Black and white twins turn 7

Kian and Remee

The odds of a mixed race couple having twins of different colours are a million to one but that’s what happened when these two baby girls were born. Although twins, born one minute apart, one was black, the other white. Their parents genes are to blame - mother Kylee Hodgson and father Remi Horder both have white mothers and black fathers.

Now as their seventh birthday approaches, they say that racial prejudice has never been a problem. "They are such a perfect example of how it should be" their mother said.    She remembers the moment she first saw them when they were born back in 2005. “I thought they would start to look the same as time went on” she said.    But Kian’s eyes changed from blue to brown and her skin got darker and Remee’s complexion got lighter and her curly hair stayed blonde. They learned to walk and talk at different times but their first words was identical - ‘Juice”. According to their mother, Kian is bossier and louder and Remee is more reserved and laid back.

Today they are in different classes at school and have a different set of friends but at home, they do everything together. Sadly, their parents are now separated and the girls live with their mother in Dudley, West Midlands.

Gina Rinehart imports cheap labour

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart intends to bring in semi-skilled migrants to work in her mines.   She doesn’t want Australian workers because our wages are too high so she’s had a brilliant idea - bring in desperate people from other nations willing and overjoyed at the opportunity to work for half the Australian wage. She’s trying to convince anyone who will listen that it’s got nothing to do with profit, she’s not being unpatriotic, she is simply suffering from an acute labour shortage.

Mining magnates

Her new Roy Hill Iron Ore project is currently negotiating with the Government on Australia's first Enterprise Migration Agreement (EMA). It’s all very hush hush but her plan is to bring in around 1,500 semi skilled migrants such as scaffolders, riggers, bulldozer drivers etc.  There are thousands of young unemployed people able to fit these job descriptions in other states who would jump on a plane in a heartbeat if only given the opportunity.

But surprise surprise, it’s already been going on and the Government supports EMAs.  Immigration Minister Chris Bowen says they are important to keep big projects moving. "We need EMAs to cut red tape for very large resources projects which will have a very strong demand for labour," he said. "The biggest risk for many of these projects proceeding is simply to assure people they will have the labour for the job."

Ms Rinehart wants us to believe that she’s a humanitarian at heart and has even written a poem about it.

The Globe is sadly groaning with debt, poverty and strife

And billions now are pleading to enjoy a better life ...

Embrace multiculturalism and welcome short term foreign workers to our shores

To benefit from the export of our minerals and ores.

Very nice sentiments but what about us Gina?

Needless to say the union isn’t buying it. The CMFEU's national secretary Dave Noonan said "Gina Rinehart's proposition is that she wants to extend a hand of care and raise up the poorer people in the developing world. Some people might believe that but I don't," he said.   A large number of workers brought in on 457 visas to work at the Sino Iron project near Karratha have been underpaid and are working for half the Australian rate. “The Immigration Department has received numerous complaints about this and have been derelict in their duty about doing anything about it.”

Fairfax news

And here’s the bottom line - there are well over 80,000 workers in Australia already on 457 Visas and migration expert Dr Bob Birrell says he expects at least half will stay on as permanent migrants. "All of this is shrouded in secrecy, there are thousands of domestic workers being precluded from gaining access to those jobs," he said. 


He worries about the reluctance to train Australian workers. He says there has been no growth in the employment of the construction workforce over the last two years and there’s been a downturn in employment in the eastern states. “There are now tens of thousands of domestic workers who would like to get access to these jobs," he said. 


So now we know.

Aussie base for US spy planes

The US is considering using the Cocos Islands to launch unmanned surveillance aircraft. The Cocos (Keeling) Islands is a territory belonging to Australia made up of two flat, coral atolls and 27 coral islands of which two, west Island and Home Island are inhabited with a population of around 600. The Washington Post today reports “US and Australian officials said the atoll could be an ideal site not only for manned US surveillance aircraft but for Global Hawks, an unarmed, high-attitude surveillance drone.”

Prime Minister Julia Gillard did not deny the reports and said "Look, I'm not going to play a rule-in, rule-out game about something that's been discussed at officials level," she said.  This morning Defence Minister Stephen Smith told AM that the Cocos airstrip would need to be upgraded to be able to launch the drones and stressed that it was "very much a long-term prospect".

Stephen Smith said the US and Australia were looking at “three priorities” - the basing of US Marines in Darwin; greater air traffic through northern Australia and in the longer term, American access to the Navy’s HMAS Stirling base in Perth. The Cocos Island strategy was a long term prospect and should be treated as such.

There is a suggestion that the US is considering the Cocos Islands because its lease on Diego Garcia has almost expired.

Muslim cleric "Happiest man in England"

The British government have been trying to send hate preacher Abu Qatada back to his home country for a long time but the European Court of Human Rights has ruled against it. He’s wanted in Jordan on terror charges and the judges have ruled that Qatada should not be sent back unless assurances are given that evidence gained through torture will not be used against him.

Before the 11 September attacks on the US, Britain ignored warnings from half a dozen friendly governments about Abu Qatada’s links with terrorist groups and refused to arrest him. But in October 2002 he was arrested in South London and taken to prison, and the long battle for his deportation began.

Qatada was born Omar Othman but changed his name to Abu Qatada after an Islamic scholar he admired. He was allowed to enter Britain in 1993 after travelling on a false United Arab Emirates passport and later claimed asylum, despite his family admitting there was no specific threat against him from the Jordanian authorities at that time.

The 51 year old cleric who has been described as ‘Osama Bin Laden’s right hand man in Europe’ asked to switch houses a week after being released from prison in February and it seems the authorities were only too happy to oblige. He was living in Wembly, North London and paying 1,900 pounds a month rent which was paid through benefits. But when the property owner found out who was living in his house he was furious and wanted him out. Qatada’s brother said the family are very happy with their new house and that his brother was "the happiest man in England" because it had more bedrooms and a bigger garden. He added “My brother cannot work so the British government fund his family to live there.”

His new neighbours have no idea that their new neighbour is Britain’s most hated man. Under the terms of his bail, he can only leave the house for two hours a day and fills his days reading Islamic texts and watching Isamic TV channels. But the cost of watching him 24/7 on bail, (around 5 million pounds a year) is 100 times more than keeping him in a high-security prison so why isn't he still in there?

The British situation with Abu Qatada is now a laughing matter. How did Britain ever get itself into the situation where Judges from other countries have the right to rule that this man cannot be deported? He hates everything Britain stands for, but is happy to allow the British taxpayer to continue footing the bill for him and his family to live a comfortable life. 

Political correctness at its best.

North Korea's long range missiles

North Korea is a very strange place. Imagine living in a country where secrecy is so important that none of their citizens are allowed to travel abroad and the handful of tourists who visit are taken to a few favourable destinations. We get a glimpse of just how hard life actually is for the 23 million people who live there from those who have escaped and the stories they tell are horrific.


North Korea’s economy went into steep decline during the 1990s after the collapse of communism. Although the economy has recovered somewhat, thanks to co-operation with South Korea and small market reforms, living conditions remain below 1990 levels. Then there's the regime's fanatical obsession with the military, money is poured into it and the people come a poor second. The UN World Food Programme estimates that almost nine million people are in urgent need of food aid.


North Korea will not be a participant in the two-day Nuclear Security Summit that starts today in Seoul, but 50 other world leaders will be there, including Julia Gillard. President Obama flew to the border by helicopter and touched down just outside the DMZ at Camp Bonifas, where he met US and local commanders and troops. He stopped for about 10 minutes at Observation Post Ouellette, within 90 metres of the demarcation line that was drawn after the 1953 ceasefire in the Korean War.


President Obama's arrival coincides with North Korea’s announcement to launch a satellite next month to honour the 100th anniversary of the birth of their revered founder, Kim Il-sung. But there’s a problem, the satellite will be be mounted on a long-range missile which have been banned by the UN, and that's what all the fuss is about. The President said he was frustrated that China had not done more to curb their behaviour in this regard.


North Korea described the summit as a platform for an "international smear campaign" against it and have threatened to take countermeasures against “any sinister attempt” to hinder its planned rocket launch. Meanwhile, the US are set to begin providing 240,000 tonnes of food aid to North Korea, after an agreement was reached on February 29.

Climate Change Madness

Thinking about a sea change when you retire? If you do, you might reconsider a front row, uninterrupted view of the ocean and opt for something a little further away. In the 1970s, Russel and Annabelle Secombe bought a modest, single-level brick home at Lake Cathie, a small town on the NSW mid-north coast.


It’s a beautiful place to live, just across from the ocean but the couple, now in their 80’s are undergoing a lot of stress from their local council. Port Macquarie Hastings Council have put a study on their website recommending forced “planned retreat” for owners of 17 houses on Illaroo Road because they will be vulnerable to sea level rises due to climate change by the end of the century.


Surely this is local government gone mad. There are no current threats to the properties involved, Illaroo Road is about 7 metres above mean sea level so there’s no danger of flooding but Council won’t be moved, as far as they are concerned, the sea is going to rise - a scenario which is unchallenged and sanctioned as fact. And now the properties involved are unsellable.



The IPCC has a lot to answer for because that’s what concil’s concerns are based on. The Secombes and their neighbours would have to sell their houses to the council and move out. "We don't want to shift, no way," Mr Secombe said yesterday.


Illaroo Road residents Kylie Outtrim, a nurse and her husband bought their two-storey brick house five years ago, intending to update and renovate for their retirement but shortly after, council announced that no renovations or improvements were allowed.


Long-term locals such as the Secombes point out that while erosion can be a problem, it has been a natural ebb and flow over the decades. "A few years ago there was an eight-or ten-foot cliff on the other side of the road, then three months on, it was back to a full beach," Mr Secombe said.


The council's head of development and environment services, Matt Rogers, yesterday agreed that this was the case and that "the erosion was much worse a few years ago than it is today". He also agreed that since the road is about 7m above mean sea level, there's no danger of flooding.


The property owners say they are happy to take the risk of climate change and resent the council imposing a solution on them that will cost them dearly.


It would cost the council $10.5 million to buy the 17 houses involved but there is another alternative called a revetment that would cost $3 million. The report stated it as a ”technically feasible optiion” that would “provide certifiable protection from erosion risks.” Naturally, locals plan to fight the SMEC proposal and urge council to adopt the revetment option.


Interesting to note that a new council will be elected in September.

Malcolm Naden finally captured

At 7.30 on Wednesday night, an electronic monitoring board at police headquarters in the NSW country town of Gloucester started flashing. Something was moving inside a farm hut and it was bigger than an animal. Police had planted sensors inside the hut situated in the remote area of Moppy Road because Malcolm Naden had broken into it before and they were hoping he would come back.


Police travelled 20 kms until the road ran out and then trekked the last 10 kilometres on foot. When they arrived at the hut, there was smoke coming from the chimney. They surrounded the hut and were going to wait until 2 am when they thought Naden would be well and truly asleep. But around midnight, he wandered outside for a cigarette and that’s when police decided to charge.


Taken completely by surprise, when he saw the armed police, he ran back into the hut and out the back door where more police were waiting. There was a scuffle and a police dog locked its jaws onto his left leg and didn’t let go until handcuffs bound his wrists.

"Who are you? Are you Malcolm Naden?”

“Yes. I'm Malcolm Naden" he said.




Today marks six years and nine months since Malcolm Nadan fled his grandparents’ home in Dubbo.

Filthy dirty and very thin, the prisoner was taken to the local hospital to have his dog bite seen to and last night he was on his way to Goulburn Supermax Prison. He has been charged with the murder of 24 year old Kristy Scholes who was found dead in the bedroom of a house in 2005 and two counts of aggravated indecent assault on a 15 year old girl at Dubbo in 2004. There is an additional charge of shooting a police officer in Nowendoc on December 7 last year. He has not yet been charged with the disappearance of mother of four Lateesha Nolan.


Specially trained officers had spent months trekking through rugged bushland and mapping the terrain Naden called home. They used GPS trackers to monitor his movements and planted devices in camping equipment left in huts which they hoped Naden would break into. Sensors were also strategically planted in trees along tracks and trails.


Police Minister Scipione said "This result could not have been achieved without the co-operation of communities in northern NSW whose assistance and vital information has helped police over a long period of time."


Naden didn’t mind being alone, he liked it that way, in fact he hated human contact. He would lock himself in his room at his grandparents house in Dubbo and sneak around in the ceiling space to spy on family members through holes in the plaster. He refused to socialise and insisted on his meals being left outside his door. There were rumours that he was a decorated soldier – not true, he was never in the Army. Another myth going around was was that he was so clever, even Aboriginal trackers and bounty hunters after the $250,000 reward couldn’t catch him but there were no Aboriginal trackers or bounty hunters involved.


Nadan was a child of one of the the more notorious housing estates on the outskirts of Dubbo, mostly occupied by Aboriginal people. But his grandparents, Florence and Jack Nolan were members of the Seventh Day Adventist church and his father was a hard working, non-drinking shearer. Something happened and he left his family home and went to live with his maternal grandparents when he was a teenager. He had a reputation of being a hard worker but was “a bit strange” said a former employer. He embraces two things - he holds a black belt in Karate and is obsessed with the Bible.


On his 2,466th night in the rugged bush, the hunt for the armed and dangerous alleged killer has come to an end. Sitting on the rain sodden ground in handcuffs yesterday morning, surrounded by police, he said “Thank God it’s over, I’ve had enough.”

Judith Tebbutt freed by Somali Pirates

After 193 days in captivity, Judith Tebbutt, a 57 year old British social worker was set free by her abductors after a ransom of $1 million was dropped by plane in a remote part of Somalia. A further $260,000 was paid to middlemen who negotiated her release.


The Tebbutts were on the first night of a two-week holiday at the $600-a-night Kiwayu Safari Village in Kenya. They were sleeping in a cabin when the kidnappers arrived quietly by sea at 4 am last September. David Tebbutt 58, put up a fight and died after he was shot in the chest. His wife was forced onto a waiting speedboat and in half an hour they were in Somali waters, only 30 miles away.


The pirates then sold Mrs Tebbutt for $400,000 to another militia group a fortnight later. They allowed her to make frequent phone calls home to make it easier to raise a ransom from her family. In a video she recorded shortly before her release she said she was in good health and was well cared for. “I feel fine. I have had absolutely no torture whatsoever. In fact I have been made to feel as comfortable as possible by the pirates that are holding me.”


Her only child, Oliver, was responsible for covert negotiations with the pirates and he arranged for the ransom to be parachuted from a light aircraft on Tuesday. His mother was taken to a spot in the desert where she was picked up, driven to the nearest police station and escorted to Adado where a small private plane was waiting.


It’s now clear that kidnapping Western hostages is a lucrative source of income for Somali pirates. Governments won’t pay ransoms for private citizens but families will and their treachery in this instance, and many others, has paid off very well. Anyone thinking about taking a Safari holiday in Africa any time soon, might like to think again.

Taser attack kills Brazilian student

A 21 year old student from Brazil is dead and his wealthy, powerful family back home want to know why. So far, all we know is that police were called after the student, Roberto Laudisio allegedly caused a disturbance at a convenience store early on Sunday morning. Police said he matched the description of a man who stole a packet of biscuits.


From the grainy cctv footage released so far, we don’t see a man aggressively confronting police, we see a man running, pursued by several police. At least three officers fired their tasers at the unarmed student and he was also capsicum sprayed. He stopped breathing soon after and could not be revived.


Police suggested he could have had a pre-existing health condition that was aggravated by taser jolts or capsicum spray but his uncle Joao Eduardo Laudisio, who helped raise Roberto after his parents died of cancer, said he was perfectly healthy because he had him medically checked out before he left for Australia. He also said he had no reason to steal anything because he had money “for everything he wants.”



Roberto came to Sydney to learn English and experience our way of life and his friends back home intend to protest outside the Australian consulate in Sao Paulo and dump biscuits at the consulate gates.


It’s been confirmed that the family is “extremely wealthy and well connected” and will not let the matter rest. Roberto was living with his sister who lives in Sydney, Ana Luisa Laudisio and works for an international financial and legal consultancy firm DC Strategy. She is married to an Australian who holds a prominent position in the banking industry.


The family released a statement yesterday: "We are still coming to terms with the sudden and unexpected loss of our beloved Roberto following his tragic death on Sunday morning . . . He was a young man who was much loved by family and his many friends, both in Australia and Brazil, and had a promising future ahead of him. We will all miss him immensely."



A police officer’s job seems to get more dangerous with every passing year. They are shot, punched, kicked, stabbed, spat at, sworn at and treated with contempt and need all the help they can get. But this is not the first time that tasers have had dire consequences for alleged offenders. And this case is not going away until police reveal what really happened.

Kate following in Diana's footsteps

The Duchess of Cambridge looked calm and confident as she gave her first public speech today. When she arrived at The Treehouse children’s hospice in Suffolk, you couldn’t help thinking of Diana, the way she charmed everyone around her.


As usual, the fashion freaks were more concerned with what Kate was wearing than what she was saying. They wanted the world to know that the dress she wore was bought - not from an exclusive French fashion house - but from a High Street chain four years ago and that her mother Carole borrowed it to wear to Ascot.





The Duchess is Royal Patron of the charity which provides care and support for children and youth with life-threatening conditions either in their own home, in the community or at one of their hospices. Her first official speech, which she wrote herself, was faultless.





Prince William's grandmother must be very pleased - this girl is an absolute gem.

Hillsong Church and Clover Moore

Sydney Mayor Clover Moore lost her bid to stop the Hillsong Mega Church from developing a warehouse in the inner city. The building in Alexandria’s industrial area will be redeveloped to hold more than 1000 Pentecostal Christians at a cost of $1 million. Ms Moore put up several objections which were overruled by the Land and Environment Court on Friday.





The council told the court "The proposed development will have a negative impact on the viability and operations of adjoining industry by way of the traffic and parking associated with the proposed development.” But council had to agree that the site was in a "relatively isolated location" and there had been a "lack of any substantive objection from residential properties". Parking was also cited as an objection which was also overruled.





Hillsong Church is unlike other traditional churches, there could be up to six services per day, hundreds of people and amplified rock music. But being in the middle of an industrial estate, it won’t matter, it’s too far away to have a detrimental affect on anyone. Hillsong will open seven days a week, some days until 10.30pm, and hold services on weekends.


The Hillsong church continues to grow stronger every year.

My Kitchen Rules

Because MKR is one of Australia’s most popular television programs, audiences are naturally curious about the two co-hosts. Pete Evans certainly knows how to cook. His restaurants have won numerous awards, including the coveted Sydney Morning Herald Chefs Hat seven years in a row.


But what price fame? After a bitter argument with his brother and business partner Dave, he is no longer a “working partner” in the Sydney Hugos Group. The relationship between the brothers is so tense, they are no longer on speaking terms.




Evans gets very angry when his private life is in the spotlight, especially when it involves his children because he believes family is sacred. But that didn’t stop him walking away from his relationship with the mother of his two small daughters and partner of almost 11 years, Astrid Ellinger. "As he’s become more famous, it inevitably changes anyone," she said but refused to talk about the break-up.


He is now seeing Kiwi swimsuit model Nicky Watson. During a 2007 TV interview, she admitted she had attempted suicide, had three breast augmentations, used hard drugs, enjoyed threesomes and started watching pornography at an early age.






Co-host Manu Feildel's cooking credentials are equally as impressive but he's not overly concerned about all the attention to his private life. He's currently dating jewellery designer Clarissa Weerasena and has a young son from a previous relationship. He rejects the sex symbol tag. "I'm a normal guy who happens to be on TV. I'm not any different than many others, but just have a French accent. It depends on what you find sexy," he said.


Manu comes from a long line of good French cooks. His great grandfather was a pastry chef, his grandfather and father were both chefs and his mother is also a great cook. Although he spoke no English, he went to London and began work at The Café Royal before rising through the ranks at restaurants such as Les Associes, Café des Amis du Vin and Livebait. It was at Livebait he progressed from Chef de Partie to Sous-Chef and finally Head Chef, earning the seafood restaurant a nomination for best seafood restaurant in the UK in 1998.


He arrived in Melbourne in 1999 and now calls Australia home.

Bondi Rescue

Something isn’t quite right here - Bondi Rescue continues to rake in millions for everyone except the stars of the show. Lifeguards who appear in the hit series do so on a “gratis” basis.


It’s one of Channel 10’s most popular shows and it continues to make money for the channel and the people who make it - production company The Cordell Jigsaw Group. Bondi Rescue is now being shown in 13 countries and after seven seasons, a stack of awards and 58 episodes, the Waverley Council lifeguards are feeling a bit left out because their average annual salary remains at around $60,000.






But the show's executive producer Michael Cordell who lives in a $4.9 million mansion a few beaches away in Bronte, seems to be missing the point. He confirmed that his company did not pay the lifeguards an additional salary but said "It is a tricky issue and as a documentary filmmaker I can see why those issues would come up but, as a documentary series, it is crucial that the integrity of the show is retained," Mr Cordell said. "Paying the lifeguards to appear on the show would obviously compromise that."






Mr Cordell said his company bends over backwards to keep the lifeguards happy so what does he do exactly? He pays Waverley Council a “significant amount” for the right to film the series at the beach, the lifeguards receive a percentage of the merchandising profits and he pays for the Christmas party. He admitted that when divided up between 30 and 40 lifeguards, it was "not very much"





One lifeguard, who appears regularly on the show and didn’t want to be named, said "Obviously we are not in this industry for the money, we love what we do but after a while you start to think, hang on a minute, a few people are making a lot of money here and we're not seeing anything."

Camilla wears Diana's brooch

Princess Dianna’s memory still lingers on in Britain and when Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, wore Diana’s diamond brooch at Cheltenham Festival’s Ladies Day yesterday, the media pounced.


It was a gift from Charles and was previously worn by Diana as a necklace after she received it from the Queen Mother. She loved to wear it with a pair of diamond and emerald earrings given to her by Charles as a wedding gift.


The diamond brooch has a long history. It was originally given as a wedding gift to Princess Alexandra of Denmark when she married Bertie, Prince of Wales, later to become King Edward V11 in 1863. It bears the three-feathered insignia of the Prince of Wales inside a diamond-set circle, and features a cabouchon emerald pendant suspended from the bottom.


When Queen Alexandra died in 1925, the brooch was handed down to her daughter-in-law Queen Mary and then on to the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother gave it to Diana on her marriage to Prince Charles. All royal heirlooms are owned by the British monarch and after Diana’s tragic death, it was handed back to the Queen. Now Camilla has it.

May she wear it in good health.

Dalai Lama and Bob Carr

It looks like our new Foreign Minister, Bob Carr, is going to get on well with China. He says that the Dalai Lama is “cunning” and “mischievous” and doesn’t believe our Prime Minister, Julia Gillard should meet with him.


Mr Carr might well believe that Tibet truly belongs to China and has done since the Manchu Dynasty but we need to know why there is a steady stream of people setting themselves on fire in protest against Chinese rule.


When Kevin Rudd was Foreign Minister, he was brave enough to tell China’s young elite that there were human rights abuses happening in Tibet and some China watchers here said how dare he lecture the Chinese.






Australia is in a difficult position because China is our number one trading partner but that doesn’t mean we have to get into bed with them. Now he’s our Foreign Minister, if Mr Carr thinks we are going to blindly agree with everything he says, he’s got another think coming.


Mr Carr might believe that Tibet is none of our business but he doesn't speak for me.

Gina Rinehart's children

Three of Gina Rinehart’s four children have accused their mother of deliberately over-riding their grand-father’s wishes by changing the date of their inheritance. Before he died, Lang Hancock drew up a trust for his four grand-children and ordered it to be made available in September 2011, the day the youngest, Ginia, turned 25. But their mother changed the date to 2068 without their consent.


On 3rd September, Gina worte to her children pointing out that they would be bankrupted by a huge capital gains tax liability of up to $100 million each, and suggested they cede control of the fund to her. And that’s when the fight started. Furious, they not only want the release date changed back but insist that Rinehart be removed as head of the trust, alleging serious misconduct.


John Hancock, Bianca Rinehart and Hope Rinehart Welker began legal action in September and allege their mother threatened them with bankruptcy if they did not extend the date of her control over the trust. And it gets worse, there is a suggestion of blackmail when Bianca Rinehart announced that a chief financial officer of Hancock Prospecting told her that if she withdrew legal action, her mother would pay her a “quarterly distribution” and asked her to suggest an amount.

Gina and her father Lang Hancock

Rinehart’s youngest daughter Ginia is the only child to support her mother and described the case as "nothing but a destructive display of greed, jealousy and a selfish sense of entitlement on behalf of my siblings".


Mrs Rinehart wrote "Bankruptcy is not in the financial interests of the beneficiaries. It may however be reasonably arguable that personal development-wise, it would be in the best interests of the beneficiaries to force them to go to work and reconsider their holidaying lifestyles and attitudes.” She also thought her children to be "manifestly unsuitable" for the task of managing the fund, and suggested it would be in the "best interests of the beneficiaries to force them to go to work".


The allegations of fraud could have serious ramifications for Ms Rinehart who is a respected board member of many companies. But there’s another important reason for Ms Rinehart to remain in control, this particular trust – the Hope Margaret Trust - owns a 23.5 per cent stake of the Hancock Prospecting iron ore empire.


Hancock Prospecting is expected to shortly unveil a deal with the Federal Government which will allow them to import up to 1500 foreign workers for the Western Australian project, which is expected to start production at the end of 2014.

Muslim spinster crisis in UK

There was an article in the Sunday Times yesterday about professional Muslim women who were having trouble finding a suitable husband. The decline in available husbands has become such a problem, it is now referred to as the 'Muslim spinster crisis'.


According to the Islamic Sharia Council, some professional Muslim women were seriously considering becoming a second or third wife to an already married man. When given the choice of being a stay-at-home mum, minding the children and managing the home, they would much prefer to have a high profile job. And who could blame them? Taking more than one wife is illegal in the UK but men marry again in a nikah religious ceremony, allowing them to take up to four wives.


Mizan Raja, 35, who organises Muslim marriages around the world said “'The demand for these relationships is led by the women, not the men. In one generation women have become educated, entrepreneurial and professional. The Muslim community is struggling with this, how do you cope with women who wear trousers?” He said most Muslim men wanted a 'homemaker' and didn’t want the ‘headache’ of being in a relationship with a professional woman.


Some career-minded women were looking for a man already married who had another wife to do all the mundane household chores - they were not prepared to start cooking a family meal after a hard day at the office. One woman who spoke to the Sunday Times had an affair with a married man after divorcing her first husband. When he offered to leave his wife, she preferred to become his second wife because she did not want him under her feet all the time.


Muslim men are still bringing brides from the ‘old country’ to the UK every year and are therefore relatively happy as they continue living their old way of life. Not so for the modern miss who has left the old country and its ideas well behind her.


So is the Muslim spinster crisis for real? Definitely not says one woman. “I'm a professional Muslim woman and also a doctor, I don't believe in polygamy, I don't believe in living off the benefit system and there are plenty of people like me, I'm sick to death of the stereotype that people use to judge all British Muslims. My religion doesn't define me, my forefathers culture is no part of my life, I accept the British culture, don't hate 'white' people and don't know any British Muslim woman who has become anyone's second or third wife! It's high time we got to see that there's plenty of 'normal' Muslim Brits!”


And as every year passes, I hope this attitude will continue to prevail.

US Marine guilty of murder

Yesterday when Justice Derek Price sentenced Walter Marsh 51, to a life in prison without parole for murdering nurse Michelle Beets, there was jubilation in his courtroom - cheering and loud applause broke out and he had to call for order. He said "The manner in which he killed her was cruel, merciless and abhorrent, the last moments of her life must have been horrifying."


Marsh was a US citizen who wanted permanent residency in Australia and he once worked with Michelle Beets at Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital. He was a nursing manager in the emergency department and Ms Beets was his boss. Not only did Ms Beets not renew his contract, but she gave him bad employment references which enraged Marsh who decided on a plan of revenge.


He believed Ms Beets was responsible for him being unable to find another job and she was an obstacle to him receiving his 457 residency visa. He began stalking her, phoning her house several times a day to work out her routine and was waiting for her to come home from work on the verandah of her Chatswood home.


An American ex Marine, Marsh used a military technique to slit her throat and stabbed her several times. The court heard he practised his murder technique on his wife and brother-in-law and his wife Samantha testified to the court that her husband confessed to her on the night of the murder saying “I did it, it’s done, the bitch is gone.”




The jury of eight men and four women took three days to reach their guilty verdict. Justice Price said there were no mitigating circumstances that would convince him to give Marsh anything less than a life sentence. "He has neither expressed remorse nor shown contrition for the offence," he said.


Before he murdered Michelle Beets, there was a suggestion that Marsh intended to murder his ex wife Tammy who had remarried and lived in America but when he found out her new husband carried a firearm, he abandoned the plan. Justice Price determined before the trial began last September that the jury would not be told that Marsh had gone to the US several weeks before Ms Beets' murder to kill Tammy as a means of "alleviating a combination of problems", which included an unpaid child support debt of $50,000.


Marsh read throughout most of the one-hour sentencing in the Sydney Supreme Court and calmly accepted the news that there was no parole period and that he would die in prison. As he was led away to the prison truck that would take him to Goulburn’s Supermax prison, he grinned at the cameras.


No murder weapon has ever been found, and there was no DNA evidence linking Marsh to the crime.

Nicolas Sarkozy's Wife

French President, Nicolas Sarkozy is facing his first presidential election round in April and knows that his that popularity is waning. In an effort to grab back some votes, he has announced that he will halve the intake of migrants from 180,000 per year to 100,000. “We can no longer find them accommodation, a job, a school” he said.


And he went further – he wants to limit the amount of welfare benefits paid to immigrant workers so that only those who have lived in the country for 10 years and worked for at least five, are eligible. An editorial in a popular newspaper said the French had ‘solidly and profoundly fallen out of love with the outgoing President.” But some think his attack on immigration may have come too late to save him and his attractive wife could be to blame.


When he was elected in 2007, he decided to celebrate with his rich and powerful friends at an upmarket restaurant on the Champs Elysee and his wife told journalists “We are modest people.” The comment was quickly picked up by the media and she is being likened to the royal Marie Antoinette who once said, when referring to the peasants who were starving, “Let them eat cake.”


Miss Bruni’s comment is quite bizarre considering the Italian-born beauty is the only benefactor of a multi-million dollar fortune built up by her father. She was also a very successful supermodel during the 1990’s.


Ms Bruni’s ‘modest’ claim has enraged the French and their contempt is seen on social media sites with comments like ‘What planet do they live on?” and “The hour of democratic judgement is coming.”


So I guess we could be saying goodbye to Mr Sarkozy in 2012.

Britain to cut family benefits

British Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne are at odds about the child benefit. Osborne wants to cut it to households where the wage-earner brings in more than 42,745 pounds per year, saving treasury 2.4 billion pounds, but David Cameron is not so sure, he thinks it will punish the already cash-strapped middle-class and stay-at-home mothers.


The child benefit has come under scrutiny and it looks like the British would like to scrap it altogether. They now realize it was a bad idea because it rewards childbirth, no matter what the circumstances. If a young single teenager finds out she's pregnant, there isn't a problem, the state will take care of her.


Now that it's too late, they see the light - the state should only give an incentive in circumstances which are advantageous for society. While the benefit exists, Britain’s rate of fatherless children born to single mothers continues to rise and generations of British children are growing up without a father, which in turn has obvious consequences for the child which eventually impacts on society.


It was originally thought that the child benefit payment should be paid directly to the mother because there was a risk that the male would squander it on drink or gamble it away but the result has been an absolute disaster. Since it was introduced, there is no incentive for men to marry and experts are trying to think of ways by means of incentives, to bring men back into the family to try and heal Britain's broken society.


Lone parenthood is itself a major cause of child poverty and as well as needing sufficient food and shelter, children desperately need their fathers.

Mitt Romney - too rich to be President?

Mitt Romney is a very rich man, so rich, he can afford to spend $44.6 million of his personal fortune on his election campaign. So far, he and his backers have spent over $200 million and show no signs of slowing down, their campaign fund raising capability is obviously brilliant and leaves his competitors in the shade. He said "I won't apologize for being successful" and who would blame him?


Money talks and gets results and it’s getting good results for Mitt Romney. His good friends in Wall Street got around campaign laws by making huge donations years before he announced that he would run.


''When you look at his operation, you end up with two words: Romney Inc,'' said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, a non-profit, nonpartisan organization who work to eliminate the influence of big money. ''It's as if Mitt Romney is integrating his business experience in the investment banking world into the political world and creating multiple ways in which to advance his presidency.” He went on ''This is a highly sophisticated, far-reaching money operation designed to curry favour with politicians and local and state political organisations, and it's financed by donors who are bound to have great influence with Mitt Romney if he's elected president.''


Mitt Romney makes around $20 million a year and only pays about 15 per cent tax and is part of the one per cent who live on a different planet to the rest of us. And he really hasn’t a clue - when asked about the $370,000 he received in speaker fees, he said it was “not very much.”


Although his tax returns are legally correct and true, they show that he recently closed a Swiss bank account and holds investments in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda, like so many other wealthy people trying to dodge the tax man. He will argue that he created more than 100,000 jobs and it’s probably true but there’s an underlying cynicism that suggests all those jobs were merely the means of a plan to make a few insiders fabulously rich.


The former Mormon missionary’s tax returns show most of his $US21.7 million income last year came from his investments. He also gave nearly $US3 million to charitable causes and the Mormon Church which helped reduce his effective tax rate to about 14 per cent.


Americans used to believe in the theory that anyone could become President of the United States. I wonder if they still do.

Bob Carr, new Foreign Minister

Bob Carr, former NSW Premier and soon to become Foreign Minister, is taking a big cut in salary in accepting his "dream job". Mr Carr, who will fill the vacancy left by Mark Arbib in the Senate, will earn considerably less as Foreign Minister when compared to his employment in the private sector and entitlements earned by previous state Premiers. As ex Premier, he receives entitlements for travel, a car and driver, a city office and staff and telephone costs which amounted to around $460,000 a year. After he is appointed to the Senate this week, Mr Carr will no longer be eligible and has employed a QC to go through his affairs and relinquish anything he’s not entitled to.


Bob Carr might be Labor man but he has lots of Liberal friends, including broadcaster Alan Jones. As a guest on his show this morning, they were chatting away like old mates, and the mutual respect was obvious. Liberal Premier Barry O'Farrell paid tribute to Carr's appointment on Twitter saying "No-one can deny his depth of knowledge of the portfolio." During his 10 years as premier, net debt was reduced from 7.4 per cent of gross state product to zero. He also counts Henry Kissinger as one of his best friends.


At his shock appearance at the press conference with Julia Gillard on Friday, regarding his age, he likened himself to the late US senator Robert Byrd who died in office at age 92. But recently he made a very inappropriate comment about the Dalai Lama in his blog which has since been removed. He said he was a "cunning monk rather than a holy man.”


So it seems this civil-war buff and voracious bookworm has kudos in spades. We just have to wait and see how good he really is.

Mark Arbib Resigns

In 2003 Eric Roozendaal and Mark Arbib bought some real estate at Maroubra – two beachside apartments in the same block. Mr Arbib’s unit was purchased by his wife, Kelli Field who is currently an associate director at Macquarie Bank and used to be policy adviser to Eddie Obeid and Michael Costa’s chief of staff. Mr Roozendaal’s unit was bought by a family company.


The Arbib family sold the apartment in 2007 for $960,000 and bought a $1.625 million house in South Coogee and have lodged plans for a $1.15 million renovation. Because the property is registered in his wife’s name, Mr Arbib is not required to disclose it in his pecuniary interest declaration. Of the 20 townhouses built by developers Brian and Garry Boyd, the purchase price of only two apartments in the block was not disclosed to the Land Titles Department, they were Mr Arbib's and Mr Roozendaal's.






Then there were the bizarre revelations contained in secret embassy cables released by WikiLeaks in 2010 that Senator Arbib was spying on the Labor Party and relating that information back to the USA with requests that his identity as a “protected” source be guarded. He was apparently highly regarded by the Americans and is a strong supporter of the Australian/American alliance and our commitment to Iraq and Afghanistan. So did Mark Arbib sacrifice himself for the good of the party – did he resign to remove the bad small hovering over the so-called faceless men in the back room who were responsible for the assassination of Kevin Rudd?


"There aren't any bombshells,'' he said last week. ''No one has threatened me, no one has cajoled me, no one knew I was going to resign until I went to the PM.'' He went on "You won't see me on ABC 24, or Sky TV. I won't be writing any books.” Although Bob and Helena Carr are family friends, he had no prior knowledge to his appointment as Foreign Minister. ''I wasn't involved in any of the discussions but if I had known he was interested in going into the Senate, I would have stepped aside for him.''


He added "It takes the faceless men out of the equation, she (Julia Gillard) deserves clean air, I've been at the forefront of so many deals and it takes away some of the enmity" and then "I've got the stigma, I've been the person who made the hard calls and now I'm making the hard call about myself. But I'm paying the price on my own terms and I'm picking my own time. The golden rule of politics is to decide your own fate."

UK Welfare Reform Bill

Iain Duncan Smith


It's been a long time coming but after a stormy passage through the House of Lords, the welfare reform bill cleared its final hurdle last night. The bill puts a cap on how much a family can claim every year – 26,000 pounds – and brings in new plans to reduce a number of long-term benefits. PM David Cameron said "Today marks an historic step in the biggest welfare revolution in over 60 years".


Generations of people in the UK have lived on benefits as an acceptable alternative to work. David Cameron praised Iain Duncan Smith, Pensions Secretary, who resisted bitter opposition from charities and pressure groups to water down the legislation. The situation was way out of control and some people on benefits were earning more than the average family in work. The PM said “We want money to go to people who need it, not subsidising the consequences of our broken society.”



John Packer

There has now been an amendment to the Bill, mainly brought about by Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, John Packer and four other Bishops, who vehemently insisted that child benefits be exempt from the cap.

The Bishops' intervention has raised the question of whether Anglican Bishops should still have a statutory right to seats in the Upper Chamber when less than 2 per cent of the population attend Anglican church on Sunday. There are 26 of its clergy in the Upper House of Parliament.

Lord Nelson's HMS Victory

The battle of Trafalgar was fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish navies. Admiral Lord Nelson, aboard HMS Victory, took twenty-seven British ships into battle against thirty three French and Spanish ships. The enemy lost twenty-two vessels and the British didn’t lose any.




But the beautiful ship is in trouble, its rigging and timber need replacing and it will cost a fortune. The Ministry of Defence plan to donate the 247-year-old warship to charity because they can’t afford a sixteen million pound repair bill and on top of that, another two million pounds a year to maintain. The 104-gun ship has been kept at Portsmouth Dockyard, Hampshire and there is a rumour that it could be hired out for private functions and parties.




A Royal Navy source said "It is an outrage and this should not happen, if Lord Nelson knew what his prized ship was being turned into, he would turn in his grave." But former First Sea Lord, Lord West, said: "It is inevitable she will be used for corporate events - and if we have to go this route to prevent her turning into a wreck, so be it."





The British Ministry of Defence is keen to reduce a thirty eight billion pound defence deficit and furious commanders are having to axe troops, fleets of warships, aircraft carriers, planes and armoured vehicles to fill a forty two billion pound black hole in the Defence budget.





But I don't think Lord Nelson would be too upset, it's well known that he was a bit of a party animal himself.