Dony Black

Outrage as eHealth squads hit hospitals

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 13 April 2013 | 22.16

Australian Medical Association president Steve Hambleton says doctors want the eHealth system to work but are frustrated at the slow progress. Source: National Features

BUREAUCRATS armed with clipboards have been sent into hospitals and nursing homes to cajole patients to sign up for an eHealth record their doctors still won't be able to use.

Nine months after it was launched, the Government's $1 billion eHealth system holds just 414 patient records and is only a fifth of the way towards its target of signing up 500,000 patient users by June 30.

There are currently only two hospitals using the personally controlled electronic health record (PCEHR) system and they have uploaded just 155 discharge summaries.

And the system remains barely operational because fewer than one per cent of doctors have signed up for the Healthcare Identifier service number they need to be able to access patient records.

Despite this, Canberra has sent out a sign-up squad in a bid to boost numbers.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said around 12 specially trained staff had been deployed in hospitals, community clinics and aged care homes in Tasmania and the ACT to sign patients up to the scheme.

The move has caused outrage on health IT blogs with experts worried about the security of signing a patient up on paper and then re-entering the data online.

Launceston Hospital's Professor Terry Hannan, who set up an eHealth record for HIV patients in Africa that was nominated for the Nobel Prize, said patients in his hospital were being asked to hand over their Medicare cards and drivers licence to get an e-health record.

"Personally I have a lot of difficulty with this data collection process - not only from patient data security but the real risk of transcription errors in the data recording," he said on the Australian Health Information Technology blog.

"This whole process seems like seems like a political stunt to enhance the PCEHR registration numbers for a project that has been costly and doomed to failure - implementation wise and politically."

The eHealth system is meant to bring medical records into the digital age by providing patients with an electronic record that lists their medications and allergies.

Doctors who are registered are meant to be able to upload a patient health summary that can be shared with other medical workers but a few who have tried have crashed their computer systems.

Eventually it is meant to include X-ray results, pathology results, hospital discharge summaries and other data.

Australian Medical Association president Dr Steve Hambleton said doctors wanted the system to work but were frustrated at the slow progress.

"I think we're looking here at the birth of a larger mammal," he said.

"It's gone beyond human and now we're looking at the gestation period of a whale or even an elephant."

Opposition primary healthcare spokesman Dr Andrew Southcott said the Coalition was "concerned about the amount of money spent with nothing to show for it".

While the Coalition will not scrap the system it wanted to focus on quick wins like electronic prescriptions and hospital discharge summaries, he said.

The DoH said implementation of the system was a carefully managed, staged process.

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Live-in asylum help

Fremantle retiree Maureen Ramsay will soon open her home to an asylum seeker and says she is looking forward to it. Source: The Sunday Times

ASYLUM seekers will be used as live-in companions for retirees and to "help out" on farms across WA under a new homestay scheme starting next month and backed by the Immigration Department.

Live-Every West Australian with a spare room is being urged to sign up for the Homestay Helping Hand program, with hosts paid $50 a week for each asylum seeker in exchange for providing board and food.

Asylum seekers, in return, are urged to "help out around the home or farm", "pick up the shopping", or "provide company for someone who's lonely".

The scheme will be run by the Australian Homestay Network, which finds accommodation for asylum seekers after they are processed on Christmas Island and released by the Immigration Department on bridging visas while their refugee claims are assessed.

Executive chairman David Bycroft said placements would start within a month and it was a "chance for Australians to put their hand up and be part of the solution instead of complaining about the problem".

He said live-in asylum seekers could not replace paid staff but they were available to help with jobs and chores around the house or farm.

The scheme is separate from another homestay program called the Community Placement Network (CPN), which started in May last year but has stalled with just over 30 placements so far this year.

CPN placements last six weeks but in the Helping Hand program, asylum seekers can stay with a host for years if both parties want it.

Mr Bycroft said there would soon be thousands of would-be refugees living in the community under the Helping Hand program because Australia "faces a massive wave of asylum seekers looking for affordable accommodation".
"The asylum seeker can help out, pick up the shopping, perhaps drive the car," he said.

"We're after retirees or couples, maybe their kids have left the home, they've got empty rooms and they want to do something good. For a single person it gives them company a great idea for someone who's lonely."

An Immigration spokesman said the department "acknowledged the value of the work the Australian Homestay Network is doing" and described its Helping Hands program as "smart, lateral thinking". The network charges each asylum seeker $100 a week, paid from government benefits.

Half is used to administer the program and the other $50 is paid to the host.

Asylum seekers released by the Immigration Department are assisted by charities and refugee groups to find accommodation but many struggle, particularly in Perth where rents are soaring. Mr Bycroft said he was also in discussions with regional councils to set up homestay operations where seasonal workers are required.

Coalition for Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Detainees spokeswoman Rosemary Hudson Miller welcomed the plan.

Doubts, but gran will open her home

SHE admits to "a little bit of trepidation", but Fremantle retiree Maureen Ramsay will soon open her home to an asylum seeker and says she is looking forward to it.

The former TAFE lecturer and manager is a mother of four and grandmother of eight who now lives alone and has two empty bedrooms.

"I feel quite concerned about the situation for asylum seekers and refugees and I thought, 'I can do something, I've got space'," the 70-year-old said.

"It might be intense at the beginning but I feel it would be more frightening for them than for me.

"I have no idea what to expect. I suppose there will be some cultural hurdles. They may not speak English.

"But I've travelled a lot and I'm pretty relaxed. I imagine their stories are quite amazing.

"Some of my friends think I'm quite naive and I guess I have a little bit of trepidation because some people are quite anti-refugees and think that anyone who is sympathetic is a bit naive. I don't agree with that. We should give people a chance.

"You'd have to have a pretty good reason for leaving your country. These people are in dire straits to do it."

Mrs Ramsay said her family supported her decision. She said the $50 a week she will receive under the Homestay Helping Hand program would mostly cover the cost of providing meals.

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State breaks ranks on federal bikie war

Last month Julia Gillard announced a $64 million taskforce would be created, under which courts would have the power to declare a bikie gang a "criminal organisation".

JULIA Gillard's war on bikies has been dealt a blow with WA Attorney-General Michael Mischin recommending the state doesn't sign up to new national laws.

Under the plan, the states and territories would hand over the power to investigate organised crime to the Federal Government.

The Prime Minister said the move would prevent gangs moving operations and assets across state borders to escape local laws.

But Mr Mischin told The Sunday Times this week he would be advising Premier Colin Barnett not to back the national plan because it would leave WA responsible for enforcing the law but unable to change it when necessary.

Mr Mischin said the Gillard Government had "ambitious objectives", but it was "not clear" how they would be workable. "It would seem that the commonwealth wishes to take over the power to make the law in this area, but leave the enforcement to WA, without the state having the power to change the law as necessary to meet any local need or changing circumstances," he said.

"WA reaffirmed to the commonwealth Attorney-General that it along with other states and territories was not interested in referring legislative power in this area."

The national laws are set to be debated at the Council of Australian Governments meeting on Friday.

Last month Ms Gillard announced a $64 million National Anti-Gang Taskforce would be created to tackle organised crime.

Under the plans, courts would have the power to declare a bikie gang or a similar group a "criminal organisation".

Police would then be allowed to use those orders to prevent club members from visiting clubhouses or holding liquor and weapons licences.

Police in every state would also be given the same powers to seize "unexplained wealth", including cash, cars and houses, from criminals.

WA already has anti-association laws in place which give the Police Commissioner and the Corruption and Crime Commission the ability to declare groups criminal organisations.

Federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said this month it was vital state and federal law-enforcement agencies had the powers to break up gangs and seize their assets.

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Spanning the ages from Maggie to Pink

These women all look to their mum as their greatest mentor. From left: Claire Knight, Christine Fox, Diana Warnock, Joan Mitchell, Rayne Embley, Gosia Slawomirski and Hannah Pretty. Picture: Ross Swanborough Source: The Sunday Times

TRAINEE pastry chef Hannah Pretty can get by without having heard of Margaret Thatcher.

And she looks blank when asked about one of the world's most controversial champions of equality, Germaine Greer.

For Ms Pretty, 20, the greatest role model for women is rock singer Pink.

All contrasts and contradictions came together in one glorious show of unified womanhood this week when Ms Pretty discussed role models with one of Perth's most prominent feminists, former MP and broadcaster Diana Warnock, during a photo shoot for The Sunday Times.

The pair, from different ends of the age and political spectrum, were among seven Perth women aged 14 to 86 who gathered in the wake of the Iron Lady's death on Monday to talk about feminism and what it's like to be a woman in today's world.

Despite the 72-year age span, the women including businesswoman Rayne Embley, 30, student Claire Knight, 14, opera singer Gosia Slawomirski, 50, model agent Christine Fox, 41, and 86-year-old housewife Joan Mitchell proved that in 2013 there are some things that hold true for all women.

Most significantly, they look to their mum as their greatest mentor.

While they cited feminist icons such as Simone De Beauvoir, Gloria Steinem, sports stars Anna Kournikova and Olympic rower Hannah Vermeersch, celebrity chef Nigella Lawson, actress Angelina Jolie, pioneering WA feminist Irene Greenwood and even the Spice Girls as their own role models, they all agreed the woman who inspired them most was their mum.

Their reasons? Because it was their mums who passed on good values. And, put simply, if every family focused on passing on the importance of knowing the difference between right and wrong, the world would be a better place. So says Mrs Mitchell, who also nominated Thatcher "for her leadership in the face of male opposition".

She said her mum taught her all she needed to know while growing up in the tiny Wheatbelt town of Jitarning.
"Back then you just went to school and didn't think about pursuing a career," she said.

"So when I got married I stayed at home to raise my two boys while caring for the home.

"I passed on those good, honest values to them and I am very proud of that. My social interaction was done at the CWA and at the dance halls."

For John XXIII student Claire Knight, 14, socialising is a vastly different experience.

She uses Facebook and other social media to catch up with friends in between her busy schedule of school band rehearsals and being a house leader.

She believes it is great to be a female in 2013 and is optimistic about the future.

Yet that's where the older members of the sisterhood Ms Embley, Ms Warnock, Ms Fox and Ms Slawomirski stepped in to remind the youngsters that there was still a strong need for feminism.

"I think women are our own worst enemies," Ms Embley said.

"We can and continue to be able to have it all. We have choices now and to me that's what feminism aimed to achieve. I think Germaine Greer is an icon. I love her statement, 'women's liberation'. It takes it away from being about equality or even a competition and focuses more on women speaking up for themselves. Women looking after themselves and doing what makes them happy.

"She encourages us to remember that we have a choice."

Ms Warnock agreed but had the last word: "Yes, Germaine's been a great leader. But she's been a little careless with her comments lately."

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Superdrone to be tested at Woomera

The unmanned stealth combat aircraft Taranis, made by BAE systems, which is being tested at Woomera. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

THE most secretive piece of airspace in Australia - the RAAF-run Woomera flight test range in South Australia - will make history later this year when the world's first unmanned supersonic stealth combat aircraft makes its maiden test flight above the desert.

Extreme secrecy surrounds the joint British-French project and the drone called a Taranis, named after the Celtic god of thunder and built by a British/French consortium led by aerospace giant BAE Systems.

Resembling an insect and using the delta-shaped "flying wing'' technology favoured by modern-day stealth aircraft such as America's B-2 stealth bomber, Taranis is designed to fly above the speed of sound over long distances undetected by enemy radars to attack targets with an array of precision missiles and bombs.

Unlike current generation attack drones such as Predator and Reaper, that are used extensively to attack insurgent targets in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen, Taranis will carry the latest in remote defensive technology so it can also evade missiles and hostile manned aircraft.

Unmanned drones are unlikely to ever engage in a dog fight with a manned fighter jet, but the technology is being developed. A more likely future scenarios a long-range missile fight between combat drones.

The Woomera restricted area has already played host to a number of world firsts including the maiden flight of a scram jet engine that could power aircraft to speeds in excess 8500 kmh or Mach 7 - seven times the speed of sound.

That would enable future passenger jets to fly a sub-orbital trajectory from Sydney to London in two hours.

The rocket range is the second busiest launch pad in the world after NASA's Cape Canaveral in Florida.

In 2009 BAE Systems flew a propeller driven drone known as a Mantis at Woomera.

The military regularly uses the range to test missiles and foreign governments use the vast test site for a variety of top-secret test missions.

The company said Taranis was designed to utilise the most advanced means possible of achieving low observability.

"This includes both the systems and technology inside the aircraft as well as the shape, design and finish of the exterior of the aircraft. This does mean that there are aspects of the exterior design of the aircraft which remain classified,'' it said.
Other details such as range and top speed are also top-secret.

The development of pilotless combat aircraft is controversial and many regard the risks of mistakes associated with removing humans from the kill chain as unacceptable.

Several American companies are also developing unmanned fighters and helicopters for land and sea based operations.

A senior American aerospace executive told News Limited that the fifth-generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, being purchased by the RAAF, will be the last manned fighter built in the US.

TARANIS: The future of air combat

* World's first supersonic (above speed of sound) stealth unmanned combat aircraft

* Flying delta wing design 12 metres long with 10-metre wingspan

* Flies on pre-programmed flight path guided by on-board computer

* Stealth technology makes it virtually invisible to enemy radars

* Can select its own targets but final 'kill' decision taken by mission command

* Destroy targets with onboard missiles and provides intelligence back to command

* First flight to follow hundreds of hours of ground testing and one million man hours

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Woman, 53, robbed by tween boys

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 12 April 2013 | 22.16

Police believe these boys can help with their investigation into a woman who was mugged in Thornlie. Pictures: Supplied. Source: PerthNow

POLICE are looking for two young boys who mugged a woman who had asked them to escort her in Thornlie.

The aggravated robbery took place on Wilfred Road last month.

About midnight on March 30, the 53-year-old woman left the Thornlie Train Station and asked a young couple to walk with her to her home address because of the time of night.

The victim walked along with the couple and two younger children unknown to them to the intersection of Oriole Road, where the couple turned around and walked back in the other direction.

The victim asked the younger boys if they would continue walking with her because it was late at night.

At that point, one of the boys leaned towards her and grabbed her handbag from her shoulder.

He pushed her over and stole personal items from her clothes and then the two boys ran back Wilfred Road towards the train station.

Detectives believe the two boys pictured may be able to assist with their investigation.

The young couple who first walked with the victim are also asked to make contact with police.

Anyone with information regarding this incident, or who recognises the two boys pictured, is asked to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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Extreme reactions to Woodside decision

VOICE: Broome Community No Gas Campaign spokeswoman Nik Wevers said the group's opposition would not cease until they were sure the James Price Point area - including the monsoon vine thickets, the dinosaur footprints and the cultural heritage sites - were all protected. Source: PerthNow

WOODSIDE axing its James Price Point gas hub has left the federal and West Australian governments insisting investment in the nation's resources isn't over, and that the Browse fields will eventually be developed.

Those assurances were paid short shrift by environmentalists, who claimed victory in a long-fought war and poured salt into the energy giant's wounds by celebrating outside its Broome office.

Newly installed federal resources minister Gary Gray said the government remained "absolutely confident'' that the Browse Basin - which also contains oil - would be commercialised, generating jobs and wealth.

Woodside's decision didn't mean the investment boom in Australia's resources had peaked, Mr Gray said.

WA Premier Colin Barnett also talked up the inevitability of the Browse Basin being exploited, saying it had enough gas resources to be as big as the Carnarvon Basin off the Pilbara coast, which contains the massive North West Shelf gas plant.

The Browse Basin also contained oil, and there was additionally the shale gas potential of the Kimberley's onshore Canning Basin - all of which needed an export facility, Mr Barnett said.

While Mr Barnett latched on to Woodside's suggestion it could proceed with a smaller onshore plant, Greens leader Christine Milne said the party would not back any alternative development proposals such as an offshore ``floating'' plant until it heard firm details.

Hinting that some green groups might have claimed victory too soon, Ms Milne said the battle was not won until WA legislation allowing the development was repealed.

Still on the left but with a very different view, Australian Workers' Union national secretary Paul Howes said the decision was a disaster for jobs.

"They have sacrificed tens of thousands of Australian jobs at the altar of higher profits for Woodside and (partner) Shell executives,'' he said.

He called on the federal government not to renew Woodside's retention leases in the Browse Basin, which expire in December next year.

As extreme reactions continued, Kimberley Land Council (KLC) chief executive Nolan Hunter was more circumspect, stopping short of saying he was disappointed.

The project going ahead was obviously a key requirement for native title claimants to receive $1.5 billion worth of benefits that would flow to the local indigenous community over 30 years, but there was still the chance of "minimal benefits'', he said.

Mr Hunter said the deal, which had been struck with the state government and Woodside, remained commercial-in-confidence, but it was about more than just jobs.

The deal had been structured to include environmental protection measures, ensuring "it wasn't development at any cost'', he said.

Mr Barnett said he was deeply upset the local indigenous people would now be denied the benefits package.

The same observation was made on the other side of state politics, with Ben Wyatt, WA Labor's treasury spokesman, saying the Aboriginal people of the Kimberley should be allowed to keep the benefits package irrespective of how the gas was developed.

"The Aboriginal people of the Kimberley must be able to keep this crucial package once the Browse gas deposits are developed,'' said Mr Wyatt, the nephew of the first indigenous lower house MP Ken Wyatt.

But with high costs being blamed for Woodside's decision, that may take many years.

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Five dead after asylum boat sinks

Indonesian authorities are desperately searching for an asylum-seeker boat believed sunk in the Sunda Strait. Picture: Daniel Wilkins/File Source: The Australian

Boat sunk in the Sunda Strait about 3am AEST
Believed to be carrying 73 asylum-seekers
Boat was en route to Christmas Island

A GROUP of 14 asylum seekers has been rescued by fishermen in Indonesia after their boat sank in the Sunda Strait on its way to Australia, but at least five others are believed to have drowned.

There are also fresh details about the unfolding tragedy with one of the survivors revealing that boat actually sank on Wednesday, and not on Friday morning as initially reported by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).

Habibullah Hashimi, one of 14 men plucked from the water by fishermen off the coast of Sukabumi in West Java, said he was in the water for about 24 hours before help finally came.

The 29-year-old said there were 72 people aboard the vessel. All were ethnic Hazara from Afghanistan.

At least five asylum seekers had perished, Mr Hashimi said.

The death toll could rise further.

''The ship just broke,'' he told AAP.

''We saw about five people dead. They were in the water.''

Mr Hashimi's group had linked arms as they struggled to survive.

''The sea kept moving us around,'' he said.

Mr Hashimi, who was on Friday afternoon recuperating in Bogor, also confirmed that the boat sank at about 8am on Wednesday.

The development came after a spokeswoman from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) initially reported that a boat may have sunk in the Sunda Strait at about midnight (3am AEST) on Friday.

''A people-smuggling vessel may have sunk in or near the Sunda Strait around 3am AEST today. Some passengers may have been rescued by a fishing vessel,'' the spokeswoman said earlier on Friday.

The information was in turn passed on to the Indonesian national search and rescue agency BASARNAS.

But BASARNAS was unable to locate the area where the incident was believed to have occurred, prompting a scramble for information.

Provincial search and rescue offices in Jakarta and Lampung on the island of Sumatra also had little idea of what had happened, or where to look for survivors.

''We don't have the coordinates for the area where we could search. Do you have that information? Please share it with us,'' an officer with the Jakarta search and rescue office said when contacted by AAP.

''We only received information from BASARNAS that it's in south of Sunda Strait and they've been rescued by local fishermen. But where is it? We're now contacting local ports and others if they have such information.''

And Indonesia still hasn't launched a rescue mission because the location of the sunken vessel hasn't been found.

The search and rescue authorities were criticised last August when more than 100 asylum seekers drowned when their boat foundered in the Sunda Strait.

An aerial search was not launched until more than six hours after a distress call was received by the AMSA.

It was almost 24 hours before the first survivors were pulled from the water.

Hundreds of asylum seekers have perished in recent years while making the perilous crossing from Indonesia to Christmas Island.

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Killer memory key to prison break

Carolyn Wilkinson has written the biography of Daniel Heiss, explaining how he escaped from Darwin prison twice. Source: Northern Territory News

ONE of the Northern Territory's most notorious murderers escaped from prison by memorising every tooth on a cell key - and then copying it.

Daniel Heiss, who was serving life for killing a 22-year-old tradie, engaged guards at Darwin prison in small talk.

As they chatted, he made a mental note of the details of the master cell key hanging from every officer's belt.

Heiss filed a rough copy from a piece of metal, smothered it in Blu Tack and put it gently into a cell door to get a more accurate impression.

It took him more than three months.

The plan almost came apart when a known informer - known as a ''dog'' inside - saw him ''fiddling with a lock'' and dobbed him in to guards.

Heiss used the key to open his own cell and then free fellow murderer Shane Baker.

They got out of the prison complex by scaling three barbed-wire perimeter fences.

Baker suffered a bad wound going over the final fence and was recaptured within a few days.

But Heiss was on the run for 12 days.

Many rural women fled into town after it was reported he was living in the bush near Howard Springs on the outskirts of Darwin.

He was finally caught coming out of an empty house on Gunn Point Rd.

The dramatic story of the 1995 escape is told for the first time in his girlfriend Carolyn Wilkinson's biography Blood on the Wire.

''I wrote the book because it's a bit of Territory history,'' she said yesterday.

''The story of the escapes has never been told. Nobody knows what really happened.''

Heiss had escaped four years earlier by pretending to be seriously ill and using bedsheets and electrical cords to abseil to the ground from a secure fourth-floor ward at Royal Darwin Hospital.

He was caught the following day minutes after almost drowning in a mud pool.

Ms Wilkinson, a keen astrologist, was a childcare worker when she wrote to Mr Heiss after his second escape.

He was in the isolation block at Darwin prison.

''I wanted his birth time and place,'' Ms Wilkinson said.

''I wanted to know what was driving this man over the wire.

''I wanted to learn what was wrong.''

Her friendship with Mr Heiss has caused her anguish over the past 17 years.

''A lot of people who didn't truly know me were critical,'' she said.

''But I have got some support.''

Heiss, 48, was released in mid-2011 after serving 23 years for shooting dead Peter Robinson because he wanted his rifles.

He now lives on the outskirts of Darwin and works as a landscape gardener and artist.

For more see the Northern Territory News

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Sex syndrome blamed for divorce rates

Sex and the City actors (from left) Kim Cattrall, Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis - are they to blame for Australian marriage breakdowns? Source: Supplied

SEX and the City syndrome is being blamed for causing the breakdown of a growing number of Australian marriages.

In a seismic shift from a decade ago, family lawyers say more men are pointing to their wives' excessive drinking and drug use when filing for divorce, with an increasing number of husbands being awarded sole custody of their children because of it.

Senior family lawyer at Slater & Gordon, Heather McKinnon, said about 30 per cent of the firm's cases before the Family Court involved substance abuse.

Of these, about half now related to the female partner, something that was ''practically non-existent'' 10 years ago.

''That's a really huge shift in my lifetime in the job,'' she said.

''Dads that have applied to have children living with them are now succeeding in about half the cases, and that's because there's deficits in the mother. I think this is a very serious shift.''

Ms McKinnon points the finger at so-called ''Sex and the City syndrome'' - the normalisation of binge drinking among teenage girls and young women that carries through to adulthood.

''If you go to any social setting in a capital city or a large regional town on a Friday or Saturday night you will see young women at the bar downing shots - that is a generational change,'' Ms McKinnon said.

''Girls are at an early age starting to abuse alcohol, they drink heavily through their twenties and by their early thirties they've become fully-fledged alcoholics. They don't stop drinking when adolescent experimentation is finished.''

Neither is the problem restricted to the poorer classes as it once was; two of the four cases Ms McKinnon currently has before the Family Court involve professional women from middle to upper class families.

Head of family law at Armstrong Legal, Peter Magee, agreed there was a growing problem and said court cases may only be scratching the surface.

''Allegations of mums abusing substances is on the rise, but only a fraction of the allegations would ever play out in court,'' he said.

''You need to have a case that is so strong to say 'I need the kids to live with me', before we will raise it.''

The 2010 National Drug and Alcohol Household Survey shows that while men overwhelmingly drink more than women, the number of women aged 20 to 29 drinking at risky levels increased between 2007 and 2010, while girls aged 12 to 17 outdrink boys by one-and-a-half per cent.

Relationships Australia counsellor Denise Reichenbach said drinking was becoming a more common way for women to deal with stress.

''What we often hear about is people who drink get more aggressive so anger can come into it, violence can come into it,'' she said.

''The children often feel quite responsible for the parent who is drinking as well, and the level of concern for that person gets really high.''

There were 48,935 divorces granted in Australia in 2011, with the average age of divorcees falling between 40 and 44.

The number of divorces across the country has fallen nearly 12 per cent in the past decade.

Hit US TV comedy-drama Sex and the City ran from 1998 until 2004 and followed the very social lives of a group of four women - three in their mid-thirties and one in her forties - in New York.

It was widely popular in Australia and re-runs still air on pay-TV.

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Cyclone Victoria strengthens off WA coast

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 10 April 2013 | 22.16

MASSIVE: Tropical Cyclone Victoria, a category three storm, is brewing hundreds of kilometres off the WA coast. Picture: Bureau of Meteorology Source: PerthNow

A MASSIVE Category three cyclone is intensifying in the Indian Ocean, off Western Australia's North-West coast.

Tropical Cyclone Victoria, a large system which is about 400km south-west of Christmas Island, is moving south and gathering strength.

Category two overnight, the system strengthened to a Category Three earlier today.

A Hurricane Force wind warning has been issued for shipping in the area affected by the cyclone.

At 3pm yesterday the cyclone was about 385km west-southwest of Christmas Island, moving south at 16km/h.

The system has affected Christmas Island weather, but lies is well to the south-west of the island.

"Tropical Cyclone Victoria lies well to the south-southwest of the island and is forecast to continue moving in a south-southeasterly direction,'' the Bureau of Meteorology said.

"Squally conditions may be experienced (on the island) until Thursday under the influence of the system.''

The cyclone could affect Perth's weather by the weekend, with showers forecast for Saturday, as the mass of unstable tropical air continues its path southwards.

The cyclone has a central pressure of 988 hPa, but remains hundreds of kilometres from the WA coast and appears unlikely to make landfall.

Seas are being affected within 90 nautical miles of the centre.

The forecast is for maximum winds to 120km/h near the centre increasing to 130km/h today.

Winds above 48 knots within 30 nautical miles of the centre bring very rough to high seas and moderate to heavy swell.

Meanwhile a band of light showers is visible on the Bureau's Perth radar, approaching the west coast, and could hit the city early this afternoon.

PERTH: THE WEEK AHEAD

Wednesday
    Max 34C
    Partly cloudy.
    Chance of any rain: 10%
    Rainfall amount: 0 mm
Partly cloudy. Isolated showers possible about the hills this afternoon and evening. Light winds.

Thursday
    Min 20C
    Max 34C
    Partly cloudy.
Partly cloudy. Winds east to northeasterly and light tending south to southwesterly 15 to 20 km/h in the early afternoon then tending south to southeasterly 15 to 25 km/h in the evening.

Friday
    Min 20C
    Max 29C
    Cloudy.
Cloudy. Isolated showers about the southern suburbs during the evening. Winds southeasterly 20 to 30 km/h becoming light during the evening.

Saturday
    Min 19C
    Max 25C
    Shower or two.

Cloudy. Isolated showers from the morning. Light winds.

Sunday
    Min 18C
    Max 28C
    Cloudy.
Cloudy. Winds east to southeasterly 15 to 20 km/h.

Monday
    Min 16C
    Max 29C
    Partly cloudy.

Perth area
Partly cloudy. Winds easterly 15 to 25 km/h.

Tuesday
Min 17C
Max 31C
Sunny.
Sunny. Winds east to northeasterly 15 to 25 km/h.

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Barnett denies 'hysteria' over Geraldton arrivals

Officials, possibly Customs or AQIS inspectors, on board a Sri Lankan asylum seeker boat n Geraldton Harbour today. Picture: Graeme Gibbons Source: PerthNow

WA PREMIER Colin Barnett says the Federal Immigration Minister should 'get out his atlas' as he rejected claims he whipped up hysteria over the boatload of asylum seekers who landed in Geraldton yesterday.

Premier Barnett yesterday described the arrival of 66 Sri Lankan asylum seekers aboard a rickety fishing vessel at one of Australia's busiest regional ports as ``shocking'' and said it signalled an alarming breach of national security.

"I certainly don't believe in any sense I was hysterical. But this was a large number of people, 66, and to simply sail into Geraldton harbour - that is unprecedented,'' Mr Barnett said this afternoon, responding to comments from Federal Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor.

He also suggested Mr O'Connor should get out his atlas and check where Geraldton is.

"It's not in the North-West of the state. Yes, people have landed in the North-West before but this is the southern half of the state,'' Mr Barnett said.

A map showing Geraldton harbour and the arrival of a Sri Lankan boat carrying 66 suspected asylum seekers. Picture: Graeme Gibbons

Mr O'Connor, who was in WA last week to visit the remote Curtin Detention centre, said the Premier's words were not helpful - and not true.

"It is not unprecedented; there were 11 boats that arrived in WA during the Howard years alone,'' Mr O'Connor told Fairfax radio.

"The premier is wrong in his language. His language is bordering on hysteria, as it has happened many times before.

"This is rare and it won't happen often, and I think it is unfair and unreasonable for the premier to describe it (that way).''

The boat-load of Sri Lankan asylum seekers arrived in Geraldton around midday. Picture: Graeme Gibbons

Meanwhile a Category Three cyclone off the WA coast will force the Sri Lankan asylum seekers to spend another night on the mainland, as the storm prevents flights to Christmas Island.

The single males among the group have now been sent to Northam's Yongah Hill detention centre, about 90km east of Perth, according to a spokesman for the Department of Immigration.

Families, women and children are being housed in lower security "A-pods'' - Alternate Places of Detention - in Perth.

They will all be sent to Christmas Island for processing but a category three cyclone intensifying in the Indian Ocean off WA's North-West means it is too dangerous for a charter plane to reach the island today.

And it may be several days more before the weather improves, with Tropical Cyclone Victoria, which is just 400km south-west of Christmas Island, expected to continue to gather strength.

``It won't be today because there are unfavourable weather conditions and it's been decided an air charter wouldn't be prudent in those circumstances, but we will move them to Christmas Island as soon as possible,'' an Immigration spokesman said.

``We can't see how we could get them there with the weather being the way it is.''

The spokesman said the A-pods are ``still part of our secure detention facility network but they're not quite as high security as Yongah Hills''.

It is believed to be the first boat to reach the mainland so close to Perth.

Barely 430km north of Perth, the coastal centre is more than 2000km south of Christmas Island where asylum seekers coming to Australia are usually intercepted.

Despite Geraldton Port being one of Australia's busiest regional ports, the boat with 66 people aboard made it to within metres of the mainland - and was intercepted first by two local men in a dinghy.

Those on board told the men they had been at sea for at least six weeks, having travelled more than 5000km to reach Geraldton, a port more used to dealing with iron ore, grains, talc, garnet and fertilisers.

The Sri Lankan passengers pulled into the harbour on their overcrowded vessel around midday (WST), stunning witnesses.

An overcrowded asylum-seeker boat with around 72 people on board has pulled into Geraldton, 400 kilometres north of Perth. Courtesy GDTV Productions

Authorities are unsure how the vessel reached so far south and believe the crew may have set the wrong course.

Immigration officials will make arrangements ''as soon as possible'' for their transfer to the island's detention facilities.

Under existing legislation, asylum seekers who reach the mainland will avoid being sent to processing centres on Nauru or Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.

Federal Labor is seeking to change this, with legislation currently before the Senate.

Asylum seekers on the vessel have held up a sign saying, "We want to go to New Zealand. Please help us.''

The boat is believed to have been at sea for 44 days.

It is believed the Sri Lankans want to be sent to New Zealand because the government has voluntarily and involuntarily returned about 1000 Sri Lankans since August last year.

The vessel was met by a pilot boat in Geraldton harbour with WA Police now on the scene.

"Customs and Border Protection have advised a suspected irregular entry vessel arrived within the harbour limits of Geraldton this afternoon,'' a spokesman for Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said.

"Initial indications suggest there are 66 people on board.

"Customs and Border Protection officers and Western Australian Police are responding to the arrival.''

Geraldton Port Authority chief executive officer Peter Klein said a response team had set up a processing post for the asylum seekers.

"Police and Customs have been notified and are on the scene,'' he said.

WA Premier Colin Barnett said he was "alarmed" that a boat carrying asylum seekers could sail undetected into Geraldton.

"This is a serious, unprecedented and unacceptable breach of Australia's border security," Mr Barnett said.

"That a boat, laden with people, can sail into a busy regional port in broad daylight is shocking.

"Geraldton Port is one of Australia's busiest regional ports and Australia's second-largest for grain export.

"The State Government is working co-operatively with the Commonwealth on this issue and will ensure people's welfare is being looked after."

Geraldton's waterfront Dome Cafe manager Steve Branch said customers at the cafe were shocked when the boat sailed in and "dropped anchor'' about 100 metres off-shore.

"At first I don't think people knew what it was. There were a few people that thought it might have been a protest group,'' Mr Branch said.

"But after it had been there for half an hour, a customs boat went out to it and that's when people realised 'wow, that's an asylum seeker boat'.''

Mr Branch said the vessel was "packed'' with about 50 to 60 people on the deck.

"It was an old wooden fishing boat, the same as the asylum boats you see on TV. It basically just sailed in and dropped anchor about 100m off the beach.

"The reaction from most people was amazement - that they had made it this far south.

"There's an awful lot of coastline between us and Broome. It's certainly something we've never seen here before."

- with Ashlee Mullany

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Blues heroes pay tribute to teens

Brother and sister Alexander and Bridget Jones were devoted to each other.

THE teenagers killed in Melbourne's tragic wall collapse will be laid to rest alongside Carlton jumpers signed by their sporting heroes.

Up to 2000 mourners are expected to attend the funeral of Alexander and Bridget Jones at the Diamond Valley Baptist Church on Thursday morning.

At the request of their family, Blues skipper Marc Murphy and former captain Chris Judd, the teen's favourite players, signed guernseys with personal notes to the siblings.

"For Bridget", Murphy penned alongside his autograph.

"For Alexander", Judd scrawled as a mark of respect to the Melbourne University student who died trying to shield his sister in the freak Swanston St collapse last month.

Carlton;s run-through banner in honour of Bridget and Alexander Jones. Picture: Michael Klein

Parents Ian and Sue Jones who lost their only children as a result of the incident, paid tribute to them in a notice in the Herald Sun this week.

"Our beautiful children taken from us. Our hearts are broken. How can we go on without you both?"

Carlton players ran through a banner with a tribute message to Alexander, 19, and Bridget, 18, before last week's blockbuster against Collingwood at the MCG.

The collapse also killed 33-year-old researcher Marie-Faith Fiawoo.

The Jones family has requested that mourners donate to Relay for Life instead of buying flowers.

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'I spat in Johnny Rotten's sushi'

A simple interview with former Sex Pistols punk rocker John Lydon turned into a bizarre sexist rant towards host Carrie Bickmore. Credit: Network Ten's The Project, weeknights 6.30pm.

Date/Time: 2013:04:10 11:53:39 Source: news.com.au

PROJECT host Carrie Bickmore is not the first woman to experience the wrath of punk rocker John Lydon.

A Melbourne woman who worked with punk rocker John Lydon spat in his sushi as revenge for his abhorrent behaviour.

Chrissie Vincent-James worked as a publicist for Virgin in the US when Lydon's band the Sex Pistols released an album in 1996.

''I introduced myself to him and he said, 'So? I don't give a s--t'. Now f---off','' Vincent-James said.

''The hotel had sent up all this food but Lydon wanted sushi. He kept ranting 'I want f----ng sushi'. He was being obnoxious to everyone. So I had to go and get him the sushi. And I spat in his sushi. And he ate it.''

Years later Vincent-James told his Sex Pistol bandmate Glen Matlock her gobbing story.

''He thought it was hilarious. He said 'I wish I'd known before I finished writing my book, I would have included that'. He said he wondered how many record company people had spat in Lydon's food because he was so awful to everyone. He is such an a--hole.''

Lydon has made headlines after an interview on The Project, where he told host Carrie Bickmore to ''shut up'' and said ''Now listen, when a man is talking do not interrupt.''

Bickmore told a radio station that the show had nearly dropped the interview altogether ''and then I thought no, there are people that would love him and they need to see that they're like that.''

''I never want to be rude to a guest but it got to the point where I was like, you know what, we're wasting our time here.''

''There's a difference between being controversial and being rude and when he was telling me to shut up and to never interrupt a man and stuff I was just like that is disgusting."

The 57-year-old has been labelled a sexist and misogynist on social media and a ''pig'' by Project co-host Andrew Rochford.

Today Lydon told reporters he could not tell whether the hosts asking him questions via satellite on The Project were male or female.

''There were a lot of people shouting all at once and I couldn't quite make out who was what. Some really silly idiotic words have been bandied about since. It's quite clear to me I'm not sexist, I'm not a misogynist. I don't know if these are males or females at the other end. Basically they sounded like hyenas. And you have to tell a hyena to shut it from time to time. My only enemies are governments and institutions. Certainly not women. I've been married to one for 30 years, and we love each other.''

Lydon also turned the sexist claim back on Bickmore.

''If someone's going to keep interrupting you and don't let you finish a sentence you're going to have to say something at some point, whether it be male or female . . . it was sexist on her part not mine.''

Vincent-James was not surprised by his behaviour on The Project.

''That's typical him,'' Vincent-James said.

''That was mild compared to what I'd seen. But he's not just rude to women, he's rude to everyone. He was horrible to work with. He gets away with it all the time because he's Johnny Rotten. Maybe he was having problems with the audio, but it's not funny and it's not necessary.''

Vincent-James said Lydon even spat in the face of a key record company boss at a dinner party.

''He doesn't care who you are. He would just scare people and yell and scream at them. I hate that man.''

Bickmore took to Twitter today to thank those who supported her after Lydon's outburst.

After the show she Tweeted ''My mum always told me never to stoop to someone else's level. Must have been preparing me for Johnny Rotten. #johnnyrottenknob.''

Bickmore also got Twitter love from Guy Sebastian, who said ''Saw that interview, wat a knob that bloke is. Sorry u had 2 endure that. I'd love to buy him at my price and sell him at his.''

The incident is the latest clip from The Project involving Bickmore to become an online hit, following her accidental C-bomb and falling down during a live cross.

A publicist for Public Image Limited, Lydon's other band who are touring Australia this week, did not respond to requests for comment from Lydon.

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No penalty for hitting police dog

El-Amir Abdul Hamid El-Ayoubi outside the Downing Centre Coyurt / Pic: Anthony Reginato Source: The Daily Telegraph

HE admitted clubbing a police dog on the head with a stick during last year's Muslim riots.

But a Sydney magistrate yesterday threw out all charges against El-Amir Abdul Hamid El-Ayoubi, ruling he could have been acting in self-defence when he hit german shepherd Manchu.

He was accused of animal cruelty and spitting on the dog's handler, Senior-Constable Alex Seivl, during the September riot in Sydney's CBD.

Yesterday the Downing Centre Local Court was told the 20-year-old electrician was "afraid" after seeing dogs "let loose" on other protesters.

He grabbed a 20cm stick from the ground as rioters flung bottles and other missiles at police, who were standing in front of him with their dogs.

Senior-Constable Seivl said El-Ayoubi had spat on his chest from about 3m away - then came at him with the stick "screaming out in another language".

He said El-Ayoubi started beating Manchu with the stick before the dog grabbed his leg and the officer managed to tackle him to the ground.

Sen-Constable Seivl said El-Ayoubi looked "extremely angry" when he picked up the stick and started waving it at him before the attack.

El-Ayoubi denied ever spitting on the policeman but admitted he hit the dog twice on the head "out of raw emotion" after it grabbed him.

"No matter who it is, they're going to go for a strike to the head (to try) to get the canine off him," he told police.

Magistrate Elizabeth Ryan said she accepted El-Ayoubi had spat during the incident and said his wielding of the stick was "not the wisest course".

But she said there were no witnesses who backed Senior-Constable Seivl's claims of being hit with saliva and she was not convinced El-Ayoubi had lashed out before the dog bit him.

El-Ayoubi told police some young men involved in the riots had "testosterone coming out of the heads" but described himself as a "minor cripple" due to a knee reconstruction.

"The whole time I was just sitting back ... just being a part of the Islamic part of it, not the violent part of it," El-Ayoubi said.

Several men were arrested after the riots, which began as a protest against a YouTube clip posted overseas that mocked Islam.

Speaking after yesterday's decision, El-Ayoubi's lawyer Paul McGirr said his client was "very, very relieved" at the magistrate's ruling.

"He's a good boy and he's never been in trouble before," he said.

"His sister came to support him in court. He lost his father a few years ago and he's the man of the house.

"The decision meant a lot to them."

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Drug-fuelled 'doof' parties go unnoticed

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 09 April 2013 | 22.16

A new type of rave party, known as a 'doof', is emerging in Perth's outskirts. Source: Supplied

A SECRET drug culture is bubbling just beneath the surface in the Perth Hills.

Doofs - similar to rave parties - are operating illegally in deserted areas of State Forest in the region.

The underground culture, which had its origins in the hippy communes in northern NSW and south-east Queensland in the '70s, is growing in popularity.

More than 2000 people attended a dance party, or doof, in the Hills over the Easter long weekend, where revellers allegedly consumed large amounts of alcohol and illicit drugs, including the hallucinogenic LSD, ecstasy and cannabis.

The doofs typically involve a massive sound system playing loud, bass-heavy electronic music. It is for this reason they are usually held in deserted places where police interference is unlikely.

The isolation of doof sites, which are often several kilometres from the nearest populated area, makes their policing almost impossible.

Neither the Department of Environment and Conservation, which manages WA's State Forests, nor WA police are aware of the illegal Hills doofs.

A police spokesman said Drug Squad detectives "have never heard about these incidents".

A DEC spokesman said there had not been any prosecutions of major offences committed in State Forests in the past two years and the department was unaware of any upcoming cases.

Perth link in search for fugitive mum

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

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

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

Reya Lunetta age progression image. Picture: National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Source: Supplied

Friend says fugitive mum is living in Sydney
Abducted daughter is 'smart, healthy, happy'
Brozzi Lunetta makes film to help daughter Reya find him

A FUGITIVE mum who has been on the run in Australia for more than a decade is understood to be living in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

Norwegian singer, Camilla Ellefsen Lunetta, abducted her daughter Reya from the United States of America in 2002 amid a bitter custody dispute.

The single mother then fled with Reya to Norway and India before arriving in Perth in August 2003 on a Norwegian passport.

Both resided in the Perth suburb of Fremantle until February 2004 when they travelled to the eastern states.

Despite getting close, Australian authorities have failed to find them.

A friend of Ms Ellefsen Lunetta, who does not want to be identified, has told news.com.au that Ms Ellefsen Lunetta and her 11-year-old daughter have been living in Sydney for years.

"I've known her for a few years," she said.

"While I didn't know her full story she was not secretive about the fact that she didn't feel she could be public.

"It was pretty clear she was keeping a low profile because she didn't want to be found by her ex-partner.

"So she wasn't living a double life as such. She was pretty honest about her challenge."

The friend, a health professional, said she was in regular mobile phone contact with the 39-year-old.

"I would consider her someone I know socially ... she was a friend," she said.

"I haven't seen her for a few months but she texts me regularly and asks to meet up.

"When she came to dinner and we went out for drinks she was a very normal grounded woman but very nervous and very in fear of her own safety.

"She was also a very good mother."

This comes after news.com.au last month revealed Reya's desperate dad, Brozzi Lunetta, had made a movie to help him find his missing daughter.

Mr Lunetta said he wrote and produced fictional film, Reya, after losing faith in the Australian authorities' ability to locate her.

The friend, who lived next-door to the pair for two years, said Ms Ellefsen Lunetta was clearly scared of being found.

"That's why she home-schooled her daughter and she moved house often," she said.

"She said she was scared of becoming public or living a more visible life."

California Superior Court documents obtained by News Ltd indicate Mr Lunetta was awarded sole custody of the child in 2002 after Ms Ellefsen Lunetta failed to comply with a court order related to custody arrangements.

Since arriving in Australia, Ms Ellefsen Lunetta has used alias names including Zelma Singer, Camilla Ellerson and Camilla Sullivan, while Reya had been called Hira, which means diamond in Hindi.

But news.com.au can reveal that Ms Ellefsen Lunetta and her daughter no longer use these names.

The friend said Reya had played with her son when the women socialised.

"Her daughter is very well adjusted, happy, creative, and smart," she said.

"She's a very smart, healthy, happy girl.

"There's no area of concern."

It is also understood a man from Lismore, who Ms Ellefsen Lunetta was in a long-term relationship with, has acted as a father figure to the abducted child.

"She was in a long-term relationship with a guy who brought up her daughter," the friend said.

"As far as I know he still looks after the daughter."

The man, who lived with the pair at Goonengerry in northern NSW, has repeatedly ignored interview requests from News Ltd.

The musician now lives with his new partner at Vaucluse, in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

The matter is currently the subject of a Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction application.

Both Australia and the United States of America are signatories to the Convention.

The Department of the Attorney-General, whose role is to oversee international child abductions involving Australia, refuses to comment on cases bound by the Hague Convention to protect the privacy of those involved.

The AFP has refused to confirm whether its investigation is suspended but urged anyone with information about the pair's location to contact their local police.

This comes after a series of AFP blunders throughout the investigation, including a bungled raid in May 2006, in which the mother and child escaped.

It is understood the investigation folded shortly after the incident when leads on the pair's location dried up.

The FBI confirmed its investigation was ongoing.

"There are currently no developments to announce publicly," an FBI spokeswoman told news.com.au.

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

The WA Police Missing Persons Investigations Unit issued a new release in January.

"Despite extensive inquiries by police her current whereabouts are not known," it says.

"Concern is held for her safety and welfare."

Mr Lunetta, who now lives in his ex-wife's home country of Norway, said he was considering a fourth trip to Australia to try to find his daughter.

"I feel like we're getting closer," he said.

"Everyone in my life says this is the year.

"It would make sense that the year my son was born would be the year I found my daughter."

The filmmaker, who became a dad again this year, said he would willingly relinquish sole custody of Reya in order to be a part of her life.

"Camilla going to a US prison doesn't help my daughter whatsoever so if there is any way we can arrange … to bring Reya to Norway and let her have two separate loving homes, I would sign over my custody," he said.

Mr Lunetta, who has remarried, said he could provide Reya with a stable home.

"My intention is not to take (Reya) back to Los Angeles," he said.

"I have a very strong foundation now within the community here in Oslo.

"I have a seven-week-old son here. I live on a beautiful farm.

"We're living the dream apart from this one element of this nightmare that follows me around."

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

Reya Lunetta
* also known as Hira Singer
* blue eyes
* a brown birthmark on sole of her foot
* a red birthmark on rear of head
* DOB 19/06/2001

Camilla Ellefsen Lunetta
* also known as Zelma Singer
* 173cm tall
* blue/grey eyes
* wavy dark hair
* speaks perfect English with a slight northern European accent
* brown birthmark on left forearm
* tattoo of own profile on her left shoulder blade 7cm x 7cm
* a chip in her front tooth
* DOB 02/12/1973

Source: WA Police

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The absolute worst thing to say to a woman

So. Annoying. Picture: Thinkstock Source: Supplied

IT's something that many of you may have discovered the hard way.

If there's one way to make a woman feel fat, it's asking them when their baby is due when they're not pregnant.

Now the phrase "When's the baby due?" has been voted the worst possible thing you can say to a woman in a poll.

A quarter of 500 females polled named it as their pet hate - and said a surprising number of men still think it an acceptable question to ask.

In second place of annoying phrases was: "Yes, your bum looks big", with 17 per cent saying it should be avoided at all costs even if true.

Meanwhile, 13 per cent said they could not stand their partners saying, "You look tired" and 12 per cent resented the phrase, "Calm down dear".

Next on the list of annoyances was a man asking "Will you need a hand parking that, luv?" followed by, "You look more like your mother every day".

Some of those polled by leisure website Paintballing.co.uk also said they could not stand being told "I told you so".

What phrases do you hate hearing? Tell us below

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'We're sick of fat people whingeing'

"We're sick of fat people complaning and moaning," say Julius and Sharny Kieser. Source: AP

Sharny and Julius Kieser, personal trainers who focus on the fit and healthy Source: Supplied

Julius and Sharny Kieser are sick of fat people
Obese people are "like dole bludgers"
Fit people deserve more support

FAT people are exactly like dole bludgers. They complain, whinge and take everything they can for free without taking responsibility for their health.

That's the bold view of Julius and Sharny Kieser, the Queensland-based personal training team, who are also husband and wife, who run a dynamic health and fitness business focused purely on benefiting people who are already fit.

"We're sick of fat people complaining and moaning about their weight, like they are victims. There is a small proportion of obese people who genuinely need help. The problem is the other group of people who are fat and lazy; who just take advantage of all the help that is out there because they think they deserve it," said Julius.

"Twenty years ago it was mean to point out the one fat kid in the class, because he or she genuinely had a problem. But now, 80 to 90 per cent of us are overweight if not obese and it's become un-PC to say anything about that."

Julius believes there is now even a backlash against fit people. So instead of fat people being made to feel awkward, he says that fit people are often made to feel bad about making their health a priority.

"Bad health is one of the worst things you can have, probably our most poignant problem in the world today," Julius says. "That said, having a drug addiction and poor financial health are probably just as bad.

"Fit people can be influenced by the people around them. As they steadily choose to live a healthy life they can become side-tracked by the people closest to them, like their husband or wife. We give them advice and tips to help them keep going on the healthy path. Hopefully this will widen the gap so that they'll eventually inspire other people around them to live healthily too," said Julius.

Athletes and CEOS make up the bulk of the couple's clientele and both present unique training challenges.

"Fit people aren't all size eight, they come in all shapes and sizes. Fit people come in all shapes and sizes; it's about the part of the brain that they allow themselves to rely on. The' fit' part of the brain that encourages exercise and healthy eating and the 'fat' brain which is lazy and tells you not to bother," said Sharny.

Time is the biggest constraint for people in high-powered positions.

"It's common for CEOS that we train to be time poor, but we teach them how to be entrepreunial about their fitness. Instead of taking an hour out of your day, and conserving your energy throughout the hour, we encourage them to use intensity. Fifteen or twenty minute sessions where they are working at their peak," said Julius.

The couple also focuses on reminding their clients that it's not selfish to focus on making health and exercise a priority.

"When people are time poor they can feel guilty about taking time out from family to exercise, but the truth is if you don't look after yourself, you cannot look after anyone else," said Julius.

Julius and Sharny's lessons for a healthy life

1. Don't accept that you're fat. "You should be uncomfortable about it, you should be ashamed about it. You need to do something about it."

2. Only you know your body, listen to it and trust yourself. Notice how certain foods and exercise make you feel and adapt them into your life or learn to live without them.

3. Realise that you are the leader in your life. Be inspiring to yourself and those around you by committing to your health and fitness goals. Give them everything you have got.

4. When it comes to diet, only change one thing at a time. Don't try and cut out grains and sugar and alcohol all at once. Try one thing and notice the effect it has on your body before you take it on board long-term.

Check out their website for details of their books and more information.

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Barnett: Geraldton arrival 'serious security breach'

The New Zealand flag flies from the boat carrying Sri Lankan asylum seekers. Picture: Graeme Gibbons Source: News Limited

A GROUP of 66 people on board a boat that sailed into Geraldton, 400 kilometres north of Perth, today are now destined for Christmas Island, according to statement from the immigration department.

It is believed to be the first boat to reach the mainland so close to Perth.

Barely 430km north of Perth, the coastal centre is more than 2000km south of Christmas Island where asylum seekers coming to Australia are usually intercepted.

The Sri Lankan passengers pulled into the harbour on their overcrowded vessel around midday (WST), stunning witnesses.

Authorities are unsure how the vessel reached so far south and believe the crew may have set the wrong course.

The boat-load of Sri Lankan asylum seekers arrived in Geraldton around midday. Picture: Graeme Gibbons

Immigration officials will make arrangements ''as soon as possible'' for their transfer to the island's detention facilities.

Under existing legislation, asylum seekers who reach the mainland will avoid being sent to processing centres on Nauru or Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.

Federal Labor is seeking to change this, with legislation currently before the Senate.

Asylum seekers on the vessel have held up a sign saying, "We want to go to New Zealand. Please help us.''

The boat carrying Sri Lankan asylum seekers pulled into Geraldton harbour this afternoon. Picture: Twitter

The boat is believed to have been at sea for 44 days.

It is believed the Sri Lankans want to be sent to New Zealand because the government has voluntarily and involuntarily returned about 1000 Sri Lankans since August last year.

The vessel was met by a pilot boat in Geraldton harbour with WA Police now on the scene.

"Customs and Border Protection have advised a suspected irregular entry vessel arrived within the harbour limits of Geraldton this afternoon,'' a spokesman for Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said.

An overcrowded asylum-seeker boat with around 72 people on board has pulled into Geraldton, 400 kilometres north of Perth. Courtesy GDTV Productions

"Initial indications suggest there are 66 people on board.

"Customs and Border Protection officers and Western Australian Police are responding to the arrival.''

Geraldton Port Authority chief executive officer Peter Klein said a response team had set up a processing post for the asylum seekers.

"Police and Customs have been notified and are on the scene,'' he said.

WA Police Inspector Dominic Wood said the boat had arrived in Geraldton under its own steam.

Inspector Wood said a Customs vessel had towed the boat into harbour where it is now moored.

"We are trying to determine where the refugees are from,'' he said.

"At this time the asylum seekers are still on their vessel and are complying with police and Customs.''