Aboriginal Magistrate Pat O'Shane

Patricia June O’Shane is a magistrate of the Local Court of New South Wales and lives in Sydney. She is also an Aboriginal and former head of the NSW Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs. She will be 72 this year, the age when NSW Magistrates must retire.


Ms O’Shane has had numerous complaints about her judgements over the years, but somehow she’s survived them all and the question should be asked – has she received sympathetic consideration from the legal profession because she’s Aboriginal?


Unfortunately for Ms O’Shane, her recent ruling has upset a lot of people because it involves an assault on a member of the people we hold dear - our ambulance service. She threw out assault charges laid against a black African refugee, accused of punching a NSW Ambulance Officer after she learned that the paramedic had called him a “filthy pig”.


In questioning Christopher Martin, Ms O’Shane asked him if it would be correct to infer “that you don’t like blacks.” It seems the paramedic called him a “filthy pig” when he spat on the ambulance floor but he wasn’t given the opportunity to tell his side of the story.


Senior judges have been unhappy with Pat O’Shane for a long time, upholding 88 per cent of Supreme Court appeals against her judgements and ordering half to be reheard by other magistrates.


"If Pat O'Shane wants to retain her dignity and her reputation as a leading public figure, she may well think it is time to resign." Michael Eburn and Ruth Townsend from the Australian National University College of Law wrote in a Sydney newspaper today.


Premier Barry O'Farrell asked a question that needs an answer - why has the legal profession sanctioned unfair and unjust rulings that have been going on for decades?

Peter Slipper wants to wear Queen's Counsel Gown

It must be a terrible thing to have your photograph on the front page of a Sydney newspaper depicted as a rat and Liberal turncoat. But Peter Slipper doesn’t seem to mind, he’s making himself even more unpopular by announcing that he wants to bring pomp and ceremony back to Parliament. He wants to wear the plush gown and wig and be ceremoniously brought to Parliament in a full procession from his office into the chamber at the start of each session. We finished with all that old-fashioned nonsense in 1988 when MP’s moved into the new Parliament House.


He will never be allowed to forget what he did last year, abandoning his party to become Speaker in a hung parliament which gave the Labor government an extra vote that will keep them in government. Slipper says he left the Queensland Liberal National Party because he was being bullied. "I would not have accepted this position if my election to this office was going to guarantee the government's endurance in office," he said. "It made sense to take the job ... they bullied me out of the LNP." My guess is that if he thought he was bullied by the LNP, he aint seen nothin’ yet.






Mr Slipper is a hard man to figure out, he’s admitted to being the victim of bullying yet wants to bring pomp back into parliament, a measure that will surely draw even more contempt from his colleagues. The wig was last worn by Billy Snedden 30 years ago and was donated to the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House.


Ian Sinclair who was Speaker for 8 months in 1998 warned Mr Slipper about wearing the Queen’s Counsel gown and other accessories. “The Speaker should always “be of the people, not above the people” he said.


One MP said "Slippery is a traditionalist, he wants the respect of the parliament but the risk is he will end up looking like a clown.”

We don't need British aid says India

India's Finance Minister badly needs a lesson in diplomacy. Pranab Mukherjee insulted Britain by describing their 280 million pound aid every year as nothing more than “peanuts” and said that he and other Indian ministers tried to reject the aid last year but the British government ‘begged’ them to take it. India now finds it offensive to be perceived as a poor country and figures show that their economy is booming and could well overtake Britain’s in the next ten years.



So why did Britain give India one billion pounds of aid over the last five years? Could it have been a sweetener for them to look favourably on buying their Eurofighter Typhoon jet? They must have been bitterly disappointed by the news last week that French firm Dassault Rafale was selected to supply 126 military jets to the Indian air force. The British bid by BAE Systems Typhoon came in at second choice. But here’s the kicker – British aid is 15 times larger than the eighteen million pounds France gave India in 2009.



The French slashed its price to ensure the deal was done and it worked a treat - Indian officials said that the Dassault’s Rafale jet ‘was much cheaper than the Eurofighter’.

Pipper Middleton and the Earl of Hogwarts

Everyone seems to adore Pipper Middleton, so much so that when a British newspaper announced that she was in a serious relationship with one of Britain’s richest men, George Percy, 30 newspapers and television stations around the world pounced on the story and ran with it.





Heir to the ancient Duchy of Northumberland, 27 year old Earl Percy will inherit Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, better known as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films. The family’s wealth is conservatively put at around 300 million pounds and includes more than 100,000 acres of land as well as an estate in Surrey and Syon Park in London. His parents, Ralph, the 12th Duke of Northumberland, and mother Jane have withheld much of his inheritance to stop him going off the rails.





But a Royal source said yesterday that the claims of a serious love match are unfounded. They met at Edinburgh University and have been close friends ever since and because George has been helping Pipper get over her love affair with banker Alex Loudon, people have jumped to the wrong conclusion.


But the rumour persists. An unnamed source said the Earl has always been in love with Pipper and insiders say that their relationship blossomed at a New Year's Eve party hosted by the Middletons. Pippa sat next to Earl Percy at supper and was at his side throughout the evening.


The Middleton family ancestry is interesting, lawyers on Mr Middleton’s side and coal miners and labourers on Mrs Middleton’s. A cynic might suggest that the robust working class genes from mother are responsible for this ordinary middle-class family being able to produce such clever, good-looking children. History has proved that royal progeny sometimes leaves a lot to be desired and an injection good working class genes is undoubtedly beneficial.





You might remember Kate’s younger brother James who made such an impressive speech for someone so young at his sister’s royal wedding. Like his parents, he is also making money hand over fist with his Cake Kit Company and has launched three more companies – Nice Cakes, Nice Wine and Nice Group London. All three have been registered to the family’s Berkshire trading headquarters, home of the successful Party Pieces firm which has made the Middletons a fortune. A friend of James said “There is no doubt about it, James would like to be the next Richard Branson.”


When Pipper’s long term relationship with banker Alex Loudon ended last year, it was rumoured that his parents thought Pipper’s pedigree was ‘not good enough’ for their son and one wonders if the Duke of Hogwarts and his wife might feel the same way. So could the old ‘class system’ still be alive and well in the UK? Oh course, it never went away.

Gina Rinehart's Family Fued

Langley Hancock became a very rich man when he discovered the world’s largest iron ore deposit in 1952. Towards the end of his life, he employed an attractive maid/housekeeper, Rose Porteous, 39 years his junior, who he later married, much to the disgust of his daughter Gina Rinehard who handled her father’s business affairs.


Lang was infatuated with Rose and built her a mansion modelled after the Tara Plantation from Gone with the Wind overlooking the Swan river in Perth. He also gave her money, jewellery and investments in real estate. After his death, legal battles ensued between Rose and Gina over many years but today, Gina Rinehard is respected for being a very clever business woman. In June 2011, Citigroup estimated that she was on course to overtake Carlos Slim, the Mexican magnate worth 46 billion pounds (US$74 billion) and Bill Gates who is worth 35 billion pounds (US$56 billion), mainly because she owns her companies outright.


Now Gina Rinehart’s dirty laundry will be aired in public after she tried unsuccessfully to suppress details of her family trust battles. Three of Rinehart's four children, Hope Rinehart Welker, John Hancock, and Bianca Reinhart took their mother to court over a commercial dispute relating to a family trust fund and want their mother removed as trustee. Her youngest daughter Ginia is the only child still on side with her mother.


Personal emails from two of her daughters were tendered in the Supreme Court yesterday and they make interesting reading.


From: Hope Rinehart
Sent: Saturday, 30 July 2011 8:30PM
To: Gina Rinehart

Hi Mem,

I need a few things for my birthday (cook so you can be sure April is fed right, bodyguard so the kids are safe and housekeeper that is good w kids so if I need to go out I can) and I found a great agency here that sources the best, here are the descriptions and costs, I would buy them myself but I’m down to my last $60,000 and your only paying my husband $1 a year.

Chef/Cook

Description: A Cook or Chef prepares detailed menus and food for most or all family and social events. A Cook or Chef may also prepare meals for the staff. The household Chef is responsible for anything food or kitchen-related, including organization, clean up, shipping for all food-related supplies and menu planning. There are many levels of cooks from the basic family cook to the school trained gourmet chef.


Annual Salary Range: $40,000 to $225,000+

Bodyguard

Description: Protects clients when in public and helps maintain their privacy. A Bodyguard may be the driver, a chaperone or remain at the house, possibly working with a team. He or she is usually physically fit and trained in personal protection techniques and martial arts. A Bodyguard may be required to carry a firearm. Past experience as a police officer may be required.
Annual Salary range: $55 000 to $100 000

Housekeeper

Description: A Housekeeper in charge of running the home, which may include overseeing other employees, cleaning, doing the laundry, ironing, dusting, silver polishing, vacuuming and running errands. Housekeeper duties may also include some meal preparation and/or childcare duties. Housekeepers can live-in or out.
Annual Salary Range: $35 000 to $55 000+


From: Hope Rinehart
Sent: Sunday, 31 July 2011 1:14AM
To: Gina Rinehart
Subject: RE:

I can’t live in Australia or Singapore, it’s not fair on me to have to live there and horribly unfair for me to have to expose the kids to that. It’s hard enough being a kid, let alone the peer pressure that comes from being the wealthiest one in the country.

I love America, the girls love it. I’m happy here. Your media is minimal and positive here. I really do need a safer apartment but ironically I can’t afford it! I don’t want to have to move back to one of your `desirable’ countries again just to save every cent I can to finally live here where I’m happy, my children are happy and I can offer them the best school and universities in the world. It’s not fair you are selfishly pressuring me to move to Singapore and Australia just because you hate America.

I don’t think you understand what it means now that the whole world thinks you’re going to be wealthier than Bill Gates – It means we all need bodyguards and very safe homes!! Especially the children who are small and easily targeted for kidnap. No country (not even Singapore) is safe. I don’t have the money to protect myself or my children and it scares me. I should have enough money to have a bodyguard, housekeeper and cook. Even my friends who have nothing compared to your wealth have more staff.

I hate that we can’t be happy and do our own thing and spend the holidays together. I hate that everything is conditional. I’m tired and I don’t want to fight and I just want to make the most our of everyday I have left.

From: XXXXX

Sent: Thursday, 4 August 2011, 11:40AM


On Wednesday Gina Rinehart closed in on becoming the single biggest shareholder in Fairfax Media Ltd., the country's oldest newspaper publisher. This gives her a 12% stake in Fairfax, publisher of the Sydney Morning Herald and other newspapers, at a cost of 152 million Australian dollars (US$161.6 million), up from her previous stake of just under 5%. Last year, Ms. Rinehart bought a 10% stake in Channel Ten Network Holdings Ltd, she said she was interested in "making an investment towards the media business given its importance to the nation's future." So should the Labor Party be worried? Definitely!


And from Ms Rinehart’s point of view, the nation’s future isn’t looking good. Her opposition to Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd’s policies is well known, especially the planned new taxes on the mining industry and the carbon tax. As boss of Hancock Prospecting, this clever lady watches over a mining empire so vast, it brings tears to the eyes and she is thinking of branching out into coal, uranium and base metals.

London Stock Exchange Bomb Plot

Four Muslims have admitted plotting to blow up the London Stock Exchange by placing a bomb in the toilets. London Mayor Boris Johnson was also on the list of targets, together with two rabbis, the American Embassy, the London Eye and Westminster Abbey. Nine men admitted various terror crimes yesterday at Woolwich Crown Court and will be sentenced next week.


Lynchpin" Mohammed Chowdhury, 21, and his London accomplice Shah Rahman, 28, were followed by undercover detectives in November 2010 and their plans were thwarted before firm dates could be set. They were all members of radial Islamic groups and stayed in touch with each other by computer, mobile phone and at meetings held in parks to make surveillance difficult.


And here’s the kicker – although admitting their guilt, their barrister said their intention was not “to cause death or even injury but the intention was to terrorise, damage property and to cause economic damage.”


The nine men were not members of al Qaida but were inspired by its former Yemeni boss, American-born Anwar al Awlaki, who was killed last year in a drone strike in the Arabian Peninsula. Al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP) use internet propaganda to inspire radicals to carry out attacks against the countries they live in and had in their possession the al Qaida magazine Inspire, which contained a feature: "Make A Bomb In The Kitchen Of Your Mom."


The planned threats were not just facing London, the group planned to leave homemade bombs in the toilets of their local pubs at various other locations throughout the UK.

Most generous boss in Australia

Melbourne man Ken Grenda and his sons Geoff and Scott have been named Australia’s most generous bosses after they surprised 1800 staff with a bonus for hard work and loyalty.


Fifteen million dollars was shared with everyone - from drivers to senior executives, with some finding an unexpected $30,000 in their bank accounts. Shocked employees rang their banks to say there had been a mistake, but were later delighted to find out that it was real.


Family owned Grenda Corporation recently sold their transit operations to Melbourne operator Ventura and are in the process of selling their bus building business Volgren to a Brazilian company tomorrow.


Mr Grenda 79, the major shareholder, said "We have grown from just four bus routes in Dandenong in 1945 to operating 1300 buses in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. You only get there if you have good people. A business is only as good as its people, and our people are fantastic," he said. “We have had people here who are second generation, and one fellow in the same job for 52 years.”


Nice one Mr Grenda.