An Australian news roundup

Sydney Hospital on life support

Historic Sydney Hospital is sitting on some of the most valuable real estate in the heart of Sydney. Work out for yourself what the gleam in the eye of the NSW government might be



Sydney hospital's capacity has been run down to the point where half-a-million people living and working in the city have been left far more exposed to the consequences of a terrorist attack or a bird flu outbreak, a hospital administrator has warned. The chairman of the Department of Medicine at Sydney Hospital, John Graham, told a biosecurity workshop last week that he had appealed to the Federal Government to remove the hospital from state control and declare it a "national security hospital". He said there was consensus among intelligence experts that the No. 1 terrorist target in Australia was the Sydney CBD. The first case of avian flu in Australia was also likely to walk through the doors of Sydney Hospital, most probably in the form of a visitor staying in a hotel.

Yet the state's health administration had run the hospital down to the point where it had only 100 beds left from an original 550, while its general and orthopedic surgeons had been ordered to work elsewhere. Dr Graham said the hospital needed an extra 100 beds, the restoration of its intensive care unit and the rehiring of up to 20 general and orthopedic surgeons to handle a terrorist attack or big infectious diseases outbreak.

More here









Elle finds a new man: "You might call him one of the luckiest men alive - Sydney man-about-town David Evans has snared the big one in supermodel Elle Macpherson. The Body is believed to be off the market again after sharing a romantic two weeks down under with the Hugo's co-owner including intimate dinners together, shopping and yesterday a day at the Royal Easter show with Macpherson's sons, Flynn, 8, and 3-year-old Aurelius Cy. The 42-year-old, who split from her partner of nine years, Swiss financier Arpad "Arkie" Busson in June last year, spent Easter Sunday night with Evans at his Hugo's Bar Pizza restaurant in King Cross. They were "looking very coupley" while shopping in Woollahra on Tuesday and again on Wednesday in George St in the city...."






Leftist racism?: "The Federal opposition was trying to resurrect the White Australia policy by banning foreign apprenticeship visas, the Federal Government claims. Federal Opposition Leader Kim Beazley today said a Labor government would abolish a scheme that brings young people from overseas to train as apprentices in regional Australia. The scheme was ruining the job prospects of young Australians, he said. But Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone accused Mr Beazley of advocating "naked prejudice". "Mr Beazley needs to be pulled into line by all community leaders who support a non-discriminatory migration program," Senator Vanstone said. "Most Australians do not share his prejudices." A spokesman for Mr Beazley would not directly respond to Senator Vanstone's comments. But he said the Howard Government had turned away 300,000 young Australians from TAFE in recent years. "It's a national disgrace, a Beazley Labor government will be training Australians first," the spokesman said."








Motorists opt for economy: High petrol prices have boosted sales of bicycles, scooters and fuel-efficient vehicles. John Pittendreigh, owner of Epic Cycles at Paddington, said he had noticed increased interest in bikes for recreation and commuter use. "Increased interest in bike commuting does seem to be driven in part by the increase in cost of commuting by car," Mr Pittendreigh said. "There has also been significant increase in recreational riding down to the local cafe or riding around the river and that in itself is another driver of people riding to work," he said. Brisbane's Scooters Scooters co-owner Peter Moody said the market had increased by up to a quarter in the past year. "It cost about $6 to fill a tank and that can do between 150km and 300km," he said. He said fuel prices had played a big factor in people switching to scooters to commute to work.... Commuters were also choosing to drive more fuel efficient cars like the Smart cars and the hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius. Year to date, Sales of fuel-efficient "Smart" cars and hybrids such as the Toyota Prius are up 12.9 per cent. Smart Centre Brisbane manager Tom Bebbington said: "We have sold a lot more cars in the last quarter and petrol prices and safety are big concerns for buyers." "We also are planting seven trees a year for people who buy smart cars and they have have very low fuel consumption." "They even use less fuel than Toyota Prius, which is electric and fuel."








Mediaevalists thriving: "Stephen Cunningham has enough work on his books to keep him busy for a couple of years - not bad for someone who earns a crust making armour and medieval weaponry. Mr Cunningham, sick of factory work, took redundancy from his job as a fitter and turner at Lithgow's small arms factory in 1988 and set up his workshop. "I'd been fiddling around with armour for a while before that, and I pretty much sat down and thought, 'OK, I'm going to make armour', or at least I wondered if I could make a go of it," he said. Today and tomorrow at Ironfest, an annual festival in Lithgow featuring performers and musicians, historical displays and artists and designers showing metal art including sculpture, furniture, jewellery and architectural fittings. Demand for Mr Cunningham's work is driven by the burgeoning number of enthusiasts for medieval re-enactment, who will be out in force over the weekend. Hogging the limelight will be competitors in the Australasian Jousting Championship, featuring teams from Australia and New Zealand hurtling at each other on horseback. The Australian team is headed by the world champion, Rod Walker.

(For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS and DISSECTING LEFTISM. My Home Page. Email me (John Ray) here.)