Quote of the Week

…a Palestinian child has tragically been killed every three days for the past 14 years. That bears repeating, since such deaths are rarely, if ever, given any attention in America: Palestinian parents have had to bury a child every three days for the past 14 years. [Daily Kos 5 July 2014]

Abbott Government's conniving falls apart in the Senate

The Abbott Government’s attempts to take advantage of the inexperience of newly-elected senators saw its bills repealing the carbon price mechanism and associated measures rejected by the Senate on 10 July 2014, culminating in this vote:

The PRESIDENT (12:21): The committee has considered the Clean Energy Legislation (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013 [No. 2] and has disagreed to the bills. The question now is that the report of the committee be adopted…..

The question is that the report of the committee, disagreeing to all of the bills, be adopted.

Senate divided. [12:23]

(The President—Senator Parry)

Ayes ...................... 37

Noes ...................... 35

Majority ................. 2

Not ten minutes later, this came to pass……

The Sydney Morning Herald 11 July 2014:

The Coalition is reaping what it sowed. It has repeatedly treated the Parliament with contempt in its effort to neuter parts of Labor's financial advice laws before they had full force on July 1.

Rather than put changes before the Parliament as an amendment to Labor's act, it introduced them by regulation when the Parliament wasn't sitting. It was aware of legal advice from Arnold Bloch Leibler that they would not survive a challenge in the High Court. Regulations are meant to assist the implementation of acts, not to nullify them.

Labor alleges that Treasury sent a copy of the regulations to the Senate tabling office on July 1 and then attempted to withdraw them, saying it didn't want them tabled until the last possible date, next Tuesday, July 15. What is not tabled cannot be disallowed.

Directed by a vote of the Senate to table the regulations immediately, the Minister, Mathias Cormann, refused. Cynics suggest he was trying to delay the process long enough to get through to the five-week parliamentary break and then accuse the Senate of creating uncertainty when it tried to exercise its rights.

Then Labor's Senator Sam Dastyari pulled a stunt, one worthy of Cormann himself.

He read from the regulations and had a Labor senator demand that he table the document he was reading from.

In the confusion the motion passed with the help of the Greens and a handful of independents. On Monday Labor will give notice of a motion to strike the regulations down. If it succeeds, consumers will be protected in the way Parliament originally intended. It will have got around the workaround.

Twitter: @1petermartin

What on earth did Clarence Valley Council management tell the NSW Division of Local Government?

This is what the NSW Division of Local Government stated about Code Of Conduct complaints reporting:

From December 2013, councils will be required to report statistics on code of conduct complaints about councillors and the General Manager and the cost of dealing with complaints. This information is to be reported to both the council and the Division.

The numbers of code of conduct complaints received by a council about its councillors or the General Manager is often an indicator of the internal health of the organisation. Code of conduct complaints are often symptomatic of political infighting or interpersonal conflict.

This is an important accountability mechanism providing communities with an insight into whether the governing body of their council is being distracted by infighting and how much public money is being spent to deal with this. It also provides the Division with a broad overview of how councils are applying their codes of conduct which may inform future reviews of the Model Code framework.

This information in relation to each council will be made publicly available annually from early 2014.

These snapshots are excerpts the statistical information covering the 2012-13 reporting period which was supplied to Clarence Valley councillors by the General Manager on 12 and 19 November 2013:

And this appears to be what Council management told the NSW Division of Local Government and it published in its 30 June 2014 Comparative Information on NSW Local Government 2012/13

report:

Now it is public knowledge that that the information supplied to councillors on 12 & 19 November 2013 was incorrect, because on the 10 & 24 June 2014 the General Manager told councillors that:

The statistical document for submission to the Office of Local Government however had some clerical errors in it….

The statistical document was forwarded as required to the Office of Local Government.

The Office of Local Government has not yet published the collective statistics for NSW.

The Office of Local Government has been advised of the errors and an amended statistical return has been provided.

Council has been advised by the Office of Local Government that the correct statistical information has been now included in their records.

The Office of Local Government in the near future is expected to publish the collective statistics for Code of Conduct complaints which will include the correct statistics for Clarence Valley

Council.

This may leave the reader as puzzled as I – for the Code of Conduct complaints have gone from two complaints with one investigated and action taken to two complaints investigated requiring action and the cost has risen from $14,900 to $19,900. While the false statistical report of 12 and 19 November 2013 (which implied that disciplinary action had been taken against a councillor) apparently still stands on the official record.

What on earth did Clarence Valley Council management actually tell the NSW Division of Local Government?

Metgasco asked for the world in a Notice to Produce in Metgasco Ltd v Minister for Resources & Energy [2014]

Coal seam/tight gas exploration and mining company Metgasco Ltd (whose PEL16 license was suspended in May 2014) asked for the world in a Notice to Produce.

A notice which the NSW Supreme Court classified as a premature and set aside, with the company ordered to pay the NSW Minister for Resources & Energy’s costs.

Excerpt from Metgasco Ltd v Minister for Resources & Energy [2014] NSWSC 908, Hearing Date 4 July 2014 – Decision Date 9 July 2014:

27 In the light of my determination that the Notice to Produce is premature I consider that it would still be open to stand over the Notice to Produce and the Defendant' Motion to set it aside until such time as the amended pleadings are finalised and the evidence is complete. However, that is unlikely to be finalised in a way that would enable me to continue to hear the Notice of Motion on a part-heard basis. Further, the filing of amended pleadings and the serving of the evidence on both sides may well change the basis upon which documents need to be, or are, sought by the Notice to Produce. The better course, it seems to me, is to set aside the Notice to Produce but without precluding the Plaintiff from serving a further Notice to Produce if so advised at a later appropriate time.

28 The Defendant has been successful on its Motion. The Plaintiff ought not to have pursued a defence of the Notice to Produce when it sought to amend its Summons to include the further decision, even if it was justified in doing so earlier. The Plaintiff should pay the costs of the Motion.

'The prime minister's personal rating has fallen sharply in all states and every demographic group'

SBS News 7 July 2014:

Voter support for the federal government has dropped three points to 37 per cent, but more heavily in stronghold states Western Australia and Queensland, according to the latest Newspoll.

In findings being attributed to displeasure with the coalition's first budget, government support in WA has slipped six points to 40 per cent and by four points to 37 per cent in Queensland.

Men are generally continuing to back the government, but its support among females has dropped two points to 35 per cent, according to the results published by The Australian.

There has also been a significant fall in backing from older voters, with support among those aged between 35 and 49 tumbling three points to 34 per cent, and among those 50 and older falling from 48 per cent to 45 per cent.

Tony Abbott has also taken a hit, with only 38 per cent of voters in the prime minister's home state of NSW preferring him in the top job, compared to 42 per cent who say they'd back Bill Shorten.

The prime minister's personal rating has fallen sharply in all states and every demographic group.

Nationally, he is preferred as prime minister by 37 per cent of voters (a drop of four points) while nationwide approval for Mr Shorten has jumped from 36 per cent to 41 per cent.

Newspoll here.

Political Humour: wee Johnny strikes again!

From my email Inbox this week:

Tony Abbott was visiting a Sydney primary school and the class was in the middle of a discussion related to words and their meanings.

The teacher asked Mr Abbott if he would like to lead the discussion on the word 'Tragedy'.

So our illustrious leader asked the class for an example of a 'Tragedy'.

A little boy stood up and offered: 'If my best friend, who lives on a farm, is playin' in the field and a tractor runs over him and kills him, that would be a tragedy.'

'Incorrect,' said Abbott. 'That would be an accident.'

A little girl raised her hand: 'If a school bus carrying fifty children drove over a cliff, killing everybody inside, that would be a tragedy.'

'I'm afraid not’ explained Abbott, 'that's what we would refer to as a great loss'.

The room went silent. No other children volunteered. Abbott searched the room.

'Isn't there someone here who can give me an example of a tragedy?'

Finally, at the back of the room, little Johnny raised his hand and said:

'If a plane carrying you and Mr Hockey, Mr Pyne and Mrs Bishop was struck by a 'friendly fire' missile & blown to smithereens, that would be a tragedy.'

'Fantastic' exclaimed Abbott, 'and can you tell me why that would be a tragedy?'

'Well', said Johnny, 'it has to be a tragedy, because it certainly wouldn't be a great loss, and it probably wouldn't be a  bloody accident either!

Norma’s Project: A Research Study into the Sexual Assault of Older Women in Australia

Excerpts from Norma's Project:  A Research Study into the Sexual Assault of Older Women in Australia, June 2014 (Authors Rosemary Mann, Philomena Horsley, Catherine Barrett, Jean Tinney):

The idea of older women as victims of sexual assault is relatively recent and little understood. However, it is becoming increasingly evident that, despite the silence that surrounds the topic, such assaults occur in many settings and circumstances. The lack of community awareness can be partly attributed to commonly held assumptions that older women are asexual. How, then, can they be the target of sexual assault? What is unimaginable and unacceptable becomes unsayable or invisible.

* In Australia in 2011, there were 3.08 million people aged 65 years and over. There are higher proportions of older women than men over 65 years, with significantly more females than males aged 80 years and over (ABS 2012).

The overwhelming majority of older people live in private dwellings in the community – only 6% live in non-private dwellings, which include aged care homes and hospitals. Among those aged 85 years and over, 74% live in private dwellings (AIHW 2007).

Over 50% of women aged 65 years and over need some form of assistance to help them stay at home.

Among those receiving assistance, 83% received help from informal providers (including family and friends), and 64% received help from formal

providers (including government organisations as well as private for-profit and private not-for-profit agencies) (AIHW 2007).

Around two-thirds of permanent residents in aged care facilities are women (AIHW 2007).

* However, it is widely accepted that around one in five women (17% – 21%) over the age of 18 years have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15 (ABS

2013, 2006; de Visser et al. 2003, 2007). This rate has not changed over the past six years (ABS 2013).

In 2012, an estimated one percent (87,000) of adult women had experienced some form of sexual assault in the previous 12 months, excluding unwanted sexual touching (ABS 2013).

Women over the age of 45 years represented nearly 1 in 5 of this group (ABS 2006).

In the vast majority of cases (88%), the perpetrator was known to the victim (ABS 2013).

* All Government-subsidised aged care homes must report to the police and to the Department of Health and Ageing within 24 hours of receiving an allegation or suspicion of 'unlawful sexual contact' or 'unreasonable use of force'. In the last 12 months there has been a 14% increase in reports of alleged physical and sexual assaults: 349 reports of unlawful sexual contact and 29 reports of unlawful sexual contact and 'unreasonable force' (Commonwealth of Australia 2013). In both Australia and New Zealand, surveys of aged care managers have identified cases of sexual assault of residents (Sadler 2009; Weatherall 2001).

* The available research in relation to the sexual assault of older women suggests that:

offenders are primarily men, although women should not be excluded as potential offenders, particularly in residential aged care settings (Ramsey-Klawsnik et al. 2008; Holt 1993)

male offenders range in age from teenage males to elderly men (Jeary 2005)

a significant minority of convicted male offenders also have previous convictions for assaults against children and younger women (Lea et al. 2010; Del Bove et al. 2005).

* Research on the impacts on older women of recent experiences of sexual assault (or other forms of violence) as an older woman is far more limited. Some researchers characterise service providers' 'lack of sensitivity … to the gravity of the assaults' as striking (Burgess et al. 2000, p.14), while other researchers attest to the 'long-term, life-changing effects' on elderly victims despite efforts to put the trauma behind them (Jeary 2005, p.335)

* Medical literature indicates that older women who experience sexual assault are more prone to trauma and injury to the genital tract, compared to younger women (Muram et al. 1992; Ramin 1997; Jones et al. 2009; Templeton 2005; Morgan et al. 2011) and more likely to be admitted to hospital (Eckhert and Sugar 2008).

Importantly, experiences of sexual assault can also result in a decrease in both the quality and the length of older women's lives. For instance, one case analysis of 20 older people who were sexually assaulted, most of whom were over 70, indicated that over ½ died within a year of the assault (Burgess et al. 2000).

The full report can be read here.

Some 2014 media reports of sexual and/or physical assaults on older women

The Daily Telegraph 30 January 2014:

AN elderly woman has been sexually assaulted after answering a knock on her door of her unit on the NSW far north coast.

Police said about 8pm (AEDT) on Wednesday the 75-year-old opened the door of her Kingscliff unit to a man who forced his way in and sexually assaulted her before fleeing.

treatment.

The Sydney Morning Herald 13 April 2014:

A registered nurse faces prosecution by health authorities after he allegedly sexually assaulted an 89-year-old patient inside a Sydney public hospital.

The man will appear before a Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) tribunal after an elderly lady complained he entered her bed space, woke her up and inappropriately touched her in the Emergency Short Stay Ward at Nepean Hospital, in July 2012.

It is understood the HCCC will also analyse the role of senior staff who several months previously, chose to handle internally - and dismiss - a carbon copy complaint from another elderly woman relating to the same nurse.

NSW Police confirmed that three days after the second alleged incident took place, Nepean Hospital alerted them to ''an allegation of sexual assault''.

On Friday, the patient's two daughters confirmed a decision was made not to press charges because it would have been too traumatic for their mother, who has since passed away in February.

Nswcourts.com.au 12 May 2014:

A 57-year-old former Blue Mountains nursing home worker has been charged with six counts of indecent assault in nursing homes. He was fired after the facility management received complaints from seven elderly women between 2011 and 2014.

The Daily Telegraph reported that seven elderly women had complained about the man for offences that allegedly took place between 2011 and 2014.

He was given strict bail conditions and ordered to appear before Katoomba local court.

Within a month of the Blue Mountains worker being charged, a Wollongong man was jailed for sexually abusing a vulnerable and disabled patient at a nursing home. The woman was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and a stroke, which left her speechless and with very limited movement, requiring 24 hour care.

The Courier Mail 13 May 2014:

A COMMUNITY in Mackay is reeling after the callous sexual assault of an elderly woman on her property.

The Courier-Mail understands the 80-year-old lady – who lives alone – was attacked after she had been walking her dog.

A source close to the victim said her friend had just been for a walk to the local shops before the incident occurred.

Reports suggest a man approached her in the front yard of her Finch St property about 7pm and asked for directions to Lamberts Beach.

Police said he then forced the woman into the backyard where the sexual assault took place.

The assailant then fled the scene on foot.

The Sydney Morning Herald 7 July 2014:

A 46-year-old nurse will appear in court on Tuesday in relation to the deaths of two elderly women and an assault on a third at a Ballina nursing home.

Victorian police arrested the woman in Seaspray, Victoria, 240 kilometres south-east of Melbourne, about 11am on Monday, with warrants issued last week by the NSW Police Force’s Homicide Squad.

The woman had been employed as a nurse at the St Andrew's Village nursing home in Ballina.

UPDATE

The Daily Telegraph 9 June 2014:

A registered nurse accused of killing two elderly patients and assaulting another was investigated for similar offences in 2008.