Fed: Delegates arrive for Australia 2020 Summit =3

AAP General News (Australia)
04-19-2008
Fed: Delegates arrive for Australia 2020 Summit =3

Australian actor Hugh Jackman said he would focus on promoting the arts in education.

"How we really focus the education system to bring out creativity in all Australians
in all areas," he said.

Mr Jackman is among 100 representatives from the creative and cultural community who
will discuss ideas for a more creative Australia.

He praised fellow actor Cate Blanchett for committing to co-chair the meeting just
days after giving birth.

"I have given her my kids - she is looking after them for the weekend," he joked.

"Cate Blanchett is superwoman ... she is flawless as a person and I am thrilled that
she is leading our stream."

MORE sld/mfh/apm

KEYWORD: SUMMIT ARRIVE 3 CANBERRA

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: High Court green light for Mokbel extradition

AAP General News (Australia)
12-14-2007
Vic: High Court green light for Mokbel extradition

Convicted drug trafficker and accused underworld murderer TONY MOKBEL will now turn
to the Greek courts .. with his appeal options against extradition exhausted in Australia.

MOKBEL is in a Greek jail while his appeals are heard.

His lawyer .. MIRKO BAGARIC .. says today's decision by the High Court in Melbourne
is the end for Mokbel's appeal options in Australia.

Mr BAGARIC says his client will now begin an appeal process against the extradition
through the Greek courts.





Mokbel was caught in June in Athens after fleeing Australia last year while facing
trial for importing cocaine.

He was found guilty in absentia of importing cocaine and sentenced to up to 12 years'
jail .. and is also facing 20 new charges in Australia .. including two for murder.

AAP RTV kn/pmu/wz/bart

KEYWORD: MOKBEL (MELBOURNE)

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Hockey blames Labor for fear of Work Choices =4

AAP General News (Australia)
08-03-2007
Fed: Hockey blames Labor for fear of Work Choices =4

Victorian Industrial Relations Minister Rob Hulls later said that nearly 40,000 complaints
had been made to state and territory workplace watchdogs since the beginning of Work Choices.

But he said the federal Workplace Ombudsman had been slow in providing assistance once
the complaints had been forwarded by the state and territory advocates.

"The Workplace Ombudsman has failed to deliver an efficient, effective service," he
said in a statement.

"In Victoria it appears it is only when a matter makes the media that the Workplace
Ombudsman acts."

A response was being sought from the Workplace Ombudsman Nick Wilson.

AAP dep/jt/bwl

KEYWORD: WORKPLACE HOCKEY 4 CANBERRA

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Underfed mums risk giving disease to poor little lambs

AAP General News (Australia)
02-01-2007
Fed: Underfed mums risk giving disease to poor little lambs

By Tamara McLean, National Medical Writer

SYDNEY, Feb 1 AAP - Tests on pregnant sheep show that malnourished mothers can "program"

their babies at conception to develop heart disease as adults.

Researchers at the University of Adelaide underfed scores of ewes to see what effect
a lack of nutrients and protein had on the embryo and the foetus.

They found that the mother's levels of nutrition in the 50 days before conception and
the week afterwards strongly influenced whether the baby would go on to develop heart
disease or diabetes later in life.

"We found that with a nutrient restriction on the animal you get a foetus that has
an altered growth trajectory," said researcher Severence MacLaughlin.

"That triggers lots of changes very early on and sets them up for adult diseases."

Dr MacLaughlin said it had been known for 20 years that poor maternal health during
pregnancy could have detrimental effects on adult health.

"But for the maternal environment around the time of conception to be shown to have
these effects is very significant," he said.

The researchers tested their theory on about 200 sheep, the animal regarded as the
"gold standard" model of human pregnancy.

Half ate a healthy quantity of feed while the rest were purposefully underfed by 30
per cent, leading to malnutrition.

In the underfed ewes, the lack of nutrition altered the chemical "signal" from mother
to the developing embryo, affecting the development of the placenta and foetus.

"We found that maternal undernutrition during these few days alters foetal growth and
weight due to changes in the development of the placenta," Dr MacLaughlin said.

"There are also changes to the cardiovascular and kidney development of the foetus
during very early and late gestation."

"This may be setting the scene for the development of adult disease."

The researcher said his recently-published results should serve as a warning to women
trying to have a baby, or those at risk of unplanned pregnancy.

"To put it in context, how many women know they are pregnant during the first week
of life?" he said.

"Through their diet women could be having an impact on their child's health for its entire life."

AAP tam/jt/bwl

KEYWORD: NUTRITION

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Water saving technology to be trialled across Sydney

AAP General News (Australia)
08-24-2006
NSW: Water saving technology to be trialled across Sydney

SYDNEY, Aug 24 AAP - A revolutionary leak detection device designed to save water will
be trialled at 12 large water mains across Sydney.

The Sahara leak detection system has been successfully used in the United States and
Middle East, Water Utilities Minister David Campbell said today.

The technology, developed in the UK, works by placing a sensor inside a pipe, which
then travels along it with the water flow for up to two kilometres.

If the sensor passes a leak, it detects the sound it generates and alerts the system's operator.

Because the sensor travels within the water main, it can detect leaks in large diameter
pipes made from any material.

The technology will be trialled at locations including Beecroft, Killara, Strathfield,
Ryde, Eastwood and St Ives over two weeks.

"The NSW government has made it clear that reducing leakage is a key priority for Sydney
Water," Mr Campbell said.

"It (Sahara) has proven to be an effective tool in locating leaks in pipes measuring
250mm or more in diameter and can be used without interrupting the water supply."

AAP af/cdh

KEYWORD: WATER NSW (EMBARGOED)

) 2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: AMA warn of exodus of Victorian doctors interstate

AAP General News (Australia)
04-17-2006
Vic: AMA warn of exodus of Victorian doctors interstate

EDS: Strictly embargoed until 2200 (AEST) Monday, April 17.



MELBOURNE, April 17 AAP - Victorian doctors will leave the state in droves unless the
government matches pay rises introduced in other states, the Australian Medical Association
(AMA) has warned.

AMA Victoria president Mark Yates said doctors in Queensland were paid up to 50 per
cent more and those in NSW 56 per cent more than Victorian doctors as a result of initiatives
by the states to attract doctors to work in their public hospitals.

"Other states are setting themselves up to poach our doctors," Dr Yates said.

"We have an acute shortage of doctors working in Victoria and it is only going to get
worse if the Bracks government continues to fail to value and provide the necessary support
to doctors."

The Victorian government's recent submission to the productivity commission identified
a current shortage of 900 doctors and said this was expected to blow out to 1,500 by 2012.

The AMA is asking for a five per cent annual pay increase and improved work conditions.

But the association warned this would still leave a big gap between what doctors were
paid in Victoria compared to other states.

"Every week the papers are filled with positions for doctors in Queensland and New
South Wales. The alarm bells should be ringing for this government," Dr Yates said.

He said a $250 million commonwealth commitment initiative to boost medical student
numbers would take until 2012-2014 to produce more young doctors.

"In the meantime, our hospitals will be drained of doctors attracted by incentives
to move interstate," he said.

"We have cases of doctors in Victoria, surgeons at major metro hospitals, who are working
for the equivalent of $20-$30 an hour, little more than a waiter.

"Victoria needs more doctors now, and to attract new doctors we must be competitive
with other states."

AAP jmw/gfr/jt/nf

KEYWORD: DOCTORS (EMBARGOED)

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Boy airlfited to hospital after jumping, burnt, in river

AAP General News (Australia)
08-15-2005
NSW: Boy airlfited to hospital after jumping, burnt, in river

SYDNEY, Aug 15 AAP - A 13-year-old boy has been rushed to hospital with severe burns
after throwing fuel on a riverside fire.

The Emu Plains teenager and a group of his friends lit a fire on the banks of the Nepean
River late this afternoon, then threw some sort of accelerant onto it, causing the flames
to flare.

An NRMA CareFlight spokesman said the boy jumped into the river to douse the flames,
then walked to a nearby doctor's surgery.

The GP immediately phoned for an ambulance to Nepean Hospital, where the boy was transferred
by CareFlight to Sydney Children's Hospital.

He is in intensive care in a serious but stable condition, with extensive burns to
the chest, arms and face, the spokesman said.

AAP ajc/cjh/jlw

KEYWORD: RIVER

2005 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.