Uber to be legalized in Canberra

Taxi driver protest in Perth 

Uber and other ride-sharing services will be legal in Canberra from 30 October after reforms to ACT legislation.  Changes will also reduce costs for the existing taxi industry to ensure they remain competitive. Understandably, tempers are frayed as future sources of income are under threat.

Suspected Uber car in Madrid

A new booking service will replace Canberra's traditional taxi network and will cover services like Aerial, Uber and GoCatch. The new legislation will allow hire car drivers to carry passengers through services such as Uber if their vehicles meet certain conditions.

Uber drivers will be unable to collect passengers at traditional taxi ranks or stop in taxi, bus or loading zones and drivers must meet certain conditions and submit to drug and alcohol tests.

In Canberra, a government-issued leased taxi licence plate that currently costs $20,000 a year will drop to $10,000 on 30 October and then halved again the next year to $5,000.  Hire car drivers who currently pay $4,600 a year, will pay just $100 a year.

But things are different in Sydney and I feel a bit sorry for owner-drivers who have mortgaged their home to buy a taxi licence plate. Despite the perception that ownership of licences is dominated by a few powerful groups, figures show that the majority of plates are owned by private people who own just one.

Last year the cost of a Sydney taxi licence dropped to its lowest level in six years -  $375,000 - but in 2011, it reached a high of $425,000

In 2014, a hire car driver made a "citizens arrest" of a UberX driver outside the Sydney Casino. The man told him he was breaking the law and called police.  Within minutes, Glen O'Sullivan, operations manager of Uber Sydney, arrived to offer assistance to the driver and the next day he was back on the job.

"I got sick and tired of going to interviews" the driver said. "Everybody said I'm over 50, unemployable, I was joking around with the kids about how dad was unemployable, and then I saw an ad on Facebook."

You might expect Uber to be unhappy about this latest development, but they're not.  Australia's General Manager said "We've been calling for over a year now for regulations to be put in place...we expect to be regulated and we want to see regulations, insurance etc" he said.

"We've been bringing examples of that from other parts of the world but unfortunately Australia has been pretty slow with it, but Canberra has set the tone we hope spreads across Australia."

"The emphasis is making sure the drivers have appropriate background tests done, the vehicles are inspected and there's insurance in place" he said.

So it looks like the ACT government is prepared to take on the problem that other states have been avoiding for years.  Well done Canberra.

Abortion now available by phone

Australian women can now terminate their pregnancy by phone.  The Tabbot Foundation makes an assessment over the phone and if approved, the company sends out the drug mifepristone, as well as painkillers and anti-nausea pills to their door for the cost of $250.

From the Tabbot Foundation website.

The Tabbot Foundation has been established to provide an Australia-wide telephone consultation home medical termination of pregnancy service. Abortion has been revolutionised by the use of new medications which have been available throughout the world for more than a decade but have been restricted for use in Australia until more recently. In July 2013, after years of banning this drug’s importation into Australia by previous governments, Tanya Plibersek, as Minister of Health, approved the listing of the abortion drug mifepristone on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Plibersek described the provision of the medicine as "a good thing in the situation where women are faced with one of the most difficult decisions that they will ever make.” Mifepristone has been safely used by millions of women in more than 50 countries who have had access to it for several years. It is a safer, less invasive procedure than the alternatives not just because it can be performed much earlier than surgical abortions, but because it can be done safely in the privacy of a woman’s home without surgical intervention.The expansion of access to medical terminations by tele-medicine is particularly important to women living in rural and regional Australia. These women have to travel long distances or indeed travel interstate to undergo surgery or not had the option of surgery at all.Home-based medical abortion is intended to simplify the medical abortion regimen without compromising safety. Home-based medical abortion improves the acceptability of medical abortion by allowing for greater privacy than in-clinic abortion and giving women greater control over the timing of the abortion. In reports from France, Sweden, Tunisia and the United States, the majority of women opted for home-based medical abortion when offered the choice. Self-administration of the drugs is already common in France and the United States.

After placing the call, the patient is referred to an ultrasound and pathology test, and then consults with doctors (and a psychologist in NSW) over the phone. 

Her progress is monitored by a 24 hour on-call doctor with continued check-ups and a final blood test takes place to confirm the abortion after ten days.

This service will not only help women in rural areas, but those who feel intimidated going to an abortion clinic.  Although abortion medicine has been available for some time, it was found that some GPs are reluctant to prescribe it.  And now they won't have to.

When ice addicts come to ER

It took some time for doctors and nurses in hospital emergency rooms to get the help they needed to subdue ice-addicted patients experiencing a psychotic episode. 

New guidelines have been drawn up on what staff should do if a patient refuses to swallow sedatives - they now have permission to give them an injection.

Horror stories have emerged about what is going on in ER.  One young woman chewed off her toes, a man chopped his finger off and refused to let staff re-attach it, and a man ran on the spot beside his bed for 24 hours until he finally collapsed.

Paramedics across the country have described the super-human strength ice-affected patients seem to have.  "The patient was a female of very slight build, probably around 40 to 50 kilos" veteran medic Scott Stanton said.  "It took three of us to restrain her, with the assistance of police, before we could give her an injection to try and sedate her."

Senior police believe the ice epidemic is responsible for the shocking increase of violence against women and children and are naming ice as "the drug of mass destruction." 

Ice was used by almost half of a sample of  2,310 prisoners interviewed in 2014 and in the latest survey, detainees said they had no problem getting the drug, there were plenty of dealers, quality was high and very affordable.

HOW ICE DESTROYS THE BRAIN 

·         Ice is a stimulant, a methamphetamine that speeds up the messages between the brain and the body.

·         It usually looks like small chunky clear crystals, hence the name ice. It can also come as white or brownish powder.

·         It is usually smoked or injected, with effects felt in seconds. The effects are slower when swallowed or snorted and can last about 6 hours.

·         Ice causes dopamine levels in the brain to shoot from 100 to around 1,250 units, about 12 times as much of a release of dopamine as you get from food and sex

·         When the drug wears off, users experience a debilitating depression and urge to get more of the drug.

·         Persistent use can change brain chemistry, destroying the brain's pleasure centers

·         Long term use can cause severe impairment in memory, judgment and motor coordination

·         Changes in brain chemistry can lead to violent behaviour, anxiety and wakefulness

·         it also causes psychotic behaviour, such as paranoia, hallucinations and delusions. Many users report feeling insects crawling beneath their skin.

Aaron Gray and Dylan Walker's close call

Dylan Walker (left) Aaron Gray (second from right) and Jake O'Sullivan (right)

South Sydney Rabbitohs players Dylan Walker and Aaron Gray were moved out of intensive care yesterday as they continue to improve.

It was just as well Jake O'Sullivan stayed over at his friends' house on Monday night.  He woke in the early hours of Tuesday morning to the sound of Aaron Gray struggling to breathe.  O'Sullivan stuck his fingers down Grays throat thinking he was choking and when he noticed that Dylan Walker was also in serious trouble, he made a frantic call to 000.

Aaron Gray

Up to eight paramedics worked furiously to save Gray and Walker who had overdosed on painkillers for post-surgery injuries.  They were rushed to St Vincent's hospital and placed into an induced coma.

The drugs were legitimately prescribed, not by a football club doctor, but by surgeons who performed their operations.

Rugby League legend Mark Geyer described how easy it is to get hooked on pain medication and when you don't need it anymore, you can't stop.

While playing with a Perth club in the mid 1990s, he had several knee operations in one year and after every surgery, he was prescribed Panadeine Forte - the strongest painkiller available at the time.

After a while his doctor told him he had to stop, he didn't need them anymore, but by then it was too late.

Mark Geyer

"It's kind of like having 12 schooners of beer but you cut straight to the chase but if you have 4 Panadeine Forte, in half an hour, you're basically there."

"....when the doctor told me I couldn't have them anymore, I went to the chemist and asked for the strongest over-the-counter painkiller they could give me without a prescription and they said it was Mersyndol. So I would buy two boxes which lasted me for two days, I'd have a box a day and eat them like Tic Tacs."

"After three or four months, my wife said 'Bud, what's wrong with you, you sit on the couch all day' and I said 'I'm having these'.  She said 'why do you want painkillers?'  But I was addicted to the feeling."

But Aaron Gray and Dylan Walker took an overdose of powerful painkillers that are available today - Oxycodone - a whole different ball game, compared to Panadeine Forte.

They call it Hillbilly Heaven because the effects are similar to morphine.

Oxycodone is prescribed by doctors to manage acute, chronic and cancer-related pain.

"It's no longer a question of whether it's a problem, it's well entrenched now, we know people are dying from this" said Dr Matthew Frei, clinical director of Melbourne's Eastern Health.

"Our horse has well and truly bolted."

Actor Heath Ledger died from an overdose of prescription drugs in 2008. His father Kim Ledger gave a speech recently about the deadly addiction that killed his son.

Australia has become a country of sports champions....and drug takers. We now take more recreational drugs than any other country in the world and nobody has a clue what to do about it.

Jesinta Campbell's love for Buddy Franklin

Jesinta Campbell and Buddy Franklin are an unlikely couple.  He has a 'bad boy' image and she is the wholesome former Miss Universe Australia.

After splitting with his girlfriend of four years, Buddy met and fell for Jesinta hard.  He was living in Melbourne and playing for the Hawthorn Hawks and Jesinta was based in Sydney so he negotiated a $10 million, 9 year deal with the Sydney Swans and the couple settled in Bondi.

In 2014 he played in the AFL Grand Final in his debut season against his old team Hawthorn Hawks, but lost.

Now we learn that Buddy has checked himself into a five week, doctor supervised program at a private hospital near Wollongong which specialises in mental health, alcohol withdrawal and addiction recovery.

But Jesinta isn't worried.  She said last night "look what my fiance is going through at the moment... he's going to be a better partner for me for being vulnerable and standing up and saying that he's struggling with something...he's going to be a better father to our children."

But an anonymous insider said "He sees this as his last chance, Buddy has always partied hard and it's no secret he loves a drink but those benders have always caused concern and on more than one occasion, started infidelity rumours.  It was just a matter of time before they caught up with him, and something had to change."

Earlier this year Jesinta copped a backlash on morning television for supporting Indonesia's decision to execute by firing squad two of the Bali 9 drug smugglers.  Yet she intends to marry into a culture where drugs and alcohol are a part of everyday life.

I hope this delightful girl with untapped potential doesn't make the mistake of believing she has the power to change the man she loves. It doesn't work that way, and it never will.

Harold Henthorn found guilty

Harold Henthorn 59 has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his second wife Toni Henthorn 50, a wealthy ophthalmologist in her family's thriving business.  They have a daughter, now nine.

The jury was convinced that Henthorn took his wife to a remote area where help would be a long time coming, and pushed her off a cliff. She had no idea that her husband had arranged to receive 4.5 million dollars in the event of her death.

Henthorn told police he wanted to take his wife on a hike to celebrate their anniversary and they had wandered off the trail.  She stopped to take a photo and fell face-first over the edge.

Prosecutors had no trouble proving it was well planned.  After nine visits to the area, he finally picked the perfect place and marked it with an 'X'.  There would be no witnesses and no chance of help arriving quickly.

The victim's brother Dr Barry Bertolet told the court that on the day Toni died and over the next few days, his brother-in-law told him three different stories.

He said she was walking behind him on the trail and when he went back looking for her, she disappeared over the edge.

The second story was that they were walking together when she slipped and fell off the cliff and the third version was that he was distracted by a text message from their daughter, and when he looked up, she was gone.

First wife Sandra Lyn

Prosecutors claimed he also killed his first wife Sandra Lyn Henthorn. Her autopsy report shows they were fixing a flat tyre by the side of the road and she was looking for a lug nut underneath their Jeep Cherokee when the jack gave way and fell on top of her. She died of her injuries.

A paramedic who responded to the 1995 accident testified that Henthorn didn't seem upset by his wife's death and a shoe print found on the vehicle suggested it might have been pushed.  But when the case was closed and deemed an accident, Henthorn received $500,000 from her life insurance policy.

However, Douglas County investigators have now re-opened the 20 year old case.

Toni Henthorn's wedding ring was a crucial piece of evidence. After the fall, the diamond valued at $30,000 went missing from the ring. Investigators scoured the area but there was no sign of it. But 8 months later, it suddenly reappeared, sitting on top of the dirt, exactly where she had landed.

Prosecutors said that after Henthorn took the diamond, he realized his mistake and took it back.

Toni Henthorn almost died in another accident in 2011 when a 20 ft beam fell on her while the couple were working on their mountain cabin.  It hit her in the head and fractured her vertebra but she survived.

Almost a year later, she had no idea that she wouldn't be coming home from the romantic anniversary adventure her husband had planned for her, hiking in the beautiful Rocky Mountains National Park.

Adam Goodes bows out

Former AFL footballer and commentator Tim Watson said fans would boo Adam Goodes at the Grand Final on Saturday, 3rd October, if he joined the lap of honour for retiring players.  So to save himself more embarrassment, Goods said he won't be there or have anything to do with Grand Final celebrations.

Some would argue that Australian footy fans have always booed players to show their displeasure, no matter who they are, and others are convinced that Goodes is being picked on because he's Aboriginal.

Radio commentator Alan Jones weighed in.  "You know, the man is always a victim, then he became Australian of the Year and tells us we're all racists - every time he speaks, Australia is a racist nation."

Shane Warne had his say.  "This whole Adam Goodes drama is ridiculous, the public can boo or chant whoever's name they want, it's nothing to do with racism" he wrote.  "If the public don't like a sportsman because of the way they play the game, they boo, if they like them, they cheer, nothing to do with racism."

Most of the bad feeling goes back to January 2014 and the night Goodes stopped the game when a 13 year old girl in the crowd called him an ape.  He heard it loud and clear and wasn't going to let it go, he pointed her out to security who led her away to the sound of boos from the crowd.

Last Thursday night AFL Footy Show host Sam Newman accused Goodes of going into hiding.  "He's not as important as he thinks he is .... if you are going to provoke people, that is by the gesture of spear throwing at the crowd, you better not be surprised when you get what you wish for and that's a reaction" he said.

"Unfortunately you are not well enough equipped to deal with the fracas and the saga you have caused, you're just not capable of dealing with it, hence the fact that you've gone into hiding, you're not playing anymore."

Goodes made his debut with the Swans in 1999 and was named Australian of the Year in 2014 for his activism against racism.  

He has said he will not attend any AFL events surrounding the Grand Final including the traditional lap at the MCG that all retiring players take part in before the Premiership match.

Rather than suffer the humiliation of being booed once again, this brilliant athlete is staying away.

There must be a lesson here somewhere, but I'm not sure what it is.

Headless chicken lives for 18 months

On 10 September 1945, Lloyd Olsen and his wife Clara were killing chickens on their farm in Colorado.  Lloyd would kill the birds and Clara would clean them up ready for sale.

But on this particular day, one bird out of the 40 or 50 chickens they killed that day, refused to lay down and die.  Instead, it continued to run around without its head.

They put it in a box on the porch and went to bed and when they awoke in the morning they couldn't believe that it was still alive.

Lloyd put the rooster they named Mike in the back of his horse-drawn wagon and went into town. When he told the locals he had a headless chicken in his wagon, Mike became an instant celebrity.

They fed him with liquid food and water which was dropped directly into his oesophagus with an eye dropper, and cleared mucus from his throat with a syringe.

Lloyd and Clara were now celebrities and set off on a tour of the US. But disaster struck in Phoenix, Arizona when Mike passed away.  

The couple woke in their motel room to the sound of Mike choking. When they looked for the syringe, they realized they had left it at the side show and before they could find an alternative, Mike suffocated.

Mike died in the spring of 1947 after surviving without a head for 18 months.

Peta Credlin - Cruella de Vil

Peta Credlin

In September 2013, Peta Credlin, a lawyer, with years of experience in the Howard government, made the transition as Chief of Staff to the new incoming Prime Minister, Tony Abbott.

Her role as PM's confidant, chief strategist, and gatekeeper earned her a lot of bad feeling, especially from Liberal MPs.  They complained bitterly about being denied access to the PM because Ms Credlin and her husband Brian Loughnane, Liberal Party Federal Director, wouldn't allow it.  Only a chosen few were given permission and one Liberal Senator said even the government's pollster couldn't get to see him.

Peta Credin and husband Brian Loughnane Liberal Party Federal Director

"The problem is there is a funnel into the PMs office, not a sieve. The funnel is Peta Credlin and no ideas get to Abbott unless they are through Credlin" one MP said.


Soon after the disastrous decision was made to give Prince Philip a knighthood on Australia Day, Rupert Murdoch rang him.  He told him he had to make a "cruel choice" to sack Peta Credlin and if he refused, she should do her "patriotic duty" and resign.  Tony Abbott responded that it had nothing to do with his Chief of Staff, it was entirely his own idea, and carried on regardless.

She even managed to insult the PM's wife Margie. When Mr Abbott asked an advisor to help his wife with some speech notes, Credin was furious and told him he worked for the Prime Minister, not his spouse.

Credlin's nickname is Cruella de Vil - a pun on the words cruel and devil.  The character was made famous in the Disney movie 101 Dalmations.  Cruella kidnaps Dalmation puppies for the purpose of turning their skins into a soft fur coat.

Cruella de Vil

But Tony Abbott stayed loyal until the end.  After his assassination, he thanked his staff.  "Especially my Chief of Staff who has been unfairly maligned by people who should've known better" he said.

Incoming Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's deputy Julie Bishop has not had a close relationship with Ms Credlin for months so it was unlikely she would plead for her to remain.  Mr Turnbull has already stated that he will not have her in his office.  

Senator Arthur Sinodinos, Chief of Staff to PM John Howard and now Malcolm Turnbull backer, said the role of the PMs office is not to be a gatekeeper and cut people off, but to "be a facilitator of contact so the PM knows and has early warning of whether there are concerns."   


Tony Abbott has to take responsibility for giving Credlin unconditional power that upset his own colleagues and refused to rein her in when complaints were made.

Postpartum Blues

3 days after childbirth

Danielle Haines of Phoenix, Arizona posted a picture that's worth a thousand words.

"My nipples were cracked and bleeding, my milk was almost in, my baby was getting hungry and I hadn't slept since I went into labour" she said.

Not only has she helped mothers everywhere who have already been to this dark place and emerged unscathed, but also new mothers who are about to go through the physical trauma of childbirth.

Malcolm Turnbull and the Nationals

Nationals Leader, Warren Truss

Knifing a Liberal Prime Minister in the back for no apparent reason was something nobody expected would ever happen.  

Tony Abbott was the man who took the LNP to government after the disastrous years of Labor and he did what he said he would do - he stopped the boats, tightened our borders, introduced tough new terrorism laws and got rid of the carbon tax.

But it wasn't enough and MalcolmTurnbull, the man many believe belongs in the Labor Party because of his leftist views, got what he always believed was his destiny - to become Prime Minister of Australia. 

Tony Abbott - out

It was a foregone conclusion that the Nationals would never agree to work with Malcolm Turnbull as leader, but the new PM has proved them wrong by making their loyalty worthwhile.

Although Nationals leader Warren Truss wasn't happy with the change of leader, he was determined to draw up an agreement between the two Coalition parties so that "in the future, it couldn't be misinterpreted."

And it seems to have worked out very nicely, in fact Malcolm didn't say 'no' to any of their demands and the people in the bush should be feeling pretty happy right now.

Macolm Turnbull - in

"If they want us to support them, then regional Australia has to have its fair share of the cake too" Mr Truss said.

Mr Turnbull would dearly love to make same-sex marriage legal and change the climate policy tomorrow but Mr Truss made him promise that he will leave both existing policies alone. So when he stands up in Parliament and defends their worth, he's lying through his teeth.

Many other agreements were made but the big win for the Nationals is the shift of the $2.5 billion dollar water portfolio from the Liberals to the Nationals.

Tim Fisher

Yesterday former Nationals Leader Tim Fisher expressed his belief that the new PM would deliver for regional Australia. "Don't underestimate the broadness of his vision and his capabilities" he said. 

Jacqui Lambie's son feels betrayed

Dylan Milverton

Lacqui Lambie's son Dylan Milverton feels betrayed by his mother for outing him as an ice addict without talking to him first.

He was shocked when his mother made a speech in the Senate about his ice addiction and accused her of using him "for her own political pull."

"I didn't warn anyone I would do this" Senator Lambie said.  "I wasn't sure I would have the courage to stand up in the Senate to talk about this, I'm running out of options for my son."

Senator Lambie

But Dylan has another point of view.

"It's never been about me at the end of the day" he said.  "Growing up, my brother was the footy star and it was always about him. Everyone knew me as his little brother and then my mum became a Senator..... and now I'm known as a ****ing meth head."

He said he had an unhappy childhood and grew up around alcohol abuse.  Money was tight and the family shopped at St Vinnies.

In a confronting episode of Australian Story last year, Jacqui admitted she was an alcoholic and once attempted suicide. 

"I looked after my mum when she was sick" Dylan said.  "When I ran away from home when I was 15, the next day she walked in front of a car.  I got a phone call from my uncle basically saying my mum's in hospital and it's your fault - but my mum wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for me, I stood by her."

"She checked herself out of hospital after a couple of days and then I went back and looked after her."

His first experience with rehab was when he was 15 years old and although he's prepared to go back, he's convinced it won't work.  "I don't have goals, I have had everything taken from me, if I get $1000, I'd rather give it to somebody else and watch them smile about it."

"I just want to be left alone, I don't need help, I'm just happy doing what I'm doing.  She's got no control over what I do with my life, and even though I'm voluntarily going back into rehab, it doesn't mean I won't get out in 12 months time and get straight back onto it."

The first time Dylan visited Parliament House was during an excursion from his rehab clinic and he went back when his mother made her maiden speech.

Last year he was off the drugs for six months when he "hit the gym" to bulk up.

President of the Drug Law Foundation Dr Alex Wodak warned that going public with a drug addiction wasn't the best way to handle the situation.

"I'm very sympathetic with her plight, but I don't think it's a great idea at all to reveal somebody else's health problem to a nation. Everyone's got a right to privacy, including her son" he said.

Karina Lock murdered by ex

Stephen Lock had no intention of letting his ex wife start a new life without him.  He asked her to meet him at a McDonalds on the Gold Coast to discuss their divorce.  She agreed to meet him but didn't know he wasn't there to talk.

Stephen Lock

They met in the carpark and witnesses heard the woman screaming. "He's crazy, he's going to kill me" and she ran inside the restaurant. But he followed her in, put his arm around her, pressed a gun to her chest and fired.  He then shot himself in the head and collapsed on top of her.

Lock is fighting for life in hospital but his 49 year old ex-wife died at the scene.

Tara Brown murdered by ex-partner

Tara Brown went to police for help just days before she was murdered but it wasn't forthcoming.  Her ex ran her off the road and beat her with a metal plate while she lay injured in her upturned car.  

Tara had been on life support after the attack on Tuesday but died at 9pm on Wednesday night at the Gold Coast University Hospital. 

Lionet Patea 24, the father of her child, is in hospital recovering from self-inflicted stab wounds to his neck and chest.

Lionel Patea

CCTV footage shows Ms Brown being chased in her car and rammed off the road by a man driving a black four wheel drive.

This young woman went to police for help to leave her former partner Lionel Patea, an alleged sergeant-at-arms with the Bandidos bikie gang.

Queensland Police Commissioner Jo-Ann Miller said the matter was being investigated. "A senior officer will be investigating the appropriateness of the response to Ms Brown seeking assistance" she said.  

But do we really expect a truthful outcome when police are tasked with investigating police?  I doubt it.

Autistic boy put in classroom cage

As more Autistic children start school in main-steam Government schools, there is a desperate need for teachers to know how to handle a child who is having a meltdown.

When the principal of a Canberra primary school took it upon herself, without consultation with the Education Department, to build a 'time-out' cage for a 10 year old Autistic boy, she was sacked and told she would never work in a Government school again.

Two teachers with expertise in disability education have been assigned to the school.

Yes, the cage was a terrible idea, but we haven't heard the other side of the story.  Every child with Autism is unique and their behaviour is sometimes unpredictable but if a child starts to scream and throw things around, what is the teacher supposed to do?

I see two glaring problems here.

For the parents of Autistic children -  are they really getting he help the Department says they are, or are they being forgotten and ignored in class;  and

For the parents of children without a disability, are they being compromised by unruly Autistic children shutting down the class?

This problem isn't going away.

Ice addict kills mother and nephew

Last night, just before 11pm, a neighbour in the Sydney suburb of Lalor Park called 000 to report that there was a crazy man chasing a woman around the front yard with a knife.

When police arrived, they found the body of a woman in her 60's and the body of her 8 year old grandson nearby.  The boy's sister who is unharmed, witnessed the horrific event.

The dead woman's 35 year old son was taken into custody.  He is an ice addict who recently spent time in rehab and the dead boy is his nephew.

Neighbours said ice is well established in the area.  "Every night, everywhere you go .... there's ice everywhere."

Senator Jacqui Lambie says 'I've lost my son'

Senator Jacqui Lambie applied to register a political party called the Jacqui Lambie Network to give "ordinary Australians" a chance to enter politics.

Her party would oppose Sharia Law, advocate for clear labelling of Halal products and halve the foreign budget.  It would support seats in Parliament for Indigenous Australians, and have a "special interest" in Defence families.

Some people think she has delusions of grandeur and got to Canberra under false pretences.  She's nothing but an uneducated bogan and doesn't belong there.

She was elected Senator for Tasmania, not because of her own efforts, but because she was a member of the Palmer United Party. And it didn't take her long to figure out that she could dump Clive Palmer, become an independent, and run her own show.

But like her or loathe her, Jacque Lambie is currently going through every parent's nightmare - she has lost a child to that life-destroying drug called ice.

She is calling for national legislation that would enable parents to force their child under the age of 18 into rehab.  "We need involuntary detox so the parents can take control of the child's situation and get the kids the help they need."

Although she admits her 21 year old son would simply walk out if he were forced into rehab, it could prove a lifeline for children as young as 10 who have been found to be regular users of ice.

The Senator knows her son has already been in trouble over the past few months and will likely end up in jail. 

"I've lost him, I can't help him" she said. "I can only pray that the court will give him the option of going into rehab for the next six months or going to jail.... because right now, that's the only way I can get my son back."

Jarryd Hayne's dream comes true

Jarryd Hayne's dream of making it into big time American football has paid off.  It's now official - he's been recognised as one of NFL's best pre-season performers which has earned him a spot on the San Francisco 49ers final 53-man NFL roster.

Hayne 27 grew up in Sydney and has Fijian heritage from his father Manao Thompson.  His mother Jodie, his sisters and his uncle watched Thursday's exhibition finale in the Levi's stadium stands.

But although Hayne is guaranteed a position on the 53-man roster, it doesn't guarantee him a start in the 49ers season opener against the Vikings.  Coach Jim Tomsula can only name 46 active players for each game and won't name the team until 90 minutes before kick off.

His pre-season performance was only beaten by one man - Minnesota's Stefon Diggs, who finished with a 21.7 yard average from 10 carries, compared to Hayne's 18.1 yard average from nine carries.  

Hayne 3rd from left

Hayne will continue to earn $US25,500 a week for the next 17 weeks but if he is cut at any stage, he will still walk away with a minimum of $US115,000 (guarantee and bonus).

His coach Jim Tomsula is astonished by the level of interest shown in Hayne.  "After the game, there was a crowd of people standing over on the side, it looked like 40 or 50 people, and they were all from Australia" he said.  "I've been kinda peeing on his parade but you know what I'm saying, we don't want to put the cart before the horse."

Jarryd Hayne with his father, former Souths star Manoa Thompson

The truth about running a franchise

by Jason Murphy

WHO hasn’t dreamt of owning a successful brand-name franchise such as McDonald’s or Domino’s, rolling up about 11am in a Mercedes and just watching as the business makes cash?

So when we hear that 7-Eleven franchisees have been caught out underpaying their workers and claiming they can’t afford to pay them properly, it’s a bit of a shock. Most of us think these franchise businesses are a licence to print money.

It turns out the franchise game is tough to win. Often the only people earning less than the kid behind the counter are the ones who bought the franchise.

The life of a franchisee is a life of fees. They pay the franchisor to buy the business, pay a share of takings, and often a lot of other charges.

The founders of Bakers Delight and Boost Juice make it onto the rich lists. Meanwhile many franchisees go bankrupt or end up fighting their franchisor in court.

Franchise disputes are so common the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has a whole page set up to make sure franchising runs smoothly.

So why on Earth would anyone buy a franchise?

The answer is small businesses fail a lot. A lot.

Survival rates: They’re not that great. Source: Supplied

About 10 per cent of the small businesses open at the start of the financial year close by the end of the year. Surviving the first year is no guarantee of a long life. Within four years nearly four in 10 small businesses are gone.

Which is exactly why people buy franchises. They want a successful business model.

But here’s the thing. Some research shows franchises fail even more than independent small businesses.

If you pay a fortune to set up your small business then watch it fail anyway, you’ll be pretty angry.

That’s why there are so many websites and groups set up for angry franchisees.

● Bakers d’Lies is one of them.

● The Facebook page Australian Franchising Scams is another one.

● The page on UnhappyFranchisee.com for Curves women’s gyms is another.

The complaints and legal claims on these websites are sometime questionable, but the anger is very real.

In America half of franchisees say they don’t make a fair profit.

Part of the problem is even that if your franchise is successful, head office knows, and they can often put another franchise around the corner. You know how there’s often a 7-Eleven round the corner from another 7-Eleven? That’s why.

But of course the problem is often clueless franchisees, like the man who bought a bakery and was then shocked to find out he had to get up at 2am every day.

But would a good franchisor let someone so clueless run a business with their brand attached? Wouldn’t they check everybody? Don’t they want everyone to succeed?

In 2010, research showed half of franchisees went into the business based on their “gut feeling”. No wonder so much gut-busting work leads to so much gut-wrenching failure.

Griffith University and the University of NSW did an in-depth study of 28 current and former franchisees this year. It found most had no specific business education and nearly half didn’t even consult an accountant before buying their franchise.

Franchises are not a guaranteed ride to wealth. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

One unhappy former fast-food franchisee described how they fell for the franchisor’s sales job: “The franchisor was saying look at all the foot traffic. In hindsight, there were a lot of people walking past but not walking into the store because it was outside the shopping centre. They were just walking past to go to the shopping centre. Obviously the demographics of the clients in that area couldn’t afford our product. We were new to Australia, we didn’t know about this.”

Another former fast-food franchisee regretted not doing more work before buying into the dream: “They did encourage would-be franchisees to speak to other franchisees. If I had done that I would have heard how hugely unhappy they were with the franchise and how the financial model did not work. I probably would not have gone ahead. Simple as that!”

One retail franchisee described why they cut corners on due diligence: “It cost me $240,000 to buy the franchise … There was no way that I could afford to spend money on a lawyer or accountant. I was totally stretched.”

There is an apparently endless supply of people willing to put their life savings into a franchise without much thought. Some franchises prey on that weakness.

Pie Face opened dozens of stores all over Australia, then swiftly shut a lot of them down and went into administration.

Krispy Kreme did much the same while Eagle Boys Pizza has shrunk from more than 300 stores to under 200 amid a storm of complaints from franchisees.

Still people keep buying franchises.

It’s like being at the casino. People who win keep playing and don’t stop talking about it. People who lose keep their mouth shut and slink away. So if you listen but don’t watch closely, you can get the impression winning is easy.

There are 1160 franchisors running in Australia, trying to sell franchise businesses to ambitious members of the public. Most franchises (60 per cent) are in retail, accommodation and food industries, which many people feel they understand intuitively. It’s easy for franchisors to sell people a turkey.

There is no excuse for not paying your employees fair wages. So if you’re dreaming about owning a franchise, take careful note — it could turn into a nightmare.

Jason Murphy is an economist. He publishes the blog Thomas The Think Engine. Follow him on Twitter @jasemurphy.