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Skype’s the limit for WA inmates

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 14 Juni 2014 | 21.52

Corrective Services Minister Joe Francis is looking to Skype video calls to reduce the number of prisoner visits. Source: News Limited

SKYPE video calls might replace hundreds of inter-prison visits each year, saving taxpayers a fortune in future.

The practice of allowing Perth-based prisoners to visit friends and family members incarcerated in other metropolitan jails is under review.

Corrective Services Minister Joe Francis said there was "a real opportunity to reduce prisoner movement costs" as part of the review, being conducted by his department.

"The department is increasing access to video conferencing, such as Skype, to allow prisoners to have contact with family members in other prisons without the need for them to be moved," Mr Francis said.

The number of inter-prison visits increased from 471 in 2011-12 to 521 in 2012-13. In the last half of 2013 there were 307 such trips. But "non-essential prisoner movements" were stopped after the embarrassing escape of notorious rapist Cameron John Graham at Geraldton Airport on January 3, and only 88 inter-prison visits have occurred since.

Cameron John Graham, 22, who escaped from a prison van in Geraldton. Source: Supplied

WA's Homicide Victims Support Group convener Ellen Rowe, whose husband Bill was bashed to death with a cricket bat on a Geraldton beach in 2007, said she had been unaware of the jail-to-jail visits and questioned why they occurred at all.

"Inter-prison visits are disrespectful to victims in that more effort and resources seem to be directed into solidifying family/social ties of offenders, whereas victims often become isolated from families and friends due to lack of services and support in dealing with trauma as a result of crime," she said.

"Victims of serious interpersonal crime feel continually let down by inadequate recognition and funds to resource much-needed specialist support services.

"Inter-prison visits normalise the situation of criminality within the offender's immediate circle of family and friends, and it could be argued that it facilitates continuation of some criminal associations where those persons would be better off kept separated. Every prisoner transport poses a risk of escape, an experience that is ... very traumatic for victims."

Under the Prisons Act 1981 "a prisoner may be permitted by the designated Superintendent to receive visits from a friend or relation who is confined in another prison".

If prisoners are declined permission they can appeal to the State Ombudsman. The Ombudsman's office would not reveal how many appeals had been considered or upheld. In promotional material, it states it has assisted inmates denied inter-prison visits.

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Doctor fury over chemists’ jab plan

Would you be happy getting an injection in a pharmacy instead of a doctor's? Source: News Limited

WA pharmacists are moving to vaccinate customers under a plan the top doctors group warns would have people immunised next to "jelly beans and sanitary pads".

The Pharmacy Guild of WA has asked Curtin University to make vaccination training part of its undergraduate pharmacy course.

It follows the start of a two-year pharmacy immunisation trial in Queensland and comes amid a national turf war over who should be able to administer the jabs.

Pharmacy Guild of WA branch committee member Paul Rees said the body had held early discussions with the university about launching an accredited training program.

He said a "lack of convenience" was one of the main barriers to immunisation and chemists were well-placed to help improve vaccination rates in WA.

Latest figures show WA has the lowest vaccination rate in the country for children aged 2-5.

Curtin University School of Pharmacy associate professor Lynne Emmerton confirmed the plan was being considered.

"Curtin University has been contacted by the Pharmacy Guild of WA regarding the possible introduction of a program to train pharmacists to administer vaccinations," she said.

Prof Emmerton said no formal agreement had yet been made.

The Australian Medical Association is vehemently opposed to in-pharmacy vaccinations.

"The income of pharmacists is under threat in many ways and they're looking for different ways to do things, but the AMA is concerned this is just not the right location to do it," WA state president Michael Gannon said.

Dr Gannon said a pharmacy shop front was "not a suitable place" for vaccination and pharmacists lacked appropriate training to deal with any adverse reactions.

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Speaker’s $26,000 hospitality bill

WA Parliament Speaker Michael Sutherland. Source: News Limited

WA Parliament's big-spending Speaker, Michael Sutherland, has racked up nearly $26,000 in taxpayer-funded dining costs since he took over the job just over a year ago.

Parliamentary documents show the Liberal MP is spending nearly $500 a week dining other politicians, parliamentary staff and community groups.

Mr Sutherland held 21 morning teas, nine afternoon teas, 23 standard working lunches and nine receptions from April 15 last year to May 21 this year at a cost of $25,857.

Examples of his entertainment costs include:

A $500 LUNCH for his former colleagues from the City of Perth.

THREE CHRISTMAS lunches totalling $3626 for Acting Speakers, Former Speakers and for Legislative Assembly staff.

TWO RECEPTIONS for "discussion with members" totalling $1076.

$1267 for a "Jewish Community/Montgomery Bible Presentation".

On one October day Mr Sutherland had morning tea with the Church of Latter-Day Saints costing $150 and then another morning tea with his political colleagues costing $33.50. He then had a $74.80 lunch with the "Australasian Safari Group and members".

Mr Sutherland landed the plum $246,000-a-year Speaker's job last April ahead of former police minister Rob Johnson.

He was criticised for organising taxpayer-paid trips for himself and MPs to Japan and South Korea and again for spending $27,000 on new furniture for his office.

He defended the overseas trips at the time as a "longstanding bipartisan practice" of the Speaker.

Martin Drum, a senior lecturer in politics and international relations at Notre Dame University, said Mr Sutherland's spending was not a "good look".

"We accept that you have to spend money on dignitaries, but it has to been in keeping with the overall state of the state's finances," he said. "I think he has to be mindful of the expenses given the loss of the AAA credit rating."

Mr Sutherland is spending more than former Nationals Speaker Grant Woodhams, who retired at the last election.

Parliamentary figures show that in 2009-10, Mr Woodhams spent $12,287.55. In 2010-11, he spent $16,543.30 and in 2011-12 he spent $20,417.65.

You have to go back to 2005-06, when former Labor Speaker Fred Riebeling spent $28,781.55, to find anyone who matched Mr Sutherland's spending.

Mr Sutherland yesterday defended the costs.

"Expenditure under my watch has been at or below the spending levels of a decade ago under a Labor Speaker," he told The Sunday Times.

"Taking into the account the inflationary effect over that time, this means that the current expenditure is lower in real terms than it was a decade ago."

He defended "extending hospitality" to other politicians "from time to time to discuss parliamentary matters".

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Family shock sets in over driveway death

Perth family devastated over death of toddler hit by mothers reversing car

Neighbour Navena Kotur Placing flowers and saying a prayer. Photo: Theo Fakos Source: News Corp Australia

ANDREEA Baliban crawled into bed with her parents on Friday morning. The Perth toddler wanted to cuddle, and told her mother: "I love you."

Hours later, this "little princess" with the cheeky smile and big brown eyes was gone.

The two-year-old had been behind mother Rebeca's car when she reversed it out of the driveway of their Holley Place home in Marangaroo.

Andreea was taken to Joondalup Health Campus but succumbed to critical head injuries soon after the accident.

"Our hearts are shattered and words cannot express what we are going through," Andreea's father Lucian said in a statement released late yesterday. "It'll never be the same again. We wait for the day when we will see our little princess again in heaven.

Andrea Baliban, 2, was struck by the car at the edge of the newly-paved driveway at the Holley Place home. Photo: Nine News Source: Channel 9

"We thank everyone whose hearts and thoughts are with us in this difficult time."

The tragedy has devastated the tight-knit community of the Romanian Pentecostal Church in Balga, which the Balibans attended.

Pastor Benjamin Fitui said Rebeca and Lucian were model parents and devoted to their three daughters.

He spent Friday grieving with them at the hospital, while the older two girls stayed with Lucian's family.

"All she said to me all day was 'It's my fault. I lost my daughter, my wonderful daughter'," Pastor Fitui said.

"She was saying, 'My baby, my baby, I did to you this thing, Mum didn't want to do this, Mum didn't want to do this'."

The family, including daughters Ruth, 7, and Lois, 5, were preparing to travel to Romania tomorrow to visit Rebeca's family. It would have been the first time Andreea had met her maternal grandparents.

Close family friend Emilia Lucaciu said Lucian was trying to support his shattered wife.

"No blame is going on," Mts Lucaciu said. "They are each just trying to help each other as much as they can. We are just in shock."

Andreea is the third WA child to die after being hit by a car reversing out of a driveway in six months. In March a 16-month-old girl was killed when she was hit by a reversing car in Bibra Lake, and in December a 14-month-old boy was killed when he was hit by a car in a drive in the Kimberley.


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Young daughter dies in driveway tragedy

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 13 Juni 2014 | 21.51

A two-year-old girl was run over and killed in Holley Place, Marangaroo. Picture: Stewart Allen. Source: News Limited

A PERTH couple have lost their two-year-old daughter after the toddler was hit by a car reversing from the driveway of their home.

Police confirmed this afternoon that the driver of the Peugeot Wagon was the girl's 31-year-old mother. The girl's two sisters were in the car at the time of the tragedy.

The toddler received serious head injuries when she was struck by the car at the end of the driveway of the Holley Place home in Marangaroo just after 10am.

It is understood the girl's sisters saw the accident and a family member tried to administer CPR.

The sisters are being cared for by relatives and their parents have been too distraught to be formally interviewed by police.

Police spokeswoman Ros Weatherall said the child was taken by ambulance to Joondalup Health Campus, but died as a result of the injuries she received.

The quiet street in the northern suburbs was blocked off while police investigated the tragedy.

"We urge anyone with young children to know where your kids are prior to getting into a vehicle,'' a senior policeman told media at the scene.

Neighbours have laid flowers outside the house.

Major Crash officers are continuing to investigate the death and have urged anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.


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How Baden-Clay girls helped police

A court has heard a woman's cry rang out in the Baden-Clays' Brisbane street the night Allison vanished.

The family of accused wife killer Gerard Baden-Clay has rallied around him on the first day of his trial.

THREE little girls facing a future without their mum helped police to unravel the final night they shared with her in video interviews played back to the jury yesterday.

Allison Baden-Clay's daughters, aged 10, eight and five, told police officers at the Surfers Paradise Police Station on June 27, 2012 all they remembered of their seemingly normal and happy childhood before April 20, 2012.

The eldest daughter told police the family brainstormed together to name the eight-seater Prado her father usually drove "Snowy" and silver Holden Captiva her mother often used, "Sparky".

When police searched Sparky after Ms Baden-Clay's disappearance, they photographed plastic containers filled with children's toys in the boot.

The photos were shown to the girls.

The eldest said the items were packed up to go to a charity and they had been stored downstairs near the garage door so someone could some and pick them up.

"They were put outside the garage door, just downstairs so that when she came to pick them up, she could," she said.

"I think they were just downstairs or something.'"

The girl said she did not remember the boxes being put into the back of Sparky.

She said the old toys and clothes were packed into the boxes after Easter.

The middle child said she had never seen the boxes in the back of Sparky before: "Only here."

The girls said they had never been very sick and did not need to take medication for serious illness, although their father had a shellfish allergy.

The eldest daughter said her mum would walk every morning, unless she had to be at work early, and would usually take her phone.

She said her mother always wore jumpers because she got cold easily, often wore grey tracksuit pants and white runners.

The middle daughter said her mum would usually wear a blue or pink singlet and black leggings when she walked, but later added ``sometimes she wears just her t-shirt and pants".

The 10-year-old said her mum usually wore relaxed pyjama pants and a top when she went to bed, while her dad wore an old top and boxer shorts.

She said her father was worried on the day her mum disappeared but was "trying to be confident".

She said her grandfather, who she called "Bwana" , came around to look after the three of them that morning, before they went to school.

Meanwhile, Gerard and Allison Baden-Clay's three daughters were asleep in the house the night their mum disappeared and didn't hear a sound.

In interviews conducted by detectives from Indooroopilly's Child Protection Investigation Unit, the girls, then aged 10, eight and five, told how their mum and dad had put them to bed around 7pm.

All three said they'd slept soundly until waking at 6.30am the following morning.

DAY 3: How the trial unfolded

ALLISON'S PAIN: Father-in-law tells

Neighbours have described hearing shouts, thuds and squealing tyres late at night.

"Can you remember hearing anything that night?'' a detective asked the eldest daughter in an interview conducted in June.

"No,'' she replied.

She said she hadn't heard any car noises.

The girl told the detective she last saw her dad going to the downstairs fridge to get milk.

She said she had gotten up to get a glass of water and her mum was lying on the couch watching television.

The middle child told a similar story.

Asked to think back to the night her mum went missing, the girl said she heard a TV on when she went to bed.

"Just voices,'' she said.

She thought her mum and dad were watching TV "because they usually do''.

She said she hadn't heard any sounds of cars starting or car doors opening or any fighting.

The girl said she didn't know if her dad and mum had ever argued.

A court has heard Gerard Baden-Clay's father was about to leave his son's Brookfield house with a vacuum cleaner when police stopped him on the morning Allison vanished.

Nigel Baden-Clay yesterday told court of asking his son if there was anything he could do to help while he was busy talking to police about his missing wife.

His son, who was then a real estate agent, said a friend's house was on the market and he'd promised to vacuum the floors and water the lawns.

"It was Friday and traditionally on Saturday real estate gets very busy with open houses,'' Mr Baden-Clay said.

"He said `the vacuum is in the car and so is a hose pipe, so if you'd like to just go and get them out of my Prado, if you could go and do that it would be a great help'.

"I took the vacuum cleaner and the hose pipe and put them in the boot of my car.

"I was about to leave and go and do these little jobs and the police Constable asked me to stay where I was and not to take the car.''

Mr Baden-Clay, who said left the house at about 9am, was questioned by prosecutor Todd Fuller QC about whether he saw Allison's parents Priscilla and Geoff Dickie that morning.

"I don't recall seeing them at the house,'' he said.

Asked if he'd talked to his son about contacting Allison's parents that morning, he said: ``I don't recall. I'm sorry.''

He told court he helped his son open a real estate business a decade ago, but since retiring in 2009 he merely helped put up signs on open houses. He was unaware his son's business was in trouble.

Meanwhile, neighbours have told of hearing screams or the sound of a woman calling out in the darkness at Brookfield on the night Allison Baden-Clay disappeared.

On day three of Gerard Baden-Clay's murder trial in the Supreme Court in Brisbane, a jury heard evidence from seven witnesses who claimed they were woken or startled by strange noises on Thursday, April 19, 2012.

The former Brookfield real estate agent, 43, has pleaded not guilty to his wife's murder.

Neighbour Kim Tzvetkoff, who lived opposite the Baden-Clay home on the corner of Boscombe Rd, said he was in the kitchen with his wife Julie when he heard a "startled, cut-short exclamation" between 7.30pm and 9pm.

"It didn't last very long at all, it was an abrupt, cut-short type of thing," he said.

"I believe it was a female voice and, like I say, startled, I can't really put it into any better words.''

He said he said to his wife: "What was that?"

"We stood for a second or two and then we continued what we were doing," he said.

Mrs Tzvetkoff said the noise was a "sharp or urgent yell out" that lasted a few seconds. "I believe it came from the area of the Badens' house," she said.

Sue Braun, who lived near the tennis courts on Brookfield Rd, said she was woken by "a loud human noise" calling out from the direction of the Baden-Clay residence at 11.30pm.

"I was sound asleep and I heard a loud human noise that was calling out, I don't know what the words were," she said.

"It woke me up with a fright and I just lay there to see if I could hear anything else and if it would continue and it didn't, and I fell back to sleep."

What the neighbours heard on the night Allison Baden-Clay went missing. Source: CourierMail

Another Brookfield resident, Anne Marie Rhodes, said she heard an argument followed by a woman's scream at 10pm. Roughly 30 minutes later she said she heard a "loud, dull thud" and screeching tyres. Ms Rhodes said the fighting came from the direction of Brookfield Rd, near the day care centre. "I just heard an argument, I couldn't make out what was being said," she said. The thud she heard later sounded like "a sack of horse feed falling on to concrete" and the screeching tyres made her think a car had run off the road, she said.

In cross-examination by barrister Michael Byrne QC, for Baden-Clay, she agreed she gave two statements to police, one on May 30 and the second on June 2, 2012. She agreed she did not go to police to tell them what she had heard until she could check the date with her husband.

Fiona White, who lived at Kenmore Hills, said she heard a woman scream twice as she put her dog outside before bed sometime in April. "It was like … someone falling off a cliff, a push, high-pitched, it happened twice,'' she said.

She agreed in cross-examination she reported the scream to police on May 15, 2012, adding that it had "tormented" her.

Another local, David Jenkinson, told the jury his barking dogs woke him around 10.30pm on April 19, 2012.

"After that, the noise that I heard was initially two heavy thuds, one straight after the other," he said. "Not too long after that, maybe half a minute, I heard what sounded like a car door close."

What witnesses heard to the east of the Baden-Clay residence. Source: CourierMail

Daughters didn't hear anything

GERARD and Allison Baden-Clay's three daughters were asleep in the house the night their mum disappeared and didn't hear a sound.

In interviews conducted by detectives from Indooroopilly's Child Protection Investigation Unit, the girls, then aged 10, 8 and 5, told how their mum and dad had put them to bed around 7pm.

All three said they'd slept soundly until waking at 6.30am the next day.

Neighbours have told of hearing shouts, thuds and squealing tyres late at night.

"Can you remember hearing anything that night?'' a detective asked the eldest daughter in an interview conducted in June 2012.

"No,'' she replied.

She said she hadn't heard any car noises.

The girl told the detective she last saw her dad going to the downstairs fridge for milk.

She said she had gotten up to get a glass of water and her mum was lying on the couch watching television.

The middle child told a similar story. Asked to think back to that night, the girl said she heard a TV on when she went to bed. "Just voices,'' she said.

She thought her parents were watching TV "because they usually do''.

She said she hadn't heard cars starting or car doors opening or any fighting. The girl said she didn't know if her parents had ever argued.

What witnesses heard in the vicinity where Allison Baden-Clay's body was found. Source: CourierMail

'Mum always took her phone'

THREE little girls facing a ­future without their mum helped police to unravel the final night they shared with her in video interviews played back to the jury yesterday.

Allison Baden-Clay's daughters, aged 10, 8 and 5, told police officers at the Surfers Paradise Police Station on June 27, 2012 all they remembered of their seemingly normal and happy childhood before April 20, 2012.

The eldest daughter told police the family had brainstormed together to name the eight-seater Prado her father usually drove "Snowy" and silver Holden Captiva her mother often used, "Sparky".

When police searched Sparky after Ms Baden-Clay's disappearance, they photographed plastic containers filled with children's toys in the boot.

The eldest said the items were all packed up to go to a charity and they had been stored downstairs, near the garage door, so someone could come and pick them up in the future.

The eldest daughter said her mum would walk every morning, unless she had to be at work early, and would usually take her phone.

She said her mother always wore jumpers because she got cold easily, and often wore grey tracksuit pants.

The 10-year-old said her father was worried on the day her mum disappeared but was "trying to be confident".


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Unhappy campers in Swan Valley

Members of Swan Valley Nyungah community have returned to the Lockridge camp site which was closed 10 years ago. Picture: Daniel Wilkins Source: News Limited

FORMER residents of the Swan Valley Nyungah community are staying on site as they continue to protest the camp being demolished more than a decade after it was closed following allegations of widespread sexual and substance abuse.

The last remnants of the camp near Lockridge in Perth's northeast were razed by bulldozers in March.

The WA planning department plans to turn the land into a place of indigenous cultural significance, including a ceremonial area, a memory wall and story trails.

But former residents don't want it to become public open space and are seeking to re-establish the community.

Swan Valley elder Bella Bropho said there had been a lack of consultation about the future use of the site, which was considered sacred.

Ms Bropho said she was angry a fence around the site had been taken down and flora had been cleared.

"We're going there every day to make sure no more damage is done to the property," she told AAP.

"We'll continue to voice our opposition and are not going to give in.

"We want to get back onto the land and have housing."

government spokeswoman said the public open space project was going ahead.

The camp hit headlines around the nation in 1999 when 15-year-old resident Susan Taylor committed suicide and a subsequent inquest accepted evidence that rape and sexual abuse of minors was widespread and that drug taking was a major problem. It also spoke of inappropriate power relationships and the dominance of former camp elder Robert Bropho, Bella's father, who was jailed for 12 months for indecently assaulting a 13-year-old girl at the Swan Valley reserve in 2006.

He was then jailed for six years after the WA District Court convicted him of five counts of unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under 13 years, committed between 1990 and 1991.

He died while serving the sentence.


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Fines, bans for severe dog neglect

A Perth couple has been fined $10,000 and banned from owning any animal for five years after being found guilty of animal cruelty.

A PERTH couple has been fined $10,000 and banned from owning any animal for five years after being found guilty of animal cruelty.

RSPCA inspectors visited the Balga property of Deborah Hayes, a FIFO worker, and her partner, William John Warmdean, on August 21 last year after receiving a complaint about a rottweiler cross dog named Snoopy being kept in terrible conditions.

It was reported to have a severe skin condition with nearly total fur loss and was unable to stop scratching.

On arrival at the property, inspectors were confronted with a stench.

Warmdean refused to surrender the dog but was directed to seek veterinary treatment for him.

Warmdean did not do so, despite RSPCA's repeated attempts to work with and direct him.

The dog was then seized and treated at the animal welfare agency's veterinary clinic.

He was found to be suffering a severe skin disease and bacterial skin infection that resulted in skin thickening, scaling and crusting across his body and trunk.

The only areas not affected were his paws and muzzle.

"This poor dog had worn his teeth to the pulp from chewing his own skin given the irritation associated with the condition," RSPCA chief inspector Amanda Swift said.

"This is a disgusting case of neglect.

"Unfortunately on this occasion, Snoopy's condition was too far advanced and we were unable to save him."

Warmdean, who was in charge of the property where the dog lived at the time of the offence, was fined an additional $1000 for failing to follow directions issued by an RSPCA inspector.

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Priddis the anointed skipper: poll

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 12 Juni 2014 | 21.51

Will Matt Priddis be considered as the Eagles' next skipper? Picture: Michael Dodge/Getty Images Source: Getty Images

TOUGH midfielders Matt Priddis and Scott Selwood are the favourites to takes over as West Coast captain, according to more than 4500 PerthNow readers.

In our PerthNow poll, we took the question on everybody's lips – who will replace Darren Glass as skipper – to the masses.

So far, Priddis leads the field with 36.16 per cent of the vote, followed by Scott Selwood (27.48 per cent), Shannon Hurn (15.57 per cent), Josh Kennedy (10.38 per cent), Nic Naitanui (7.1 per cent) and Luke Shuey (3.31 per cent).

Selwood is heir apparent to Glass, with the 24-year-old is being groomed to be full-time skipper as one of two vice-captains this year along with power forward Josh Kennedy. It had long been anticipated 2014 would be a swansong season for the courageous and highly regarded Glass.

But West Coast heavyweights should immediately implant nuggetty on-ball playmaker Matt Priddis as captain.

Priddis, 29, should be skipper for the rest of this season and through until he retires in two or three years.

West Coast and first-year coach Adam Simpson is in dire need of inspirational leadership on and off the field in the wake of the exit of Glass, who is impeccable in setting required standards of training ethics and cultural formation needed at the highest level.

Another genuine leader around the playing group in the important match-day adherence to operations and rules as well as day-to-day professionalism is tough defender Shannon Hurn.

Hurn, 26, is seldom referred to as a captaincy candidate, but the hard-nut backliner oozes leadership and is highly regarded by his peers and Eagles management for setting impeccable leadership standards.

An ultimate replacement for Glass though points directly to Priddis and Selwood, with Kennedy somewhat of an outside chance.

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It’s war: Essendon to fight drugs blitz

AFL 360 panellists Gerard Whateley and Dermott Brereton discuss the repercussions of the show-cause notices handed to Essendon by ASADA.

Fox Sports AFL correspondent Julian de Stoop discusses the processes involved for Essendon after reports emerged some players had been issued show cause notices by ASADA over the 2012 suuplements scandal.

Essendon players have been issued with show cause notices for doping, according to the Herald Sun, 16 months after the probe into the Bombers 2012 supplements program began.

The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority served show-cause notices on Essendon players this afternoon over the club's 2012 supplements program. Source: News Limited

AFL boss Gillon Mclachlan is yet to speak about how the AFL intends to respond to the development. Picture: David Caird. Source: News Corp Australia

The Essendon Bombers' season appears in disarray after 34 players - yet were issued with show cause notices over the controversial 2012 drugs scandal. Picture: Toby Zerna Source: News Corp Australia

ESSENDON will launch a counter-attack against the AFL and ASADA after players were sensationally issued with legal notices on Thursday over football's doping scandal.

The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority is informing 34 players they have a case to answer over the club's 2012 supplements program.

ASADA notified players by email and texts, detailing that they face "show cause'' notices and will now have to prove why they should not be cited for doping.

The dramatic move, which follows a 16-month probe, throws the AFL season into turmoil.

Essendon sources last night revealed the club will hit back, by seeking a Federal Court declaration that the joint AFL-ASADA investigation was unlawful.

MARK ROBINSON: BOMBERS MUST TAKE THE ULTIMATE STEP

JON RALPH: ANOTHER YEAR IN RUINS AS DOOMSDAY LOOMS

TIMELINE: HOW THE DRUGS SAGA HAS UNFOLDED

ASADA INQUIRY: WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

MORE: BOMBERS LOOKING FORWARD TO HIRD'S RETURN

An application to the court, arguing the joint probe breached disclosure laws, could be launched by the Bombers as early as today. This would aim to stop ASADA's action, and any sanctions against players and club staff, in its tracks.

ASADA's case against the players is believed to centre on the use of the peptide thymosin beta 4, banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Players would face bans of up to two years if they are found guilty of taking prohibited substances. Essendon chairman Paul Little was holding crisis talks with club officials last night. He is believed to be shattered by the latest development in the long-running saga.

The club would not comment.

Bombers legend Tim Watson, the father of club captain and 2012 Brownlow medallist Jobe Watson, said last night the players were "shocked".

Watson also indicated Essendon would launch a legal challenge.

"The new AFL CEO, Gill McLachlan, told the CEOs and presidents only last week that they should start preparing themselves for what could be a very bumpy ride," he said.

"Today's news, though, that the players have received show cause notices, would have been a real shock."

McLachlan told the Herald Sun: "I can't comment."

Any charges against Essendon players and officials will ultimately be heard by an AFL tribunal. Players and their lawyers will have 10 days to respond to the show cause notices.

They would do so by providing reasons why ASADA should not proceed.

ASADA has probed what club-appointed investigator Ziggy Switkowski said was "a disturbing picture of a pharmacologically experimental environment never adequately controlled or challenged or documented within the club".

Essendon has strongly indicated in recent weeks that it could challenge in the Federal Court the legality of ASADA's joint investigation with the AFL.

Co-operation between ASADA and AFL chiefs ceased last year after an interim report was used as the basis for heavy governance sanctions meted out to the club and officials, including suspended coach James Hird.

Little said in a statement on the club's website yesterday, before the show cause notices were issued: "I can confirm we are exploring all legal options for our players in the unlikely event they receive show cause letters from ASADA — we make no apologies for that."

ASADA has already issued a show cause notice to Essendon's former sports scientist, Stephen Dank, and could yet issue them against other support staff.

Essendon's legal challenges could include calling on ASADA to show its evidence supporting a doping violation.

Lawyers could argue a "no fault" or negligence defence, claiming players had no knowledge of substances administered in 2012.

The Essendon scandal erupted on February 5 last year, when the Bombers "self-reported" to the AFL and ASADA and asked to be investigated.

Betting giant TAB last night suspended betting on Essendon playing in the finals.

michael.warner@news.com.au


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Eagles skipper calls time on career

West Coast captain Darren Glass announces his retirement from AFL effectively immediately citing injuries as the reason behind his decision.

Darren Glass with wife Alicia, with children Mila (4), Zara (3) and Nixon (19 months) after announcing his retirement. Picture: Daniel Wilkins Source: News Corp Australia

WEST Coast skipper Darren Glass has played his last AFL game after announcing his immediate retirement.

The four-time All-Australian defender has fronted the media at Patersons Stadium this morning, flanked by the entire playing squad and club staff, to announce the decision.

The 270-game player has battled hip and ankle injuries this season and was unable to be convinced to play a farewell game.

ANALYSIS: GUTSY GLASS A WARRIOR TO THE END

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"I'm not confident of playing any decent footy in the back half of the year," Glass said while sitting alongside coach Adam Simpson.

"With hindsight, I probably played a year too long.

"At the end of last season I was really confident I could play this year out, but it hasn't panned out that way.

"I've probably been chatting to Simmo for four or five weeks maybe, just saying I'm not sure I'm going to see the season out. I'm really comfortable it's the right choice.

"I'm not tempted (to have a farewell game at home). I feel like it's time to step aside and let someone else come in and have a go. That's just the way I feel. I don't sort of want to pinch a game off another player and I think it's time to move on.''

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Police bust ‘truck trailer racket’

POLICE have busted what they say is a multi-million dollar stolen truck trailer rebirthing operation east of Perth.

It is reported a 4000-acre farming property near York, about 100km east of Perth, is allegedly at the centre of the clandestine rebirthing operation. Police estimate the stolen property is worth about $2 million.

Police raided the property on Monday, Seven News reported.

It's alleged some trailers were stolen off the side of the road and some were loaded with mining equipment that was bound for WA's north.

The police operation started earlier this year when an insurance investigator became suspicious and contacted police.

A prime mover seen around several trucking yards was reportedly a big clue for police in their investigation. Wheatbelt police investigating the theft of wool bales came across the alleged rebirthing racket, it was reported.

Two men have been charged with receiving stolen goods and will appear in court later this month.


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Perth ‘crazy’ for development blocks

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 11 Juni 2014 | 21.51

Subdividing and building on a development block can be profitable but experts warn some areas in Perth are becoming overheated. Source: News Limited

THE Perth market has "gone crazy" for properties with development potential, causing prices to jump more than $250,000 in some areas in just two years, analysts say.

But investment experts warn prices for development blocks in areas such as Belmont and Joondalup have become overheated.

Many investors had been priced out of those areas and the potential returns were now too low to warrant the risk.

While development still remains a profit path of choice for many, like anything, it comes down to the sums.

• MORE WA REAL ESTATE NEWS

The latest development surge was sparked by zoning changes in 2010, which meant big blocks could be developed with multiple dwellings.

Investors Edge Real Estate director Jarrad Mahon Source: News Corp Australia

Investors Edge Real Estate director Jarrad Mahon said it took the market 18 months to realise the blocks' value.

"The zoning changes effectively made it possible to get approval to build seven to eight apartments on what is only an 800sq m duplex block," he said.

"With the extra density possible, it took returns from 15-20 per cent for doing a 'retain and subdivide' to fetching 35-45 per cent for a small group of apartments."

The resulting strong demand meant prices were boosted in areas such as Kalamunda, which had a zoning change around the town centre.

"I have seen development properties priced at $450,000 in 2012 go to $700,000 in today's market," Mr Mahon said.

"I think we all wish that we had bought more of these properties then.

"It is still possible to get 25-28 per cent returns for apartments and 15-20 per cent returns for a 'retain and subdivide' in the outer suburbs located 15-40km from Perth."

Mr Mahon said the Perth market's growing acceptance of higher density living over the past two years had also made it possible to readily sell apartments off the plan.

"This was essential for most investors to be able to get their finance to construct," he said.

Other areas where zoning changes have just been drafted, such as Coolbellup, have yet to be recognised by investors, Mr Mahon said.

The "holy grail" of development properties was 700sq m to 1000sq m in size, zoned at or above R30, near a train station and amenities.

Momentum Wealth managing director Damian Collins said level blocks with the right zoning, where most of the value was in the land, were highly sought.

"Proximity to public transport makes a development more desirable as it may be eligible for parking concessions," Mr Collins said.

"People favour corner sites also as it usually makes development easier."

Hegney Property Group chief executive Gavin Hegney's tip for buyers would to make sure they're buying real value not "hope" value.

"Lots of people bid the price of those sites up in expectation of gain," he said. "Then they need the market to rise to make a profit."

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Covert cops nab dozens of drivers

A uniformed officer writing a fine for a driver in today's police operation. Picture: Theo Fakos Source: News Corp Australia

PLAIN clothes police officers are pinging drivers across Perth as part of a new operation targeting inattention behind the wheel.

The never-before used police tactic, in full swing this morning, involves plain clothes officers "spotting" for offences at various intersections.

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Stats ace predicts World Cup carnage

The World Cup has provided a platform for football's biggest names to strut their stuff in front of goal and the likes of Maradona, Pele and Esteban Cambiasso have provided some of the most memorable strikes at the tournament over the years.

Nate Silver has spoken. We can all go home now. Source: Getty Images

NATE Silver's powers of prediction are unparalleled.

As the brain behind statistical analysis blog FiveThirtyEight, Silver has been forecasting results in political elections and sporting contests for years. During the last US presidential election, he correctly predicted the winner in all 50 states.

Now, Silver has turned his attention to the World Cup.

Don't let the glasses fool you. When it comes to sport, Silver knows what he's talking about. Source: Supplied

He has developed a predictive model called the Soccer Power Index (SPI), which harnesses reams of data to rate every team's chances on a match-by-match basis.

"Technically speaking, SPI is two ratings systems rolled into one," Silver says. "One based solely on a national team's play, and one that reflects a composite of player ratings for what SPI projects to be a team's top line-up."

If you want to know how the index works in excruciating detail, you can read more about it here. Otherwise, you can see its predictions for every World Cup group below.

Which team will hold that trophy aloft at the end of the tournament? Source: Getty Images

GROUP A: Brazil, Cameroon, Croatia, Mexico

The SPI gives Brazil a 99.4 per cent chance of progressing, and a 94.8 per cent chance of topping the group.

"Brazil would really have to blow it to not pass through the group stage with relative ease," Silver says.

Mexico (39.7 per cent) is a slight favourite over Croatia (36.6 per cent) to join the host nation in the knockout phase.

Pretty much a done deal already for Brazil. Source: AP

GROUP B: Australia, Chile, Holland, Spain

According to Silver's model, the Socceroos are practically guaranteed to crash out (92.2 per cent). Their best chance to grab a win (15 per cent) is against the Netherlands.

"This group — not the one the United States is in — is the "Group of Death", with three teams ranked in the SPI top 10," Silver writes.

"That's unfortunate for Australia, which is the odd team out and has less chance than any other squad of advancing to the knockout stage.

"Instead the questions are, first, whether the Netherlands or Chile is superior, and second, whether both might be strong enough to deny Spain a place in the knockout stage."

Holland made it to the final of the last World Cup, but the SPI predicts an early finish for the Dutch this time, with Chile progressing.

The Socceroos DO have a 1.7 per cent chance of topping their group. Source: Getty Images

GROUP C: Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast, Japan

No one is particularly excited about this group. According to Silver, Colombia should finish in first position (51.4 per cent), with the Ivory Coast in second.

"This is one of the weaker groups and sets up nicely for Colombia," he says. "It's a flawed group of opponents, although Colombia has sometimes lost or drawn against flawed opponents."

Colombia seems to be fired up. Source: AFP

GROUP D: Costa Rica, England, Italy, Uruguay

Uruguay, led by striker Luis Suarez, is the most likely to progress (64.1 per cent). The SPI also expects England to make it through, leaving 2006 world champion Italy languishing in third with a 53.4 per cent chance of getting knocked out.

"England, Italy and Uruguay are the sort of teams that might be able to entertain championship dreams in a World Cup with more parity, but not in one where they would have to overcome Brazil, Argentina, Germany or Spain at some point," Silver says.

Wayne Rooney kind of smiling? The world is on its head. Source: AP

GROUP E: Ecuador, France, Honduras, Switzerland

According to FIFA's official rankings, Switzerland is the world's sixth best team, but Silver's model gives Ecuador (55.4 per cent) a better chance of making it to the knockout phase.

In any case, the French should dominate this group ... assuming they actually show up.

"France has arguably as much player talent as any team but Brazil, Germany, Spain or Argentina, but its national team results have been inconsistent for a long while," Silver writes.

Which France will show up? Source: AFP

GROUP F: Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iran, Nigeria

Essentially, Lionel Messi has been given three warm up games to help him hit his stride. Argentina (92.5 per cent) will progress, and Bosnia-Herzegovina should join it in the top two (58.1 per cent).

"It would be a major upset if Argentina failed to advance to the knockout stage," Silver says. "Still, Bosnia-Herzegovina, playing in its first World Cup under that flag, is the 13th best team in the world according to SPI."

This group won't be too Messi. Source: AFP

GROUP G: Germany, Ghana, Portugal, United States

Germany and Ronaldo — sorry, Portugal — are clearly the better teams, but this could turn into an interesting group anyway. The Germans have an 88.9 per cent chance of making it through, while the US (34.5 per cent) is Portugal's biggest threat.

"Germany? Well, they're really good. But as an offence-minded squad, the team might be ever so slightly prone towards letting in a soft goal and drawing (although probably not losing) a game that it shouldn't," Silver says.

Germany should score plenty of goals in Group G. Source: Getty Images

GROUP H: Algeria, Belgium, Russia, South Korea

An uninspiring quartet fills the final group. Belgium (77.3 per cent) and Russia (64.8 per cent) should progress without much trouble.

"This is the weakest group in the field by some margin just about any way you slice and dice it," Silver says. "It has both the worst best team (Belgium) and the worst worst team (Algeria).

Belgium will try to build momentum in the Group of Boredom. Source: AP

SO, WHO WILL WIN THE WORLD CUP?

"Argentina, Germany and Spain, like Brazil, are wonderful soccer teams. You could perhaps debate which of the four would be favoured if the World Cup were played on a hastily constructed soccer pitch somewhere in the middle of the desert," Silver writes.

"But this World Cup is being played in Brazil. No country has beaten Brazil on its home turf in almost 12 years."

That loss, in a friendly against Paraguay back in 2002, barely counts. Brazil didn't take the game seriously, and substituted most of its star players well before full-time. According to Silver, Brazil's last home defeat in a match that actually mattered was in 1975.

With home ground advantage factored in, alongside all the other data, Silver's Soccer Power Index gives Brazil a 45.2 per cent chance of winning the World Cup, ahead of Argentina (12.8 per cent), Germany (10.9 per cent), Spain (7.6 per cent) and Chile (4.2 per cent).

Get the victory parade ready, Brazil. Source: Getty Images

You can see the SPI's predictions here, and read Nate Silver's full analysis here.


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WA minimum wage up by $20pw

THE WA Industrial Relations Commission has decided to increase the full time adult minimum wage and state awards by $20 per week.

This means the minimum full time wage in the state will increase to $665.90 per week from July 1. All state award wage rates will also increase by $20 per week.

The decision comes after last week's three per cent increase to the national minimum wage by the Fair Work Commission to $640.90 per week.

UnionsWA secretary Meredith Hammat said decent minimum wages and award pay put a floor beneath growing inequality, which was a big problem in WA.

Unions WA Secretary Meredith Hammat Source: News Limited

Ms Hammat said the decision clashed with the WA Premier Colin Barnett's comment yesterday that he had spoken briefly to Attorney-General Michael Mischin about remedying a situation where small businesses were disadvantaged by award structures.

Mr Barnett said small businesses should be able to do the same as larger employers, such as Coles and Woolworths, which often negotiated enterprise agreements with unions to compensate lower weekend and night penalty rates with higher hourly rates during the week.

"A cut to weekend pay is just a pay cut," Ms Hammat said today.

"Weekend and after-hours pay help to protect particularly low paid and vulnerable workers from long, unsociable hours of work intruding on time with family, in study or in the community."

But Mr Barnett asked why people with a second job or students working part-time over a weekend got dramatically higher rates than people whose whole career was working in the retail or hospitality sector, for instance.


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Rolf can’t ‘sing his way’ out

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 10 Juni 2014 | 21.51

The jury in Rolf Harris's trial have been told it's 'very close' to being asked to consider their verdict.

A JURY has been urged by prosecutors not to be blinded by the fame of Rolf Harris who could no longer "sing his way out" of two decades of being a sinister deviant pervert who sexual assaulted young women and girls as he liked.

In her closing argument to the six men and six women jury, prosecutor Sasha Wass QC told Southwark Crown Court there was no doubt the 84-year-old has had a glittering career as a "seemingly untouchable" children's entertainer.

But she said Harris by his own admission had a dark side that he hid from family, friends and fans. She said that extended to his deviant sexual assaults and using girls as sex objects brazenly assaulted them in public.

"His fame, wealth, age or talent should not be used as an excuse for his behaviour," Ms Wass urged the jury.

She added all men were equal in the eyes of the court and added "you can't sing your way out of a criminal charge" — a reference to the first day Harris took to the witness stand and strangely sang the opening verse of Jake the Peg tune for the jury as he detailed his stella career as a singer and entertainer.

Waiting his fate ... Australian entertainer Rolf Harris arrives with his daughter Bindi, left, at Southwark Crown Court in London. Picture: Alastair Grant Source: AP

She described Harris several times as a pervert and a deviant who was not just touching up girls but rather abusing them in a pattern consistent with being a Jekyll and Hyde persona.

"He was a sinister pervert who had a demon lurking beneath the charming exterior," Ms Wass said.

She said the jury could be tempted to consider reasonable doubt from the stories of the four victims named in the 12 charges of indecent assault or further six witnesses who alleged they were sexual assaulted but for jurisdictional reasons don't form part of the indictment.

Defending himself ... Rolf Harris arrives at Southwark Crown Court. Picture: Alastair Grant Source: AP

Supporter ... Bindi Harris, daughter of veteran Rolf Harris, arrives. Picture: Alastair Grant Source: AP

But with the exception of a mother and daughter victims, the women did not know each other and had no reason to invent stories. Ms Wass urged the jury to look at the cases collectively, there were similarities in how he operated and it was almost how Harris himself liked to paint a picture.

"It paints a picture, each stroke can be a little vague or unclear but taken together you can identify what is happening," she told the court.

She went on to say that the picture painted was of a man who considered himself untouchable, was arrogant in the way he dismissed their claims of assault and a man who treated women and girls as sexual objects to be groped and assaulted when he felt like it.

Ms Wass accused Harris of being a "determined purposeful liar" who had been constantly tailoring his answers to the available evidence, an act she said which caused him to "come unstuck" in his denials a few times when fresh evidence later materialised.

She said Harris would throw up random observations as distractions and highlighting missing details from the evidence of victims. But she said while some dates and details were missing their vivid accounts of the assaults were clear.

Ms Wass added: "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence".

Ms Wass was also somewhat critical of Bindi Nicholls' evidence in that she said it was clear she was not so perceptive of alleged abuse of her friend as a teenager that years later she apparently did not notice when – on his own evidence – Harris was being masturbated by the victim then as an adult while the three of them sat under a blanket and watched TV together.

"Bindi's memory doesn't appear to be as clear as it ought to be if she is supporting her father as she sought to do," Ms Wass said.

A huge contingent of the Harris family and friends were in court today including his daughter Bindi Nicholls for the first time and his wife Alwen.

Ms Wass' closing argument will take all day as she recaps on the evidence of each of the 10 victims and witnesses. She said some may be tempted by the argument that a lot of his sinister behaviour was perfectly acceptable in the 1960s and 1970s but it was never acceptable to abuse and manipulate the way Harris allegedly had for his own sexual gratification.

Harris has pleaded not guilty to 12 charges of indecent assault.

The case continues.


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‘I hate myself for what I’ve done’

One of Perth's worst sex offenders has spoken publicly for the first time. Courtesy: Nine News

"TJD" leaves court after pleading guilty to breaching a release condition. Source: Supplied

ONE of WA's worst sex offenders – described as a sexual sadist and whose supervised release sparked community outrage – has spoken publicly for the first time.

The man, known to the public only as "TJD", claims he is trying to rebuild his life, is no longer a threat to the women of Perth and apologised to his victims.

In an exclusive interview to air tonight, "TJD" has told Nine News about his life back in the community after spending almost half his life behind bars for attacking 13 women over 23 years.

West Australians – even his neighbours – aren't allowed to know where he is living.

"TJD"'s indefinite detention order was revoked and he was released under a 10-year supervised release order by a Supreme Court judge in March this year.

His history of horrific assaults dates back to when he was 15.

Now 38, "TJD" must obey 44 strict release conditions, including taking anti-libidinal drugs and wearing a GPS tracking device.

The same month he was released "TJD" was back before the courts and was fined $300 for breaching one of his release conditions.

When asked why he should be free when his victims live with his crimes every day, "TJD" replied: "I think a person should deserve a second chance."

"I hate myself for what I've done to them – I feel suicidal for what I've done to them."

In 2000, he raped a teenager at knifepoint after abducting her as she walked home from a train station. And in 2003, he assaulted an 18-year-old woman at a cemetery as she visited her grandmother's grave.

Having been jailed indefinitely in 2011, "TJD'' was released on a supervision order in 2012 — which he breached almost immediately.

He failed to take his anti-libidinal medication, failed to complete his psychological counselling and used cannabis, and was again jailed.

Watch Nine reporter Ebbeny Faranda speak exclusively with "TJD" tonight in Nine News at 6pm.


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Pop star Samantha Jade loses mum

Heartbreak ... Samantha Jade has thanked fans for their support after the deat of her mum, Jacqui Gibbs. Picture: Matthew Poon Source: News Limited

Teen star ... Samantha Jade, with her mum Jacqui, signed her first recording deal at the age of just 15. Picture: Richard Hatherly Source: News Limited

Pop star Samantha Jade was by her mother Jacqui's side when she lost her battle with cancer on Sunday.

The Never Tear Us Apart star put her performing career on hold in recent months to help care for her mother with her father Kevin and brothers Alex and Thomas.

She only left her family's Perth home in recent weeks to perform at the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation ball last month in support of leading surgeon Dr Charlie Teo.

HER HERO: Samantha Jade says her mum is an inspiration

Mrs Gibbs was diagnosed with the disease in February, only days before the X Factor winner made her major acting debut as Kylie Minogue in the INXS miniseries.

Jade issued a statement this morning to thank fans and friends for their support.

"Our beautiful mother Jacqueline Deans Gibbs passed away peacefully with family by her side," she wrote.

"She fought till the very end with the strength and grace by which she lived her life and will be deeply missed.

"We appreciate your kind words, prayers, and respect for our family during this very difficult time."

Samantha Jade, with her mum Jacqui, signed her first recording deal at the age of just 15. Picture: Richard Hatherly Source: News Limited

CHANGE OF PACE: Samantha Jade wants to do more acting

Jade told the Sunday Times Magazine earlier this month about the time she found out about her mother's illness.

"I found out about my mum just a few days before I went home (to Sydney) and did Sunrise and a big Australia Day show," Jade says.

"And no one knew what was going on — I didn't tell anyone, only my best friends knew, and it was just so hard because I was singing in front of people and performing.

"I literally got home and cried because I couldn't say anything. It was just like inside I was crying the whole time because we didn't know anything and the tests were going through and it was just that anxiety and nervous feeling. But sometimes you just have to put on a face and do your job."

She said her mum's battle changed the way she approached her music.

"(It's) about appreciating life and what love really is and how you're shown love in a different way," she says. "I've been able to write from a different place ... Especially my ballads, like the really heart-wrenching songs, there's a place I can connect to now that I never could before, just in a different way."

"The first two weeks we found out, she was unwell and it was so intense, that I just literally cancelled everything because I just couldn't," Jade said.

"She was like 'I need you to work and I need you to do your music because that's what you love and you've worked so hard for it and I want you to do it'. She was just so sweet."

READ MORE: Samantha Jade shows courage under emotional fire


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Ballantyne cleared at tribunal

Fremantle forward Hayden Ballantyne has been cleared to play this weekend after he was found not guilty at the AFL tribunal.

Fremantle forward Hayden Ballantyne faced the tribunal on a rough conduct charge. Picture: Justin Benson-Cooper Source: News Corp Australia

FREMANTLE forward Hayden Ballantyne has been cleared to play this weekend after he was found not guilty at the AFL tribunal.

Facing the tribunal after the Match Review Panel opted not to categorise his collision with Adelaide's Matt Jaensch with a penalty points summary, Ballantyne pleaded not guilty to the rough conduct charge and argued he had no reasonable alternative to contest the ball.

An Adelaide club doctor's report said Jaensch was in doubt for this weekend's game against North Melbourne.

Ballantyne admitted making high contact while bumping but maintained he did so only to give himself the best chance of winning the ball.

But AFL counsel Jeff Gleeson argued that the incident came under the rough conduct umbrella, and said it fell outside the definition of 'contesting the ball'.

Gleeson said the MRP table grading of the bump should have been negligent conduct, high impact and with high contact.

However, Ballantyne's representative Nick Tweedie successfully argued the meaning of 'contesting the ball' should be extended to when the ball was in close proximity, and said body contact in Ballantyne's case was "inevitable".

Ballantyne will now be free to play against Richmond at the MCG on Saturday.

The small forward Tweeted his relief shortly after the verdict was handed down, writing: "Always confident, MCG here we go... thanks for the support from everyone... #gofreo".

While Ballantyne will make the trip to Melbourne for Saturday's game, Richmond duo Ty Vickery and Matt Thomas will be missing from the Tigers' line-up after accepting bans from the match review panel.


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Hints of new MH370 search area

Written By Unknown on Senin, 09 Juni 2014 | 21.51

Families of those aboard Flight MH370 are hoping to raise a reward for information on the missing jet.

THE search for missing Flight MH370 could take a turn with a new location, as Malaysia plans to send a team to Australia to finalise the next search phase.

Malaysia Deputy Communications Minister Jailani Johari confirmed today that teams from Australia and Malaysia are still in the process of exchanging notes with Inmarsat on satellite data, and a Malaysian delegation will be coming to Australia on Tuesday.

He said the meeting in Canberra would ensure all parties involved in the search "were on the same page".

The delegation will then be heading to Beijing to update Chinese authorities about the search.

Mr Johari said Malaysian officials will get the Chinese government's views on asset deployment to continue the search.

When asked if he could confirm if there would be a change to the search area, the Director General of Civil Aviation Azharuddin Rahman said Malaysia were going to Australia to discuss this.

The Wall Street Journal has reported today that the search could be poised for a shift in location, according to people close to the search for the plane.

So far ... the search area for MH370. Picture: Joint Agency Coordination Centre Source: Supplied

"No final decisions have been made about where the retooled search will focus and the effort remains "a work in progress," according to one person familiar with the details, The WSJ reports.

"Public disclosure of the new area could come as early as mid-June, this person said, though underwater scanning equipment isn't slated to begin operating until August."

On the search location today, Mr Rahman said: "We are going to Australia tomorrow to know more about the search area, we are still going to discuss that with the Australians, we can't tell you anything more today," he said.

He also said Malaysia would not be not searching the northern corridor as demanded by next of kin.

Relatives of those on board missing Flight MH370 have launched a bid to raise a $5 million to offer a "whistleblower" reward to anyone who can shed light on the missing plane.

The prospect of a reward would encourage a whistleblower to come forward with secret information about the stalled investigation, families argue.

When asked about the crowd-funding efforts by next of kin, Mr Rahman said they would let them to continue raising the funds.

"They say they are collecting $5 million and want to employ investigators...hopefully they can share the outcome .. and we can discuss the data," he said.


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Tarvydas farewelled in style

Perth fashion designer Ruth Tarvydas was farewelled at a moving service today. Picture: Twitter/Ten News Source: Supplied

Ruth Tarvydas Source: News Limited

PERTH fashion icon Ruth Tarvydas was farewelled by those who loved and knew her best at a moving service today.

Hundreds of mourners – including family and close friends – paid tribute to Ms Tarvydas at the private service at Perth's Lutheran Church, with a burial then taking place at Karrakatta Cemetery.

Her fashion legacy was visible, with some mourners wearing flashes of her designs and her logo clearly emblazoned on the side of her coffin. Red roses adorned her coffin, on top of which Ms Tarvydas' famous hat took pride of place.

Those who came to pay tribute included fellow WA fashion designer Aurelio Costarella, deputy prime minister Julie Bishop, Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi and Bree Maddox.

Ms Tarvydas was found dead in non-suspicious circumstances outside her East Perth apartment last month. Her death left the fashion community reeling.

Born in Lithuania, Ms Tarvydas arrived in Fremantle as a two-year-old with her family, after fleeing post-WWII Germany.

She built a global fashion empire that included boutiques in Paris, Malaysia and Sydney.

Her fortunes took a devastating turn last year when her company, RTI, was liquidated, just 12 months after she was forced to close the doors of her high-profile King Street boutique.

In the days after her death, Ms Tarvydas' family paid tribute to her, saying the world had lost "one of its most beautiful and eccentric lights" and she was her own "work of art".

"We are incredibly proud of her professional achievements that paved the way for many young Australian designers, we take comfort in the knowledge that the legacy of our darling Ruthie will live on for many years to come in our memories and in her designs," the family's statement read.

Ms Tarvydas' legacy will be honoured with a commemorative runway show at the 2014 Telstra Perth Fashion Festival in September.


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Up to 1000 sharks in firing line, says EPA

Last summer more than 170 sharks were caught on baited drumlines and 50 were killed, none of which was a great white Picture: Theo Fakos Source: News Limited

ALMOST 1000 sharks could be caught in the next three years if the WA government's controversial shark-kill policy continues, but less than 25 are predicted to be great whites.

The State Government opened its public environmental review (PER) today as part of the Environmental Protection Authority's (EPA) assessment process, and is seeking public feedback.

A proposed extension of the program would see baited drumlines set 1km off some beaches between November and April for three years, targeting great white, tiger and bull sharks longer than 3m.

The PER predicts about 900 tiger sharks, 25 great white sharks and only a few bull sharks will be caught over the next three years.

It said capturing that number of tiger sharks could possibly "generate a minor consequence" to that species' population, but described it as a "low risk".

With less than 10 great whites expected to be caught each year, there was only a "remote likelihood" the cull would affect the size or migratory patterns of the south-western Australian population, the review said.

With only a few bull sharks expected to be caught each year, the review says there is a "high likelihood" the proposal will have no impact on its population.

A negligible risk is also expected for dusky sharks and protected or listed animals such as grey nurse sharks, shortfin mako sharks, dolphins, sea birds, seals, sea lions, manta rays and turtles.

Greens MLC Lynn MacLaren urged the community to comment on whether the shark cull was viable.

"Drum lines are an overpriced, anti-conservation policy that conflicts with the values and beliefs of modern-day Australians," she said.

State government officials recently attended a shark conference in Durban and reported the views of culling supporters, who were in the minority, Ms MacLaren said.

"Perhaps if these officials attended the conference with a more open mind, they would have noted overwhelming advice from scientists the world over who practise modern sustainable alternatives that don't cull an apex predator," she said.

Last summer, more than 170 sharks were caught on baited drumlines and 50 were killed, none of which was a great white. The public consultation period runs until July 7.


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‘I... pretended to be dead, really’

Explosive claims ... four former female ADFA cadets have spoken to the Four Corners program. Source: Supplied

CALLS are mounting for a royal commission into the military's handling of abuse claims and the abolition of the Australian Defence Force Academy.

The ABC TV's Four Corners program has aired fresh stories from four former cadets who claim to have been raped, sexually assaulted or denigrated while at the academy in the 1990s and 2009.

One woman still connected with the military says she continues to face contact with her alleged attackers, some of whom have risen within military ranks with commendations.

She was indecently assaulted by a superior in her bedroom in the 90s, when she was considered a low-ranked "divisional toy" at ADFA.

"I ... pretended to be dead really, and I wished I was," she told the program.

Another woman, whose police complaint was later dropped, still serves alongside her alleged rapist in the military.

"It all just came flooding back ... the panic attacks ... the sleeplessness ... the nervousness," she said of a recent encounter. "I expect to carry those things with me for the rest of my life." The women have criticised the military's response to abuse claims — the Defence Abuse Response Taskforce — as inadequate. They have also been joined by former Australian Defence Force magistrate Ken Northwood in calling for a royal commission to fully uncover the extent of abuse and hold the perpetrators to account. Another past academy official, its former deputy commandant Paul Petersen, has called for the closure of the academy amid fears another cycle of abuse could remerge.

Defence's process of handling abuse complaints in the 1990s has also been criticised, with claims they were filed into a cabinet later known as the "chamber of horrors".

Former West Australian Supreme Court judge Len Roberts-Smith QC, who is leading the taskforce, says he's confident the perpetrators will be identified through a new defence force database.

But he dismissed the need for a royal commission and is leaving the job of referring alleged abusers to the Defence Force Chief David Hurley for possible action.

General Hurley says he will take up each case if it's referred to him, vowing to crack down on perpetrators.

"I will root this out if you give me the right information," he said.


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