $150,000 a month in pumping and treatment costs.

Water restrictions would come into force by Christmas or early in the new year, gradually becoming more strict as the dam levels continued to fall.

Mr Perkins said he was still hopeful it would rain.

But he was also concerned that Actew's efforts to encourage people to conserve water, including its Stop the Drop campaign, had so far appeared to have had little effect.

He believed restrictions, if enforced, would only go to level three, which bans garden sprinklers and allows hand-held hoses only overnight.

But he was also looking to introduce other measures such as not allowing residents to fill their swimming pools without a permit.

"We have to be very careful," Mr Perkins said.



A Brisbane consultancy will lead negotiations to replace the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra with a more permanent and less hotly contested facility.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission announced yesterday that it had appointed Brisbane City Enterprises and the Queensland-based Mirii Centre to review the embassy's future.

The move comes as one of the warring factions involved in Wednesday's confrontation at the tent embassy obtained in the Supreme Court a temporary injunction restraining Ngunawal elder Matilda House and her supporters from damaging property at the site.

Police were called to the embassy area, opposite Old Parliament House, on Wednesday after a sacred fire was extinguished and a humpy demolished. They left later without making any arrests.

The incident began when Mrs House and her group arrived to "clean up" the site.

Acting Chief Justice Crispin strongly urged the parties to seek a negotiated settlement during the next seven days rather than force the court to conduct a long hearing to resolve a culturally sensitive matter it was ill-equipped to tackle.

Justice Crispin adjourned yesterday's proceedings to November 7.

The Aboriginal-owned Mirii Centre specialises in conflict resolution, culture, heritage and social research, and Brisbane City Enterprises specialises in governance, among other things.

ATSIC has suggested a national conference to discuss the embassy's future, but Brisbane City Enterprises spokesman Terry Layton said they were yet to meet ATSIC to "flesh out exactly how we're going to go about this".

"We realise that obviously the tent embassy is very controversial," he said. "There are some very strong supporters in both communities and also some knockers in both communities, and we want to come to terms with where everybody's coming from and how the original objectives of the tent embassy might be able to be pursued."

Queanbeyan regional manager for ATSIC Rod Little said the group, which would be paid $80,000 to $85,000 for the four-month project, had been chosen from seven bids.

Mr Little said the replacement would "commemorate with dignity and truthfulness the indigenous struggle for recognition". The consultants would suggest protocols for running the site and a suitable replacement. "The altercation between indigenous groups on 30th October is regrettable," he said.

"However, Queanbeyan Regional Council is committed to a process that will answer the concerns of local traditional owners while ensuring that the history and significance of the site is preserved for all indigenous people and concerned Australians."

ATSIC chairman Geoff Clark was reluctant to enter the dispute yesterday, but said it was clear it had become a local dispute between rival Aboriginal groups. ". . . It seems to me to be Aboriginal business."



The ACT Government has been urged to increase its consultation over plans for the redevelopment of Civic's major community building, the Griffin Centre.

Greens MLA Kerrie Tucker said the consultation process so far had been appalling.

"Not only has it been a poor process but it has been a slow one," Ms Tucker said.

"If the Government stays on the back foot, even more decisions will be made by default."

She said service providers in the Griffin Centre and their clients should be consulted, with their views taken into account for the new centre's design.

An Assembly Planning Committee suggestion of adding another two floors to the planned new building to ensure room for growth should be considered.

"It should never have been simply a question of replacing one Griffin Centre with another, but rather a strategic approach to community need," she said.

She said the Government needed to address two issues: expanding the proposed new buildings so that there was room for growth, and forming partnerships with community groups and other users on the design of the building.

Griffin Centre president Dominic Mico said he was excited about the possibilities of a new centre, but wanted to ensure it was designed properly.

The Griffin Centre was not just a lot of rooms for hire, it was the major community building in a city lacking in community facilities.

The consultation process had left a lot to be desired. It was not a matter of coming to a compromise with the minimum provided for the community sector, but ensuring Canberra got the best community centre possible.

A Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services spokesman said the Government, in consultation with the centre, would be involved in the design process. There had been extensive community consultation on the issue to date, and there would continue to be.

"We will be as keen as anyone else for it to look good and work, because we will be the owners," the spokesman said.

'It's a major community centre in a city lacking facilities. A functional brief, detailing the specifics of what the building needed, had been created with the involvement of the centre.

The building had increased in size by about 530 sq m, through the addition of an extra floor from the original plan.

The department was talking with developers Queensland Investment Corporation about other opportunities to improve the building.

Once draft plans were prepared, they would be presented for community consultation.

A spokesman for Community Services Minister Bill Wood said the Government wanted to work with everyone to ensure the centre continued to serve the community well.

A QIC spokeswoman said if the brief was finalised this year, construction could begin next year if planning approval was received.

This would see the new facilities completed by the end of 2004.



A brilliant trombonist and music educator has been appointed as the new director of the Canberra School of Music.

Simone de Haan, director and provost of the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, was described yesterday by the Australian National University's Vice-Chancellor Ian Chubb as "ideally equipped to further the advances made in recent years by our departing music director Professor Nicolette Fraillon."

Perth-born Professor de Haan, who studied in London and Paris on a Churchill Fellowship, began his career as principal trombonist in the Western Australian Symphony Orchestra. No stranger to Canberra, he was foundation lecturer in trombone at the School of Music, and principal trombonist with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra from 1983 to 1985.

Since that time he has been head of Music Studies at the Victorian College of the Arts, head of the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music and, since 1996, head of the Queensland Conservatorium. He was artistic director of the Queensland Biennial Festival of Music in 1999.

Professor de Haan told The Canberra Times yesterday by phone en route to Mackay that, although he was classically trained, his taste was quite eclectic and he especially liked world music and jazz. He said he had founded the Canberra School of Music's Big Band, so was delighted to see jazz studies flourishing at the school.

Canberra Times music reviewer Bill Hoffmann, who worked with Professor de Haan in the 1980s, said he had a close knowledge of the school's development in its early years. Mr Hoffmann described him as "a nice bloke and a very fine musician". He welcomed the appointment, especially because of Professor de Haan's knowledge of Canberra.

Professor Fraillon said Professor de Haan was "one of the finest heads of conservatoria in the country". She praised him for his "interest in music as an instrument for social change".

As for Professor de Haan's ambitions for the School of Music, compromise was not on the agenda.

Professor Fraillon had "energised the faculty", he said, and now he would make sure it became and stayed "No 1 on the national scene in a very focused way".

That, he said, was the original brief of the school's founder, Ernest Llewellyn.



ACT Police were expecting to find stolen property when they raided an Oakes Estate home on Wednesday, but not a stash worth $250,000.

Every room of the two-bedroom house, including the lounge room and kitchen, were stacked with allegedly stolen goods.

Cars were scattered in the back and front yards and a shipping container out the back was full of what police allege was stolen property.

A team of 20 police went to the house on Wednesday, uncovering the hundreds of items thought to be the proceeds of thefts in the ACT and NSW.

They will spend the next few days cataloguing the goods they found. Detective Sergeant Andrew Smith said the haul of property was one of the largest recovered from a single home in the ACT.

"Every room of the house was filled with goods including dozens of stolen televisions, electrical equipment, computer games, DVDs, alcohol, motorbikes, lawnmowers and whipper-snippers," he said.

"A shipping container in the back yard of the house was full of stolen industrial equipment. We also located eight vehicles and two trailers which we know or believe were stolen."

Police also found a shotgun and a vast amount of tools.

"Police were definitely surprised at the amount of property there," Sergeant Smith said.

A couple from Oaks Estate appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court yesterday charged in connection to some of the property.

Sharon Frank, 25, and her de facto partner Wayne Allen Banks, 31, were charged with possessing and handling stolen property, including a motorbike, two trailers, two four-wheel-drives, a television set and a toolbox.

They were also charged with possessing a double-barrelled shotgun without a permit and possessing an unregistered firearm. Banks had an additional charge of failing to appear before court on a previous matter.

Further charges were expected to be laid.

They did not enter pleas. Magistrate Beth Campbell granted Frank $1000 bail. Banks was remanded in custody.



After the interminable crawl along Northbourne Avenue, racing enthusiasts forgot the banked-up traffic and enjoyed a classic Melbourne Cup meeting at Canberra Racecourse yesterday.

The chief executive of ACT Racing, Damien Foley, said 10,507 people went through the gate yesterday, about 2000 more than last month's Canberra Cup.

''It reflects the continual growth of the Melbourne Cup in general, the perfect weather and the fact racing in the ACT is on a real upward swing,'' he said.

The sentimental win most people wanted when Damien Oliver steered favourite Media Puzzle to take the 142nd Melbourne Cup sparked more than a few whoops and cheers in the betting ring at Canberra.

Michael Smith, of Queanbeyan, and Paul Bain-Smith, of Mawson, were jubilant after picking the trifecta and pocketing about $4000 from a bet of $200.

There were hugs all round.

''It's just a great atmosphere,'' Mr Bain-Smith said.

''It's the best day of the year to be out here.''

Canberra bookmaker Peter Kowald had a thick wad of returned winning tickets from the Cup.

''It's been very busy, a lot of betting on the Cup and a lot of punters were successful,'' he said.

''It's still been a reasonable day, it's a big crowd.''

Weekend punter Paul Fairweather, of Fadden, backed Pugin in the Cup but reckoned he came out about even over the day.

''I love the atmosphere the Melbourne Cup should be a national holiday,'' he said.

Away from the betting ring, the women from the Canberra Theatre picnicked in style with champagne on the grass in the 23 degree heat.

Fashions on the field and fashion parades run by the Elite Academy drew crowds throughout the day.

Up in the air-conditioned members' bar, Lilla Pad, 74, of Yarralumla, and her sister, Jean Tonkin, 81, of Griffith, were enjoying a quiet punt.

They have been coming to Melbourne Cup race meetings in Canberra for at least 50 years.

''We've always followed the horses, always been gamblers,'' Mrs Pad said, laughing.

But as the afternoon wore on, things started to get a little messier across the racecourse.

The shoes came off, the hats sat askew and the drinks went down that much quicker.

And for anyone who missed that other great race of the afternoon the Mascot Race involving such stellar athletes as Victor the Viking, Kenny Koala and the Pura Milk milk carton they can rest easy knowing the Heart Foundation's Happy Heart won.



The first of Canberra's clueless punters wandered in to ACTTAB branches yesterday to lay their bets for today's big race.

About 300,000 bets worth up to $3 million will be made in Canberra from early this morning until moments before the barriers open for the last race at Flemington.

Many will be based on careful consideration of recent form on the track.

Thousands of others will be based on nothing more than which horse has the snazziest name.

Novice punter Barbara Mitchell took her six-month-old granddaughter Layla Rowntree into the Dickson branch of the TAB yesterday morning and made some typical Melbourne Cup day selections.

"I'm betting on Thong Classic because the thong is an Australian icon and that seems to me to be as good a reason as any," Mrs Mitchell said.

Helping Mrs Mitchell yesterday was Mike Frame, formerly of SSS racing radio station, who said regardless of the method of selection the Melbourne Cup was always something of a lottery.

"It's very tough because there's so many horses and it's especially hard this year with all the European horses that don't have any Australian form to go on," Mr Frame said.

But despite the difficulty picking a winner, today is the only day most of us put a bet and ACTTAB help staff will have plenty of work to do advising not-so-regular horse racing fans on how to lay their bets.

"Some people have some idea which horse they want to bet on but don't really know how to fill in the betting slip," Mr Frame said.

"Others just know they want to have a bet on the Cup and not much else."

ACTTAB general manager of corporate services Tony White said the staff helpers would make it easier for people to place their bets and return to work.

"We try to identify people as they come through the door who look a bit lost and ask them what they want to do and show them how to do it," Mr White said.

Mr White said the $3 million worth of bets he expected would be made in the ACT, would be about the equivalent of what was normally spent in an entire week.




In a first for ACT hockey, five Canberra Strikers were named in the Australian women's hockey side to contest the World Cup in Perth later this month.

Trini Powell, Peta Gallagher, Sarah Taylor and Nicole Arrold were chosen, along with former NSW player and Olympic gold medallist Julie Towers, who will play for the Strikers in next season's Australian Hockey League.

"It's fabulous news, quite amazing that the ACT has four players in the side," Powell said. She will captain the side for the two-week tournament.

"The girls have done really well and deserve their spots. Now that the Strikers have signed Julie as well, I guess we could claim there are five of us in the World Cup side."

Powell, who will play her 200th match for Australia during the World Cup, said confidence in the team was high. "Results mightn't have gone how we would have liked during the year but we played some good hockey and now the team is training well as a group and we're confident of doing well at the World Cup."

On a personal level, it's been somewhat of an up-and-down season for both Taylor and Gallagher.

Taylor was selected in the side for the Commonwealth Games and the Champions Trophy but had to withdraw from both because of injuries.

Gallagher also has had her share of disappointments, missing out on the Commonwealth Games side and struggling with injuries early in the year.

"I've been able to train quite solidly now for about three months without any injuries, without any distractions or disruptions," Gallagher said.

"I'm just getting stronger and stronger and more confident."

Arrold is the second youngest member of the squad, at 21.

Only debutante Susannah Harris from NSW is younger at 17. Harris, a Year 11 student from the Blue Mountains, said it had been difficult to concentrate at school yesterday after her rapid rise to the Australian team.

It will be defending the World Cup title it won in 1998 in the Netherlands.

"David [Bell, the Hockeyroos' coach] told me to sit down before he told me I was in the squad."

Harris was voted Australia's best player in the under-18 tournaments against New Zealand for the past two years.

Powell said the side had a good mix of experienced and younger players which had helped in the preparation for the tournament, second only to the Olympics.

"There are experienced players and there are the youngsters who have had two years in the group," Powell said.

"The mix is really good, not only for now and the World Cup but also looking towards the 2004 Olympics in Athens."with AAP



WESTON Creek can thank a teenage batsman from Coonabarabran for retaining the Bevan Perpetual Trophy by beating Tuggeranong by four wickets at Chisholm yesterday.

The fierce southside rivals regularly play for the trophy that honours Australian one-day star and former Tuggeranong first-grader Michael Bevan.

Creek were 4-111 at stumps last week, chasing Tuggeranong's inadequate 165 total.

Creek's two unbeaten batsmen Christian Hanna and Byron Field manage to keep Tuggeranong's handy pace attack at bay until reaching 129, when Comets speedster Ben Dennett snapped up Hanna for 40.

But 18-year-old Field, from Coonabarabran, held the Creek innings together by scoring an impressive 92 for his new club. Weston Creek were all out for 221 and must have entertained thoughts about an outright win when Tuggeranong slumped to 3-33 in its second innings.

Tuggeranong's classy Comets batsman David Jeffrey held things together with an unbeaten half century. Jeffrey must have raised a sweat though on 50, when he lost two partners Justin Haywood and Stuart Macpherson to consecutive balls by Creek seamer David Reynolds. Tuggeranong was a precarious 6-116 and only 60 in front. Stumps were pulled at 6-137.

Field did not allow many stray Tuggeranong deliveries pass him by unpunished, smacking 16 fours and two massive sixes.

It was an innings that his captain Cade Brown hoped ACT under-19s selectors noticed.

"Young Byron Field played very well and so did Christian Hanna - they got us off to a good start and after that everyone chipped in a little bit to pass Tuggeranong's first innings six wickets down," Brown said.

Brown was impressed most by Field's strokeplay.

"Field showed that he had some temperament, it's the first time I have really seen him play - he played some really great shots," he said.

"At times he made it look easy and at times he struggled. Hopefully he can score another big one or two and force his way into the ACT under-19s.

"He was a big chance for a century until the lbw shortly after lunch. Unfortunately, he was on a roll just before the break."

Brown, who had slammed the over-grassed Chisholm pitch last week, welcomed how benign it was yesterday after its recent close shave.

"There was some question marks over what the wicket would play like and, to everyone's credit, the wicket has improved this week," he said.

Brown said Creek was determined to retain it's two-day premiership this summer.

"When you are the two-day champions, everyone rises a little bit to play against you," he said.

"The team won it last season and we just have to lift a little bit. To beat Tuggeranong twice at Chisholm is a big achievement for us because we have not got a good record here. Now we have beaten them twice, it is a feather in our cap and augurs well for a good season."

Despite the success, Brown still expected the Comets-laden Tuggeranong to pose a big danger at finals time.

"Tuggeranong at full strength is as good as anyone - their bowling is very good with Evan Kellar and Ben Dennett," he said. "They run in all day and have big hearts, so you know you are in a contest. They also have some quality bats such as David Jeffrey and Stewart

Heaney. THE ACT Comets left Canberra today for tomorrow's four-day match against the Tasmanian 2nd XI at Bellerive Oval in Hobart.

The squad: Heath Axelby, Cade Brown, David Dawson, Ben Dennett, Christian Hanna, Mark Hatton, Stewart Heaney, David Jeffrey, Evan Kellar, Sean Maxwell, Ben Southam (capt) and Shaun Williams.



MARK Webber hopes to be fighting for points on a regular basis with Jaguar next season, even if wins are still a distant dream.

For the first time since 1980 world champion Alan Jones retired in 1986, Australia has a Formula One driver competing in the top flight with a shout of success.

The Queanbeyan driver's emotional and lucky two points on his Grand Prix debut in Melbourne with Minardi in March made the world take notice.

His move to Jaguar, on a two-year deal announced yesterday, moves him up to another level of endeavour just as the sport embraces rule changes to liven up the show and allocate points to the top-eight finishers.

"I'd love to say we'll be challenging for points at every race which, given the new system, is possible," the 26-year-old Webber said after the announcement when asked about next year.

"But I'd like to see us get some consistency going. The car was very strong at particular circuits [in 2002] and I'd like to get some more consistency. It's not easy to achieve.

"Winning races is something which is - as we know - very, very hard to do in Formula One.

"To talk about race wins, you can have a degree of luck but you've still got to put some pretty serious cars behind you . . . I don't think race winning is something that is really in the mind at the moment in the short term.

"If we are sixth or seventh, that's something to be pretty happy with."

Applying the new format to the 2002 season, Jaguar would have scored in four of the 17 races.

If Webber failed to sound overly excited at the developments, it was because he had signed his contract long before the end of the season.

He was coy about exactly when he put pen to paper, although he said it was brewing around the time of the French Grand Prix in July after initial discussions with team boss Niki Lauda in Canada during June.

But the Australian had no doubt that he was entering the big time and would feel it more when he starts testing with the team in Barcelona later this month.

"It's a pretty big step for us," he said. "This has a different feel to it . . . it's a works team, there's stability, a definite future and all that there is to go forward.

"The pressure now is completely in the other direction. There are expectations straight away," Webber said.

"At Minardi, everything was a bonus. At Jaguar, it's a works team, it's a very special marque in Britain and the world and they want results."

This year the Ford-owned team finished eighth overall, a disappointing showing given their resources.

The R3 car, billed confidently as the first "real" Jaguar Formula One vehicle, was woefully uncompetitive and required radical surgery before it was good enough for Eddie Irvine to take third at Monza in September.

With extensive wind tunnel work and new brains in the design department, 2003 should see an improved package.

Webber, a former Renault test driver, was the undisputed No 1 at Minardi where his team-mate was the far slower Malaysian Alex Yoong.

It was only when Briton Anthony Davidson, the British American Racing test driver, replaced Yoong for two races that he found himself being pushed harder.

Next season he will have young Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia alongside him and, with team orders banned, Lauda wants to see his two young chargers fighting it out.

Webber said he was looking forward to being measured against the current Williams test driver.

"I've raced against Antonio in F3000 last year and he's very solid. Williams don't hire people if they're not good performers. I'm happy to have someone on the other side of the garage with speed and a reputation."



The Canberra Eclipse clawed back from two goals down against the NSW Sapphires to draw its Women's National Soccer League match at West Belconnen yesterday.

Eclipse coach Clive Mackillop believed Canberra remained in finals contention despite the draw leaving it in fourth place on five WNSL competition points, behind Queensland and Adelaide both on top with nine and NSW third on seven.

"We are still contenders - all the top sides have been beaten," Mackillop said. "We have had one loss and two draws but it is anyone's tournament with six games to go. We face a crucial away double header next weekend.

"We were a bit disappointed not to win and disappointed to concede two soft goals - the players were kicking themselves at half-time."

NSW head coach Alen Stajcic was more disappointed his side could not finish off the reigning champions after being up by two goals.

"Even when it got to 2-2 we had four or five good opportunities to win," Stajcic said.

"The commitment was there against last season's winners and I think the result maybe flattered Canberra. That said, they are still definitely the best team we have played so far and they were the best structured team too but we had it over them in most parts of field.

"Caitlin Munoz up front was just fantastic for the Eclipse."

Munoz said it was hard work against NSW in the heat.

"We were pretty happy to come back from 2-0," Munoz said.

The Sapphires showed plenty of pace down the flanks early to trouble the Eclipse and scored two relatively soft first-half goals to speedsters Michelle Carney and Sarah Walsh.

On the stroke of half-time, the Eclipse players finally hit their straps through the radar left boot of the abundantly skilled forward Munoz, who buried a through ball into the back of the NSW net.

After the break in the 46th minute, busy midfielder Tal Karp seized on a loose ball 40m out to slice her way through the NSW defenders before hitting the sweetest of equalisers from outside the square.

NSW won a penalty soon after when the referee 30m behind play stunned the home crowd by finding fault with a copybook tackle made by Jennifer Brew on the dangerous Walsh. Brew did bowl over Walsh in the goal square after her tackle, but Taryn Rockall missed the penalty when her shot flew over the keeper and the goal.

THE Australian Institute of Sport snatched a 1-1 draw with a last-minute goal against Canberra Deakin in the National Youth Soccer League match at Hawker yesterday.

The late goal to AIS's Mark Milligan stunned the 1000-strong crowd after Deakin had led for much of the match following a good goal in the first half to midfielder Carl Pideski.

Deakin coach Vid Horvat said the result still left his side well placed on or near the top of the national competition.




Bold expansion plans including the addition of the Sydney Swans reserves and possibly two teams from the Sydney competition will be up for discussion at the AFL Canberra board meeting tomorrow night.

While the seven existing AFL Canberra clubs have indicated they would welcome the Swans into the competition, there's expected to be some opposition towards the inclusion of Sydney teams. The feeling among club presidents is that the Swans would make the AFL Canberra competition more dynamic.

But there's a perception that the addition of two as yet unnamed teams from the Sydney league would simply weaken an already strong competition.

NSW-ACT AFL regional manager Allan McKinnon said the AFL Canberra competition had firmed as the main option for the Swans reserves, but teams in the Sydney league feared they were missing out. "There are numerous benefits for football in Canberra and some issues we need to discuss. It may come down to where the league is going in the long term," McKinnon said.

"It would be fair to say a number of Sydney AFL clubs have expressed their concern about this. They are disappointed that they [the Swans] are not going to be involved in the Sydney league."

Most AFL Canberra clubs haven't formally met to consider their position on the Sydney Swans reserves, but there seems to be widespread support for their inclusion.

Belconnen Magpies president David Fitzgerald said the board members he had spoken to thought it was a big plus for the code in Canberra.

"It certainly might be a good test for our teams to play against an AFL reserves side and provide good promotional pathways for our local juniors," Fitzgerald said.

Eastlake's football operations manager Mark Copley said the addition of the Swans would be "fantastic" for the competition. "With Sydney in the competition, all the games played in Sydney will be played at the SCG or Stadium Australia as curtain raisers to AFL games, so we'll be playing highly competitive games in top venues," he said.

Across the border in NSW, the proposal to include the Swans has the support of both the Queanbeyan and Wagga Tigers.

Wildcats president Ron Rogers said it would be good for young players to be seen by scouts from the Swans.



The Canberra Capitals often describe themselves as one big family, so it's hardly surprising that they've moved heaven and earth to get ready for captain Lucille Hamilton's wedding tomorrow.

In the first draft of the Women's National Basketball League draw, the Capitals were scheduled to play tomorrow, so the club's administration lobbied the league to switch their round four game against Bulleen to last night.

The entire team has been invited to attend the ceremony which will be held on a property co-owned by Hamilton and former Capitals coach Carrie Graf at Shallow Crossing on the South Coast.

Hamilton's bridesmaids are all exbasketball players including her sister, Jane Osborne, triple Olympian Shelley Sandie, Tracey Browning and Graf. Most of the massive Hamilton family will be in attendance except for younger sister, Jacinta, who is enjoying a playing stint in Germany.

Despite the misgivings of her mother, Hamilton won't be wearing jeans and a T-shirt, nor will there be a bodysuit in sight. Instead, the bride will wear an Ivory Silk Epoch dress designed by Chris Stott especially to fit Hamilton's rangy 187cm frame. But she has promised to slip into a pair of thongs as soon as the ceremony is over.

Former Opals and current Capitals coach Tom Maher reluctantly accepted his invitation, even though he was told there was no cable television at Shallow Crossing. The property, Durrah on the Clyde, is in a pristine area of the South Coast, but is rather rustic, with a half-built house and a couple of shacks for shelter.

The stunning setting and sunny weather was all Hamilton was thinking about when she and husband-to-be, Colin Bailie, sat down to plan the wedding.

"Colin proposed to me about six months ago and if we could have got married then and there we probably would have," Hamilton said.

"We wanted warm weather, and we wanted it to be on the property, and at the end of the [basketball] season it would have been starting to get a bit cool. We thought this was the first, best opportunity.

"I'm really excited about it and looking forward to seeing all the girls frocked up for the wedding. It should be really relaxed."

The couple met about two years ago in Melbourne and were trying to carry on a long-distance relationship after Hamilton ended a short-lived retirement and moved to Canberra for the 2000-01 season. But as their love match blossomed, Bailie packed up his belongings and joined his sweetheart in the national capital.

It's fairly unusual for a basketball player to get married during the middle of the season, so Hamilton has let her fiance take care of many of the "big ticket" items. She swore the wedding wasn't a distraction in the build-up to last night's game against Bulleen.

"I think I've managed to master time management and the ability to focus up when it matters the most. It's all part of being a WNBL player, to be able to switch on and focus even when there are other things going on around you," Hamilton said.

The happy couple have been so organised that they've even set up a wedding web site thanks to Hamilton's employer TransACT. It's been regularly updated with the latest happenings and has enabled Hamilton's far flung relatives to keep in touch with developments. But there have been a few mishaps along the way to remind her that this is the "grand final" week of her private life.

Hamilton had her engagement ring custom-made in Bangkok, but has been prevented from wearing it on the proper digit after suffering a sausage finger in a pre-season game.

"I'm hoping that it returns to normal pretty soon because it has been a bit of a struggle to get it on the right finger," she said.

If it all comes together perfectly, Hamilton will get married in front of friends and family on a sunny Sunday, take the week off work, and then be back for the November 9 home game against Townsville at The Palace. It's there she will unveil her new bodysuit with the name "Bailie" on the back.

"It [changing her name] has been something that I've tossed up about but I suppose I want the world to know that this is a very special time for Colin and myself," she said.

The honeymoon will have to wait until the end of the season, but in her best syrupy voice, Hamilton said that every day with Bailie was "like a honeymoon".



If the secret to a good marriage is compromise, triathlon has become Peter and Lindy Dunn's happy medium.

Married 32 years and with two children, Peter, 55, and Lindy, 53, are about to compete in their second World Triathlon Championships after taking up the sport six years ago.

At that time Peter was a keen runner and Lindy a seasoned swimmer, so triathlon was a marriage made in heaven.

"Lindy said I should be cross-training, otherwise I was going to get some injuries," Peter recalled. "I said 'that's a deal, I'll start swimming if you start running'."

Cycling was the next logical step, although it was a big challenge for Lindy who had never owned or even ridden a bike.

"I had a few accidents early on," Lindy confessed. "In fact it was a joke that I always had band-aids on my elbows and knees. . .but I absolutely loved it. I felt like a big kid on a bike and wondered what I had missed out on all these years."

The couple hasn't let a late start in triathlon hold them back and they are in a group of eight Canberrans who will compete at the World Championship in Cancun, Mexico, on November 9.

For the Dunn's, training time is family time. They have been training 15 hours a week in preparation for the world's, to be held over the Olympic distance of a 1.5km swim, 40km cycle and 10km run.

"We do enjoy having time together and having a training buddy makes it much easier because you spend a lot of time out there [training]," Lindy said. "If one was doing it and the other one wasn't it would make it a bit harder."

Peter, a retired army general, said it was hard to skip a training session when your training partner slept on the next pillow.

"There's always someone there to pick on you and get right on your case to say 'c'mon, don't slack off'," he said. "It's amazing how you take turns in doing that, it's just having someone there to say 'don't roll over and go back to sleep' at 4.30 in the morning.

"She absolutely flogs me in the swim, we ride the same and I flog her in the run, so it comes out even."

Peter and Lindy's eldest child, Brent, was the first family member to compete in a triathlon. "That was back in the days when we thought that's way too much exercise," Lindy confessed.

Brent no longer competes and this time it will be Peter and Lindy's daughter Kelly who is cheering mum and dad on in Mexico.

"Nowhere in our wildest dreams did we contemplate that we'd be representing Australia," Lindy said. "I still think one of my biggest thrills was winning a medal for the [ACT] Aquathlon series."

Peter said it was a buzz, however, for the pair to compete at the World Championships in Canada last year.

"You can't help but get swept up in a world championship," Peter said. "You really do put in another 20 per cent because of the nature of the race, the whole atmosphere and the standard you're racing at. It's an amazing event and one that we didn't expect would ever capture our imaginations as much as it did."



Canberra Capitals star Lauren Jackson says she's not putting too much pressure on herself for her comeback match against the Bulleen Boomers tonight.

But she has guaranteed the Capitals will make the Women's National Basketball League grand final.

Such is Jackson's mix of confidence, skill and competitive spirit, that you would not expect anything less than a full-hearted commitment in her return game at Tuggeranong tonight.

Jackson has missed the first four games with stress fractures in her right leg, she trained for only 40 minutes on Monday and then had a light run last night.

Even still, the 195cm centre expects to dominate in a win against the Boomers tonight and then to go on and make her fifth successive WNBL grand final.

"I just hope we win; I'll do anything to help us win," Jackson said of tonight's comeback game.

"I want to go out there and dominate because that's my game, but I don't want to put too much pressure on myself." The Capitals have made a slow start to the season without Jackson, sitting sixth with a 1-3 record.

Jackson has been rushed straight back into the starting five, but she praised the way the Capitals had played so far this season. She had "no doubt" the defending champions would make the WNBL grand final.

History is on Jackson's side she has played in the last four grand finals and won three, including two titles with the Capitals.

The Capitals have been competitive this season. Their biggest loss was against championship contender Adelaide last weekend, when they went down by eight points on the second leg of a road-double.

"It's been frustrating watching and not being able to get there and play myself, but I haven't been frustrated with the team at all," Jackson said. "I think the girls have shown some really positive signs and a lot of strength.

"A lot of people have put us down the ladder, but that's going to change. The Capitals have always had a bit of a dodgy start to the season but we always come good."

"The team has been so close to winning all the games so far. I don't think they really need me to come back, I believe we've got a very strong team."

While Jackson obviously has faith in her teammates, Capitals point guard Kristen Veal spoke on behalf of the team when she said Jackson's return would be a big boost.

"She changes the complexion of the game simply by stepping onto the court," Veal said.

The Boomers also play the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra tomorrow night.



Dear old aunt Mabel, 83 - a well-deserved OAM for services to motor sport.

Given a wrong turn on her Sunday drive, that could well have been the upshot of the fraud the other day called the Indy 300 CART race - for which the average speed was 89 km/h.

Or, if AAP's cool reporter had shown a little more initiative with the skateboard on which he arrived at the press centre, the headline of the day could have read:

Scribe chases Dominguez for quotes . . . and wins. Mario "Slow As Treacle" Dominguez?

He is the Mexican daredevil who, somehow, emerged as the Indy victor after 41 laps, only six of which allowed for passing. For the rest, it was a single-file procession behind the pace car.

Mind you, it's hardly Mario's fault that he is now the laughing stock of CART racing.

He had started from the rear of the field, having led a CART race for just one lap this season. The rookie was only going round to wave on camera to his mates back home.

He didn't even know he had won until his team confirmed it - although the flashing lights of the pace car directly in front of him should have triggered something upstairs. One wonders if Mario isn't a cylinder or two short.

But those really lacking brain matter are CART officials who decided to start the event in appalling weather and - more importantly - maintain that it must continue with an Indian-file parade behind the pace car. It wasn't a race - it was a disgrace.

The funniest thing was not Mario's "Who, me?" acceptance speech but the Channel Ten commentary. The lads had no idea what was to happen under the laws, and they weren't getting any help from CART officials, who kept changing their minds about what lap number would end the race. Dumb and dumber!

Thankfully, in the end, it was decided for them.

Apparently - and this has been hushed up in the week since - officials had earmarked lap 50 as the finish, simply so the race would count and remove the inconvenience of returning the next day for a fair dinkum effort.

However, after the pace car had run laps 40 and 41 with its petrol gauge warning light on, someone decided to not risk total embarrassment and halted proceedings. But there could be a happy ending for a money-driven sport that is often as fake as the boobs in pit lane.

Last month VIP Pet Foods sulked off with its tail between its legs and dropped sponsorship of Paragon Motorsport, forcing the team out of V8 Supercars, after being "dissatisfied with the coverage given the team on the Ten Network".

If VIP wants its name a little closer to where the cameras generally are - that's up with the leaders - they could always sponsor the Indy pace car.




SORRY you guys missed it, but here's an exclusive - Magic Johnson has promised to come to Australia and play an exhibition game with the Canberra Cannons.

Basketball's living legend made the promise after we helped him to a 104-85 win over the Michigan State Spartans yesterday.

And, take it from me, the NBA Hall-of-Famer is still well worth watching.

With our very own Mike Chappell and Dave Thomas also starring against their old college, Magic showed he's still got all the tricks with an exciting triple-double of 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in his new Cannons uniform.

Magic was impressed with the way we played.

The Spartans are perfectionists and, in the past, they've been known to hold training sessions straight after losing a pre-season game.

But this time Magic walked into their locker room and told them to lift their heads - "that's the best team you'll play all season", he told them, before coming into our room and making his exciting promise.

We did play so well.

Everyone scored and everyone hit their shots, especially when they were on the end of a Magic pass.

I mentioned Magic's 10 assists, but he also had seven turnovers - most of which came when we didn't see his no-look passes coming.

Magic had at least four ally-oop passes, the best one was to DT (Thomas).

My most memorable part of the game was when Magic threw a no-look pass to me on the three-point line and I nailed it.

We pointed to each other and then he gave me a high-five on the way back down court.

With his parents sitting in the crowd of 16,000, Mike had the best game I've seen him play.

He finished with 27, while DT had 18.

Poor Blake Truslove was the only one who didn't get to play, although he's really close to recovering from his ankle injury.

But Blake did get to warm-up with Magic, and he kept begging me to fake an injury when I got fouled so he could come in and take my foul shots.

I guess the way we played made up for how we nearly stood Magic up earlier in the day.

We were due to meet Magic for the first time at noon and have a shoot-around.

Unfortunately, someone had told him the session started at 11am.

We'd been at a hospital that morning visiting some sick kids - one premature baby was smaller than my hand.

It was pretty emotional and we just lost track of time a

little.

I've never seen my pop run so fast when he realised we might be late for Magic.

We did get there by noon, but by that time Magic was nowhere to be seen.

We started shooting and, every time someone walked around the corner, everyone would just stop and check if it was him.

When he did arrive everyone was in awe.

But he blended in so easily, cracking jokes and picking up plays as easily as if he'd been with us all season.

Magic has an amazing personality and he played up to the crowd who came to the game.

He was a bit quieter before the match, letting us go through our normal pre-game routine.

But when he did speak, everyone listened.

When he changed into the Cannons uniform it was a proud moment for all of us.

We all went to the after-game party to mingle with Magic, but we've got another game against Butler University tonight.

Then it's back to Canberra on Wednesday, when we'll be able to tell some more stories.



It was almost a fairytale finish to a great beginning.

The Canberra Comets fell just 11 runs short of South Australia in their Mercantile Mutual Cup debut.

It was November 2, 1997, and it should have been the dawn of a new era for ACT cricket.

Instead, just three seasons later, the Australian Cricket Board axed the Comets from the domestic one-day competition.

One can dwell on the disappointment of the ACB's decision, but instead, five years on, perhaps it's more fitting to reflect on the achievements of that short time in the sun.

For decades ACT cricket had been vying for a place on the national scene, but the turning point probably came in 1995 with the appointment of Michael Veletta as ACT coach.

Western Australia's most prolific run scorer took on the Canberra job with great enthusiasm.

"From what I have seen in the short time I have been here, there is plenty of talent to work with," Veletta said back in 1995. He spent the next couple of years moulding that talent into a side worthy of the place it gained in 1997. The team that made its debut against South Australia at Manuka Oval on November 2 was one consisting mainly of ACT players.

Veletta convinced his old Australian team-mate Merv Hughes to play for the Comets and local fast-bowling talent Stuart Karpinnen had been lured back from interstate.

But the majority of the side were taken straight from the grade competition. It was a truly local side ready for the national stage.

"It was a very exciting time," Veletta said this week of those early years.

Now the coach of the Western Warriors, Veletta admits he misses Canberra. "It was a very tough decision for us to move back to WA. We had to think pretty seriously about whether to come back or not."

He doesn't have any regrets about his time here, the only disappointment the ACB's decision. By then Veletta was back in the west and Jeff Hammond was coach. But Veletta was still shattered by the decision.

"I was extremely disappointed," he said. "I was back in Perth at the time and obviously WA had delegates on the ACB that voted on the outcome. Cricket was moving along really well, not only in Canberra but in the region as a whole. Everyone had made a big effort to promote the game and the decision set things back by 10 years.

"My time there wasn't a waste of time. We made a lot of friendships and it opened my eyes to cricket in another state, a state that was a lot less fortunate as far as cricket goes compared to Western Australia. It taught me not to take things for granted. It was a great learning curve for me."

Veletta said the highlight of his time with the Comets was their first win against Victoria in Bendigo on November 23. Batting first, the Comets hit 250 off their 50 overs thanks to a partnership between Peter Solway and Brad Haddin. The pair shared a 174-run partnership for the fourth wicket, coming off just 182 balls.

The stand spurred the Comets on in the Victorian innings, every player putting in just that little bit extra. Part-time spinner Mark Higgs, who is now playing for South Australia, took 3-28, taking some crucial wickets midmatch, and the other bowlers shared the spoils. The only bowler not to take a wicket was Hughes, but he was satisfied in other ways.

"My last couple of years in Victoria weren't enjoyable," Hughes said. "I was told by the hierarchy at the time that I wasn't good enough to play and it hurt. When the opportunity came up to play in Canberra I jumped at the chance. I don't think I had any points to prove, but there was something about beating Victoria that made it just that little bit sweeter."

Veletta's signing of Hughes was a great coup for the Comets. It gave them a face, a marketable face. He was always there for his team-mates, offering words of advice, offering tips and support.

"The two years I had in Canberra restored my faith in the game," Hughes said. "To see a bunch of blokes really enjoying each other's company and enjoying each other's success was fantastic.

"Mike had been there building towards getting the side into the domestic competition and I didn't really have a full understanding of the work he had done.

"But to see the respect and admiration he got from the rest of the players, you knew he had put in a lot of hard work. To see him that night after we beat Victoria was something I'll never forget."

It's unlikely the handful of ACT supporters who made the trip to Bendigo will forget it either. Veletta says he never will.

"There are a lot of highlights in a cricketer's life and that was certainly one of mine," he said. "I've played in World Cups, in Tests, in Shield and one-day finals. But that win in Bendigo is definitely in my top 10."

Of the 12 players in the side only Haddin (NSW), Higgs (SA) and Karpinnen (WA) are playing interstate cricket. Solway and Hall O'Meagher play for Eastlake and ANU in the local one-day competition. None of the others is still playing. Some have filled in occasionally for their old club sides, some have moved on to coaching at different levels. It seems that most of them are concentrating on young families, careers and golf handicaps.



The Turnbull family of five couldn't have been happier with only parting with $25 for a family package to the opening Rugby World Cup match at Canberra Stadium next year.

The family from Page were excited at being the first this week to receive their tickets to the Rugby World Cup match between Italy and Repechage 2, likely to be Tonga, on October 15.

The family did not hesitate in buying tickets reserved for the rugby community to all four World Cup matches in Canberra. They qualified on the strength of the middle son Patrick, who plays No 8 for Wests under-10s.

The father of three boys, John Turnbull, said it was a matter of being ''first in, best dressed''.

"We have seen a few Brumbies games, but we thought this was a once in a lifetime opportunity having a World Cup in Canberra - cheap prices so why not come and watch it?'' he said.

John said the family would wait and see which teams they planned supporting in Canberra - out of Italy, Wales, Canada or the Repechage 2 team. But the Welsh appear early favourites for the Turnbulls' support.

The fourth spot in Pool D will be decided early in the New Year when Korea plays either Papua New Guinea or Tonga.

PNG and Tonga play off in a home-and-away series starting on November 30 in Nuku'alofa. The second match will be played in Port Moresby on December 7. The winner will then play Korea in home-and-away matches.



The ACT Comets' pace attack has put its team back in contention in the four-day match against the Tasmanian 2nd XI in Hobart yesterday.

After the Comets' disappointment with their first innings of 201 on Monday and having Tasmania 1-72 overnight, ACT batsman Stewart Heaney praised his team's comeback to bowl out the home side for 287.

The Comets were 2-82 at stumps on the second day with opener Shaun Williams unbeaten on 43 and David Dawson 12 not out.

Earlier in the day the combined efforts of seamers Evan Kellar and Ben Dennett had Tasmania in considerable strife at 5-101 but Tasmanian batsman Ben Oliver stopped the rot with a century.

Kellar was at his miserly best on Bellerive to snare 5-73 from 29.5 overs while the pace of Dennett always threatened, taking 2-94.

"We came to the ground knowing we needed a few quick wickets to get us on our way, which is exactly what our bowlers did," Heaney said.

"Evan bowled great line and length as usual. He nipped the ball around off the seam and Denno bowled a great line and length too with some out-swing."



ACT Brumbies flyer Mark Bartholomeusz will be hoping that 13 isn't an unlucky number when he joins the injury-ravaged Wallabies for Saturday's Test against Ireland.

Bartholomeusz received an SOS from the Wallabies after winger Ben Tune tore his hamstring in last weekend's match against Argentina.

The 25-year-old will become the 13th Brumby to join Australia's traditional end of season tour and may have an outside chance of claiming a spot on the bench, especially if more backs get injured. Bartholomeusz was on standby for the Wallabies' tour last year and has learned not to get his hopes up when the Australian Rugby Union comes calling.

"I'm at that sort of stage where you don't really expect anything. I was really looking forward to getting back into training with the Brumbies today, but I didn't get that far. I'm certainly pleased to be going away," Bartholomeusz said.

"I actually thought it was just another call to say that I was going to be on standby again, at first, and then the lady said 'would you be available to come away', and I said 'sure'."

At least his call up shows that selectors are still interested in him with next year's World Cup in mind.

It's the first time that Bartholomeusz has been called into the Wallabies' line-up, although he has played for Australia A and the national team in the sevens at the Manchester Commonwealth Games.

"More than anything, I think it's a good chance for me to improve personally and make sure that I perform really well at training. If I get a chance to play in any of the games, then I'll just put my best foot forward," he said.

Despite his small size, Bartholomeusz has a rugged reputation at either fullback or wing. He started every Super 12 game for the ACT last season and scored five tries. He has just returned from his honeymoon after marrying Queensland hockey player Megan Thomas.



The Canberra Capitals are becoming a little tired of being treated like the little sister of the One Basketball Canberra family.

They play a double-header with the Canberra Cannons at The Palace on Saturday, but hardly anything has been done to promote the event.

A television commercial has aired that mentions the Cannons and not the Caps, and the Cannons' trip to the United States has also thrown a spanner in the works in terms of cross-promotion.

The Caps face their first big test with Lauren Jackson back in the line-up when they meet the second-placed Townsville Fire. The game tips off at 5.15pm as the curtain-raiser to the Cannons-Victoria Giants match at 7.40pm.

The double-header is meant to bring Canberra's two national basketball teams under the one roof in a show of unity, but the Caps are getting tired of playing second

fiddle.

"I'm a fan [of double headers] when we get the same exposure as the boys do," Jackson said.

"There was an ad on television yesterday that said the Cannons are playing and there wasn't even any Capitals writing, which was a bit strange.

"I don't think that anyone even knows that we are playing before them in the curtain-raiser."

Jackson said she didn't expect the Capitals would ever headline one of the double-headers, but believes they deserve to be mentioned.

"It's only a game, but it's a little bit disappointing that it happens that way," she said.

"Normally at finals time we pack the AIS Arena out, we proved that last year.

"I just don't know whether people will come along or know we are

playing."

The Caps are expected to lose money by playing at The Palace, whereas they would probably sell out if they played Townsville at their usual venue, the Tuggeranong indoor sports centre.

Point guard Kristen Veal said she supported the concept of double-headers, but only if there was publicity for both teams and both teams weren't losing money.

"I think that the Capitals and women's sport have come too far just to be the curtain-raiser and take losses out of a double-header," Veal said.

"A double-header can be two great games, it doesn't have to one or the other.

"To say the women should get the headlining act, in the near future, is probably unrealistic, but there's no way we should just be the entree for the Cannons."

Jackson has been declared fit to play in Saturday's game against Townsville. She is still recovering from a stress fracture in her right leg.




The Gabba confrontation between Glenn McGrath, the school bully, and Michael Vaughan, the newly enrolled rich kid, should be absolutely fascinating when the first Test begins in Brisbane today.

By declaring that he intends to make Vaughan, 28, his bunny this summer, McGrath has placed enormous pressure on both himself and Yorkshireman. Coming off a golden English summer with 900 runs at 90, including scores of 115, 100, 197 and 195 against Sri Lanka and India, the richly talented Vaughan will be hoping for more especially after his century against Queensland earlier this week.

But on the other hand you have McGrath, a fast bowler who likes to get his own way in the playground, backing himself against a quality batsman to whom he has never bowled a single ball. It's a tactic McGrath has used to devastating effect against batsmen of the calibre of Michael Atherton, Brian Lara and Gary Kirsten.

He obviously does his homework and never targets a fringe or weak-link batsman. By attacking the rudder you will destabilise the ship.

In singling out Vaughan, McGrath is virtually telling him he is going to have a very poor series.

It's a very bold tactic by McGrath and one I would never have even dreamed of.

Imagine if I had announced to the world that I was going to target Viv Richards and try to make him my bunny.

I'm sure Viv would have had a strong opinion on that.

McGrath is obviously very sure of his own ability but what he is attempting to do not only will affect Vaughan, it will send a shiver through the entire England batting line-up.

Imagine how the other England batsmen will feel knowing the spearhead of the opposition attack is going to try to grab the throat of your best player.

But even if Vaughan is able to negotiate McGrath for a short time, he's got Jason Gillespie and Andy Bichel and then Shane Warne to contend with.

In other words, there's simply nowhere to hide. And with 27 wickets against Pakistan in Colombo and Sharjah and 64 in his past nine Tests, I feel Warne is going to be an absolute revelation this summer.

That Warne took 27 wickets against Pakistan was quite significant when you consider Pakistan batsmen play spin for a living and that the wickets were taken on slow pitches.

If Warne can gain 13 lbw decisions against Pakistan in that part of the world with his new "slider" delivery, imagine how lethal he is going to be on faster Australian wickets.

Warne has totally reinvented himself. He's reinvented himself through his body, he's reinvented himself through his appetite for the game and he's reinvented himself through his repertoire.

He's not spinning the ball as much, not getting the in-drift from really ripping his leg-spinner. But the guy just keeps evolving because he's now got more flight and is using the crease more.

The choice between Lee and Bichel must have been close but I guess it came down to recent form and home-ground advantage. I regard Bichel as more a support bowler in the vein of Paul Reiffel and wouldn't read too much into this as a long-term situation.

But if I were an Australian selector, I would have bitten the bullet and played Lee despite his lean pickings of late.

I thought they would have given Lee a vote of confidence and I'm sure he would have put the wind up the Poms, especially given the spice of the Australian wickets.

To me, the issue was a serious test of just how much clout Steve Waugh still had in the twilight of his captaincy.

Waugh very firmly let it be known when the team arrived back from Sharjah that he thought Lee had bowled well against Pakistan without much luck.

It seems to me that whenever Waugh made a statement or endorsed a particular player he got his own way and it appears his opinion doesn't carry as much weight now.




PERTH: Jockey Jason Oliver was farewelled yesterday with his brother's Melbourne Cup trophy adorning his coffin.

Damien Oliver dedicated his bittersweet Cup win on Tuesday to his older brother, killed in a track fall in Perth last week, by saluting to the heavens and declaring, "This one is for you".

Oliver cut short his celebrations and flew to Perth yesterday to join about 1000 racing identities, friends, relatives and supporters to commemorate his brother's life.

"This is the day we celebrate your life, mate, a life that was so fulfilled but still had so much more to give," a tearful Oliver said in his eulogy to the packed Redemptorist Monastery in Perth.

"You will never be forgotten, buddy. I love you."

Hundreds of mourners spilled from the Perth Catholic Church, many clutching a booklet with a picture of a smiling Jason Oliver, 33, who won more than 690 rides in Western Australia.

Inside the church was Jason's coffin, adorned with purple and yellow flowers and topped with Damien Oliver's replica of the Melbourne Cup, a photograph of Jason in a photo-finish, his riding silks, the mobile phone he never turned off, a West Coast Eagles football jumper and a tie.

"Jase, it wasn't until you showed me the way with your success that made me want to become a jockey," Damien told mourners.

"Those endless hours of backyard cricket and footy seemed like it was just the other day.

"You touched so many people with your kindness and generosity. Your love for sport and good mates will always live on with us forever."

For the men's heartbroken mother, Pat Rudland, yesterday's farewell to her first-born son will have brought back memories of her late husband Ray Oliver, buried 27 years ago after his death - at 34 - in a race fall at Kalgoorlie.

Damien Oliver's business manager, Neil Pinner, told mourners Pat had visited a chapel last Tuesday, the day Jason's life support was turned off, to make a deal with her late husband.

"Pat said to Ray, 'I have had 33 wonderful years and now it's your time to look after him and love him'," Mr Pinner said.

Jockeys formed a guard of honour for the coffin after the funeral, and Jason Oliver was later buried in the same plot as his father, under a marble and granite tombstone in the shape of an open book.

Damien's emotion was masked by black sunglasses, his partner Trish Climas resting her hand on his shoulder.

As the large crowd of mourners left, many threw single blooms into the grave.

The funeral was a touching postscript to Tuesday's emotional Melbourne Cup win for Damien Oliver, who wore his brother's riding breeches to victory on Media Puzzle.

"Melbourne Cups don't mean a thing to me any more. I'd give it back right now to have my brother back," Oliver said after passing the finishing post at Flemington for his second Cup win.

Jason died in Royal Perth Hospital last Tuesday, the day after falling from Savage Cabbage during a 400m trial at Belmont.

In the days after his devastated family took his brother off life-support, Damien Oliver announced he would still ride in the Melbourne Cup.

Sentiment pushed punters in the jockeys' home town of Perth to wager a record $8.2 million on the Cup, with $850,000 behind Oliver's mount Media Puzzle.

Among the mourners were trainers Lee Freedman and Fred Kersley, and West Coast Eagles players Michael Gardiner and the recently-retired Mark Merenda.




DARWIN: A German tourist abducted in Top End scrub lied about her daughter's age to prevent the 16-year-old being raped, a court was told yesterday.

Eva Obermeyer, 50, and her daughter Sarah were robbed at gunpoint by former Canberra man Matt Page in Litchfield Park, south of Darwin, and left tied to a tree.

Page, 31, now of Hervey Bay in Queensland, pleaded guilty to charges in the Northern Territory Supreme Court yesterday including that he robbed the Obermeyers on August 31 and deprived them of their liberty.

He will be sentenced at a later date.

Page spent hours that day following and watching the Germans as they swam and took in the sights of Litchfield, a popular tourist haunt, the court was told.

They were walking from Tolmer Falls to their rental car when Page attempted to strike up a conversation.

Page produced a Glock .40 calibre semi-automatic pistol and demanded money.

He threatened to shoot them as he robbed Ms Obermeyer of $650 cash, travellers cheques and credit cards, firing a shot into the air as a warning that he would kill.

Page twice attempted to take Sarah with him and leave her mother bound to a tree with cable ties.

Twice Ms Obermeyer, a psychologist from Nuremburg, told Page she would rather die than let him take Sarah.

"Eva Obermeyer protested, saying she would never let that happen," NT Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Jack Karczewski told the court.

"She told the accused, 'I cannot let her go with you. You'll have to kill me'."

Page tied them both to a tree, telling them he needed time to escape.

"The accused then sat down near Eva Obermeyer and said, 'I would like to have sex with your daughter. What do you think about that?'," Mr Karczewski said.

Page then repeatedly asked how old Sarah was.

"I want to have sex with your daughter; that's why I chose you," the court was told Page said.

"I saw your daughter, I saw you without a man, I watched you.

"Where is your husband, why are you travelling alone or is there someone with you?"

Ms Obermeyer became increasingly frightened.

"She then proceeded to tell the accused how raping young girls destroyed their lives," Mr Karczewski said.

"The accused inquired of Sarah's age, whether she was a virgin, whether she had a boyfriend."

Ms Obermeyer replied that Sarah was 12 and had no boyfriend.

"The accused then announced that he was convinced that she was too young," Mr Karczewski said.

Page used the money to refuel his stolen four-wheel-drive and drove to Goomadeer River in Arnhem Land, east of Darwin, where he knew he could live off the land.

On September 8, he hitched a ride in Arnhem Land near Oenpelli in a car taking three people from Darwin to Maningrida.

The driver, Felicity Douglas, wondered if they had made the right decision by picking him up and asked for identification.

Page rummaged through his pack and produced the Glock.

Moments later, the car reached a roadblock and Page surrendered to police. AAP



The ACT Government is to re-examine its child sex offender laws, with police holding grave concerns that Canberra is becoming a safe haven for paedophiles fleeing NSW's tough legislation.

ACT police have found a number of convicted paedophiles moving to Canberra since NSW introduced its register in 2000.

Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said yesterday he did not want the ACT to be seen as having softer laws than those across the border.

Urgent action was needed to ensure the ACT kept pace with other jurisdictions and its laws did not encourage criminals to see Canberra as a safe haven.

"It is intolerant that we become the receiving home for sex offenders seeking refuge," he said.

"It is appropriate that we look at the state of our laws for children and ensure our legislation is tough."

Mr Stanhope was speaking from Darwin where he attended the police ministers' conference which has agreed to establish a national paedophile register.

Federal Justice Minister Chris Ellison said the Commonwealth, state and territory police ministers agreed to set up a working party which would develop the details of the register over the next few months.

"While NSW has a registration scheme under way and Victoria recently proposed the establishment of a register, all ministers recognise that no scheme will be fully effective without a national approach," he said.

The paedophile register will give police in all states and territories access to information about child sex offenders.

Mr Stanhope said that a national scheme would be beneficial to the ACT as it would help stop paedophiles moving from one jurisdiction to another in order to avoid tougher laws.

Under the NSW scheme, the names, addresses, places of work and car registration details of child sex offenders, child murderers and child kidnappers are listed on a register.

Mr Stanhope said NSW authorities believed that 90 per cent of child sex offenders were registering with the scheme.

However, police had grave concerns that some paedophiles were fleeing the registration scheme and moving to the ACT because of the close proximity of Canberra to NSW.

AFP Operations Commander Mandy Newton said police were closely monitoring the child sex offenders who had moved from NSW to the ACT to avoid having to list themselves on the register.

The ACT Law Society and the ACT Council of Parents and Citizens Associations called for a balance between the infringement of civil liberties inherent in the proposed national register and the benefit to the community.

Law Society spokesman Dennis Farmer said there were concerns about the way the register might come to be used and possible persecution of people whose names appeared on it.




Students and MLAs have called on the University of Canberra to come clean on allegations that millions of student dollars have been misused, following news that the ACT Auditor-General and Ombudsman are looking into the claims.

The allegations of misuse and mismanagement of funds centre on the operations of the UC union, which runs a number of commercial elements of the university, including the bar, an annual dance party and a conference and recreational centre.

UC Vice-Chancellor Roger Dean denied that there had been any major misuse, but rather some "minor mishaps and misjudgments". He denied reports that the union had lost $1 million over the past six years, saying the figure was closer to $250,000. This was unsatisfactory, but the university had had the union's finances reviewed by KPMG earlier this year and continued to adopt its recommendations.

The most important changes were the appointment of a new general manager for the union, broader restructuring and adoption of a new constitution.

The chief information officer for the Ombudsman's office, Peter Maywald, said that UC had been objecting to inquiries on jurisdictional grounds.

However, after a meeting involving the Chief Minster's Department, the Ombudsman's office and the Auditor-General's office and their lawyers, it had been decided the inquiries would go ahead. The Auditor-General's office would carry the biggest load because most of the matters were financial.

The president of the UC Students' Association, Joel Clapham, said problems seemed to have begun when the university took over running the union in 1996, leaving only token student representation.

Since then the union had chased profits, and it seemed it had not done that very well.

Students wanted UC management to come clean and tell them what had happened to their money. There was now a new general manager and students hoped the union would refocus on providing the best services to them.

Both Greens MLA Kerrie Tucker and Deputy Opposition leader Brendan Smyth said they would raise the matter in the Assembly next week.

Ms Tucker said there were concerns that some students and staff had suffered after moves allegedly made by the university to cover up the financial problems. UC must be required to come clean on these matters.

Mr Smyth said serious allegations had been made and further inquiries were required.

A spokesman for the ACT Chief Minister, Jon Stanhope, said he had been concerned to hear of the allegations but would leave the matter in the hands of the Ombudsman and Auditor-General until their inquiries were complete. The Government would then act if it was warranted.

The Government would answer questions raised in the Assembly, he said.




Tension is mounting in the National Party ahead of tomorrow's crucial report card on Telstra services in the bush.

A positive report from Moree cotton farmer Dick Estens would allow the Howard Government to push ahead with the final sale of Telstra.

However, the 580 submissions to his inquiry show scepticism about bridging the gulf between city and country service levels.

Farmers have told the inquiry their phone lines are being repaired by Telstra Countrywide but their businesses are hindered by slow Internet access and patchy mobile phone coverage.

The three-member Estens inquiry was established by the Federal Government to follow up the more exhaustive Besley inquiry.

The Government hopes the Estens report will show the benefits of the millions of dollars poured into the problem areas identified by the Besley report.

However, Queensland National Party president Terry Bolger said earlier this week he still believed Telstra services in the bush were below par.

National Party federal president Helen Dickie voiced her concerns last night.

"Anecdotally you are hearing it is not up to scratch but I will wait until Friday to see what Estens has to say," she said.

National Party federal director Andrew Hall called for an honest appraisal of how well Telstra was serving the bush.

"The Estens report is not going to provide us with a miracle answer to what is a fairly perplexing question to deal with but it is going to provide an important plank on how the party moves forward on it," he said.

"We want it to be honest, it needs to accurately reflect what people are saying in regional Australia.

"From what I'm picking up around the place, it is a fairly honest assessment and I'm sure it is going to be that way."

The submission from the Cooma-Monaro Shire Council says improvements have been made in telephone repair rates but Internet access remains slow and mobile phone coverage is patchy, even on some highways.

The Country Women's Association of NSW said there was no way a fully privatised Telstra with its primary obligations to shareholders would improve or even maintain services in rural areas.

"The very improvements that have taken place recently have only done so because of the threat of legal action," the CWA's submission said.

The NSW parliamentary National Party called for legislation to ensure that technological advances in telecommunications are passed on to the bush.

The MPs said in their submission they were very disappointed that not all highways had adequate mobile phone coverage.

Prime Minister John Howard repeated that the estimated $40 billion from the eventual sale of the Government's 50.1 per cent stake in Telstra would be used to repay debt, saving multi-million-dollar interest repayments.

Finance Minister Nick Minchin was forced into a change of position on Tuesday after initially saying the money could help ease the water crisis facing farmers.




Australia's relationship with two key South-East Asian neighbours, Malaysia and Indonesia, continued to deteriorate yesterday amid recriminations over the war on terror, security raids on Muslims and tough travel warnings.

Two of the suspected Bali bombers were arrested in Indonesia this week while the former owner of the white Mitsubishi van which was exploded outside the Sari nightclub was questioned.

But a new row has broken out between Australia and Malaysia and Indonesia over the Howard Government's tough travel warnings for South-East Asia and the raids on the homes of Muslims here suspected of links to Jemaah Islamiyah.

Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri has warned countries not to respond "excessively" to the Bali bombings, speaking on the issue for the first time after the controversial raids.

The usually media-shy Ms Megawati said she had made her concerns about the international response to the attack clear when she met Prime Minister John Howard at the APEC summit in Mexico last month, before the raids occurred.

Antara news agency reported Ms Megawati saying that Australia should not be "excessive" in its anti-terror campaign.

"Let's not go overboard," she said.

"We Indonesians always treat foreigners proportionally. If there's an event that happened in Indonesia, or happened in Russia or in the Philippines, is it necessary that the citizens of those countries are isolated?" the Media Indonesia broadsheet also reported her as saying.

Malaysia's Prime Minister, Dr Mohammed Mahathir, said on Monday that Australia and the United States were also terrorist targets, and that Muslims were not safe here as a result of the raids last week.

"In fact, at the moment, Australia is particularly unsafe for Muslims, because they are likely to have their houses raided . . . I see pictures of doors being broken which I don't think it is essential," Dr Mahathir said.

"So people are today exposed to danger wherever they may be.

"So why single out some countries?

"It is something I don't understand."

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has shrugged off Dr Mahathir's comments but did remind Malaysia that it too had supported the outlawing of JI in the United Nations and had also moved against the group domestically. The ASIO raids began in Australia soon after JI was officially outlawed by the UN.

The row comes as the Opposition's trade spokesman, Craig Emerson, accused Mr Howard of turning his back on Asia in pursuit of a free-trade deal with the US and broader political purposes.

He even suggested that Mr Howard had a clear history of not liking Asians.

"By turning its face to the US and its back to Asia, the Government seeks to secure the support of the Australian people at the next election in a world wracked with fear," Dr Emerson said.

There has been a broadly negative reaction in Asia to Australian and other Western nations' travel warnings for the region, and anger at their impact on tourism, an issue which arose at this week's summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations in Cambodia.

But Mr Downer played down Malaysia's reaction and defended the ASIO raids. "No, we've certainly heard some negative sentiment from time to time from Dr Mahathir," he said.

"Where people are part of a UN-listed and Australian-proscribed terrorist organisation, or if they've got associations with those organisations, I think it's appropriate that we should investigate them," he said.

Dr Mahathir's comments come just days after he allegedly helped to sink Australia's bid to get a seat at the ASEAN annual meeting.

Through the "ASEAN plus three" meeting outside countries like China, Japan, Korea and [recently] India participate in the summits.

Ms Megawati was also reportedly reluctant to support Australia's membership.

Mr Downer has rejected suggestions that Australia's request for ASEAN membership was rebuffed at Phnom Penh. He said no country had voiced opposition to Australian membership - a view which conflicts with other reports.

"The idea is now firmly on ASEAN's agenda and further work will be done in coming months to develop this idea which would enhance Australia's engagement with ASEAN," Mr Downer said.

The fallout from allegations stemming from the August attack which killed three employees at the Freeport McMoran gold and copper mine in West Papua also continue. A US newspaper has pointed the finger at elements within Indonesia's armed forces, the TNI, rather than Free Papua Movement independence fighters.

After revelations that senior Indonesian officers might have been planning an operation against Freeport, the Opposition's foreign policy spokesman, Kevin Rudd, ruled out renewed training ties between Indonesia's elite special forces, Kopassus, and the SAS.

Mr Downer said the Government was looking at ways to work with the TNI.

BALI, Indonesia: A man had admitted to planting a bomb in the attack on a Bali nightclub that killed nearly 200 people, half of them Australians, last month, police said last night.

National Police Chief Da'i Bachtiar said the man, identified only as Amrozi, told police he owned the minivan used in the car-bomb attack.

"[Amrozi] used the car to plant the bomb in Bali," Mr Bachtiar said. "Amrozi admitted it and we are still chasing his friends."

A spokesman for the team of international investigators, Brigadier-General Edward Aritonang, said Amrozi was arrested in East Java province on Tuesday and then flown to Bali.

He said investigators were still questioning him as there were many things that needed to be cross-checked.

According to a local television report, Amrozi was arrested at an Islamic boarding school in the town of Tenggulun.

The head of the school, Dzakaria, has said in a TV interview that Amrozi also attended a speech at the school by radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir.

He says Amrozi sometimes came to his school to conduct prayers, but was not a student there.

Although no group has claimed responsibility for the blasts, the regional militant Islamic network Jemaah Islamiyah has emerged as the prime suspect.

Indonesian police have declared Bashir a suspect in a series of church bombings on Christmas Eve 2000 and in a plot to assassinate Megawati Sukarnoputri before she became president.

Dzakaria said Amrozi had once mentioned that he had returned from working in Malaysia.

Bashir has also spent time in Malaysia and was the founder of an Islamic boarding school in the Javanese town of Ngruki, from which Dzakaria graduated.

Meanwhile, Indonesian police issued yesterday the sketch of a fourth suspect involved in last month's devastating bomb blasts.

"According to our witnesses, he is thought to have a very close connection to the case," deputy national police spokesman Edward Aritonang told reporters at a news conference on the resort island.

"His status is a suspect," he said yesterday.

Police issued last week sketches of three Indonesian men whom they said might be perpetrators of the blasts that ripped through the nightclub area.

The man in the latest sketch had Indonesian features but police did not give more details.

The Asian Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the blast was planned by Hambali, a militant Indonesian Islamic cleric whose whereabouts are unknown.

Indonesia was in danger of a return to dictatorship if it failed to address Islamic extremism and a disaster in Australia's relations with its northern neighbour was now possible, according to a respected Canberra think-tank.

The director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Hugh White, has warned that after the Bali bombings, Indonesian democracy was at risk because President Megawati Sukarnoputri could not deal with Islamic terrorism adequately enough.

And he has urged the Government to devote more resources to Indonesia, and to develop a more sophisticated approach towards the alliance with the United States, which was complicating our relations with Indonesia. ''Our expertise on Indonesia has probably slipped in recent years, and needs to be revived,'' Mr White said.

The think-tank's report came as Prime Minister John Howard defended his track record on Asia yesterday. Mr Howard said ties were still fundamentally sound, but conceded it was a challenging time for Australia's relationship with regional neighbours such as Indonesia and Malaysia.

Mr White, a former deputy secretary at Defence, said the Bali bombings were a blow to Ms Megawati's Government. ''She is probably incapable of reaching out to mobilise moderate Islamic opinion to isolate Islamic extremists,'' he said.

Failing to develop an effective response to terrorism would erode her credibility and her prospects in the 2004 election. ''In the long run this will add to the pressures on democracy and increase the risk of a return to authoritarian rule.''

Mr White also said the United States paid little attention to Australia's concerns and was becoming more demanding. Australia's support for a war in Iraq would further damage ties with Indonesia. The US alliance, too, had to be managed more in Australia's security interests.

Mr Howard has defended his Government's Asia policy and its security concerns from critics here and abroad after being criticised by the Opposition this week for not liking Asians and for cracking down on Muslims in Australia suspected of terrorist links. ''This is obviously a challenging time but I think we have to look beneath the surface and understand that the undercurrent of relationships between Australia and different Asian countries is still very good,'' Mr Howard said.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer called for cool heads yesterday after Indonesia warned popular anger directed at Australia's heavy-handed raids could jeopardise cooperation on the Bali bombings.

''There's been a lot of inflammatory language expressed in the Indonesian media by the Indonesian media,'' he told reporters in Tokyo. ''This is a time that calls for cool heads.''

Defence Minister Robert Hill, while also claiming Australia's relationship with Indonesia was good and that there was a lot of cooperation over the Bali bombings investigation, warned about the looming threat to Australians expressed in a new travel upgrade for Indonesia from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Violence between rival Aboriginal groups broke out in the precincts of the ACT Supreme Court yesterday, prompting Acting Chief Justice Ken Crispin to warn them that federal officials could move in and take control of the tent embassy site outside Old Parliament House.

Police were called by court officials after scuffles broke out on the steps of the court house during a morning adjournment in proceedings relating to violent confrontations at the tent embassy last week.

Up to eight police were called in, inside the courtroom and in the foyer outside. There were no further serious incidents after they arrived.

But earlier there were ugly scenes outside the building, including punching and kicking and verbal abuse. At least two people retreated to the nearby City police station. Shortly after, inside the courthouse itself, a man was allegedly kicked and an elderly woman struck.

The incidents led Justice Crispin to say he was "extremely concerned" by the altercations and hoped those at fault might be arrested. If similar conduct continued there could be widespread arrests.

He warned that the National Capital Authority, which controlled the Old Parliament House area, might now decide to exercise its powers to say who could enter the site. He did not go as far as to say the NCA could exercise its statutory power to close the embassy down.

He urged rival groups with Ngunawal elders split over the issue to exercise restraint and enter into discussions.

A week ago, the judge granted an interim injunction to tent embassy residents restraining Ngunawal elder Matilda House and her "agents" from damaging property on the site. This followed incidents in which a gunya was set alight and a sacred fire extinguished. Mrs House's group said at the time it had been seeking to clean up the embassy site.

Yesterday, Mrs House's barrister, James Sabharwal, said his client was prepared to give an undertaking not to damage property or assault any person, pending a full court hearing.

Rosemary Gillespie, for the embassy residents, said her clients had been threatened and intimidated since the last court hearing, and were "desperate" for real protection, fearing for their lives. She asked for a more wide-ranging injunction.

Justice Crispin said he could not make orders against people who were not parties to the litigation and who had not even been identified.

He declined to do more than maintain the status quo, pending a full hearing, telling Ms Gillespie that her clients could seek restraining orders or call in the police if there were further incidents.


The ACT economy generated an extra 400 new jobs last month, but the jobless rate remained the same as more people began looking for work, according to new figures issued yesterday by the Bureau of Statistics.

The ACT's jobless rate stood at 4.3 per cent in trend terms in October, with the gain of an extra 700 full-time jobs offset by a loss of 300 part-time jobs.

Nationally, the jobless rate (seasonally adjusted) fell from 6.2 to 6 per cent as total employment jumped by 15,800.

But while the number of full-time jobs jumped sharply in the ACT, the reverse happened at the national level.

Around the nation, there was a sharp fall in the number of full-time jobs by 59,900, more than balanced by an increase in the number of part-time jobs of 75,700.

The latest job figures come as Treasurer Peter Costello warned that Australia's economic growth rate might suffer as a result of the international situation, especially as a result of a slowdown in the US, and also the drought's impact here.

"Undoubtedly the weakening international position will have downside effects on the Australian economy, as will drought. . . The good news for Australia today of course is that unemployment has fallen again," he said.

The Opposition's employment spokesman and deputy leader, Jenny Macklin, continued to emphasise that the workforce was becoming increasingly casualised and the loss of nearly 60,000 jobs in October proved it.

"Families are struggling under enormous financial pressure and many are being forced to cope with part-time work because the full-time jobs they need are not there," Ms Macklin said.

Mr Costello welcomed yesterday the United States Federal Reserve's decision to cut the federal funds interest rate by 50 basis points on Wednesday night. The Reserve Bank decided to keep rates the same on Wednesday.

At 1.25 per cent, the federal funds rate could well represent what Mr Costello said was a negative interest rate.

"That is, if your inflation is greater than one and a quarter, that could well be a negative interest rate.

"And we haven't been in that kind of territory for a very long period of time."

LOS ANGELES: Her doe-eyes and gamine appearance might have made her world-famous, but Winona Ryder will likely now be remembered as the star who thumbed her nose at the law but didn't get away with it.

The 31-year-old Oscar nominee, who was convicted yesterday of stealing a small fortune in clothes and accessories from a top department store, is one of the best known of Hollywood's so-called "Generation X" actors.

She has made headlines ever since she first impressed Tinseltown with a role in Tim Burton's 1988 film Beetlejuice before taking on a range of offbeat roles while dating top stars like Johnny Depp and Matt Damon.

But Ryder started out life far from the mainstream glamour of Hollywood, growing up as an archetypal child of a pair of free-spirited 1960s US social revolutionaries.

Born Winona Horowitz in October 1971 in Winona, Minnesota - from where she took her name - Ryder was the goddaughter of 1960s counter-culture guru Timothy Leary and had an unconventional childhood.

While still a toddler, her parents Michael and Cindy carted Winona off to Colombia to stay with a group of Chilean revolutionaries before moving to northern California in 1974.

There, Ryder and her family lived for several years in a commune that had no electricity or television, moving to a more traditional house in the early 1980s.

Ryder attended high school in the same area and developed an interest in drama before transferring to a theatre school in San Francisco when she was just 12.

While at the school she took roles in several plays and was spotted by a talent scout in 1985 who asked her to audition for her first movie role which she did not get. But she soon got her first big break, when she was just 15, in a coming-of-age film called Lucas, which she shot during her school holidays in 1986.

The movie world was soon seduced by her talent and ability to play worldly young characters who retained their basic innocence, and made her next movie the following year.

The 1988 classic Beetlejuice marked the 17-year-old's true arrival in Hollywood, and opened the door for a quiver of roles in top films that won her a string of awards.

After winning a key part in 1989s Heathers she went on to make the dark parody Edward Scissorhands alongside her future lover Depp the following year, a role that propelled her to international stardom.

During their highly publicised affair, Depp famously tattooed Winona Forever on his arm, but had the design altered after they broke up to read Wino Forever.

In 1990, the rising young star withdrew from a role in The Godfather III and checked into a mental hospital to be treated for the depression and anxiety from which she had been intermittently suffering for years.

But despite the setback, pixyish Ryder further boosted her profile by playing US singer Jerry Lee Lewis's teenage bride in the 1989 film Great Balls of Fire, which starred Denis Quaid.

In 1993, Ryder's role in Martin Scorsese's big-budget The Age of Innocence won her an Academy award nomination as best supporting actress, but she lost out to another youngster, Anna Paquin, for her role in The Piano. After making the hit Reality Bites in 1994, she went on to win a second Oscar nod for best actress for 1995s Little Women. Ryder then starred as a mentally challenged youngster in the highly successful Girl, Interrupted in 1999 and then went on to take roles in such hits as Alien: Resurrection in 1997 and 1999s Being John Malkovich. Her latest pictures Mr Deeds and Simone were released earlier this year.

But despite her dramatic shoplifting conviction in a trial which played out like a Hollywood film, industry observers said the publicity could end up helping her career.

"There's no such thing as bad publicity," said one Hollywood publicist who requested anonymity. "After all, she hasn't murdered anyone, so I think she'll continue to receive new scripts." AFP


Former Australian Protective Service officer and whistleblower Garry Lee-Rogers knew he was a dead man.

In the months before his body was found lying on the bed in his Charles Street flat at Queanbeyan on October 1, he told family, friends, MPs and anyone else who would listen that he would be murdered because he was going to "expose the web of lies, corruption and collusion that exists within the APS".

Several days before his body was discovered, Mr Lee-Rogers' landlady said he "looked beaten up" and had apparently told her he had been assaulted by Federal Police.

"I am in fear of my life and know I will die within the next few months," he wrote in documents which have been obtained by The Canberra Times."I have had [individuals] driving past my residence making symbols of a gun to me and drawing their fingers across their throats to indicate what is going to happen to me.

"And I have already had a gun placed in my mouth."

A terrified Mr Lee-Rogers warned friends that if he did die, it would not be by suicide.

Mr Lee-Rogers' confidant and fellow whistleblower Dave Berthelsen, of Macgregor, who had offered his support to him in the months before his death, believes the 45-year-old was murdered.

"On the balance of probabilities, he was murdered," Mr Berthelsen said.

The cause of his death has not yet been determined.

For a death classified by Queanbeyan coroner Peter Leonarduzzi as "unusual", a finding will not be handed down until the results of pathology reports and a brief, which is being prepared by NSW Police, is finalised. He will then decide whether there should be an inquest.

In a statement to Queanbeyan police days after Mr Lee-Rogers' death, his former de facto wife Kathleen Mills said he had received death threats up until the day he died.

"I still have a message on my machine from Gary just before he died," Ms Mills, of Queanbeyan, said.

"They were threatening him and sending him text messages on his mobile saying things like 'We know where you live'.

"I believe his death is very suspicious and I want answers. Gary was a very honourable man and he just wanted the truth to be told.

"He knew something that scared a lot of people. He never really told me what it was about, because he wanted to protect me and my daughter.

"Our relationship fell apart as a result of this. Gary spent such a long time trying to be heard but no-one was listening. I just wish that someone had taken notice before he died. I'm so sad that he's gone without ever being able to clear his name and put out there what he knew."

Up until April 4, 2000, Mr Lee-Rogers was an acting assistant inspector with the APS, a senior instructor within the staff training and development section.

In August 1999, he had written a detailed and extensive report which alleged "significant faults" in the APS and the "obvious security risks at Sydney Airport and other sensitive establishments which highlighted a weakness and extreme laxness in the security of these facilities".

In the months that followed Mr Lee-Rogers also alleged that a junior officer under his command had been assaulted and the matter had not been properly dealt with by higher management. "In January of 2000, I became aware of certain activities being conducted by the then training manager of the APS," Mr Lee-Rogers wrote at the time.

"These activities, mostly performed on behalf of the APS, could only be interpreted as, and amounted to nothing less than, maladministration against other Commonwealth departments and civil organisations that were paying the APS for training, the distribution of grants from other government agencies and other services.

"I took documentary evidence of this and other improprieties within the APS to the then deputy director of the APS.

"I was told that a full investigation would be conducted and I was to keep all of this confidential so as not to prejudice the inquiry.

"Certain events then unfolded which resulted in my being arrested by the Federal Police on April 4, 2000, and charged with two counts of unlawful removal, 11 counts of utter and a further one count of fraud.

"This followed a blatant slander and rumour campaign against me."

After the charges were laid, Mr Lee-Rogers was stood down from duty without pay pending court action.

He was due to face court earlier this month and Ms Mills said he "would prove he was innocent of the charges and reveal the evidence he had on the APS".

"But he was never given the chance to do that," she said.

Mr Berthelsen said Mr Lee-Rogers had been scared, and he knew a lot.

"In a conversation with him before he died I told him that if he was feeling threatened or had a problem, I would go to his house.

"After all, it's harder to cover up two murders rather than just one.

"I was shocked by Gary's death but I was not surprised. He had just started to scratch the surface with what he knew. He literally revealed the tip of the iceberg and more was to come."

A spokeswoman for the APS said any comment on the matter would be inappropriate as it was under investigation by NSW police and the coroner.

TennisLleyton Hewitt will need all of his renowned fighting spirit to retain the Champions Race title after being dealt a horror draw for next week's Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai.

World No 1 Hewitt could scarcely have fared worse, being drawn in a four-man pool with Marat Safin, who thrashed him in last Saturday's Paris Masters final, and his Spanish nemesis Carlos Moya.

French Open champion Albert Costa rounds out the Red Group for the round-robin phase of the

$6.6 million eight-man season-ending tournament.

The rugged Costa is probably the only one of his opponents Hewitt feels comfortable playing.

Holding an 88-point lead over Andre Agassi in the 2002 ATP Champions Race, Hewitt is in the driver's seat to retain the crown he won at the Masters Cup in Sydney last year.

But he would have hoped to avoid Safin and Moya - the only two men boasting a winning head-to-head record against him - until the semi-final stage.

The unpredictable but richly talented Safin is 4-3 in career meetings with Hewitt and has demolished the Wimbledon champion in their past two encounters.

Third-placed Safin has dropped just 14 games against Hewitt in their last five sets and, ominously, the decisive Shanghai event will be held indoors, as was the Paris Masters and the 2000 Masters Cup in Portugal, where Safin also dismissed Hewitt in straight sets.

Hewitt's record against fifth-placed Moya is similarly worrying. He is 2-4 in career meetings against the former French Open champion and one-time world No 1 and has lost their last three clashes this year - without having won a set.

Hewitt has beaten Costa in four of their five encounters.

Agassi, Hewitt's only remaining challenger in this year's Champions Race, would be delighted with his Shanghai draw, playing in the Gold Group with two players he has never lost to.

In the simplest of several scenarios for Agassi, the 32-year-old American needs to win the tournament and hope Hewitt doesn't make the final in order to attain the year-end No 1 ranking for a second time. He drew sixth-placed Roger Federer (3-0) and seventh-placed Jiri Novak (4-0) and fourth-placed Juan-Carlos Ferrero.

JUSTINE Henin and Kim Clijsters registered convincing straight-sets wins yesterday as the $3 million WTA Championships made a quiet return to the United States.

The two Belgians played to a near empty arena at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles, but it didn't appear to affect their form.

Fourth seed Henin cruised to a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Russian Elena Dementieva and fifth seed Clijsters demolished American Chanda Rubin 6-1, 6-2 to set up an all-Belgian quarter-final.

Second-seeded Venus Williams stayed on course for yet another finals showdown with sister Serena with a straight set win over Switzerland's Patty Schnyder 6-2, 7-6 (9-7).

The Melbourne Cup may have stopped the nation on Tuesday, but it was never going to halt the ACT Brumbies' relentless pursuit of being a fitter, faster and smarter team next year.

The young Brumbies squad, minus 13 Wallabies on tour in Europe, was put through its paces by athletic performance coordinator Steuart Livingstone oblivious to Media Puzzle's storming run home on Tuesday.

Finishing second to the Crusaders this year was clearly not good enough for Brumbies coach David Nucifora.

After a comprehensive season review, he has implemented a bold new pre-season training regime aimed at taking his team that next step to Super 12 champions.

"Some of the things that we want to improve on are the ability of the players to react quicker and become better decision makers - we feel we have room for a substantial amount of improvement," Nucifora said.

There has been a much greater emphasis on game-simulated training sessions to achieve Nucifora's aims.

"You have got to look at what the players are asked to do on the field and all we have tried to do is break down a game of rugby and apply it in different ways," he said.

"We looked at the decisions players are asked to make on the field at different times and try to make them train towards that so we have created a training routine around those scenarios."

The Brumbies have called upon the Australian Institute of Sport's physiology department and its bank of video cameras and blood testing kits to help monitor the progress of the players.

"Because the type of training we are doing is slightly different from the conventional conditioning training that has been used in the past, we are using some sport science people to measure the effort the players put in the session," Nucifora said.

"It gives us a reading how hard particular drills are and provides us with a measurement of how difficult and how taxing they are - to consistently record how hard some of our players are working."

The team of AIS scientists headed by Grant Duthie is measuring the lactate levels, or build-up of lactic acid in the blood of three players in particular - centre Joel Wilson, lock Mark Chisholm and prop Nic Henderson.

Duthie makes no apologies for the ghoulish nature of extracting a drop of blood from the earlobe of the three players during each session.

"We get blood about seven times every session - we only need a small drop on the lactate analyser - to show us how hard the players are working," Duthie said.

"We also take a rating of their own perceived exertion, or how hard the player thinks he is working, and their heart rate is monitored throughout the session."

Duthie explained lactate was an important performance indicator.

"Basically the harder you work, the more lactate is produced," he said.

"A 400m runner who goes flat-stick around an oval or a Michael Klim on a 100m swim will produce a high level of lactate.

"So you can definitely see the differences between someone like Joel Wilson, who has trained professionally at this level for many seasons and produces a higher lactate. He has the ability to work harder and tolerate it a lot better over the duration of the session than the two other younger players.

"Whereas at the start we have had a few problems with new lock Mark Chisholm, who was not quite accustomed to this level of training.

"He got his lactates up there but was also vomiting during the first session and having a bit of trouble dealing with it - it's just something he has to adapt to. Nic Henderson looks quite fit for his body weight and is producing quite high lactates too."

Each week the Brumbies players will undertake six different sessions with the intriguing acronyms of PSP, ISP, ITP, CARE, PIP and PAT, plus their regular speed, strength and conditioning sessions.

The first three are rugby-related sessions and the last three athletic performance sessions.

PSP is code for player specific practice or individual skills sessions. ISP is intensive skills practice - such as scrummaging, lineouts or starter moves for the backs.

ITP is an integrated team practice that combines the ISP sessions such as running backline moves off lineouts.

CARE stands for core abdominal and remedial exercises. PIP is a prior injury prevention session aimed at players strengthening any parts of their body prone to injury.

PAT is a prioritise athletic training session designed to burn fat or improve the aerobic capacity of selected players.

After only three weeks of pre-season, Nucifora was already confident his squad would be fitter by the start of next year's Super 12 than it was last season.

"The players have already come back fitter," he said.

"That's a very good start for us and we intend to build from that so I do expect our fitness levels to certainly improve."

Now all that's left is for someone work out how to put the ball over the try-line and kick the goal.

Local wine production is expected to drop significantly because there are fewer grapes and many growers now rely on the dregs in their dams or on limited bore water.

"This is serious and we have to do something now. Right now," Mr Helm said.

"There are many out there who are facing tough times. This is the worst I've ever seen it, and I've been in the wine industry for 30 years.

"What with the drought, the drop in tourism after Bali and September 11 and this unfair tax system, our problems have been magnified."

And yesterday it only got worse, as the NSW Government declared 99 per cent of the state drought-affected or "marginal".

Also revealed yesterday were livestock product figures, compiled by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which showed a significant increase in the numbers of sheep and cattle slaughtered in the September quarter as a result of the drought.

Many farmers are selling their stock now before the drought worsens and feed and water become more scarce.

In the September quarter, a total of 3.9 million sheep were slaughtered, up by 7 per cent, and the slaughter of cattle and calves rose by 4 per cent.

"We're starting to get to breaking point," Mr Helm said of the local wine industry. "The small producer is fighting a daily battle for survival with the drought and especially with this grossly inequitable and complicated tax system.

"We urgently need tax reform if we are to survive and continue to breathe life into our regional economies."

Under the current system, the Wine Equalisation Tax of 29 per cent is levied on the sale price of wine.

Therefore, if a bottle of wine costs $30, WET of $3.68 is paid. On top of that is the GST of 10 per cent.

Under one proposal for reform, presented by Mr Helm to MPs yesterday, tax should be levied on the alcohol content, rather than its cost.

"WET discriminates against premium wines produced by regional wineries and gives a large tax advantage to cask and cheaper wines."

The issue of WET is expected to be debated in the Senate early next month under the Excise Tariff Amendment Bill.

Mr Helm, who owns Premium Canberra District Wines, said he would keep fighting for reform for as long as he could.

"But I, like many others, am at the point where I'd sell if I had an offer, and I've never even considered that before now," he said.

But one benefit expected from the hot conditions is smaller, higher-quality bunches, wine growers said.

WASHINGTON: Delivering a sombre tribute to soldiers of wars past, President George W. Bush said yesterday he would commit "the full force and might of the United States military" against Iraq if Saddam Hussein refused to disarm swiftly.

As Iraq's Parliament unanimously proposed rejection of a tough UN disarmament resolution, but left the final decision to President Saddam Hussein, Mr Bush used two Veterans' Day addresses to underscore his impatience.

"The time to confront this threat is before it arrives, not the day after," he told several dozen veterans during an East Room ceremony.

Behind the scenes, Mr Bush has approved tentative Pentagon plans for invading Iraq should a new UN arms inspection effort fail to rid the nation of weapons of mass destruction.

The strategy calls for a land, sea and air force of 200,000 to 250,000 personnel, administration officials said, as they sought to build up pressure on Saddam to relent.

"We have to keep, in a sense, a gun pointed to the head of the Iraqi regime because that's the only way they cooperate," Mr Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, told National Public Radio's The Tavis Smiley Show. The talk of war grew to a crescendo just three days after the UN Security Council approved a tough new resolution with an unexpected 15-0 vote.

Iraq has until Friday to accept the resolution that would send UN inspectors back to Baghdad after an absence of nearly four years, with broad new powers to go anywhere at any time backed by the threat of force.

Saddam's elder son Uday urged the Iraqi Parliament to agree to the new UN disarmament resolution, in a working document submitted to the National Assembly.

"We have to accept the UN Security Council resolution which is at the centre of this emergency session," wrote Uday, who is a Member of the Parliament.

It was the first clear call in Iraq to yield to international demands to allow back weapons inspectors.

With the clock ticking, Mr Bush travelled across the Potomac River to visit Arlington National Cemetery, lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, praise America's veterans and pledge his resolve against terrorism and Iraq.

"We will not permit a dictator who has used weapons of mass destruction to threaten America with chemical, biological or nuclear weapons," the President said. "This great nation will not live at the mercy of any foreign plot or power."

Standing beneath the marble dome of the cemetery's flag-draped amphitheatre, the President drew cheers and whistles of approval when he declared, "The dictator of Iraq will fully disarm or the United States will lead a coalition to disarm him."

Unilateralism could destroy rule of law Page 15

Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the most dangerous threat of current times was that of countries like Iraq giving nuclear, chemical or biological weapons to international terrorists.

"The only way to confront terrorists with weapons of mass destruction is to stop them before they attack," he said.

In Baghdad, Iraq's parliament condemned the UN resolution as full of lies, and a senior lawmaker urged that it be rejected - a prospect that would be likely to bring on war.

The parliament met yesterday to vote on a motion to reject the resolution, but the assembly speaker said deputies would leave the final say to Saddam.

Ms Rice dismissed the response. "I don't think anyone believes this is anything but an absolute dictatorship and this decision is up to Saddam Hussein," she said.

Even if Saddam accepted the resolution, Ms Rice said she would remain sceptical.

"They are obligated to accept, but the UN thought it best to ask for return-receipt requested," she said.

Mr Bush said Iraq was behind the eight-ball. "No enemy that threatens our security or endangers our people will escape the patient justice and the overwhelming power of the United States of America," he said.

Australian victims of wars as distant in time as the Great War of 1914-1918, and of atrocities as recent as last month's bombing in Bali, were put into the thoughts of everyone at yesterday's typically poignant National Remembrance Day Ceremony at the Australian War Memorial.

In her commemorative address at the 84th annual observation of Remembrance Day, the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Danna Vale, said the killing and wounding of "peace-loving, happy Australians" in Bali "was a reminder that war does not touch only those wearing a uniform in the service of our nation".

In a speech to a congregation including Governor-General Dr Peter Hollingworth, the Prime Minister John Howard, the Leader of the Opposition, Simon Crean, and ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope, the minister said she was sure "all our fellow Australians hold them [the Bali victims] in our hearts and prayers as we remember all Australian sons and daughters on this Remembrance Day".

Enough, already of the self-flagellation, Nasser.

Of course, inserting the Aussies at the Gabba did rather expel you from the Erwin Rommel school of tactical thinkers, but then he did have the Afrika Corps.

What you have is the demoralised residue of decades of ego-ridden waste and muddled thinking.

So you looked around at team-mates who have the culture of defeat in their bones, you saw they were gulping before Glenn McGrath or Shane Warne had sent down their first deliveries, and you flinched.

It wasn't your finest moment, but nor was it a catch-all for the reasons why England are as far away as ever from inflicting a flea bite on the tough professional hide of Australia.

Several Ashes series ago, before Steve Waugh took his team on to an entirely superior level of operation, but some time after the beating of England had become synonymous in the Australian mind with kicking a crippled dog, the tough No 3 batsman David Boon was asked to explain the ease with which he so regularly finished on the winning side.

''Well, a little consistency helps, mate," Boon said.

"Playing England over the years is like running into a cast of thousands.

''It seems to us that the Poms just don't know how to go about building a winning team. The key is knowing who your best players are and then putting a little trust in them.''

It also helps if you don't saddle those best players with the obligation to perform in something as arcane and ultimately irrelevant as the County Championship.

However many times it is remodelled, it is a home mostly for time-serving trundlers for whom simulating the demands of an average Australian state match is not so much a tough call as a journey into fantasy.

England's coach Duncan Fletcher, understandably enough, has been quick to contradict his captain's assertion that one reason he asked one of the most formidable batting line-ups in the history of the game to go to the crease was that his own troops were pop-eyed with apprehension.

On this one, we have to take our choice, but looking at the traditionally flawless Gabba strip would not at the best of times have encouraged too much English optimism.

With men such as Matthew Hayden, Damien Martin and Adam Gilchrist in such god-like nick, it was surely the equivalent of being asked to shove your head into the mouth of a cannon.

Hussain's call may have been generally disastrous but it did, according to the priorities of English cricket, have one huge benefit.

It provided a clear-cut excuse behind which a multitude of frailties could hide.

It also placed the captain of England squarely, and this was the best bit, in his classic role as ready-made scapegoat.

Apologists for an England which disintegrates at the first sight of a green cricket cap say that there has been some improvement since Hussain and Fletcher came together, and no doubt this is true - to a limited extent.

There is a degree of Test match parity now with India, Pakistan and South Africa, and if you look hard enough, you might just pick out the beginnings of consistency in selection.

But the heart of the team, when exposed to the highest levels of competition, remains alarmingly brittle.

Against Australia, England do not lose.

They are separated from their intestines.

Ian Botham's verdict was as caustic and robust as ever.

''They were like startled rabbits,'' he declared of his countrymen, and if anyone was entitled to say it, it was surely the hero of Headingley.

What English cricket needs more than anything is hard professional leadership.

It needs someone to stand up and take the flak rather than shuffle it towards another corner.

The England captain will always be a target. He goes on the field and shapes the action as much as he can and if he can be linked, as Hussain so clearly was in Brisbane, with a crucial tactical miscalculation, there is scarcely any limit on the critical retribution.

It is at that point the vortex into which so many of Hussain's predecessors have been drawn begins to take hold.

England need somebody to do the job which Ray Illingworth, the Ashes-winning captain, defined when he was still young enough to do it properly.

It is someone who picks the team, including the captain, and makes all the important decisions off the field. It is someone who is big enough, respected enough, to say, ''it is my judgement and I'll keep using it until you take away the job''.

Botham fancies his chances and such an appointment would surely represent a rallying point, especially when the now eviscerating challenge of Australia comes around.

Who is the spokesman and figurehead of English cricket in the current maelstrom Down Under?

It is David Graveney, the chairman of selectors, a knowledgeable cricket man who organised the professional players' union and got himself into the great bureaucratic archipelago of the game. He never played Test cricket, which puts him, you would have thought, at some disadvantage when he rules over a committee formed by his captain, his coach and his fellow-selector, Geoff Miller, who did play Test cricket, including eight times against Australia.

Committees do not bring leadership.

They had one running the England football team before the arrival of Sir Alf Ramsey, with inevitably feeble results.

Committee talk certainly will not get England out of their current plight. It will take a new way of thinking, a new aggression and for that you need someone like Allan Border, who did such a superb job in helping to rebuild the Australian image of what a Test team should be.

You go for a Border on the principle that if you can't beat them you had better get one of them to join you.

Or you break the crumbling mould and take a flyer on ''Beefy'' Botham, who as a very young man once chased Ian Chappell out of a Melbourne bar.

Maybe Botham would have to do it from memory, but it appears that he still has one - and a vital one too.

It is of a time when an England captain could never have admitted to looking into the eyes of his players and seeing fear. THE INDEPENDENT

Outraged NRL team bosses yesterday lashed out at Parramatta's Denis Fitzgerald, saying he should be fined heavily and forced to resign as chairman of the national body's club council.

The Eels' chief executive told a Leagues Club conference on the Gold Coast on Monday that Manly, Souths and Melbourne should be axed from the competition and replaced with teams from the Central Coast and New Zealand.

He also suggested the National Rugby League should openly discuss amalgamation with the Australian Rugby Union.

Fitzgerald drew the ire of South Sydney supporters earlier this year when he said the Rabbitohs should not have been allowed to return to the NRL fold.

His latest comments drew fiery responses from club chief executives David Tapp (Souths), Ian Thomson (Manly) and John Ribot (Melbourne), who said Fitzgerald should be removed as club council chairman because of conflicting interests.

"One thing about Denis I'm going to bring up next week when all the clubs have their annual meeting, [is that] he is chairman of the club council and he is supposed to have a very independent view and represent the clubs fairly on what their view is," Ribot said.

"He should resign, there's no grey area there at all, he's got to resign. If he's got a view and he wants to go and expand soccer in his club and rugby union and say that rugby league and rugby union should be coming together, that's his view.

"But he shouldn't have that view while he's chairman of the club council."

Tapp described Fitzgerald's comments as farcical and added the former Eels forward should be fined $10,000 for bringing the game into disrepute.

"A guy like Denis Fitzgerald - when he speaks, people listen and what he said is disgraceful. He has brought the game into disrepute," Tapp said. "Whether he has some agenda against Souths or some of the others clubs I'm not sure, but I think he should hang his head in shame.

"I'm appalled by his statements. I think he should be fined heavily by the National Rugby League."

Tapp said he met with NRL chief executive David Gallop yesterday morning and voiced his outrage.

He believed that Fitzgerald's questioning of Souths' management showed he had no idea what was going on within the foundation club.

"The harmony in this club is fine. The finances in this club are fine, and we are going to be here for the next 90 years or so, just like we have been," Tapp said.

Fitzgerald should start looking at his own backyard before worrying about others, Tapp said.

"I would be concerned about an organisation structure that has received over the last decade

$50 million of the leagues club's grants and doesn't have a trophy on the shelf, that's what he should be worried about," Tapp said.

Thomson labelled Fitzgerald's comments as "sad", saying Manly is one of the great clubs of the modern era and its removal would leave Sydney's north shore without a team.

Comments Ribot echoed as he stated Australia's second largest city must have a NRL team.

"In Melbourne, all the head offices of the businesses and the banks, Telstra are here, there's all these multi-national companies, we've just got to be in Melbourne. You just can't afford not to be."

Christine Maher has charged the ACT Revenue Office with negligence after her mother Valerie amassed a $17,000 bill for rates arrears.

Ms Maher said her mother had deferred rates payments between 1986 and 1992 but the family was "left in the dark" over the escalating bill.

Privacy regulations prevented ACT Revenue Office rates and land tax manager Angel Marina from discussing individual cases.

But Mr Marina said the office had started sending out complete statements on rates arrears and interest charges this year to improve customer service.

Valerie who has dementia moved into the Griffith home about 52 years ago and has lived in an aged-care facility for the past 18 months.

Ms Maher, who became Valerie's legal guardian about two years ago, said the family had periodically checked through their mother's mail to ensure bills were paid. There were no statements about the rates bill so the news came as a complete shock.

The statement showed Valerie owed $17,135.85 $8206.75 in rates and $8929.10 in interest but the figure had been revised to $16,169.29 because interest charges for July 1, 2001 to June 30 this year were waived.

Ms Maher said the office should notify families when dealing with an older person.

Mr Marina said the office had to respect privacy regulations and could only discuss issues with the property owner and their authorised representative such as a lawyer, agent or legal guardian.

The rates deferral scheme was designed to help residents facing financial hardship and pensioners who could postpone payment for short periods or until the home was sold.

Mr Marina said pensioners had a statutory right to access the scheme which attracted simple, not compound, interest.

The office was not obligated to issue complete statements annually, but made the move despite criticism from some clients.

"We believed there were more positives than negatives," Mr Marina said.

Ms Maher said she was prepared to pay the rates arrears, but would contest the interest charges and take the matter up with the ACT Government.

"They should notify people when they're building up debts," she said. "I suspect there are a lot of people building up debts and hiding it from their kids."

The Maher family had no plans to sell the home, she said.

Mr Marina said the ACT Revenue Office was compassionate and willing to help home owners and their families within legislative limits.

THE ACT Government is preparing to crack down on the storage of firearms and to lead the country in tightening gun controls.

The changes could also see a range of currently available guns banned within weeks.

Chief Minister Jon Stanhope is expected to announce a 30-day amnesty for licensed gun holders to bring their storage facilities up to standard before police begin a series of random inspections.

Speaking from the National Police Ministers' conference in Perth, Mr Stanhope said all the ministers had agreed to tighten controls on gun storage and would soon follow the ACT's lead in their own jurisdictions.

The checks will target around 10 per cent of the ACT's 5500 licence holders whose storage facilities will be inspected for compliance with the Firearms Act.

Dealers are expected to be the first group checked, before attention is focused on individual shooters.

The checks will be part of a territory-wide audit of all guns in the ACT from early next year.

Mr Stanhope said the police ministers were weeks away from banning a range of guns currently available. The ministers are to meet again in early December to discuss which weapons to ban.

''I've agreed in principle to restrict the range of guns that can be owned to those used in accredited events only,'' Mr Stanhope said. "We are going to consult widely but at the end of that process there is no doubt that there is a range of handguns currently available for registration which will no longer be available."

Information from the ACT audit will be added to a firearms database to monitor the number and types of weapons in the Canberra community and will also be used to determine future ACT firearms policy.

Changes are likely to include more rigorous background checks on licence applicants and cancelling licences for failure to comply with storage regulations.

Of the 4000-odd firearms stolen every year, more than 80 per cent were taken from residential premises. Figures for 2001 showed there were around 6500 registered guns in the ACT.

Staff shortages forced Canberra Hospital to spend, on average, more than $5700 a day to employ agency nurses in 2001-02.

The annual report revealed Canberra Hospital spent $22,800 on advertising nursing vacancies and more than $2 million on agency nurses to work in women's and children's health, medical and surgical services.

Canberra Hospital chief executive Ted Rayment said staffing agencies had capitalised on the nurse shortage.

Management hoped to reduce its reliance on agency staff.

"In conjunction with the recent tender of agency nurses, I have asked the senior nurse adviser to look at utilisation of agency nurses and to advise on measures to reduce the high cost of current arrangements," Mr Rayment wrote in an internal memo issued in August.

Senior nurse adviser Donna Mowbray said this week that the international shortage of nurses meant the hospital had to rely on agency nurses to fill gaps in the roster.

Canberra Hospital had carried the escalating financial burden of hiring nurses rather than cutting the level of service.

The hospital was actively recruiting casual and on-call nurses to reduce the reliance on agency staff.

Ms Mowbray said the aim was to ensure Canberra Hospital had enough nursing staff to cover the roster but agency nurses could still be called in to work shifts when staff took unscheduled leave at short notice.

The 2001-02 annual report showed Canberra Hospital spent $68 million on salaries for more than 1100 full-time nurses.

Three companies supplied agency nurses, with Canberra Hospital paying more than $880,000 to ACT Nursing Service, $43,177 to Dialysaid Nursing Service and $1.17 million to Professional Nursing Agency.

The costs had contributed to increasing administrative expenses which had exceeded the budget by $4.980 million.

The report said, "This over budget expenditure was mainly due to higher than budgeted administrative expenses of $5.354 million (5 per cent) and employee expenses of $659,000 (0.4 per cent) partly offset by below budget expenditure in superannuation expenses of $1.041 million (5.5 per cent). Increases in agency nursing, VMOs (visiting medical officers), medical and surgical supplies and other miscellaneous expenses have contributed to the higher than budgeted administrative expenses."

Visiting medical officers were paid more than $12.5 million in 2001-02 including $8.1 million in surgical services, $1.7 million in medical services and $869,956 in mental health.

POPSTAR Scott Cain's autograph was priceless yesterday however and wherever you could get it as he stepped out for the "Live a Little" opening celebrations for the Canberra Centre.

The latest music chart-topper hasn't been in Canberra since he was 12, "for the sixth grade school excursion, of course".

"I remember we did the rounds of the science place, Parliament House, War Memorial, and all the rest," he said.

Yesterday Cain was the star attraction, second only perhaps to Bob the Builder.

Giving the national attractions a miss this time, it was off to the nearest skate park for Cain, who's also an ambassador for the International Skateboard Association.

Inside the Centre's forecourt, away from the fashion parades and cooking demonstrations with celebrity chef Aristos, football legend Mal Meninga also took part in the celebrations with of all things a floral arrangement demonstration.

Apparently Big Mal's mum was a florist for 30 years so he knew his chrysanthemums from his lilies.

DENPASAR, Indonesia: Indonesian police are searching for the brothers of prime Bali bombing suspect Amrozi after finding a cache of weapons hidden in a forest near their home in eastern Java.

Police investigations chief Made Mangku Pastika told reporters police had found 5080 rounds of ammunition, two M-16s, one AR15, two Lee Enfield rifles and 29 pistols in the Dadapan Forest on November 7.

The forest is close to Amrozi's home village of Tenggulun in the Lamongan district of East Java.

Both Pastika and his Australian Federal Police counterpart Graham Ashton confirmed the discovery was being investigated in connection with the Bali bombings.

"The guns were left by Amrozi to two of his friends," Pastika said.

"The people who buried the guns in the forest were his brothers Ali Imron and Ali Fauzi."

Police were also searching for a third brother of Amrozi, Gufron, who attended a series of two or three meetings to plan the October 12 attack which killed about 190 people.

There was no indication from Amrozi, currently under police questioning in Bali, that the detained Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir had attended the meetings.

Both Australian and Indonesian police were hoping the brothers had remained close to their base.

"At the moment I think most of the suspects are in Indonesia," Mr Ashton told reporters.

"[But] certainly this group of people we are looking at has the propensity to travel, has the means to travel."

Identikit pictures of at least nine more people being sought by police would be issued next week, Mr Ashton said.

The investigation is now looking for evidence including travel and telephone records that Amrozi had met in the southern Philippines with alleged al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah operative Hambali, who is suspected of masterminding the attacks.

While Indonesian police still insist that Amrozi is not a member of any Islamic group, such as Jemaah Islamiyah, Mr Ashton said investigators were gaining a better understanding of terrorist networks in Indonesia.

He said such groups had the propensity to commit large-scale murder such as the atrocity in Bali.

Police had released the principal of the Al Islam school in Amrozi's village of Tenggulun, Muhammad Zakaria, but a former park ranger for the forest named Qomaruddin, a friend of Amrozi's, was still being questioned as a witness.

Australian Federal Police said it was possible the park ranger had also hidden explosives used in the Bali bombing in the forest.

Meanwhile, police were looking for the site of a fourth safe house in Bali's capital, Denpasar, that was used by the bombers before they carried out the attack.

Pastika said Amrozi had already led them to three sites, the hotel Harum and two boarding houses. He believed the fourth site was an empty house.

Residue from the explosives TNT and a substance called PETN which filled the detonator had been found in two of the locations.

Indonesian police said yesterday they would finish their investigation into Abu Bakar Bashir and lodge a case with state prosecutors.

The 64-year-old Bashir has been in hospital since October 18 in central Java and Jakarta. He has refused to answer questions about bombings of Christian churches in Indonesia in 2000 and a plot to kill the president.

Police have not linked him to the October 12 bomb attacks on Bali, although Jemaah Islamiyah, a militant South-East Asian Muslim group he is alleged to lead, has been linked to the blasts.

Farmers Kate and Robert Hammond have six children and no water.

They live on a sheep and cattle property just outside Bigga, a community of about 200 people, north-west of Goulburn, past the evocatively named Bushrangers Gully and Long Swamp Creek.

The water tanks are dry and there's no water to pump from the adjacent Wyangala Dam. The family has had to resort to carting water from a barely running creek a few kilometres from home. The water is boiled and kept in three-litre milk bottles.

"Today I can quite honestly tell you I have seven litres of water," Mrs Hammond said.

"I don't know what we will have tomorrow."

As the urban community of Canberra braces itself for water restrictions which start with limiting the use of garden sprinklers, the Hammonds are having to scrutinise every drop of water they use.

Their car hasn't been washed in a year. They use stagnant water from their swimming pool to flush the toilet. Clothes are washed in muddy water. There is a laundromat in Goulburn but it's an hour's drive away - a luxury. The six children, aged from two to 15, share the bath water ("The cleanest one in first"). Mrs Hammond has forgotten "the joy of hopping under the shower".

"When we clean our teeth we're allowed a little bit of water in a cup, there's no running of the tap," she said.

"And you'd be surprised how clean you can get a baby with one litre of water."

Bigga is one of 14 towns listed by the NSW Government as being in danger of running out of water within the next three months if there is no rain.

There is no reticulated water supply in Bigga. Its residents rely on water tanks and bores. Most people will say they've just about run dry.

The Federal Hotel in the main street has become a drop-in centre for anyone wanting a shower under water from a bore.

On a day when the bushfire danger needle is pointing to extreme, publican Denise Perry is again playing host to residents in strife. Since February, she has bought nine loads of water, at $175 each, for drinking and cooking. The bore is kept for washing, showers and toilets.

Tracy Brown was waiting at the pub for a truckload of water to arrive at her home. She had about 30cm left in her water tank.

"I came up here to do the washing," she said.

"The kids are only having baths every second or third day."

Canberra man Grant King was on his annual fishing trip with other mates from the ACT. His hut had also run dry and he was at the pub to grab a shower.

"I've never seen it this bad and I've been coming here for 25 years," he said.

The NSW Government has offered subsidies to needy towns to offset the cost of carting water. Crookwell Shire Council says it has yet to receive any applications for help from Bigga residents but it will consider trying to get money to sink another bore in the town. The Bigga Progress Association says it has only just become aware of the water subsidies and is holding a meeting on November 21 to discuss them.

Until then, the long hot days drag on. And it's not even summer.

The Hammonds, meanwhile, are tired, stressed and upset.

"Water is the absolutely most basic thing in life," Mrs Hammond said.

"And when I go into town [in Goulburn] and see sprinklers on and the lawn green, I just feel like walking over and turning them off."

The Hammonds' property, Glenoak, sits on the far reaches of the Wyangala Dam, which has shrunk to 28 per cent capacity in the drought. The wide expanse of water that should be lapping their land is now a muddy puddle. It is a dramatic transformation of a mighty dam which at top water level is 2 times the surface area of Sydney Harbour. The dam, 35km east of Cowra by road, usually holds 1.2 million megalitres. Today it holds just 343,000 megalitres.

The Hammonds' water tank is also broken and they can't afford a new one. The cost of carting water in from Crookwell is beyond their means. There is literally no water coming to the house.

The nearby creek, which is shrinking by the day, is the only thing sustaining them.

"It's more frustrating when you're thirsty, when you're really thirsty and you haven't got a drop of water," Mrs Hammond said.

There is a quiet strength about the Hammonds but that's because they have no other option. Mrs Hammond suffered a stroke three months ago. She says the stress has taken its toll. That is likely to increase as the paddocks continue to be eaten bare and the Hammonds will have to start hand-feeding their stock in about a month. Their only hope is the possibility of getting some water from a bore sunk more than a decade ago.

"People say, 'How can you live in these conditions?'. But there's just nowhere else to go. There is nowhere else to go," she said.

And as the debate continues about drought-proofing Australia, the Hammonds scoff at the idea.

"If the tank's empty, the tank's empty," Mr Hammond said. "There's nothing you can do until it rains again."

Drought-ravaged farmers have been warned to lock up their water tanks after the brazen theft of 32,000 litres from a Cooma property.

Property owner Geoffrey Goodman was away for three months recovering from lung cancer surgery when he returned on November 1 to find the tanks bone dry. He reported the theft to Cooma police and an immediate investigation was launched.

"This is a disgusting thing to do to someone," Mr Goodman, 78, said. "There was not even enough water to flush the toilet.

"We use the property as a weekender. It's an original homestead and it's a place for us to escape to.

"We were shocked when we found the water had been taken. The drought is very bad but I didn't think anyone would be that desperate to steal water.

"This was a real intrusion but fortunately whoever did this didn't touch the house."

Mr Goodman, a retired cattle farmer living in Moss Vale near Bowral, said the rainwater tanks were hidden from the road, so the thieves would have had some cover.

He said when a caretaker visited the property in October, the tanks were full and the taps were turned off.

"I can only assume this water was stolen, because there was definitely no leaks and we didn't find a big green patch nearby," he said.

Cooma police said the siphoning would have taken considerable time, and anyone with information is urged to call 6452 0099.


THE future size of the Assembly and the fate of a senior Liberal staffer who received e-mails meant for a minister are expected to be known this week.

The Assembly will hold its penultimate sitting period of the year during the next fortnight.

A motion by Chief Minister Jon Stanhope to increase the size of the Assembly from 17 members to 25 is expected to be debated on Thursday. The Liberals, Greens and Democrats support an increase to 21 members. Independent MLA Helen Cross says she has found Labor's argument for 25 persuasive but is undecided.

The Privileges Committee set up to inquire if Liberal staffer Mike Strokowsky breached Assembly privilege or committed a contempt is expected to report this week. A report is also expected from the Planning Committee's inquiry into the Government's plans to re-acquire land development.

The week will begin on Tuesday with a condolence motion for the victims of the October 12 Bali bombing.

The Government's Workers' Compensation Supplementation, Public Access to Government Contracts and Plant Diseases Bills are listed to be debated, and Labor will introduce the Revenue Legislation Amendment Bill.

The Liberals plan to call on the Government to donate to the Farmhand appeal and are drafting legislation for a Charter of Budget Honesty, which they hope to present to the Assembly this sitting period.

The Liberals and Greens plan to question Labor over allegedly missing funds at the University of Canberra.

The Greens will also call on the Government to require all new buildings and major renovations to include water-conservation devices.

The ACT is at risk of losing its AAA credit rating.

Treasurer Ted Quinlan said yesterday that international agency Standard and Poor's was considering reducing the ACT's rating, but he was confident it would remain AAA.

The credit rating determines the interest rate at which the Government can borrow money and is regarded as a report card on economic management.

Mr Quinlan thought Standard and Poor's, which was concerned about the cost of the Government's plans to re-acquire land development, was just giving the ACT a warning.

He could not say if the rating would drop if the Government proceeded with land development, as it planned to do. This was possible because it would lead to a revenue trough in the first year of the scheme. Once the cash began to flow in again, though, the rating would rise.

Standard and Poor's looked at governments' cash position in determining its ratings, rather than their overall position. It did not take into account possible benefits flowing from investments like government land development.

The ACT Government was in a stronger economic position than most states. It had no plans to borrow money, except perhaps for a public-private joint-venture prison if the Government proceeded with it.

This, too, could lead to a reduction in the ACT's credit rating if Standard and Poor's did not regard it as a revenue generator. "The irony is that the only way the ACT can maintain a decent borrowing rate is to not borrow," he said.

Opposition Leader Gary Humphries said an AAA rating was proof of good management and budgeting.

Standard and Poor's thought there was a big risk involved with government land development. Previous attempts at government land development had failed in the ACT, leading to large losses for taxpayers, and there was no reason to think this time would be any different.

Chamber of Commerce ACT chief executive Chris Peters said that if the ACT's credit rating dropped it would affect the cost of borrowing and the availability of funds for the business community. This was because the rate was a reflection of the strength of the ACT's economy and its ability to pay debt, so a drop could give a negative perception of the business community. Businesses developing rapidly, such as in Canberra's high-tech industry, relied on getting funds at the right price.

Opposition Leader Simon Crean told his team to hold their nerve yesterday as the Government reintroduced controversial legislation that could become the trigger for a double-dissolution election.

Mr Crean told a private meeting of his Caucus it had to remain calm despite his frank admission that the Opposition was not being effective.

He was applauded at the end of his report, in which he said some of the recent electoral damage to the party had been self-inflicted.

He took no action against frontbencher Craig Emerson, who said Prime Minister John Howard was

anti-Asian, and wrote a paper criticising Opposition strategy.

He played down the likelihood of the Government calling a snap election next year, but some of his backbenchers are nervous about the possibility.

Mr Crean said later he doubted the Government would test the mood of the electorate on unfair-dismissal legislation or the sale of Telstra.

"If they want to have an election on any of those issues, they are seriously misjudging the Australian people," he said.

The current political climate was hard for the ALP. "That goes with the turf, that's why I wanted the job," he said.

A senior party figure said last night an election in May would be disastrous for the Labor Party because homeland security would become the dominant issue.

The Government is bringing back the legislation to limit access to subsidised medicines under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. The Opposition and minor parties joined forces in June to strike down the proposal in the Senate.

The Government wanted to make changes to the scheme which would increase the cost of most prescriptions by 30 per cent.

This would take the price of scripts to $4.60 for pensioners and $28.60 for everyone else.

Treasurer Peter Costello said the Bill would be introduced as soon as possible.

Mr Crean called on MPs to maintain discipline as they faced poor opinion polls. Recent polls have shown the ALP struggling to gain on the Coalition in the 12 months since the last federal election.

The ALP also lost the by-election for the NSW seat of Cunningham, which had been held by ALP for 50 years.

Mr Crean said the ALP could win the next election if the party focused on issues related to families and living standards.

He said the party's messages were not being heard because of international security issues.

However, the Opposition had caused some of its own problems. "That's why we have to maintain a discipline - not just hold our nerve, not just get on with the task of sheeting home the blame and demonstrating the alternatives, but maintaining discipline," he said.

"Those ingredients will ensure a Labor victory. That's what the team rallied to, and that's what they're behind."

He said the ALP had published six policy papers and 10 policy discussion papers and would publish more over the coming six months.

The Federal Government is being sued for up to $5.6 billion by the liquidator of HIH Insurance, who is laying blame for the company's spectacular collapse squarely on its shoulders and those of its insurance industry watchdogs.

The landmark claim was filed in the ACT Supreme Court this week on behalf of the liquidator of six corporate members of the HIH Group, against government regulators, the Insurance and Superannuation Commission and its successor, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.

This is one of the biggest civil claims in Australian legal history. The ramifications for government coffers, should the Commonwealth be found liable, would be huge.

The plaintiffs say the ISC and APRA negligently failed to exercise their statutory powers to intervene in the affairs of FAI Insurance.

It is said that it was HIH's 1999 takeover of the technically insolvent FAI that led ultimately to HIH's collapse in March 2001 with debts of $5.3 billion. HIH, it is claimed, relied heavily on APRA's approval of the takeover before proceeding.

It was the collapse of HIH, then Australia's second-biggest insurer, coupled with events such as the September 11 terrorist attacks, that helped plunge Australia into the insurance crisis last year.

The claim lists HIH's losses because of ISC/APRA negligence as including the $300 million it invested in the takeover, $10 million in "adviser costs", and unspecified "consequential losses leading to the collapse of the HIH group". It is this last that boosts the claim against the Commonwealth, the formal defendant, into the multi-billion-dollar category.

At the very time the Canberra office of national law firm Blake Dawson Waldron was filing the HIH claim on Monday, an international regulatory expert was criticising APRA at the Royal commission in Sydney.

The former head of the equivalent Canadian regulator, John Palmer, said an under-resourced, under-qualified APRA had ignored or under-reacted to several strong warnings that HIH was in severe financial trouble.

After the HIH collapse, Mr Palmer was called in by APRA to conduct an independent investigation of its practices. "In their heart of hearts I don't think the people supervising . . . HIH believed that a big insurance company could fall over," he told the Royal commission.

This had affected APRA staff's behaviour. He thought APRA had had the legislative power to do far more, while APRA's lawyers had thought otherwise.

The long-running inquiry has heard a string of allegations of careless and reckless, if not criminal, conduct by FAI and HIH directors and of huge payments made on the eve of HIH's demise.

These include claims that on the day before provisional liquidation, $10 million in payments were processed by HIH, including $6 million to Deutsche Bank, its financial adviser, and $2 million to entrepreneurs Brad Cooper and Ben Tilley.

At the commission last month, Cooper was alleged to have attempted to extort $1.8 million from former FAI boss Rodney Adler on the eve of Adler's appearing at the inquiry. Cooper countered by saying Adler had offered him $500,000 to give favourable evidence.

Adler and former HIH chief executive Ray Williams have recently received lengthy bans from acting as company directors and been heavily fined.

The liquidator - KPMG chartered accountant Tony McGrath - says the regulators knew about problems at FAI as far back as 1996, including that the company was repeatedly in breach of solvency laws.

The regulators had had "a unique insight into the financial position of the companies" and despite all their concerns had taken no action.

The liquidator said HIH had been entitled to expect that the regulators would exercise their functions and powers in accordance with their legislative obligations, the principles of good administration, and their published guidelines and policies.

However, in breach of their duty of care, the regulators had failed to exercise their powers.

They had failed to properly oversee FAI's activities and intervene in its affairs, had allowed FAI to continue operating and to fall below solvency standards, and had failed to employ an adequately skilled workforce of their own.

The regulators should have withdrawn FAI's authorisation to operate and sought to have it wound up.

The plaintiffs' claim asserts that the Treasurer, Peter Costello, had consulted APRA about HIH's takeover of FAI, and it had recommended approval.

Water restrictions have been imposed on the ACT for the first time in 30 years, as authorities struggle to prevent the territory's water supplies from drying up.

The restrictions are voluntary at this stage, but Canberrans could face fines of $1000 if the good-will measures do not reduce water consumption by 15 per cent.

Chief Minister Jon Stanhope announced the guidelines yesterday after water reserves fell to 60 per cent of their capacity.

Mr Stanhope also hinted a drought declaration was imminent for some parts of the ACT.

Months of lower-than-average rainfall have started to exhaust water reserves in the dam system, with the Corin Reservoir only 43 per cent full and Googong at historically low levels.

The territory's water supplier ActewAGL is looking towards the last-resort Cotter source.

To help conserve supplies, the Government is asking Canberrans to reduce their water use by 15 per cent through a number of strategies.

These include restricting garden sprinkler use to alternate days. People with odd house numbers should water on odd dates and even-numbered houses on even dates between 7pm and 7am.

Residents should also refrain from using water to clean paved areas and to clean windows, and to stop emptying and refilling swimming pools.

The authorities intend to lead by example, with the Government also trying to achieve a 15 per cent reduction in its water use.

But if the overall target was not reached during the next few weeks, ActewAGL would begin enforcing a penalty system, with fines of about $1000, Mr Stanhope said.

"We have to be serious about this, and impose a serious disincentive," he said.

The Government is also preparing to give ActewAGL the teeth to enforce the fines.

Labor's Ted Quinlan will introduce regulations under the Utilities Act in the Assembly next week, which will replace those lost when Actew merged with AGL.

The threat of tougher measures is expected to increase anxiety among residents. ActewAGL chief executive Paul Perkins said incidents of "water rage" - people dobbing in neighbours and reacting angrily to extravagant water use - could skyrocket.

"A great majority of people are happy to be sensible about their water use," Mr Perkins said.

"But major utilities often find some parts of the community react in extremes."

To handle the rising number of complaints, the company is considering recruiting a team of university students with environmental experience.

Mr Perkins said many Canberrans were using too much water.

This was natural in times of higher temperatures, but was unsustainable.

On current usage levels, the dam system could drop below 60 per cent in less than a week.

The Bureau of Meteorology has offered little hope for rain in its forecast for the next few months.

Mr Perkins said ActewAGL was unsure just how much rain would end the crisis.

"We've never been in this situation before," he said. "We will need a lot of rain, and the longer we go without it, the more we'll need to fill the dams."

ACT Liberal Senator Margaret Reid is to retire from Parliament within six months, ending her record-breaking 21-year political career.

ACT Liberal Party president Gary Kent said last night that Senator Reid would not seek endorsement for the next federal election, and intended to step down before the end of her current term.

Mr Kent said he would immediately start the processes required under the ACT divisional constitution for preselection for her seat.

Senator Reid had not decided exactly when she would retire, but reliable party sources said last night she would step down early next year, and almost certainly within six months.

Senator Reid is Canberra's longest-serving senator from any party, and became the first woman to become president of the Senate, a post she held for six years.

But she was deposed from the presidency in August by Tasmanian Senator Paul Calvert, raising speculation that she would retire.

Leading candidates for her position are ACT Liberal Leader Gary Humphries and former chief minister Kate Carnell, who recently became the ACT party's vice-president.

Mr Kent said he expected a wide field of party members to be interested in contesting the preselection.

"Margaret is someone held in high esteem by many people in the ACT and across Australia, whatever their political affiliations," he said.

Under the Commonwealth Electoral Act, a casual vacancy for an ACT senator is filled by the ACT Legislative Assembly for the remainder of the term until the next federal election.

However, by law the person chosen must be a member of the same party as the retiring senator. Senator Reid entered the Senate in 1981 after the unexpected death of Senator John Knight.

SYDNEY: Hundreds of anti-globalisation protesters tried but failed yesterday to penetrate the security fortress protecting World Trade Organisation talks in Sydney.

Up to 1000 protesters converged on Olympic Park in an illegal street march, intent on disrupting the talks.

As 25 trade ministers from around the world bunkered down for talks at the Novotel hotel, hundreds of protesters tried to break through the 3m concrete-and-steel fence erected around the venue.

At times the fence threatened to give way, but hundreds of police, backed by dogs and horses, held the demonstrators at bay.

Thirty-five people were arrested.

The NSW Government said it had spent $5 million ensuring the WTO site was secure, with $1 million alone spent on the barriers which kept protesters a safe 500m from the talks venue.

Prime Minister John Howard said it was a disgrace that valuable police resources had to be diverted to deal with protesters.

Three Polair helicopters, the dog squad, trail bike police, mounted police, special operations officers and police on bicycles were part of the massive security contingent.

For several hours protesters staged a battle of push and shove with police, trying to breach the barriers.

Police arrested 35 people for disorder, hindering police and trespass, with protesters outraged about heavy-handed police tactics during the demonstration.

At one stage a group of protesters playing with a soccer ball in an area marked "passive protest area" were seized by police and had their bags searched.

Officers later closed down the passive protest area and threatened to arrest those who remained, including the media.

An Associated Press photographer, David Guttenfeld, was one of those arrested.

Protesters later criticised police tactics. They said the police strategy was to arrest as many people as possible to reduce protest numbers.

KUTA, Bali: To the sound of gongs and bells floating on incense-laden air, the spirits of the Bali bombing victims were released yesterday into their next life.

Thousands of people, including the weeping families of more than 30 Australians who died in the October 12 blasts, crowded round the site and nearby Kuta Beach to witness the day-long ceremony.

Many clutched photographs of their loved ones.

The heads of sacrificial animals, including buffaloes, monkeys and pigs, were laid at several elaborate bamboo altars erected amid the ruins of the Sari Club and its surroundings, where an estimated 180 people died.

In a related ceremony, a cow, a buffalo, a deer, a dog, a black goat, a black monkey, a pig, a duck and a swan were prepared for sacrifice.

Yesterday's ceremony, conducted by Hindu high priests clad in white and gold, was designed to "place the souls of the victims in the correct plane, to purify them and show them the right way to enter the next cycle", one of the organisers, Ngurah Gede, said.

Pieces of rubble from the bomb site were carried to the sea in an act designed to restore harmony and the continuity of life to the community of Kuta.

Incense burned on top of twisted wreckage of cars still lying at the site.

The event, televised throughout Indonesia, coincided with a national day of mourning for the bomb victims.

Some 8000 police were deployed throughout the island, about 1000 of them in the immediate vicinity.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri, who is part-Balinese, did not attend, but was represented by her husband Taufiq Kiemas. Australia was represented by Health Minister Kay Patterson and diplomats from Jakarta.

The site was so crowded that Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda was forced to squeeze through the crowd over the debris to his VIP position at the front of the audience.

Among the mourners was Andrew Dark, 37, of Melbourne. He was in Bali on holiday with his brother-

in-law Anthony Cachia when the bombs went off.

He searched for Anthony for five days before giving up. He came back yesterday with Anthony's mother in an attempt to find closure.

"We haven't found him yet," he said.

"It's no closer. But I believe in bringing Anthony's mother over here for this ceremony. It's a step forward."

David (Spike) Stewart came with his wife Marilyn to mourn their son Anthony, who died just before his 30th birthday.

"I really think it's very important. We still haven't found Anthony yet and there's not too many left [who haven't been identified]. It's not looking good at all, but this will help out a little bit. It's good."

US ambassador to Indonesia Ralph Boyce offered his condolences to all bereaved.

"We join with the people of Indonesia and Bali in particular in commemorating the innocent lives lost here and recommitting together to continue the struggle against this mindless terrorism," he said. AAP

The head of the World Trade Organisation, Supachai Panitchpakdi, warned Australia and the United States yesterday that their plan to negotiate a free-trade deal should not discriminate against the trade of other nations.

Dr Supachai's warning came as Prime Minister John Howard gave an assurance that Australia's tough quarantine laws (against pests and diseases) would not be lightly given away and that, unless there was progress on agriculture, there would be no deal.

"We're not going to relax genuine scientific standards as part of a deal any more than I would expect them to do that. I mean it's either unscientific or it's not. That's not really something you can deal away and neither you should," Mr Howard said.

"If you can't get any progress on agriculture then we're not going to be able to have an arrangement. But I don't believe the Americans would have started this if they weren't genuine about getting a result."

Visiting Sydney for a WTO trade ministers' meeting, Dr Supachai said he was not opposed, on principle, to bilateral agreements between nations and had even supported a few in his time.

The issue of trade discrimination arose because it was possible that Australia and the US could agree to allow preferential market access for each others' goods and services, but not those of other nations. That would go against the multilateral spirit of the WTO.

Dr Supachai said the WTO would monitor the world's various bilateral arrangements to check if they were contributing to the WTO's latest negotiations, the Doha round.

The Bush Administration has put together a comprehensive list of conditions for a free-trade deal with Australia. They are contained in an official letter to the US Congress from the US Trade Representative, Bob Zoellick.

The US wants Australia's tariffs and other duties removed on as broad a base as possible; to eliminate government export monopolies, such as on wheat sales; water down tough quarantine laws; and tighten our protection of intellectual property. There is also concern over Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme due to government involvement in the pricing of some drugs.

The Bush Administration also wants to remove any barriers to investment, understood to be a reference to the powers of Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board.

Negotiations are expected to begin in 2003, and could possibly be finalised by 2004 or within 18 months.

The issue of American subsidies to its farmers remains the biggest stumbling block for Australia, along with concerns over local content rules for television and radio.

The WTO's concern about discriminatory trade blocs was also raised by the Opposition and its spokesman Dr Craig Emerson, who said recently that he thought Mr Howard was anti-Asian and that a free trade deal risked offending Asia.

But Mr Howard questioned this charge, saying Australia had just signed a free-trade deal with Singapore, sealed a multi-billion dollar liquid natural gas deal with China, and Japan and Korea remained major export partners.

The underdog Australians are desperate to knock the arrogant English off their perch in tomorrow morning's Test.

Two losses in two years at Twickenham, both followed by over-the-top gloating by the English, have left the Wallabies stinging and determined for revenge at England's rugby headquarters tomorrow (1.30am AEST).

Last week's miserable loss to Ireland and a dour win over Argentina the week before, however, isn't great form to take into what coach Eddie Jones has called the Wallabies' grand final.

Add to that a long list of injuries and England's win over New Zealand last week - its 16th in a row at Twickenham - and the world champions remain the underdogs, no matter how much motivation they have.

"When you come on a northern hemisphere tour, the England game is definitely the biggest game, especially this time after losing the last two years," said hooker Jeremy Paul who missed last year's 21-15 loss due to injury.

"There's a lot of guys who lost last year who are really excited about the game. There's a lot of feeling about this game."

The feeling runs strong on both sides.

The Australians still remember England halfback Matt Dawson giving them a mouthful in 2000 as they gathered behind the posts after Dan Luger's contentious last-second try gave England a 22-19 win and continuing his abuse after the whistle.

Neil Back's tears in the dressing room last year and coach Clive Woodward's sarcastic rant in the post-match press conference show how much England love beating Australia.

"The more animated we get when we're successful means it means more to us," Dawson explained.

"If you can get hold of a scalp in your career and it's Australia or New Zealand, you've got to savour it and that's why we're all emotional."

Jones and Woodward have added spice to the mix this week with their exchange over the use of decoy runners.

Jones has selected a versatile backline which he hopes will baffle the English, as long as New Zealand referee Paul Honnis "referees to the law".

The key lies in the forwards where Australia was outmuscled by the Irish last week and embarrassed by the English last year.

Paul, prop Bill Young and second-rowers Justin Harrison and Dan Vickerman have been recalled to make up the same pack which matched the powerful Argentines.

ENGLAND: Jason Robinson, James Simpson-Daniel, Will Greenwood, Mike Tindall, Ben Cohen, Jonny Wilkinson, Matt Dawson, Richard Hill, Neil Back, Lewis Moody, Ben Kay, Martin Johnson (capt), Phil Vickery, Steve Thompson, Jason Leonard. Reserves: Mark Regan, Robbie Morris, Danny Grewcock, Lawrence Dallaglio, Andy Gomarsall, Austin Healey, Tim Stimpson.

AUSTRALIA: Matt Burke, Wendell Sailor, Daniel Herbert, Elton Flatley, Stirling Mortlock, Stephen Larkham, George Gregan (capt), Toutai Kefu, George Smith, Matt Cockbain, Justin Harrison, Dan Vickerman, Patricio Noriega, Jeremy Paul, Bill Young. Reserves: Adam Freier, Ben Darwin, David Giffin, David Croft, Chris Whitaker, Matt Giteau, Scott Staniforth.

With the world No 1 crown safely tucked away, Lleyton Hewitt was looking forward to heading home to Australia to celebrate his elevation into the sporting elite and having "a few beers" with his mates.

And there was more good news for Hewitt late last night when Carlos Moya upset Albert Costa in three sets allowing for Hewitt to advance to the semi-finals of the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai.

Hewitt admitted to breathing a sense of relief when Andre Agassi double-faulted against Juan Carlos Ferrero to hand him a second successive Champions Race victory at the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai.

While Hewitt rated last year's rise to world No 1 on home territory as marginally more satisfying, the 21-year-old said his ability to overcome a series of physical setbacks to defend his status as the game's premier player had provided immense satisfaction.

"I've worked so hard throughout the whole year," he said.

"[There have been] a lot of ups and downs and, if you were to tell me at the end of January that I was going to be sitting here holding this trophy, I probably would have laughed, the way I was feeling at that time.

"To bounce back after the chicken pox at the start of the year . . . that's probably the most special thing about winning it again this year.

"There's no way of putting it. I was shattered after I lost the Australian Open in the first round this year, so I sort of tried to focus more on Wimbledon and the US Open instead of the No 1. So there was a sort of sense of relief once I knew it was over and the chase had finished."

Hewitt will be the first player since Pete Sampras in 1997 to carry the world No 1 ranking through an entire calendar year, having found his perch on November 19, 2001.

He also joined Sampras (1993-1998) and fellow all-time greats Stefan Edberg (1990-91), Ivan Lendl (1985-87), John McEnroe (1981-84), Bjorn Borg (1979-80) and Jimmy Connors (1974-78) as the only players to have successfully retained his year-end top ranking.

"His achievement puts him into incredible company in the history of our sport," ATP supremo Mark Miles said. "There are only six other players who have done what he's done."

"I'm honoured to be up there with them," Hewitt said.

Unlike last year, when Hewitt had to rush off to prepare for Australia's Davis Cup final against France, he can look forward to savouring this latest accomplishment.

"I can put the feet up for a few weeks now. I'll catch up with all my mates, might have a few quiet beers with a few of the boys back home." Hewitt will enjoy Christmas in Adelaide with girlfriend Kim Clijsters before tennis's golden couple start preparing in earnest for 2003.

"It would be one of my biggest dreams to win the Australian Open at Melbourne Park," Hewitt said.AAP
CricketMartin Love yesterday led an Australia A onslaught which demonstrated England had done nothing to solve its bowling problems.

Love, who's become a serial tormentor of the tourists, hit an unbeaten 201 as the Australians cruised to 3-353 declared on the first day of the three-day match, England's only opportunity to find form before the second Test in Adelaide.

The tourists were 1-50 in reply at stumps.

After hitting an unbeaten 250 for Queensland against England a fortnight ago, Love continued to underline his status as the best top-order batsman outside the Test team.

Admittedly England rested two of its front-line bowlers, Andy Caddick and Ashley Giles.

But it did use two of its formerly walking wounded, Steve Harmison and Andrew Flintoff, and replacement Alex Tudor. Two of the three are likely to be picked for Adelaide.

Oddly Chris Silverwood, who was flown out from England this week as another replacement, was made 12th man and is presumably not in the Test frame.

The pace attack's performance left assistant coach Graham Dilley exasperated.

"On a flat track you have very little margin for error," the former England fast bowler said.

"You need discipline, patience and luck and we're nowhere near any of those."

Love agreed the English bowlers didn't make the most of the early conditions, bowling too short and wide.

Love said he didn't know how close he was to a Test debut.

"All I can do is keep scoring runs and putting pressure on the guys in the team," said Love, who faced 243 balls and hit 25 fours in just 301 minutes.

Acting captain Marcus Trescothick continued the English habit of sending the Australians in and, as usual, lived to regret it.

In a willing opening burst on an initially lively Bellerive Oval wicket, Tudor and Harmison gave England early heart.

Matthew Elliott had an unhappy return to this level when a rising Tudor delivery crunched into his right elbow on the first ball of the match.

He needed stitches, but an x-ray cleared him of serious injury and he could have returned to the crease.

England lost Michael Vaughan for eight before stumps when he edged Brad Williams on to his stumps.

As the southern NSW rural chaplain for the Salvation Army, Mr Sweeting has driven more than half a million kilometres and worn out four cars helping farming families in the past seven years.

His area of responsibility stretches from Newcastle in the north, to Broken Hill in the west, to the Victorian and South Australian borders in the south, working with a network including rural financial counsellors, community nurses and local Salvation Army officers.

He is the one drought-stricken families see when they run out of food, can't pay the electricity, or have no way of putting water in their tanks. It's never been so bad as now.

''Up towards Ivanhoe it's very, very critical," he said. "There are water shortages, stresses and strains and nowhere to go.''

Other families are using credit cards to buy food. And very often they are reluctant to stop and take a break from keeping their stock alive with hand feeding.

''It worries me, the pressure on families,'' Mr Sweeting, 59, said.

Still, there is always that famous resilience of the bush.

''It's amazing how people do cope extremely well, because it's an arid land and they're used to it being dry,'' he said. ''When it goes on and on, that's the thing.''

Mr Sweeting, who now lives at Palmerston with his wife Gillian, is familiar with the territory. He lived for 50 years on a mixed farm, called Windella, on the south-west slopes of NSW. He remembers a hailstorm one year that wiped out his entire crop in 20 minutes. He knows how heartbreaking farming can be.

''Being on the giving side of things is great, and I get to go back on the farm without having the debt,'' he said.

''What I like is sitting down in someone's house and getting to the bottom of a problem. It's never just the drought. There's usually three or four things which have tipped them over the edge.''

There are some positives - not least the generosity of people towards those in the bush. There's a group of women in Young who've baked batch after batch of ''Hope for the Bush'' biscuits. Other people have offered their coastal holiday homes to farming families. Yet others want to sponsor a rural family. Some send cheques for food so Mr Sweeting can buy groceries in the country towns so the local stores don't go broke.

''It's almost overwhelming,'' he said.

''The Salvation Army in Chatswood has 1000 toys for me to distribute, which will be stored in my garage - I don't think it will cause a divorce.'' He laughs.

More seriously, Mr Sweeting said it was inevitable this drought would drive some people off the land.

''Some will not be able to recover and we'll be there to help them when they have to make that decision,'' he said.

It was a welcome relief when the sky opened yesterday in Canberra but the patchy rain did little to ease the summer bushfire threat.

And while the rain excited Canberrans, areas around Newcastle and western Sydney were ablaze, fanned by hot northerly winds.

"To be brutally honest, that rain will only buy us 24 hours, maybe 48 hours of extra protection," ACT Emergency Services bushfire chief Peter Lucas-Smith said.

"It's that dry out there that it would need to rain for days on end to have any kind of impact. What we really need is a good soaking of about 75mm."

But all the region got was 7.6mm at Tuggeranong, 0.4mm at the airport and 12mm at Burra, according to the weather bureau.

Conditions mirrored that of Ash Wednesday and the Namadgi National Park fires of 1983, Mr Lucas-Smith said.

"This is going to be a long and protracted season but it's one that we are well prepared for."

The Bureau of Meteorology has predicted light showers for today but not much more rain than that is expected, according to duty forecaster Clem Davis. "As for our seasonal outlook there's still a 50-50 chance that we will have average rainfall [over summer]."

Bushfires near Newcastle triggered mini-explosions at two factories and forced evacuations of dozens of residents yesterday.

Two fires, one at Teralba, and another at Londonderry and Llandilo, in Sydney's west, were giving firefighters most concern. Tankers and some aircraft had been deployed to fight the blazes.

Meanwhile, at Goulburn, the population woke to a day of dust which reduced visibility to an estimated 1km.

"When I got out of bed this morning there was this smoke-like haze but I knew it was dust, not smoke," Constable Adam Fitzgibbon, of Goulburn police, said.

ACT people living with HIV-AIDS had been threatened, abused and vilified by neighbours who learned about their health condition, the AIDS Action Council said yesterday.

Council general manager Daniel Coase said people living with HIV-AIDS faced discrimination in the workplace, health services, insurance and the housing sector.

Several local people with HIV-AIDS who lived in public housing had recently complained about neighbours who had abused and threatened them, Mr Coase said at the launch yesterday of AIDS Awareness Week.

The theme is "HIV-AIDS does not discriminate, people do".

Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said stigmatisation and discrimination were major obstacles to effective HIV-AIDS prevention and treatment.

"The theme of AIDS Awareness Week is particularly poignant as people with HIV-AIDS already struggle with the burden of illness and relentless medication regimes," Mr Stanhope said.

"They do not need, nor deserve, the added burden and pain of discrimination."

More than 12,000 people live with HIV and 2600 people have AIDS in Australia, while 257 cases of HIV, 97 cases of AIDS and 75 AIDS-related deaths have been recorded in the ACT.

An Australian Research Centre in Sex Health study - involving 900 HIV-positive people - showed 22.1 per cent experienced less favourable treatment by the insurance industry and 37.7 per cent experienced problems with the health sector.

Federal Health Minister Senator Kay Patterson said the results were cause for concern.

"In fact, unwanted disclosure of a person's HIV status continues and it is disturbing that 18 per cent of recent survey respondents said that the unwanted disclosure of their HIV status was by a worker in a health care setting," Senator Patterson said.

"This is despite years of education and effort to impart to the community that people with HIV-AIDS are entitled to the very same rights, privileges and privacy as other Australians."

Mr Coase said discrimination was not systemic in the ACT but AIDS Awareness Week was an opportunity to "break down barriers".

Information and red ribbons will be available at Woden Plaza today, Westfield Shoppingtown tomorrow and the Canberra Centre on Thursday.

World AIDS Day will be commemorated on Sunday with a fair in Garema Place between 10am and 4pm, an ecumenical service at All Saints Church in Ainslie from 5.30pm to 6.30pm and a twilight picnic at the AIDS Action Council in Westlund House from 7pm.

Brendan Smyth is the new ACT Opposition Leader, but his deputy will not be decided until later this year.

Mr Smyth was elected unopposed yesterday, after potential rival Vicki Dunne chose not to contest the leadership. He takes the place of Gary Humphries, who stood down so he could concentrate on winning preselection for Margaret Reid's soon-to-be-vacated Senate seat.

A deputy leader, Whip and manager of Opposition business will be elected on December 23, once the Senate preselection process has finished. Mr Smyth said it was not appropriate to decide these positions until then. Opposition Members would keep their shadow portfolios, with the exception of Mr Smyth taking on the Chief Minister's Department role, until the next vote.

"We'll get the preselection out of the way in December and when we have got everyone back on deck we'll work out the arrangements - who'll get what portfolios, who'll do what committees - and then we'll be presenting to the people of Canberra the Liberal team that they will be seeing in the lead-up to next election," he said.

Bill Stefaniak is joining Mr Humphries in the battle for the Senate seat, while fellow Liberal MLA Steve Pratt is still considering if he will contest it, and will make an announcement soon.

Mr Stefaniak, who has declined to comment on party room proceedings, is tipped to win the deputy position should he fail in his bid for the Senate. Greg Cornwell has said he would consider this position if it solved an impasse. Mrs Dunne is also considering standing, but Mr Humphries and Mr Pratt have ruled out contesting the deputy's job.

Mr Smyth acknowledged he had a tough job ahead of him if he were to win the 2004 election.

"It will be tough and I am not afraid of that. I understand that except for one government since 1970 most state governments get two terms, so our chances of winning in 2004 are very low, you would have to say, but that does not deter me," he said.

"I actually think the people of Canberra need better. We have a lacklustre government who is putting off decisions, they are delaying decisions."

He said the Liberals had not had the best of years so far in 2002, with the expulsion of Helen Cross and the e-mail controversy, but were going to put these things behind them. He guaranteed they would work incredibly hard for the people of Canberra in the lead-up to the next election.

"I think [Chief Minister] Mr [Jon] Stanhope should be on notice because of his lacklustre performance and inability to make decisions. We can all see the delay," he said.

"They came into a set of circumstances where they had a large amount of money, they had the lowest unemployment in the country, they had good economic circumstances and I think they are squandering those opportunities.

"What I will say is that we will be constructive in our criticisms because we do not need to do anything that will damage Canberra, but we will say to the Government you are on notice."

Mr Humphries said it was sad to walk away after two years leading the Liberal Party, but it took a load off his shoulders and allowed him to concentrate on his Senate aspirations.

He said Mr Smyth would do the job well, and bring new talents to the leadership.

"He is a very energetic, meticulous and focused person and has a sense of enormous strength and energy," he said.

Canberra residents are facing compulsory water restrictions within three weeks as the ACT sweltered yesterday in near-record temperatures for November.

Actew had previously suggested the compulsory restrictions would be in place around Christmas or New Year but yesterday revised the predicted start date to mid-December.

Residents who don't adhere to the compulsory restrictions face fines up to $1000; those who steal water will cop fines of up to $5000.

Canberra reached a top temperature of 33.8 degrees yesterday. There were also reports of Belconnen and Tuggeranong reaching 35 degrees. The record temperature for the month of November 38.9 degrees was set on November 26, 1997.

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster James Caust said the temperature in Canberra had reached 35 degrees or higher in November only 12 times in 63 years.

''It's unusual for it to be this warm this early,'' he said.

''And that's mainly because we have been getting strong north-westerly winds which have dragged a fair amount of warm air from the continent.''

Actew chief executive Paul Perkins said the water storage in Canberra dams slipped to 58 per cent at the weekend. The compulsory water restrictions came into force when the storage dropped to 55 per cent - about three weeks away.

''It's getting hotter each week which tends to drive up consumption,'' Mr Perkins said.

''It will mean a significant change in behaviour patterns for the ACT because we don't know how long the drought will last. So we have to be prudent.''

Mr Perkins said the Stage 1 compulsory water restrictions would be the same as the voluntary ones residents were now being encouraged to follow.

These include using sprinklers only at night or early morning, not filling swimming pools without a permit and washing cars using only a bucket or trigger hose.

The difference is fines will be imposed if people break the compulsory restrictions, although Mr Perkins said Actew did not intend to take a punitive approach.

People would get a warning first and then $200 fines for infringement notices or fines up to $1000 if the matter went to court. There was a separate fine of up to $5000 for people who stole water. Actew inspectors have the power to enter yards to investigate water breaches.

Mr Perkins said the voluntary restrictions had reduced water consumption by 10 per cent which was good but not good enough.

Stage 2 compulsory restrictions would be activated when the water storage fell to 45 per cent which Mr Perkins said would be as early as February if there was no rain.

''But that would be something unprecedented in 100 years,'' he said.

Amateur ACT grazier John Forrest decided to take the "long paddock" to his sheep, rather than the other way around, in his efforts to get through the drought.

Mr Forrest, of Griffith, has 300 sheep on 60ha at Tralee.

For many years he has been better known as a businessman catering to the many overseas visitors to Tralee Station than as a farmer. The downturn in the tourist industry forced the closure of the business in June.

"Three hundred sheep on 150 acres is a calculated risk at the best of times," Mr Forrest said. "In a drought such as this, it's a potential disaster."

He cannot afford to buy feed and is frustrated by being so close to the "sea of grass" around the station.

So how is it that his sheep are surviving well in their bare paddocks?

Traditionally, drought-stricken graziers took their flocks to the "long paddock", a euphemism for the roads and their grassy verges.

"With a bit of lateral thinking, I decided to take the long paddock to the sheep", Mr Forrest said.

Each day, he looks for a suitable spot, gets out the brush cutter and within an hour has enough grass for his sheep for the day. In a small way, he is reducing the fire risk, too.

The sheeps' diet is supplemented by a weekly trailer load of stale bread, vegetable waste, and even by friends' garden prunings.

His sheep are in top condition, even if a little short of exercise with the food coming to them for a change.

Mr Forrest has not lost an animal during the crisis and is confident this "self-confessed amateur grazier" will win the challenge to help them survive until the rains come.

A Legislative Assembly report has criticised the Government for planning fundamental changes to the ACT criminal law without proper justification or an informed public debate.

The changes are contained in the Criminal Code 2002 which seeks to introduce into ACT law major components of the Model Criminal Code passed by federal Parliament in 1995.

The Assembly's Standing Committee on Legal Affairs has expressed disappointment over the absence of anything much in the way of justification for new laws on such topical issues as the criminal responsibility of children, the insanity defence, the so-called drunk's defence, battered-spouse syndrome, and attacks by householders on trespassers.

The code would provide that a child under the age of 10 could not be held criminally responsible at all, and that one 10 or over and under 14 could only be held responsible if they knew their conduct was wrong.

The committee said these provisions impinged on the rights of those affected by the criminal conduct of a child. They could deprive victims of compensation and encourage adults to use children as instruments of crime.

Such provisions might be justified but there was room for debate. The European Court of Justice, for instance, had not found fault with the English law that allowed two 11-year-old boys to be charged with and convicted of the murder of a two-year-old.

The code provides that self-induced intoxication is irrelevant to whether a person intended to carry out the act for which he or she was charged. But it might be relevant to whether the person intended to inflict serious injury, or to whether intoxication had led to a mistaken belief about what was going on at the time.

The committee said there was no explanation as to why these limitations on the anti-drunk's defence were desirable.

The controversial issue of the aggressive defence of property rights, say, where a householder attacks and seriously assaults a burglar, was also covered by the code but again not to the committee's satisfaction.

The code provides that self-defence cannot be raised where protecting property leads to death or "really serious injury".

The committee said a householder's reaction would often be instinctive and not made after considered judgment. Given that the law still requires that a person's response to a given situation be reasonable in the circumstances, it needed to be explained why the protection of property should be seen as a less justifiable basis for self-defence than any other.

WOMEN lawyers' groups would support any move by the ACT Government to actively seek a female Chief Justice.

But this did not necessarily mean the best candidate would be overlooked, ACT Women Lawyers Association president Noor Blumer said.

"While the association promotes strongly the need to increase the representation of women in the judiciary, we are also lawyers and we recognise the need for the most appropriate appointment - the two needs are not mutually exclusive," she said.

Canberra lawyers have criticised the Government for its delay in finding a replacement, including that it was "obsessed" with selecting a woman.

Attorney-General Jon Stanhope has given no indication about preferences, saying only that the Government would search "far and wide" for an appropriate appointee. An announcement is expected to be made next week.

Canberra had three female magistrates, but no female judges.

"Their appointments were made in the atmosphere of support for the principle of the need to make an extra effort to encourage women into judicial positions," Mrs Blumer said.

There would always be some who thought the notion of appointing a female chief justice was a token gesture and that it detracted from its prestige, but such criticism went with any high-profile appointment, she said.

Australian Women Lawyers president Dominque Hogan-Doran said women were still under-represented in the judiciary, despite figures showing 50 per cent of law graduates were women.

"It would be unreasonable and against evidence to suggest women are less talented, less able or less suitable for legal practice or judicial appointment than their male colleagues," she said.

NEIGHBOURHOOD Watch ACT may no longer be able to operate as an association if it is unable to obtain public liability insurance.

While its thousands of volunteers are covered, Neighbourhood Watch executives and board members are not.

ACT president Fred Fawke said the only options were for Neighbourhood Watch to operate under Volunteering ACT or to return to a community-based, autonomous organisation.

"We cannot get public liability insurance because the organisation has been run in the ACT as the executive being there to provide legal cover for volunteers and to manage the affairs of the association on behalf of the AFP," Mr Fawke said.

"The AFP is not in a position to provide legal cover and that was the reason the association was first formed."

Police in most other states provide public liability cover for Neighbourhood Watch associations but they treat them as community-based, autonomous groups.

Mr Fawke said a less-structured format was what the original association of Neighbourhood Watch set out to prevent.

"If we started to behave like autonomous organisations then the AFP would have to set up some sort of structure to look after the interests of all groups," he said.

There are 68 Neighbourhood Watch groups in the ACT serving about 40 per cent of Canberra's households.

In Gungahlin alone, the group's 120 members look out for 12,000 homes.

Opposition justice spokesman Bill Stefaniak called on the ACT Government to "act quickly" to prevent Neighbourhood Watch from folding.

"Neighbourhood Watch is not like other voluntary community type organisations in that it does play an important role in public security," Mr Stefaniak said.

"The Government could make a justified differentiation between Neighbourhood Watch and other bodies also suffering due to the insurance crisis."

The Democrats suggested that some of the remaining crime prevention funds from the last Budget could be spent on insurance for Neighbourhood Watch.

Deputy Chief Minister Ted Quinlan said he would consider any formal request from Neighbourhood Watch.

Pharmacists in Canberra are to keep minimum stocks of cold and hayfever tablets and only sell one packet at a time to combat their use in making illegal drugs such as ecstasy and speed.

ACT police and the ACT Government have asked chemists to help them limit the availability of amphetamines on the streets of Canberra.

Deputy Chief Police Officer Andy Hughes said amphetamines were being made in the ACT from everyday medicines bought in pharmacies.

Products such as Sudafed, Demazin and decongestant tablets all contain pseudoephedrine which can be used in the manufacture of illegal drugs.

"If we can stop the availability of this to the illicit drug market while still allowing those with a legitimate health reason to use it then that is a win," Mr Hughes said.

Under the new system it will be up to the chemist to decide if a person is ordering more medicine than they can use.

ACT Chief Health Officer Paul Dugdale said chemists in Canberra had agreed to store the tablets behind the counter and to exercise caution with their sale.

"All pharmacists are aware of criminals wanting to purchase large quantities of pseudoephedrine for conversion into amphetamines and keep a very close eye on their stock," he said.

Chemists currently notify the health department if large quantities of drugs are being bought.

Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said that in recent years all states and territories had been targeted by organised crime rings using all types of people, young and old, male and female, to purchase pseudoephedrine products for conversion into illicit amphetamines.

"In some cases, interstate pharmacies have been the target of ram raids, burglaries and armed hold-ups to obtain these tablets," he said.

As part of the new program, pharmacists were not obliged to sell the cold and hayfever tablets on demand.

"A packet of the most popular pseudoephedrine tablets which can be bought in a pharmacy for less than $10 can be converted by a skilled chemist in a clandestine laboratory into amphetamines worth more than $2000 on the streets," Mr Stanhope said.

Opposition Leader Gary Humphries will announce today that he will contest Liberal Party pre-selection for Margaret Reid's soon-to-be vacant Senate seat, fuelling speculation he is about to hand the ACT Opposition reins to deputy Brendan Smyth.

Mr Humphries said yesterday he had had an eye on the federal seat for a long time, and would nominate for it.

He said it was important to replace Senator Reid's big personal vote with someone else who had a large support base, such as himself. He also had experience with federal ministers from his time running various ACT portfolios.

He had achieved many of his goals during his 12 years in the Assembly, and he thought the best thing he could do now was be a committed and experienced advocate for the ACT in the Federal Government.

"The opportunities at the local level are significant, but at the federal level they are obviously much greater and I want to be part of that process," he said.

Mr Humphries has said he would, with the advice of his colleagues, reconsider his position as leader of the party once he nominated for the Senate seat.

Mr Smyth is seen as his logical successor.

Liberal MLA Steve Pratt will announce whether he will stand for Senate preselection tomorrow after consulting his family.

Mr Humphries is the third candidate to declare his hand, with his chief ministerial predecessor, Kate Carnell, to declare her candidacy today.

But a federal parliamentary staffer, Tim Johnston, appeared last night to be considering dropping out of the race.

Mr Johnston, 34, a departmental liaison officer on the staff of Environment Minister David Kemp, has refused to comment publicly so far, but party insiders believed yesterday he was leaning towards not nominating.

Prime Minister John Howard's staffer Gerry Wheeler is considered a certainty to stand, although he has not announced his plans publicly.

Assembly Member Bill Stefaniak and former army colonel David Kibbey, now a management consultant, have already announced their candidacy.

Army Lieutenant-Colonel Bill Hanlon has still not been ruled out.

Former chief minister Kate Carnell announced her attempt at a political comeback yesterday, declaring herself an underdog contender for the Liberals' ACT Senate seat.

One of Mrs Carnell's enduring themes during her 5 years as chief minister was the promotion of Canberra, notably through big-ticket items like the V8 Supercar race and Bruce Stadium, and yesterday she identified the promotion of Canberra as one of her main jobs should she win the seat.

"I believe I can do the sort of job that the ACT needs in its senator - that means somebody who'll promote Canberra, who'll stand up for Canberra in the federal Parliament," she said.

"I think regularly the needs of the ACT can be, shall we say, forgotten.

"Margaret [Reid] has done an absolutely wonderful job, it's not in any way a criticism of Margaret. It's just that I think we need someone who will stand up for Canberra - not sit back and warm the chair, but really get out there.

Is Canberra ready for Senator Carnell? Sunday Profile with Emma MacDonald

"I think that's the sort of thing that I'm good at and I love doing."

Mrs Carnell lines up against current Opposition Leader Gary Humphries, ACT Assembly Member Bill Stefaniak, John Howard staffer Gerry Wheeler (yet to officially declare) and former Army colonel David Kibbey in the race for the plum Senate seat.

Tim Johnston, a staffer for Environment Minister David Kemp, has decided not to nominate.

"Politics is about chance and opportunity and timing, and the timing is not quite right for me at the moment," he said.

Mrs Carnell resigned from the Assembly two years ago when she was facing a no-confidence motion over the Bruce Stadium affair, in which her government spent millions on the stadium without seeking parliamentary approval, then took out an overnight loan at the end of the financial year, with the result that the spending did not show up as such in the books.

She said yesterday she had made administrative mistakes but learned "an extraordinary amount" from the affair.

Mrs Carnell was a vocal critic of the Howard Government's spending cuts in Canberra and Mr Howard's refusal to live here. This week, she said she would be "in the face" of anyone who indulged in Canberra bashing, but she would also be a loyal team player in the Senate.

But she rates her chances as slim, behind Mr Humphries and Mr Wheeler.

A unique "green community" of environmentally-friendly inner-city housing, businesses and community facilities is being proposed for central Canberra.

The plan is intended for land between Childers and Kingsley Streets next to the Australian National University, space described as "one of the last remaining places available for development close to the city".

ROCKS - Residents of Childers and Kingsley Streets - have come up with a redevelopment plan for the block which they hope will be bankrolled by the ACT Government, the ANU and private developers.

Up to 50,000sq m of land could be sidelined for the redevelopment, most of it given over to housing and businesses.

A coalition of nine community groups, ROCKS is seeking to have up to one-fifth of the land devoted to community facilities.

No final figure on the cost of the redevelopment has been finalised but coordinator Phil Nizette is already meeting interested developers prepared to put up cash.

The proposal is centred around Section 21, land zoned community facilities, owned by the ACT Government and left undeveloped as office blocks have gone up around it. ROCKS groups have occupied the site for more than 30 years.

Nicky Davies, ROCKS member and Conservation Council of the South East Region and Canberra director, said the idea was for the proposal to work with the wider Civic West Masterplan.

She said it presented a rare opportunity for sustainable urban development with the buildings adhering to "best-practice environmental design".

"It will be a first for Canberra," she said.

The ROCKS plan will be officially launched on Monday. Mr Nizette said depending on the outcome of the masterplan and whether variations to the Territory Plan were required, he hoped work could start on the development by late next year, with the first residents moving in by 2005 at the latest.

Units in a $140 million residential complex which adds two tall towers to Canberra's skyline will go on sale tomorrow despite the complex not yet being approved.

Six objections have been lodged against The Metropolitan, which encompasses 347 units on a city block alongside Rydges Lakeside and Capital Tower. That means its development application will be determined by the Commissioner for Land and Planning.

Among the objectors is rival developer Millie Phillips, who is building 267 units on the site of the Rex Hotel in Braddon. The basis of her objection to The Metropolitan is the removal of trees from the block. Rydges Lakeside has also objected, claiming a residential development so close to it would threaten the future of its licensed premises, Bobby McGee's, which generates noise late into the night.

Two towers one 16 storeys, the other 14 storeys are the centrepiece of the eight-building complex which is earmarked for a block bounded by London Circuit, Edinburgh Avenue, Gordon Street and Marcus Clarke Street.

There are also two six-storey towers on Gordon Street, a four-storey block on both Marcus Clarke Street and London Circuit and two three-storey internal blocks of units.

Developers Graham Potts and Barry Morris, under the name Amalgamated Property Group, are building the complex. Prices range from $250,000 for a one-bedroom unit to more than $1 million for one of four penthouses. Two courtyards, lap pool and gym are included in the complex.

Marketing agent Independent Property Group managing director John Runko said he expected 95 per cent of the units to be sold during the weekend.

"I'm confident the market will take it very well," he said.

"It's a good product, good design and caters to the changing lifestyle of people. They want to take advantage of all the city has to offer."

A spokeswoman for Planning and Land Management said it was still assessing the development application for the complex, with the ultimate decision to come from the commissioner.

She said nine public submissions had been received six objections and three comments.

Mr Runko said that, pending approval, work on the complex would start by early- to mid-2003, with completion in 2005.

Mrs Phillips urges in her objection that PALM "review alternative development proposals which retain the significant maximum possible number of significant trees".

ACT for Trees has also objected to what it says will be the "totally unacceptable" removal of more than 90 trees from the block. Mr Runko said he was sure more trees would be planted than would be removed from the site.

Women and girls in the ACT were the victims in 45 per cent of "crimes against the person", and in 86 per cent of sexual assaults, it was revealed yesterday.

The hidden problem came to light in the Status of Women in the ACT report tabled in the Legislative Assembly yesterday.

Despite a widespread perception that such problems do not exist in the ACT, women and girls are victims in 43 per cent of assaults and "many women in the ACT live with unease and concern about their personal safety", according to submissions from the Australian Federal Police to the Select Committee on the Status of Women in the ACT that compiled the report.

"Close to half of all assaults against females were by people known to the victim and of the 119 sexual assaults against females in 2001, 75 (63 per cent) were committed by someone known to the victim," the submission said.

The director of Toora Inc, which encompasses Toora Women's Shelter and other crisis accommodation centres and drug and alcohol services, Jacqui Pearce, said she agreed "absolutely with the figures that portray violence against women as a serious and ongoing problem".

"Our statistics show that almost all of the women coming through our centres have been victims of sexual assault, either as a child or as an adult," Ms Pearce said.

"It's just the tip of the iceberg.

"Domestic violence is a huge problem and the women we see, who seek help, are a small percentage of those overall who are experiencing it.

"From 18 years of delivering crisis accommodation and support services, the anecdotal evidence is there.

"Their stories bear out the authenticity."

Ms Pearce said there was a perception that domestic violence and other forms of violence did not exist in the ACT.

This was because women in general were more highly educated, had high employment levels and above national average incomes.

But, she said, just as suicide, divorce and poverty rates in the ACT were higher than perceived, so too was violence against women and this often flowed on to become problems of isolation and marginalisation, a major concern highlighted in the report.

The committee was advised that domestic or family violence was one of the key contributors to the isolation affecting many women in the ACT community. It occurred in all areas of society, regardless of geographic location, socio-economic status, age, culture or ethnic background, or religious belief.

In its submission to the committee, the Beryl Women's Refuge said: "Women escaping domestic and family violence are rarely able to participate as functioning members of the ACT community.

"They often have to remain indoors for fear of being seen, followed or harassed, and they become completely separated from their former lives; forced out of their homes, often leaving the family pets behind (many of which are killed or beaten), and most of their possessions."

The report states: "This sense of isolation and marginalisation within the community can be no more absolute. Women confronted by domestic violence often have every facet of their lives disrupted and the impact on physical and mental well-being is significant."

The committee's recommendations include:

Increased resources to protect women from violence.

Amending of the Protections Order's Act to regain "stand-alone" domestic violence laws.

Provision of counselling, education and support to all children, particularly those who have witnessed or lived with violence.

The report, compiled by the select committee of MLAs Katy Gallagher, Helen Cross and Roslyn Dundas over 12 months, makes 59 recommendations to government in relation to the delivery of services to women and the development of women's policy.

Its key recommendations include:

That isolated/marginalised women be considered a priority area for government policy and decision-making.

The level of outreach services, particularly in women's and mental health, be increased.

An increase in provision of housing for women, including crisis accommodation.

An increase in paid maternity leave in the ACT Public Service from 12 to 14 weeks, and equity between sporting grants for men and women.

Committee chair Ms Gallagher said, with women comprising 52 per cent of the ACT's population, the most disappointing outcome was the realisation that, "in 2002, violence against women is still the most serious issue facing women - not only in the ACT, but throughout Australia and the world".

She said the report's tabling before the Universal Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women to be observed on Monday was timely.

Gary Humphries will step down from leading the ACT Opposition on Monday to concentrate on his bid for a Senate seat.

Deputy Brendan Smyth is the favourite to succeed Mr Humphries, although Vicki Dunne is expected to contest him for the leadership.

Bill Stefaniak, Greg Cornwell and Mrs Dunne are seen as possibilities as deputy.

Mr Humphries announced yesterday he would stand for preselection for Margaret Reid's soon-to-be vacated Senate seat. As a consequence, he had decided, in consultation with his colleagues, to stand down as Opposition leader.

"I will be standing down at the party room meeting on Monday and an election will be held then to replace me with another person.

"There are two announced candidates and I have no doubt the party room will elect a worthy person to take the fight up to the Labor Government and I think Labor will take little comfort from the fact that I am moving on as leader of the Liberal Party," he said.

"My mind is focused entirely on the Senate, that's why I don't think I should be Opposition leader down here."

He would, however, remain in the Assembly at least until he was preselected. If he was not elected, he would continue in ACT politics where he has been for the 13 years since self-government.

In the meantime, he would leave it to the new leader to decide if he should take on an opposition portfolio, pending the preselection decision, or be left to concentrate on his Senate ambitions.

Mr Humphries said that whoever took over from him would serve the party well. He would not re-challenge for the leadership if he was unsuccessful in his Senate bid.

MLA Steve Pratt has ruled out standing for either leadership position. Mr Cornwell said he would not contest the party's leadership, saying it should be for someone younger.

He was not seeking the deputy position, but would be willing to consider it, for the good of the party, if an impasse were reached and it was felt he could assist.

Mr Stefaniak, who is also standing for the Senate position, said he did not comment on internal party matters.

Mrs Dunne said she would talk to her colleagues and advisers before deciding if she would stand for party leadership.

She has said that if she won the position, she would be able bring a clean skin to the role; she had some parliamentary experience but was not associated with the former government.

Mr Smyth was the first to announce he would contest the leadership, saying he was the best candidate.

"I think you have to have experience, but you also have to have drive.

"You have got to have dedication, you have to have ideas and you have to be able to bring people together as a team. I think I have that combination of skills," he said.

He acknowledged the party had not had the best of years and that it would be very difficult to win the next election, but said it would now concentrate on exposing the Government's deficiencies.

The leadership positions will be decided in Monday afternoon's party room meeting. Each member will have one vote, with Mr Humphries having the casting vote should it be tied at three-three.

FOR the second time in a month, a tribunal has declared that just living in a high-density ACT Housing complex surrounded by drug users and other anti-social individuals was enough to qualify for a priority transfer elsewhere.

In an ACT Administrative Appeals Tribunal ruling, Dr Don McMichael said a young family of three, with a second child due soon, could not possibly be suitably housed at the Currong apartments in Braddon.

The family lives in a two-bedroom flat of less than 57sq m without a yard which health and child-care experts say is unsuitable for their family.

There are more than 200 flats in the complex, but only three are households with dependents.

Last month another AAT member, Dr Elizabeth McKenzie, ruled that a 32-year-old schizophrenic man should be placed on a priority transfer list because he should not have to live in an unnamed housing complex near Civic surrounded by drug addicts and filth and next to a heroin-injecting room.

The man, with medical support, claimed to have suffered anxiety and panic attacks because of the environment he was obliged to live in.

In both cases, ACT Housing and the Housing Review Committee rejected requests for priority transfer.

ACT Housing has argued that if particular premises are declared unsuitable per se, it will severely limit its capacity to best use housing stock. Waiting lists for priority transfers would simply lengthen.

The AAT's response to this in the latest case was that ACT Housing could either provide more of the required form of accommodation or modify its formal priority policies.

In last week's case, the AAT was told that Chubb Security attended a disturbance of one sort or another at the public housing complexes near Civic on an almost daily basis.

The decision to close two day-care services for ACT's older residents was short-sighted and callous, the Council on the Ageing ACT said yesterday.

Chief Minister Jon Stanhope confirmed the ACT Government would shut centres in Narrabundah and Dickson this year and boost services offered at Belconnen and Tuggeranong.

In a joint statement issued yesterday, council executive director Jim Purcell and deputy executive director Paul Flint said the decision was disappointing.

"It is a short-sighted and somewhat callous change," they said.

"Firstly, the move is in direct contrast with the demographic changes in Canberra. There are a growing number of very old people in both North and South Canberra, yet the services in these areas are being reduced.

"Secondly, there will be a loss of transport services for other purposes as more will be required to transport people to Belconnen and Tuggeranong. This is not a good option [because] there is already considerable stress on transport services for the frail aged."

Currently, there are 29 clients at Narrabundah and 35 at Dickson.

Mr Stanhope said a review found the Narrabundah and Dickson Health Centres were unsuitable for aged day care because the 1970s buildings needed renovation and repair, were near busy intersections and lacked security to ensure dementia patients were safe.

But the council believes the buildings should be upgraded, not abandoned.

Mr Stanhope said non-government service providers in Narrabundah and Dickson had also been approached to take on the affected clients.

"While I appreciate the fact that change can be disruptive and unsettling to consumers, particularly older consumers, I wish to assure them that we will continue to meet the needs of existing clients while also providing better support to those with more complex care requirements," Mr Stanhope said.

Mr Flint and Mr Purcell said the move would reduce older people's opportunities to remain active in inner Canberra communities. "Participation is one of the keys to maintaining health and quality of life," they said.

Actew inspectors have been authorised to enter back yards and issue fines to people who don't comply with water restrictions after the tabling of new regulations in the ACT Legislative Assembly yesterday.

Treasurer Ted Quinlan introduced the Water Restrictions Scheme which allows Actew to impose fines of up to $1000 for individuals and $5000 for businesses that fail to comply with compulsory restrictions.

Level 1 water restrictions are in place on a voluntary basis in the ACT, but Mr Quinlan said he expected that by Christmas they would become compulsory and fines could be issued.

"Officers will be able to enter a property if they believe water is not being used according to the restrictions, and they may either turn off or adjust appliances if no one is home," Mr Quinlan said. "It will be an offence to obstruct, hinder or resist the authorised officers exercising their functions."

When the Utilities Act was amended in 1998, Actew's regulatory powers were left out.

Mr Quinlan said yesterday's amendment meant the water provider could do more to stop people wasting the territory's water supply, which was now at 59 per cent of capacity.

Actew chief executive Paul Perkins welcomed the new powers which apply to the government-owned arm of ActewAGL.

But he said the powers would not be abused and inspectors would be allowed to use discretion when issuing fines.

"The maximum fines would be issued as a last resort," Mr Perkins said.

"In places like Perth, which has experienced very harsh conditions for a long time, they've learnt that more can be achieved through education and awareness than by just going around issuing tickets."

The restrictions scheme formalises many of the measures the Government and Actew have promoted recently.

Full details of the Water Restrictions Scheme will be available at www.actew.com.au

A NSW Labor Council publication has called on the Australian Council of Trade Unions to mark its upcoming 75th anniversary by relocating its head office from Melbourne to Canberra.

The call has been made through the NSW council's Internet publication, Workers Online.

The site's editor, Peter Lewis, who said the editorial was not Labor Council policy, said the siting of the ACTU's base in Melbourne had served its purpose.

"It's folklore that the [NSW] Labor Council established the ACTU in Melbourne because if it succeeded it would be far enough away and if it failed it would be far enough away," the editorial said.

Mr Lewis said at one point in the 1980s, the ACTU had sat down with the prime minister to determine the wages and conditions of a nation, but the industrial relations scene had since devolved to the workplace.

"It is in this light, that we call on the ACTU to mark its 75th anniversary by relocating to Canberra, recognising that it is the lobbying of our national politicians that should be its key function."

Mr Lewis said business, industry and employer lobbies were located in Canberra and the union movement needed a permanent force there also, not just to run the movement-wide agenda but provide a base for individual affiliates.

ACT Trades and Labor Council secretary Peter Malone said the ACTU was always welcome in Canberra, however, the location of its headquarters was a decision for the trade union movement as whole.

The affiliates nation-wide have in the past always considered that Melbourne was appropriate.

A spokeswoman for Industrial Relations Minister Simon Corbell said the ACT Government supported any organisation moving to Canberra as it was the nation's capital.

"But it is up to the ACTU to determine what location is best to meet its operations," she said.

Australian footballCarlton president Ian Collins has threatened to axe up to 10 Blues players by the end of next week if the club's stars do not accept 25 per cent pay cuts.

In a move that had the AFL Players' Association and player agents up in arms, Collins' ultimatum came after the financially-stricken club found it would be $1.2 million over the salary cap in 2003 unless reductions were made.

Players asked to take massive cuts include Anthony Koutoufides, Lance Whitnall, Scott Camporeale, Brett Ratten, Corey McKernan, Andrew McKay and Simon Beaumont.

"If they don't agree, we'll get rid of 10 players," Collins said.

"They either take the cuts or we move them out.

"This is not a ploy, we simply can't pay them. It's up to them whether the club remains.

"I will do anything to keep this club. The club is more important than the players even if it means migrating them out and not fielding a team next year.

"I need decisions by the end of this week otherwise delistings will take place."

The players will meet tomorrow after negotiations with the AFLPA to decide upon a course of action.

Timing is tight as Carlton must lodge estimated 2003 total player payments with the AFL by December 6.

AFLPA chief Rob Kerr said Collins' threat was empty because the salaries of sacked players would still be included in calculation of the salary cap.

"Sacking them is not going to solve Carlton's problems because they will have to pay the contracts out," Kerr said on Melbourne radio.

"So the money will go on this season's salary cap.

"It's a vicious circle - Carlton is in a difficult position."

Player manager Dave Allison, who represents the club's top-paid player Koutoufides, plus McKay and vice-captain Adrian Hickmott, said they would not agree to cuts.

Koutoufides, believed to be in line to receive $1.14 million next season, had been asked to sacrifice almost $300,000 in 2003.

"None of the boys are going to be wearing what has been put to them," Allison said.

"It just can't happen. If Collins sacks all the boys they will still have to be paid - does he think the Blues are that stupid?"

Should the club and players not come to an agreement, Carlton risked breaching the salary cap for the fourth time in six years.

This came just three days after being penalised for previous salary cap breaches - a $930,000 fine and severe draft sanctions.

Collins put all Carlton staff on notice "from the runner to the physios" but would not be specific on how much of a pay cut he expected new coach Denis Pagan to accept.

After 10 years with the Kangaroos, Pagan joined the Blues in September on a three-year contract worth about $2 million.

The new club board was also weighing up whether to pursue legal actions against former president John Elliott and his directors for landing the club in its current mess.

Collins was investigating whether it was the previous board or administration staff who were responsible for the salary cap blow out.

"No-one's taken any money, but poor decisions are another issue and all staff are under review," he said. "The mismanagement here is like a cancer and we need to cut it out."

There was a precursor to a possible player spill when veteran Michael Mansfield was delisted yesterday with a season remaining on his contract.

PORT Adelaide football operations manager Rob Snowdon has quit the AFL club.

Snowdon, who had been with Port since late 1997, said he was seeking consultancy and board positions in other industries. He held various roles with the Sydney Swans for 13 years before joining Port.

JAKARTA: Indonesian police investigating the Bali bombing have swooped on the network of alleged ringleader Imam Samudra, announcing the arrest of 13 accomplices in recent days.

The arrests take to 15 the number of suspects linked directly or indirectly to the Bali bombings.

Samudra, the suspected ringleader, was arrested on November 21.

Amrozi, who allegedly looked after the stores and transport, was captured on November 5. "In total there are 15 people [in custody]," police spokesman Brigadier-General Aritonang said yesterday.

"Only two have been named suspects in the Bali bombings," he said.

Brigadier Aritonang was referring to Samudra and Amrozi, whose detention can be extended under Indonesian law once they are officially named as suspects.

In the past three days, police have arrested:

"Agus", who is believed to have been involved in the robbery of 400 million rupiah ($A90,000) from a jewellery store in Serang that financed the October 12 attack and who was taken into custody in West Java on Monday.

Three more of Samudra's "followers" in the West Java city of Serang, for possessing a small amount of explosives and conspiring to rob a bank in Serang later this month.

At least one person on the island of Batam in relation to earlier bombings.

Six people in Riau province on Sumatra island, four of whom accused of allegedly helping provide Samudra with false identity papers.

Others in Java believed to have hidden weapons or chemicals later used to build the bombs used in the Bali attack.

Police were still looking for the alleged financier of the Bali bombing operation, Idris, electronics expert Dulmatin, alleged accomplice Umar and Ali Imron, who is believed to have helped as a courier and surveyor.

The dramatic escalation in the number of arrests came as Australian Federal Police foreshadowed the release of more information within 24 hours. They said they also expected that victim identification in the Denpasar hospital would be completed by the end of the week.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the confirmed Australian death toll from the October 12 bombings in Bali had risen to 82 out of more than 180 victims, with five still unaccounted for. AAP

Australians could face big cuts to services next year as a result of the damage to the federal Budget surplus by excessive government spending, Access Economics warned yesterday.

Treasurer Peter Costello will issue a mid-year economic review today, that will contain the most up-to-date Treasury estimates of economic growth and the Budget's bottom line for the financial year 2002-03.

The weak global economic situation, especially in the United States, and the domestic drought are expected to force Mr Costello to revise downwards Treasury's growth forecasts, along with the forecast cash surplus in May of $2.1 billion.

That could spell a horror Budget and trouble for the big-spending portfolios of Health, Education and even Defence - where it is rumoured Defence Minister Robert Hill was rolled in Cabinet over his request for more money.

According to Chris Richardson, a director at Access, the Budget surplus could be cut by higher government spending by as much as $1 billion, leaving a surplus of $1.1 billion.

The pressure on spending would result from the fact the Government had no intention of allowing a consecutive cash deficit for 2002-03 that the Opposition could make political use of.

"That's a political line in the sand," he said.

Australian Democrats Senator John Cherry said the Government had spent $6.5 billion in election promises, and the decision to end petrol excise indexation would start to hurt, costing as much as $1.1 billion a year.

Senator Cherry also said the Government's inability to pass key reforms to welfare and superannuation in the Senate would hurt the bottom line by billions. Ending petrol indexation was an unsustainable cost.

"They will have to cut spending or raise taxes," he said.

But Mr Richardson said the surplus was being hit not so much by the lower revenue resulting from slower growth in the farm sector, rather government spending, including on security after the Bali bombings.

"This Government began a phase of spending money at the start of 2001. It sailed right through its first Budget after the election, still spending money. It has been only what has happened in the last couple of months, in particular the drought, that has made them realise the fiscal barrel is bare," he said.

"It does change the dynamics of decision-making for the coming Budget. Suddenly spending ministers are on the nose. Anyone with a pet plan has got to keep it in the bottom drawer."

Revenue nevertheless would be lower in 2002-03, he estimated, by $200 million.

But farming was not a tax-intensive sector and the drought could well be over by next year. Growth in the non-farm sector was strong (meaning it could be expected to sustain tax revenues), he said.

Recently the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development forecast a robust economy, despite the drought. It forecast a growth rate of 3.5 per cent in 2002, and 3.7 per cent in 2003. "This is significantly higher than the average growth forecast for OECD countries," the OECD's Economic Outlook said.

Mr Richardson conceded not everything was the Government's fault. The Senate was also obstructing several reforms which would increase revenue. At the end of the day, the real problem was that spending on the drought was blowing out.

"It would not surprise me now that to see the drought spending reach $500 million."

He expected also a cut in the forecast economic growth rate to 3-3.25 per cent. "That's pretty well flagged," he said. (Recently Prime Minister John Howard hinted the Government would revise the growth forecast to about 3 per cent.)

Mr Richardson said the delay in the final sale of Telstra would not affect the Budget bottom line directly.

It would mainly affect the Commonwealth's balance sheet of assets and liabilities; it would only have an indirect impact on the level of debt repayments and dividends, which do affect the surplus.

HSBC Economics, as well, said the drought could cut the May forecast growth rate of 3.75 per cent by between 50 and 75 basis points.

"Given the previous forecast of 3.75 per cent, we think a reasonable adjustment would be to 3.25 per cent," HSBC said.

The extent of poverty in Australia has been grossly exaggerated by welfare groups according to the right-wing think-tank, the Centre for Independent Studies.

Issuing a report today, Poverty in Australia - Beyond the Rhetoric, the centre argues that poverty has been confused with income inequality, and helping the poor had become synonymous with taxing the rich more to close the income gap.

Welfare groups have already responded to the report, labelling it simplistic and one-sided.

Report authors Peter Saunders, an associate at Macquarie University's Department of Sociology, and Kayoko Tsumori, a PhD in political science and international relations from the Australian National University, said traditional measures of poverty in Australia were unreliable.

They blamed the Smith Family, in particular, for last year issuing research from the National Centre for Economic Modelling suggesting 13 per cent of Australians were living in poverty.

Even the Henderson Poverty Line - which suggests 20 per cent of Australians are living in poverty - was "inflated" at twice the rate of CPI, the authors said.

Professor Saunders said it was more likely poverty levels were somewhere between 5 and 8 per cent.

The authors said Australian Bureau of Statistics data collection was "so unreliable as to be unuseable" because it lacked documentation to back up people's responses in income surveys and had underreported income in welfare-dependent households.

Professor Saunders said many people suffered periods of poverty while they were students, temporarily out of work, or women leaving the workforce to raise children.

"People's incomes move up and down and those are not the people public policy is really concerned about - we need to deal with long-term deprivation which is a much smaller number of people," Professor Saunders said.

The report advocates a tough American style of welfare support which focuses on getting people straight into the workforce, not into training, education or community programs.

"The American system has time limits for eligibility to welfare and in some senses is more stick than carrot . . . but it has had some amazing successes," Professor Saunders said.

He said welfare lobbies like the Australian Council of Social Service promoted the "defeatist messages" that people on welfare couldn't be expected to help themselves and needed bigger payments.

"If giving people more money were the solution to poverty, poverty would have disappeared by now, yet the number of people requiring support has been growing not shrinking."

The Smith Family described the report yesterday as simplistic.

National manager of strategic research and social policy Rob Simons said the authors had "simply dismissed the research of others without providing any research themselves".

"The issue of disadvantage in Australia is complex and the fundamental flaw with this report is that it reduces poverty simply to a radical fundamental economic analysis with no understanding of behavioural, social structure or systemic factors."

ACOSS president Andrew McCallum said the report misunderstood the meaning of poverty. "The report confuses cause and effect," he said.

They may be developing breasts earlier but, mentally, Australian girls are still little girls, a women's health expert said.

Responding yesterday to reports that a new range of provocative underwear was targeting children as young as eight, ACT Women's Health information officer Ellie Miller said nature had become misleading.

"Biological factors are taking over, and girls are becoming women at a younger age. But psychologically they're still eight-year-old girls.

"A young woman's innocence should be protected as long as possible.

"Wanting to sexualise someone so young, it's not good."

Federal politicians and child health experts have reacted angrily to news that padded bras, g-strings, and low-cut tops are being marketed towards girls under 10.

A controversial new range of underwear from US teen stars Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen will also hit Target stores next week.

Ms Miller said that some eight-year-old girls could be physically ready for bras. Girls were starting to develop breasts earlier because of increased access to good nutrition.

"Twenty to 30 years ago they would start getting breasts at about 10 or 11," she said.

The average age of menstruation had also fallen from 13 a century ago to about 11.

Some controversial theories laid the blame for earlier puberty on hormones in beef and chicken but the idea was still contentious.

Federal Minister for Children Larry Anthony called on parents yesterday to boycott the provocative clothes, saying children should enjoy being kids rather than trying to dress or act older than they were.

NSW Women's Minister Sandra Nori had raised the problem last week, saying warped messages on body image were being sent to pre-teen girls through the retailing of sexually inappropriate clothing.

But some parents are seeking out the fashionable underwear styles for their children, in what one Canberra kidswear retailer described as a niche market.

Pumpkin Patch manager Lisel Trezise said their store stocked the traditional knicker and singlet sets and pyjamas, but did not sell padded bras. "As fashion becomes more popular, some girls want to copy their older sister or mother," she said. "We've had a few requests for that sort of stuff, but a a lot of our customers would probably baulk at it."

Target defended yesterday the launch of the mary-kateandashley products, which were singled out by Ms Nori as offering six-year-olds the same clothing as 16-year-olds.

"For the last three years we have offered a range of padded bras for sizes 8-16," Target said. "The designs and styles are reflective of swimwear and have been well received by our customers."

The mary-kateandashley brand also issued a statement saying its underwear range which will reach Australia early next year did not feature padded bras or g-strings.

There's a new bird in the national netball league flock with the AIS Canberra Darters officially launched yesterday.

While a uniform is yet to be decided, the team name, the team line-up and the draw for the 2003 Commonwealth Bank Trophy were all released.

Darters are "sleek and athletic birds which can be found on waterways across Australia" according to the Netball Australia release.

While Darters isn't perhaps the most elegant of names, it is appropriate for a young team that boasts some of the country's best young players.

Head coach Norma Plummer is looking forward to the start of the season, the Darters first game is on April 25, but first comes a well-deserved break.

Plummer's AIS squad will participate in a camp in mid-December before regrouping in February in preparation for the start of the season. In the meantime, she's sending her young charges home for Christmas.

Nevertheless she expects them to keep training with their focus on their debut in the country's premier netball competition.

"We are just delighted to be in the 2003 CBT," Plummer said.

"I'm looking forward to working with ACT Netball to develop local players and the Australian under-21 program."

Three ACT players were named in the team with Corinne Tippett, Loren Trimble and Polini Langi joining the 13 AIS-based players.

It's been a great year for Tippett, named in the Australian under-19 squad earlier in the year and the 18-year-old defender is excited by the prospect of playing in the CBT.

"I can't wait, " she said. "It will be hard because most of us don't have the experience at that level but it's something I've always dreamed of doing."

Tippett, who plays for Arawang in the ACT district competition, said she gained a lot from her time in the Australian under-19s and is looking forward to playing and training at that level again.

Trimble, too, is still coming to terms with the selection.

"I haven't really been able to put it in perspective yet," she said, at home in Bega after finishing studies in sports coaching at the University of Canberra.

"To think I'll be playing with and against some of the people I've always admired."

The Darters' first game is against the Sydney Swifts at the AIS on April 25 and they play seven home games during the season before the finals begin in August.

There will be two breaks during the season to allow for the international against South Africa in May and for the 11th Netball World Championships in Jamaica in July.

The ACTU will fight for two years' unpaid maternity leave and a guaranteed part-time position for parents returning to the workforce in a test case early next year.

A meeting of the ACTU executive voted in Melbourne yesterday to also push for more flexible working hours, the right to emergency family leave and a scheme for employees to sacrifice part of their salary in order to claim an extra six weeks' annual leave.

ACTU president Sharan Burrow said the test case would go a long way to helping families balance work and home responsibilities.

"Australia has an increasing proportion of families where both parents work. The proportion of sole parents in the workforce is also growing," Ms Burrow said.

"Two million Australians are working more than 50 hours per week with one million of them averaging more than 60 hours a week."

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showed the proportion of families where both parents work had increased from 44 per cent in 1981 to 62 per cent in 2000 while the proportion of single mothers in paid work had increased to half, up from one-third in 1985.

"Many parents would prefer to spend more time at home with their children, especially in their early years of life, without losing contact with the workforce," Ms Burrow said.

She said the test case would also help end career disadvantage experienced by women making it "easier for people to be both good employees and good parents".

Current provisions allow for 12 months' unpaid maternity leave.

The union will file its test case application early next year and hopes hearings will begin in the Industrial Relations Commission by mid-year.

Employment Minister Tony Abbott said yesterday the Government had concerns about the test case and would be making its own submission arguing that employers should not be subjected to a "one-size-fits-all" policy.

The ACTU said its proposals would cost business little or nothing.

Mr Abbott said "we are human beings as well as workers; we exist in a society as well as an economy and it's important that we try and give all aspects of our life the full potential".

"Having said that I am also wary of anything that unnecessarily adds to business costs."

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry labelled the test case as "an unworkable union agenda" which would impose costs and restrictions on the legitimate rights of employers to manage their business.

Soccer Canberra's Senior League Assembly of Clubs will meet on Monday night to vote on the abolition of the ACT Premier League.

The meeting is a forthright response by the clubs to the widespread dissatisfaction with the organisation of Canberra's club competition.

A radical new model will replace the stand-alone Premier League and the first division of what was the second-tier State League with two divisions at the top of a new, united State League structure.

Walter Valeri, the chairman of the Senior League Management Committee, said the assembly would attempt to agree to a process where the eight Premier League clubs, nine from last season's State League first division, and three others would form the top two divisions of a new streamlined competition. Automatic promotion and relegation would operate between the top two divisions.

Although the clubs have reached a broad agreement on the format of the new competition, including a resolution to give clubs the discretion of whether or not to field an under-19 team, Valeri said there were still several opposing voices within the assembly that needed to be reconciled.

The most pressing points for discussion relate to whether matches should be played on Saturdays or Sundays, whether pitches need necessarily be enclosed, and how to arrest the alarming decline in the number of referees.

If a blueprint for change is not ratified at Monday's meeting, the assembly will meet again the following week.

"There are a few things that we have to look at on Monday and referees is one of them," Valeri said. "It could mean that the lower grades will get none at all.

"But I hope to get close to a resolution. If not, we'd have to get together again, but we'd have to get it done before the AGM on December 16."

The Premier League has been in decline on a number of fronts over the past few years.

Canberra's Jason Chalker consumed about $60 worth of groceries and still lost two kilograms of body weight as he won yesterday's Triple-Triathlon in record time.

Chalker, the Australian Xterra [Off-Road Triathlon] champion, won the 150km event at his first attempt, finishing in 10hr 25min 3sec and cutting almost nine minutes off the race record.

It is a record Chalker hopes will stand for a long time because the 28-year-old is not in a hurry to compete in the race again.

The Triple-Tri comprises 6.2km of swimming, 100km of mountain biking and 45km of running in nine consecutive stages.

"I won't be doing it again until the record goes," Chalker said, collapsed in a chair only metres over the finish line. "I don't have to come back now, at least not next year anyway.

"You go through so many highs and lows out there . . . I just tried to think about how much fun I was having, but that was hard today."

Chalker has completed two ironman triathlons, thought to the be the true test of any long distance triathlete. But he said the Triple-Tri was comparable because of the terrain, which includes 10 of Canberra's major peaks.

"It's tough, that's for sure," he said. "I'm absolutely shagged at the moment; I can't even stand up."

To sustain his energy, Chalker estimated he got through about six litres of sports drink, 2-3 litres of soft drink, 2-3 litres of water, packets of chips, lollies, chocolate bars, fruit and Vegemite sandwiches.

"When I went shopping yesterday to get all the food for the race it looked like we were having a kids party."

That it wasn't. Chalker led from the second swim leg on, but struggled in the final bike and run stages.

"I didn't run that much, I walked a lot of it," Chalker said. "I was struggling, I sort of hit the wall."

Second-placed Stuart Bardsley looked like he was trying to smash through that wall when he crossed the line in 10hr 56min 05sec. It was hard to tell if Bardsley, a bicycle mechanic for Chalker's step-father, was grinning or grimacing.

"It's a long day and you go through so many highs and lows and you just have to keep pushing," Bardsley said.

When asked why he did it, Bardsley answered, "The challenge. I'll probably remember this day for the rest of my life. You go through so much pain out there, but you cross the finish line, sit back and think I'm glad I did that. It's just such a sense of achievement."

Paul Smith was third, the three-time winner and former record holder beaten for the first time.

His lost record was also lost in his exhaustion.

"By the end of the race you don't really care, you just want to get across the finish line," Smith said. "You don't care how many people are ahead of you, you just want to get there and lie down."

A record field of four entered the women's individual field, but only World Rogaining (long distance orienteering) champion Julie Quinn and former Dutch speed-skater Carla Evans-Zijlstra made it to the finish line.

Quinn passed Evans-Zijlstra on the second bike stage on Mt Stromlo and cantered away to win by more than an hour in a time of 14hr 24min 17sec.

"It was fantastic," Quinn said. "It was really, really hard and you had to be strong to hang in there." Having previously attempted the race in teams of three and nine, it was Quinn's debut in the solo section of the Triple-Tri.

Evans-Zijlstra, a three-time Winter Olympian and world championship medallist, finished second in 15hr 35min 20sec.

Evans-Zijlstra only took up triathlon late last year. Her husband Anthony, a three-time Winter Olympic cross country skier for Australia, finished fourth in the individual men's field.

The event started at 5.30am for individuals and 6am for teams. Where's Roy, comprising Mal Booth, David Osmond and Trevor Jacobs, was the first team across the line in 8hr 58min 11sec, but there were other team names that better summed up the challenge of yesterday's event Silly as a Cut Snake, Fallen Angels, Ouch! and simply MAD.

The icecream van parked at the finish line took advantage of the hot and bothered athletes deservedly looking to reward themselves.

It took a spectacular late winner from former Matildas' defender Amy Taylor to lift the tedium of a dreadful game and salvage the Canberra Eclipse's season from oblivion at West Belconnen yesterday.

Canberra's 1-0 victory against Victoria was an appalling spectacle but Taylor's dramatic 30m drive injected new life into the champion's aspirations of defending its title.

NSW's failure to take more than a point from Adelaide on Saturday night gave Canberra an opportunity to close the five-point gap to second place but that chance came within two minutes of being tossed away.

Defeat effectively would have meant the end of the season for Canberra, which still needs maximum points from the remaining two games, and must then rely on NSW to slip up at least once.

For the first 45 minutes yesterday the Eclipse was scarcely recognisable from the team that won last season's grand final.

Not until injury time at the end of the first half did either side muster a shot inside the penalty box. The first real openings came when Amy Wilson and Sasha Wainwright both fired over the bar from close range within a minute of each other moments before the interval, and Peita-Claire Hepperlin hit a post.

Wilson had two clear-cut chances early in the second half, but twice drilled the ball straight at the goalkeeper with the goal at her mercy.

It looked for all the world as though it was going to be the end of the road but just as the clock ticked over into the 88th minute, Taylor collected an exquisite ball from Tal Karp, and, unchallenged, drilled it inside the left-hand upright.

Taylor's late winner failed to disguise an alarmingly pedestrian team performance though, as players struggled through ferocious heat, and concentration wavered. Coach Clive Mackillop acknowledged that his team had some way to travel before recapturing the title-winning form of last season but was visibly relieved at yesterday's result.

"I'm very happy with the chances and possession we had," he said. "We hit the bar and the post but we made some bad decisions. There was no doubt that we were the better side on the day."

Eclipse must win next weekend's away game against top-of-the-league Queensland to stand any chance of reaching the grand final. It is a tall order but Mackillop drew hope from the catalogue of upset results that has been a feature of the season. "I'm optimistic," he said, "only because it has been such an unpredictable competition. Given how inconsistent everyone is, any team is in with a chance. We haven't seen the best from our team yet. There have just been glimpses here and there."

Wallabies flyhalf Stephen Larkham stood by his national and ACT Brumbies captain George Gregan yesterday, confident the pair would be Australia's halves combination at next year's Rugby World Cup.

Larkham arrived back in Canberra yesterday, having broken his left hand during last weekend's 31-32 loss to England at Twickenham.

Gregan has been criticised for his predictability and lack of running on the current Wallabies tour. There were calls for Gregan to be sacked for tomorrow's final tour game against Italy (which starts at 1am), but selectors have since picked him to lead the side.

Larkham yesterday defended Gregan, declaring he was the best man for the captaincy and No 9 jumper.

"I think George is still a very good player," Larkham said.

"He's obviously integral to the team, he's a great captain and he leads by example. "I think some of the conditions over there haven't been conducive to halfbacks in general, so he might be copping a bit of stick but I think he'll come back very strong next year."

Larkham switched from flyhalf to fullback for the English Test, when he broke his hand in two places.

Although Larkham said he enjoyed playing fullback, he predicted it was only a temporary move to cover for injuries in that position.

"I think in the big scheme of things [Australian coach] Eddie [Jones] is trying to fit me in somewhere around five-eighth, but just on that tour we had a bit of a deficiency at fullback," Larkham said.

"There still might be [a chance I could play at fullback at the World Cup] but there's still a lot of players to come back Chris Latham, Ben Tune, Joe Roff, Mat Rogers; so there's plenty of depth at fullback."

Larkham will see a hand specialist in Sydney on Monday and is likely to have surgery on Tuesday to insert a plate and a pin. He expects to be back in the gym in two weeks and back to full-contact training in six weeks.

"It is a little bit of a blessing. I think most of the boys over there feel as though they need a break. It's been a very long year. They're feeling a bit flat at the moment and I suppose as far as injuries go this is not a bad one to have."

Larkham tipped England and France to be contenders at next year's World Cup, but said the Northern Hemisphere teams had been advantaged by weather conditions on the current tour.

"Conditions also suit those sides up there, they're used to the wet conditions and play quite well in them. I think here it will be a little bit tougher for them next year."

"I suppose we've got a lot of work to do. There's a lot of players still coming back from injury who we have to fit into the side somewhere."

Following losses to Ireland and England on the tour, Larkham said the Wallabies were fired up for their tour finale against Italy.

Meanwhile, Stirling Mortlock yesterday let Jones know that he wants to play at outside centre.

Mortlock was named at fullback for Australia for the Test against Italy after starting the tour against Argentina on the wing, shifting to his preferred outside centre against Ireland and then back to the wing for the England Test last weekend.

Sitting next to Jones at a press conference on Thursday, the unsettled 25-year-old tried to be diplomatic but still let his feelings be known.

"I think 13 would be preferable," he said when asked where he wanted to play.

"Ideally I'd like to be playing probably one position, but in saying that I haven't played fullback for a couple of years but I do really enjoy playing fullback, you have pretty much a free rein to do whatever you see in attack.

"I don't have any problems chopping and changing, I'm just very happy to be in the starting team."

Mortlock is Australia's fifth fullback in as many Tests following Chris Latham, Mat Rogers, Matt Burke and Stephen Larkham.

Rather than put Burke back to the position where he played 51 Tests and was once rated the best in the world, Jones virtually signalled the end of the vice-captain's career at No 15 by putting the reluctant Mortlock there after injuries to Latham, Rogers and Larkham.

Oddly, Burke is at outside centre where he has had little impact on tour.with AAP

CANBERRA Capitals coach Tom Maher doesn't want to walk away from today's game against the table-topping Sydney Flames feeling like his team has made no progress.

The Capitals lost to the Flames by six points in the first round, but they were without star player Lauren Jackson.

Now that Jackson is back in the line-up, there's a feeling the Caps should win, however, that's never been an easy task in the back blocks of Penrith.

Canberra has won just three games in 15 raids across the border, while the Flames hold a decisive 23-13 edge in the overall head-to-head record.

The Flames are sitting on top of the ladder on the strength of a four-game winning streak.

It would be a huge coup for the Caps to knock them off in such rampant form.

"I will be ecstatic if we win that game. It will be a real challenge. I accept that we may not get it but I still favour our chances to do it," Maher said.

"I don't think that a bookmaker would have it wrong to have either team at even-money. I know they have hit peak form, but we have Lauren Jackson . . ."

Jackson has been averaging a league-high 28 points per game since her comeback match against Bulleen, as well as 11 rebounds which puts her third in the league.

But her presence is counter balanced by the absence of lively guard Kellie Abrams, who will be sidelined for three weeks with a calf injury.

Sarah Berry will come into the starting line-up.

"Except for Kellie Abrams being out, we are miles better off than what we were when we first played Sydney a couple of months ago," Maher said.

Maher rates today's game against Sydney as his team's biggest test of the season. If the result goes against the Caps, Sydney wins the series between the two teams and will make it harder for Canberra to climb into the top two.

THE Brisbane Bullets were put in front of another firing squad as the Canberra Cannons aimed up for a 123-107 win at The Palace last night.

There was no joy for the winless Bullets, who sacked coach Richard Orlick and import Bobby Brannen early last week after their 0-9 start to the season.

The Cannons cruised to their fifth consecutive home win, at the same time condemning the Bullets (0-10) to the worst losing streak in the foundation club's history.

But Cannons coach Cal Bruton was disappointed with his team's second half. The Cannons led 70-52 at half-time and by as many as 22 points, but let the Bullets get to within eight points with nine minutes to play.

Brisbane's comeback was as much to do with Canberra's lack of effort as the Bullets' added hustle. Once the Cannons put the foot back on the gas, it was all over.

"It wasn't one of those games that you can be happy about because we gave up 107 points, which was 15 over our average," Bruton said. "Our focus is to be the best defensive team. We probably got into a bit of a comfort zone."

Cannons import Mike Chappell (34) and vice-captain Brad Williams (28 points, four blocks) each had career-high points, while Dave Thomas (21 points, 16 rebounds) and CJ Bruton (21 points, 10 assists) were inspirational.

Former Cannons import Randy Rutherford led Brisbane's scorers with 26 points, including eight triples, while import Kevin Freeman worked hard for 22 points and 10 rebounds in his NBL debut.

The Cannons did as they liked in the first half, leading 38-30 at the first change. Some accurate outside shooting from Rutherford late in the second term could only reduce Brisbane's deficit to 18 at half-time.

Sixteen-year-old Danira Safina younger sister of top men's player Marat Safin is one of the latest confirmed entrants in January's Canberra Women's Classic.

Tennis ACT has finalised the entry list for the Classic, with the exception of eight qualifier and wild-card places.

Safina still looks up to her big brother, the former world No 1, but she is emerging in her own right as one of Russia's top contenders.

And unlike compatriot Anna Kournikova, Safina already has a WTA title to her name.

In July Safina became the youngest player to win a WTA event when she won the Polish Open aged 16 years and three months.

She was also the first qualifier in nearly three years to win a singles crown.

To achieve a second win in Canberra she'll need to get past nine of the world's top 50 players including Meghann Shaughnessy, Nathalie Dechy and this year's Classic winner Anna Smashnova.

Smashnova, ranked 16th in the world, is one of several players returning to the Lyneham Tennis Centre in January for the Tier V event which will offer $200,000 prize money.

Former world No 11 Shaughnessy was also confirmed in the draw last week and is considered a strong chance of winning.

In January the strong-serving American lost the final of the Adidas International in Sydney to former world No 1 Martina Hingis.

The other top 50 players confirmed for the Classic are Clarisa Fernandez of Argentina, Daja Bedanova of the Czech Republic, Francesca Schiavone of Italy, Marie-Gaianeh Mikaelian of Switzerland, Laura Granville of the United States and Magui Serna of Spain.

CANBERRA'S Alun Jones won the Uncle Toby's International in Berri, South Australia, on Sunday.

Jones defeated Adelaide's Paul Baccanello in the final 6-2, 6-2.

The win continued a successful year for Jones, 22, who earlier made the semi-finals of a Futures event in Arkansas, United States, and the quarter-finals of a tournament in Hull, England.

Baccanello bounced back from his loss to Jones to partner NSW's Nathan Healey to victory in the doubles final.

The Uncle Tobys tour continues today in Barmera in South Australia.

CADE Brown wants nothing less than to celebrate his first season back at Weston Creek with a premiership.

But it was the man who led Creek to victory in last season's grand final who played the decisive hand against North Canberra at Stirling Oval yesterday.

Brown called Sean Maxwell into the attack as something of a last throw of the dice, just as a third-wicket partnership between Chris Tournier and David Wilson was threatening to set the course for a substantial first-innings score.

Maxwell, no more than an occasional slow left-armer, took the key wicket of Tournier, when he held a return catch, two runs short of the hundred partnership.

Maxwell took another return catch to dismiss Scott Smith for 20, then bowled Brendan Borgelt.

Norths lost their last seven wickets for 54 and were bowled out for 204 shortly after tea.

At stumps, Creek were 1-68 in reply, with Brown and Adam Rynehart 26 not out and 33 not out respectively, and both looking comfortable.

It was Maxwell's return of 3 for 24 from 13 overs, however, that shaped the game, Brown said.

"We got two early but then didn't look like getting one for most of a session," the Creek skipper said.

"But Sean Maxwell came on and turned the game for us. He's great off his own bowling.

"Our fielding put pressure on them and we all bowled quite well today.

"It's a good deck and at one stage they looked like getting 300."

Brown is back with Weston Creek - and the Comets - after a season playing for Footscray in the Melbourne grade competition.

He has made an immediate impact in his new capacity as coach and captain.

"I'm happy with my start," he said. "I've really enjoyed being back.

"I enjoyed it down in Footscray but it's a slightly more relaxed club atmosphere here."

Creek share the lead of the ACTCA table with Norths, both teams having won their first three games, a feat which makes this morning's first session all the more critical.

The Canberra Cannons will get a shot at top spot on the National Basketball League ladder when they play the Perth Wildcats at The Palace on Friday.

The Cannons moved to third with a convincing 123-107 win over Brisbane on Saturday, keeping their undefeated home record intact and wrapping up their three game series 2-0 against the winless Bullets.

The Cannons (7-2) are behind the Sydney Kings (7-2) on percentages, while Perth (8-2) heads the table because they have had one more game.

The Wildcats and the Kings will meet in a top-of-the-table clash in Sydney on Wednesday night and, no matter the result, the Cannons will get a chance to jump to the top of the queue on the weekend.

The Cannons could take the competition lead with a win against the Wildcats on Friday, and get a second chance when they tackle the Tigers in Melbourne on Saturday.

Cannons coach Cal Bruton was relieved after Saturday's victory over the winless Bullets, confessing that he was "happy that one's out of the way".

The Cannons were always in control, leading by a comfortable 16 to 20 point buffer for most of the game. Some sharp-shooting from Randy Rutherford and Simon Kerle allowed the Bullets to draw within eight points with nine minutes remaining, before the Cannons put the foot back on the gas. The Cannons had big contributions from their starting five, including career-high scores from Mike Chappell (34 points) and Brad Williams (28). Williams, who also had seven rebounds and four blocks, is playing some of the best basketball of his eight-season NBL career. He also grabbed a career-best 16 rebounds against Adelaide earlier this season.

"I thought Brad was red-hot in the first half. That was probably the best half he's played since he's been a Cannon. He had 17 points, he was doing the job defensively and he was on the backboards," Bruton said.

Chappell shot 5-of-7 from three-point territory, including three big triples down the stretch. Dave Thomas had 21 points and 16 rebounds, CJ Bruton - playing with a knee injury - had 21 points and 10 assists, while Brendan Mann had six points and six assists.

The Cannons will bolster their depth when import forward Reggie Poole returns from a knee injury for next weekend's matches.

They've won five straight at home this season and are on an eight game winning streak at The Palace - the third longest home streak in the club's history.

The Canberra Cannons will aim up against the Brisbane Bullets at The Palace tonight, with coach Cal Bruton stating his team wanted to win eight of their first 10 games.

To achieve that, the Cannons (6-2) will have to to keep their undefeated home record intact against the Bullets tonight and the Perth Wildcats next Friday.

It is one of the first outward signs of confidence this season from Bruton, who has so far erred on the side of caution when it comes to predicting too far ahead.

Bruton denied that the Cannons were underestimating the Bullets who are yet to win a game from their first nine matches. Should the Bullets lose tonight it would be the longest losing streak in the foundation club's history.

"We're not underestimating them, nor should they take our wins so far for granted," Bruton said. "We've had to work hard to establish our record so far. We're trying to stay consistent and beating teams below us on the ladder is important."

The Bullets have had a disruptive preparation, with coach Richard Orlick and import Bobby Brannen both sacked. Their replacements, new coach Joey Wright and import Kevin Freeman, will make their debut.

Bruton said the Cannons had scouted Freeman, a 201cm power forward, but only by looking at his statistics on computer.

"We recognise that they'll be stronger than the last time we played them, but they may be a little under-prepared in terms of [Freeman] knowing their stuff," Bruton said.

"We've done all the homework on paper, and our focus will be on [Randy] Rutherford, [Simon] Kerle, [Damien] Ryan and [Wade] Helliwell."

The Cannons' Reggie Poole will miss the game through injury.

The Canberra Raiders have sacrificed a home game against the New Zealand Warriors next season to avoid a clash with the ACT Brumbies over the use of Canberra Stadium.

The club said yesterday it would move its round-11 match on the weekend of May 23-25 to Wellington because there was a chance the Brumbies would host the Super 12 rugby final in Canberra that same weekend.

The Brumbies have hosted two of the past three finals at Canberra Stadium and if they were to play at home again in 2003 the Raiders would be forced to find another venue.

The only other ground in Canberra which meets NRL standards, Manuka Oval, was an unpopular venue the last time the Raiders played there and has already been booked for the Kangaroos-Sydney Swans AFL match the same weekend.

Raiders chief executive Simon Hawkins said the club, which has had a poor record away from home in recent seasons, had no real option but to move the game.

"The arrangements between the NRL and the television rights holders allows the broadcasters to dictate what games are played when and we had no say in that at all," he said.

"So we could be placed in the same situation as we were in 2001 and we really had no alternative but to avoid that."

In 2001 the Raiders were forced to play at Manuka Oval on the same Saturday night as the Super 12 final because they were unable to negotiate an alternative night with TV rights holders.

The club was desperate to avoid a repeat of that "fiasco" and the likelihood of a strong crowd and attractive gate takings made playing in New Zealand an appealing alternative.

"It's never going to be one of our biggest home games because there's a limited number of people who travel from New Zealand so it's not a bad option to move it," Hawkins said.

Inevitably fans will be disappointed at the reduction of the number of home games to 11 and the loss of the opportunity to see the grand finalists playing in Canberra.

To appease season ticket holders Hawkins said the club would offer them a free ticket to any game in Australia.

The club would also negotiate package deals with Qantas for fans who wanted to travel across the Tasman for the match.

"There will be some people who are disappointed but I think in the interest of the club and the game we've made the right decision," Hawkins said.

Coach Matt Elliott said he was happy the decision to move the game had been made well before the 2003 season.

"We could have been two weeks out from a very important game and not have any idea where we were going to play," Elliott said.

"While we obviously would prefer to play at home in front of our crowd, at least this way we have time to plan."

The Raiders lost their most recent game in New Zealand a semi-final but have an enviable record there including a win during the 2001 season.

The most encouraging bit of sporting news all week came from the Chiltern Football Club in country Victoria. The members have decided not to give in to the crippling litigation disease sweeping Australia and will fight to save the century-old club.

A fortnight ago, Chiltern - town population 1200 - had decided to close its footy club in the face of almost certain bankruptcy over a lawsuit after an on-field dust up. Lawyers told the club court action by former Moyhu player Shane Wohlers would cost it $80,000, after insurance company Jardines refused to accept liability for payments arising from the assault.

Now, a week before the due wind up date, Melbourne legal representatives have offered their services for free.

Former Chiltern Swans assistant coach Paul Hodgkin had pleaded guilty of assault and was fined $7000 in a 2001 court case after Wohlers had had his jaw broken in an Ovens and King Football League match in May, 2000. Wohlers then pursued damages against Chiltern.

At the time of the decision to close the club, secretary Daryl Harwood said, ''As in most rural communities, the football club is the centrepiece of the town. The young boys play footy, the girls play netball - my understanding is that the netball club will probably fold [as well].''

Harwood rightly pointed out the situation should be a worry for all Australian sport.

The end of any sporting club, anywhere and any time, is a shame, for both its players and its supporters. What made the Chiltern case seem all the worse was that the club has existed since the turn of the century.

Sporting tradition such as this cannot be bought at any price. Chiltern, 1km off the Hume Freeway halfway between Wodonga and Wangaratta, was once a gold-mining boom town with 14 suburbs. Many of its surviving buildings are National Trust-classified.

The Famous Grapevine hotel has Australia's largest grapevine (planted 1867) and Lake View on Victoria Street was once the home of author Henry Handel Richardson (The Getting of Wisdom). This is a place where Australian history abounds.

So it was pleasing to hear more than 70 members of the Swans voted this week to battle on. They have played in the Ovens and King league for 49 years. Next year they move to Tallangatta and District league.

Club president Paul Shelley said an offer of reconciliation to Wohlers had been refused, and he rebutted suggestions the club had not apologised to Wohlers.

The litigation disease and its effect on public liability insurance is causing problems for sport and recreation throughout Australia. Things are bad enough in the bush right now without a tiny town like Chiltern losing its football club.

In the cities, we weep when we lose clubs like South Melbourne and Fitzroy (to other cities), Manly-Warringah and North Sydney, Balmain and Western Suburbs and St George (to other teams). But these, after all, are mere parish pump clubs. The Swans represent the life and blood of towns like Chiltern.

Rugby leagueThe Canberra Raiders have described next season's National Rugby League draw as their "best in years", highlighted by key home games against competition heavyweights.

The Raiders kick off their season against the North Queensland Cowboys on the weekend of March 14-16 and play six of their first eight games on the road.

However, the Raiders have been granted home games for their one-off matches against powerhouse teams the Brisbane Broncos (June 13-15) and the Newcastle Knights (August 22-24).

The Raiders will cap the regular season off with a home game against defending premiers the Sydney City Roosters on the weekend of September 5-7.

The NRL has again worked with the Raiders to avoid scheduling clashes with the ACT Brumbies. The Raiders will play away games when all Super 12 matches are played at Canberra Stadium.

The only possible clash would be if the Brumbies were successful in playing a home grand final on the weekend of May 23-25, when the Raiders are due to play grand finalists the New Zealand Warriors at home.

Although six of their first eight games are on the road, the Raiders will play the Cowboys, Wests Tigers, Penrith Panthers, Parramatta Eels, South Sydney Rabbitohs and Melbourne Storm.

"If we live up to expectations, we should be travelling pretty well after that start to the year," Raiders' media officer Peter Chapman said.

In more general draw news, the record book may show that the Bulldogs finished last in this year's National Rugby League competition but they are straight back to the top of the tree before a ball's been kicked in the 2003 version.

The Bulldogs - relegated from certain minor premiers to the foot of the ladder after massive salary cap breaches in 2002 - are rated the top team for next year.

The Dogs' status was a key issue in determining the make up of the draw which rates teams according to last year's performances and subsequently which sides play each other twice in the three-pool, 26-round draw.

The Dogs topped pool A, the NZ Warriors pool B and Newcastle

pool C.

Pool A was completed by the Sharks, Parramatta, North Queensland and Penrith and pool B by the Sydney Roosters, St George-Illawarra, Melbourne and the Wests Tigers.

Pool C is completed by Brisbane, Canberra, Manly and Souths.

Other main points from the draw include:

Local derbies which featured in concentrated blocks in 2002 will be spread out during the 2003 season.

The grand final being played on October 5 with the NRL indicating that it would again be a night fixture.

A Test match against New Zealand being played on July 25.

Paul Smith will delay birthday celebrations as he attempts to turn back the clock in Sunday's Triple-Triathlon in Canberra.

Smith, who turns 34 tomorrow, is aiming to win his fourth Triple-Triathlon and break his own race record in the process. Smith has won the 150km event at every attempt, and set the current race record of 10hr 33min 52sec in 1998. He missed the 2000 race and the event was cancelled last year.

"I was a bit distressed the year I missed it, I was paranoid someone might break my record," Smith said.

"I always thought you could get under 10 hours, but I've done it three times now and my times have all been within 15 minutes of each other."

Smith believes the 10-hour barrier can be broken and he's hoping this year's quality field may push him to do it.

The men's individual field includes Australian Xterra (off-road triathlon) champion Jason Chalker and three-time Winter Olympian Anthony Evans, who now holds the record for the two-day race from Mt Buller to Melbourne.

"To win for the fourth time would be good, especially because this would be the most competitive field I've raced against," Smith said.

Smith competes in ironman triathlons and has raced in the sport's premier event, the Hawaii Ironman - generally regarded as one of the most gruelling sporting contests in the world.

Smith also holds the ACT's ironman record of 8hr 54min and has had a top-10 finish at the Australian Ironman in Forster.

An ironman consists of a 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42km run. The Triple-Triathlon comprises nine legs, combining 6.2km of swimming, 100km of mountain biking and 45km of cross-country running.

Smith said the Triple-Triathlon, which also incorporates Canberra's three main lakes and 10 major peaks, was tougher in many ways than an ironman race.

"This is an hour and a half longer [than an ironman] and the terrain is a lot tougher," Smith said. "This is probably the toughest one-day endurance race in Australia.

"A lot of people do ironman but I think they need to get a mountain bike and try the Triple-Tri. It's not all the hype and the pressure; it's about racing yourself."

After his first Triple-Triathlon in 1997, Smith spent the next week lying on a couch recovering. He had to go to hospital after the 1998 event when his body gave in to conjunctivitis.

This time he wants to go out to dinner for a dual celebration - his birthday and another win.

The drought could cost the Commonwealth up to half a billion dollars in financial assistance, as new figures issued yesterday showed that farm output was expected to slump by 17 per cent in 2002-03.

Treasury's mid-year review of the Budget and the economy also revealed that Australia's drought was already so severe it would cut national economic growth from 3.75 to 3 per cent in 2002-03.

The original Treasury forecast in May for farm output was for growth of 3.75 per cent. In terms of Gross Domestic Product, that lost farm output is worth about $5 billion.

In response, the Government expects to spend about $370 million on its exceptional-circumstances scheme over the next two years, and to forgo $470 million in tax revenue from the Farm Management Deposit Scheme this year.

That deposit scheme allows farmers to put away their pre-tax income during good seasons in order to draw on it in crisis, at government expense.

Yesterday, new measures worth $4 million were also announced to help farmers deal with the crisis. The exceptional-circumstances scheme allows for farmers to receive family income and business support in severe crises which occur once in 25 years and are beyond the risk-management capacities of farmers.

The Opposition also issued drought policies yesterday, calling for a faster, 28-day, turnaround for assistance applications, easier access to farm-management deposits, help to protect core breeding stocks and address the grain-feed shortage and cut red tape.

But the impact of the drought on the growth rate would not necessarily last, Treasurer Peter Costello said, and the growth rate could rise to 4 per cent in 2003-04 if the drought broke next year and the international economy, especially in the United States, improved.

In the meantime, Australia's slower growth and the need to spend more money on farm assistance would mean a tighter than usual Budget for 2003-04. But Treasury still forecast a cash surplus of $2.1 billion for 2002-03, and revenue was stable.

Some commentators had expected the cash surplus to be revised downwards, to as low as $1.1 billion, as a result of higher government spending and lower growth.

Since the May Budget, the Government has spent heavily on security after the Bali blasts, drought aid, the free meningococcal C vaccine and the medical indemnity insurance package. The mid-year review estimated spending had increased by $475 million since the May Budget.

But Mr Costello added that higher revenue from the GST meant $170 million less would go to the states and a lower forecast jobless rate would save $159 million in unemployment benefits. The mid-year review also forecasts that the housing sector is expected to grow by 9 per cent rather than decline by 3 per cent.

"Cash receipts have fallen, but fallen only slightly. So you have had a slight fall in tax cash receipts, a slight fall in expenses and a Budget outcome more or less the same," Mr Costello said.

"Even on the assumption that the drought breaks, we still have what I would call a moderate surplus forecast and certainly not a moderate surplus what would withstand any large new spending," Mr Costello said.

He said Defence spending would be the priority in next year's Budget and other government services, such as health and education, would just have to wait in the queue.

"My expectation is that as we go down to the Expenditure Review Committee there will be some demands coming out of Defence and they will have priority over everything else, and once they are taken into account I don't believe there will be much room," he said.

Opposition Leader Simon Crean said the cash surplus remained intact because the Government was the highest taxing in Australia's history and was benefiting from bracket creep.

Labor treasury spokesman Bob McMullan said the growth forecast was optimistic, but bracket creep was working wonders for Treasury's bottom-line. "The Treasurer is ripping taxpayers off to the tune of $6 billion in terms of bracket creep, and that is why . . . he is able to deliver these surpluses," he said.

Prime Minister John Howard also hinted at budgetary pressure when he was asked about higher Defence spending.

"You're talking here about the Defence Department and we have enormous demand from the Defence budget at the present time and I just can't on the run make a commitment," Mr Howard said.

The Australian Democrats called on the Government to ease budgetary pressure by implementing new revenue measures such as reducing tax expenditures, eliminating rorts and reducing unnecessary spending.

"Our proposals would mean nearly $5 billion in further revenue," Democrats Treasury spokesman Andrew Murray said,

But Mr Costello ruled out any new taxes and said the Government was budgeting for a surplus.

The bright spot for the economy was the non-farm sector, which was growing strongly at 3.75 per cent.

Overall, Mr Costello said the economy's performance was one of the best in the world, as was the state of the Commonwealth Budget in comparison with the United States and other Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development nations.

The lower growth forecast has not damped Treasury's employment forecast. Jobs growth is still expected to be strong and the jobless rate down to 6 per cent by the middle of 2003.

Yet Mr Costello was forced to defend the accuracy of Treasury's fiscal numbers from the charge that the forecasts made certain unrealistic assumptions.

The forecasts assumed the sale of Telstra, the end of the drought, the passage of certain blocked revenue-enhancing measures in the Senate, as well as an improved international economic situation.

The Government would keep the multi-billion-dollar proceeds of the proposed Telstra sale in the Budget despite its almost certain defeat in the Senate, Treasurer Peter Costello said yesterday.

Legislation for the Telstra sale is expected to be put to Parliament early next year.

"If somebody could tell me when that legislation is going to pass the Senate, I could give you a more precise date as to when we'd offer additional equity [in Telstra] but my assessment is it's not going to happen early next year," he said last night.

"It is realistic to say it's not going to happen before 2004-05."

Earlier, as he confirmed the sale would be delayed for a year until 2004-05, he blamed the postponement on the current low share price and the hostile Senate. The value of the Government's 50.1 per cent stake in Telstra has been revised down by $1.3 billion in the mid-year economic review.

"The price estimate has been revised down somewhat," Mr Costello said.

The Government plans to use the proceeds of the sale of Telstra to reduce debt.

Mr Costello said he would continue to factor the sale of Telstra into the Budget because the sale remained Coalition policy.

"If I were to take that out of the Budget then I would be open to another criticism, ie that the Government no longer believes it is important for full equity in Telstra to be offered to the public," he said.

"That is our position subject to rural and regional services and obviously subject to the Senate."

The proposed restriction on subsidised medicine has also been kept in the Budget although the legislation has already been defeated once in the Senate.

Mr Costello refused to predict what the share price of Telstra was likely to be in five years' time.

"Don't take me as a share-market forecaster," he said.

After dipping to record lows in the days before Mr Costello's announcement, Telstra shares gained 6c yesterday to end at $4.44.

Opposition Leader Simon Crean said the sale of Telstra should be taken off the Government's agenda forever.

"If you look at the Budget's own figures, it would have cost $650 million over the next three years just to pay merchant bankers to flog the thing off, then of course you lose the dividend forever," he said.

Canberra developer Reg Cervo said he was "in shock" and "needed time to think" after his purchase of the 1628 sq m Woolworths building site in Manuka yesterday.

The businessman, one of the area's best known, threw his hands in the air in relief after making the winning bid of $6.7 million for the property, shaking off determined opposition from the agents of two other potential buyers.

It was, auctioneer Jim Shonk said, one of the most vigorously contested bidding sessions in his experience. "Reg certainly livens up an auction," he said.

Mr Cervo had made no mention to him of his plans. "He is a law unto himself, a man who makes up his own mind and has been very successful doing so," he said.

Speculation on the future of the site ran through the 150-strong crowd, a Who's Who of the Canberra property industry. Most thought it would be re-

developed for mixed use commercial and residential, but as the chief executive of the Canberra Property Owners Association, Peter Conway, pointed out, Mr Cervo has plenty of time to make up his mind.

While the building is vacant, Woolworths still has a lease that runs until December next year, and continues to pay rent.

"Reg has a number of planning hurdles to surmount, not least the traffic flow in the area, but he has a year to sort that out and go through all the processes," Mr Conway said.

"He can go up several floors, and it is a prime corner site in Manuka, so he is not going to lose money with a major re-

development."

He did not rule out a revival of the plan of the previous owner, millionaire businessman Dick Smith, to have a hotel on the site.

"What we do know is that in the present environment, anything built in the inner-north and south that is of good quality, will sell," he said.

The reserve price had been $5 million.

One person smiling after the auction will be the ACT Treasurer, who will collect a windfall in stamp duty from the unexpectedly high outcome.

A curtain-raiser auction, for 3-5 Leeton Street, Fyshwick, failed to find a buyer and was passed in at $4.4 million.

Mr Shonk said that was close to the reserve and negotiations would be opened with the anonymous highest bidder.

ACT gambling facilities will have to comply with tough new conditions or risk losing their licences under a code of practice launched by Gaming Minister Ted Quinlan yesterday.

The code was developed by the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission in consultation with community organisations and the gambling industry, which has welcomed it. The majority of the code takes force from Sunday, although some aspects, such as training and provision of information, will not come into effect until next year.

It will apply to all ACT gambling providers, including the casino, bookmakers, ACTTAB and lottery providers. The commission will work with the industry to ensure the code is adhered to, but organisations that breach it face a censure, fines of up to $5000, or a possible suspension or cancellation of their gambling licences.

The code requires, among other things, that staff complete an approved training course, each venue has a gambling contact officer, gambling information be available, and people with a gambling problem be excluded.

Mr Quinlan said the ACT was the first jurisdiction to implement a mandatory code across all forms of gambling.

"We don't want prohibition. We want people to be able to enjoy themselves on as many levels as is possible, but at the same time a civilised society needs safety nets for people who might face considerable ill effect from participation in gambling.

"This particular code addresses the full spectrum of gambling. It is a mandatory practice, so it sets in place what the operators of gaming establishments need to do in order to provide that safety net . . ."

Mr Quinlan said gambling could provide significant returns for establishments, but it also provided significant responsibilities.

Establishments that implemented the code would be safe from problem gamblers who wanted to sue them. Those that did not might not be safe.

Canberra Casino general manager Warren Richards said the casino had always maintained stringent standards, and would need only a little modification to comply with the code.

He said it would be difficult to tell if people had a gambling problem when it was not known how much money they had.

"It is going to be delicate, but we can do it," he said.

ClubsACT chief executive officer Bob Samarcq said Canberra's licensed clubs backed it.

"We do not take the introduction of the code, nor abiding by it, lightly. It carries with it significant responsibilities - some of which will cause us difficulty, particularly the obligation placed on the licensee to be pro-active in terms of identifying problem gamblers.

"This is a highly sensitive areas and is very much a first for any jurisdiction in Australia," he said.

Club licensees and their staff were not counsellors and were not necessarily able to identify problem gamblers.

"The principal responsibility must still lie with the club patron, as the decision to gamble is the prerogative of the individual concerned," he said.

Lleyton Hewitt's relentless chasing of tennis balls earned him the world No 1 crown and nearly $19 million this year but it wasn't enough to head off Greg Norman as Australia's richest sports person.

According to Business Review Weekly's annual list of the top 50 sports earners, Norman retained his top ranking with gross income - estimated from all sources - of $24,600,000 this year.

Norman has been far and away Australia's best earner in sport for many years.

But Hewitt closed the gap this year, with Norman's income halved in the past 12 months after he pulled in nearly $50 million in 2001.

Hewitt, who won 61 of the 76 tennis matches he played on the ATP Tour, earned $18.8 million - half of which came from prizemoney.

Norman, on the other hand, played only 14 tournaments on the US PGA Tour.

His world wide earnings on the golf course were a little over $1 million.

In other words, his prize money is more like pocket money.

Norman, 47, makes the bulk of his money from his various businesses - golf course design, grass growing, clothing, wine and the simple business of just being the Shark.

Soccer players make up the bulk of the top-50 list, headed by Leeds star Harry Kewell, who earned an estimated $18 million.

His Leeds team-mate Mark Viduka reputedly earned $7.5 million.

Goalkeeper Mark Bosnich, even though he has hardly played this year and reportedly has undergone treatment for clinical depression, earned $6.5 million.

Kostya Tszyu's efforts in becoming the undisputed super lightweight boxing champion made him a big mover as he joined Bosnich at fifth on the list, also with $6.5 million.

Baseballer Graeme Lloyd ($5.5 million), golfer Robert Allenby ($3.92 million), swimmer Ian Thorpe ($3.8 million) and soccer player Craig Moore ($3.75 million) round out the top-10.

Dropping out of the list from last year were retired NBA basketballer Luc Longley, retired tennis star Patrick Rafter and the regularly injured Mark Philippoussis.

Cathy Freeman, despite running in one major event this year - the Commonwealth Games relay - still earned $1.72 million through sponsorship.

BRW predicts that Tzsyu will be a big mover on the list next year as he fights for more lucrative purses and he could even knock Norman off his perch.

Anyone questioning Anthony Mundine's decision to switch from rugby league to boxing should find the answer in the fact that Mundine earned $3 million this year to be 14th on the list.

No rugby league or rugby union player made the top-50 list.

Gina Drummond gets very stressed when her six-year-old daughter Cecilia is sick.

Like most mothers, she is worried for her child but at the same time she is weighing up the ramifications of having to take time off work.

Mrs Drummond, of Wamboin, fits many of the categories revealed by research to be issued today.

The study shows that four out of five working mothers take time off work to care for a sick child, and of that more than half take unpaid leave and almost a third use their own sick leave.

A third take between three and five days off a year and 10 per cent take between six and 10 days off a year.

The study shows that if working mothers take an average of four days off work a year to care for a sick child, with a standard eight-hour working day as a measure, it equates to almost 37 million work hours annually.

It also reveals almost two-thirds of working mothers who are married are still the main person responsible for looking after a sick child on a work day.

Mrs Drummound said, "I am fortunate because in the Public Service we get carer's leave."

"But invariably, I end up getting sick too and it does eat into your leave. It's a double-edged sword."

Mrs Drummond, a former textile conservator and now in executive support at the Australian War Memorial, said it was ironic how healthy children were when work was quiet but became ill just when a major project was looming.

Her daughter mainly came down with colds or ear infections.

She usually did not have to take more than one or two days off at a time.

She was usually the primary carer because her husband also had a responsible position.

"It does come down to a matter of whose job is more important, and that's a pretty difficult thing to decide or even talk about," she said.

"I do get pretty stressed. If I stay home then I find myself thinking about work; I feel I am letting the team down.

"But if I manage some other arrangement then I feel guilty about not being home with my child about not properly

fulfilling my role as a mother."

Mrs Drummond also said there was no "fallback position" even if one had relatives or close friends because nearly "everybody works full time" in Canberra.

She said parenting itself was an undervalued, full-time job.

"Women have been working full time for about 30 years now and there's no significant improvement in the arrangement.

"We carry most of the domestic burden as well.

"We wanted equal opportunity but I don't think we've got the balance right."

MotherInc, the independent organisation that conducted the Internet poll of more than 400 working mothers, said with almost half of Australian women with children under five in the work force, it was critical for women to have understanding employers.

In response to the study, motherInc has launched a free booklet Balance - a guide for busy mothers managing work and family.

Watching his National Party colleagues pull a near-dead lamb from a muddy dam brought Prime Minister John Howard up close and personal with the drought.

On a whistle-stop tour of Cobar and Gunnedah in north-west NSW yesterday, Mr Howard declared the countryside to be "every bit as bleak and despairing as I expected it to be".

At the property of Joan and Neil Singleton, in Cobar, Mr Howard refrained from getting his R.M. Williams boots muddy while his deputy, National Party Leader John Anderson grasped the arm of National Party Member for Parkes John Cobb, who, in turn, grasped the scrawny neck of a bogged lamb.

Attempts to stand the listless creature on its feet proved fruitless.

Mr Howard listened as desperate farmers told of desperate measures to survive on land that has not seen water for months - and no good water since November last year.

"This is one of the worst droughts that Australia has had since Federation, and when you get to the dimension of disaster and distress that Australia is experiencing at the present time, in a way it matters not whether this is the worst or the second-worst or the third-worst, or whatever," Mr Howard told a community meeting at the arts centre in downtown Gunnedah.

But for farmer Robert Hoddle, whose 500ha property, Gunnible Mr Howard visited earlier, it is, without doubt the worst.

"I've been farming for 30 years and it's the worst drought I have seen and if you ask people older than me they will say it is the worst too," Mr Hoddle said.

Almost two years ago to the day, Mr Hoddle received a visit from Mr Howard who stood knee-deep in mud discussing emergency relief for the Gunnedah farmers who lost everything as a result of massive floods.

Mr Hoddle said Dorothea Mackellar's poem My Country summed up both Mackellar's own experience of Gunnedah and the paradox of farming in Australia with references to "droughts and flooding rains" and a "wilful, lavish land".

"At times like this it does seem to go from one extreme to another," Mr Hoddle said.

England captain Nasser Hussain is fed up with Australian players claiming they intimidate his team.

Australian fast bowler Andrew Bichel said yesterday it was "easy to see" the world champions had a mental hold over England after winning the opening Tests by 384 runs, and an innings and 51 runs.

But Hussain is standing by his injury-ravaged squad for the third Test starting in Perth tomorrow despite admitting only half his team warranted selection on form.

"I don't wish to be rude but if I'm going to do press conferences I don't wish to repeat myself," Hussain said.

"Australia don't have a psychological hold on us. What they do have is people who do their disciplines and play the game of cricket at the moment better than us.

"Simple as that.

"That is not a psychological thing, it's purely a technical and ability thing.

"The sooner we watch them, watch how they practice, watch how they play the game and their disciplines when they bowl and bat, the sooner we'll get better.

"And not just talk about this big, blase thing about mental attitude."

Hussain's defiance appears a direct contradiction of the body language of some of his men and the statistics, with England winning just six of the past 40 Ashes Tests.

The tourists will lose their eighth consecutive Ashes series if they don't win in Perth, leaving Australia on track for a 5-0 clean sweep.

Only Hussain, batsman Michael Vaughan and fringe paceman Alex Tudor boast better averages against Australia compared with their career averages.

"I would hate to be in their position - they're 2-0 down," Bichel said.

"It's going to be hard for them and we've got a psychological advantage, that's easy to see. Hopefully we can exploit that and take care of the series in this match."

England has further problems with pace spearhead Andrew Caddick requiring an epidural yesterday in a desperate bid to recover from a back injury, while batsman John Crawley is still doubtful because of a hip injury.

Caddick also had a steroid injection on Tuesday and England will be unable to settle on its bowling line-up for the bouncy WACA Ground wicket until his fitness is assessed.

Former England match-winner Ian Botham has advised the tourists to throw "the kitchen sink at the Aussies" in Perth but Hussain wants his players to stick with their game plans.

Those plans so far have failed to stop Matthew Hayden from scoring 346 runs and Ricky Ponting 280.

"Sticking it up the Aussies is not the way to go about winning a Test match," Hussain said.

"Every player, however good you are and, this is sacrilegious, but possibly even the Don, would have a weakness.

"That could be anything. It might be the biggest pitch-up, half-volley, slowest ball ever but every player has a weakness."

Australian bowlers Bichel and Glenn McGrath believe they have spotted a potential weakness with star England batsman Michael Vaughan, planning to bounce the opener out of the Test.

The Australians believe Vaughan looked uncomfortable against short-pitched bowling in Adelaide, where he scored 177 and 41 in the second Test, but Hussain dismissed the plans.

"The obvious answer is check the score book from Adelaide," he said.

"He's played brilliantly and I don't think anyone, even an Aussie player, can doubt the class of Michael Vaughan's batting. He was a pleasure to watch."

Hayden rejoined his team-mates yesterday after remaining in Adelaide to recover from two operations for hemorrhoids. He went directly from Perth airport to the nets at the WACA Ground to bat for the first time since scoring 46 during Australia's victory in Adelaide.AAP

One of two inmates accidentally released from Goulburn Jail is believed to be in contact with his family on the South Coast.

The other inmate released in the blunder - but recaptured on the same day - was allegedly involved in the armed robbery of a bank in Canberra.

The Department of Corrective Services has stood down the deputy governor of Goulburn Jail while it investigates the ''very embarrassing'' slip-up.

It comes as the department is also dealing with the separate crisis of an expected 24-hour strike by prison officers from 8am Monday.

The inmate still on the run is Harold Milton Brown, 21, who had been remanded in custody for grievous bodily harm and robbery offences. He is believed to be in the Nowra area.

Brown was ''released inadvertently'' from Goulburn Jail on bail on Monday to attend a rehabilitation centre. The other inmate - who the NSW Opposition says was involved in the Canberra bank robbery - was released the same day but recaptured.

The men were released despite outstanding warrants for their arrest on separate charges.

Corrective Services Assistant Commissioner Ian McLean said an internal investigation was under way into the botch-up and a result should be known on Monday.

''It's a human error and it shouldn't occur,'' he said.

''There are processes in place to ensure prisoners are not released accidentally. It's something we can't accept and we're very embarrassed by it.''

NSW Opposition corrective services spokesman Michael Richardson said an investigation by the department into its own mistake was not good enough.

''There should be a full inquiry by the inspector-general with the report released so the public can have confidence that potentially dangerous criminals won't be mistakenly released in the future,'' he said.

Meanwhile, Public Service Association general secretary Maurie O'Sullivan said yesterday he believed all 3500 prison officer members would vote to strike from Monday morning.

The officers would return to duty on Tuesday but not transport inmates or supervise them in court for another 24 hours.

The industrial action was sparked by the release on bail of two former inmates allegedly involved in a riot at the prison in April in which four prison officers were seriously injured. The PSA claims judges and magistrates are being too lenient on prisoners charged with assault and not protecting the welfare of prison officers.

Jane Swain, the wife of the most severely injured officer, Tim Swain, confirmed yesterday he would be seeking damages from the department when the charges against 11 inmates were resolved. Mrs Swain said both she and her husband were distressed by the men's release.

During the strike, the 7500 prisoners in 26 jails across NSW will be locked in their cells and supervised by 450 executive prison officers, and police.

The brief downpour which drenched Canberra's north yesterday brought puddles and strife, but little relief from the drought.

A thunderstorm swept into the territory from western NSW about 4pm, dumping 5mm of rain and catching Yass and Goulburn on its path to the coast.

Motorists struggled on slippery roads, causing several accidents, and the lightning and thunder triggered fire alarms and caused power surges. A motorcycle accident on Kings Avenue bridge brought rush-hour traffic to a standstill but caused no serious injuries, an ambulance service spokesman said.

The Bureau of Meteorology's airport rain gauge was one of the thunderstorm's first victims, when a nearby lightning strike sent it off-line.

The equipment recovered in time to register the storm's 5mm rainfall, a bureau spokesman said. Nearly 3mm fell in Goulburn, Yass had recorded 1mm by 3pm, and Sydney had 11mm. More storm activity was expected last night, as well as a possible dust storm.

Tuggeranong missed out, but Kingston and Manuka caught the tail end of the storm and the streets had puddles large enough for serious splashing.

At Sutton, a shower helped dampen down the powdery topsoil which a heavier fall could have washed away, stock and station agent Bob Collis said. But much more than yesterday's rain was needed to fill the area's dams.

"We had a sprinkle it was heavy but brief and there was a lot of water flowing down roads," he said. "It will have trickled into some of the rainwater tanks in houses and sheds, but not made much difference to the dams."

The Sutton farmers were having to cut their supply of water to stock, and the drought was by no means over.

"But it is amazing just how refreshing a little drop makes it. It will definitely make people more optimistic it proves it's going to rain some time.

If your child is dying, Dr Michael Rosier will see you straight away. But ordinary Canberrans with non-urgent problems are waiting up to five months to see the specialists of their choice.

The shortage of specialists in the capital is acute across all areas but paediatrics, dermatology and orthopaedic surgery are considered to be the worst.

The shortage is being caused by a number of factors including:

Hospitals being unable to afford adequate numbers of specialists.

Specialists having to service a large and disperse population in Canberra and the surrounding region.

General practitioners, according to some specialists, referring more patients than necessary as a result of being short of time and reluctant to make diagnoses.

Canberra lacking its own medical school, which reduces the opportunities for ongoing training and access to medical techniques.

The president of the Health Care Consumers Association of the ACT, Russell McGowan, said the dearth of specialists placed additional pressures on consumers who must decide whether to delay treatment or incur additional costs by seeking treatment in Sydney or Melbourne.

Paediatrics is the hardest hit. For a non-urgent appointment to see paediatrician Dr Rosier, the first available time is in April, although he will see those seriously ill straight away.

A child with Attention Deficit Disorder can put a huge strain on a family. "We are trying to look after both the requirements of the community and the needs of our inpatients," Dr Rosier said.

Evelyn Moore, wife of paediatrician Patrick Moore, said a 12- to 14-hour working day was common.

Every second or third night, Dr Moore was on call for an emergency. Mrs Moore has experienced nights where her husband has been called out twice to emergency Caesareans, and then have to show up for work at 8am.

As a receptionist for her husband, she said parents were devastated when they learnt they had to wait months for an appointment. "Some people just burst into tears," she said.

The executive director of women and children's health at Canberra Hospital, Rosemary O'Donnell, said patients were not at risk, despite the onerous working hours of the paediatricians.

"It could eventually become a problem but we know about it and we are attempting to deal with it," she said. "I would hate to think we are putting any of our patients at risk."

But Ms O'Donnell said that the hospital needed to be mindful of its bottom line at a time when hospital admissions for children were falling.

The cost of each new full-time staff specialist to the hospital is between $100,000 to $150,000 per annum per doctor, and the cost of a visiting medical officer about $170 an hour.

"It is a question of how do we pay for this," Ms O'Donnell said.

Paediatrician Paul Jenkins said the number of visiting medical officers needed to be increased urgently to six or more. "It is not as difficult as it is in some of the big rural centres but it is more difficult than you would expect."

Other Canberra specialists are experiencing similar delays.

Dermatologist Mark Healsmith said there were not enough members in his specialty to go around.

"My [waiting list] is about four or five months," he said. "It is unsatisfactory and it is not the service you want to be able to give to people."

Gerard Ingram, also a dermatologist, echoed the thoughts of many of his colleagues when he said that general practitioners were unable to prioritise. "Much of it relates to whether the primary carer can identify the real need," he says.

Gynaecologist Nicci Sides is currently booking patients in February and March. Her colleague Elizabeth Gallagher is seeing non-urgent cases in March and April but any woman who wants her baby delivered must book in eight months in advance of expected delivery.

Orthopaedic surgeon Geoffrey Stubbs has a two-month waiting list. He said after a patient had an initial consultation, there was an excessive waiting period for access to hospital. Orthopaedic surgeons could increase working hours by 30 per cent and still not manage to get through all their patients.

SYDNEY: The consummate professional, Brian Henderson ended his 40-year stint as Sydney's nightly Channel Nine newsreader last night without faltering.

There was just the slightest tremble in his voice as, at the end of the bulletin, he thanked Sydney audiences for their support over his 46 years on Australian screens.

Henderson told viewers it was time to watch the news, not present it.

He hoped for news the drought was over and for world stability to return.

"Since I announced my retirement six weeks ago, the flood of cards and letters has been overwhelming . . . it's a wonderful compliment and the reply will take quite some time but please be patient," he said.

"It's also a great compliment to have been constantly invited into your living rooms."

Henderson said the mateship of the newsroom, the adrenalin, the unavoidable stress and the satisfaction of his job had all been worthwhile, but it was time to watch from the sidelines.

"I feel I know you after all these years, I'll miss sitting here Monday to Friday, six to six-thirty, telling you the news of the day."

Then he said goodbye for the last time: "Not the way it was, as has been suggested, but for the last time, the way it is, this Friday the 29th of November, this is Brian Henderson, a sad Brian Henderson, saying not goodnight, this time, but goodbye."

Earlier, sports reader Ken Sutcliffe introduced a video montage which paid tribute to Hendo's career, which has seen royal weddings, funerals, political assassinations and the first man to walk on the moon.

The 71-year-old joined Nine in 1957, initially reading the weekend news bulletins.

In November 1958 he began a marathon 14-year stint as executive producer and presenter of Bandstand, the launching pad for many great music careers.

His permanent stint on the evening news desk began in 1964. The New Zealand-born Henderson was a radio announcer before turning his talents to television.

After announcing the decision, Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd chief Kerry Packer said it was not a happy day for Channel Nine, but as Hendo would say, "That's the way it is."

Not everything went according to the script when Brett Lee sidled back into the Test arena yesterday.

Lee bounced into the bowling attack at first change but English opener Marcus Trescothick took to him hitting two fours and crunching another cut shot straight to gully.

It was at that stage former England captain Mike Atherton chimed in in the television commentary box saying how the English wouldn't mind Lee's recall to the team.

"Last Ashes series our batsmen didn't mind seeing him come on - he may be quick but he gives you a lot of scoring balls," Atherton said.

The next ball Trescothick gloved one to wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist and the Lee road show was back in full swing.

In fact Lee only had to wait 10 deliveries before unleashing the trademark leap which has accompanied most of his 91 Test wickets.

This leap had more zest than others because Lee was celebrating more than just another English wicket when Trescothick fell. Lee was celebrating the first wicket of his second life as an Australian Test player after spending the last month on the outer.

He now had something in common with all of his teammates, except Gilchrist, because Lee knew what it was like to be dropped from the Australian team.

Shane Warne had experienced the same feeling, so had Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting. But those three all made good on their later Test lives and Lee now faces the same challenge.

He was still expensive in patches - one of the main problems before he was dropped.

But he had little fielding support in front of the wicket because captain Steve Waugh had his men waiting like scavengers in the slips cordon.

Lee claimed another wicket when England captain Nasser Hussain was caught behind and his second spell began with the dismissal of Craig White, caught at third slip.

It became an exciting display of fast bowling, with the Fremantle Doctor wind blowing Lee into nervous English batsmen. His quickest delivery was clocked at 152.4km/h.

Lee believes his best bowling is his fastest bowling and the 26-year-old is not convinced he should sacrifice his lightning pace for more control.

It was hard to argue after yesterday's 3 for 78 haul.

As the belief firmed that al-Qaeda mounted Thursday's twin terror strike in Kenya, it was revealed yesterday that Jemaah Islamiyah, suspected of carrying out the Bali bombings, was behind the threat which closed Australia's embassy in the Philippines.

It was also revealed that Australia had received prior intelligence of a possible terrorist attack in Kenya, although the information was not specific about dates or times.

Kenya's police chief said yesterday that 12 people were being held for questioning in connection with the attacks on Israeli tourists near Mombasa yesterday which have now killed 16 people.

Police were also looking for men of Arab appearance who fired missiles at a plane of Israeli tourists in the coastal resort of Mombasa yesterday, minutes before a jeep driven at speed exploded in the lobby of a nearby Israeli-owned hotel.

Palestinian International Cooperation Minister Nabil Shaath said the attacks, claimed by the "Army of Palestine", were not the work of any Palestinian organisation.

"We have every assurance that it was not a Palestinian organisation, it was not a Palestinian operation," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed a swift response.

"Our long arm will catch the attackers and those who dispatch them," he said last night after his Likud party re-elected him as its leader ahead of Israel's January 28 election.

Israeli and Kenyan officials have been quick to blame Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network for the attack on the Mombasa Paradise Hotel.

US President George W. Bush condemned the bombing and Secretary of State Colin Powell called on the international community to do everything possible to bring to justice those responsible for the "horrific terrorist" acts.

The White House said it was too soon to blame the group it accuses of masterminding the September 11 attacks on the US last year.

But Prime Minister John Howard suspected that group was behind the attacks.

"I don't have any independent intelligence advice on that yet. I expect to get some today,'' Mr Howard said.

''But there is a pattern which indicates that al-Qaeda is probably involved. That's the view of Kenyan ministers, it's the view of the Israelis. Certainly it's got the ingredients, sophisticated planning, the timing of two incidents, a focused attack, on this occasion, on Israelis.

"I mean any death is tragic but the point I make again is that in the process of killing Westerners and killing Israelis, the terrorists also take the lives of an enormously large number of citizens of other countries as well."

Yesterday, Israelis wounded in the hotel bombing arrived home on an air force plane.

The Boeing 747 also brought back the bodies of three Israelis - two brothers aged 13 and 15, and a 61-year-old man - killed in the attack.

Minutes before the suicide bombers struck at the Paradise Hotel, missiles nearly hit an Israeli airliner taking off nearby.

Hours later the Arkia Boeing 757-300 with 261 people on board landed safely in Tel Aviv escorted by Israeli military jets.

Police said the missiles were fired from a white Pajero jeep, possibly from shoulder-held launchers, by attackers

suspected of being of Arab origin.

German intelligence sources described the weapons as Soviet-produced SAM-7 ground-to-air missiles.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer had refused to reveal which group was behind the Manila embassy threat, which he described as credible and specific, but after meeting Australian Ambassador Ruth Pearce and her Canadian counterpart in Manila, Philippines Foreign Secretary Blas Ople confirmed it was Jemaah Islamiyah, which has been closely linked to terror mastermind Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

Australian and Canadian officials said the threats were specific and that their nationals were being warned to avoid the Philippines.

The Australian embassy remained closed yesterday. Staff ran consular services from a secret hotel room.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade had warned Australians on November 12 to defer all non-essential travel to Kenya, and Mr Downer made it clear yesterday why that was the case.

"This advice was based on intelligence information that warned of possible terrorist attacks against Western interests in Mombasa," he said.

"Australia had no specific information about the timing, location or method of the possible attacks."

Clive Williams, of the Australian National University Strategic and Defence Studies centre, said the term "al-Qaeda" was sometimes a bit of a cop-out by governments which did not want to appear to have been lax on security.

"If governments say al-Qaeda did it, it shows a degree of sophistication which nobody has been able to put a stop to. It lets them off the hook a bit.

"You could pretty much say that anything that's undertaken by Muslim extremists anywhere in the world is linked to al-Qaeda and not be wrong.

"I don't know of a Muslim extremist group that doesn't have some association with al-Qaeda.

"The degree of contact is going to vary quite a lot from one group to another."

Mr Williams said that the Kenya attack was the first on Israelis outside Israel since the 1994 attack in Buenos Aires, when 86 people were killed in an attack on a Jewish cultural centre.

This could mean an anti-Israeli group, like Hezobollah or Hamas, was behind the attacks.

The Howard Government has issued a general domestic terrorist warning which covers the next two months.

But the alert has generated extensive debate over whether it was scaremongering or an overreaction.

The alert has also raised the prospect of a terrorist attack during the holiday season and a general increase in community anxiety.

Mr Howard said he would remain on call during his summer holidays but played down the prospect of a Christmas terror offensive.

"But I'm not going to indulge myself in chance random predictions. I don't want to depress people any more than a lot of people are at the present time.

"There is certainly a different mood in the country now than was the case before the 12th of October and it's got even more pronounced in the last few weeks. I do think people will adjust to it."

Defence Minister Robert Hill seemed to rule out a US-style department of homeland security yesterday, as did Mr Howard. Expected to issue his strategic review soon, Senator Hill said he was not sure what the benefit would be of another layer of bureaucracy and it was not necessarily smart to adopt the US approach.

"It is important to pull together the agencies or the intelligence we have to be able to act properly upon it and we believe that we've streamlined the processes in order to enable us to do that effectively." AFP, AP, Reuters

Controversial bookmaker Robbie Waterhouse is set to return to the betting ring in May after serving a nine-month suspension.

Justice Peter Young, of the NSW Supreme Court, yesterday overturned a decision by the Racing Appeals Tribunal to issue a disqualification to Waterhouse in the wake of the "extravagant odds" affair.

Waterhouse later apologised to the racing industry and said he was looking forward to returning to the betting ring.

Under the terms of a disqualification, Waterhouse would have had to re-apply to racing authorities for a licence with no guarantee of success but now he will automatically be reinstated as a bookmaker when his suspension ends.

In handing down his judgment, Justice Young supported the finding that Waterhouse had recorded bets that were not legitimate but said the RAT ought to have alerted Waterhouse to the fact it was seriously considering increasing the penalty.

"The mere fact that all counsel knew or thought they knew that the Tribunal could increase the penalty . . . does not seem to me to get over the barrier.

"It follows that the decision of the tribunal must be declared void." The suspension was backdated to August 16, 2002.

The bookmaker's career was resurrected in August 2001 after he was on the outer for 17 years for the Fine Cotton scandal.

Earlier this year, Thoroughbred Racing Board stewards found Waterhouse guilty of 16 charges relating to bets at Canterbury on February 6.

Waterhouse entered the bets in his ledger on behalf of long-time associate and Canberra racing identity, Peter McCoy, at odds of 500-1 on horses which started between $1.80 and $3.80.

The TRB Appeal Panel upheld Waterhouse's appeal against two charges of giving misleading evidence which carried penalties of disqualification totalling two years.

That panel dismissed his appeal against 13 charges but reduced his sentence from a one-year disqualification to a nine-month suspension. Justice Barrie Thorley of the RAT subsequently altered Waterhouse's penalty from a nine-month suspension to a disqualification.

TRB chief executive Merv Hill said any further appeal would be carefully considered but added stewards had been vindicated by the findings of four judicial bodies.AAP

The family of Katie Bender, the 12-year-old killed during the Royal Canberra Hospital implosion in 1997, has called on the ACT Government to keep its promise to settle their compensation claim.

Speaking on the ABC television program Stateline last night, Katie's father, Mato Bender, said Jon Stanhope had promised to settle their claims.

"Well that is his promise," Mr Bender said. "If he promise he have to do it.

His wife Zora said, "Jon Stanhope is Chief Minister; he can do it if he wants to do it. But I think he'll do it, he's a good person."

"Somebody, they have to be responsible," Mr Bender said. "I couldn't point to anybody but somebody they have to be responsible."

The ACT Government has blamed the HIH Insurance collapse and other insurance-related complications for its failure to settle the case.

Shortly after being elected to government last year, Mr Stanhope said he hoped to settle the case quickly.

More than a year later, and more than five years after Katie was killed instantly while watching the botched Royal Canberra Hospital implosion, the Bender family's compensation claim appears little closer to settlement.

The Benders were among a crowd of up to 100,000 that gathered to watch the explosive demolition of the hospital.

"What happened with us is like if you dropped a bomb between people," Mr Bender said.

"They damaged us. Some more, some less.

"But only one they killed: Katie."

Mrs Bender said, "What we deserve, we need it, whether it is one day, one month, two month, however long we need to be finished with this.

"No matter what is paid, how much you give, it does not, it not pay what we lose.

"We lose everything already."

Responding to the Stateline program, Mr Stanhope said he was hopeful that a mediation before a former judge might be conducted next month.

The Government had been meeting the family's medical-

related expenses since shortly after the implosion.

Members of the Bender family sued the ACT and others involved the implosion in 2000 for nervous shock, medical and related expenses, and lost income.

THREE weeks, six good friends and a popular tourist spot. It was Leanne Creese's first ever trip overseas. And it came horribly close to being her last.

The Mooloolaba mum cheated death on Sunday night, just after 11.30pm when the Bali bomb blast tore through the now infamous nightspot, the Sari Club.
Ten or 15 more steps and we would have been in the club,'' Ms Creese, 31, said.
Still, the damage from a distance was harmful enough.
Ms Creese will today undergo x-rays on the Coast for suspected breaks to her feet.
The possible breaks come on top of deep cuts to her legs and fierce scratches on her arms.
The relatively mild injuries belie the trauma of her ordeal.
The impact (of the explosion) threw us through the air,'' she said.
I got hit by a car and when I looked up, there was just a cloud of dust and then a billboard came down on my head.''
Ms Creese, with her friends, took the first available flight home, arriving back at her Mooloolaba home late yesterday.
She can only describe what she saw as a war zone: It looked like September 11 all over again''.
The car bomb blast caused terrible carnage with the death toll likely to reach several hundred. More than 220 Australians remain unaccounted for.
Amid the chaos and carnage, Ms Creese recalls thick dust clouds, confusion and images of people with severe burns.
We were turned away from three hospitals but we ended up getting treated at an Army base.''

WRITTEN evidence from Maroochy Shire mayor Alison Grosse was tabled at the Royal Commission into the Building and Construction Industry in Melbourne yesterday suggesting she had the reading ability of an eight-year-old''.

Mrs Grosse was called to appear before the Royal Commission to answer questions about a number of concerns involving the Sunshine Coast Regional Apprentices Limited company (SCRGAL) that occurred during her time as chairman.
She admitted she could not recall when she became chairman, suspecting it was 1985 or 1986.
The statement also said I have been described as a consultant to SCRGAL through my company, Excellent Communications, and I am told I was also a direct employee of SCRGAL from 1996 until 2000.''
In her tendered statement, however, she acknowledged being a signatory to SCRGAL's memorandum and articles of association in 1984.
Despite that, Mrs Grosse admitted she had not read the documents and was unaware of their contents.
She said that was why she accepted payment of more than $190,000 and bought houses from the company and sold them for profit.
At any stage that I received money I was not aware that the articles of association prohibited me from obtaining any financial arrangement from the company,'' the statement said.
I know that whilst chairperson of the company, I should be more aware, but I have the reading age of an eight-year-old and I suffer from dyslexia. For this purpose, I rely on other people to interpret and provide advice to me

FEARS big developers could steamroll Maroochy Shire's efforts to retain valuable agricultural land have prompted a local politician to introduce legislation lending the council support.

Member for Nicklin Peter Wellington yesterday said he would introduce a specific purpose legislation when parliament sat next week, to ensure the three parcels of land Bundaberg Sugar had put up for sale in Maroochy Shire would retain their rural zoning for at least 10 years.
A staunch supporter of cane farmers, Mr Wellington said he feared a string of applications by interested developers could become too costly for council to fight and eventually override the Town Plan, resulting in rezoning the land for residential lots.
We haven't had many runs of many wins on the local front,'' he said.
The Product Member's Bill would show Maroochy Shire they were not alone in their efforts to fight for the rich rural land, he said.
It's about giving the Council that extra piece of support,'' he said.
Maroochy's acting mayor Trevor Thompson said Bundaberg Sugar's shock plans to sell the prime cane land had caused alarm for a huge number of people throughout the entire Sunshine Coast.
There's a lot of worried people out there and we need to get some surety,'' he said.
He spoke to the Premier's department yesterday afternoon to officially confirm the State Government would stand behind them.
They even made us raise our minimum levels of agricultural land, we're just going to hold them to their word now,'' Mr Thompson said.


MARCOOLA will be home to the Sunshine Coast's second legal brothel following the granting of a licence for premises in Cessna Street at the Airport Industrial Estate.

There was little sign of controversy over the decision yesterday unlike the church protest which followed the approval of the Coast's first legal brothel, Moulin Rouge House of Erotic Pleasures at Kunda Park.
A spokesperson for the Prostitution Licensing Authority said they could not reveal the identity of the licensee or the scale of the proposal until the business was ready to open and the licence was issued.
He said the Marcoola applicant planned to open for business in January.
Maroochy Shire councillor Errol Middlebrook said Marcoola residents had been aware of the proposal for some time.
I suppose people don't like to see these sort of things, but it is located out of the way,'' he said.
Mr Middlebrook said he had notified a number of local people and community groups after the matter was first raised in council some time ago.
I don't think they are too worried about it.''
Marcoola Progress Association president Debbie Johnson said that while she could not speak on behalf of all members, personally I don't have a problem with it''.
She said members were aware of the proposal and it had not been an issue at meetings, and when Mr Middlebrook had made locals aware of the proposal it didn't cause any ripples''.
Mudjimba Progress Association acting secretary Marlene Kear said they had accepted that there was nothing they could do about the brothel but it was definitely not'' something they wanted in the area.


MOTORISTS on Sunshine Coast roads are among the worst drink drivers in the country, with alcohol contributing to more than a third of the region's road deaths.

A national survey by insurer AAMI has revealed an alarming number of Coast drivers admit to having driven while they were probably over the legal blood alcohol limit.
Thirty-nine percent of Sunshine Coast drivers confessed to the risky practice, compared with 36% of Gold Coast drivers and 34% of Central Queensland motorists.
Brisbane had the poorest record with 44%, and North Queensland recorded 42%, according to the AAMI Crash Index 2002.
Most interstate capitals had lower precentages, with Melbourne at 30% and Sydney 31%.
Senior constable Steve Knight, with the Traffic Accident Investigation Squad, said alcohol had contributed to seven of the 19 road deaths in the Coast district since January.
Drink-driving is one of the biggest contributors to road accidents in the district,'' Snr Const Knight said. Speeding, driver fatigue and driving without seatbelts were also factors.
Snr Const Knight said the relaxed attitudes of some motorists probably influenced the trend.
We get large numbers (of accidents) around the September school holidays and I would imagine that being a holiday destination, people can be in holiday mode,'' he said.
Snr Const Knight said driver inexperience and defective vehicles, such as cars with bald tyres, also fuelled road tragedies.
The AAMI survey of 1100 motorists found road rage was also a problem on the Coast, with one in five drivers admitting to using rude gestures.

BUNDABERG Sugar has placed more than 650 hectares of Sunshine Coast cane land up for sale claiming subdivision potential totalling more than 4000 housing lots.
The land, in four key locations, throughout Maroochy Shire and Caloundra City has been advertised as residential subdivision sites, despite all being zoned as rural.
The parcels of land range in size from 313 hectares at Sippy Downs and 242 hectares at Peregian Beach to 86 hectares at Nambour and 16 hectares at Coolum and have been estimated to be worth up to $65 million.
The move has infuriated local cane growers and Maroochy Shire Council.
Maroochy acting mayor Trevor Thompson said it was a big concern'' and the Nambour site was of particular significance to any future operation of Moreton Mill.
That's where the settling ponds are for the sugar mill if that's sold it's the death nell for the mill because where do they dispose the effluent?''
Canegrowers Sunshine Coast chairman Kevin Bailey echoed the concern and said it would put growers in a very difficult position if a bid to purchase the mill for the production of ethanol was successful.
He said they would have to investigate other options for disposing of the effluent but he was also concerned about the potential loss of cane land, which was desperately needed if the industry was to have a future on the Sunshine Coast.
Coast property valuer Rem Rafter, managing director of Rafter and O'Hagan said the two big interests were the sites at Peregian and Sippy Downs.


SUNSHINE Coast residents swapped sunscreen for rubber boots, raincoats and umbrellas yesterday for a downpour which delivered much needed rain for the hinterland.

While the Coast has not yet resorted to water restrictions, farmers have been feeling the pinch with low water storage levels putting added pressure on crops reliant on irrigation.
Department of Primary Industries senior extension horticulturist Simon Newett said the showers were welcome but had been patchy, and not very widespread, varying from as little as six millimetres north of Buderim to as much as 40mm at Beerwah on Thursday. Until 9am yesterday, Nambour recorded nine millimetres, Palmwoods, 18 millimetres, Landsborough 19, Maroochydore seven, while Tewantin, Kenilworth and Beerburrum all recorded four millimetres.
Mr Newett said heavy rainfalls about two months ago had been enough for fruit trees to flower and this week's rainfall could not have come at a better time.
Noosa Council's water supply manager John Chandler said the main water source, Lake Macdonald, was still at 80% capacity.
However, Borumba Dam on the Mary River was down to a meagre 21%.
Maroochy and Caloundra have also refrained from implementing water restrictions with Baroon Pocket Dam still at 65% to 70% capacity.
Police reported a relatively incident-free day on the roads despite the wet conditions.
At 9am, there were two close calls on the Bruce Highway within minutes.

SANTA can expect one thing to top the wish lists of most Maroochydore motorists this Christmas: a smooth drive along Plaza Parade.

The next stage of the Plaza Parade upgrade starts on Tuesday oct 15, and brings with it traffic changes until March next year.
The $1.5million construction between Horton Parade and Mungar Street will be carried out between 7am and 5pm Monday to Friday.
It is expected to be finished by March, with a two-week break over Christmas.
Maroochy deputy mayor Trevor Thompson asked motorists to be patient during the changes.
Car parking and access to Plaza Parade, the Golf Club and other surrounding businesses will be maintained at all times,'' Cr Thompson said.
A Maroochy Shire Council spokesperson said Sunshine Plaza developers Lend Lease had contributed to the road overhaul as a whole.
A specific contribution for this stage could not be ascertained, she said.
During the roadworks, westbound traffic from Horton Parade will be detoured through a one-way system on Golf and Mungar Streets.
Eastbound traffic will go on the southern lanes of Plaza Parade, which will also become one-way.
There will be no right turn permitted from Mungar Street.
Pedestrian access will also be changed during construction, which is part of a five to 10 year strategy to upgrade Plaza Parade and Evans Street to four lanes between Horton Parade and Maroochydore Road.


JUVENILE offenders will come face-to-face with their victims to decide on punishment under a new program launched on the Coast yesterday.

Community conferencing will direct young offenders from the judicial system in a bid to boost their rehabilitation and provide closure for victims.
Maroochydore Judge John Robertson, the Coast's only Children's Court judge, said the program had huge potential.
This is a tremendous step forward,'' Judge Robertson said.
Kids would much rather face me or a magistrate than face up to their victim.''
Traditional approaches often left victims feeling marginalised, angry and ripped off'' because they were not part of the justice process, he said.
If this gives resolution (to victims), it's good for them.''
In the program, the police or court can recommend a case to community conference.
Young offenders then come face-to-face with their victims in special forums. Together, the group decides on an appropriate course of action.
Chief Superintendent Ron Pickering said the community conferencing made possible a win-win'' solution.
We are pretty excited by it,'' he said.
The North Coast region's program will become the second-largest in the state.
Department of Families deputy director-general Steve Armitage said it encouraged young people to take responsibility for their offences.
Agreements were reached in 99% of conferences in 2001-2002,'' Mr Armitage said.
The earlier we intervene we're more likely to stop that behaviour.''

ONLY one chance remains for golfers to qualify for the Coast's richest amateur golf tournament, the Sunshine Coast Daily Shootout final at Pelican Waters Golf Club.

The ninth monthly qualifying tournament was staged in strong winds on Thursday and now only the November event remains for those players who want to contest the December final which carries the prize of a trip to Dubai in March next year.
Once again the Greg Norman-designed layout showed its teeth from the back tees when no-one in the field managed to better par on Thursday.
The best handicap scores were returned by Alan Davies, from the Wantima club in Brisbane, who posted a nett 76 off his six handicap to win A-grade and G Craig from Royal Hobart who took the A-grade runner- up trophy after losing a countback.
C Hold won the B-grade competition with a nett 78, just one shot ahead of Pelican Waters member Jim Heit.
The C-grade was claimed by Brent Wakeham, from the Pymble club in Sydney, who recorded a nett 77 off his handicap of 19, four clear of Anthony Larchin, a 20 handicapper from Headland.
Headland's Brett Thompson won the sponsors competition on 79.
The three division winners earned direct entry into the Shootout grand final where the winner will earn a trip to the Dubai Desert Classic, one of the richest events on the European PGA Tour.
The prize includes a round in the pro-am before the tournament.
Timeslots for the last monthly Shootout, on Thursday, November 14, are now available by contacting Pelican Waters on 5437 5002.

A WORLD championships bronze medal has earned basketballer Jae Kingi the September senior award in the Suncorp Sunshine Coast Sports Star of the Year awards.

The 26-year-old former Kiwi earned a spot in the Australian Opals squad to play at the world titles in China the first time she had played in a Federation of International Basketball Associations (FIBA) tournament.
The Opals qualified for the semi-finals where they were beaten by eventual gold medalists, the United States.
They claimed third place by winning the bronze medal playoff against Korea.
Kingi, a former Maroochydore Clippers player, plans to return to the US WNBA next season after playing with the Detroit Shock in 2001.
There are two junior award winners for September Caboolture boxer Todd Kidd and Maroochydore swimmer Melanie Schlanger.
Seventeen-year-old Kidd, who trains with the Shamrock club, gained his nomination after representing Australia at the world junior championships in Cuba.
He is the reigning cadet (15-16 years) 63.5kg champion and has set his goal at making the Australian boxing squad for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
Sixteen-year-old Schlanger brought home two gold medals from the national schools championships in Darwin.
She took out the 50m and 100m freestyle double, as well as two silver medals and one bronze medal in relays.

AUSTRALIA'S No.1 ranked golfer Robert Allenby will try to become the first golfer ever to win three consecutive Australian PGA Championships after confirming yesterday he would play at the Hyatt Coolum from November 28 to December 1.

Securing Allenby, the winner of the past two championships at Royal Queensland, had been the PGA promoters' major goal since signing up former US PGA and British Open champion John Daly and Queensland favourite Greg Norman earlier this year.
His inclusion yesterday, along with reigning Australian Open champion Stuart Appleby, assures that almost all of the country's leading professionals will play in the first of five PGAs to be held on the Sunshine Coast.
No player since Dan Soutar, from 1905 to 1907, has won three straight PGA titles.
Allenby, ranked 21st in the world, will be trying to succeed where the likes of two in a row winners Greg Norman, Kel Nagle and Norman Von Nida have failed previously.
Meanwhile Appleby will be returning to the venue of his Schweppes Coolum Classic victory four years ago, while Allenby also has a connection to the Hyatt Coolum layout.
He was the resort's touring professional in the late 1990s.
The cut-off for player entries is not until November 7.
Among the other stars who have indicated they will play at Coolum are Craig Parry, Peter Lonard, Adam Scott, Rod Pampling, Geoff Ogilvy, Stephen Leaney, Greg Chalmers and Paul Gow.
I'm just so pleased for the people who are supporting us so strongly in Queensland, especially Queensland events Corporation, Hyatt Regency Coolum and the Maroochy Shire Council,'' promoter Tony Roosenburg, of SFX Sports Golf Australia, said.

ORGANISERS behind one of the Sunshine Coast's most anticipated annual events met with police and emergency services yesterday to finalise preparations for tonight's Buderim Street Party.
Up to 15,000 people are expected to flood Burnett Street from 5pm to 10pm for a celebration of music, food, family, entertainment, street theatre, and good old-fashioned fun.
Organiser Lynne Ryan said police, fire and ambulance officers, together with State Emergency Service volunteers, security guards, Street Angels and other organisations met yesterday to discuss logistics for the five-hour event.
We had 11,000 people last year and we expect anywhere up to 15,000 people to come tonight. It will be a big task and it takes a lot of organising,'' Ms Ryan said.
People think this kind of thing just happens, but it takes a lot of work by people who are all volunteers _ but it's pretty rewarding at the end.''
Burnett Street will be closed to traffic from 4pm until 11pm, and parking in Buderim Marketplace and Burnett Street will be progressively closed from 2pm.
Disabled parking will be available at the Hub parking area on Ballinger Road, while $2 off-street parking will be available at the Buderim Mountain State School oval.
Several buses will depart for the Street Party from 5.30pm, with bus stops at Wirreanda Park shops via King Street, Headland Park via Cumberland Way, Chancellor Park Marketplace via University Way, and Mons Road via William Street.


THE owner of a trendy Mooloolaba cafe wants his staff to undergo a lie detector test following the theft of $6000 from the store earlier this week.
Frustrated Oliver's owner Peter Reisman said he was considering subjecting staff to the test in a desperate bid to flush out the rat within his ranks.
"This is not the first time this has happened here,'' Mr Reisman said.
The move has outraged workers, who have been asked to sign a document consenting to the test.
Some employees are preparing for a showdown at a meeting today where they will be asked to sign the form.
Oliver's chef Crystal, who has worked at the cafe for six months, said her legal advice suggested that staff were under no obligation to submit to the tests.
"We shouldn't be threatened with our jobs because of this,'' she said.
"Why should we be made to feel guilty?''
Crystal said the cafe's 20 employees had been told to sit the test _ even kitchen workers such as herself who did not have a key.
Since the theft, the premises' locks have been changed.
Peregian lawyer Noel Woodall said staff could not be forced into such an ultimatum.
"I'd be advising them to stand their ground,'' he said.
"If their employment is terminated for those reasons it could be a case of unfair dismissal.''
But Mr Reisman said no firm plans had been made to make staff take the tests.
"It's just an idea that we may carry out ... because it personally upsets me that I'm working with someone who's stealing from me,'' he said.


Sex site refunds teen's $100 internet bill
INTERNET pornography sites are about to get a lot less profitable if an outraged Beerburrum mother has any say in the matter.
Furious at the $100 charge to her phone bill that followed her 14-year-old son's 18 minutes of on-line curiousity, the mother took on the NSW-based company and won a full refund.
"He's a typical boy of 14. Sex is starting to be of interest,'' she said.
The teen's short spell online, run by a NSW company, which dialed an overseas site. His 18 minutes online manifested itself as an extra $100.35 cents on his parents' phone bill after the NSW website connected to an overseas.
But rather than be upset, the woman said her son had learnt his lesson and was "enormously embarrassed''. In fact, she's sure plenty of other teenagers have done the same thing.
What did raise her ire was the ease with which children can access pornography online (they can simply click on an box to say they are over 18) _ and the way phone companies and the sex sites put the onus back onto parents to be vigilant or to put a filter on their computer.
"I'm sure this happens a lot, especially to parents of teens and because people are embarrassed, these businesses get away with it.
"But someone like me says `No. That's not on. Why is it so easy for a 14 year old to have access to this in the first place'?
"With every other business in Australia _ casinos, bottleshops, even newsagents for things like adult magazines, the onus is on the business to do the right thing and prevent minors from accessing them.
"These people tell you it's up to you to get an `net nanny' (internet filter). Surely they should be subject to tougher regulations.''
After receiving the bill she rang Telstra who gave her the phone number of the NSW com pany involved.
The company involved agreed to a refund when the woman supplied copies of the phone bill and her son's birth certificate. Now she want others to know their rights and hopes a wave of complaints will lead to tougher regulations.
"If I can get a refund, it means everyone else can too. The only thing these people understand is something that impacts on their hip pocket.''
"People power is the only way to make a change in this world.''
Department of Fair Trading regional manager Dorothy Woods said such was their concern with internet practices that they had released a brochure for parents on how to prevent children accessing pornography on the internet.


Police seeking information after house robbed and set alight

MONTHS of work were destroyed early yesterday when a newly-renovated Noosa Valley home was robbed and set alight.
Detective Sergeant Paul Reilly said a man walking his dog alerted firefighters to the smouldering ruins at the Panorama Drive property about 5am yesterday.
Det Sgt Reilly said no one was home when the offenders struck, forcing entry to the main house before allegedly setting the nearby garage and the car inside alight.
The garage and car were completely destroyed but the home sustained little damage.
Noosa QFRS spokesperson Brad Kernot said the fire had obviously been burning for some time and was smouldering when firefighters arrived. The crew remained at the scene for about an hour.
Det Sgt Reilly said it was uncertain what, if anything, had been stolen but the owner's relatives, who had been living there, were coming back to help police. The woman and her son had been away for a few days working.
It is believed the owner purchased the Noosa Valley property about 12months ago and had extensively renovated the home and gardens in the past few months ready for sale. It was listed on the market at the time of the fire.
Det Sgt Reilly said a doorknock of the area yesterday provided no clues and there had been no robberies or suspicious activity reported. in the area recently.
Scenes of crime officers were at the scene yesterday morning, and Brisbane scientific officers were also expected to comb the scene for clues.
"The owner is quite devastated, he's done all this work on the gardens, garage, deck, painting and rendering, ready for sale, and now he's got to do it all again,'' Det Sgt Reilly said. The property was insured.
Anyone with information who has seen cars, or people acting suspiciously in the area should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800333000 or Noosa Criminal Investigation Branch on 54745806.


ALLEGED rapist Bradley Murdoch refused to answer questions about the murder of British tourist Peter Falconio yesterday as police prepared to charge him with the crime.
Armed with his DNA profile, Northern Territory detectives said they already had enough evidence to seek a warrant for a murder charge.
But the work of building a circumstantial case against the 44-year-old truck driver and me chanic could delay the charge for up to three weeks.
"We shall not be solely relying on DNA evidence on this matter,'' NT Police Assistant Commissioner John Daulby said. "We will allege that there is a substantial circumstantial case that supports the DNA evidence.''
Three detectives interviewed Murdoch for an hour in Yatala prison in the presence of his lawyer, Grant Algie. Murdoch, from Broome, refused to answer any questions.
He is awaiting facing trial in the South Australian Supreme Court on charges that he abducted and raped a mother and her 12-year-old daughter in the Riverlands region in August.
Mr Falconio was shot 300km north of Alice Springs by a gunman who attempted to abduct his girlfriend Joanne Lees in July last year.
Police had to bring forward an announcement on a DNA link after news leaked out to the media in Britain, apparently from the families of Mr Falconio or Ms Lees.
Ms Lees' stepfather Vincent James said plans to lay a murder charge should silence her doubters.
"Joanne has told the truth the whole time and people doubted her but now she's completely vindicated,'' Mr James said. "She's never wanted to be vindicated. But she's pleased that they've caught this chap.''
Mr Falconio's brother, Nick, said the family would fly to Australia once Murdoch had been charged.
Even if Murdoch is charged with the Falconio murder, no decision has yet been made about extraditing him to the NT to face trial or whether he will stand trial on the SA charges first.
NT Attorney-General Peter Toyne told parliament the NT and SA directors of public pros ecutions were already discussing the case.
Detectives from the Alice Springs-based Falconio task force have been in Adelaide since Monday.
They included a crime scene examiner who was analysing what Mr Daulby described as "a number of significant items'' seized from Murdoch by SA police.


THE consultants undertaking a review of the Maroochy Town Plan have foreshadowed recommending it be "restructured to make it more workable''.
Developers and residents alike have been highly critical of the complexity of the plan, and also in delays in having their applications processed.
The dissatisfaction culminated in Danny Hill, the man behind much of Chancellor Park's development, publicly labelling those involved "incompetent''.
The review is being conducted by Brisbane-based Buckley Vann Town Planning Consultants and KPMG Consulting with the final report due by October 31.
After wide-ranging meetings with interested parties, the consultants produced a discussion paper which has been the basis for further meetings with those parties this week.
The paper identified many areas where council could improve, including "developing a greater customer service culture within its IDAS planning section, changing the role of staff from being adversarial''.
Chris Buckley from Buckley Vann, said although the plan had taken a huge leap from the previous one which had been around 15 years old, most people had endorsed the direction it was trying to take.
"Much of the concern, confusion and frustration has been with the plan's implementation rather than its intent,'' he said.
"There's no question it's better for ecological sustainability, but we've certainly identified some operational problems.
"I'm confident if council adopts our final recommendations the implementation will be much improved.''

FRANK Miles' dream of establishing a worldwide chain of Salad Bowl food franchise outlets is over almost before it started.
In June this year, Mr Miles opened the Salad Bowl store on Aerodrome Road at Maroochydore which provided sit-down, takeaway and drive-through options for customers.
But just four months later the business has been forced to close.
Kilpatrick Commercial is one of three real estate agencies which have the business listed for sale.
Greg Kilpatrick said yesterday the asking price was $745,000 which included the freehold land.
"It's in an outstanding location and that price includes the fitout and some of the equipment is negotiable,'' he said.
Mr Miles has been unavailable for comment about the demise of the business.
But when it opened he said he hoped to franchise the "Salad Bowl'' concept globally, at the same time acknowledging it would be "a steep learning curve'' for himself, his two managers and 30 staff to "get the Coast store right first''.
He said he hoped the store would "play its role in changing eating habits on the Sunshine Coast''.
Figures show around two- thirds of Australian men, half of women and one-in-five children are overweight or obese, even worse than the US.
That may be the case, but clearly people on the Sunshine Coast would rather tuck into a burger, pizza or piece of fried chicken and some fries than drive through for a serve of healthy salad.


POLICE Minister Tony McGrady has guaranteed the presence of enough police on the Coast to enforce the tough new anti- hoon laws, which take effect next month.
Speaking at yesterday's launch of the new $500,000 water police boat, Mr McGrady dismissed fears the Coast lacked the resources to implement the new laws, which let police confiscatecars involved hoon activity.
Asked whether he could guarantee adequate resourcing, Mr McGrady said: "Yes, we can ... I'm not going to waste 12 months bringing that legislation to parliament unless it's going to be effective''.
The minister joined senior police figures at the Mooloolaba Yacht Club yesterday for the official launch of the George Doyle _ the new water police boat.
The vessel _ a 12 metre catamaran with a top speed of 35 knots _ is one of three to be dispatched around the state.
It was named after fallen constable George Doyle, who in 1902 died in the line of duty during a swoop on bushrangers and cattle duffers.
Const Doyle's great nephew Thomas O'Neill attended the launch, where calls continued to have the water police base moved closer to the water.
The officers are now based on dry land at Kawana _ about a 20 minute drive from Mooloolaba.
Member for Kawana Chris Cummins and the police themselves have raised the issue with the minister, who has vowed to discuss its costs and benefits with the commissioner. Member for Maroochydore Fiona Simpson, who has long been pushing for the relocation, suggested the police share the Main Roads pilot station on the Spit at Mooloolaba.


CONTROVERSIAL Sunshine Coast Group Apprentices Limited chairman Alison Grosse stepped down from the chair at yesterday's board meeting, stating she now wished to serve only as a director.
Journalist Toni McRae, a director only since June, was the only nomination for the top job and was elected unanimously.
Ms Grosse, the Maroochy mayor, said she made the decision last year not to renominate for the chairmanship once the AGM was completed.
"I have been involved in creating, shaping and guiding SCRGAL for 20 years,'' she said.
"I believe I've helped to successfully steer SCRGAL through its most difficult months.''
Ms Grosse was chairman of the company for several years prior to the Department of Employment and Training launching an investigation late last year into a range of alleged improprieties.
DET's subsequent report identified serious concerns about a wide range of corporate governance matters.
Ms McRae said yesterday that every matter identified in the DET report had now been dealt with satisfactorily.
The former television presenter and radio station producer also said she considered Ms Grosse had shown "outstanding guts'' to stay on until all areas of concern had been rectified.
Ms McRae said she had taken "three minutes'' to decide to stand for the position after learning of Ms Grosse's intention to stand down at yesterday's meeting.
"I believe I can do the job with the help of the very good team we now have in place.''
Malcolm Dixon was elected deputy chair and Sean Fitzpatrick treasurer while Ms Grosse, Peter McNeale and Robert Dunbar make up the board.


A WEST Peregian development criticised by environmental groups has been honoured for its commitment to environmental sustainability.
Forrester Kurts Properties' Peregian Springs Estate received highly commended status at the joint Urban Development Institute of Australia and Environmental Protection Agency awards for environmentally sustainable urban developments.
UDIA president Grant Dennis said the joint UDIA/EPA commendation recognised the commitment of FKP to work with these agencies toward more sustainable outcomes.
"Particularly in relation to the proposed retirement village and the biodiversity issues specific to their site,'' Mr Dennis said.
An EPA spokesperson yesterday said FKP had been commended for its commitment, not for the impact its Peregian Springs Estate will have on the environment.
"The developers have agreed to work in partnership with us on aspects of water recycling and energy efficiency at their proposed retirement village and for that we commend them,'' the spokesperson said.
"We aren't holding the whole estate up as an example of environmentally sustainable development.
"We acknowledge the importance of the biodiversity issues in that area and that's why this project was probably not selected for a champion award.''
The awards decision has angered those opposing land clearing and loss of wildlife habitat in the ecologically-sensitive area.
The Sunshine Coast Environment Council said the UDIA's press statements implied the whole estate was being praised as an environmentally sustainable development.
FKP's representative for Peregian Springs, Peter Lightbody, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

A survey of Sunshine Coast Daily job advertisements has revealed a 41% increase last month against vacancies for September 2001.
The 1415 jobs advertised in September was also 7.85% higher than August this year.
Nationally, figures out today are expected to show the unemployment rate nudging out to 6.3%.
After years of double-digit unemployment on the Coast, officially at 11% last month but believed to as high as 17%, September's figures could well buck the national trend.
Diane Epps, branch manager at Manpower in Maroochydore, one of the Coast's largest employment services, said that for the first time in her experience, the Sunshine Coast employment market had become like a city market.
``Employers simply can't afford to dilly-dally ... usually the demand for temporary staff is very strong but at the moment both full-time and temporary staff are highly sought after,'' she said.
``It's definitely the best I've seen it.''
Ms Epps said Manpower had shown 166% growth in the number of temporary staff placed in the last 12 months.
She added that accountants and personal assistants/secretaries were keenly sought, while there was a ``huge demand for trained staff in the building and construction industry''.
Ms Epps also said it was pleasing to see older workers, sometimes into their 50's, finding jobs, while the shortage of good junior staff continued.
``Employers are realising people aged 35-up bring skills, experience and stability,'' she said.
``As far as young people go, some of our clients are finding it very hard to find good staff ... the ones left without jobs at the moment haven't necessarily got the motivation to succeed.''
The most recent Sunshine Coast Research Institute for Business Enterprise (SCRIBE) survey, showed employers expected to hire only marginally more full-time staff by March next year, at the same time suggesting part-time numbers would grow by 6%.
The survey confirmed that more than a third of companies believed they would have difficulty in finding suitable staff.
The most difficulty was expected in the construction, finance and insurance industries.
Almost half of the businesses surveyed said they had developed new local markets in the past year, 28% said they had expanded interstate and 12% had developed new export markets.


THE Sunshine Coast continues to lead the country in the tourism rebound post-Ansett and September 11, according to new figures released yesterday.
The Survey of Tourist Accommodation (STA) results showed Queensland recorded the highest growth in occupancy for hotels, motels, serviced apartments and guest rooms of any Australian state in the year to June 30.
The state's 3.1% increase lifted the national average to 0.7% after New South Wales recorded negative 1.1% growth and Victoria came in at positive 1.1%.
The Coast was the big winner with 15.5% growth in the 12 months to June 30 in room nights occupied, a 3% increase in the daily room rate, and a solid rise in occupancy rates.
Tourism Sunshine Coast general manager Andrew Sinclair said 2001 had been impacted not only by the Ansett collapse and the fallout from the September 11 terrorist attacks, but also by bad weather which caused severe beach erosion.
Mr Sinclair acknowledged the eight-lane highway between Brisbane and the Gold Coast could also have impacted.
``The latest up-to-date figures showed we've come through really well with average room rates up $10 a night and occupancy rates up from around 50% to about 60%,'' he said.
``The fact we've increased numbers and rates is significant because we don't want to follow the Gold Coast's lead and become discounter's paradise.''
Tourism Minister Merri Rose said Queensland's growth was largely the result of a significant increase in drive tourism to southern Queensland destinations following the collapse of Ansett on September 14.
Shadow Tourism Minister and Member for Maroochydore Fiona Simpson argued more State Government funding was required to promote regional tourism markets more effec tively.


A RETIRED RAAF Caribou that transported everything from Prince Charles to livestock has been given wings again.
It won't be taking to the skies, however, but will be a high-flying feature at the Queensland Air Museum at Caloundra.
The fuselage arrived recently and a pair of 2.5 tonne wings turned up yesterday, thanks to the support of the Australian War Memorial.
These will be reattached in coming months.
The caribou, which has the serial number A4173, was built by Dehavilland in Canada in 1964.
It was a workhorse during the Vietnam War, ferrying personnel, food and ammunition for 12 years.
With its short take-off and landing capabilities, the caribou was perfect for such roles.
It was involved in two dramatic landing accidents, one close to enemy territory that required a quick-fix and difficult escape that earned its pilot the Distinguished Flying Cross.
In September, 1965, it was a bizarre sight as it had one wing with RAAF markings and the other with U.S. signage.
The Americans fitted one of their wings on the aircraft as an apology for destroying the original when one of their passing helicopters accidently dropped a case of ammunition through it.
Air Museum spokesman James Wing said the caribou came back to Australia in 1972 and, in 1979, had the honour of taking Prince Charles for a spin from Townsville to Lizard Island.
He said the plane would have the biggest wingspan _ 95 feet, seven inches _ in the museum's fleet of 21.
The Queensland Air Museum is located on Pathfinder Drive at the Caloundra airport.


MORE and more young people are battling the effects of depression and other mental health conditions, and governments should be working to provide more support.
Mission Australia spokesperson Aaron Henricksen said depression and suicide were named by young people as the most important issues facing them, and the public was not aware of how great the problem was.
Mr Henricksen said more early intervention programs providing positive mental health environments for children at risk was just one initiative that needed to be given greater emphasis and resourcing priority by governments.
Today is national Mental Health Day and this week is National Mental Health Week.
University of Sunshine Coast student guild welfare officer Dan Morgan yesterday said about one in five Australians would suffer a mental health condition in their lifetimes and students, who faced a lot of pressure to juggle study, work and family, often suffered depres sion and anxiety.
Mr Morgan said a public health expo was held at the uni yesterday to provide information on related public health issues such as depression, body image and sexual harrassment.
A mental health discussion forum was also held last night.
Peregian psychologist Ashley Wong Hoy, who works with young people at the Noosa Youth Service, said there were many pressures that contributed to the rise in depression and mental illness in young people, particularly the breakdown of the family and loss of mentors.
Mr Wong Hoy said many had lost hope because they felt they didn't have the skills, talents or support to achieve their dreams _ and thus stopped dreaming.
Mr Wong Hoy said young people needed a lot of support and encouragement to keep trying to achieve their goals, and thus realise they do have the capacity to fulfil their dreams.

CHEVALLUM teenager Ezra Mercury could be excused for feeling bitter about his life but despite losing his mother Lorraine to cancer when he was just nine, and then his guardian to throat cancer two years ago, Ezra is a well-adjusted year 11 student at Christian Outreach College who dreams of becoming an architect.
He gives some of the credit to his foster parents, Chris and Kylie Grehan, who took himself, his younger sister Faapusa and older half-sister Diana Haywood, into their family when life dealt its second major blow.
Ezra appreciated the contribution so much he nominated the Grehans for the BoysTown Australian Family of the Year, and was thrilled yesterday to learn they'd been shortlisted to the final 30.
``They've been awesome to us after the dramas we had,'' the 16-year-old said.
``I don't feel sorry for myself ... it's just the hand I've been dealt.
``I guess what's happened has forced us to grow up a bit.''
The Grehans have two children of their own, eight-year-old Chloe and six-year-old Jacob, and knew Ezra and his family when they all lived in New Zealand.
Chris and John Batger were made guardians when Lorraine died, both families eventually moving to Sydney.
The Grehans later relocated to the Sunshine Coast where Chris had grown up, Diana coming with them.
Mr Batger died not long after and Kylie said there was no question about Ezra and Faapusa joining the family.
``We'd looked at adopting a couple of Romanian children at one time so there was no concern about increasing the size of the family,'' she said.
``They're all good kids and they've been through a lot.''
A spokesperson for BoysTown said 1350 nominations had been received from throughout Australia for the Family of the Year with the winner to be announced in December.
As far as Ezra, Faapusa and Diana go, the Grehans are already winners.
``I live with a family anyone without parents would dream of,'' Ezra said.
``They took as in as their own, helped us to deal with our losses and look at the world in a whole new way.''

YANDINA paint manufacturing company Rockcote continues to win accolades as it sets new standards for sustainable development.
Yesterday its proposed international sales headquarters and supply centre on the Gold Coast was recognised as one of three ``champion projects'' in South-East Queensland under the Sustainable Development Project.
The SDP is a joint initiative between the Urban Development Institute of Australia, Environmental Protection Agency and Brisbane City Council.
The $2.5million building, due to be commenced in December/January, contains numerous environmentally-friendly design features that will set the benchmark for future developments.
Managing director Bob Cameron, still disappointed the complex will be built at Nerang instead of Yandina because of the inflexibility of Maroochy Shire Council, was thrilled with the recognition.
``We got a totally different attitude from the council down there and it turned into a win-win for everyone,'' he said.
``The award includes some cash ($35,000), but the assistance we'll get from the UDIA and EPA, plus the exposure nationally and internationally, will be the big benefit.''
The building's features will include: A rainwater collection system to provide all water requirements; enough solar energy capacity to power the building with some left over to put into the Energex grid; improved indoor air quality through the use of non-polluting fixtures and fittings, plus the use of Rockcote's own EcoStyle ``green'' paint, and an on-site vegetable, herb and flower garden for staff using recycled water.

Rockcote, which employs 60 staff, has depots in Newcastle, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and exports to several South Pacific and South-East Asian countries, was the only Sunshine Coast company recognised.
The other two awards went to QM Properties' Pacific Harbour development and Austcorp's residential Eco Village at Coomera Waters.

SEVEN crucial health care specialists have said enough is enough and are about to withdraw their services from Nambour Hospital.
The resignations of the obstetricians and gynaecologists including Nambour visiting medical officer veteran Dr James Dick is expected to put a huge strain on the hospital's birthing unit unless replacements can be found.
Dr Dick who has been a VMO for 24 years, much of that time at Nambour, said yesterday doctors had taken this course of action reluctantly.
He said the State Government had left them little choice because of the failure to resolve medical indemnity shortcomings.
``We feel like we are the biggest group in the firing line,'' Dr Dick said.
They have given three- month's notice starting from October 31 unless they can be convinced that their concerns have been addressed.
A major worry is that they would not be legally covered even if they have an allegation of criminal neglect made against them.
Opposition health spokesman and Member for Maroochydore Fiona Simpson said the quality of patient care would suffer and workloads increase because of the resignations.
``Nambour Hospital is now left with only two staff specialists, two registrars and two senior houses officers in the birthing unit,'' she said.
``Visiting medical officers naturally want to feel assured that they won't be required to unfairly fork out millions of dollars on an insurance claim.''
Miss Simpson said Nambour was already in dire straits as highlighted by figures which showed that the hospital's emergency department was not coping with demand.
Sunshine Coast Health District manager Dr Martin Jarman said yesterday the hospital would endeavour to recruit replacement VMOs in the three months to January when they leave the public system.
Dr Jarman understood that during this time some of the doctors would continue to handle emergency calls although he said not all of the seven doctors currently did.
He believed finding new VMOs was possible and said extra staff had already been recruited for the busy Christmas period.


AUSTRALIA was one of the best palliative care providers in the world but terminally ill patients were still missing out because of a lack of public awareness.
Palliative Care Queensland executive director Nicole Hastie said most people did not want to face death or dying unless forced to, which meant carers and patients were not fully aware of the options open to them.
Public awareness and community education will be one of the issues discussed at the second biennial Palliative Care Queensland state conference, to be held in Noosa tomorrow and Saturday.
The conference coincides with National Palliative Care Week, which aims to improve acceptance and understanding of the service throughout the community.
Ms Hastie said about 150 doctors, nurses, aged care workers, palliative care workers, social workers and counsellors from throughout Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria would be welcomed to the conference at Australis Noosa Lakes Resort by mayor Bob Abbot tonightthursday.
``Palliative care is about quality of life at the end of life, and doesn't only help the patient but their carers as well. It also continues after the death with bereavement and grief support,'' she said.
Ms Hastie said palliative care was in the same situation as most areas of the health care system in needing more resources and more funding, to meet the needs of greater numbers of people.
And demand was not limited to the elderly, with Royal Children's Hospital oncology nurse Michelle Noyes delivering a paper on the special needs of terminally ill children and their families.
Bursaries were presented to several Sunshine Coast health workers to allow them to attend the two-day conference.

SCIENTISTS who believe the debilitating Ross River Virus Disease is not a long term illness should talk to Caloundra City councillor Andrew Champion.
A research team yesterday said they had demonstrated that patients whose illness persisted more than six to 12 months usually had other problems.
Associate Professor Andreas Suhrbier at The Queensland Institute of Medical Research said the findings had refuted previous studies that said Ross River was more persistent.
``In consultation with patients and treating doctors, we found about half the patients who had Ross River had other diseases, primarily chronic rheumatic illnesses like rheumatoid and osteo-arthritis,'' he said.
Mr Champion, 42, ironically was a member of the Sunshine Coast Mosquito and Biting Midge Control Group when infected 12 years ago after being bitten on his parents' farm at Diddillibah.
A former ironman, he said his body was devastated by the virus.
``I had two weeks of profuse sweating, hot and cold flushes, red blotches and did not have enough energy to walk,'' Mr Champion said.
He agreed that Ross River broke down the immune system and exposed sufferers to other problems.
However, he could not concur with scientists who said it was not a long term problem.
``It had a serious impact on my health for more than six years and I think a lot of people on the Sunshine Coast would be in the same boat.''
Up to 8000 cases are reported in Australia each year, costing the health system more than $8 million annually.
The cost to the workforce, according to Mr Champion, would be considerably more as patients encounter numerous relapses and lengthy recovery periods.
He said it was serious business and he did not think the State Government was taking appropriate responsibility for mosquito control of the lands under its control.

As Queensland's crime rate dives below the national average over most offences, the Coast is emerging as one of the safest destinations in one of the country's safest states.
The number of robberies reported on the Coast was down 20% compared with the previous financial year.
Queensland's drop over the same period was 11%.
Sunshine Coast District Crime Manager senior sergeant Dale Thompson credited a highly focused police presence in hotspots with the improvement.
A lot of the robberies used to be committed in areas where we've now deployed the Tactical Crime Squad,'' he said.
Premier Peter Beattie said Queensland's robbery rate was 48.6% below the national average.
As Crime Prevention Week gears up, Coast crime rates across most offences show an improvement on last year.
Unlawful entries to motor vehicles were down two percent, burglaries dropped 10%, and break-ins to offices were down three percent.
But police are urging the public to stay vigiliant.
This is no reason to become complacent,'' snr sgt Thompson said.
While the recorded incidence of most offences decreased, the number of break-ins to shops soared a massive 20%.
Snr sgt Thompson said that jump came courtesy of a handful of repeat offenders, most of whom have been nabbed.

THE discovery of a shipwreck that could pre-date Captain James Cook's arrival on Australia's east coast was no surprise, an historian said yesterday.
Dr Marion Diamond, a lecturer in colonial history at the University of Queensland, said it was highly possible Portuguese explorers had reached the east coast of Australia before Captain Cook.
Archaeologists have found a 30-metre shipwreck on Fraser Island they believe to be of Portuguese or Spanish origin, pre-dating Captain Cook's arrival in 1770.
Photographs of three cannons, visible at low tide, will be sent to international experts to verify their age.
A team of archaeologists, led by Brisbane researcher Greg Jefferys, has used a magnetometer to confirm dimensions of the wreck, situated about 1km north of Orchid Beach, on the north-east point of Fraser.
If the wreck is confirmed to be from the 16th century, it would prove Capt Cook was not the first European to land on the east coast of Australia.
While Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch explorers chartered much of north and western Australia in the 16th and 17th centuries, Capt Cook is credited with discovering the east coast in 1770.
Dr Diamond said the Portuguese were trading at Ambon, in what is currently Indonesia, by the early 1500s.
However, most of Portugal's exploration maps, which were held as state secrets, were destroyed in a Lisbon earthquake in 1751.
I think there was a lot more shipping into the southern hemisphere than we've often realised,'' Dr Diamond said.


The bold project is still in the planning stages, but was expected to become a centrepiece for the Kawana community.
Division five councillor Gordon Wallace said the multi-use hall would be a state of the art facility which would seat 600 people and incorporate an outdoor ampitheatre, coffee shop and library.
It's very exciting. This is a big, big, big project,'' he said.
This will be a real footprint or a real icon.''
He said the aim was to cater for the huge variety of community groups from senior citizens to bridge clubs and provide a space for them to call home.
The facility is expected to cost at least $2 million but with finer details still up for discussion Mr Wallace said it could be as much as $5 million.
The hall will be located on an 8000 square metre block on the east bank of Kawana Island on Sportsmans Parade.
He said there had been a number of expressions of interest from a variety of groups and the facility would be built so the room could be divided into two and used by groups at the same time.
Construction for the hall is expected to begin early next year with completion planned for March 2004.
He said the facility would be big enough for the expanding population of Kawana, which is expected to almost double to 45,000 in the next decade, and would have a life span of three or four decades.

SPECIAL events, festivals and conferences have been identified as key strategies for increasing visitor numbers during quiet months, an ongoing tourist survey has found.
Tourism Sunshine Coast has recently received extra government funding to do just that.
Tourism Noosa's Craig Templeman said findings from the group's quarterly visitor monitor survey identified event-creation as the answer to improving traditionally quieter months.Especially May,'' Mr Templeman said.
In this business, May has always been known as maintenance month, a quiet time when accommodation houses catch up on maintenance. We intend changing that.''
He said the Noosa Triathlon had totally transformed November into a busy period. Discussions have begun to have the Noosa LongWeekend a 10-day festival of drama, art, music and fine cuisine moved forward from June to May.
The event organisers have already locked in the artists for June this year, but said they see no reason why this can't be held in May next year,'' Mr Templeman said.
Tourism Sunshine Coast had just received an extra $200,000 from the state government to help us grow the conference/incentive market in this region, which is fantastic.''
The Hyatt Coolum's marketing director Rene Breuer said the five-star resort had managed to maintain a year round average occupancy of 75% and over by targetting both the leisure and the conference market.
The resort has also aggressively and successfully pursued the rights to host a round of the Australian PGA golf championships for the next five years.


MAROOCHY mayor Alison Grosse will mortgage her home in order to repay a $95,000 payout from her former husband's bankrupt estate.
The on-again, off-again repayment of the property settlement is very much on again after a Court of Appeal decision ordered Ms Grosse to hand over the hefty sum, plus court costs and interest.
An outraged Ms Grosse estimates she will be left about $135,000 out of pocket.
It's disgraceful,'' she said.
I am a victim of the system,'' she said.
Justice has become so far removed in the legal system these days that unless you have the money and the power, you don't have a chance.''
A Federal Magistrates Court decision handed down in February found in favour of the mayor, allowing her to keep the cash from the bankrupt estate of her former husband, John Jones.
But that decision was overturned on September 9, when administrators Worrells had their appeal upheld on the grounds that Ms Grosse had been inappropriately paid ahead of the other ten creditors.
Our job is to claw the money back and distribute it back to the other (10) creditors,'' Worrells partner Michael Peldan.
Ms Grosse said she could not afford to further appeal the decision to a higher court.
She said she had been ordered to pay back the $95,000, plus court costs, plus nine percent interest over the 18 months of the protracted saga, leaving her about $135,000 out of pocket.

THE Australian PGA Championship will produce a great spin-off for junior golfers with three of Australian golf's biggest stars to join in a national development camp at Twin Waters to coincide with the $1 million tournament.

Craig Parry, Stuart Appleby and Peter Lonard are confirmed starters at the camp which will host 20 youngsters drawn from around Australia.
Parry and Lonard will join the juniors for nine holes around the resort course, while Appleby will host a short game clinic for the group.
A series of Junior Shootout events are being staged across Australia with the winners earning a place at the camp.
The juniors will also have the opportunity to attend the PGA Championship just up the road at Hyatt Coolum where the field will include notables Parry, Appleby, Lonard, Greg Norman, John Daly, Adam Scott and Greg Chalmers.
The Sunshine Coast's future champion golfers are being treated to a series of junior clinics at three clubs in October and November.
The Sunday clinics are free and each participant will receive a ticket to the PGA, from November 28 to December 1.
The clinics, staged with the support of On Course golf shops and the Maroochy Shire Council, will be led by local professionals John Victorsen, Danny Freyling, Mal Wilson and Sean Seymore.
Caloundra will hold the first one-and-a-half hour clinic on Sunday, October 20, followed by Horton Park (November 10) and Headland (November 17).
Bookings can be made by contacting the various clubs.

CHRIS Flannery's father Peter has revealed his son played the last month of his National Rugby League premiership winning season with Sydney City with a fractured right leg.

Chris, 21, jubilantly celebrated Sunday's NRL grand final victory over the New Zealand Warriors with his family who were in the front row of the Telstra Stadium grandstand.
But as Peter revealed, the former Kawana Dolphin has been walking and playing through the pain barrier for several weeks just to get to his first grand final.
Just to see him running out there, and then to score a try was great,'' Peter said.
But what impressed me even more was what he went through.
It's a vertical stress fracture in his right tibia. And there's nothing you can do to kill the pain because it's a bone injury, not muscular.
He's hardly trained for the last month, just a little bit of pool stuff and physio.''
Peter said the injury was kept secret to protect his son from targetting in matches.
About 12 of the Roosters side were carrying injuries by the end of the season,'' Peter said.
Peter said his wife Dee and their other two children Clayton and Elissa had left their seats high in the grandstand about five minutes before full-time to make their way to the fence line for Chris's victory lap.
He came over to us and he kissed me and just said thanks','' Peter said.
It was pretty emotional stuff.
Dee had tears in her eyes when the national anthem was played.
To hear almost 80,000 people going Roosters, Roosters, Roosters' was just great.''


YOUNG and old alike turned out in force on Monday night to find a solution to the continuing problem of hoons on Coast roads.
A suggestion put forward by local businessman Scott Heaney to build a specific facility for car racing received strong support from all sectors.
A follow-up meeting was scheduled for last night to discuss the option, which Federal Member for Fisher Peter Slipper said could be a winner.
"You will always have car hoons, but I suspect these facilities will draw some people away from that,'' Mr Slipper said.
"I think people will support having a racing facility as long as it's not near them.''
A viewing area was proposed for central Maroochydore, with the racing facility proposed to be built in a non-residential area.
However Mr Slipper said the long term solution instead relied on strong state laws and adequate policing.
"You will always have a small fringe group that want to be hoons even if you have the best facilities in the world,'' he said.
"This is a major issue. Federal, state and local government representatives need to sit down and sort out a solution.
"Even when the (state anti-hooning) legislation comes into force we don't have enough police here to make sure hoons stop.''
The public meeting at Alexandra Headland attracted about 300 people.
A number of young car enthusiasts told the meeting they were worried about unfair persecution.
"A number of sports enthusiasts were very upset with being confused as hoons,'' Mr Slipper said.
"The idea is to throw the book at real hoons. People are entitled to a good night's sleep, and tourists are entitled to enjoy their holiday.''
Maroochy Shire Council is believed to be considering the option of creating a viewing area, with a proposal expected to go to public consultation by next year.


A NEW product safety guide could save hundreds of children from fatal dangers hidden in the home.
The safety standards of nursery furniture, prams, toys and clothes are all targeted by the booklet About Baby and Children's Safety.
Warana child health doctor Scott Parsons said the booklet should be given to every parent.
"I think it should be delivered with the baby,'' Dr Parsons said.
Fifty to 60 kids under five die from accidental injuries in Queensland each year. A further 10,000 present to hospital emergency departments for home-related injuries.
"To put it into context, meningococcus bacterium kills four or five children each year,'' Dr Parsons said.
"This problem is 10 times worse in the point of view of death and significant injuries.''
Fair Trading regional manager Dorothy Woods said all people with responsibility for a child should check the guide.
"For older people, we would never have been confronted with the range of products available,'' she said.
"There's no doubt modern society offers more choice, and also brings more dangers.''
Swimming pools and baby walkers posed the biggest risk for children, Dr Parsons said.
"New stuff has to meet safety guidelines, but lots of people use second-hand equipment,'' he said.
"This booklet goes through all childhood furniture and details what standards you should look for.''
The most common equipment which injures children aged under one are beds, baby walkers, change tables, and prams. Kids aged one to five most often fall victim to beds, tables and trampolines.
The booklet is available from the Office of Fair Trading

Coast pair throw hats in election ring in bid to make a difference
THE Sunshine Coast's two regional council candidates for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) have vowed to "clean up'' the indigenous organisation and fight for better health and community local services.
Anthony Beezleycorrect and Lyle Capewellcorrect, both former ATSIC regional council deputy chairmen for Rockhampton and Roma respectively, were two of the first in Queensland to cast their vote for the October 19 elections at a mobile polling booth at Kabi Kabi Aboriginal Organisation in Alexandra Headland yesterday.
Mr Beezley said ATSIC's tumultuous history of mismanagement had damaged the organisation's image in the eyes of indigenous people and the wider community, but better days were ahead.
"ATSIC has a bad history. I believe Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and the wider community aren't prepared to put up with another term of misappropriation and misguided directives for ATSIC funds and protocols,'' Mr Beezley said.
"For both the black and white community, if ATSIC maintains the status quo, then nothing will change. It has to be a whole new day.''
Mr Beezley said forming strong partnerships with all levels of government was a vital first step for ATSIC's future survival.
Mr Capewell said he would fight to re-implement ATSIC-managed legal, health and housing services on the Sunshine Coast.
"Right now, there are no services on the Sunshine Coast that are managed by the community's people and funded by ATSIC,'' Mr Capewell said.
"We need to ensure that the community receives stronger representation in legal, health and housing, and greater support in community and women's programs.''
ATSIC state election coordinator Mark Hewardcorrect said the organisation had worked closely with the Australian Electoral Commission to ensure voters had easy access to a record 79 mobile booths across south-east Queensland.
The main ATSIC election day will be held on October 19 from 8am to 6pm, with static booths at Nambour State School and Caloundra's Kabbarli Community Centrecorrect. Voting is not compulsory.


SUSTAINABILITY should not just be the keyword for a viable economic and environmental future, but applied to personal lives as well.
Maleny life growth expert Iain Druguid yesterday said people were not balancing work and life well, spending too long at the office and not enough time on family, enjoyment and relaxation.
Mr Druguid, addressing the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia conference in Noosa yesterday, said it was a "universal problem'', especially in Generation X members.
He said while the "Sea change'' influence was having some effect, it was not a rapid or far-reaching change.
"My real message for people is to find out who you are, decide whether you want to work 70hours a week for the boss or if it's important to have a life _ play footy, spend time with the kids, go out with friends,'' Mr Druguid said.
"People should learn to focus. Say you've taken the kids out for lunch, turn off the pager, turn off the mobile, turn off from work and totally focus on the quality time,'' he said.
About 180 delegates from across the nation were attending the five-day conference, which ends on Thursday, titled Riding the Wave to Sustainability and sponsored by Noosa Shire Council.
Mr Druguid has been a life growth speaker for the past five years, travelling throughout Australia and internationally for seminars and conferences.
He said people also needed to take time to learn from life, taking a year off between school and uni, and again in their 40s.


Multi-Sports event finds even more to celebrate
IT'S shaping up to be one hell of a 15th birthday for the Noosa Multi-Sports Festival, with a major television deal secured and record interest levels.
Event manager Donna Croft said vision of the Noosa Triathlon, celebrating its 20th year, will be beamed across the world in a two-hour broadcast through Fox Sports and nationally on a one-hour Channel 10 special.
Ms Croft said additional funding from the Noosa Community Tourism Board had enabled them to secure the deal, which would see visions of all the action and Noosa's picture-postcard surrounds beamed into households.
As well as the many favoured traditions, several new events and social functions have been added to the extensive Noosa Multi-Sports Festival program, which runs from October 27 until November 3.
Ms Croft said an estimated $8million was expected to be injected into the local economy this year, with an independent economic impact survey also planned to gauge an accurate picture across spectators, competitors, organisers and tourism.
She said the success of the triathlon and festival had also been recently rewarded as the recipient of the 2001 Australian Sports Tourism Event of the Year.
"The award was fantastic recognition of thousands of hours of hard work from many, many people in growing the event over the past 20 years,'' Ms Croft said.
"The 2000 award was given to the Sydney Olympians so I guess we are in pretty good company, particularly with an event budget of about 0.01% of the Olympics.''
New events include a Cross Code Challenge, inviting teams of all the football codes to take part in a specially- modified tri course, and an invitation-only Ironwoman and Ironman event, which has attracted the likes of Ky Hurst, Dean and Darren Mercer, Karla Gilbert and Reen Corbett.

THE lawyer defending former Sunshine Coast Group Apprentices Ltd boss Rob Purvis against stalking allegations by Maroochy mayor Alison Grosse died of a suspected heart attack on Monday afternoon.
John Wales Young, 52, was found dead in his home only hours after having lunch with Mr Purvis at Cotton Tree where they discussed the case due to be heard in the Brisbane District Court on Friday.
Mr Purvis said he'd been stunned to learn of the passing of a man he'd come to regard as not only something of a crusader in the law community, but also a close friend.
"John had the most integrity of any solicitor I'd known,'' Mr Purvis said.
Mr Young raised the ire of many in the industry soon after moving from Brisbane to join Maroochydore firm Richard O'Bryen Solicitors in August 2001.
He publicly announced his desire to "get rid of the grubs'', claiming some lawyers were intent on lining their own pockets by dragging out legal battles to increase their fees.
Bryan Pickard, principal of Richard O'Bryen Solicitors, said staff were deeply saddened by Mr Young's death, describing him as "very competent, a delightful person''.
Mr Pickard said the firm would continue to act for Mr Purvis in the stalking case, suggesting the argument was still deficient of detail.
Mr Young was separated from his partner and is survived by two children.


JOHN Glasgow lived every parent's nightmare when his son Jess was put on life support after a motorbike accident at Kilcoy last month.
The 20-year-old from Tewantin was competing in a motocross event when a jump he's done "hundreds of times'', went horribly wrong.
He missed a gear approaching the three-metre jump, cartwheeled over the top of it and landed on his head at the bottom on the other side.
Despite smashing his helmet, Dad John said he believed Jess owed his life to the headgear.
The former Sunshine High student was in a coma when he was rushed to Kilcoy Hospital before being transferred to Royal Brisbane.
John and his partner Leanna King spent five anxious days and nights bedside with Jess until he came out of the coma.
"On the Monday the doctors told us to be prepared for the worst,'' John said.
"A 16-year-old was in with Jess after a bad skateboard accident without a helmet.
"His parents had to agree to turn his life support off which was very traumatic.''
Thankfully Jess pulled out, although his left side is still paralysed and he hasn't fully regained his speech.
It could be weeks or even months of rehabilitation before he returns home.
In the meantime, John and Leann have made arrangements for one or the other of them to be in Brisbane virtually full-time to help Jess through.
The couple paid special tribute to the fantastic support provided by the Noosa community since the accident.


SYDNEY author and motivational speaker Cyndi Kaplan-Freiman was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago and underwent a mastectomy.
She began keeping a journal from the moment she was diagnosed _ as she awaited results of her mammogram in the medical rooms, she began writing her feelings down on paper _ and the result is an inspiring book called There's More to Life Than My Right Breast.
Ms Kaplan-Freiman launched the book yesterday at a breakfast meeting of the Sunshine Coast business women's network at the Headland Golf Club followed by a Zonta lunch at berados in Noosa and a dinner for the Sunshine Coast Health Services Foundation. The foundation, which aims to have a cancer centre built on the Coast, benefited from sales of the book.
"I like to think the book is both practical and hopeful,'' Cyndi said. "It can guide women through dark moments and shed some light on breast cancer. I began writing a journal even before the doctor told me the result of my mammogram and I kept writing all the way through surgery and afterwards. In the beginning, especially those first couple of weeks after diagnoses and shock, it was the writing of the journal that calmed me and helped me get through each day.''
Cyndi had written nine self- help books before she was diagnosed with breast cancer and has had to apply all her own philosophies to her situation. "I had to see if what I talked about in my books worked,'' she said.
said.
"I decided then I would be much nicer to myself and rest more and keep a nutritious diet and have a more balanced life. I did a lot of simplyfying, gave myself permission to be more self- nuturing. I think all women should do that. Take preventative steps to fight against breast cancer. There is a lot of evidence to show that a low fat diet, not being overweight, exercising, reducing stress, all increase your changes of not getting breast cancer.''
There's More To Life Than My Right Breast is Cyndi's fight with cancer and the result of her research into a disease which has touched the lives of many Australians. But the book is not just about her cancer fight. It also contains personal stories of women who are living with or who have survived breast cancer. Their frank, companionable advice is not only invaluable but inspiring.
"I really want to urge women of all ages to look after themselves,'' she said. "To take care, don't neglect themselves. An early diagnoses can result in a 100 percent cure. You must be vigilant. Have regular mamograms. In NSW where I live, statistics show that even though women over 50 are eligible for free mammograms only 53% of women take advantage of that. Have clinical examinations. You cannot always detect a lump yourself.''

THE historic Hotel Caloundra has been earmarked for multi-million-dollar twin towers in what would be one of the Sunshine Coast's biggest redevelopments.
The local icon, built at Moffat Beach in the early 1900s, has sat at the top of Bulcock Street since 1950.
Caloundra City councillor Tim Dwyer said preliminary meetings had been held with its owners, the Australian Hospitality and Leisure Group (AHL).
Mr Dwyer said council had been shown early plans for the site's redevelopment that included two towers up to 12 storeys high.
AHL, which has only just refurbished the hotel, confirmed redevelopment was on the cards but has yet to finalise plans or a timeframe.
In the early days at Moffat, the pub was called the Hotel Francis, named after owner David Rooke's son. Guests were collected on a horse-drawn buckboard from the Landsborough train station.
The hotel site was recently identified by the City's Central Business Area (CBA) master plan as having enormous potential for redevelopment.
AHL's twin towers bid is the latest indicator that Caloundra has come of age as a property hotspot.
The City is enjoying a construction, property sales and land valuation boom.
A steady flow of land releases has also seen the City begin to lead the way in housing approvals on the Sunshine Coast.
Approval figures for June, July and August show that Caloundra surpassed Maroochy Shire over that period by 67 dwellings and Noosa by 189 homes.
Caloundra council approved 92 homes in June, 114 in July and a year high 125 in August. This has shown a steady climb from an average 88 homes a month for the first three months of 2002.
Real Estate Institute of Queensland Sunshine Coast president Maureen Heaney said Caloundra had the opportunity to forge ahead at a faster rate than its northern neighbours.
Ms Heaney said it was a matter of topography and Caloundra had more land closer to the Coast that was more accessible and easier to develop.
Aroona builder Gary Rutch has been constructing homes in Caloundra City for almost two decades.
He said that while it was as busy as he could remember, it would be even busier if there were more tradesmen.
A lack of bricklayers, carpenters, plasterers and cabinet makers was slowing jobs, he said.
"I think the main reasons Caloundra is going ahead so quickly is that there is affordable land, more land than further up the Coast and it has a council that is efficient and easy to deal with,'' Mr Rutch said.
"There is a variety of people moving here from down south and while some are retiring, others are relocating to start businesses,'' he said.
Queensland Master Builder's Association regional manager Robert Dunbar said Caloundra had the capacity for huge growth, particularly from Creekside north to Kawana Island.
He said the building approvals were linked directly with land releases and Maroochy's figures had been affected by the "drip feeding'' of blocks in the shire.
Steve Morcombe, of GJ Gardner Homes, agreed Caloundra's "landbank'' was considerable.
Mr Morcombe said land was selling as quickly as it became available _ often before _ and most buyers wanted to build on their blocks immediately.


MORE than 300 people yesterday packed out the Gregson and Weight Nambour Chapel to pay tribute to Chris Rudledge _ but it was still very much a family affair.
The blood relatives and in-laws were joined by a sea of blue _ the members of Mr Rudledge's other family, the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service.
And there were plenty of mates from the police and ambulance services and other walks of life, in a show of respect and affection for a man whose life was cut short last Wednesday in a car accident at Sippy Downs.
The day's tribute began at Nambour Fire Station when the bells rang for "the last turnout'' and a crew boarded a fire unit to join a police escort and the hearse in a procession to the chapel. A guard of honour met them as a bagpipe player played The Battle is Over.
In his address, Queensland Fire and Rescue Service commissioner Lee Johnson said Mr Rudledge was a true leader during the period when the fire service evolved from watchrooms to fire communications centres. was instrumental in establishing the Firecom North Coast at Kawana which became a prototype for the service across Queensland, and went on to manage AFcom, Brisbane's combined fire and ambulance communications centre.
Mr Johnson said his colleague was "a beautiful and sensitive man'' who "cared for people, was passionate about his job and was highly respected''.
"Chris Rudledge has left us, but the family of the fire service will never forget him,'' Mr Johnson said.
Mr Rudledge, who lived at Cooroy, is survived by wife Anne and children Sally and Mark. In family tributes he was described as "the best man'', "the best dad'' and "the best mate'' they could have wished for.
A slide show of happy moments over Mr Rudledge's 55 years and the eulogy from his brother Richard confirmed he had lived "a beautiful life''.
"He knew how to laugh, didn't he?'' Richard asked.
The smiles of the crowd as they remembered Chris Rudledge were the only answer necessary.

MAROOCHY mayor Alison Grosse yesterday vowed to stay in her $100,000-a-year job despite claiming she has the reading ability of an eight-year-old and is "useless'' with dollars and cents.
The claims, made to a royal commission on Monday, have sparked fresh debate _ and an informal meeting _ among councillors yesterday regarding her future.
But Mrs Grosse said she would see out her full term as mayor, denying her reading and money problems meant she should step down.
"I can read slowly,'' she said.
"And I'm certainly capable of making the right decisions given the right information.
"I have an obligation to see my term through and I'm not going to cave in (to her detractors),'' she said.
The mayor's claim of having an eight-year-old's reading ability appears to contradict her curriculum vitae which states she is a qualified history and arts teacher and was a driving force behind the University of the Sunshine Coast, where she holds an honorary degree.
She yesterday received unqualified support from deputy mayor Trevor Thompson who suggested the difficulties facing those in the sugar industry were more important than his leader's problems.
"It's a strength to know your weaknesses ... I regularly rely on others when it comes to facts and figures,'' Mr Thompson said.
"If Alison does have a weakness it's that she trusts people too much.''
Mr Thompson said the voters had elected Mrs Grosse to the office of mayor, not the councillors.
But councillors Steve Dickson and Barbara Cansdell said the continuing focus on the mayor's SCRGAL problems and other non-council related matters, was having a significant negative impact on council staff, the councillors and the community.
Mrs Cansdell said Mrs Grosse was "treating everyone like fools'', suggesting she always tried to "shove the responsibility onto someone else''.
Mr Dickson said at a pivotal time, when Maroochy Shire was just starting to turn around its debt and town plan problems, good leadership was vital.
It was a view echoed by Nambour Chamber of Commerce president Les Hadlow who told Channel Ten the mayor should step aside.
After spending Monday afternoon in the hot seat giving evidence to the Royal Commission into the Building and Construction Industry in Melbourne, Mrs Grosse was back in her own chair at the council offices yesterday.
As she did when grilled at the commission, the mayor deflected questions such as why she had purchased a Sunshine Coast Regional Group Apprentices Limited-owned property at 19 Cootamundra Drive, Mooloolaba in December 1998, in breach of the company's articles of association.
She later sold it for a capital gain of $110,000.
During Monday's hearing, counsel assisting the commission Stephen Donaghue suggested "it may well be the case that you owe the company (SCRGAL) all of the money that you made as a result of the sale''.
Ignoring the fact that as chairman she wasn't entitled to purchase the property, Mrs Grosse said she "had to sell for my own physical survival''.
That was a reference to the alleged years of stalking she claims to have been subjected to by former SCRGAL manager Rob Purvis.
Those claims are now before the District Court in Brisbane, Mrs Grosse confident the judge will allow her to put a defence when the matter is reheard on Friday week.
"I have to stand up _ in this whole matter, no-one has looked at the terror I've been subjected to,'' she said.

Call for action on Brisbane Road project
MOOLOOLABA tourism leaders have urged Maroochy Shire Council to fast-track its joint venture to create 550 free carparks on Brisbane Road.
Go Mooloolaba president George von Arnim yesterday accused the council of wasting time and driving tourists away because of a lack of progress on the much-needed parking development.
The Brisbane Road carpark project was approved by the council in March when it agreed to let the Juniper Development Group build a 12-storey unit complex on a public bitumen car park, in return for providing 550 public carparks.
Maroochy councillors will meet today for a special briefing on how the project is progressing. But the information session will be closed to the public and the media.
A council spokeswoman yesterday said there had never been a timeframe of when work had to commence.
She said the project had not yet started because the council and Juniper were still negotiating over some aspects of the deal.
Mr von Arnim said local businesses and tourists were frustrated at not yet being able to access the extra parks.
"The tender process has concluded, the carpark has been passed by council and now is the time for everyone to just get on with it,'' he said.
"We now have a fantastic product on The Esplanade, but that is no use to anyone if no one can park and enjoy it.''
"We desperately need the carpark or tourists will just get sick of it and move on somewhere else.''
Mr von Arnim said the parking problem had been especially evident during the Mooloolaba Carnival of the Arts over the September school holidays.
But the council spokeswoman denied the carnival had created extra traffic problems, saying the busiest days in the area coincided with good weather that traditionally encouraged tourist visits.


Group says public liability issue can be solved
By GORDON CLARK - gclark@scnews.com.au
THE Sunshine Coast Artificial Reef Group (SCARG) has submitted a legal opinion to the Queensland Government which it believes will clear any hurdles to the HMAS Brisbane being sunk as a dive wreck off Mooloolaba.
The sinking hit a snag earlier this year when Queensland Premier Peter Beattie baulked at the possibility the Government would have to pay up to $250,000 for public liability insurance covering divers.
But SCARG chairman Greg Riddell said yesterday that a legal opinion, prepared by the group's solicitor Roma Ferrier, a specialist in maritime law, dispelled any concerns.
"The Premier has been particularly concerned about private divers going out in their own boats and not being covered by public liability insurance in the case of an accident,'' Mr Riddell said.
"What we're proposing is that a code of conduct be created which would require signs to be erected at land access points, and also on buoys at the dive site.
"These signs would advise divers that permits are required to dive on the wreck site.
"Those permits would require a signature from the diver acknowledging they were trained and prepared for the dive, and also that they accepted full responsibility for their actions.''
Mr Riddell said the legal opinion had been given to Member for Kawana Chris Cummins. who in dicated to SCARG he would forward it to the Premier when he returns from overseas.
The HMAS Brisbane is still in dock in Sydney waiting a decision from the State Government.
"Understandably the Federal Government has said it wants a decision shortly or it will look at other options,'' Mr Riddell added.
"Hopefully providing this legal opinion will clear the final hurdle.''
Mr Riddell said divers would pay a small fee to cover administration of the permit scheme and maintenance of the ship and buoys once it had been sunk so the State Government wasn't out of pocket in any way.'


Coast couples try new injection system
THIS "IVF pen'' is writing a script for new life for lucky Sunshine Coast couples.
The pen technology is a new injection system that recently arrived on the Coast as an alternative to the more traditional _ and more painful _ needle-and-syringe fertility drug treatment.
Paul Stokes, from Coastal IVF at Cotton Tree, said the world's first IVF pen was also easier to use because women could self-administer pre-measured doses, similar to how diabetic people used insulin pens.
Since July, 24 women from the clinic have been using the pens to inject gonadotropin (an egg-stimulating hormone) just under the skin.
Eight pregnancies have already resulted.
Dr Stokes said trying to conceive through IVF was stressful enough without having to worry about mixing drug preparations.
But he said the simple pen system would make the process easier for couples already involved in IVF _ and perhaps encourage more to try.
"This new innovation provides more than 8000 Australian couples, who seek fertility treatments annually, access to a more practical and simpler alternative to conventional IVF drug treatments,'' he said.
"Improvements in fertility treatments, like the IVF pen, will hope
fully encourage more and more couples to consider assisted fertility treatments.''
For Karen Smith, IVF has already proved a winner.
Ten days ago, she and husband Chris discovered they were having a baby after their first attempt at IVF.
"We're amazed _ we've been trying for 10 years (to conceive naturally and through other assistance treatments),'' she said yesterday.
The Buderim couple joined the IVF program earlier this year, with Karen undergoing fertility injections last month.
She said the IVF pen had been simple to use.
"It's very quick _ once you get used to dialling up how much you actually have to have (of the hormone) it's just easy,'' she said.
"It doesn't take too much out of your day when you have to do it every day.''


AMA says hospital administrators must push for resolution to crisis
THE Australian Medical Association and a local woman who has spent months waiting for expert care have accused Nambour General Hospital administrators of offer ing rhetoric rather than answers to the health care crisis.
"The Nambour General Hospital has been in crisis since July 1. That crisis in unremitting and not getting any better,'' Australian Medical Association of Queensland North Coast representative Mason Stevenson said.
He said the withdrawal of services by Visiting Medical Officers embroiled in the ongoing medical indemnity dispute had virtually paralysed the hospital.
And he said Nambour administrators claims that they could easily replace the staff who resigned or took leave was "a nonsense''.
Dr Stevenson said said the only surgery being done at the hospital was category one _ surgery required for life threatening or limb threatening problems.
With only emergency surgery being done at the hospital, other patients face an indefinite wait.
"These are not trivial health problems,'' Dr Stevenson said.
Sally Marshall of Kandanga is one who has had to wait. For months she has lived with an almost constant ache in an injured knee which limits mobility and prevents her from working.
Miss Marshall said she was a private person who only spoke out so health administrators could not deny there was a serious problem for many people. across the Coast.
"Hopefully others will speak out too and something might happen,'' she said.
"I've been told that if I had private cover I could get an operation in two weeks. But I can't work so I can't afford it. I am stuck between a rock and a hard place. And there is no end in sight.''
Miss Marshall's injury means that on uneven ground her leg sometimes gives way and she has suffered a number of falls.
"I'm always taking anti inflammatories just to remain functioning. It's also causing problems further up my spine because I have been walking to favour it,'' she said.
"I'm only 43 and I've got a lot of active life left. I can't live the next 20 years like this.''
Dr Stevenson said that while a full solution to the crisis rested with successful negotiations between Queensland Health and Visiting Medical Officers over the medical indemnity issue, the medical fraternity needed more than "politically driven platitudes'' from Nambour administrators.
"It's disappointing to hear administrators rationalise the biggest crisis Nambour General Hopital has ever faced.
"Frankly they are starting to look silly, and u
"Unless concessions are made in their negotiations with doctors this problem will only get worse.''
Sunshine Coast Health Services district manager Martin Jarman said it was a state-wide issue that could only be resolved by negotiations between doctors and the Queensland Government.
However, Mr Jarman said he made a point of keeping Queensland Health informed on the impacts of the dispute.on elective surgery and other aspects of provision of care at Nambour.

Sari club victim airlifted to Darwin hospital
IT'S not often you would feel relief at news one of your closest friends had suffered burns to a third of her body.
But Caloundra resident Lou O'Brien was expecting a diagnosis far more severe before she spoke to her good friend, Nicolle Haigh, who was in the Royal Darwin Hospital on Monday.
"We'd heard it was more like 60% all over her hands, her face and down one side of her body,'' Ms O'Brien said of the Caloundra local, who was in the Sari Club during the epic Bali bomb blasts.
Nicolle was among the hundreds of injured Australians evacuated by five RAAF C130 Hercules to Darwin for emergency medical treatment, following the devastating attack.
More than 14 Australians have been confirmed dead while more than 110 have been found injured. Over 220 remain unaccounted for.
The Australian Red Cross is calling for public blood donations to help treat the hundreds of burn victims from the tragedy.
At 29, Nicolle, a federal police officer, had been working in East Timor as part of the United Nations' role in building the fledgling nation.
Her trip to Bali had been her first holiday since she started in Timor in August.
Ms O'Brien said Nicolle, a former Caloundra High student, had been inside the club with friends when the car bomb exploded, reigning deadly flames and debris on international revellers.
Although she managed to cover her body with a sheet of tin she found nearby, the flames caused severe blistering of her hands and extensive damage down one side of her body.
"She couldn't hold the phone to talk,'' Ms O'Brien said.
Nicolle's mum, Sue, boarded the first available plane to Darwin on hearing the news.
Nicolle is expected to be transferred to the Royal Brisbane Hospital today.
To contact the Red Cross, call 0403056948 for the mobile unit or the Nambour centre on 54706886.

TRAGEDY in Bali, bombs in the Philippines, and in that idyllic corner of Australia that is Cotton Tree a joyful luncheon.

It was an event which underlined the bonds between nations, bonds forged even tighter by acts of terror, according to guest of honour, Philippines ambassador to Australia Willy Gaa.
Yesterday's luncheon was hosted by a number of Sunshine Coast-based Filipino organisations, representing hundreds of people across the region.
When I was posted to Australia I wanted to visit all of the Filipino communities and this is part of that commitment,'' Mr Gaa said.
Mr Gaa said Australians and Filipinos had common feelings in a common fight'' against the forces of terror.
He said the recent bombings could only serve to strengthen the bond with Australia that date back to World War II.
The bombings certainly affect the Philippines region,'' he said.
We had hoped to attract more tourists this year and more again next year. That will be affected, obviously.
But our history of strong ties goes back before these bombings.''
Mr Gaa said his nation had experienced the benovolence of Australians'' during the World War II when the allied forces rallied together in the Pacific.
He said Filipinos and Australians had bonded in a common fight'' again in Korea and Vietnam and as peacekeepers in East Timor.
Both our nations are now in a fight against terror, part of a common front with the rest of the world.''

THE Sunshine Coast proved yesterday it wasn't good at luring just tourists to the region.

Equally as important, it will now be on the radar screens of major companies after 130 Insurers Hotline staff moved into their new $8million call centre in Kawana, the location chosen after an Australia-wide search.
The company's purpose-built three-storey premises overlooks the northern end of Lake Kawana which is being transformed into a world-class rowing centre and community aquatic facility.
Insurers Hotline has taken up the entire top floor of the building and also has an option to lease first floor space.
The way the business has grown in the past 15 months, CEO Mike Weston said he wouldn't be surprised if that space was needed soon.
We've had incredible growth when you consider we started in the old Lensworth office at Currimundi with 12 trainees and two trainers in June last year,'' he said.
The company initially had only sales staff in the premises, but subsequently relocated its client services section from Brisbane and is now preparing to locate its claims department as well.
We'll start advertising for staff from this weekend I wouldn't be surprised if we had around 200 employees by June,'' Mr Weston said.
I'm extremely pleased with the quality of staff we've been able to recruit.''
A successful call centre could be a catalyst for other major businesses to relocate here with our advantages of lifestyle, lower land costs and availability of staff.

NOOSA teenager Claire Franklin was an outrageous, vibrant individual who changed her hair colour every week, created fashion from op-shop clothes and pillow cases, and whose sense of fun drew people to her like a moth to a flame.

Also known as Clairey, Bones and, when she insisted, Donk, this is the daughter, granddaughter, sister and friend that will be remembered and celebrated today.
Claire was studying hospitality at South Bank TAFE and living in Brisbane when she was raped and murdered on this day last year.
Labourer Colin John Richardson, 34, was charged with her murder, after Claire's body was found in his unit, and is undergoing psychiatric testing as part of court proceedings.
Mother Sandy, brothers Dane and Trent, sister Loren and best friend Kasi Rakic will today visit Claire's grave at Tewantin before gathering with family and friends tonight to celebrate Claire's life.
Kasi wears a tattoo of a helicopter inscribed with the name Bones' on its tail on her lower back as a lasting tribute to the childhood friend she shared dreams, adventures and laughs with.
We were always drawing firetrucks and helicopters, we wanted to be firefighters. We were also going to live in an old airplane, deck it out and put carpet on the walls,'' she said with a grin.
Mrs Franklin yesterday said it was important people realised just how devastating murder was not just for the immediate family, but for the wider community and the long-lasting effects the loss had on people's lives.
She said more than 180 people were victims of homicide every year. Mrs Franklin said the police and the Queensland Homicide Victims Support Group had been very supportive.

A HEART-WRENCHING tale of hope has emerged from the road tragedy that left a two-year-old boy dead in Cooroy last week.

The young boy's baby brother, who suffered a savage blow to the head in the Friday car crash, has made a swift recovery in a Brisbane hospital.
Little Jack Weyman-Jones, aged six months, was expected back at his home in Ridgewood, near Noosa, from the Royal Children's Hospital yesterday.
Although painful, the homecoming gives Jack's grandmother, Jane Weyman-Jones, the strength to come to terms with the death of Jack's brother Edward, who was killed on impact, three months short of his third birthday.
We've got to keep going for Jack,'' she said.
We've got to be strong for him now.''
The accident happened on Cooroy's Lawnville Road about 4pm on Friday, when the Mitsubishi the boys' mother, Anna-Jane, 39, was driving lost control and struck trees.
She escaped serious physical injury.
Police said Anna-Jane was shocked and distraught, and was undergoing counselling.
Ms Weyman yesterday told the Daily the boys' parents had asked her to keep Edward's toys in the sand pit, as he had left them.
They want to remove the toys themselves they want to grieve together,'' she said.
She had been flooded with calls from concerned friends and family abroad and in Noosa, where the boys' father, Harvey, runs Hallmark Business Sales.
It's very difficult, but we're doing what we can,'' Ms Weyman-Jones said.
Accident Investigation Squad officer Senior Constable Andrew King said police investigations were continuing.

SAM Turly has reason to be smiling the talented musician has been reunited with a lost instrument and accepted into university.
The Nambour teenager's valuable euphonium was among items allegedly stolen from a Burnside High staff room on May 28, prompting a family plea for its return in the Sunshine Coast Daily.
Amazingly, Sam has now been reunited with the 50-year-old instrument more than four months after its disappeared.
Hardworking police phoned Sam with the good news the same day she found out she had been accepted to do a Bachelor of Music at the University of Queensland.
She auditioned on a borrowed instrument I think she's on cloud nine right now,'' her mum Amy Compton-Keen said.
It (the euphonium) was sitting in a canefield for a few months. The bag was quite wet but the instrument wasn't damaged.''
Ms Compton-Keen said the $6000 euphonium had been found by police at a Noosa pawn shop after staff raised the alarm.
A teacher's $8000 trombone taken from the school has also been recovered.

NOOSA Triathlon has come a long way since the running of the inaugural race 20 years ago.

One person who has been part of the triathlon's development into the second-largest in the world is Sunshine Beach local, Peter O'Neill.
When the starter's gun fires on Sunday, November 3, O'Neill will be one of the very few, if not the only person, with the distinguished honour of competing in all 20 Noosa Triathlons.
The race has definitely come a long way in 20 years,'' 51-year-old O'Neill said.
It's certainly more professional now the first race was a bit rough and ready.
Only 80 competitors registered for the first race, and we only had 62 finishers. I think it was something like only the third triathlon to be held in the eastern states of Australia.
The transition areas weren't even roped off, so your bikes just sat in the park.''
There is so much that O'Neill has seen and experienced in 20 years competing at Noosa.
But he still holds most dear the feeling of achievement he gets each year as he crosses the finish line: Just getting through the race is the best part for me. I've had injuries for the last three years, so it's a good feeling just to get through and finish it.''
O'Neill was on the organising committee for the first Noosa Triathlon in 1982.
He worked with a small team to ensure the actual race course fitted its description.

A TWO-fight triumph has given Caloundra's Rochelle Small a national taekwondo sparring title, but she laments she still cannot call herself No. 1''.

Small said yesterday she was pleased with her clear wins on points at the Australian titles on the Gold Coast.
But I do not feel I am the champion until I have beaten Carmen Marton from Victoria,'' she said.
She did not compete this time because she has been in Greece for the World Cup, where she won silver.''
Small, aged 19 and in her first year in the open division, hoped to face Marton at an invitational tournament set for early December at Homebush as a preliminary for possible 2004 Olympians.
The pair last met at the World Cup selection trials in March; Marton won 7-5.
A disappointment awaited Small on her return from the nationals as the official featherweight (55-59kg) champion.
I have been working as a waitress but they (the firm) told me they had to put me off,'' she said.
I am now looking to get into the tourism area.''
Small said her search for the right job and sponsorship was crucial as she sought an Olympic cap for 2008, if not 2004.
She trains with Kicks Taekwondo, which now has three other national champions.
Sarah Best, who trains with Kicks for sparring and with Noosa's Chris Blight for patterns, won the under-18 patterns title. She will turn 16 on Thursday.
Brendon Woolley, 15, won the junior under-45kg sparring title.
Kicks instructor Mark Johns won the men's patterns championship.

SUNSHINE Coast police have warned of the dangers of car surfing after a 18-year-old man sustained serious injuries on Saturday night, when he fell from a moving car.
An Energex Helicopter Rescue spokesperson said the man reportedly fell from the roof of a car moving at 60kph, at around 8pm.
The man suffered fractures to both arms and his hip was also dislocated, the spokesperson said.
He was airlifted to Nambour General Hospital from Teewah Beach (south of Double Island Point), where the incident occurred.
The injured man claimed he had fallen after leaning out of a window, but a witness to the incident claimed he had been car surfing on the roof of a four wheel drive.
We should warn people that while weekends are a good thing, if you party too hard, accidents do happen,'' the spokesperson said.
Sunshine Coast police district communications supervisor Ian Tinker said the incident showed common sense should prevail when driving.
He said both car-surfing and hanging out of a car window were dangerous acts.
If people choose to treat a vehicle as a toy, then they should expect consequences of death or serious injury,'' he said.
Meanwhile a 50-year-old Noosa women died early yesterday morning after falling from a cliff in Noosa National Park.
Sunshine Coast communications supervisor Ian Tinker said the woman died on rocks at the Boiling Pot.
The Noosa local was located by walkers in a semi-conscious condition at around 5am, he said.
An Energex paramedic said the women had multiple injuries as a result of her 20 metre fall, and died around 7.30am, still on the scene.

While the notorious Bandido motorcyle organisation may have captured the attention of the Sunshine Coast, another bikie group was conducting its own full-scale annual run.
The group of about 85 to 90 bikers, including members of the Sunshine Coast Women's Motorcycle Group and other bike enthusiasts, road 100 kilometres of the Coast yesterday to raise money for cancer.
Each year the event, hosted by the Sunshine Coast Women's Motorcyle Group, gives its proceeds to Bloomhill Cancer Help Centre.
Founding member and event organiser Helen Knight said the bike riders had hoped to raise around $2000.
It was a great run and a perfect day for it,'' Ms Knight said.
And whilst O'Malleys pub at Mooloolaba may have been marked as Bandidos territory, Palmview's Ettamogah Pub belongs to the fundraising bikies.
"We did a 100 kilometre run from the Etto to Yandina and Coolum, and back along the coast road,'' Ms Knight said.
"Now it's back to the Ettamogah for lunch and a good afternoon."

SUNSHINE Coast water could soon be helping our drought-stricken northern neighbours if the State Government approves a deal to sell water from the region's major supplier.
The Caloundra-Maroochy Water Supply Board believes it can spare 3000 megalitres from the Baroon Pocket Dam from November to January, through the summer peak.
Board manager Phil Aldridge said farmers in the Mary Valley to the Coast's north desperately needed more water.
The board has made an allocation after considering the low water levels around the state,'' he said.
We're going to sell the water to Sunwater (the State Government water authority) and they'll sell it to the irrigators obviously it's going to assist those people in need.''
But Queensland legislation needs to be changed to permit the sale something which Mr Aldridge said should hopefully be done on November 1.
A price has not yet been set.
Water Conservation Week started yesterday and will highlight the need for Coast residents to be watchful of what they waste down the drain.
The huge Baroon Pocket Dam near Montville provides about 60% of Maroochy Shire's drinking water and almost all of Caloundra City's.
The dam, which straddles the two shires geographically, has a capacity of 61,000 megalitres and is now 63.9% full.
That's expected to be enough to supply Caloundra and Maroochy for another 18 months without water restrictions, even it there is no decent rain in that time.
Mr Aldridge said Baroon Pocket was filled in February 2000 after strong downpours and remained full until last year.
But levels have dipped due to ongoing dry weather.

The thousands of visitors to the Landsborough Heritage Festival yesterday, and proud publican Terry Morrow, spent an absolutely fantastic'' day celebrating the town's charms.
When I first came up from Brisbane, people used to refer to Landsbrough as the town of the way to Maleny,'' Mr Morrow, who owns Landsborough Pub said.
Part of what today was about was telling people Landborough is the gateway to the Blackall Range. Stop here, have a cold beer, see all that the town has to offer, visit our great museum.''
Mr Morrow said about 3500 to 4500 people had come along to a great day of fun and history.
Everyone had a lot of fun. The support from the community groups and and business people has been wonderful. It's great to see what can be achieved when everyone gets together.''
There was a street parade, market stalls, Irish bands, belly dancers and square dancing, woodchopping and steam train exhibitions, the Landsborough Gift footrace and the Pub Moving Competition won by the Landsborough Pub team.
The race, to move two mini pubs, was all a bit of fun and a tip of the hat to local history.
It was a renactment of the time when Mellum Club Hotel, established in Mellum in 1888 had to be relocated and was hauled on to logs and gradually shifted to a new home in Landsborough.


IT WAS hard to tell what Canadian Simon Larose was more pleased about after yesterday's Uncle Tobys Masters singles final at Kawana Tennis Club.

Beating number one seed Joe Sirianni from Victoria to claim the title, or finishing a spring campaign that included Davis Cup representation in Brazil and a month of daily matches on the Tennis Australia Satellite tour.
Larose and Sirianni had been the clear standouts throughout last week's $50,000 Masters, and yesterday's final could not have portrayed how closely they were matched, if a script had been written.
Larose won the match 7-6, 1-6, 6-3, but took five match points in an epic last game to finally defeat a gallant Sirianni.
I was struggling in the heat towards the end. I came back from Brazil and started the Satellite Tour the very next day, and I've played almost every day since then for the last month,'' 24-year-old Larose said.
The second set Joe came out booming, and I couldn't keep up.
But in the third set I came back, I thought this is it, this is the final day of the Satellite Tour, I have to dig deep'.''
Simon played great today,'' Sirianni said.
I thought I played pretty good, but just got pipped at the end.''
Sirianni said the turning point of the match was the sixth game of the third set when he had Larose 0-40 on his own serve at 3-3 and failed to get the break.
I gave him my all in the last game, I just couldn't break him,'' the 27-year-old Tennis Australia vetran said.

A REMARKABLE 167-run partnership for the ninth wicket rescued a rollercoaster Glasshouse innings on day one of the Caloundra RSL Cup match against Caboolture on Saturday.

The Rangers finished all out for 309 after looking down and out at 8-141.
It was Andrew Smith (136 not out) and No.10 Anthony Delforno (98) who were the heroes for Glasshouse, combining in the century stand which saw the Rangers' total past 300.
The visitors had earlier suffered a top-order collapse, slumping to 3-9 before Smith settled the batting and steered the middle-order through to 8-141, nearing his own century on the way.
With the end of the innings looking imminent, Smith was joined by 16-year-old Delforno and the pair reversed the run of play.
Leading a side without usual skipper Geoff Paulsen, Brett Milini tried all the options, including himself, to break through and end the partnership.
Delforno played his role sensibly, hitting well down the line of the ball as Smith powered on to an eventual 136 not out.
The youngster was denied a well-deserved century when he was caught by Milini off Meade two runs short of his ton.
The Snakes now face their second 300-plus chase in two rounds their target this time just one run more than the 308 they reached in the round one loss to Caloundra.
At Ron McMullin Oval, Maroochydore wrapped up a first innings win on day one as a disappointing Caloundra showed little determination to fall for 128 against a supposedly under- strength Swans attack.
The home side moved smoothly to 1-142 by stumps with a patient Brian Haggerty unbeaten on 75.

CALOUNDRA runner Jenny Philp-Young won the Queensland 10,000 metres championship on Saturday night, but not the way she wanted to do it.

Only two women lined up on the University of the Sunshine Coast athletics track and Philp-Young's sole rival was not eligible to claim the title because she was not registered with Queensland Athletics.
It didn't matter anyway because she lapped the other runner several times on the way to posting a personal best time of 37 minutes two seconds in the humid, windy conditions 30 seconds faster than the time which took her to fourth position last year.
Philp-Young, who has been in great form recently, described the race as the toughest 25 laps of her career.
It was very disappointing that we had all the no-shows from the Brisbane and Gold Coast runners,'' she said.
Some of them are injured and others are out having a rest but I still would have thought there would have been a few more there.
The race was virtually a time trial and it makes it very difficult when all you have to focus on is the clock.
When you're running with a pack you have the other runners' backs to focus on and you're thinking about the tactics of the race, but when there's no-one else it makes it a very long 25 laps.''
No prizemoney is offered at the Queensland championships, unlike the many weekend fun-runs on the running calendar a situation the sport's governing body may have to look into to improve events like Saturday night's.
Brisbane runner Brad Smith won the men's championship.

PARADISE was lost this week. Terror exploded in our playground with an unseen foe pointing the finger of death at Australian civilians at our most popular holiday destination.

Bali, its people and our travel-loving nation will never be the same.
As the toll from the blast continues to rise, many burns victims still fight for their lives.
Those who emerged physically unscathed struggle to understand why they were spared.
The Sunshine Coast, like almost every region in Australia, experienced its share of tragedy, heroic acts and chilling examples of how fate can measure life and death in metres and seconds.
Thousands of Sunshine Coast residents will join tomorrow in a nation-wide tribute to those who suffered.
All churches will offer prayers to victims and their families, and events such as Landsborough's Heritage Festival will stop for a minute's silence in a special tribute.
St Marks Anglican Church at Buderim will hold a service of remembrance at 3.30pm.
The biggest community service will be held at Alexandra Headland at 10am when a moving ceremony will be conducted in memory of those who lost their lives in the Kuta bombing.
Balinese in traditional dress will make Hindu offerings, a gong will sound for each of those who lost their lives, and children from the St Johns Catholic School band will perform.
Alexandra Headland Malibu Club will coordinate a traditional surfers' memorial service, which involves paddlers forming a circle in the ocean and offering floral tributes.

THE Bandidos motorcycle gang roared into Mooloolaba yesterday under a police escort for day one of of their national run''.

Ten police bikes and two police cars accompanied the 100-strong group of riders along the Bruce Highway from Brisbane, guiding their arrival at Mooloolaba's Outrigger resort yesterday afternoon.
Sunshine Coast central district inspector Merv Neilson said the escort was provided to ensure the safe and efficient flow of local traffic''.
We're not anticipating any problems over the weekend,'' Insp Neilson said.
Bandidos members themselves said the event was about cameraderie, and played down the gang's criminal history.
It's just about all the brothers and their families getting together for a holiday,'' Bandidos secretary Sep'' said.
Among the items on their intinerary were a party at a private residence in Coolum on Saturday night, some skydiving in Caloundra and plenty of trips to the beach.
The Bandidos were the focus of a two-year police operation in Cairns, when nine gang members were among the 21 people pinned with 142 charges for offences including grievous bodily harm, trafficking cannabis and amphetamines and firearm possession.
Far North regional crime co-ordinator Detective Inspector John Harris said the operation, which ended in December 2000, decimated the Cairns chapter of the gang and landed its president in jail.
On the Sunshine Coast last year, Bandidos sergeant-at-arms Dallas Devine was jailed for 18 months after pleading guilty to a number of drugs and weapon charges.

HAZARDOUS chemical experts, firefighters and the Environmental Protection Agency were called into Maleny yesterday to investigate how fuel could be leaching into a major Sunshine Coast water supply.

Low explosive levels of gas were detected around a storm water drain, which flows into the Obi Obi Creek and then to Baroon Pocket Dam, after a plumber notified firefighters of a strong smell of fuel on Thursday night.
Caloundra City Council and the EPA brought in gas monitoring equipment yesterday to try and identify the source but were unable to pin-point it.
Despite the scare, Maleny Fire Auxiliary captain Peter Hopper said evacuation was not necessary because the risk of ignition was so low, but the area, on Coral Street, behind the shops was cordoned off.
He said a Hazchem unit initially tested for chemicals but the high readings had not been recorded again when council and the EPA investigated yesterday.
Maleny councillor Pauline Clayton yesterday said the situation was alarming'' but not new.
I have had complaints of the smell of fuel in our drains on Coral Street on and off for years,'' she said.
She said council had used meters to measure gas levels in the drains and all they had been able to tell her was there were many old fuel storage tanks under the Maleny CBD.
This has been different, this has been a serious release of fuel,'' she said.
Environmental Protection Agency Sunshine Coast district manager Nerida Budd said it was working with council to identify the source of the problem but it could be difficult.

MAROOCHYDORE'S Bad Girls strip club may have failed in its bid for a licence which would have allowed dancers to remove their G-strings but Maroochy Shire councillor Barbara Cansdell won't be happy until they are gone from the CBD altogether.

I will be moving a resolution at the next meeting of the planning committee that council take Bad Girls into the Planning and Environment Court because they have breached the conditions of the approval on their original application,'' Mrs Cansdell said.
In denying the club's bid for a permit allowing full nudity, the Liquor Licencing Tribunal heard there had been 1489 objections to the club's plan.
Mrs Cansdell said she had been advised to wait for resolution the Bad Girls' bid for the permit at the Liquor Appeals Tribunal before pursuing the matter further.
She said the strip club had not met some of council planning scheme's original conditions to trade in the CBD when the proposal was considered to be for a more typical nightclub.
The establishment was supposed to be more open to the street and to provide light meals from a commercial- standard kitchen, she said.
It doesn't comply.
It's an amenity issue that particular site is not the place to have Bad Girls.
It's too near churches, Lifeline, the scouts and girl guides and in that area higher-density residential development is going to come in thick and fast. To me they should get out and set up near the brothel at Kunda Park.''
Mrs Cansdell said the number of objections noted by the tribunal represented serious concerns from the broader community.

WHAT sort of state are you in? If recent publicity is any guide, you're probably overweight and unfit.

You might want to start an exercise program, but can't find the motivational trigger.
That's something the Queensland Government wants to change.
Not only does Premier Peter Beattie want us to be the Smart State, he also wants us to be the Green State and the Fit State.
He wants people to leave their cars at home and get on their bikes, walk to the shops, or join the great American tradition of car pooling.
A campaign encouraging everyone to do just that was launched at the Novotel Twin Waters resort yesterday.
Appropriately called TravelSmart, the campaign is a collaborative effort between Queensland Transport, Sunbus and a regional television station.
In launching the initiative, Member for Noosa Cate Molloy, representing Transport Minister Steve Bredhauer, said almost 750,000 residents in areas like Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton and the Sunshine Coast would see the TravelSmart community service announcements over the next two years.
TravelSmart promotional material supporting the TV campaign, will also be placed on the entire SunBus fleet of 105 vehicles operating in regional Queensland.
Values in our community are becoming greener, Mr Bredhauer said.


THE Sunshine Coast's turf industry toasted a sweet victory yesterday after the state's racing chiefs again stamped metropolitan standard'' on a Corbould Park meeting date.

The board of Queensland Racing snubbed the city-based lobby against the allocation of any main Saturday dates to regional tracks and approved applications from the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast turf clubs.
I'll certainly have a champagne over this one,'' Sunshine Coast Turf Club chairman Les Geeves said after the QR approved the Caloundra City Cup meeting as the state's metropolitan meeting for July 5, 2003.
The approval is worth many millions of dollars in promotion and tourism for the Sunshine Coast.''
The 2002 Caloundra Cup meeting in July was the first metropolitan-standard Saturday meeting at Corbould Park since it opened about 17 years ago.
SCTC chief executive Mick Sullivan said the meeting generated $2.7 million in off-course betting revenue and drew almost 7200 to the course.
Despite the success, the city lobby continued to vehemently oppose the allocation of any Saturday dates to courses outside Brisbane.
Queensland Turf Club secretary David Laing said yesterday he was disappointed Queensland Racing had adopted the same carnival format as this year.
Laing expected the QTC board's meeting next Friday to discuss the implications of the race dates.
However, QR chairman Bob Bentley said his board's decision was based on the results of this year's winter carnival and the potential for future growth.

IT'S amazing the variations tennis players on the world tour can encounter in just a few weeks.

Last month Canadian Simon Larose was playing doubles for his country in a Davis Cup world group qualifying tie against Brazil in front of around 8000 spectators in Rio de Janeiro.
With partner Daniel Nestor, he lost a five-setter to former world No.1 Gustavo Kuerten and Andre Sa.
This week, he's at the Kawana Tennis Centre playing in the Uncle Tobys Masters satellite tour event in front of a handful of Sunshine Coast tennis followers.
Larose, ranked 559th in the world, accepts it as part of his life as a tennis professional, although he'd rather be playing for almost a million dollars somewhere else in the world rather than for a share of around $50,000 at Kawana.
It was a big decision to come down here, but there's not a lot on this time of year,'' Larose said.
It's a small event but you have to leave your ego at home and be prepared to bust your arse.
Money's not the motivation this week. It's all about earning ranking points and getting your ranking back up to where you don't have to play these events anymore.
Nothing against this event, it's well organised, but I want to be playing main tour events.''

MOOLOOLABA ironman Tim Peach reckons his parents should have pushed him into golf or football instead of letting him follow his brother Ben down to nippers when he was little.

He joked that compared to golf, there was far too much hard work required and not enough monetary gain in the competitive side of surf lifesaving.
I reckon golf would have been the sport,'' he laughed.
I didn't even like swimming much when I first started nippers, I just followed my brother, and then just kept going with it''
But don't worry about him griping about a missed life as a pro golfer when he hits the beach.
Dry humour aside, he loves the sport and the friendships he has made through patrols and surf carnivals.
There is more to life as a professional athlete than money, and 20- year-old Peach loves being an ironman.
This summer he reckons he is the fittest he has ever been, and ready to trial for automatic entry into the 2002/2003 Kellogg's Nutri- Nutri Grain Ironman Series.
With last season's nine best finishers already securing contracts, the rest of the field will race on Coolangatta Beach this weekend for the remaining four Kellogg's contracts.
For those who qualify, Kellogg's will pay travel and accommodation expenses for competitors to enter all four Nutri-Grain series rounds.
I've raced all the guys who are competing this weekend before and beaten them at various stages. so I'm not overly worried about that. I'd prefer to concentrate on my own race,'' Peach said.

TWO young schoolgirls emerged as heroes yesterday after escaping a brazen daylight abduction bid.
The girls yesterday recounted their terror as police launched a massive public appeal for information.
Little Sasha Vurlow and her best friend Nichole Barnes, both aged just seven, mustered the strength and the courage to fight off a physically intimidating man who dragged them into his car near Kuluin State School about 3.20pm Wednesday.
The brave duo had been heading for Nichole's North Buderim home along Tallow Wood Drive when the man pulled up, just half a kilometre from Sasha's home, and tried to entice them into his Holden Commodore with lollies.
When they refused, the man reached over the seat, grabbed Nichole and dragged her into the car.
Sasha latched on to her buddy, and both Year Two students were yanked inside.
A frantic few minutes followed as the car travelled about 300 metres towards Main Road, running a red light and nearly colliding with a white VW.
Police are asking the driver of that vehicle to come forward to help with the investigation.
A calm and softly-spoken Sasha yesterday told the Daily that although she was terrified, and that she and Nichole had done everything they could to get out of the car.
"Nichole was trying to control the steering wheel and I found a knife in his pocket and threw it out the window,'' she said.
Sasha recalled the distinct smell of liquor on the driver's breath.
"I was really scared ... I thought something bad was going to happen,'' she said.
The tussle saw the driver lose control and pull over, giving the girls a chance to unlock the door and scramble to the safety of Nichole's home.
Nichole's mum Alison Barnes, who moved with her children to the Coast from NSW just five months ago, was rocked by the news.
"It was terrible,'' she said. "I could just cry.''
Sasha's mum, Shelley Daws, was still in shock yesterday, sobbing as she recalled the event.
"Sasha was shaking and she said to me: `Mummy, I didn't think I was ever going to see you again','' she said.
Ms Daws was among the chorus of voices commending the girls for their gutsy actions.
"They were both very brave little girls,'' she said.
Detective Senior Sergeant Paul Schmidt said two Comfits had been drawn up to allow for slight variations in the girls' descriptions, and agreed the outcome could have been far worse if not for the girls' courageous escape.
"I think they've done exceptionally well. Had the young girls not fought back, we might have been looking at something completely different today,'' Det Snr Sgt Schmidt said.
The man is described as aged in his early 20s with a fat build and a tanned complexion.
He had a possible foreign accent and was about 180cm tall, with a naked lady tattooed on his left leg, and about five earrings in his right ear.
Police are asking Main Road residents to check their wheelie bins for a knife with a six-inch blade after a tipoff it may have been located and dumped by a passer-by.
The car is described as a black or blue Holden Commodore, possibly a wagon, with yellow and black number plates _ from either WA or NSW.
It had roof racks and possibly a bullbar.
Anyone with information should contact Crimestoppers on

Surfers, members of the Sunshine Coast's Balinese and Indonesian communities and school children will combine for the service which will be held at 10am on the Bluff as part of the national day of mourning.
Balinese in traditional dress will make Hindu offerings, a gong will sound for each of those whose life was lost and children from St Johns Catholic School's gamelan band will play.
Alexandra Headland Malibu Club will coordinate the traditional surfers memorial service, which involves paddlers forming a circle in the ocean, a beating of the water and offering of floral tributes.
All surfers are invited to bring their boards and participate in the ceremony.
Messages of peace and condolence sent by the Kuta village chief will be read at the service. Rama Brierty from the Sunshine Coast's Balinese community will also speak as will a member of the Sunshine Coast clergy.
All attending are invited to bring floral tributes from their gardens. These will be carried out into the water along with the Balinese offerings.
John Stokes of ABC Coast FM will act as master of ceremony.
Organising committee spokesman Bill Hoffman said powerful existing links between the Sunshine Coast and Indonesia would become stronger through the shared grief.
"Both countries have suffered a terrible loss,'' he said.
"The beach service will recognise the link between the two countries. Since the 1970s, young Sunshine Coast surfers have made the journey to Bali and other areas throughout Indonesia.
"In many ways the people they have met and the experiences they have had, have shaped who they have become as adults. Surfers have developed their own service of grieving and it reflects the Balinese belief that everything comes from and goes back to the sea.''
Mr Hoffman said the Balinese bombings would have a devastating effect on the lives of Australians and the people of Kuta for decades to come.
"The day of mourning will give all Australians an opportunity to express their grief at the terrible events of October 12 and to show that terror will only serve to strengthen us as a nation and strengthen our resolve for peace.''
For more information about Sunday's memorial service call John Stokes on 54755000, Bill Hoffman on 54308079 or Damien Coulter of Alexandra Headland Malibu Club on 54447091.

SYDNEYSIDER Terry Feehan, a regular visitor to the Sunshine Coast, echoed the feelings of a planeload of passengers on Virgin Blue's first direct flight to the Sunshine Coast yesterday.
"I normally fly to Brisbane and then drive up but the cost of the Virgin flight was so good I decided to fly direct,'' he said.
Fellow passenger George Livanos, also from Sydney, said he also chose Virgin because of the "cost and convenience''.
The only problem for Mr Feehan was that the trip ended up costing him an extra $700.
That was the amount he bid for a weekend trip for two to the Novotel Twin Waters Resort in Virgin's charity in- flight fundraiser for the schizophrenia fellowship.
"We were having so much fun I got a bit carried away,'' Mr Feehan said.
Certainly "fun'' was the theme of the day with staff providing passengers with face painting, free champagne, free ice-creams and a free t-shirt that read "go where it's sunny for less money''.
Jazz musicians and local identities including Maroochy mayor Alison Grosse welcomed the passengers to the airport where manager Neil Weatherson said Virgin's flights would bring in an extra 120,000 passengers a year.
"It means we'll have around 420,000 seats a year coming into the airport,'' he said.
"When you consider the figures show that for every extra 167 people that come in, one new job is created, Virgin Blue's arrival is fantastic news for the local economy.''
Virgin's public and media relations manager Amanda Bolger was on the flight and said it was great to see people supporting "the airline that promotes competition''.
That was a clear reference to the announcement yesterday that Qantas had introduced a $100 one-way ticket cost between the Sunshine Coast and Sydney in response to Virgin's prices which start at $99.

A MOOLOOLABA woman moved out of her home in a bid to escape an alleged stalker who police claim had also video-taped young children on the beach, a Maroochydore court heard yesterday.
Former Mooloolaba resident Samantha Lee Charles told the Maroochydore Magistrates Court that her neighbour, Michael John Carr, had followed her home to Brisbane Road from a Moo loolaba Esplanade nightclub last December, whistling and hiding behind bus shelters as he shadowed her movements with a video camera.
"I thought this is a sick person I'm dealing with here _ I was afraid and I was on my own,'' she said.
Ms Charles told the court she and her two daughters, aged five and eight, moved out of their Mooloolaba home because she feared for her family's safety.
Mr Carr, 46, was committed to trial in the District Court over one stalking charge on a date to be fixed.
He entered no plea when he represented himself at his committal before Magistrate Dean Wilkinson yesterday.
Detective Senior Sergeant Russell Halfpenny told the court police had charged Mr Carr after a public appeal for information about complaints that "a large man'' had been video taping children on the beach.
He said police had seized from the man's home five video tapes containing footage of young children on Mooloolaba Beach.

CALOUNDRA ratepayers caught out by massive land value hikes face a nervous wait as outside consultants are employed to find ways to soften the blow.
City mayor Don Aldous said the boom in unimproved capital values had hit about 90 properties.
Mr Aldous said many of the residents, particularly in the Minyama area, had lived there for 20 or 30 years and were now pensioners, struggling to cope with the soaring values.
Division four councillor Andrew Champion said some people had faced increases up to 50% and paid as much as $5000 on their general rates this year.
To add to their woes, another 30% increase was expected next year.
He said some pensioners had already cancelled their health insurance to pay the rates.
The council will launch a consultation process, seeking suggestions on making the rates system more equitable and to find out if it can be made equitable.
In the meantime, rating is being levied as an average over the past three years.
But the issue sparked a massive debate in council chambers yesterday, with division two councillor Anna Grosskreutz questioning the need to employ outside consultants to handle the process.
"We have a community consultation officer on staff and I think he could have done the work without having to spend $50,000 of ratepayers' money,'' she said.
But Mr Aldous said there was no question that consultants needed to be employed from outside council.
"To get impartiality, to get fairness and to be open about it,'' he said.
"It needs to be someone at arm's length from the council who can pull it together and can have good, open communications,'' he said.
The extensive community consultation, is set to get under way early in November and be completed by mid- December.

IT was a perfect match. The kidney David Eaves donated to his wife Lisa took instantly after a long operation in Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital on Monday.
David's mother Teresa yesterday said both were sore but recovering well, walking around and starting rehabilitation exercises the day after.
"It went very well, the kidney started functioning immediately,'' Mrs Eaves said from the couple's Lake Cooroibah home, where she is looking after grandsons Darcy, 10, and Benjamin, 6.
"Medical staff said it usually takes a couple of days for the kidney to start working, but this one must have been full of yippy beans _ it took straight away,'' she said.
Lisa was diagnosed with lupis nephritis when she was 13 but after years of treatment, doctors warned the 39-year-old her kidneys would fail by the end of this year.
A family history of diabetes meant her siblings could not be donors and next on the list was husband David. The couple will celebrate their 13th wedding anniversary on Mondayoctober 21.
Mrs Eaves said David would be out of hospital within 10 days but would stay in Brisbane for a few days with Lisa.
Lisa will spend the next few months in Brisbane with relatives, while she makes daily visits to the hospital for treatment, but expects to be home in time for Christmas.
"I wouldn't want to go through this every day and I hope it's still functioning in 45 years,'' Mrs Eaves said.
She said she had been overwhelmed with phone calls of concern and support from the popular couple's family and friends, including Lisa's mother who lives in Italy and was married just last week.

A DAY hospital where the nurses are in stitches instead of the patients, where insurance companies have hardly increased premiums at all, and where nurses are queueing up to work there ... I'd like to see that.
Well, you can.
The Sunshine Coast Day Surgery celebrates its 10th birthday next weekend and director of nursing Julie Viecieli said the facility was going from strength to strength.
"Fortunately our specialists haven't been affected by the liability insurance issue ... the insurance companies say they're happy with the processes and procedures we have in place,'' she said.
The facility is owned privately and 77 doctors use its two operating theatres and endoscopy suite to treat their own patients who are charged a fee on top of their doctor's and anaesthetist's fees. A full and part-time staff of 25 nurses and seven administration people keep the centre ticking over.
Ms Viecieli said a 10th birthday celebration party had been organised for Saturday week where all the doctors and staff and their families had been invited.
"We understand that people need a balance in their lives between work and family so we try to ensure staff have the opportunity to achieve that,'' she said.
"We have a lot of fun every day.''


Attack takes place metres from local primary school
POLICE yesterday were investigating the savage bashing of man outside a corner shop just metres from Maroochydore State Primary School.
Witnesses to the assault said a man had repeatedly bashed another man with a piece of wood, resulting in serious injuries to the victim of the attack.
Des Sheppard was passing on his motorbike and stopped when he saw the assault taking place.
"There was a fella with a piece of four by two just swinging and swinging and hitting him,'' Mr Sheppard said.
"He kept on flogging him and flogging him.''
He said the attacker then fled the scene, and Mr Sheppard flagged down a police car and reported the incident.
Convenience Corner and Papers owner Alan Birkenhead said he had not seen the attack as he had been working at the back of his shop.
But he said had heard the sounds of a serious altercation, followed by shouts from witnesses to call the police, which he did.
Mr Birkenhead said police were a regular sight in the Primary School Court area.
"There's trouble of some kind here every day.''
A witness who declined to be named said the victim had been sitting on the step outside the corner shop when the other man appeared with a "big lump of wood'' and attacked him.
Maroochydore QAS paramedic Lindon Shield said the man was conscious after the attack but had serious chest injuries and had been transferred to Nambour General Hospital after initial treatment at the scene.
Police inquiries were continuing yesterday afternoon but no arrest had been made.
Meanwhile, a Beerwah chemist became the second pharmacy in as many weeks to fall vitcim to a Sudafed smash-and-grab.
Theives smashed through the doors of the Soul Pattinson chemist and swiped up to 30 packets of decongestants, including Sudafed, which contain a chemical used in the production of amphetamines.
No other products, such as cameras or perfumes, were stolen.
The Montville Pharmacy was broken into last week.

Retribution would mean triumph for evil
TEARS flowed at a Brisbane church service in memory of the Bali bomb victims yesterday where a bishop implored Australians to resist reacting to the tragedy with anger, hatred and revenge.
"To be overcome with retribution ... would mean that evil hasreally triumphed,'' Brisbane An glican bishop Richard Appleby told the congregation of about 150 people at St John's Cathedral.
"We can do our bit to make sure that we don't keep the evil incirculation by passing it on.
"If we respond to evil with evil we will become part of the problem.''
The congregation included friends of some of the victims.
"It's quite horrendous,'' said an emotional Sherie Rodrigues, afriend of bomb victim Jodie Cearns.
Ms Cearns, 35, the stepdaughter of Olympic gold medallist Glynis Nunn-Cearns, remains on life support at Melbourne's Alfred Hospital after having her leg amputated in Darwin.
"To think that this could happen. I didn't think I would ever beaffected by anything like this. To especially know somebody, it'sscary,'' Ms Rodrigues said.
"I just want the families to know that we're thinking of them.''
Mary Lipinski, who had a friend in Bali who escaped injury,called on the young holiday makers who lived through the Kutablasts to resist becoming a victim of survivor guilt.
"Please all those young people don't feel guilty that you're alive and that some didn't make it.''
because we've just got to live in hope and pray that this doesn't happen again,'' she said, wiping tears from her eyes.
Ms Lipinski, who was at the World Trade Centre in New York just three days before the September 11 tragedy, said the Bali disaster was just as horrific.
"This, per head of population, has been far more devastating asfar as carnage of young life - children, mothers, brothers,'' shesaid.
"Today I had to come. I'm a mum, I'm a grandma, I'm a wife, I'm all of those and people out there are all suffering for no goodreason.''
Acting Premier Terry Mackenroth, who attended today's service, called on Queenslanders to attend Sunday church services as part of the national day of mourning.
He said it was still unclear how many Queenslanders had died inthe Bali terrorist attack.
Eleven Bali victims remain in hospital in Queensland, includingfour in intensive care at Royal Brisbane Hospital.
A 17-year-old youth from NSW was still critical and in an unstable condition, a Queensland Health spokeswoman said.

Fears many Australians will never be identified
CRIME scene investigators arestill finding human remains in the debris around two Bali nightclubs blown up in a terrorist attack five days ago.
So huge was the blast, which killed at least 180 people _ more than 100 feared to be Australians _ that many of the victims were blown to pieces and may never be positively identified.
Crime scene investigators are still poring through the rubble and putting body parts into little bags.
In one instance an official found something, put it in a bag,and used sign language to sig nal to a colleague that he had found a human hand.
Australian police experts warned yesterday that it may take months to sort out identities.
"There is nothing we would like more than to get this donequickly, but it's on a scale un precedented for Australia and rare in the world,'' said Julian Slater, head of the victim identification squad flown in from Australia.
The Australian Federal Police officer said he understood the frustration and anger of scores of relatives upset that none of the Australian victims had yet been returned home.
But he had more grim news for them when he said the entire process of identification and repatriation would take "months''.
"It is possible that some people may not be identified,'' he said.
And despite the fact that Australian authorities had confirmed at least 30 Australian dead, he said: "Nobody has been identified to the point of repatriation.''
The problem is that many bodies have been identified visually, but that is not sufficient to meet the international protocols required by all countries whose nationals have died.
These standards require identification by DNA samples, dental records or fingerprints.
"It might seem like red tape, but visual identification hastaken place in circumstances of extreme duress, and we need to be absolutely confident these are correct,'' Mr Slater said.
"It is a prolonged and extraordinarily complex process.''
He did not wish to hazard an estimate of when the first bodies would be flown back home.
Mr Slater said the Childers backpacker fire in Queensland was a far less complex identification task than the Bali emergency, and took place on Australian soil, but even that took two weeks.
Australian families in Bali today were giving DNA samples,mostly through mouth swabs, to help identify victims.
Relatives at home could do the same without having to come to Bali, experts explained.
A Foreign Affairs Department official pointed out that the identification process was complicated by the fact that thedisaster area was also a full scale crime investigation scene.
"There are other forensic issues to consider here,'' the official said.
"These people did not fall off the back of a motorbike.''
Mr Slater said conditions at Denpasar's Sanglah morgue had improved, though they were still "very hot and crowded''.

MATT Page publicly apologised yesterday to two German tourists he tied to a tree and robbed at gunpoint during his 10 days on the run in the Northern Territory.
The 31-year-old Hervey Bay man told the Darwin Magistrates Court he would plead guilty to all charges when he faces court next month.
He apologised to a total of six victims he encountered during the course of what his lawyer Jon Tippett, QC, described as a breakdown.
He also expressed regret to police for the resources they had to use to hunt him down.
He apologised to Eva Obermeyer, 50, and her 16-year-olddaughter, Sarah, for leaving them tied to a tree overnight in Litchfield National Park on August 30.
And for robbing them of $650, travellers cheques and three credit cards after firing his .40 calibre Glock pistol.
He also apologised to Suellen Pitt, the woman from whom he stole a car$47,000 four-wheel drive vehicle in Maryborough, Queensland, during a test drive on July 13.
And he apologised to Felicity Douglas, Leone Symons and Stuart Williams, who gave him a lift on September 8. Page threatened them with his pistol moments before he was caught. in a police roadblock in Arnhem Land.
"He wishes to extend publicly his profound apologies to (the six victims),'' Page's lawyer Jon Tippett told the court.
"He deeply regrets the distress and concern that his actions have caused,'' Mr Tippett said.
For reasons to will be explained in the Supreme Court, Page had lost all hope for the future before the crime spree, Mr Tippett said.
"His trek into the isolated regions of the Territory was apersonal journey that arose as a result of a belief that his life was not worth living.
"And with the specific idea of ending it at some point at an isolated place using one of the guns he possessed.''
As well as guns, the court heard Page was also found with a set of Smith and Wesson handcuffs plus three packets of cable ties of the type used to shackle the German tourists.
Magistrate Dick Wallace committed Page to appear before the next sitting of the NT Supreme Court on November 4.
He faces 13 charges including deprivation of liberty,threatening with a gun, and robbery.
While Page is a remand prisoner, he was allowed to wear street clothes and sit at the bar table beside a police guard rather than in the dock.
Mr Tippett asked that the suicide-risk stamp on Page's file be removed. Mr Wallace denied the request.
Page also faces 20 lesser charges for gun offences andtrespassing on Aboriginal land which will be heard by a magistrate.

A FURIOUS Alison Grosse lashed out at her opponents yesterday, claiming her "reign'' over Maroochy Shire had moulded it for the better, despite her having to work with people with "extreme personality disorders''.
The Maroochy mayor narrowly survived what was effectively a "no confidence'' motion at yesterday's council meeting after hearing a mix of insults and accolades from her fellow councillors.
Councillor Zrinka Johnston called on the council to "disassociate'' itself from evidence Mrs Grosse gave to the Royal Commission into the Building and Construction Industry on Monday where she claimed to have the reading ability of an eight-year-old.
The Buderim councillor's motion also called on the council to express its concern at the mayor's alleged "continuing irresponsibility and lack of leadership''.
"It's a long-established tradition in Australia for elected representatives to voice no confidence in their leaders,'' she said.
She said the mayor's Commission evidence had been the last straw.
But the mayor found support from her deputy, Trevor Thompson, and councillors Errol Middlebrook, Bruce Dunne, Leigh Rowan, Gillian Taylor and Hermann Schwabe.
Mrs Grosse, who spoke quickly and loudly when she was given a chance to respond to the motion, told her opponents they were unfairly judging her.
"It's not me that's on trial at the Royal Commission,'' she said.
"As far as I'm concerned, I was just asked some questions and I answered them ... I'm part of a process.
"I think it's very shallow of anybody to think that they are a court judge ... quite frankly, I think it's degrading.
"Give me some real reason for your stupid, out-of-order motion today.''
At one stage during yesterday's debate, Mr Thompson left his chair, walked to the mayor's side and whispered to her to calm down.
He told the council Mrs Grosse did not give evidence at the Royal Commission as the Maroochy mayor, but as a private person and the former chairman of a Sunshine Coast apprentices company.
Mrs Grosse said she had a "courageous spirit'' as "a woman and a leader'', despite her "disabilities''.
She said if councillors wanted to "throw stones'', she could also criticise her colleagues.
"I have to put up with extreme personality disorders,'' she said.
Councillor Barbara Cansdell, who seconded Ms Johnston's motion, said she was surprised by the mayor's claim to have a juvenile reading ability, saying she got through a 25-minute speech when delivering this year's budget.
"I've always admired her for her speeches - which she reads,'' she said.
Mooloolaba councillor and mayoral aspirant Joe Natoli said it was unfortunate that the council and staff had to be brought into "this confrontation between the media and the mayor''.
Mr Natoli said debate over the mayor's leadership had been a distraction from the good work the council was doing.
However, he supported Ms Johnston's motion in distancing the council from what the mayor said at the commission.

IF not for a re-scheduled flight Julie Stevenson would have left Bali on Saturday _ and would not have been buying drinks in the Sari Bar.
But her family are still counting themselves lucky that she was able to get a message to them before she died, and that they will have her body to say their goodbyes to.
Brother Allan, of Mt Coolum, said Julie, 34, who worked for Mambo in Sydney, was on a week's holiday with a girlfriend and was due to fly home Saturday afternoon but their flight was delayed a day.
The women decided to head to the Sari bar for one last night of fun. Julie was at the bar buying drinks when the bomb went off, her girlfriend was in the toilet.
Mr Stevenson said somebody pulled Julie from the wreckage and took her to a clinic where she was treated for severe burns by an Australian doctor. Debbie walked out unharmed.
"She was able to say her name and give them her mother's name and telephone number, and asked the woman (doctor) to ring and tell her parents she loved them,'' he said. Julie died in theatre.
The loss is all the harder for Mr Stephenson and his family, as they lost his older brother at 14 in a car accident. He didn't even know his sister was in Bali until Sunday afternoon, when he was told of her death.
"It's such a shame and such a waste. I'm an only child now. To get the message and to know there is a body, at least we'll have some form of closure,'' he said.
"I can't understand this. I want people to know about my sister and know about our grief.''
Mr Stevenson said the family were waiting for Julie's body to be returned to Australia before planning her Gold Coast funeral.

COAST churchgoers and many members of the wider community were yesterday celebrating a courtroom decision which means the strippers at Maroochydore's Bad Girls will have to keep their G-strings on.
Bad Gil victory for people power over Maroochydore's Bad Girls strip club.
But the owner of Bad Girls has vowed the club is "there for the long haul'' despite the fail ure of his appeal against the Liquor Appeals Tribunal's refusal of an adult entertainment permit.
Tony Shead, who owns Queensland's five Bad Girls clubs, said he would considering further legal action to try to gain the permit, which would allow for total nudity at the club, in line with his other establishments.
would bring the Maroochydore club in line with the other four premises.
However, Stella Maris Catholic Church parishioner Greg O'Connor said the decision was "a victory for community action'' with hundreds of objections to the Bad Girls' bid.
"I think the tribunal has made an important decision, particularly for the local community,'' Mr O'Connor said.
While he said many churchgoers would object to Bad Girls on moral grounds, the legal fight was a "social action'' based on retaining a family- friendly precinct at Ocean St.
He cited a section of the tribunal's report in which it was found that "the use of these premises for sexually activities is out of keeping with the character of the locality as it presently exists and as council intends the locality to develop''.
Mr Shead said Bad Girls would continue to trade as "a topless bar'' while he considered his legal options.
He said there had been no problems with his clubs which did hold the adult permits, including one in the Queen St Mall _ "a family area'' _ and another located next to a church.
"We're in Maroochydore to stay,'' he said. "We bought the building. We're not going anywhere.''

THE recent burst of summer is only a taste of what's to come, and those holding out for rain have a long wait ahead.
The Bureau of Meteorology yesterday issued extreme fire weather warnings for the weekend as it also brought devastating news for the region's farmers.
According to the latest extended forecast, it is likely to stay hot and dry until April.
summer is going to be hot and dry and it's likely to stay that way until April.
While he couldn't say how intense the heat could become,
Meteorologist Livio Regano said there was not much good news for the region now afflicted by drought.
"The odds are certainly against us,'' Mr Regano said.
"The rest of Queensland has done well in the last few years, but south-east Queensland has been bad for three seasons. This is now likely to be the fourth.''
There is only 35-40% likelihood the Sunshine Coast will receive normal rainfall in the next three months. That drops to 30-35% a bit further inland.
"This is a new science _ that's as good as we can do at the moment,'' Mr Regano said.
The region missed out on the usual drenching summer rains because cyclones took the moisture north, Mr Regano said.
Then the winter high pressure systems came closer than usual, dumping good snow in the country's south, but again keeping rain away.
On top of that, the current weak El Nino is also predicted to hang around.
While not automatically i dicating drought, Mr Regano said the El Nino was a concern until Autumn.
"In Autumn, it all changes,'' he said.
"Autumn can't be predicted _ the climate is so changeable then no-one can forecast through the barrier,'' he said.
Yesterday's temperatures hit 29 degrees in Nambour, and 26 at Maroochydore.
While still steamy, it didn't come close to the state's top of 40 degrees at Camooweal and Julia Creek.
The Coast is likely to stay hot and fine into the weekend, with fire warnings issued for today and Saturday.
when temperatures are tipped to hit 32 degrees, and a possible thunderstorm this afternoon.

The Bureau yesterday issued the high to extreme fire weather warning, with thun derstorms possible this afternoon thursday.


BALI'S seeming immunity from the political troubles affecting other parts of Indonesia was the very reason why Saturday night's bombing happened.
That is the belief of former Sunshine Coast Daily surfing columnist Paul Anderson who's lived about 2km from the Sari Club in Kuta for seven years.
Yesterday Mr Anderson, now the manager of Billabong Indonesia, said a cloak of sadness had descended on the normally bustling island after the terrorist attacks that took so many innocent lives.
"Because Bali has always been regarded as immune, security had become lax, awareness was lax, people were off guard,'' he said.
"You've only got to look at the Paddy's Bar explosion.
"A guy walked in off the street, gave a bag to a security guard and asked him to look after it while he went to the toilet.
"The guard held on to it for a while, eventually put it down, walked outside and not long after it blew up.
"That would never have happened in Jakarta _ people are much more suspicious there.''
Mr Anderson said the increased security presence, plus the new-found vigilance of the local villagers, meant Bali was now a genuine safe haven, adding he had no intention of leaving anytime soon.
"I'm not concerned about my own personal security in any way,'' he said.
"I've lost friends and friends of friends, but there's been no talk of reprisals ... let tolerance be the winner.''

COOLUM could become a haven for souped-up cars after Maroochy Shire Council yesterday agreed to scour the shire for a "facility for high performance vehicles''.
Councillor Steve Dickson said a parcel of low-lying land _ just a whiff away from the Coolum sewerage treatment plant _ could be perfect for the car buffs.
He called on the council to investigate turning the site into an official high performance car precinct.
But the council instead backed a wider motion to consider Coolum and the rest of the shire for a suitable site.
Coolum councillor Bruce Dunne said a facility was warranted but that he did not believe the touted parcel of Coolum land was suitable.
He said parts of the site were under water, that it contained mangroves and that it would re quire a lot of clearing before it could be used for vehicles.
He said it was also not far from people's homes.
But Mr Dickson said the Coolum site had the support of many young drivers.
About 300 people turned up to a community meeting at Alexandra Headland last week to discuss the Sunshine Coast's "hoon'' problem and possible solutions. A suggestion to build a specific facility for car racing was strongly supported.
Councillor Joe Natoli _ whose Mooloolaba division has been a favourite with car enthusiasts for years _ said providing a specific facility was one way the community could deal with the issue in the long run.
"It's part of a long-term strategy,'' he said.
But he said drivers came to Mooloolaba and Maroochydore from outside the Maroochy Shire as well as within, and said sites could also be investigated in Caloundra City.

PUBLIC transport on the Nicklin Way will be subject to a comprehensive audit to improve safety and access for Kawana residents if a Caloundra councillor gets her way.
The audit has been pushed by Wurtulla councillor Elaine Darling, who said the expanding expanse of suburbia throughout Kawana had created the need for a revamp of services.
She said safety had become an issue at some bus stops, including the stop opposite the Wurtulla shops where there was no wheelchair or pram access and the situation needed urgent attention.
"On a number of occasions I have seen the driver pull up at the kerb south of the shelter, near the busy intersection, to enable a commuter in a wheelchair to board the bus,'' she said.
"This is potentially dangerous to the commuter, passengers and passing cars and pedestrians.''
Ms Darling last week met with representatives from Main Roads and Sunbus.
The Sunbus service runs down the Nicklin Way every 15 minutes but was difficult to access for many residents.
Ms Darling will use discretionary funds to immediately improve access ramps at the Wurtulla Shopping Centre bus stop.
She will present a notified motion to the council today to push for the audit of services to set the ball rolling for an audit of services.

A GYMPIE baby treated last week for potentially fatal meningoccal disease is at the centre of controversy over delays in emergency treatment.
The baby, later transferred to Nambour General Hospital for specialist care, had to wait for more than six hours for attention at Gympie Hospital, according to parents Sean McLintock and Vicki Gentry.
The couple said their son, six- month-old Joseph, received antibiotics at at 10pm after arriving at the hospital at 3.30pm and being tested at 9pm.
They are demanding an explanation, claiming they waited hours despite receiving a referral for "emergency'' treatment from their GP.
Nambour General Hospital was also under fire earlier this month after a leaked report revealed an increasing number of patients were being forced to wait for more than eight hours for hospital admission through their emergency department.
Shadow health minister Fiona Simpson yesterday called for an urgent response from Health Minister Wendy Edmond.

After initial treatment in Gympie, the baby was transferred to Nambour General Hospital for specialist treatment.

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has blamed staff shortages at Gympie Hospital for an alleged five-hour delay before doctors saw a six-month-old baby with suspected meningococcal meningitis.

The AMA's Gympie branch spokesman Dr Rob Tuffley says he is not personally familiar with the case, but says staffing levels at Gympie Hospital have reached crisis point.

`I think the State Government has to take some of the blame, but having said that, staffing in emergency situations is always difficult and if the doctors were busy with another emergency, these things sometimes happen, you can't always provide staffing for emergencies,` he said.
The Gympie District Health Service has declined to comment.

IF you think the motorway is a mess now, imagine fighting 535,000 people for some lane space.
That's the staggering population projection that has prompted a State Government study into how the Sunshine Coast's major road network will be able to cope with a growth rate expected to pass half a million by the year 2032.
The SM2032 study began this week with an SOS for help to the people who know the Sunshine Motorway the best _ the drivers who tackle it every day.
And while researchers are looking 30 years into the future, the $1.5 million study is only expected to take 12 months.
Main Roads minister Steve Bredhauer, who launched the study yesterday, said SM2032 would focus on how to improve the crucial 17km of motorway that linked the Bruce Highway at Sippy Downs with the Maroochy River.
That will take in traffic flow between the key centres of Maroochydore, Mooloolaba and Kawana.
RACQ general manager Gary Fites yesterday welcomed the study, but said he was surprised it had not been extended further north to Coolum and burgeoning Peregian Springs.
Mr Fites, who spent the September school holidays on the Coast, said he knew first-hand how frustrating the motorway network could be.
``Something needs to be done on the Sunshine Coast to remove this disturbing reputation of the area being particularly prone to crashes,'' he said.
``The big question (of planners) is if motorists can expect to see a dual carriageway put there.
``There's the capacity issue but there's also the safety aspect of dividing the traffic ... when you've got traffic travelling at high speeds it's essential to separate it.''
Mr Fites said he believed one of the major causes of driver frustration and accidents was confusion.
``Toward the southern end they need to look at removing some of the more confusing engineering,'' he said.
He said confusing road signs and difficult lane changes made life difficult for drivers.
``It's fair to say that confusion is a real negative in a safety sense,'' he said.
``If you're coming out of Mooloolaba you've got to get over three lanes to get over to Coolum (ie the turn-off to the north).''
Mr Fites said 75% of accidents were still blamed on human error, with 20% on road factors and 5% on vehicles.
But he said planners were becoming more aware that drivers were only human.
``Road authorities are increasingly recognising that drivers will make errors and lack concentration ... they're becoming more forgiving of human failings (in their planning),'' he said.
He said Coast tourism meant there were more drivers unfamiliar with local roads _ and ``arguably a higher proportion of people under the influence''.
The RACQ will do its own study into the region's safety record over the next year.
About 40,000 local residents are receiving newsletters this week informing them of Main Roads SM2032 study and how they can have a say.
The initial public consultation will be followed by a needs assessment and a short list of planning options to expand the motorway.
Those options will then be put back to the public by late 2003.
Work is already scheduled to begin mid-2003 on four-laning the congested motorway stretch between Buderim-Mooloolaba Road and Maroochydore Road.
Designs are also well advanced for a new connector road linking Nicklin Way with the Sunshine Motorway between Mountain Creek and Chancellor Park.

A WARANA businessman is calling for vigilance after he came close to losing $10,500 to a sus pected chequebook fraudster.
Mark Farrelley is urging bank customers to keep a close eye on their cheque accounts after he claims he was targeted not once, but twice by a crook who made such a convincing copy of his cheques, they passed routine inspection at the Maroochydore ANZ.
A cheque for $4730 was cleared by the bank last Friday, but Mr Farrelley said it carried the same encoding number as a blank cheque that was still in his book.
By sheer fluke, Mr Farrelley checked his account via the internet within the cheque clearing period, and alerted the bank to the anomaly.
Although the bank had cleared the cheque, it reimbursed him the sum because he raised the issue before the cheque had been approved, he said. "It was just fortunate I happened to be online because some people don't get their statements for weeks or even months,'' he said.
The following Monday, a cheque for $5860 from his account was also presented.
Again, the blank cheque baring the same number rested in his chequebook, but this time the bank was on the ball, and did not allow it to be cashed.
The bank is investigating and police have been notified. ANZ has not answered the Daily's queries.
But Mr Farrelley said it appeared the suspected fraudster had scanned copies of a cheque carrying his signature, and had changed the encoding numbers.
He understood cheques from at least one other person's account had also been forged.



THE heart-wrenching letters of two Perth children, written to a father who died in the Bali bombings, were read to a tearful memorial service in Parliament House yesterday.
Mathew and Tasha Dobson wrote the notes to their dad Andrew in the hope he would be found among the injured after the Bali attacks.
The letters were given to friends who flew to Bali in search of their mate.
Mathew, 11, and Tasha, 13, with their mother Tanya Dobson, were among the family and friends to mourn the 96 dead or missing Australians at yesterday's memorial service in Parliament's Great Hall.
The congregation of military chiefs, church leaders, politicians and family members was clearly moved when Labor leader Simon Crean read out the letters, with family permission.
"Get well, Dad, and hurry up so that we can go fishing. Bye, Mathew. Get well,'' Mathew wrote.
Tasha hoped her father would be found safe.
"Dear Daddy, hi it's Tasha Bear. Hopefully this letter will come to you when the boys find you safe.
"It's just been so confusing around lately with all of the stories Mum and Glyn have been getting.
"And on Wednesday they held a service at the sport centre for the whole school. Our names were mentioned three times.
"There's also another girl from my school who's in year ten or eleven and she has burns to 80% of her body and has lost two fingers.
"She's currently in the Fremantle Hospital and her Mum and stepsister are in Darwin with very bad burns. And her mother has spinal injuries. Her stepfather is still missing out there.
"We're all at home waiting for you, especially Nana, because she's really been fretting and has gone to stay with Ted and Val.
"Mathew's coping, he just hasn't been going to school for the past week. I've been at school except for Tuesday.
"When you get the chance could you please ring, because there are so many people, people who don't even know you, that are really worried about you.
"Talk to you when I see you next.
"Big hugs and kisses, Tasha Bear.''
Mr Crean said the letters were a testament to the impact of the Bali bombings on Australian families.
"Whilst I think that there have been many great words and tributes paid in the context of this great tragedy, those words are the ones that will last in my mind as testament to what this tragedy has done to families, to innocence, to love, to association,'' Mr Crean said.
Sunshine Coast federal MPs Peter Slipper, Alex Somlyay and Mal Brough were among those who gathered with Mr Slipper describing the service as one of the most moving he had ever attended.
"It was such a poignantly sad event,'' Mr Slipper said.
"It was an amazing outpouring of grief,'' he said.
Mr Slipper said it would have been incredibly difficult for the 200 family members who gathered. "It was very difficult to remain composed.''
Mr Somlyay said he hoped yesterday's service would never have to be repeated again in Australia's history.
"I experienced feelings I never knew I had when I saw people lighting candles for their loved ones.''
Mr Somlyay said both Mr Crean and Prime Minister John Howard gave statesman-like addresses on what was a day of national unity in condemnation of the mass murder of ordinary Australians.

THE biggest names in Australian retailing continue to sign up for places in the $50million Sunshine Homemaker Centre on Maroochydore Road.
A spokesperson for Australian Unity which has set up a public property trust to operate the centre, said yesterday that 90.17% of the space had been either leased or committed.
One of the latest companies to join the action was A-Mart All Sports which has committed to 1050sqm of floor space, more than it has at its popular Kawana Waters outlet.
Jeff Hockam has managed the Kawana store for two years and will move to the new shop when it opens on Saturday week.
"I'm confident it will will go very, very well,'' he said in between setting up displays yesterday.
"There's nothing else like this on the Sunshine Coast.''
Also preparing to open next week was Allan Dingwall, a director of Megafloor which will operate The Mega Flooring Depot, a new concept in floor coverings.
He said the company, part of the Harvey Norman group, had chosen the location to trial the concept because, "The Sunshine Coast has very strong growth and it's such an appealing market''.
Success at the Sunshine Homemaker Centre could see the concept expanded throughout Australia and eventually overseas.
The store will have plenty of competition with Taj Mahal Rugs and Solomons Carpets confirmed as other tenants.
Retailers that have already signed up include: Skinners Mazda, Super Cheap Autos, Fernwood Fitness, Cocos, Betta Electrical, Pillow Talk and Beacon Lighting.
Those committed, but yet to sign, include Sleepys, Brisbane Car Sound, Cash Converters, Early Settlers Furniture, OzDesign Furniture, Red Rooster, a liquour outlet, two homeware stores and a haberdashery outlet.
Discussions are also progressing for a video store, convenience store, pharmacy/medical centre and an office products outlet.
The managers are hoping to have the centre 95% full by mid- November.

Countless negatives hold positive pull for locals
WHEN photographer Rex Moir leaves his Buderim studio for a new life in New Zealand, he will leave behind a room full of magical memories.
With 22 years of local photography behind him, Mr Moir has captured on film the special occasions of countless Sunshine Coast families.
"I have met so many fantastic people,'' Mr Moir said "It has been very good fun.''
Mr Moir has lost count of the weddings, babies and family and business portraits he's done through Rex Moir Photography and estimates he's taken about 3000 photos each year for 12 years at dance eisteddfods.
Now he's encouraging people who want to purchase their wedding negatives or order debutante, formal or dance eisteddfod photos, to get in touch _ quickly.
He has the negative for every photo he has taken meticulously filed and says he'd have no wor ries tracking down jobs from two decades ago.
Mr Moir will continue his photographic work when he and his wife Janice fly to New Zealand on November 1.
Their new home at Whakatane, by the coast an hour from Rotorua, has beautiful gardens which will be hired out for weddings.
"I think it has been a great lifestyle here, but we just want a change and my wife has family there,'' Mr Moir said.
"It's very similar to here but far quieter.
"We came to Buderim when it was just a quiet little village and we want to return to that kind of lifestyle.''
Meanwhile, his Buderim business will be taken over by former Sunshine Coast Daily photo grapher Greg Miller.
"He's an excellent photographer,'' Mr Moir said.

Government advised to focus on the criminals
A FORMER Sunshine Coast politician has objected to greater gun controls on the basis that existing laws have not reduced gun- related crime.
As State premiers prepared to meet yesterday to discuss tougher gun laws in the wake of the Monash University shooting, Neil Turner, the former Member for Nicklin, said existing laws were not working.
Mr Turner said the gun laws brought in following the Port Arthur mass shooting had targetted legitimate gun users rather than criminals.
"Now, some five years after gun laws were brought in, we see an increase in gun related crimes of 75%,'' he wrote in a letter.
A Sunshine Coast sporting shooter agreed, saying Australia was going down the same path as England, where gun-related crimes were increasing despite gun laws.
The shooter, who asked not to be named for security reasons, said the government was not doing enough to target the illegal gun trade and deter people from buying and selling on the black market.
"The way around it is for the government to get off their backsides and do something about the illegal gun trade and bring in some really harsh penalties,'' he said.
Mr Turner said the government should consider a proposal he had put to State Parliament which included a total ban on machine guns, mortars, cannons, and hand grenades, and a mandatory prison sentence for anyone convicted of a gun offence. He also proposed a cooling off period of two to three weeks for gun buyers.
, the introduction of a prohibited persons register, and a requirement for gun buyers to produce a passport and photographic licence for indentification at the time of purchasing a weapon.



Students say thanks for finding fun in education
HUSBAND and wife teachers Jamie and Juliette Simmonds have put fun back into the classroom.
And the smiles on the faces of their students _ not to mention improved learning outcomes _ are testimony to why they are among the most popular teachers at their school.
With today being World Teachers Day, students across the Coast will be encouraged to show a little appreciation for those in one of the most challenging and rewarding professions on offer.
Jamie, who teachers Year 4 at Suncoast Christian Outreach College, and Juliette, who teaches Year 1, both entered the profession because they loved working with children and wanted to make a difference in young lives.
Jamie said he loved helping children realise that life was meant to be fun.
Juliette said she loved seeing the personalities of students grow in their first year at school.
Australian Education Union federal president Denis Fitzgerald said now, more than ever, society needed to value teachers for their role.
"We live in a world of heightened anxiety and potential division and the better world of tomorrow can be crafted in the classrooms of today.''
Mr Simmonds said part of the challenge of teaching was relating to the children and providing them with fun and interesting projects.
"It is important to teach them that life is about making mistakes and taking the pressure off them.''
He said teaching was not just about the learning the basics but also about teaching students how to learn.
Teachers at the college's primary school will receive a box of chocolates today as part of World Teacher's Day, while in the senior school Student Representative Committee will raise money for the school by selling roses to students to give to their teachers.


Woman fights for right to keep fine fluffy friends
IT'S Survivor, canine-style, at Bev Davis's Regents Landing unit, with the body corporate and Maroochy Shire Council both telling her one of her two beloved dogs has got to go.
Will it be Phoebe the Pomeranian cross or Pinny the Japanese chin?
Ms Davis desperately wants to keep them both, but owning two dogs is in breach of body corporate guidelines and council bylaws.
Now she has been slapped with two $150 fines from council and told she has just days to comply.
"I think it's grossly unfair, but they (council and the body corporate) are unrelenting,'' Ms Davis said.
"I explained that one of the dogs (eight-year-old Pinny) is ill and I will not replace her.
"They want me to get rid of one of them _ that's something I just won't do.''
She said the problem arose due to confusion over differing bylaws in the bodies corporate in different stages of Regents Landing, which caters for "over- 50s living''.
She inspected a new unit where she was told the pets would not be a problem, but bought an older unit, through a different agent, in another stage of the complex.
It was only after she'd signed the papers that Ms Davis got the body corporate papers for her unit and found she would only be permitted to keep one of her beloved pets.
She said her dogs were well-behaved and rarely barked, but she was aware there had been complaints.
A Maroochy council spokesperson said they had had complaints from the body corporate and from Ms Davis's neighbours over a period of months.
She said the local law for multiple dwellings meant no dog could be kept their without the appropriate permit, and Ms Davis does not have a permit for either dog.
"Council officers have been in discussions with Ms Davis regarding the permits but nothing has been done, so infringement notices were the only other option. Basically at the end of the day, she will still have to find a home for one of the dogs.''
Ms Davis's body corporate regulations allow for one dog to be kept, if the appropriate permit is in place.



RAINWATER tanks should be supplied to every Caloundra household as part of a mass community effort to combat potential terrorist threats, according to a Caloundra City councillor.
Former CalAqua board member and Buddina councillor Andrew Champion said providing rainwater tanks was a forward thinking action that would have the two-fold effect of preserving valuable water supplies in case of drought and reducing the effects of chemical contamination.
"Any water supply for any local authority in Australia has the potential to be exposed to a terrorist action to contaminate the water supply,'' Mr Champion said.
He did not want to be alarmist but said in the wake of the Bali tragedy, all councils should conduct risk management studies to find how vulnerable the water service was and the types of terrorist activities that could affect them.
He said people paid their rates and council had a responsibility to provide safe and accessible water to residents.
"That includes providing every household with a 2000 gallon water tank.''
He said CalAqua had $10 million in reserves that could be utilised to initiate the mass installation which would also create employment in the local area. He also hoped the program would be subsidised by state government.
He said if everyone had a water tank, it would give them about a month's supply so if anything did happen to the communal water reserves, council would have some time to decontaminate it.
"We need to be pro-active. It's not scaremongering, I believe it's a real threat that local authorities across Australia should be addressing.''
Caloundra mayor Don Aldous was astounded by the suggestion and said it was "extreme left field stuff''.
"It's alarmist, scaremongering and it doesn't need to be highlighted by people that are supposed to be responsible and I would think it's got a long way to go,'' Mr Aldous said.
He said the $10 million CalAqua reserve was not for the purpose of installing water tanks.



COAST residents face a crackdown on water use for the first time in more than a decade as dam levels drop and dangerous weather conditions bring an urgent blanket ban on fires.
The Queensland Fire and Rescue Service yesterday imposed a total fire ban across the Sunshine Coast as temperatures soared, humidity levels plummeted and fierce north-westerly winds lashed the region.
Noosa fire station office Phil Bowden said the ban would stay in place until the weekend at least.
It would be lifted once the weather conditions eased.
The ban came as Maroochy Shire Council urged residents to use water wisely, or the council could be forced to restrict mains water use early next year.
Maroochy Water Service manager Gary Sabburg said the shire's dam networks were down to about 60% capacity.
"We're not as bad as other areas in the state, but we have to make sure we use water responsibly.''
Without average rainfall over summer, usage limits may be introduced in late summer or early autumn.
The council has not restricted water use since 1991-92 _ the year before the user-pays water system kicked in.
"We've been able to manage use with that system because people are better at conserving water that way,'' Mr Sabburg said.
Maroochy Shire uses about 47million litres _ or 47 Olympic swimming pools _ of water a day.
The water level at Baroon Pocket Dam, which supplies 60% of the shire's drinking water and much of Caloundra's water, was down to 62%, while the South Maroochy System (made up of Cooloolabin Dam, Wappa Dam and Poona Dam) was at just 60%.
In Noosa Shire, Lake MacDonald is at 79% capacity and Lake Borumba is at 20%.
Temperatures on the Coast yesterday reached a steamy 32 degrees, but conditions are expected to ease for a top of 28 degrees today.
The humidity should also drop, but the searing heat is tipped to return on Saturday, for a forecast maximum of 34 degrees.
QFRS area support office Rob Frey said humidity dropped to a dry 13% yesterday, as north- westerly winds raged and temperatures crept above 30 degrees.
And because the Coast has been free from any major fires for the past decade, fuel loadings were high.
Those were the conditions in which last's week Granite Belt fires raged, leaving one woman dead and six houses destroyed.
"This is a dire situation,'' he said.
"The time for fires in Queensland is now.''
Total fire bans are implemented when humidity drops below 25%.
Open outdoor fires are not allowed, and permits for controlled burns will not be issued.

THREE Year 12 students are planning the trip of a lifetime to celebrate finishing school this summer, but they won't be partying.
Instead, Sam Hill, Jacob Horsey and Eddie Welsh are using their savings to do volunteer work in East Timor, where they even plan to build their own orphanage.
The St Joseph's College trio, who have been together since Year 1, will have just one week with their friends before they take off on November 27 to spend eight weeks in East Timor. "Everyone's excited,'' Sam said.
"There was talk about it at the start of the year. Then when the time came, we just tried to grasp it with two hands.''
Recent turmoil in the region has not dampened their spirits.
"If it wasn't safe, we wouldn't be going,'' Sam said.
Sam's father is a government advisor in East Timor, and the teenager visited the country last year.
"It's just a complete opposite (to Australia),'' he said.
"It was a bit of a culture shock. There are lots of people who need help.''
While his dad will welcome the teens to the country, Sam said the lads don't plan on staying in the town for long.
They already have plans to teach English at an orphanage, to help re-roof houses, build another orphanage and possibly teach English at a prison.
"We're hoping to gain experience and understand their culture,'' Sam said.
"We'll help them, but it's also for us as well.''
Sam, Jacob and Eddie have been working for months to save up for the trip which will cost each of them about $2000.
The school has put its support behind the trio as well, offering them lessons on how teach. The trio will also take a video camera and write a journal during the trip.



NOOSA hospital has moved to clarify its position on emergency treatment after a Cooroy father accused the facility of placing dollars before care.
Mathew Raison is angry hospital staff insisted on cash payment while his 12-year-old son Joshua cried in pain from a severe ear infection.
Mr Raison rushed his son to the facility's emergency department at 9.20pm Monday and left "in disgust'' after being asked if he could return home to get his chequebook before they had seen a doctor.
"Money's not a problem, I'll pay gratefully but let's get our priorities right,'' Mr Raison said.
"Surely they could have helped my boy and then hunted for cash.''
Joshua received antibiotics, pain relief and ear drops from Nambour hospital that night.
A Noosa hospital spokesperson said the patient's condition was not critical and he had been directed to a privately-run on-site clinic for treatment where upfront fees can be charged.
"If the patient is not satisfied with seeing a GP, they can wait for an emergency doctor to see them,'' a hospital spokesperson said.
Mr Raison said the hospital needed to clarify that policy.
"They never gave me any options, all I knew was they were hell- bent on cash while my boy was crying in pain'' he said.
Noosa Hospital is paid $13 million a year by Queensland Health to provide a range of services including treatment for category one, two and three emergency patients _ those with life threatening conditions. Critical patients are not charged an upfront fee.
Category four patients and five patients-those with minor broken bones, fevers and conditions such as earaches _ are not entitled to immediate emergency treatment.


A FLOOD of love between a Nambour school teacher and a South Australian farmer has broken a drought in bush wives.
Tanya Ilka, 28, and Peter Jaeger, 41, married this month after meeting through a national magazine's campaign to find wives for rural romeos.
But although they have already tied the knot, Tanya must finish the final 2002 school term at Nambour State High School before embarking on life on the land.
Her new hubby runs a sheep and wheat farm at Eudunda, an hour's drive north of Adelaide.
Years of rural loneliness prompted him to sign up for the Australian Women's Weekly campaign and place his photograph on the Internet in the hope of finding a bride.
Newlywed Tanya said she never imagined she would find her husband through a magazine.
But she thought she'd "have a go'' at writing to him after choosing his photo and profile out of 50 farmers, because he seemed nice.
"If you had told me this (that she'd marry a farmer) this time last year I would have thought you were mad,'' she said.
"But he's very, very kind, very thoughtful, and pretty accepting ... he's really sweet.
"And he looked really, really good in his suit at the wedding!''
After six weeks of letters and phone calls, Peter travelled 2150km to meet the shy maths teacher.
He proposed on their second meeting, during the June school holidays.
Tanya had been so optimistic about their future together that she even applied for leave from the Education Department before he popped the question.
She said news about the engagement quickly "filtered'' around the school.
"I thought the kids might be silly about it but they were really good,'' she said.
The pair married on October 5 at the tiny Fernvale Uniting Church, just west of Brisbane, with Tanya's best friend, Karen Troy, acting as bridesmaid.
Tanya said her grandparents had run a farm west of Brisbane and that she was sure she could adapt to Peter's property.
She said the couple had many things in common to ensure future happiness.
"We're probably both fairly quiet people and shy,'' she said.
"We're both very close to our families and we trust one another ... I like it that he looks after me.''
Photos of the Jaegers' beautiful wedding day feature in this month's Women's Weekly.
But Tanya has drawn the line at sharing their happiness on TV ... the couple turned down an offer from A Current Affair.


National day aims to promote exercise
EVERYONE from bouncing three year olds to silver-haired bowlers will do their best this weekend to inspire others to be more active and healthy.
Sundayoct27 is Active Australia Day, a Federal Government initiative designed to promote the benefits of regular sport and physical activity.
A spokesperson said the day aimed to "get through to all Australians, regardless of age or ability'' and was in part a response to the statistic that 40% of all Australians do no regular physical activity.
That's all about to change on the Sunshine Coast, with Active Australia Day embraced by councils and sports clubs _ and by a bunch of kids who are so excited they've decided to celebrate a day early.
FitKids' Club, at the Square Dance Centre in Buderim's Dixon Road, will open their doors on Saturday from 10am to noon to encourage children from three to nine to discover the fun of gymnastics.
"It is a great opportunity for parents to see the value of exercise for their children,'' club spokesperson Pauline Pearson said.
"The open day will allow children to experience some exercise to music, games, and the opportunity to ... challenge themselves over a large variety of gymnastic equipment.''
The Maroochydore Tennis Club and Maroochydore Beach Bowls Club, side by side at Cotton Tree, will get into the spirit on Sunday.
Their combined all-age open day, from 4pm to 7pm, will give people the chance to have fun and get active in a whole range of fun ways.
There will even be a free jumping castle and, at 7pm a fireworks show courtesy of Maroochy Shire Council.



THE Sunshine Coast will cash in on a slice of an $19billion retirement industry windfall expected nationally over the next 20 years.
University of Queensland Professor Bob Stimson said his study, released yesterday, had found construction of retirement villages would generate investment opportunities worth between $8billion and $19billion across the country over the next two decades.
The Coast would see a sliver of that pie.
"The most growth (in Queensland) will be the middle suburbs of Brisbane,'' Prof Stimson said.
But regional areas including Hervey Bay and the Sunshine Coast would also benefit.
Areas with older populations were the ones most likely to attract the investment.
"People moving to independent retirement villages generally move over a very short distance from where they are already _ usually about six kilometres,'' he said.
That finding rings true for Living Choice sales director Norman Tucker, whose company is pouring $70million into two retirement villages now under construction on the Coast.
Mr Tucker said in the two months since sales had opened, 28 deposits had been made on units over the two sites.
"Most enquiries are from locals and we're getting a few from Brisbane,'' he said.
The Kawana Island development comprises 150 villas and apartments, while the Twin Waters complex at Mudjimba will see the construction of 171 dwellings.
The first residents are expected to settle by January.
At Chancellor Park, construction of the $60million Oasis Retirement Resort continues, with completion of the entire 500-unit complex due for 2006.
Sixty units have already been completed, and several have been settled.
The Oasis and its adjoining sister complex, Hibiscus, are understood to be among the two largest retirement villages in Australia.
Aged Care Queensland president Glenn Bunney, who runs the Sundale villages, said the projects were a vote of confidence for region's booming retirement industry.
"Interest in the Sunshine Coast will continue to grow,'' he said.
But he expected the nature of occupancy to shift.
"I think we'll see people choosing shorter stays at resort- style retirement villages.''
Mr Bunney estimated there were about 2000 retirement dwellings on the Coast, with 500 more in construction.
And he expected suitable land would run out.
"The challenge will be to find available land, because it needs to be near amenities,'' he said.
"Usable land is becoming scarce.''



BUDERIM counsellor Diane Priestley has watched the full tragedy of the Bali bombing unfold.
She has seen its impact, from the death and devastation at Kuta to the outpourings of grief on the Sunshine Coast.
Now she wants to help.
Ms Priestley, a certified professional counsellor wants to compile a data base of qualified counsellors throughout the region willing to offer free grief- counselling sessions to people affected by the tragedy.
"We could help people who had family and friends there, people who lost someone to this tragedy, people close to someone who was injured, or perhaps someone who was there,'' she said.
She also believes such a database would be an extremely useful resource should another tragedy strike at the heart of our community.
"There are many different emotions involved in the grief process. Initially there can be shock and denial ... then a whole cascade of other emotions can set in.''
Ms Priestley said people could benefit from telling their story especially to to a skilled listener.
"As human beings we need to be able to express what we are going through. And it needs to be validated. These feelings of loss, all the emotions, can be validated by caring listeners.''
Qualified counsellors who want to register for the proposed data base, or people directly affected by the Bali tragedy, should contact Ms Priestley on 5476 6730.
Meanwhile counsellor and trainer Ken Warren said many people without a connection to the tragedy could also find themselves overwhelmed by emotion.
He said there was such a widespread history of trauma throughout the community, through things such as domestic violence, car accidents, child abuse and suicide.
He said many people had suppressed their pain from trauma in their personal histories and the Bali bombing could bring that to the surface.
"There would be a lot of people struggling with their own emotional issues following this very public trauma,'' Mr Warren said.
"If people are concerned with how they are coping a good place to start looking for help is through their GP, or agencies such as Lifeline, or therapists in public practice.''

A REGISTER of council staff salaries will be established and opened up for scrutiny by Maroochy ratepayers _ provided the council is not breaking its own rule book by doing so.
Buderim councillor Steve Dickson put forward a controversial motion to establish the register at yesterday's general council meeting and found support from councillors Jenny McKay, Paul Tatton, Errol Middlebrook, Zrinka Johnston and Barbara Cansdell.
But the council heard that the motion could be illegal under the Local Government Act because a similar motion had already been rejected back in February.
Council solicitor John Hall said he believed that February motion would need to be rescinded before the council could vote on the topic again.
But with three councillors away, Mr Dickson's register push was eventually passed, with a proviso that the decision only be binding if the motion did not contravene the Local Government Act.
Mayor Alison Grosse, who voted against Mr Dickson's motion, said the debate was not about trying to hide council salaries.
"Nobody minds all these things being exposed,'' she said.
But she said it put Maroochy at a disadvantage to have to list what it paid its staff when other councils across Queensland did not have to do so.
Mr Middlebrook said he tried to call for the Local Government Association to introduce such a policy at this year's state conference but did not get support.





TWO young schoolgirls hailed as heroes after fighting off an "abduction'' attempt at Kuluin last week had fabricated their story, police said yesterday.
Sgt Ian Tinker said it one of the seven-year-old students had made the story up to cover-up for her friend being late home.
The claim of an abduction attempt after school last Wednesday sparked a major police investigation which included police calling a press conference to issue two computer images of a suspect.
Sgt Tinker said a major incident room had also been set up, which was closed yesterday.
Investigations by the Juvenile Aid Bureau yesterday determined the girls' story was a hoax.
"One of the child's parents contacted police and it was established that the complaint was fabricated,'' Sgt Tinker said.
He said the girls would not face further police action because they were too young to understand the reconsequences of their actions. However, JAB officers were expected to talk to the girls and their parents.
The girls had claimed they were lured into a Holden Commodore by a man offering them lollies. Their story prompted warnings throughout Coast schools.

THE man behind the bid to develop a major resort on Noosa North Shore in the 1980s has been charged with offences under the Corporations Act.
John Barrie Loiterton, also known as Barrie Loiterton, has been charged in relation to his alleged actions while a director of Clifford Corporation Ltd.
He was charged in June with providing information he knew to be misleading to a director of Clifford Corporation on or about July 9 1998 and making a false or misleading announcement to the Australian Stock Exchange on or about October 21, 1998.
The matter was mentioned in the Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday but Mr Loiterton was not required to appear. Fellow director Ian Robert Hall appeared on six charges of insider trading relating to the sale of 850,000 Clifford Corporation shares in October and November 1998.
Mr Hall did not enter a plea. The matter will come before the court again on December 17. The Clifford Corporation Limited group collapsed in late 1998. The subsidiary Austral Pacific Group Limited, was one of Australia's largest bus manufacturers.
Noosa Council fought for 10 years against Mr Loiterton's Leisuremark proposal to develop a 3400-unit development on Noosa North Shore, complete with connecting bridge to Noosa Heads, jet airport, golf course and lake system.
The battle, costing $750,000 in legal fees, ended in June 1999 when Council purchased the 500 hectares for conservation purposes.

THE Australian Defence Forces are fighting back after several years of being unable to recruit enough adequately-qualified personnel.
A review of the reasons behind that revealed one of the problems was that some offices were located in the wrong places.
To overcome that situation, a joint venture has been established between the ADF and Manpower Services Australia, one of the country's largest recruitment agencies, with 18 offices being set up to handle recruiting.
Early next year the Bundaberg office will close and a new shopfront will open in the Maroochydore CBD.
A Manpower staff member will manage the office which will also have a female RAAF flight sergeant and one least representative of each arm of the services on staff to handle enquiries.
Colonel Mark Bornholt, director of Defence Force Recruiting in Canberra, said it was hoped the new initiative would result in the forces reaching its target of 10,000 new recruits in 2002/2003.
"The defence forces are as busy as they've been since the Vietnam War, perhaps busier,'' he said.
"We've wanted to have a presence on the Sunshine Coast for some time and by opening an of fice in Maroochydore we'll be able to get out into the schools and the community and encourage more people to come on board.''
Col Bornholt said as well as recruiting new personnel, keeping them was just as difficult.
"Our training is so good that private companies target our staff once they've been with us for about five years,'' he said.
Manpower Services Australia has an office at Maroochydore headed by Dianne Epps.


KEV and Michele Watts are in the middle of the Great Aussie Nightmare and they're not alone.

They signed a building contract on March 10 and their $150,000 four-bedroom dream home is still three to four weeks from completion.
They expect the process will take a total of nine months.
The Sunshine Coast construction industry, which employs 10,000 people, is in the grip of a desperate skills shortage.
A Daily report last month revealed carpenters were in short supply.
Bricklayers and concretors have been added to the list and there is so much demand for their services, countless sites have ground to a halt.
Tempers are boiling over as customers are forced to pay rent and interest on their mortgages while they wait.
Kev and Michele are a worst case scenario.
Their home in Caloundra's burgeoning Bellvista Estate, has been hit by a succession of delays as Cavalier Homes, like many project home builders, struggles to find sub-contractors.
Kev, a mechanic with Caloundra City Autos, said it was the first time he and Michele had built a home together and it had been a terrible experience.
Our framework sat on the block for six weeks through the torrential rain we had in August. The wood buckled and went mouldy.''
Kev said a carpenter worked for one day and then quit and another was not seen for five weeks.
He said the brickwork then took a month and five weeks ago they were told it would be four weeks until they could move in.


A CRACKDOWN on handgun access would do little to prevent a repeat of the Monash tragedy, Sunshine Coast Pistol Club officials said yesterday.

Club vice-president Doug Probert said authorities should instead focus on stamping out the underground firearms trade.
It's the black market that's causing these problems,'' he said.
Police have called on the public to report information about anyone they knew who kept unlicensed weapons.
The debate over access to handguns comes after a Monash economics student allegedly opened fire on his classmates, killing two and injuring five.
Commerce honours student Huan Yun Xiang, 36, will on February 25 face committal mention in Melbourne on two charges of murder and five of attempted murder over the shootings.
A semi-automatic handgun was reportedly used in the rampage.
Prime Minister John Howard has vowed to consider strengthening gun laws as the Democrats joined Greens Senator Bob Brown and the National Coalition for Gun Control in pushing for tighter gun controls.
But Mr Probert feared sports shooters would be the ones to bare the brunt of such a move.
It's already hard to get a gun licence,'' he said.
You have to prove you're a member of a club, and there's heaps of paperwork.''
He believed the root of the problem was the firearms black market, and further restrictions would only cause problems for the honest gun owners who obtained guns legally.



BLACK sludgy seaweed is coating Noosa Main Beach, sending a rotten smell wafting down Hastings Street and turning tourists away.

Noosa Council lifeguard manager Scott Braby yesterday said council staff had been scraping and cleaning the beach for a number of weeks, but nature was being very persistent.
Mr Braby said the black sludgy weed was mainly concentrated outside the Noosa Surf Club, forming a thick band along the beach and up to 30metres off shore.
It's really awful but there's not much we can do about it. The weather conditions haven't been the best it's been fairly still and when it is blowing, it's a northerly and just blows it all into shore,'' he said.
Mr Braby said visitors to the beach had been asking questions about the mess, and more were heading to Sunshine Beach where conditions had been more favourable in the past week or so.
One Melbourne tourist yesterday said the smell made him want to vomit'' and he said he would be cutting his two-week trip short to head to the Gold Coast instead.
Mr Braby asked people to be patient and visit other beaches in the shire until weather conditions changed and pushed the weed off-shore.
We're trying to get information from local experts to see what the cause is, apparently it's weed off local reefs.
All we need is a couple of days of strong southerlys and a bit of a wave to push it out to sea,'' he said.
A flagged area had been set up near the middle groyne where it was more pleasant.



A GOOD icebox can save your life on a hot day. On a Northern Territory fishing trip, one can come in extremely handy especially when your boat explodes 12km offshore.

Two NT fishermen, who survived by keeping their cool, have sent a thank you letter to Caloundra company Evakool Iceboxes for saving them from a watery grave''.
Darwinite Ross Abraham and his mate were in Fog Bay, about 130km from Darwin, when he discovered a fuel leak in the main tank of his 5m craft.
For some unknown reason, the boat ignited just after he shut down the motor and isolated the batteries.
The pair had no time to react and looked on in horror as the life jackets caught fire.
Ross threw the icebox, containing 8kg of ice, 10kg of water and some food, into the sea, as well as some flares.
The 120-litre Evakool was to be their life-raft for 31.5 hours.
We used the icebox to advantage with the swell and wind to help navigate back to land,'' Ross said.
For two days we travelled up and down the Coast on the seven metre tides before reaching land about 15km from where we launched the boat. Without the Evakool we would not be here today.''
Ross thanked the Sunshine Coast manufacturer for the well-made product and even made a suggestion to have the handles placed lower on the icebox to maintain stability when floating about the ocean.
Sightings of crocs, sharks, and dangerous stingers added to the chilling ordeal, which ended with the boys in hospital on drips.

THE Australian PGA Championship's poster boys, Greg Norman and John Daly, will be kept apart when the first two rounds of the $1million tournament are played at Hyatt Coolum late next month.

While the prospect of seeing Norman and Daly playing side-by-side would be enticing to many, the tournament promoters see greater value in having one play in the morning and one in the afternoon when the PGA comes to the Sunshine Coast for the first time.
Although both former British Open champions have enjoyed better years, tournament promoter Tony Roosenburg has no doubt Norman and Daly will draw the biggest galleries at Coolum.
I wouldn't be surprised if either of them was right in it at the finish,'' Roosenburg said yesterday.
Greg has done pretty well in the few tournaments he has played this year and would love to do well back home in Queensland.
I think John will love this place. I think it's a course that will suit him, even though there might not be too many holes where he'll pull out his driver.
He'll be able to hit a one-iron off the tee on many holes and still have a wedge in.
There are very few players with his talent. It's just up to him to make the most of the talents he has.''
Both Norman and Daly are expected to arrive at Coolum on the Monday prior to the first round on Thursday, November 28.
Daly will be flying in after playing in the BMW Asian Open in Taiwan a schedule Roosenburg believes will help his chances of winning his first Australian tournament.


THE Australian PGA Championship's poster boys, Greg Norman and John Daly, will be kept apart when the first two rounds of the $1million tournament are played at Hyatt Coolum late next month.

While the prospect of seeing Norman and Daly playing side-by-side would be enticing to many, the tournament promoters see greater value in having one play in the morning and one in the afternoon when the PGA comes to the Sunshine Coast for the first time.
Although both former British Open champions have enjoyed better years, tournament promoter Tony Roosenburg has no doubt Norman and Daly will draw the biggest galleries at Coolum.
I wouldn't be surprised if either of them was right in it at the finish,'' Roosenburg said yesterday.
Greg has done pretty well in the few tournaments he has played this year and would love to do well back home in Queensland.
I think John will love this place. I think it's a course that will suit him, even though there might not be too many holes where he'll pull out his driver.
He'll be able to hit a one-iron off the tee on many holes and still have a wedge in.
There are very few players with his talent. It's just up to him to make the most of the talents he has.''
Both Norman and Daly are expected to arrive at Coolum on the Monday prior to the first round on Thursday, November 28.
Daly will be flying in after playing in the BMW Asian Open in Taiwan a schedule Roosenburg believes will help his chances of winning his first Australian tournament.




A COACH has threatened a discrimination case against the Sunshine Coast Soccer Federation after it failed to reappoint him to an under-11 representative team.

Otto Klaus, 70, of Coolum, plans to seek a legal opinion after the reappointment of another coach with whom he had a row.
He also believes that some coaches who did not apply in writing were appointed instead of him.
Federation chiefs have rejected any suggestion of discrimination against Klaus, who played in Germany's first division before coming to Australia in 1964.
Klaus said he did not want to end on a sour note after more than 50 years in the game'' and he might join Sunshine Coast Churches Soccer Association.
After first coaching in Sydney, he had taken the Australian amateur team to Europe in 1977, had been Australian under-19s and Socceroos assistant coach from 1976 to '80 and had other posts in NSW and Tasmania.
He believed two disputes with other under-11 coaches had played a part against his reappointment.
The first had been over lack of umpires in Brisbane in June, when he had complained about alleged abuse from a Coast coach.
At Buderim in August, he had raised his voice at a coach in the presence of coaching director David Martin, after a player from Klaus's team joined another team.
I was not notified about the player being taken; I was short of players and under stress; but I didn't use any bad language,'' Klaus said.




THE Sunshine Coast's reputation for fine cuisine has received national recognition with a Noosa restaurant taking out honours in an Australian-wide competition.

Berardo's won the best entertainment restaurant category one of just a handful of Queensland restaurants to be honoured in Australia's National Awards for Excellence in Restaurant and Catering.
Owners, Jim Berardo and Greg O'Brien were in Sydney to receive their award.
We are thrilled, absolutely stoked,'' Mr Berardo said.
It just says that the Sunshine Coast keeps getting bigger and better, and demonstrating to Australia that we have restaurants that are just as good quality as city restaurants and maybe even more so.
We are really happy for the whole region and for our team.''
Berardo's competed in the category against some of Australia's most renowned theatre and fine dining restaurants and was recognised for its guest chef program, it's classical music and jazz concerts and for its fresh produce markets.
It was for a little bit of everything,'' Mr Berardo said.
It also included fine dining and service standards.''
Michael Lambie's Circa The Prince in St Kilda fought off fierce competition from 1200 other restaurants to clinch the Fine Dining accolade.
Mr Lambie, from Camden in London, arrived in Australia on a holiday eight years ago.
He works with two head chefs, 16 chefs and 25 waiting staff to serve about 140 diners a day.
Peter Howard, the national chair of judges, said the competition had been outstanding.




A VIRTUALLY-unassailable lead atop the Australian Pro Junior Bodyboarding circuit means Maroochydore's Adam Ravazzano can focus on the final competition at his home beach next month.

Leading by about 1000 points after three rounds, Ravazzano, 19, is almost certain to win the tournament, despite not competing in this weekend's fourth round on Sydney's northern beaches.
And the healthy competition lead should take the pressure off when he competes in front of his home crowd in the final round at Maroochydore on the weekend of November 9 and 10.
Last weekend, Ravazzano finished third in the Fresha Fruit Juices Pro at Warrnambool, Victoria, behind New South Welshman Josh Kirkman, who sits second on the tour on 1970 points.
Ravazzano was the number one seed for that contest after winning at Avoca Beach in June and at Cronulla in July.
They only count your best three results, and I've got two firsts and a third,'' Ravazzano said.
Unless someone comes back and wins three contests in a row, the pro junior tour should pretty much be in the bag.''
The Sunshine Coast Pro has been organised under a mobile format, but Ravazzano expects the contest to be held at Maroochydore Beach unless conditions force changes.
The event will be the second of the Australian Pro tour, as well as being the fourth round of the Pro Junior.
It should be pretty good to get everyone up here. I've been bumming places to stay off people down south most of the year, so I'll have a few favours to return,'' he said.


PRESSURE is mounting on Sunshine Coast Grammar School head John Burgess to step down after he was yesterday found unfit to be a teacher.
After hearing four days of evidence, the 16- member Board of Teacher Registration determined the 53-year-old's registration be cancelled immediately.
He was also required to pay the board's legal costs.
Mr Burgess' legal representatives were unable to be contacted after the decision but an appeal against the deregistration is expected.
A separate inquiry is being held by the Queensland Government's Commission for Children and Youth which investigates the appropriateness or otherwise of people to be around children.
For Mr Burgess to remain as a member of a school board it is understood that he has to have clearance from the commission.
Last night Education Minister Anna Bligh confirmed she was seeking advice on what further action may be taken against Mr Burgess.
Ms Bligh said that she understood that under current legislation, Mr Burgess was prohibited from supervising or assessing practising teachers if he remained deregistered. But she said that was open to legal interpretation.
The Board of Teacher registration's inquiry was prompted by revelations that Mr Burgess had pleaded guilty in 1979 to two counts of having unlawful carnal knowledge of a 13- year-old girl who was a student at the school at which he taught at the time of the offence when he was 27.
No conviction was recorded and he was placed on a good behaviour bond.
The inquiry was also believed to have examined Mr Burgess' dealings with teachers at Brisbane's Ormiston College where he was foundation headmaster and chairman of the board.
News of the deregistration was described as "fantastic'' by parents who had a legal letter drawn up asking for Mr Burgess to step aside recently.
"Our children have to look up to the head of the school ... it has to be someone they can admire,'' one parent said.
"We must stress we're completely happy with the teachers.
"We were never out to destroy the school.''
One parent who had supported Mr Burgess acknowleged the primary motivation was to "ensure nothing negative happened to the school''.
But it may be too late for that.
One teacher confirmed yesterday that several others had resigned in recent weeks and the much-lauded languages program would be cut significantly for next year.
"The teachers have tried to protect the students from the issue and we're very pleased the process has been finalised,'' the teacher, who refused to be identified for fear of repercussions,'' said.
The inquiry was held behind closed doors despite a legal challenge by the Sunshine Coast Daily to have it held in open session.

METRES high flames fanned by a strong north-easterly breeze menaced Coolum State High School yesterday as students were still making their way home.
Coolum auxiliary fire brigade captain Mark Clyne and his unit were first on the scene around 3pm to fight a blaze that would eventually send a huge pall of smoke over Emu Mountain and Coolum.
While 30 fire officers from regular, auxiliary and rural fire brigades were called in to fight the flames, Mr Clyne said the timing of the blaze meant a mass evacuation of the school was avoided.
"School was just over at the time and many of the students were being bussed out,'' Mr Clyne said.
"We were able to save the school but we're worried about the fire jumping the motorway.''
Local residents who lined the Havana Road motorway footbridge shared their concern, anxiously watching the advancing fire coming towards their homes west of the highway.
Fire units from Noosaville, Tewantin, Maroochydore and rural firies joined in what became a successful battle of containment for the rest of the afternoon.
A fire spotter took to the sky aboard the Energex helicopter which looked at times like something out of "Apocalypse Now'' as it repeatedly emerged out of thick, choking smoke.
The observations were a major support from the fire command post set up outside the high school.
Local National Parks and Wildlife officers joined with the Riverlands Rural Fire Brigade volunteers to help cut a foam trail later in the afternoon.
By 6pm Mr Clyne reported that command centre had declared the fire contained.
The blaze started across from Emu Swamp north of the school but its cause is not yet known.

Lean ideas take Daily columnist's business to national success
IT'S official _ smaller is better. Just ask low-fat expert, Daily columnist, author, speaker and publisher Annette Sym who has won a national award for a small business based largely on helping people get smaller.
In fact, Mrs Sym won two major gongs at the National Micro Business Awards on Wednesday night in Melbourne.
First the operation Mrs Sym runs from her Sunshine Coast residence was named Best Australian Home-based Business, then it won the big one _ the Epson Micro Business of the Year award.
"It's a dream come true, it really is,'' she said.
"Go all you home-based business out there!''
This week's successes cap a phenomenal five years for Mrs Sym since she wrote her first Lean Ideas column for the Daily and published the first of her three best-selling low-fat cook books Symply Too Good To be True 1, 2 and 3.
She works from home with the help of husband Bill and employs her two children part- time. It's a family effort and micro-business (employing five or fewer people) which has seen Mrs Sym in high demand as an author and speaker.
She has published and sold 850,000 books and suspects that with those on shelves across Australia sales will inevitably top the million mark.
Mrs Sym said she strived to be a great supporter of local business _ her
The books are printed locally and the photos and graphics are done by Coast companies.
And they have been snapped up by dieters, families _ people want to enjoy their food but value good health.
"Everyone who has bought my books has won this award for me,'' Mrs Sym said.
"They're not all about weight loss _ it's about empowereing yourself to be the best you can be.'

Council should appreciate what makes localities `special'
A STUDY to help preserve the character and heritage of towns was one of the major recommendations of the Maroochy Plan 2000 review report handed down yesterday.
According to town planning consultant Chris Buckley there was strong community concern that council did not fully appreciate what it was that made each population centre special.
"Under the IPA (Intergrated Planning Act) regime it's important that the council understands the economic and social dimensions of each community,'' Mr Buckley said. It was not enough for the council when considering new developments to investigate traditional concepts like water quality and vegetation loss. "It needs also to understand vacant shop tenancies etc in Nambour and other communities.
"The thing that came through loud and clear, almost from the very first meeting with the public was the importance of local area planning.''
Mr Buckley said residents wanted customised or tailored codes of development.
"Anything built in Coolum for example would be quite different from another regional community.''
Mr Buckley said Maroochydore, Mooloolaba and Coolum were three areas in particular where local character had to be built up through planning.
Another major recommendation presented to the council yesterday was a review of quality agricultural land mapping, as primary producers felt existing records were out of date.
A major thrust of the review is to come up with "sustainable futures.''
Consultants Buckley Vann also recommended monthly briefings for councillors on development proposals to help with decision making. Briefings currently are by request.
There was also a need for streamlining the planning document to do away with du plications and to make it more accessible for developers and the public.
The council will now forDiet guru proves smaller is better
Lean ideas take Daily columnist's business to national success
IT'S official _ smaller is better. Just ask low-fat expert, Daily columnist, author, speaker and publisher Annette Sym who has won a national award for a small business based largely on helping people get smaller.
In fact, Mrs Sym won two major gongs at the National Micro Business Awards on Wednesday night in Melbourne.
First the operation Mrs Sym runs from her Sunshine Coast residence was named Best Australian Home-based Business, then it won the big one _ the Epson Micro Business of the Year award.
"It's a dream come true, it really is,'' she said.
"Go all you home-based business out there!''
This week's successes cap a phenomenal five years for Mrs Sym since she wrote her first Lean Ideas column for the Daily and published the first of her three best-selling low-fat cook books Symply Too Good To be True 1, 2 and 3.
She works from home with the help of husband Bill and employs her two children part- time. It's a family effort and micro-business (employing five or fewer people) which has seen Mrs Sym in high demand as an author and speaker.
She has published and sold 850,000 books and suspects that with those on shelves across Australia sales will inevitably top the million mark.
Mrs Sym said she strived to be a great supporter of local business _ her
The books are printed locally and the photos and graphics are done by Coast companies.
And they have been snapped up by dieters, families _ people want to enjoy their food but value good health.
"Everyone who has bought my books has won this award for me,'' Mrs Sym said.
"They're not all about weight loss _ it's about empowereing yourself to be the best you can be.'
mulate an action plan for formalising by December.

AMBER Peckston exercises her mind and body at the same time.
With not a second to spare the school dux and sporting champion combines her two loves and takes a text book with her when she goes for a walk.
She is the first to admit it has been a tough ask, but the determined year 12 student set her goals at the start of last year and made sure she did everything possible to achieve them.
"I never have a spare moment, everything I do is working towards something,'' she said.
"If I go to the beach I go for a run or take a text book to read while I'm going for a walk.''
And it all paid off for her this week when she was crowned sports woman of the year and dux of Mountain Creek State High School.
"It's been hard. I've had to give up a lot of stuff just to focus on school and sport, but it's been worthwhile.''
Despite her astounding success, which has included maintaining a minimum grade of A minus and a string of sporting accolades, like most year 12 students she said the year had been incredibly stressful and she would be relieved when it was all over.
She recently attended the state athletics championships and qualified for the nationals in the 800 metres and 1500 metres and also made it to the state titles for cross country and touch football.
The busy teenager, who is the second oldest of five children, has set her sights on a career in pharmacy or physiotherapy and plans to study at the University of Queensland next year.
Her mum, Chris, was over the moon for her success and said she deserved the rewards after all the hard work she had put in.

WITH Canterbury star Braith Anasta playing off a handicap of two, the Bulldogs should count their lucky stars their champ is wearing their jersey and not touring the world's golf courses.
While teammates Willie Mason and Luke Patten labelled their own putting prowess as "terrible'', they had no compunction in enviously revealing the five-eighth's skill.
"He could be a pro _ he plays off two,'' Mason said.
"They're just talking me up so when they play themselves no one takes much notice,'' Anasta said, insisting his handicap was really 12.
The Bulldogs were lining up alongside celebrities such as Dawn Fraser, world champion cyclist Robbie McEwen, Brisbane Bronco Andrew Gee, ironmen Zane Holmes and Darren Mercer, soccer legend Frank Farina and volleyballer Lee Zahner for the Noosa Multi-Sports Festival celebrity golf cup yesterday.
Growing up on a golf course in Sydney, Anasta said he had been honing his game since he was 10 and at one stage wanted to be a professional golfer.
"It was too hard _ better money, but too hard,'' he said yesterday, rounding up Mason and Patten for a pre-game putting contest.
A full course of 144 players teed off in a shotgun start yesterday, the day and dinner last night also aiming to raise money for the John Maclean Foundation for physically challenged children.
Since arriving on Wednesday, the three players have been throw into a whirlwind of functions and events _ including a stint judging the Miss Noosa and Miss Noosa Triathlon competition on Wednesday night for Mason.
While Patten has been to Noosa before, it's a first time visit for Mason and Anasta but all have said they will be back.
The three plan to spend the weekend relaxing before heading home on Monday.
exploring local beachs, pubs and streets over the weekend before returning to the much colder south on Monday.

MANY people dream of the day they'll get the million dollar windfall when those six numbers come up in the lotto draw _ happiness at last.
But the latest survey to come out of Deakin University's Australian Centre on Quality of Life has revealed that money is not the key to happiness for most Aussies.
Helping others is more likely to bring peace and personal contentment.
The results from the fourth survey of the Australian Unity Wellbeing Index found volunteers had the highest sense of personal satisfaction with more than 75% happy with their lives.
Nambour couple Doug and Dawn Biggs have been volunteering their time and services for half a century.
Mr Biggs said he started with the junior Red Cross during WWII and the Volunteer Air Reservist Corp and the couple went on to become involved in everything from Apex and Rotary to the Sunshine Coast Children's Therapy Centre.
"I suppose it's right to say Dawn and I have always lived by the rule if you're going to be in a community you have to contribute to it,'' he said.
The decades of helping others had been incredibly fulfilling for Mr Biggs and he said he would have been at a loss without his community involvement.
A sentiment seconded by North Caloundra Surf Lifesaving Club fundraiser Enid Traill who has spent nearly 30 years trying to raise money for the club.
"There is a huge sense of satisfaction, knowing that you can contribute in some small way.''
Lead author of the index, Professor Robert Cummins, said Australians who engaged in volunteer work also enjoyed high levels of satisfaction over other aspects of their lives including work, leisure and health.
Stay-at-home mums working more than 70 hours a week also recorded high levels of happiness and satisfaction with their lives
The random study of 2,000 people chose work and leisure as the focus of its fourth index.

Noosa man's piece of paradise is on the market
WHERE better to bare all in a nudist colony than the virgin bushland and pristine waterfront surrounds of Noosa?
That's one of many plans long- time Noosa architect and resident Simon Reed has outlined for 147acres of virtually untouched land fronting Noosa River and Lake Cootharaba he has for sale.
Mr Reed bought it in 1985 and lived in the water-edge home for several years, but is now looking to move on to new visions and has the land on the market for $1.25million.
He envisages the land and house would be perfect for a nudist colony, if not a school or church holiday camp, or even a private retreat for a wealthy family.
"It's one of only half-a-dozen large parcels of waterfront land left in the area and it's the only one with a house right at the water's edge, which you are no longer allowed to do,'' Mr Reed said.
And with all good nudists relishing their privacy while engaging in outdoor pursuits such as swimming, fishing, canoeing and bushwalking, he said the location was perfect _ while still only 15 minutes drive to Noosa for shopping and dining.
"The property virtually has its own natural cordon santinaire,'' he said.
That loosely transcribes as privacy for those of us not fluent in French.
Mr Reed said that in the six months he has had the property on the market, there has been quite a bit of interest, especially from interstate.
But no nudists yet, he added.


WHEN Bli Bli's Hugh Mooney was nine he shocked his class and horrified himself by attacking his teacher.
An accusation over cheating led the mild-mannered dux of the school to argue and then turn on the woman tutor with violence that included kicking.
That was the start of a lifelong nightmare that was not diagnosed as manic depression until Mr Mooney was in his 50s.
Every time he would feel set upon Mr Mooney would lash out at his perceived persecutors in a fit of "temporary insanity''.
"That (first) attack was totally out of character and one that I found deeply disturbing,'' Mr Mooney recalls.
The psychiatric affliction, known these days as bipolar disorder, does not show any signs of relenting for 80-year-old Mr Mooney.
In fact his life has become more hellish since the medication that gave him some relief started to have little or no effect on his darkest moments.
Mr Mooney said at least 100,000 of an estimated 3 million Australians suffering from bipolar disorder shared his ordeal.
"I am very treatment resistant,'' said the former Royal Navy war veteran whose disorder forced him to quit a senior executive business position years ago.
"I have not had a very good life.''
Now Mr Mooney has the chance for some precious piece of mind, but he might have to sell his house to do it.
On Wednesday Mr Mooney was invited to Canada to have a special implant called a vagus nerve stimulator surgically inserted into his chest.
He said the VNS had proved highly successful in treating his disorder.
"The vagus is called the superhighway to the brain,'' Mr Mooney said.
The bottom line is that to get off his lifelong rollercoaster of highs and distressing lows, he needs $30,000.
And that is money that he does not have.
"I'm not doing this just as a selfish,'' Mr Mooney said.
"I want to open the doors for others.
" My daughter has it (bipolar), my sister and two grand daughters.''

COMPETITORS will be racing for prize purses of up to $10,000 cash as well as the title of Fastest Man on Sand'' at Mooloolaba Beach on Saturday, November 23.

Beach sprinters, track and field stars and other professional runners are being invited to enter the first of a kind event involving sprint races held over a 70m track in front of Mooloolaba Surf Lifesaving Club.
Event co-organiser Peter Roberts said Olympic Games long jump silver medallist Jai Taurima and Maroochydore's two beach sprint world champions, Rowena Barben and Andrew Jackson were all confirmed starters.
Reigning Australian sprint and flags champions Steve Munnery and Clayton Jones; National Surf League competitor Summer Hamson; and Stawell Gift winner Stuart Uhlmann were also among those who had indicated they would compete.
We've also got guys coming from all over Australia for the event,'' Roberts said.
People can enter right up until the Tuesday before the event and you could be lining up against anyone from Joe Bloggs to Andrew Jackson. That's how the event has been designed.''
In a bid to make the event as spectacular as possible, finals will be held in the evening under lights with competitors wearing fluorescent lycra singlets, there will be official finishing gates at the end of the track and race times will be recorded and announced.
A junior beach flags and sprints program, and an all age relay (under-11 years to open) as well as a celebrity beach sprint will also add to the colour of the day's program which begins at 10am and runs until 8pm.

BEING a small package does not guarantee you will be a good thing in the modern racing game.

A tiny stature still is a vital ingredient for jockeys, but apprentices these days need to be big on self improvement.
Rising stars like 20-year-old Mitchell Rice must be athletic, smart and diplomatic winners in and out of the saddle.
Helping them is apprentice school'', where they learn how to be highly critical of their own performances.
Race tactics, horse health, finance, how to maintain a healthy weight, protesting and stewards inquiry etiquette, taxation, public speaking and handling media interviews are all part of the curriculum.
Steward and recruitment program spokesman Stan Barrett said 60 candidates applied for last year's intake, 22 were put through an intensive 12-week course, 14 were selected and four made it to race riding.
"We put them through scientific testing at Queensland University of Technology where they were tested for strength, endurance, flexibility and balance,'' he said.
"They need it all these days ... to be successful, a rider has to be very polished indeed.''
Mitchell, who is apprenticed to Mick Mair at Caloundra, is 158cm and 51.5kg.
He was a painter after he left school halfway through Year 11 on the New South Wales central coast.
I did this for two years but really hated it,'' he said.
I later had a job as a ground worker at Gosford track and then started riding.''
Mitchell has since ridden 39 winners and 70 placings.

A SUNSHINE Coast tourist attraction and one of the region's biggest developers have blamed government paperwork for failing to comply with equal opportunity guidelines.

The Big Pineapple and Forrester Kurts Properties were among six Queensland companies outed'' in Parliament for not providing the Federal Government with reports on female employees.
Under the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act, companies with more than 100 staff members must report each year on their initiatives to advance women.
But Big Pineapple operations manager Peter Auld said the company actively advanced women on merit, regardless of whether or not it submitted reports to bureaucrats.
Mr Auld said he was buried in paperwork'' as it was, and had not had time to do the report.
But he said most staff - and about half of the Big Pineapple's management were women.
Ninety percent of my staff are women,'' he said.
We're always looking to promote within our organisation ... it's all strictly on ability.''
FKP group company secretary Trevor Toner said it was the second year in a row that FKP had been named in Parliament and that the issue had become a principle thing''.
We have the obligation not to discriminate against sex, race and age and yet this agency is saying we've got to report to them each year ... it's just a paperwork overload,'' he said.
Mr Toner said companies were not required to give strategic reports on initiatives for advancing other groups such as older or disabled employees.

THE glamour of the race that stopped a nation yesterday masks the fact that many Australians suffer from gambling addictions and would lose a worrying amount of money on the big race, Sunshine Coast counsellors and psychologists have warned.

They said it was important to recognise the significance of gambling addiction on the Sunshine Coast as a growing social problem.
Relationships Australia Gambling Help counsellor Katherine Bates said having a small bet on the biggest day in Australian racing was harmless enough if it remained just that.
But Ms Bates said the millions of dollars spent on yesterday's Melbourne Cup demonstrated the extent of Australia's gambling problem.
She said Sunshine Coast families and relationships were significantly affected by problem gambling.
I'd only have to go to Corbould Park today and look at the number of people betting to see that,'' she said.
More than 500 people have used the Gambling Help service, one of several counselling services on the Coast, since its beginning in 1999, and Ms Bates alone has seen 80 clients affected by the problems of gambling since the beginning of the year.
Gambling in this area is a big problem if you look at the Caloundra region alone people are spending between two and three million dollars a month on the pokies,'' she said.
Nambour psychologist Jacqueline Trost described gambling addiction as an overriding obsession that destroyed people's lives.
I've seen it happen with clients the moment comes when relationships break up, they incur debts with the bank, they start selling personal items or take money from their spouse or partner,'' she said.



AS FAR as Gwen Riddell of Beli is concerned there is no bigger hero alive today than her three-year-old son Marcus.

The plucky Marcus last week reached out to grab the arm of his two-year-old brother who was floating face down in a motel pool.
Marcus saved'' two people that day.
As much as his little brother will forever be indebted to Marcus, Gwen has been spared the agony of grieving for yet another child.
Five years ago Gwen and her husband Marc lost a three-month-old son to SIDS.
Losing another child is something I wouldn't be able to live with,'' a grateful and proud Gwen said.
She said just reliving that moment when she looked across to the pool to see Marcus on the top pool step dragging Trent to safety gave her goose bumps.
The Riddell family had travelled down to Singleton in New South Wales with another family.
Gwen said the adults cooked up a poolside barbecue breakfast while the kids played in the pool.
Distracted by looking after a new born baby, Gwen said she at first did not pay attention to Marcus calling out to her.
She thought the second oldest of four (the oldest is seven-year-old Amber Rose) was just showing off on the pool step.
Now she knows Marcus had spotted Trent in trouble.
Marcus said matter-of-factly yesterday: I grabbed him (Trent) by the arm.''
I'm so proud of him he's normally so self-centred about things happening around him,'' his mother said.
But Marcus was there for his brother when it counted the most.



ONE year in the open ranks showed Sunrise's Luke Jory he needed an edge to realise his dream of surfing on the world championship tour.

About six months ago Luke joined his boardshaper dad, Steve, in his Coolum workshop and set out to design the perfect board.
Four or five'' boards later, Luke, 21, credits them with the consistent form that has taken him to second on the Queensland Championship Circuit with one round to go this weekend.
He needed speed and flexibility.
I have made them thinner in the rails and changed the fins,'' he said.
I was riding standard fins but changed to a design that is a little bit narrower with the middle fin a little bit smaller.
When I turn off the top of a wave I can push the tail out more easily.''
Jory still credits his dad for his surf success after using Steve Jory Design boards since he took up surfing about a decade ago.
I owe Dad a lot,'' he said.
After 20 years of board shaping, Steve Jory, 53, takes no offence about his son now favouring his own designs.
Steve, who operates from a Corbould Road workshop, is just happy that the boy who grew up with surfing in his blood is getting results.
The good form continued on Saturday when Jory came third in the Volcom series round on the Gold Coast before returning to Sunrise on Sunday to win the open round with the Noosa Boardriders.
He said his best results last year had been fourth in the Billabong Pro Junior at Burleigh in May and a win in the Queensland Masters, also on the Gold Coast, in November.
He finished fifth on the QCC last year.



THE flying public can feel a little safer today after the unveiling of the latest hi-tech security equipment at the Sunshine Coast Airport.

Qantas group general manager security and investigation services, Geoff Askew, said yesterday the security upgrade would be mirrored at other regional airports such as Mackay, Rockhampton, Townsville, Gold Coast and Hamilton Island.
This equipment is the latest available and identical to what is installed in the capital cities,'' Mr Askew said.
All passengers at the Sunshine Coast Airport, regardless of who they fly with, will now enter the boarding area through a state-of-the-art metal detector.
And any objects they're carrying, or wearing in the case of shoes with metal components, will have to pass through a separate x-ray machine that allows the operater to see exactly what's inside the item.
The display screen is colour coded for easier identification and the operator can isolate and zoom in on any object that looks suspicious.
The x-ray machine will eventually be able to be monitored from Sydney where a supervisor can enter dummy items on the screen at Maroochydore to ensure the operator is alert.
Mr Askew said the new equipment would make the detection of smaller items easier, at the same time saying the number of items confiscated had decreased significantly since September 11, 2001.
The travelling public are now much more aware of what they can and can't take onto an aeroplane,'' he said.

A TREASURE chest of cricket glory will arrive at Maroochydore next week to dazzle Sunshine Coast sports fans.
The 1999 and 1987 World Cups are the pride of the Travelex Cricket Roadshow but four other major trophies will go on public display.
The inaugural tour of the Australian Cricket Board collection will coincide with the Ashes test series between Australia and England, which starts in Brisbane on Thursday.
The World Cups and their precious mates will visit Sunshine Plaza from 10am to 1pm on Monday _ day five of the Gabba test if the Poms go the distance. And with a collective price tag in the millions, they will be closely guarded.
Alison Walburn from International Talent Management is one of the people babysitting the trophies around the country.
"We're not a physically driving roadshow _ we fly into each of the capitals, then drive the trophies to each location,'' she said yesterday.
"Each trophy has its own case and the good people of Qantas are flying them around for us ... all in all there's 350kg of trophies and banners and staging.
"They're worth millions of pounds _ insurance has been a huge issue and there are security guards who stand over them at each location.''
But despite being closely guarded, the public can still get up close and personal with the trophies handled by Steve Waugh and the Aussie team.
Ms Walburn said fans were welcome to bring a camera and pose with the cups.
In addition to the 1999 and 1987 World Cups, the Travelex Cricket Roadshow will feature the Waterford Crystal Ashes Urn, the Frank Worrell Trophy, the ICC Test Match Mace and the women's Ashes trophy.


The Sunshine Coast 20- year-old, who is studying in Brisbane, has become one of only five business students to claim a prestigious international scholarship.
Zara, who graduated from Noosa State High in 1999 with an OP1, is the first person from Queensland University of Technology to receive the Zonta International Jane M Klausman Women in Business scholarship.
The scholarship, worth $8000, is designed to encourage women to seek leadership positions in business communities.
Only five students are selected each year from 30 district winners in the world.
QUT has produced three district winners in the past but Zara, who is in the third year of a double degree in business and arts, is the first to taste success at the elite international level.
Zara was ecstatic with the win and said it was a great honour. She is interested in pursuing a business career that incorporated her two passions, media and education.
"I'd like to get involved in projects such as public education campaigns against things like drink driving and speeding.''


Maleny man Geoffreya David Swayna, 41, was granted bail in Maroochydore Magistrates Court yesterday for dangerous driving after the 20minute chase which ended with his car burning on a roundabout.
The chase started at 9.15pm, and ranged from 20kmh to 80kmh on the Nambour Connection Road.
It was alleged Mr Swayn stopped his car at one stage to quickly reverse into an oncoming police vehicle before speeding off.
At 9.35pm, the car crashed on the roundabout south of the Big Pineapple and caught fire, but the driver refused to get out.
Four minutes later the fire proved too hot and he was leaning out the car window when police pulled him free, coating him in capsicum spray.
Later at the watchhouse, Mr Swayn allegedly tried to escape by breaking into the roof cavity.
Defence lawyer Nicole Schmitt said Mr Swayn suffered post traumatic stress disorder after he was shot in the chest with a nailgun at work two years ago.
Police prosecutor Grant Wilcox opposed bail yesterday, claiming the man was "an obvious threat'' to himself and the community.
But magistrate Danny Munster released Mr Swayn on the condition he report regularly to police, not drink alcohol, and attend weekly psychiatric appointments. He is to reappear for mention on November 14.


LAST weekend's lively breezes made for some exciting racing in the Powersail Marine Cat Challenge, held on Lake Cootharaba.

More than 150 of the State's fastest catamaran crews and their boats raced in three divisions during the five race series.
The weekend also saw the first race of a national series for the new Formula 18 class.
Lake Cootharaba Sailing Club spokesman Noel Rickards said Saturday's 18 knot winds had produced plenty of spectacular racing, particularly in the f18s'', who could reach considerable speeds with their 21sqm sails and similarly sized asymmetrical spinnakers.
They're probably the equivalent of the 18ft racing skiffs,'' Rickards said.
Sydneysider Brad Sumner won the f18 class on a hobie tiger, with Cooroy's Mal Gray finishing second, also on a hobie tiger.
Hervey Bay's Claire Neeskens won division two on a Nacra 5.0, beating her husband Paul for line honours.
Bribie Island's Andy Fawcett won division three on an arrow.
The f18s is a very popular new division,'' Rickards said.
They get some excellent boat speed and are pretty demanding for their two-man crews who sit out on trapezes.
The next f18 regatta will be held in Sydney.


MEMBER for Caloundra Joan Sheldon insists she'll keep the heat on Minister for Employment, Training and Youth Matt Foley about accountability concerns at the Sunshine Coast Regional Group Apprentices Limited (SCRGAL).

After being sidestepped in parliament last week, Mrs Sheldon has put a question on notice to Mr Foley, and doesn't want to be fobbed off again.
I'm going to keep asking because the public has a right to know it's getting value for money,'' the Liberal Party shadow Minister for Training said.
Mrs Sheldon accused the minister of being too cute by half'', by saying her claim the government had provided SCRGAL with funding of around $5million in 2000/2001 was untrue.
Mr Foley said DET had provided funding of just over $300,000 in the past two financial years, at the same time acknowledging SCRGAL had been paid $4.98million in 2000/2001 to build houses and units under the Housing Industry Trade Training Program.
Those millions were also public money and we need to know it's being accounted for,'' Mrs Sheldon said.
Didn't DET do any checks?'' she asked.
Mr Foley confirmed it did, saying that before any construction contract was awarded, Project Services had to satisfy itself the group training company concerned had the financial capacity to complete the work.
In her question on notice, Mrs Sheldon also wants to know about any misuse of funding to SCRGAL subsidiary, Sunshine Coast Training Company (Qld) Pty Ltd, which has former SCRGAL chairman Alison Grosse and former managing director Rob Purvis as directors. The latest accounts show $184,718 written off as a Sunshine Coast Training Company bad debt, allegedly without explanation.

THE Sunshine Coast under-20 Soccer side will play the Manchester United Soccer Academy side tonight to prepare for the opening match of the Soccer Queensland Super Summer League against Soccer Far North Coast in Lismore on Saturday night.

Sunshine Coast coach David Martin said tonight's match would be his side's only trial before kicking-off in the summer competition which is a new concept for Soccer Queensland.
The under-20 competition features sides from the Gold Coast, Toowoomba, Rochedale and Queensland Lions as well as the northern New South Wales team.
Martin said the Manchester United Soccer Academy had been established at Capalaba in Brisbane and was run by Tony Walmsley, who had been linked with one of the world's most famous soccer clubs for a number of years.
They have an academy side in residence at Capalaba, and they should certainly be quite competitive,'' Martin said.
The Sunshine Coast side will feature some exciting new players to the region, including South Australian under-16 vice captain Matthew Muscrof, who Martin said was unlucky to miss Australian Joeys selection.
Matthew has been at the AIS in Adelaide for the past three years,'' Martin said.
He's a very handy midfielder, come striker.
We've been allowed to register 22 players, and I think we've got all positions covered pretty well.
We've got a strong squad with plenty of first grade experience.''
Martin said he knew very little about Saturday night's opposition, except that they would primarily be a representative side and they had been training very hard from all reports.

NORTH Caloundra Surf Life Saving Club has solved its identity crisis.
Tradition, dating back more than half a century, on Sunday gave way to a name change to Dicky Beach SLSC.
This followed an emotional debate between long-time members, determined to continue the Norths heritage, and those frustrated by years of confusion and lost marketing opportunities.
President Bob Flynn, the mover of the motion, has been a member of the club for 36 years and its leader for a total of nine.
He was happy with the discussion and vote, which saw 65% of the quorum in favour of the switch.
"There is no such place as North Caloundra,'' he said. "You will not find it on any map or in any referdex.''
Mr Flynn said the supporters club had recently changed its name to Dicky Beach and it had been good for business.
He said the club's name would finally be the same as the historic beach that it served and fit in with the newly-rejuvinated shopping precinct.
Many competitors, often mistaken at major carnivals as members of other North clubs such as North Cronulla, will also appreciate the distinction.
North Caloundra was established in 1950, with the original clubhouse built on Beerwah Par ade between Dicky and Moffat Beach.
The club was gutted by fire in 1974 and council said rebuilding it at that location was unsuitable.
Construction of a new clubhouse at the end of Coochin Street started soon after.
Mr Flynn said the official ratification of the name change, by the State Government, would probably take three months.

MOOLOOLABA Beach has again cleaned up the opposition after being named the Sunshine Coast's cleanest beach yesterday.

Kylie Johnston from the Keep Australia Beautiful Council said great signage, an excellent recycling strategy and the visitor-friendly'' nature of the beach had swayed the judges.
The Sunshine Coast beaches were of just such a fantastic standard it's getting harder and harder for the judges each year,'' Ms Johnston said.
Nine other nominated beaches in the four shires (Caloundra City, Maroochy, Noosa and Cooloola) also received outstanding accomplishment awards.
They were: Noosaville Foreshore Beach (two categories), Coolum Beach, Noosa Heads Lions Park Beach, Dicky Beach, Marcus Beach, Tin Can Bay Foreshore, Peregian Beach and Maroochydore Beach.
Within the next few weeks, judges will select the top three beaches from the state's six judging regions in each of the nine outstanding accomplishment categories with winners announced at the state final on December 6.
That's when Mooloolaba area councillor Joe Natoli hopes to hear our top beach named as the cleanest in Queensland for the second successive year.
We've had outstanding support from individual companies and community groups which has helped us raise the bar even from last year,'' cr Natoli said.
Part of the prize for winning the state title is to feature the beach on a giant billboard at various strategic locations in South-East Queensland.

State of the Regions report released
SUNSHINE Coast residents are earning only three-quarters of their Brisbane counterparts' wages despite property prices rivaling the capital city's surge over the past 12 months.
The 2002 State of the Regions report released last week found the Coast had a per capita average of $13,603 compared with Brisbane's $17,999 for every man, woman and child. But the good news is that the gap between city and country is slowly narrowing.
Average Coast incomes were 75% of Brisbane's this year, but 72% last year and just 66% back in 1999.
The State of the Regions report, which is compiled by National Economics and the Australian Local Government Association, characterised the Coast as a region of tourism and the elderly.
"The Sunshine Coast is a resort and retirement strip, newer than the Gold Coast and with more room, hence not so intensively developed,'' its authors wrote.
But while retirees have come to the Coast for its famed lifestyle, Member for Fisher Peter Slipper said it was that lifestyle that also made workers sacrifice dollars.
"We've never had enough jobs to match the rapidly growing population,'' he said.
"I think many people are prepared to make a sacrifice (in wages) to live on the Coast.''
Mr Slipper said creating more industry was still the answer to boosting employment and income levels.
in the region.
Federal Opposition regional and urban development spokesman, Martin Ferguson, said the Coast, like many areas outside capital cities, needed more regional development assistance.
But Mr Slipper said he believed the Sunshine Coast was getting a "fair share of the funding available''.
"But that's not to say that more funding wouldn't be welcomed,'' he said.

FULL-TIME employees wanting a career change are being denied access to the full employment marketplace because the government has locked them out of the process.
One Coast woman, desperate to find a new job after her work hours were changed from mornings to night shifts, has been left angry and frustrated because she cannot apply for half the jobs she would be suitable to do.
A single parent, with two teenagers at home, she said her family was suffering because of her changed work situation but she could not access many jobs through agencies because she was already in full-time work.
"There are jobs advertised at Centrelink saying they're open to everyone and they're not technically,'' she said.
The concerned mother said the situation had arisen because most employment agencies on the Coast were part of the Centrelink Job Seeker Network. You must work 15 hours or less to register with them.
But a spokesman for Employment Minister Mal Brough was not apologising for the situation, saying people with jobs were in a more fortunate situation than those without.
"The government makes no apologies that the first responsibility is for people without work and getting them into jobs and helping people from welfare into work.''
Job network was set up specifically to help people without employment and who were forced to rely on the federal government for support and he said if the network was open to everyone, they would not be helping those most in need and therefore would not be reducing the employment rate.
But Shadow Minister for Employment Services and Training Anthony Albanese said the woman's situation was ridiculous and more flexibility needed to be introduced into the Job Network.
He said most people wanted to gain fulfilling employment and it was "outrageous people were missing out on this service''.
The boss of one employment agency said agencies who were part of the job network process did not get any money unless they placed people without employment in vacancies.
But the frustrated mum said employers registered through the network were not necessarily getting the best person for the job when so many people could not even send in an application.
"I have written to companies and sent my resume, only to be referred back to these same agencies that will not register me," she said.
"My options are not nearly as wide as an unemployed or part- time worker, even though my needs can be as great or even greater," she said.
Mr Brough's spokesman said everyone had access to the Australian Job Search website.
and some jobs listed on it would only be available through the job seeker network and some would be open to everyone.

PULSES will be racing as Sunshine Coast punters splurge $2 million on today's Melbourne Cup.
But if your heart's aflutter as the gates clang open on Australia's biggest horse race, spare a thought for Corbould Park's apprentice of the year, Michael Rodd.
Michael, 20, who will guide the hopes of 40-1 shot Prized Gem, will suddenly find he's a very long way from Caloundra, where he rides every Sunday.
The Brisbane-based jockey has plenty of mates here and is no stranger to Coast race fans, who watched him boot home 19 winners and 45 place-getters last season.
He said from Melbourne yesterday that his nerves were under control and he would be concentrating on giving the bold Kiwi mare the best trip possible.
Michael, who won the Brisbane Cup on Prized Gem, will need plenty of skill and mind-boggling luck to get her close to the rail from the outside barrier 24.
"I don't want to be near the tail ... I'll be trying to have her a bit worse than mid-field, hopefully one off the rail.''
Sunshine Coast Turf Club CEO Mick Sullivan said he expected between 9000 and 10,000 fans to flock to Corbould Park today.
Mr Sullivan said on course betting turnover would hit $1m for the day, with $250,000 invested on the Cup.
Fashions in the Field, live bands, food stalls, a large screen at the centre of the track and exciting seven-race local program would combine to ensure a great day. Gates open at 9am.
A spokesperson for TAB Queensland said Cup betting was likely to be up to $1.85 million on the Sunshine Coast, with $20m splurged Statewide.
"This year's race seems to be even more intriguing than usual with the foreign contingent adding to the mystique,'' the spokesperson said.
The emotional day brings a sobering warning from Relationships Australia's Gambling Help Service for people not to go overboard.
Counsellor Katherine Bates said the Cup could be a difficult day for people affected by excessive gambling.
She said on an exciting day like this one, it was important to have some practical strategies in place to avoid overspending.
"Set limits in the morning on the amount of money and alcohol you are going to use and take only a small amount with you, leaving keycards and bankcards at home.''


THERE will be more than $180,000 prizemoney and the Kirkwood Cup going to the winner of the Australian PGA Championship at Hyatt Coolum later this month.

The victor will also be guaranteed a start in the $10 million NEC Invitational, one of the four World Golf Championships events, in the United States next August.
The Australasian PGA Tour's decision to send the PGA winner to the NEC event was announced yesterday, giving the Hyatt tournament another significant boost less than four weeks before it begins on Thursday, November 28.
Craig Parry won this year's NEC Invitational at the Sahalee Country Club, pocketing the biggest cheque of his career almost A$2 million.
A 72-hole strokeplay tournament with no halfway cut, the Invitational is restricted to players from the most recent Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams, players ranked in the top 50 in the world, tournament winners in the top 100 in the world and the winner of one selected tournament from each of the Australasian, Southern Africa, Asian and Japanese tours.
The 2003 NEC Invitational will be played at the Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.
The PGA and PGA Tour have been working closely in a number of areas and it is our pleasure to provide this opportunity to the next PGA champion,'' Tour chairman Wayne Grady said.
Meanwhile, Australian golf's newest star, Andrew Buckle, is a confirmed starter at Coolum after winning his first professional tournament, the Queensland Open, at Ipswich on Sunday.



SUNSHINE Coast dad Russell Dean travelled to Mackay last week to start a new life _ and to be a pallbearer at his aunty's funeral. Yesterday, a man appeared in court over his murder.
The 31-year-old, described by a family friend as a "gentle'' and "decent man'' had gone to Mackay to "clear his head'' after a difficult few months. It proved to be a fatal mistake.
Police allege that on Friday night he was murdered by 21- year-old Mackay man Shane Andrew Scott during an altercation about 8.40pm in Romeo Street.
Scott, 24, was yesterday granted bail after a Supreme Court bail application hearing took place via telephone link-up between legal representatives in Mackay and Justice Peter Dutney in Rockhampton.
Family friend Brett Skjonnemand said Mr Dean was a "very good'' man who "would do anything for anyone''.
Mr Skjonnemand said Mr Dean's death had devastated family and friends _ especially his eight-year-old daughter Tiarne who is in the care of her mother and stepfather.
"All she (Tiarne) wants to know is what has happened to her daddy but no-one has been able to tell her because we don't know anything,'' Mr Skjonnemand said.
"We are all desperately waiting for some details.''
Mr Skjonnemand said Mr Dean had travelled to Mackay last week to be a pallbearer at his aunty's funeral.
"Russell's been through a lot and had a bit of depression.
"He went to Mackay to clear his head, find some new direction and make a new start.
"It turned out to be a fatal mistake.''
Up until a couple of weeks ago Mr Dean had played a step father role to Mr Skjonnemand's own daughter.
"Russ and I had our issues but we got past all that and thankfully we were able to make up. "He was great . . . a patient, kind-hearted church-going man and he really enjoyed the company of kids.
"Despite our differences I always respected the fact he was such a great stepfather and he was very good for my daughter.
"It's just devastating that he is gone . . . it's the last thing we would've ever expected.''
Scott was remanded to re- appear for mention today where his legal counsel is expected to secure a date for committal callover.
Scott's bail was granted with residential and reporting conditions.
Meanwhile, Mackay CIB detectives continued their investigations into the incident yesterday.
Mackay Detective Sergeant Dave Geraghty said interviews of Romeo Street residents were expected to take place yesterday afternoon and last night.
Det Sgt Geraghty said investigations were also underway to detemine the involvement of two other people in the altercation.

A HEAVILY intoxicated woman driving a BMW sports car at 20km/h in a 110 zone on the Bruce Highway was the Sunshine Coast's biggest loser on Melbourne Cup day.

A man four times the limit, who stopped to abuse someone in full view of a marked police car, came a close second.
The pair were among a dozen drink drivers caught across the Sunshine Coast on Tuesday afternoon.
The high blood alcohol readings shocked police, who said the idiotic behaviour could easily have led to tragedy.
The drunken female, in her mid 40s, had no idea where she was going'' when picked up south of Moby Vics, while driving almost five times over the legal limit.
She had been partying all afternoon in Mooloolaba and was on her way home to Buderim when she decided to go for a drive''.
A series of 000 calls, including one from the service station where she had stopped, alerted police.
Arresting officer Constable Jeff Brandt, of Landsborough, said the BMW had been swerving all over the road and going too slow.
Const Brandt said the woman had been travelling at speeds no greater than 60km/h and, at times, as slowly as 20.
She did not seem to know what was going on,'' he said.
We intercepted her about 5km south of Moby Vics at 7.15pm. Initially, she said she had only had one glass of champagne but this quickly changed to half a bottle. It was obviously quite a bit more.''

SURF lifesavers breathed a sigh of relief yesterday as Maroochy Council backed away from a policy that would have made it impossible to hold carnivals in the shire.

Council had shocked clubs and Surf Life Saving Queensland by imposing new charges and restrictions for surf sports events.
These included a $3288 event levy, $5000 clean-up bond, additional fees for sponsor signage, no carnivals within 500m of a bathing reserve and a proviso that lifeguards dictate where races would be held.
Club presidents me with SLSQ and branch officials on Tuesday night to formulate a response. A deputation to council yesterday won some concessions.
SLSQ chief Brett Williamson said potential problems had been averted with council and surf lifesaving working through the areas of concern.
Mr Williamson said the reason behind council's willingness to revise the fees and restrictions was the acknowledgement of the economic and social benefits of hosting carnivals in the shire.
The event levy is likely to be waived, $5000 bond reduced to $500, or $2000 if alcohol is being sold, and the surf lifesaving patrol captain to decide the safest and best place to run carnivals, in consultation with the manager of lifeguard services.
Surf life saving will have to submit an event, first aid, environmental protection and risk mitigation plan prior to each carnival.

PETER Degotardi isn't ready to take his bike and go home, but he supports the general consensus that as far as property booms go, we've pretty much had our cycle''.

A director of Herron Todd White (HTW), one of Australia's best-known independent property valuers, Mr Degotardi said figures showed 10,000 homes across the Sunshine Coast had been sold in the last 12 months.
Normally we'd only have half that number change hands we've definitely been going through a boom, but at the same time we're clearly at or about the peak of the cycle,'' he said.
While people such as Reserve Bank governor Ian McFarlane and Prime Minister John Howard have warned about the property market overheating, Mr Degotardi said the Sunshine Coast was in a different situation to Sydney and Melbourne.
Over the last two years we've had big increases in the value of waterfront and other well-located homes,'' he said.
But it has really only been a catch-up, and with risks of interest rate rises not evident, a shortage of land and continued strong population growth, our market is at less risk than the capital cities.''
Mr Degotardi also said the upswing locally had been boosted by baby boomer buying'', with upmarket areas such as Kawana Island, Pelican Waters and Twin Waters emerging from that phenomenon.
He added, You would have to expect there will be some moderation, but I would have thought we would see a period of plateauing, rather than falls in value like we saw in 1995.''

SOMETIMES a smack may just be the best thing for a child.

It's a controversial concept but one with widespread support from parents and psychologists on the Sunshine Coast.
And without exception those spoken to by the Daily yesterday said context was everything.
Opinion gauged locally reflected the national view which flies in the face of a Tasmanian Law Reform Institute proposal to consider a ban on physical punishment of children by parents.
Mother of six Debbie Appleton, on holidays from Rockhampton, said a sensible amount of discipline was appropriate.
We certainly don't smack our children left right and centre,'' Mrs Appleton said.
But our children know that for certain things they will get a smack, for example, hurting someone on purpose or being deliberately disobedient.''
She said the children knew in advance the sort of behaviour that would warrant a smack and such punishment was never too hard a smack, never in anger and never without explanation.
And she said it was part of a bigger picture where the children were treated with respect and taught to treat others the same way.
We get told a lot how fantastic our kids are we work hard and put a lot of time in with them.''
Psychologist Jane Briscoe said that like any form of discipline it's all in context''.
She said a smack was appropriate in certain circumstances at certain ages, as when a child deliberately ignored clear instructions to avoid potential danger like hot stoves or running across the road.

POLICE have called for greater parental vigilance to help turn around a worrying trend of teenage parties ending in violence.

Acting inspector Chris Sang from Maroochydore said the way parties were being advertised'' led to hundreds of teenagers sometimes turning up.
Kids can now go onto the internet and find out where parties are on the Sunshine Coast through chat rooms,'' he said.
Or you find flyers are given out or the person holding the party invites 10 friends, then each friend invites 10 others and so on and next thing the neighbourhood is full and trouble starts.''
Acting inspector Sang said once the police turned up the crowd often dispersed'', but a small percentage of teenagers had an attitude of defiance.
It's not just to police, it's to everything often these kids come from broken families and no-one seems to be taking responsibility for their behaviour,'' he said.
The problem seems to be even worse at Caloundra where police called to out-of-control parties have been pelted with bottles.
Senior Sergeant John Wiseman, in charge of the Caloundra station, said his officers were working with council and other relevant groups to produce a how to host a party'' pack.
The pack will include a checklist of action for parents to take to ensure parties don't continue to get out of control.
Snr sgt Wiseman said that list would include: registering the party with police, issuing specific invitations, not advertising the party on the internet or by flyers, and ensuring adult control.

ALMOST 77,000 people have joined Australia Zoo in its protest at being left out of the Sunshine Coast.

This group is the people of Caloundra City, also not recognised as being part of the Coast by new signage that says the Coast'' is where the Sunshine Motorway joins the Bruce Highway at Chancellor Park.
This means you have not reached the Coast until after you have sailed past Caloundra,'' Mayor Don Aldous said.
This is ridiculous? I'll certainly be making a representation to the decision makers.''
The controversial reference point was decided by the Tourist Signage Committee, made up of tourism and business representatives from the region.
Australia Zoo, which attracts a 52% international trade, promotes itself as being on the Sunshine Coast.
But when visitors drive north from Brisbane and reach the Glasshouse Mountains turnoff which leads to the zoo they cruise past because, according to the last signpost, there are still 36km from the Coast''.
Terri Irwin said that because the Australia Zoo was no longer considered to be on the Sunshine Coast it would change all references to being part of it in the attraction's documentaries, stationary and brochures.
Tourism Sunshine Coast general manager and member of the signage committee, Andrew Sinclair, said a meeting was not scheduled until next year but in light of this controversy, members would get together before Christmas.

MANY Sunshine Coast residents might think detective Brendan White quite mad for swapping the beach for the bush.

When the Caloundra copper moves 1400km west to Jundah, he will be surrounded by a swag of former beach-beaters.
Brendan, 36, this week became the latest officer from the coastal fringe to head west.
He will take up a position as senior constable at Jundah, two hours south-west of Longreach.
His sergeant at the two-man station will be Wayne Lynn, who served at Caloundra for 12 years before shifting out.
Officer in charge at nearby Isisford is Ian Skinner, another ex-Sunshine Coast policeman, while an hour and a half away at Yaraka is former Caloundra CIB detective Chris Williams.
When you look at the map, we are in a triangle,'' Brendan said.
We are all mates and the families get on well so we are certainly not alone out there.''
Brendan, who has been a detective at Caloundra, Kawana and Maroochydore, will return to uniform at Jundah, which serves 120 residents and another 100 in the surrounding area.
The average temperature in summer is 37 degrees.
The cattle and sheep properties are suffering one of their driest spells in history.
It might sound crazy to some people that I'm looking forward to moving out there but the lifestyle in the bush is great,'' Brendan said.

PUBLIC transport on the Sunshine Coast could be thrown into chaos tomorrow as Sunbus drivers continue their campaign for proper pay.

Drivers yesterday spoke out at company inaction in responding to their demands and warned customers to think about making alternative arrangements for Wednesday.
Unfortunately this is going to upset the public,'' Trade Workers Union delegate Harry Adsett said yesterday.
That is not our intention though as we want to keep the public on our side but we just want what is fair.
I think 99% of our customers support us all the way.''
The latest round of industrial action was sparked by an ongoing claim by the drivers, dating back to 1997, that appropriate penalty rates are not being paid.
The award states we should be getting $9.70 per afternoon and night shift which works out to be about $48 a week,'' delegate Mick Ingles said.
And that dates back to 1997 that's the main issue.
Unless the company wants to do something about this then anytime from midnight on Tuesday night to midnight on Wednesday all the buses will be off the road.''
For Sunbus, the timing could not be worse with it yesterday promoting Wednesday as annual TravelSmart Day a day when it planned to give away passes for residents who write of the benefits of public transport.
The 88 drivers who will stop work are also concerned about rostering that sees some shifts not finishing until well into their day's off.

THE notorious Sunshine Motorway was in chaos yet again early yesterday after a three-car smash just west of Glenfields.

Fire and Rescue officers using the jaws of life helped free a man and a woman who were trapped in their cars.
Those two and three children travelling with the woman were transferred to hospital.
The motorway was closed for two hours with traffic diverted across Buderim.
Senior Constable Steve Knight of the Accident Investigation Squad said that despite its history of tragic accidents, the Sunshine Motorway could not to blamed for yesterday's smash.
There is nothing wrong with that road. It's in good condition,'' he said.
It appears to be 100% human error. That road can't be blamed.''
Snr Const Knight said it appeared that a Redcliffe man in a HJ Holden travelling east on the motorway had side-swiped a Falcon station wagon heading in the opposite direction before colliding head-on with a Hyundai sedan.
He said the accident occurred on the sweeping bend near the popular trail-bike area just west of Glenfields.
A Nambour General Hospital spokesperson said the man was in a stable condition at the hospital. Three children aged three, six and eight who were travelling in the Hyundai received minor injuries, the Brisbane woman driver was being treated for serious leg and pelvis inuries.
It was believed the woman in the car which was side-swiped was not badly hurt.

THE future of the Sunshine Coast Grammar School was bright regardless of the controversy over its disgraced head John Burgess, according to the speakers at yesterday's public support meeting.

The 500 people who attended the meeting, organised by the Friends and Supporters of the Sunshine Coast Grammar School (FROGS), heard a clear message in speeches from directors, the teaching executive and parents We must move forward''.
Enthusiastic applause met some emotional comments from teachers and parents who spoke of their love for the school and their firm belief in the educational philosophies which drove it.
The depth of feeling was obvious from many in the crowd, clearly committed to ensuring the best education for their children.
Questions from the floor showed that many held grave concerns for the school's future and wanted assurances that all was on track to provide what was best for their families.
Many wanted simply to show their commitment to the school had not wavered despite recent controversies.
Friends and Relatives of the Grammar School (FROGS) chairman Colin Berneville-Claye told the crowd they shared a very clear mission'' to move forward with their families to 2003.
Mr Berneville-Claye said it was a great school with an even greater future''.
School board member Malcolm McColm said the board hoped yesterday's show of support would be seen as a very positive statement for the future of our school''.
This school is an institution bigger than any one individual,'' Mr McColm said.

THE Hyatt Regency Coolum resort course is being transformed into tournament mode.

With just over two weeks to go before the start of the Australian PGA Championship, work on the grandstand behind the 18th green is almost complete and construction of the sponsors' marquees around the finishing hole began yesterday.
Everything is going along like clockwork,'' tournament director Phil Cutt said.
We couldn't be happier with how the preparations have gone. We've had good weather and the course is looking superb.''
To celebrate the first staging of the PGA on the Sunshine Coast, the Hyatt is opening its course to the public for a special Even Par'' week of golf from Saturday.
Green fees will be $72 until the course closes on November 24.
Local golf enthusiasts will be able to experience the course in the pristine condition that the professionals will take on a few days later,'' marketing communications manager Kaarin Lindsay said.
Bookings can be made via the pro shop on 5449 3582.

SUNSHINE Coast lifesavers are swapping the beach for the bush this week as part of a push to educate kids in rural areas about water and beach safety.

As part of the 2002 Australia Post Beach to Bush campaign lifesavers from the Coast will travel to Charleville, Mitchell, Roma, Miles and Dalby schools covering thousands of kilometres to spread the safety message.
Tour leader Craig Roberts said while many children living near the Coast were given water safety education, country kids were often at a disadvantage.
It is important for us to travel to schools throughout Queensland to educate our children regardless of where they live,'' Roberts said.
It is not just about reaching children near the coastline and we see heading to rural and western areas a major target for us.
This year we will not just educate children about safety in the surf, we will also teach them about all forms of aquatic safety.
We want to know that when children are enjoying any water activity this summer, whether it be in their backyard pool or at the local river or dam, they know how to stay safe.''
The lifesavers will also show the fun side of lifesaving through a mini ironperson challenge.
These children will then become community members of the surf lifesaving movement no matter how far away they are from the beach,'' he said.

THE Caloundra RSL Cup cricket season is only three rounds long, but already Robert Bloom has shown he is one of the most versatile sportsmen on the Sunshine Coast.

The captain-coach of the Northshore Jets in the AFL South Queensland Premier Division in 2002 has enjoyed plenty of success in his summer sporting activity, batting at No.3 for the Caloundra Lighthouses.
Bloom played a match-winning innings on Saturday, making a confident 85, as the Lighthouses gained a first innings victory against Tewantin-Noosa at Henzell Park.
The Thunder resumed at 9-165 and lasted just two balls before Nirmal Wickramathna picked up his third wicket for the innings Mike Thomson for a duck.
Dean McDonald struck early in Caloundra's run chase, removing opener Shane Riley for four, but that was where the joy ended for the visitors.
Bloom teamed up with John Meuleners (41) to take the total to 61 and then featured in a 46-run stand with Sri Lankan import Haresh Ratnayake (14).
Caloundra eventually passed the Thunder's total with only four wickets down and pushed on to make 5-244 with Greg Lyons (53 not out) joining Bloom in the half- century club.
At Yandina, Glasshouse broke through for its first win of the season, surpassing Yandina's first innings of 196 by compiling 241.
The Rangers looked in trouble when they slipped to 5-76, but a 97- run sixth-wicket stand between M Little (51) and Tony Levings (67) moved the visitors to within touching distance of victory.
A handy 30 from No.10 Michael Parr capped off Glasshouse's day.

THE Federal Government's plan for land transport reform has confirmed what local councils and Sunshine Coast motorists have known for years our roads are unsafe, congested and underfunded.

Local Government Association of Queensland president and former Noosa mayor Noel Playford said yesterday the Federal Government's AusLink Green Paper released last week recognised the drastic need for better regional road networks.
It is pleasing that the paper acknowledges what local government in Queensland has been saying for more than a decade our roads have been underfunded, are becoming congested and unsafe, cannot cope with the increased demand placed on them and that urgent action is overdue,'' Mr Playford said.
He said local councils, responsible for managing about 80% of the state's roads would have a keen interest in the the key initiatives identified in the paper.
And he said a cooperative approach was needed to ensure the much-need reforms were implemented as soon as possible.
There is little doubt that the current situation is not sustainable. A coordinated efforts between all levels of government, industry and the private sector is required to deliver roads and transport links to keep local communities alive and maintain the competitiveness of the nation's regions into the future.''
Mr Playford said the LGAQ had taken a leadership role by establishing a Road Management and Investment Alliance between local government and the Queensland Department of Main Roads.
He said the alliance was designed to set priorities and re-direct funding to the areas of highest need.

THE Australian Tax Office will crack down on the Sunshine Coast's black economy, targetting the cash rates'' that have flourished under the Goods and Services Tax.

ATO investigators will target the building and construction and hospitality industries, the mainstays of the Coast economy.
The ATO said yesterday that compliance officers would be contacting 85,000 businesses Australia-wide after anomalies were detected in Business Activity Statements.
Around 20,000 of these were considered to be seriously in breach of Australian tax laws.
The black economy is rife on the Sunshine Coast.
Building and construction industry sources say the GST had been fantastic'' for the black economy.
Contractors who did not wish to be named said the incentive for cash-in hand payment, for discounts of 10% and greater, had increased under the GST.
It was always there, but now people have more reason to pay in cash,'' one said.
There's certainly no incentive for the customers to pay the tradesman GST because they've got no way to claim it back.''
Coast Housing Industry Association president Reg Potts said the black economy was rife in the smaller end of the construction game.
It's always been the case but it's rampant now,'' Mr Potts said.
Especially since the home renovator market has gone through the roof. The black economy might have tightened up in the business to business transactions but certainly not in the renovating market.''
Queensland Council of Unions president Grace Grace said cash- in-hand payments to hospitality workers remained a problem.

SWIMMERS were evacuated from Sunshine Coast surf yesterday as shark sightings caused lifesavers to quickly sound alarms.

Hundreds of swimmers scrambled out of Mooloolaba surf around 9.30am when the shark alarm bell tolled across the beach.
Lifesavers were later doubtful whether a shark had actually approached the swimming area, but said it had been important to clear the beach in the interests of public safety.
But around 2.45pm a Wurtulla lifeguard spotted a shark chasing bait fish in the surf.
The beach was quickly cleared.
Swimmers were allowed back in the water about 20 minutes later after lifeguards saw off the threat.
A general notice was issued to other beaches in the area.
For Sunshine Coast nippers, out on their first day of patrol at Mooloolaba Beach, the action was unexpected but exciting.
Nipper Ryan Shanley, 13, said his first day had been pretty full-on''.
Thirteen-year-old Sarah Fullerton said she had not expected any action, having prepared to watch people having fun rather than help out with an alarm.
The pair, who both want to become fully qualified surf lifesavers, spent the moments after the alarm making sure no-one entered the water.
Mooloolaba patrol captain Ross Ullman said although the water was cleared after a possible sighting, two jetboats, a helicopter and the IRB did not spot a shark.
A Sunshine Coast Command Centre spokesperson said clearing the water was irregular, but it was best to err on the side of safety''.

THERE'S far more to glass- blowing than bottles, glasses and ornate candle-holders.

Just ask Steve and Jody Walkinshaw of Carlton Glass Marketing whose skill in manufacturing hydrometers has built a national client base.
The wine, sugar and petroleum and aviation industries across Australia are among those who rely on the small Maroochydore firm.
It is a bit different,'' Mr Walkinshaw said.
There are not many glass blowers around and even less who do specifically what we do.''
As well as hydrometers (used basically to measure the density of liquids) Carlton Glass Marketing also manufactures laboratory glassware.
And it's turning into a bit of a family tradition. Jody's father Rob Cox joined the Carlton family business in the 1950s as a teenager, when the firm, which started in 1934, was based in Brisbane.
Steve married Jody, learned the art of glassblowing from Rob, and about 15 years ago they moved the company to Maroochydore.
The wine industry is our biggest market,'' Steve said.
But it's not all hydrometers and laboratory equipment.
Some of Rob's more artistic efforts feature in a display cabinet at the business.
We do a bit of fancy stuff,'' Steve said.
We can do whatever people like, really.''
That includes a small glass helicopter, commissioned as a gift, and a variety of wedding-cake decorations.
Now they are perhaps the only and certainly the biggest'' manufacturers of hydrometers in Australia.

A LOOMING education infrastructure crisis on the Sunshine Coast has been averted with the confirmation yesterday the new Chancellor Park High School will open in 2004.

Education Minister Anna Bligh's office announced yesterday the school would be ready for business on the first day of the 2004 school year with a first year intake of Year 7 and 8 students.
The news of the new school co-incided with the launch yesterday of Mountain Creek High School's new Middle and Senior schools which will see Year 10 students take on the same timetable as the Year 11 and 12 students from next year.
The new $2.7m school at Chancellor Park, which was foreshadowed earlier this year in the state budget, comes just at the right time as it will relieve pressure from Mountain Creek which will strain with the weight of 2100 students next year.
With that many students the additional numbers will see the school take the title as the biggest in the state.
The bulk of those numbers come from new Year 8 students with 425 expected to turn up on the first day of classes next year.
Mountain Creek principal Greg Peach said to cope with the influx of students six new classrooms had been made available which would help house some of the 15 Year 8 classes the 425 new students would make up.
Mr Peach said while the school would still manage with such a large number of students, he hoped the Chancellor Park school would relieve the pressure the following year.
With 1600 students the school runs like a well oiled machine,'' he said.
But at 2100 it starts to get a bit creaky.''

THE second chance'' format of last season's Sunshine Coast rugby union competition has received the thumbs down'' from the clubs.

The rejection has paved the way to return to a two-round competition with the top five to go to the finals.
The format change appears certain to receive official sanction at a Sunshine Coast Rugby Union management committee meeting early December, general manager Russell Sheil said yesterday.
This year, the top four and bottom four teams on the ladder after round two split into two separate pools for a three-match third round.
The change, with all matches in the three grades lumped into one- day carnivals at Caboolture, Kawana and Caloundra, aimed to create an open contest for the weaker teams and extra hope of making the finals.
However, Sheil said the new third round had not changed any positions on the ladder.
It also created great difficulty in deciding the venues for the three days; fundamentally the competition has run on a home-and-away basis,'' Sheil said.
The revenue for every club comes from its home games.
The clubs decide the format and they have given us the basic ideas for the two rounds of home and away with the top five going into the finals.''
Noosa president Max Gunthorpe and A-grade coach Mick Phelan have welcomed the rejection of the 2002 format.
The Dolphins appeared to be worst affected of the eight clubs, having a drought'' on home games before the August 31 grand finals.

ZAC Purton was the name on everyone's lips at Corbould Park yesterday, with the 19-year-old apprentice booting home five winners.

The wins extended his lead to seven at the top of the jockey's premiership, with his nearest rival Brad Stewart failing to ride a winner yesterday.
Everything went right for the exciting young hoop, who endured a frustrating Saturday at Doomben, having to settle for one win and four seconds.
I'm just getting all the luck at the moment,'' Purton said.
But I've been getting good horses, you can't win without good cattle.
Yesterday's haul was Purton's second bag of five for the year, he did it in Townsville in February as well.
That was a bit of a surprise. Because at the time I couldn't ride a winner, and I went up there and won five,'' he said.
Purton left his most exciting win until the last race of the day the K Smith & Son Jewellers Handicap 1000m when 7-2 favourite Good Idea out sprinted Dawn Glances and Enchanting Lass.
He had fairly easy victories in race one the Midas Car Care Handicap (1400m) on four-year-old brown mare Maltlaw, and in race six, the Hudson Timber & Hardware Handicap (1300m) on seven-year-old brown gelding Get Going.
Race two, the Caloundra RSL Handicap (1400m) and race five,the Sunshine Coast Daily Handicap (1600m), took more of an effort, Purton said.

THE Sunshine Coast Scorchers, on the verge of winning an historic fourth match in a row, have received accolades for their team spirit.

With Toombul resuming today at 9/197, the Scorchers must take just one wicket before openers Jerry Cassell and Aaron Maynard take charge on the run-friendly Buderim pitch.
Coach Ian Moffett said the top of the XXXX Cup table would hinge on the Wests-Gold Coast match.
Wests have won three in a row too and they are fairly well positioned to win again,'' Moffett said.
But a win over Toombul would at least put us closer to the top and give a bit better than a game's break between the top two and the rest.
We have never achieved four in a row before.
Everything we have done this season has been a team effort and everyone has chipped in at some stage.
That gives more chances of getting on a winning roll, without relying on rather one player.''
Moffett said Scorchers bowlers Paul Cash (Palmwoods), Corey Otto (Maroochydore) and Chris McCabe (Caloundra) should quickly pick up the last Toombul wicket.
He said captain and Bulls batsman Cassell was looking for a high score to put pressure on the state selectors.
Maynard had also been performing well with about 160 runs this season.
The opening partnership had been reasonably consistent'' this season, the coach said.
The middle order would appreciate the bonus of a long innings and time at the crease.

DICKY Beach looks a million dollars. Today, after years of planning and six months of hard work, the result of that amount of expenditure will go on show.

While the historic skeleton of the SS Dicky still takes pride of place down on the sand, the suburb's shopping area is no longer a wreck.
Shopkeepers, residents and visitors are ecstatic with the colourful transformation of the fast-tiring business strip and its surrounds.
A new road surface, fancy interlocking pavers, stylish street furniture, improved signage and lighting and lush landscaping are part of the rejuvenation.
It's just wonderful,'' Helen Hamilton of Clancy's Takeaway said.
Dicky had been the same forever and really needed this. We think it is beautiful and will bring so many more tourists to the area.''
Helen said taking away the huge concrete step and making the shops and footpath the one level was a key improvement.
She said the streetscape was simply stunning.
Local councillor and deputy mayor Don Smith said he was ecstatic with the transformation and paid tribute to Caloundra City council's team.
The end result speaks for itself and we invite everyone to come and see the new Dicky Beach,'' he said.
Today's festivities will see a road closure from 3pm prior to the start at 4pm.
There will be 30 market stalls, live entertainment from bands, buskers and the 35-strong Caloundra City Concert Band, face painting, a jumping castle and merry-go-round, sausage sizzle, and fireworks at 8pm.
The official opening by Mayor Don Aldous will take place at 5.30pm.

THE 2002 basketball season gave two major lessons to former Sydney Kings forward-centre Michael Kenny.

He realised that at 37 he was too old to keep playing with his beloved Maroochydore Clippers; and the Clippers needed a slight change of game style.
Now appointed as the 2003 coach, Kenny has confirmed he will stay on the sideline next season to focus on building up the Clippers defensive skills and developing an inside'' shooting emphasis.
Kenny, who was co-captain of the Clippers' 1997 championship team, said he had returned to the second division last season after a five-year break, during which he coached juniors.
Halfway through the season, Jeff (Williamson, then coach) said he wanted me in the first division,'' Kenny said.
But I had been five years in retirement. My body hated me for doing it and my knees are finally giving in.
At my age you can't get the fitness you need in this sort of competition.
These guys are quick and athletic and they can jump like I never could.''
Kenny, whose credits include player-coach with Penrith from 1990 to '92 and a season playing with the Kings in 1993, moved to the Sunshine Coast in 1996 after transferring in his job with Telstra.
With the Kings I was very much an undersized big man at 6ft 6in (198cm) and 90kg,'' he said.
We had Dean Uthoff, who was 6ft 10in (208cm) and 130kg and could benchpress 400 pounds (182kg).

A GROUP of local golfers is quietly confident their bid to purchase Twin Waters Golf Club can succeed.

There's just one catch it's not for sale.
However, based on strong rumours'' the Novotel Twin Waters Resort (including the golf club and tennis centre) would come on the market next year, the group behind the bid plans to have their finances in place in time to make a serious offer.
And they mean business. Twin Waters Country Club chairman Trevor Herd said a members working party had been working since March to raise the capital for the purchase through a proposed issue of shares.
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to buy a golf course of the quality of Twin Waters,'' Mr Herd said.
It's a wonderful course.''
He said the working party, initiated by Twin Waters resident Hank Langstrom, had been formed by members of the golf club.
The Twin Waters Country Club has been registered as a company and their attempt to buy-out Twin Waters Golf and Tennis Club is based on an offering shares priced at $5000 each.
That initial purchase carries with it a right to apply to become a golf member with full playing rights.
The venture is being promoted amongst Twin Waters residents, interstate and to other Sunshine Coast golfers,'' Mr Herd said.
The group has formed an alliance with major Queensland developer Consolidated Properties the firm behind the Casuarina Beach development on the Tweed Coast.

GOLFER Katherine Hull's world championship win has earned her an October senior award in the Sunshine Coast Sports Star of the Year competition.

Based at Pepperdine University in the United States, the former Tewantin-Noosa champion was part of an historic victory by Australia at the women's world amateur teams championships in Malaysia.
In the closest finish in history, Australia made up a three-stroke deficit to win its first world women's title since 1978 on a countback over Thailand at the Saujana Golf and Country Club in Kuala Lumpur.
Hull, 20, finished fourth in the individual event.
After placing 20th on the first day, the Aussies moved into fifth with a six-under-par performance on the second day.
They climbed again on the third day with a five- under-par score and were tied for third entering the final round.
The other senior winners for October are indoor cricketers Scott Gardiner and brothers Corey and Jay Otto who were part of the Australian team which clinched the World Cup in New Zealand.
Jay was the player of the tournament, while his elder brother was one of Australia's outstanding players in the final against the Kiwis, conceding zero off both his overs and making 18 with the bat.
Gardiner missed the final due to a groin strain.
All three are also very capable cricketers outdoors, with Gardiner and Corey Otto play with the Scorchers.
The October junior winner is Caboolture baseballer Chris Clem, who has enjoyed an outstanding 2002.

EXPERTS are lifting the lid on waste management as part of 2002 National Recycling Week.

School students, along with Coast residents, will be given vital tips in how to save the planet during the week which runs until Sunday.
Yesterday, Caloundra State School students learned they sent 21 wheelie bins a week to landfill. Cleanaway education officer Mandy Botterell said this was approximately 215 cubic metres per year.
She presented two recycling wheelie bins to principal John Liscombe to help the school start a program to reduce the amount of waste they are sending to be buried.
Having the bins and collecting rubbish items such as paper/cardboard, plastic, aluminium and steel, could cut waste back by a quarter and significantly reduce costs.
Today, the waste management unit will hold an open day at the Pierce Avenue resource recovery facility.
Mayor Don Aldous said it was an excellent opportunity to showcase the cutting edge waste management systems at the facility.
"We are leading the way in reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill by proving numerous opportunities for residents to reduce reuse and recycle their waste,'' he said.
Open day activities include a free barbecue breakfast, provided by Caloundra Scouts, from 6am to 9am, sausage sizzle from 10am to noon, and guided minibus tours of the facility from 12.30pm.

DEREK Sam sat staring at the ground, then at the ceiling before he said what three desperate families were begging not to hear.
Asked the direct question _ what had he done with the body of Jessica Gaudie _ Sam remained silent in the witness box for 30 long seconds.
It was a moment of extreme intensity. It was as if no one in the room was able to take a breath.
Finally, Sam's gaze turned to the police and the families sitting behind them in the Maroochydore court gallery.
He raised his shoulders slightly into a resigned shrug.
"What can I say?''
The words came out softly after a deep breath, dashing the hopes of three families who had come to the inquiry hoping to learn the ultimate fate of their loved ones.
"If that's how it's going to be, I'll die in jail. I cannot put my hand up for a crime I didn't commit,'' he said.
"I don't care what you people think. My kids are gone. My family's gone. I'm a puppet on a string. The day I walk out of jail I'm dead. It doesn't matter to me.''
The man who has been sentenced to life for the killing of the Nambour teenager, and tops the list of suspects for the disappearance of British backpacker Celena Bridge and Kenilworth teacher-aid Ann Glassop in 1998 and 1999, said there was nothing more he could tell.
The response followed a last bid to coax information from the convicted killer.
"I know you want to go up north. You can't get visitors now,'' Shane Panoho, the police officer assisting the coroner, said.
"I'm sure applications can be made if you help this family (the Gaudies),'' Sgt Panoho offered. "I don't mind if you consider this an inducement or not.''

A SCHOOLIES boom in the Gold Coast and Whitsundays could leave the Sunshine Coast's "safe'' festival as a shadow of its former self.
While Sunshine Coast organisers are predicting numbers to be down by as many as 2000 next week, other areas have reported record demand.
Sunshine Coast Community Solutions general manager David Curdcorrect said although the Coast hosted up to 5000 school leavers last year, no more than 3000 were e pected here next week.
Yet major Gold Coast accommodation agent BreakFree said schoolies bookings in the south had increased by almost 20%.
Record numbers of school leavers from throughout Australia and overseas are expected to descend on the Gold Coast for the celebrations, according to the council.
Destinations further north are also becoming more attractive to school leavers, with 40% increases in the Whitsundays annually over the last four years.
Mr Curd attributed the drop here to a greater number of quality alternatives.
"The success of the Sunshine Coast model has been rolled out in the Whitsundays, Hervey Bay and the Gold Coast,'' he said.
He also said school leavers had other monetary considerations, such as purchasing a car or looking forward to university costs.
He stressed the drop in numbers was not a concern, as the week was not a money-making scheme but was about providing a quality experience for young people.
Tourism and Fair Trading Minister Merri Rose said each school leaver would spend $1000 on average during the celebrations.
Maroochydore Chamber of Commerce president Leigh Rachow said schoolies were a big injection for accommodation and retail precincts.
"A thousand dollars each is nothing to sneeze at,'' Ms Rachow said.

THE Sunshine Coast could not receive the road funding it deserved until federal MPs "got off their bums'' and lobbied for a better return from fuel taxes.
Premier Peter Beattie made the comments in defending the lack of state funding to Coast roads following the release of a five-year road plan which consists mainly of federal funding.
Mr Beattie said Queensland was increasing its road funding but without a real return from federal fuel taxes, it would not be able to properly fund new roads across the state.
"Until we get our federal members of Parliament on the Sunshine Coast and elsewhere to get off their bums and start putting pressure on the Federal Government than we are not going to get the result we want.''
Mr Beattie said the Federal Government was now talking about more toll roads, something he knew had little support on the Sunshine Coast.
"What the Federal Government is basically doing is stealing from motorists and not putting the money back into roads.''
"If we got it back you could have a highway made of bloody gold, almost, to the Sunshine Coast.''
But federal MP Peter Slipper said his government had reduced fuel taxes, first introduced by Labor, by removing yearly increases.
He said it was now seen as part of raising funds for consolidated revenue.
Mr Slipper said he was lobbying both deputy PM John Anderson and state transport minister Steve Bredhauer for the Bruce Highway to be upgraded to six lanes to the Coast. A meeting involving council leaders would be held in the next week.

SHOPPERS at Sunshine Plaza aren't the only ones anxiously awaiting the completion of roadworks designed to realign the Plaza Parade intersection with Horton Parade.
A consortium of Sunshine Coast developers has drawn up floor plans for a $3million commercial complex to be built on vacant land on the north-eastern corner of the intersection, next to the Jenny Craig Centre.
Spokesman Geoff Glanville said yesterday it had been a long wait for the work to be completed.
"We bought the land off council some time ago ... it's probably the most visible site in town,'' he said.
"We've had some preliminary dialogue with a potential major tenant but it's probably a bit too early to put anything in concrete.''
Indeed, Mr Glanville said the backers hadn't decided whether to build a high-class showroom or single-storey professional offices, adding, "We've pretty well ruled out retail though''.
"We've had some preliminary floor plans drawn up but nothing specific at this stage,'' he said.
The 1350sqm block has 100m of frontage to Plaza Parade.
The roadworks started last month and are expected to finish in March next year, although work will be halted for two weeks during the peak Christmas period.
Maroochy deputy mayor Trevor Thompson said the realignment of Plaza Parade would ease peak-period traffic congestion.
The works are part of a five- to-10-year strategy to upgrade Plaza Parade and Evans Street to four lanes between Horton Parade and Maroochydore Road.
This stage will include the relocation of traffic signals at Horton Parade/Plaza Parade, drainage works, street lighting added, pavement construction, footpath construction and landscaping and relocation of utility services.

THE volatile Sunshine Coast building industry is set to stabilise in the next two years with the injection of a multi-million dollar public works program.
Queensland Masters Building Association (QMBA) regional manager, Robert Dunbar, sees the announcement of up to $55 million worth of public works in the area, a slice of the state government's current building projects' guide, as a shot in the arm for one of the Coast's most important industries.
"What this announcement does for the Coast is it injects outside work into the area, which, together with existing projects will keep contractors in work for the next couple of years,'' Mr Dunbar said.
He said the public works would include the refurbishment of a number of high schools across the Coast, together with $13.5 million allocated for the construction of the Sippy Downs High School.
Other government buildings to benefit will be a multi-million dollar upgrade to the Cooloola Sunshine Institute of TAFE at Mooloolaba, the continuing redevelopment of the Nambour Hospital and $12 million towards new public housing.
Although a number of Coast building companies would be pre-qualified to tender for the building projects, Mr Dunbar believed the biggest boon was for subcontractors.
"It will help to flatten out the constant boom and bust cycle of the housing industry on the Coast. This is good for the 'subbies, who should get a lot more joy leading up to Christmas and beyond,` he said.
Mr Dunbar saw the public works program as an indication the government recognised the Sunshine Coast as a major growth area.
`They keep pumping the building work into the Coast because it is such a booming area. If the construction industry is going well, so will the tourist industry and the Coast in general.'

MALENY'S Yvonne Johnston is a shining example of the message behind Spinal Injuries Awareness Week _ there is achievement after adversity.
The Paraplegic and Quadraplegic Association of Queensland chose Achievement After Adver sity as its theme to show that spinal injuries are life-changing events they do not stop people from living a full life.
That is something Mrs Johnston has demonstrated in the 28 years since a car accident in NSW left her with paraplegia.
She was 22. Her children were aged nine months and two years at the time and can't remember seeing their mum walk.
Strong support from family helped Mrs Johnston come to terms with her spinal cord injury and get on with her life.
She has enjoyed a diverse work history, running businesses with her husband, including spray painting, cattle farming and making mobile cattle yards.
"You name it, we've done it,'' she said.
But Mrs Johnston said raising her children was the biggest achievement of her life.
She has a strong message of encouragement for others coming to terms with a spinal cord injury.
and may have trouble accepting their disability:
"Get out there and have a go,'' she said. "If you smile the world smiles with you. If you cry, you cry alone. That's my policy.
"It's such a challenge. You've got to change your whole attitude, your whole outlook.''
She said it was important that individuals did not lose their identity after a serious injury.
"Be who you want to be,'' she said.
_ don't be a great sportsperson if you don't want to be. Don't do something if it makes you feel uncomfortable.''
A spokesperson for the Paraplegic and Quadraplegic Association said
The majority of spinal cord injuries result from motor vehicle accidents. Other causes include: motorbike accidents, bike/pedestrian related accidents falls, diving and surfing, horses, football and gymnastics.

Coast centre cements reputation as hub of business innovation
MORE than 60 leading business people from the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane gathered at the In novation Centre at Sunshine Coast University last nightwednov13 to hear a remarkable success story.
The president of Queensland Entrepreneurs and CEO of Vision in Action Kelvin Hutchinson, a self confessed "serial entrepreneur'' has created, developed, managed and sold more than 20 businesses in Asia and Australia.
His presentation drew on his in-depth knowledge of property development, digital data-casting, consulting, information technology, marketing and multimedia productions.
His many business activities have included:
n 20 years of property development throughout Australia _ and eight in Asia
n The establishment of a cruise line in Indonesia
n the establishment of a software house
n a partnership with golfing great Gary Player involving the management of integrated resorts and golf clubs throughout Asia.
Innovation Centre chief executive Colin Graham said last night was the second in a series of events designed to promote "an entrepreneurial culture on the Sunshine Coast''.
"The Meet the Entrepreneur evenings are very practical events that help to inform and inspire local entrepreneurs to create their own business success stories _ they also reinforce the Innovation Centre's position as the innovation hub for the Sunshine Coast,'' Mr Graham said.

NEWLY-ELECTED Sunshine Coast Regional Group Apprentices Limited chairman Toni McRae yesterday defended her independence, denying she was representing former chairman Alison Grosse on the board.
While acknowledging she had represented Excellent Communications, Mrs Grosse's private company and one of five SCRGAL member companies, at one meeting, Ms McRae said she had "no professional or personal connection with Excellent Communications''.
"I'm doing this job, voluntarily, because I believe in the 700 apprentices we're securing futures for,'' Ms McRae said.
The journalist and author said she had great confidence in SCRGAL's future, saying new CEO Howard Riach would have "a free and unencumbered rein to return the company to its number one position.''
It seems, however, that mistakes of the past, including non- existent record keeping, highlighted in a damning report from the Department of Employment and Training earlier this year, are being repeated.
ASIC records checked on Tuesday listed SCRGAL's directors as Malcolm Dixon (appointed December 3, 2001), Alison Grosse and Don Moffatt (resigned July 4).
Despite ASIC requiring board changes to be notified within 14 days, the election of directors Toni McRae, Robert Dunbar, Peter McNeale and Sean Fitzpatrick, all made prior to July, have yet to be advised.
And former manager Rob Purvis, sacked in December, has just received an ASIC penalty notice for not lodging an annual return for The Sunshine Coast Training Company, a defunct SCRGAL subsidiary.
Ms McRae also said staff who leaked company information to the media would be fired.

PREMIER Peter Beattie is putting the heat on federal MP Peter Slipper to deliver on his promise to have HMAS Brisbane sunk off the Sunshine Coast as a dive attraction.
Mr Beattie said Queensland still wanted to have the decommissioned Navy destroyer as a tourist attraction but was not prepared to commit itself to any ongoing funding.
"I remind divers and Sunshine Coast residents that the Liberal Member for Fisher, Peter Slipper, is on record several times promising the Federal Government will sink the ship off the Sunshine Coast and has the money to do so,'' he said.
"The Federal Liberal Government is trying to squirm out of its election commitment by saying the State Government should pay for insurance premiums,'' Mr Beattie said.
Mr Beattie said claims by Mr Slipper that he was not supportive of sinking the ship off the Coast were not true.
He said he had promised to sign the Deed of Gift with the Federal Government as long as it came with no price tag.
Mr Beattie said he still understood public liability insurance costs would be $250,000 a year.
But Mr Slipper said there were no such costs for Queensland with the Federal Government agreeing to pay up to $3million for the ship's sinking _ a cost normally met by the states.
Mr Slipper said he could not believe that Labor MP Chris Cummins could not convince the Premier to sign for the ship given such undertakings.
Asked why the Commonwealth did not just sink the ship itself, Mr Slipper said: "The Federal Government is not in the business of sinking ships. "(It) would not have the administrative infrastructure.''

A BUDDINA woman who has had more experience with lawyers investigating lawyers than most has welcomed a report into the Queensland Law Society and its calls for reforms.
Joyce Baker, who has been fighting to recover $36,000 she lost in failed Boyce Garrick Lawers-run mortgage schemes, said the report by retired judge Pat Shanahan didn't go far enough.
"They shouldn't have lawyers investigating lawyers,'' she said.
"I went in there (to the QLS) looking for help and now all my trust for lawyers is gone.''
She said the findings that many people didn't have faith in the QLS wasn't surprising and it would take years before that could be changed.
"We'll all be in the same boat if it's left in the same system,'' she said.
Ms Baker's reaction was echoed by Lawrence Sprinborg, opposition justice spokesman, who yesterday called on the State Government to appoint an independent body to handle future complaints and restore faith in the system.
"The report criticises the QLS's handling of complaints, which is reason enough for the Beattie government to quickly finalise legal profession reform, including the creation of an independent body that can manage complaints without fear or favour,'' he said.