Doctors slam cost of cancer drugs

Doctors have written a letter attacking pharmaceutical companies for the high cost of cancer drugs. Source: Getty Images

SCORES of global doctors have signed a joint letter decrying the high cost of cancer drugs in the US which can reach $US100,000 ($97,000) a year.

The United States represents the "extreme end of high prices," leading to healthcare costs that amounted in 2011 to $US2.7 trillion, or 18 per cent of US GDP, compared to six to nine percent in Europe, the doctors wrote in the journal Blood.

The costs of cancer drugs vary widely by region and the free market economy has not helped lower prices, said the authors, all specialists in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a blood cancer that affects up to 1.5 million people worldwide.

"Of the 12 drugs approved by the FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) for various cancer indications in 2012, 11 were priced above $US100,000 per year," they wrote.

"Cancer drug prices have almost doubled from a decade ago, from an average of $US5000 per month to more than $US10,000 per month."

In Europe, universal health care shields patients from the perils of high-cost drugs, said the letter, signed by lead author Hagop Kantarjian of the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.

But in the United States "patients may pay an average of 20 per cent of drug prices out-of-pocket (about $US20-30,000 per year, a quarter to a third of an average household budget), and ... medical illnesses and drug prices are the single most frequent cause of personal bankruptcies."

The authors suggested that setting high prices is akin to profiteering at a time of disaster, and called for dialogue among all sectors of health care to begin to change the situation.

They pointed to the popular drug imantinib, marketed as Gleevec in the United States and Glivec in other parts of the world, as a key drug with a rising price tag that brought its maker, Novartis, $US4.7 billion in revenue last year.

"Being one of the most successful cancer targeted therapies, imatinib may have set the pace for the rising cost of cancer drugs," the letter said.

Its price at the time of release in 2001 was $US30,000 per year, but by 2012 had risen to $US92,000 per year in the United States "despite the fact that all research costs were accounted for in the original proposed price."

In France, the same drug costs $US40,000 per year. In China and Australia it costs $US46,500, and in South Korea and Mexico, it costs around $US29,000.

In response, Novartis issued a statement saying its innovation "has changed the course of the disease," allowing nine out of 10 patients with CML to lead normal lives.

Before the release of the drugs Glivec (imatinib) and Tasigna (nilotinib), the five-year survival rate for CML patients was 30 per cent.

"Over the years, our programs have evolved to improve patient access to our medicines. We work together with government health care systems, charities and other payors to build successful cost-sharing models," Novartis said.

The Swiss pharmaceutical group also noted that "globally, nearly one third of the Glivec produced annually is provided at no cost, to date reaching more than 50,000 patients in over 80 low-income countries."

21.51 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mayor wants double the pay

Perth's Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi, in her office at Council House November 2, 2012, wants an increase in her $60,000 a year salary. Source: News Limited

PERTH Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi says she is severely underpaid and deserves a 200 percent pay rise.

She and WA Local Government Association president Troy Pickard have joined forces to urge the Salaries and Allowances Tribunal to increase the wages of the state's mayors and 1249 councillors.

Ms Scaffidi said her $60,000 salary should be increased to match the six-figure income of mayors in other states. She said the mayors of Melbourne and Sydney earned up to $180,000.

"The lord mayoral position given it's more than a full-time requirement to undertake the role professionally and to meet all the needs of this position ... should be treated similarly to the salaried levels of lord mayors of Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney," Ms Scaffidi told The Sunday Times.

She said being mayor required someone with the "ability to lobby for significant infrastructure funding at a national and state level" and "cultivate and develop the high-level relationships that bring appropriate investments into our city".

Mr Pickard also said the state's local government representatives were short-changed compared with their eastern states counterparts.

WA councillors were paid a paltry $7000 a year, with some earning only $2400. Their colleagues in other states can receive up to $126,000 a year.

"While I expect the initial reaction from some in the community would be to oppose any increase for elected members, I believe if they thought it through they would agree that it is not fair that WA lags behind other states and that people deserve to be appropriately paid for the work they undertake," Mr Pickard said.

He said serving on a local council required a "significant time commitment" and involved an increasingly complex role that was "way in excess of attending meetings". "But it is true that not all councils have the same demands or same levels of decision making and that is why WALGA has suggested the inclusion of a specific system of bands," he said.

The SAT will set new pay structures for councillors and mayors that will take effect from July 1.

A spokesman for the tribunal said it had been eight years since fees, expenses and allowances paid to mayors and councillors had been adjusted. He said though the SAT would review pays and set new minimum and maximum rates for mayors and councillors, the exact amount paid to elected representatives would still be decided by the councils.

In WALGA's submission to the SAT review, the association argues that the salary of the Lord Mayor of capital cities such as Ms Scaffidi should receive special consideration to recognise the importance of the role.

21.51 | 0 komentar | Read More

Call for more prisoners to work on streets

More prisoners would work in the community to "repay their debt" to society, under a plan before the Barnett Government. File picture.
Source: PerthNow

MORE prisoners - including people smugglers - would be put to work in the community to "repay their debt" to society, under a plan before the Barnett Government.

A review of the state's prison system has revealed taxpayer-funded work camps are operating below 70 per cent capacity, despite nearly 100 prisoners being identified as fit for work.

Work camp prisoners perform community duties, from painting local churches, to general maintenance in hospital grounds and cemetery landscaping.

The camps also provide training and skills development, including how to operate heavy machinery and administer first-aid.

Inspector of Custodial Services Neil Morgan said the underuse of work camps was "unacceptable".

"They have involved a high level of public investment and need to be full or close to capacity to repay that investment," he said.

Mr Morgan said the department could increase the pool of prisoners in work camps by allowing Indonesian prisoners subject to deportation to work in the community.

There should also be more Aboriginal prisoners in work camps, he said.

Just 66 prisoners are working in four camps in Wyndham, Warburton, Walpole and Dowerin. At least 80 more are suitable for work, but have not been given placements. The review also highlighted an "alarming" number of Aboriginal prisoners being housed in WA's toughest jails, while non-Aboriginal prisoners were gaining minimum security ratings.

Mr Morgan said it "beggared belief" that Aboriginal prisoners weren't being given equal opportunities for rehabilitation.

"Aboriginal people constitute over 40 per cent of our prison population," he said. "If they are not accessing minimum security in sufficient numbers, the benefits of these facilities are not reaching a priority target group and public investment is not being maximised."

The number of non-Aboriginal people shifted to minimum security increased 62 per cent in the past three years.

For Aboriginal prisoners the rise was less than 5 per cent.

Opposition corrective services spokesman Paul Papalia said it was "scandalous" work camps were a quarter empty.

"Work camps are a successful tool for re-integrating people and preparing them to go back into society," Mr Papalia said.

"The Barnett Government has turned our prison system into complete shambles. You're putting relatively low-risk prisoners in with hardened criminals and you'll be teaching them how to become a proper criminal. It's creating crime universities."

Corrective Services Minister Joe Francis and the Department of Corrective Services declined to comment.

21.51 | 0 komentar | Read More

Daredevil cave divers exploring depths

Cave diver John Vanderleest explores the underwater caverns of WA's Nullarbor. Picture: http://lizrogersphotography.com Source: Supplied

DAREDEVIL divers are exploring remote underground caves across the Nullarbor Plain, swimming below millions of tonnes of rock where one mistake can prove fatal.

But they say taking the ultimate risk is worth it to pioneer a world most of us will never see, in water so stunningly clear that it is "the closest you can come to being an astronaut on Earth".

Their view backs up Lonely Planet's list of top dive spots which shows WA's Nullarbor ahead of the Great Barrier Reef.

While that outraged tourism bosses in Queensland, a hard-core club of about 50 WA cave divers say Lonely Planet was right to name Cocklebiddy Cave, 1150km east of Perth, as one of the world's top-10 dive locations.

"You shine your light and it is so magnificently clear it makes a swimming pool seem murky," Nullarbor veteran and Cave Divers Association of Australia director John Vanderleest said.

"You can't articulate how crystal clear it is. You're floating in a giant cave that's so crystal clear you don't even realise you're underwater. It's like you're floating in space."

And it's almost as dangerous as a trip to outer space.

More than 90m below ground, divers are beneath millions of tonnes of rock. And at 6.5km long, Cocklebiddy Cave is the longest underwater passage in the country, up to several hundred metres wide, along a fault line in the biggest slab of limestone on the planet.

In 1972 and 1973, at least eight people died cave-diving in Australia, prompting the formation of the cave divers association and the introduction of a permits and a training system that has kept fatalities to two since then.

That record was almost ruined in 1988 when producer Andrew Wight led a Nullarbor cave-diving expedition and a freak storm caused the entrance to collapse, leaving 15 people trapped underground.

A rescue mission was mounted and everyone survived in a harrowing ordeal that inspired the movie Sanctum.

So mysterious are the world's giant, flooded underwater caverns, the Maya believed the entrances to them to be portals to the underworld.

"It's an unforgiving sport. You can't afford mistakes. If anything goes wrong, you have to deal with it underwater," Mr Vanderleest said.

He said the Nullarbor's six regularly dived caves were among the most popular in the country for Australia's small and highly trained group of cave divers, who number about 800, including up to 70 in WA.

Phenomenal visibility is the result of artesian basin water that has taken thousands of years to filter through the limestone surface layers, the cave divers association's scientific officer, Ian Lewis, said.

And exploring the underwater realm isn't cheap.

"A re-breather will be $12,000-$15,000, an underwater scooter $5000, but people don't mind the expense because when your life is reliant on equipment, you don't want an old VW, you want a Ferrari," Mr Vanderleest said.

Perth diver Craig Challen holds the "crown of Cocklebiddy" for going deeper than anyone to the end of the cave system, where it branches into several tight passages. Another Perth legend of the sport is Paul Hosie, who has mapped more than 15km of virgin cave-diving passages in the Nullarbor and elsewhere.

Fellow diver Geoff Paynter has tackled Cocklebiddy more than a dozen times since it was discovered in the '70s.

He said most West Australians had no idea that the treasure existed.

"People are literally driving over the top on their way to Perth or Adelaide and they don't realise what's below," he said.

21.51 | 0 komentar | Read More

Court tangles leave RSPCA in limbo

Unresolved court cases have left the RSPCA's Malaga shelter a full house. Picture: Stewart Allen Source: PerthNow

THE RSPCA's Perth shelter is in crisis, overwhelmed by an influx of seized animals and unable to move them on because of unresolved court cases.

The charity warned in February that it was at breaking point after an unprecedented number of neglected and mistreated animals were brought in.

More than 350 dogs, cats, birds, rabbits and livestock are currently housed at the Malaga site, which has room for only about 200 animals.

Some 300 animals were rescued from just three properties between late 2012 and early this year, including 132 taken from one suburban property in December.

Caring for the extra arrivals has cost the RSPCA about $175,000.

The RSPCA said rehoming animals was often held up by legal processes and people challenging their convictions under the Animal Welfare Act 2002.

But it uses foster carers and other programs to ensure the animals are as comfortable as possible until the cases are resolved in court, RSPCA WA chief executive David van Ooran said.

The RSPCA has been unable to take any cats for months because that part of the shelter is particularly overstretched.

"We're in a very busy holding pattern,'' Mr van Ooran said.

"The animals seized by RSPCA inspectors remain in the care of the RSPCA until court cases can be resolved.

"Once the court case has concluded, we are then able to put the animals through our rehoming process which involves micro-chipping, desexing and behavioural assessment to ensure the animals go to the right homes.''

Mr van Ooran said the RSPCA was grateful to local legal firms that had saved it hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in fees by working on the cases pro bono.

He also urged the public to donate clean blankets and towels to help keep the animals warm during the colder months.

The RSPCA's biggest fundraising event of the year, the Million Paws Walk, will be held on May 19 across the country.

21.51 | 0 komentar | Read More

Jockey was pushed to her limit

Nikita McLean (left) with fellow jockey Michelle Payne after her five-month suspension was cut in half by the Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board. Picture: Andrew Brownbill Source: Herald Sun

A SYMPATHETIC appeals board slashed in half a five-month suspension imposed by stewards on jockey Nikita McLean for the assault of her teenage sister, Jackie.

Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board chairman Judge Russell Lewis was frank in his support of 27-year-old McLean, who pushed and punched 18-year-old Jackie Beriman at a recent race meeting at Hamilton.

"He (McLean's husband) had it off with her younger sister," Judge Lewis said.

"She's not a robot."

Earlier on the same day at Hamilton, McLean's estranged husband, jumps jockey Brad McLean, had tapped her on the behind with his whip, upsetting her and contributing to her later assault of her sister.

McLean told stewards at an earlier hearing the sight of her sister parading in front of her in the jockeys' room had also upset her; "a very provocative thing to do", according to Judge Lewis.

Judge Lewis added McLean was vulnerable at Hamilton because it was the first time she had shared a racecourse with her ex and Beriman since their August 2012 affair.

"There is no doubt this young woman has been drawn to the limits," he said.

In successfully arguing that the stewards' penalty of five months was "manifestly unjust", Patrick Whelahan, for Nikita McLean, said the circumstances of the assault were "extreme".

He said McLean had acted "very courteously and professionally" towards her sister since learning of the affair. Judge Lewis described the brief affair as a "gross betrayal".

Mr Whelahan said the five-month suspension would have robbed his client of about $70,000 in earnings; a penalty "completely out of step".

The board heard McLean, now living in Ballarat, shared ownership of a home in Warrnambool with her estranged husband, who lives there, but only Nikita McLean was making mortgage payments.

Board member Brian Forrest asked her if Brad McLean was a "freeloader", and she said "yes".

She later vowed to mend the fractured relationship with her sister and urged other jockeys to also forgive Beriman.

Racing Victoria and the jockeys' association intends to begin mediation and increase counselling for the sisters. Jackie Beriman had been ostracised by other jockeys since the affair.

Nikita McLean's suspension ends on June 30.

21.51 | 0 komentar | Read More

Patients burn alive in hospital fire

A fire in a psychiatric hospital near the Russian capital Moscow has killed at least 38 people.

• 29 of the 38 were burnt alive and death toll also includes two doctors
• Many patients were sedated and did not wake up
• Patients at the facility ranged from 20-76 years old

A FIRE swept quickly through a psychiatric hospital outside Moscow early Friday, killing 38 people, most of them in their beds, officials said.

The one-story brick-and-wood hospital building housed patients with severe mental disorders, Health Ministry officials said. An emergency ministry official said the fire started in a wooden annex and then spread to the main brick building which had wooden beams.

The patients were under sedatives and most of them did not wake up, Yuri Deshevykh of the emergency situations ministry told RIA Novosti.

At least 29 people were burned alive, said Irina Gumennaya, a spokeswoman for the Russian Investigative Committee.

Firefighters extinguishing fire in the burning psychiatric hospital where inmates were trapped inside behind barred windows. Picture: AFP PHOTO / MOSCOW REGION EMERGENCIES MINISTRY

Investigators said 38 people, including 36 patients and two doctors, have died. They said a nurse managed to escape and save one patients, while another patient got out on his own. The emergency services also posted a list of the patients indicating they ranged in age from 20 to 76. Gumennaya told Russian news agencies that most of the people died in their beds.

Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyev said some of the hospital windows were barred. Gumennaya quoted testimony of the surviving nurse who said that doors inside the hospital were not locked.

Officials from the Russian Investigative Committee said they are looking at poor fire regulations and short circuit as possible causes for the blaze that engulfed the hospital in the Ramenskiy settlement, some 85 kilometers north of Moscow.

Police said the fire was caused by a short circuit. Picture: AP Photo/Pavel Sergeyev

Vadim Belovoshin of the emergency ministry said that it took fire fighters an hour to get to the hospital following an emergency call because a ferry across the canal was closed and the fire fighters had to make a detour.

Vorobyev told Russian state-television that the fire alarm seems to have worked but the fire spread too quickly.

Russia has a poor fire safety record, with about 12,000 deaths reported in 2012. In January, a fire in an underground parking lot killed 10 migrant workers from Tajikistan who were working and living there. In a similar incident in September, 14 Vietnamese workers were killed by fire at a clothing factory near Moscow.

Firefighters work at a site of the fire where 38 people including 36 patients and two doctors died. Picture: AP Photo/Pavel Sergeyev

In one of the most high-profile case of negligence, more than 150 people died in a night club in the city of Perm after a pyrotechnic show ignited a wooden ceiling.

21.51 | 0 komentar | Read More

Geelong players a pair of Cat bunglers

Billie Smedts leaves Kardinia Park. Picture: Mike Dugdale Source: Herald Sun

BILLIE Smedts and Josh Caddy should stick to kicking a Sherrin, because as Cat burglars they make mighty fine footy players.

When the duo decided to play a prank on Jackson Thurlow, the "innocent fun" they decided on was a spot of housebreaking at their teammate's new digs.

But the concept of a fleet-footed Raffles doing a midnight flit across the rooftops without a trace eluded them.

For a start, it wasn't dark yet. On top of that, they got the wrong house.

So when a woman looked out her window and noticed two balaclava-clad men trying to force their way in, not unnaturally she called 000.

And soon after making their getaway back to Kardinia Park, the hapless pair found themselves staring down the barrels of guns levelled at them by five of Geelong's finest.

"Oh, mate, it was scary - very scary," a sheepish Smedts said.

Caddy said: "We are both sorry to that lady. In hindsight, we shouldn't have done it."

Josh Caddy says it was an ''innocent'' prank which went wrong. Picture: Mike Dugdale

Caddy said it was simply a prank gone wrong.

"It was just some innocent fun with me and Billie, which unfortunately scared people.

"We were just in the $2 shop and saw them (balaclavas) and thought it would be a bit of fun to scare young Thurlow at his new house he'd just moved into," Caddy said.

"We're a little bit embarrassed, but it's been dealt with."

Smedts added: "If (police) want us to go and apologise, we will. But it's all done and dusted, and they know it was a big prank and a big misunderstanding."

Inspector Gary Bruce said police had attended several burglaries in the South Geelong area in previous weeks and so responded swiftly to the call from Yarra St about 5pm on Wednesday.

He said the pair were given official cautions.

"They were extremely apologetic. It placed our members in danger in responding quickly to the call and caused potential danger, not only to our members but also those two."

He said police had spoken with club management.

Club media manager Kevin Diggerson said no further action would be taken.

"It was a misunderstanding and the boys hadn't done anything wrong," he said.

"There was no malice or attempt to cause any drama."

Asked whether Geelong players would be spoken to about pranks, he said: "We think our players are a mature group of people and will take out of it what they like."

21.51 | 0 komentar | Read More

US ambassador: Stop pirating Game of Thrones

Emilia Clarke played Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones. Picture: Supplied Source: news.com.au

Game of Thrones is one of the most pirated TV series. Supplied by Foxtel Source: news.com.au

•  Extraordinary plea: Aussie piracy out of control
• We're the world's worst Game of Thrones pirates
• No excuses for Aussies anymore: US official

THE top US official in Australia has taken the extraordinary step of pleading with us to stop pirating Game of Thrones.

Ambassador Jeffrey Bleich - who confesses to being a fan of the 'great epic' - says he is troubled with news we're one of the world's biggest pirates of the HBO fantasy series.

"Unfortunately, nearly as epic and devious as the drama, is its unprecedented theft by online viewers around the world," Mr Bleich wrote in a Facebook post.

"As the Ambassador here in Australia, it was especially troubling to find out that Australian fans were some of the worst offenders with among the highest piracy rates of Game of Thrones in the world."

He added that Australians can no longer use the excuse of the time delay between the series broadcast in the US and Australia to steal episodes.

"While some people here used to claim that they used pirate sites only because of a delay in getting new episodes here, the show is now available from legitimate sources within hours of its broadcast in the United States," Mr Bleich wrote.

Parents of young fans who refuse to pay for a subscription, or issues with copyright law are not valid excuses either, he said. "None of those reasons is an excuse - stealing is stealing."

US Ambassador to Australia Jeffrey Bleich. Picture: Ray Strange Source: News Limited

Downloading content illegally is not a victimless crime, he said, as artists like the Game of Thrones crew can only do their work if they can be paid for it.

If the four million people who watch Game of Thrones legally had been illegal downloaders, Mr Bleich writes, the latest hit season would never have been made.

"Buying a book in store costs more and takes longer than stealing it from your neighbour's house, but we all know it is the right thing to do and allows authors to make a living and write more books," Mr Bleich argued.

The series is understood to be one of the most expensive currently broadcast on television, with E! reporting the series costs around $6 million per episode.

One episode was illegally downloaded over four million times in 2012 according to BitTorrent trackers. That's the same number as the amount of people who watched it on TV.

Episodes are filmed on location in countries such as Malta, Iceland, Croatia and Morocco.

More than one million viewers illegally downloaded the debut episode of the third season, which went to air in the US on March 31 this year.

Ambassador Bleich was appointed US Ambassador to Australia by President Obama in November 2009.

Contact this reporter: Daniel.Piotrowski@news.com.au | @drpiotrowski
 

21.51 | 0 komentar | Read More

Father and abducted daughter reunited

Camilla Ellefsen Lunetta and her daughter Reya. Picture: Today Tonight Source: Supplied

Reya age-progressed to 10. She was allegedly abducted by her mother, Camilla Lunetta. Picture: National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Source: Supplied

Camilla Ellefsen is believed to be living in Australia with her daughter Reya. Picture: Megan Slade Source: The Courier-Mail

Camilla Ellefsen Lunetta in 2002. Photo: Supplied. Source: Supplied

• Desperate dad reunited with abducted daughter
• Brozzi Lunetta trying to help ex-wife leave the country
• Trio plan to evade authorities until agreement struck

A DESPERATE dad has been reunited with his abducted daughter after his decade-long search for her ended near Sydney yesterday.

But in a bizarre twist, American father Brozzi Lunetta has gone into hiding with the ex-wife who stole her from him.

Camilla Ellefsen Lunetta abducted their daughter Reya from the United States in 2002 amid a bitter custody dispute.

"Today we're basically hiding from any kind of police action and trying to find some way to get them safely back to Norway and to get them into some sort of protection from the Norwegian Government," he told news.com.au this morning.

"Right now we're still in the Sydney area. They're safe and very close by.

"(Camilla) is a Norwegian citizen who we're trying to stop from going to prison in America (from where Reya was abducted) and have returned to her own country."

Brozzi Lunetta with daughter Reya before she was abducted. Picture: supplied. Source: Supplied

The 40-year-old father, now based in Norway, returned to Australia last week after news.com.au revealed that Ms Ellefsen Lunetta and Reya were living in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

Yesterday Mr Lunetta and a Today Tonight television crew confronted the pair at a property about an hour's drive from Sydney after receiving a tip-off.

The pair had reportedly been hiding there for more than a week.

In a strange twist, mother and daughter are now holed up with Mr Lunetta. News.com.au is not aware of their exact location.

"Camilla's very worried and fearful," he said.

"She wants to just disappear with her people and have them try to get her out (of Australia) on a fake passport or something.

"It's (been made) very clear to her that if she does a runner we'll have no choice but to call the police.

"There will be complete absolute police action if she disappears from the custody we have."

Camilla Ellefsen Lunetta in 2002. Photo: Supplied Source: Supplied

Mr Lunetta said his ex-wife could flee again.

"I'm close by but I'm not in the same room," he said.

"They have their own bedroom and a shared bed. They're together, they're safe."

Channel Seven, which has paid for Mr Lunetta's flights and accommodation during this trip, has not responded to questions from news.com.au about whether the television station is also paying for Ms Ellefsen Lunetta's accommodation.

"Nobody is being hidden, they are acting of their own free will," a Seven spokeswoman said.

"We are under no obligation to report this matter to the authorities.

"Both parents have indicated to us they want to deal solely with the Norwegian Embassy."

Camilla Ellefsen Lunetta and Reya in 2002. Photo: Supplied Source: Supplied

Mr Lunetta said they were trying to "keep very low key" until the consulate re-opened tomorrow.

"I'm absolutely completely hiding from (authorities) right now," he said.

"No one knows where I'm at except Today Tonight.

"We're praying the consulate will be open tomorrow because to hide for three or four days will be impossible."

Mr Lunetta said he hoped the trio could leave Australia within days.

"We just need to get through another 24 hours and tomorrow we can get the Norwegian Government and the Australian Government on the same page as to what's best for the child," he said.

"Hopefully by Saturday we can all be on a flight back to Norway.

"I've said all along, I don't want Camilla to go to jail and that's what she's facing now.

"There's an election coming up in Australia and does the government really want to see another kid taken away by the AFP screaming and crying? I don't think so."

An Australian Federal Police spokeswoman said they could not act on new information without orders from the Family Court.

The FBI recently confirmed its investigation was ongoing. A felony California state warrant was issued in 2002 for Camilla Lunetta for deprivation of child custody. A federal warrant for Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution was issued in U.S. District Court (federal) in 2004 after the District Attorney requested assistance.

"Obviously, with good reason, Camilla's very scared of the authorities, she doesn't want to go to prison and she doesn't want to be separated from her daughter for years," Mr Lunetta said.

"I've offered her that if we can get them to Norway she will have primary custody.

"I don't want my daughter to see her mum taken away in handcuffs. That's what I'm trying to avoid."

Brozzi's search for his daughter Reya brought him to the Sunshine Coast in 2010. Picture: Megan Slade Source: The Courier-Mail

Ms Ellefsen Lunetta has been unlawfully in the country since 2003.

A NSW Police spokesperson said that under the Migration Act 1958 NSW Police Officers can detain an unlawful non-citizen.

"Police liaise with the Department of Immigration and Citizenship to determine whether or not a person is lawfully in Australia," they said.

A Department of Immigration spokeswoman said they could not discuss individual cases for privacy reasons.

"Any person found to be in the country without a valid visa may be subject to compliance action."

This morning Mr Lunetta updated his hundreds of Facebook followers.

"EVERYBODY PLEASE READ - I am with Camilla & Reya, literally hiding them from the potential arrest and extradition back to California for a prison sentence for felony kidnapping," he wrote.

"We have been trying for hours to get the Norwegian government to intervene, work with the Aussies to deport back to Norway for the visa violation. But the Norwegian Government has been unwilling to do a f***ing thing.

"If you are in Norway PLEASE put pressure on the authorities to Help This Child, my daughter. –Brozzi"

Mr Lunetta told news.com.au that his ex-wife was cooperating.

"Absolutely, as much as she is capable," he said.

"She's been running this show underground for the last 10 years.

"She thought she'd be able to get out of here without me finding her but I've found her.

"Given the situation she's in she knows she doesn't have the leverage she used to have."

Camilla Ellefsen Lunetta and Reya on April 24, 2013. Picture: Today Tonight. Source: Supplied

He said his daughter was doing well considering her confusing ordeal.

"She's OK. By bed time last night she was cool," he said.

"For Reya it's overwhelming. She's not scared of me so I can tell there's been no vilification.

"The possibility that my daughter will be with me in Norway in a month … this could have such a happy ending if we could just get off the rocks."

Both mother and child remain listed as missing on the Family Court of Australia website.

Email kristin.shorten@news.com.au or follow @itsKShort on Twitter

21.51 | 0 komentar | Read More