Car stealer 'shot over drug debt'

Damien Phillip Mathews and Hayden Shane Wayne Joseph are on trial in the Supreme Court for the murder of Jeremia Iskander, 21, who was shot in the chest at close range in December 2011. Source: Supplied

A STAND-OFF between two former friends after a $20,000 car was stolen to settle a drug debt ended in the murder of one of them, the WA Supreme Court has heard.

Damien Phillip Mathews and Hayden Shane Wayne Joseph are on trial for the murder of Jeremia Iskander, 21, who was was shot in the chest at close range on December 2, 2011.

Prosecutor Amanda Forrester said in her opening address on Monday that Mathews had fired the fatal shot, but Joseph was involved in its planning and was therefore equally culpable.

The court heard Mr Iskander had been friends with Joseph for several years but they had fallen out because Joseph owed him money.

Ms Forrester said Joseph's car was stolen on November 13 to force him to pay his debt to Mr Iskander.

She said Joseph believed Mr Iskander was driving the car and doing burnouts, "rubbing his nose" in his loss.

The court heard Joseph and Mathews confronted Mr Iskander in a driveway and the three men, as well as a woman who accompanied the accused men, had an argument.

Mr Iskander accused Joseph of wanting to fight only when other people were around and said he would rather have a "one-on-one" with Joseph, Ms Forrester said.

Instead, Mathews shot Mr Iskander in the chest and the accused men fled, she said.

An ambulance took Mr Iskander to Joondalup Health Campus, where he died.

In the lead-up to the murder and the hours after it, Joseph sent many text messages to friends, indicating in one message that he was responsible for Mr Iskander's death, Ms Forrester said.

Joseph and Mathews set fire to the car to destroy evidence and went missing for nine days until they finally turned themselves in, she said.

Police say they found four unfired bullets in the driveway that the prosecution claims came from the gun used in the killing, but no weapon has ever been found.

The defence team has not yet made its opening address.

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Woman teacher 'had sex with boy student'

A WA female teacher has been charged over allegedly starting a sexual relationship with a former student in 2009.

Child Abuse Squad Detectives have charged the 35-year-old woman from a south-east metropolitan suburb, alleging in 2008, the then 13-year-old boy was a student at a Kewdale school.

Officers will allege he and the teacher, who was 31 at the time, developed a friendship, which continued via phone and email after he moved schools in 2009.

That year, police will allege the correspondence then took on a sexual nature and when the boy 14 years old, a physical relationship started.

The woman has been charged with six counts of sexual penetration of a child under 16, and three counts of indecent dealing with a child under 16.

She will appear in Perth Magistrates Court on April 9.

Victims of child abuse or people who know of someone being abused, are asked to contact police on 131 444.
 

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Cot death: Father denies giving baby alcohol

TRAGEDY: A baby has died in Perth's south and found to have had a blood alcohol reading of 0.03 per cent. Source: PerthNow

A TWO-month old baby, who died after being found lying face down in his cot, was later discovered to have a blood alcohol reading of 0.03 per cent, an inquest into his death has heard.

The boy, named only as "Baby Shorn'', died in November 2008 after being found not breathing by his father at their home in Parmelia, in Perth's southern suburbs.

After he was rushed to the local hospital, the 46-day-old boy was given up to a dozen doses of adrenaline, and a faint pulse was detected.

However, after suffering a cardiac arrest and being transferred to Perth, he died two days later.

The tragic death took a mysterious turn when blood samples taken from him on his admission to hospital showed a blood alcohol concentration of 0.03 per cent.

At the opening of an inquest at Perth Coroner's Court today, West Australian deputy state coroner Evelyn Vicker was told the boy's father denied giving any alcohol to his baby.

But he did admit to drinking two cans of bourbon and cola himself before falling asleep on the couch next to the baby's portable cot.

That night was the first time he had looked after his son on his own, after his partner had earlier been admitted to hospital with complications with her caesarean scar.

Senior counsel Kate Ellson, assisting the coroner, said the inquest intended to find out what caused Baby Shorn's death, where the alcohol in his body had come from and whether it was a contributing factor in his death.

Detective Sergeant Terry Rakich, of WA's major crime squad, told the inquest the infant would have been without oxygen for up to an hour when his father brought him to the hospital.

Police searches of the house and the car raised no alarms, and a post-mortem examination found no signs of mistreatment.

But after the discovery of the significant alcohol level, police launched further inquiries - including quizzing the manufacturer of Karicare, the brand of formula Baby Shorn had drunk since birth.

Nutricia provided statements that no alcohol of any type was present in the formula, or the individual ingredients.

The boy's father, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was due to give evidence on today, but was excused until later this week to seek legal advice and family support.

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Bus fires: fleet will stay in service

PREVIOUS FIRE: A bus was destroyed by fire in Munster. Picture: Richard Polden Source: PerthNow

PERTH'S gas-fuelled bus fleet will not be taken off the road because it would cripple public transport, despite three of the vehicles catching fire since December last year.

The Public Transport Authority is investigating a bus fire at the Welshpool depot last night which destroyed one gas bus and damaged another.

Last night's blaze involved the third gas bus to catch fire in recent weeks, with the first in December and the second in February.

A bus was destroyed in Munster in a December fire preventing investigators from examining the vehicle.

The bus that caught fire in Bentley last month forced 20 passengers to flee the vehicle but was still tact for investigators.

Each bus is worth about $500,000 and despite $1.5 million of bus now lost to the fires and Transport Workers Union drivers threatening to walk off the job because of safety fears, the vehicles will not be shut down.

"We've got about 1250 buses in the Perth fleet, the gas buses represent about 40 per cent of that," PTA spokesman David Hynes said.

"We've got about 500 gas buses, to take them off the road would absolutely cripple the bus services."

Mr Hynes said it was now a matter of the PTA "managing the fires."

"What we've done is, we've installed fire suppression equipment and then after the latest fire in February there was a number of steps put in place," he said.

"One of those was to substantially upgrade the fire suppression equipment that we have.

Each of the gas buses has tubing around the engine bay and when the temperature reaches a certain level, a fire suppression fog is dispersed through seven nozzles into the bay for 45 seconds.

After the February fire, the PTA has moved to increase the number of nozzles to 11 and the spray time to 90 seconds.

"That upgrade, and it's a fairly major upgrade, will take place on every gas bus we have and work on that actually starts this week," Mr Hynes said.

Mr Hynes said the works were originally planned to finish by June 30 but those works will now be sped up.

He also said the PTA was working closely with the drivers, contractors and union in fixing the problem.

"I can understand the drivers would be concerned, we're doing everything we can," he said.

Mercedes and the investigators are working with the PTA to find a solution, with all the planned upgrades expected to cost $1.5 million.

"We're working to stop the fires completely, but if we can't stop the fires the next best thing is to put it out immediately," Mr Hynes said.

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Boy dies as asylum boat hit by waves

Footage from Nine shows asylum seekers arriving at Christmas Island after a boat carrying 95 capsized, killing two.

A YOUNG boy was among two asylum seekers killed yesterday after a terrifying series of waves smashed a dangerously overcrowded asylum boat, with the latest tragedy coming as three more boats arrived.

Traumatised Customs staff plucked 93 survivors from waters 14NM north of Christmas Island, including a seriously ill pregnant woman, aged in her 20s, and a boy, aged six to seven.

The pair ingested water and diesel from the surface of the water and were in a serious condition with breathing difficulties.

Children and their parents who survived the tragedy arrived at Christmas Island around 2pm, three hours after the disaster.

Customs staff are caring for two traumatised officers who had boarded the overcrowded 12-15m Indonesian fishing boat moments before two waves slammed into it in swells of between 1-2.5 metres.

Rescued passengers receive medical care after a suspected asylum seeker boat carrying 95 people capsized off Christmas Island killing two. (AAP Image/Sharon Tisdale)

The vessel, carrying mostly Afghans, was the latest in a string of arrivals, including another vessel with 128 on board which was found on the weekend, with the government bracing for more boats as monsoonal conditions ease.

Last night it was revealed another three boats, carrying almost 150 people, had arrived over the previous 24 hours.

Since Saturday seven vessels have arrived, carrying more than 430 people, taking March's total to 1583.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard last night said: "I worry every time we hear that a boat is out on the water, too many people have lost their lives getting on these very dangerous boats, paying people smugglers to do so and what a dreadful tragedy this is."

A passenger on the stricken vessel had made a distress call to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority's Rescue Coordination Centre at 9.30pm Sunday night, almost six hours after it was first spotted by a Customs Dash 8 surveillance plane.

Customs vessel the Ocean Protector was sent from Christmas Island at 10.13pm Sunday and spotted the asylum boat 33NM north of Christmas Island.

Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said the vessel was underway and "did not appear to be in distress" and Customs staff waited until first light at 7am (11am AEST) to board.

The vessel stopped to allow Customs staff on board, making it more vulnerable to the two unexpected waves which slammed into it, swamping the hull with water, he said.

"Two officers from Customs and Border Protection Command boarded the vessel, about that time two large waves hit the vessel, the vessel rolled and a number of people entered the water," Mr Clare said.

"The two Customs and Border Protection officers were recovered and are safe. The men and women of protection command acted quickly to rescue the people from the water.

"The men and women of border protection command have experienced another tragic event, two of our men and women have been on board that vessel when it foundered, they went into the water, it is very important we provide them with support services and counselling."

Counsellors were being flown from WA.

Survivors still face being sent to Nauru or Manus Island to have refugee claims processed, Mr Clare said.

Border Protection Command Commander Rear Admiral David Johnston said the Customs officers had approached the vessel in a small rib boat, leaving the larger Ocean Protector 300m away.

He said it was safer to wait until the sun rose to attempt a boarding.

"We are confident we rescued all those we saw in the water," he said.

HMAS Maitland was patrolling the surround area yesterday but it was not expected any more asylum seekers had drowned.

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Radio star battles Parkinson's

6PR talkback host Howard Sattler has recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.   Source: News Limited

RADIO veteran Howard Sattler isn't the type of person to do anything quietly, let alone die quietly.

So the 6PR talkback host has vowed to fight tooth and nail to stay on air despite being recently diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

In an effort to spread awareness and support research for Parkinson's, Sattler has opened up about how he is battling the condition and what keeps him fighting.

Howard Sattler wakes suddenly. It is dark and he is terrified - a feeling he has become familiar with over the past few months. The fog of dreams and nightmares clears and he remembers where he is. He's in a situation he does not want to be in, doing things he does not want to do.

It's hard, it's frightening and it's a battle he can only fight on his own. There is one thing keeping him going - fear. Fear of the alternative. Fear of what will happen to him if he gives up.

"Get up," Sattler urges himself. "If I don't get through this I'm going to get shot dead in the middle of a jungle."

It is 1969. Sattler is a 23-year-old cadet journalist and he is one of thousands of young men who have been conscripted for military service in the Vietnam War.

Sattler knows his best chance of avoiding a bullet to the head in the middle of a Vietnamese jungle is to avoid being sent to the middle of a Vietnamese jungle.

So after he finishes basic training as a soldier, he signs up for six months of intensive testing to become an officer. If he can pass the gruelling course through unforgiving terrain in a remote area of New South Wales, he will land a cushy job in Perth working in public relations for the army. If he fails the course, he will find himself scouting for enemy guerrilla fighters intent on sending a bullet through his brain.

And this is why, despite the exhaustion and biting cold, he wrenches himself up, pulls on the drenched clothes in his leaking hutchie and begins to wake the other trainees for a simulated war mission.

It was raining, Sattler remembers. "We did these role-play exercises. I was the platoon sergeant and I had to get everyone up and ready.

"One bloke says: `That's it. I'm not going. I can't take this anymore.' I say: `Mate, you've got to or they'll kick you off the course. You'll finish up a forward scout in Vietnam if you don't come with me now.'

"But he wouldn't come with me. A truck came and took him away. He was disappeared - that's what they called it. 

"I just thought: `Jeez, if I don't get through this I'm going to be out in the jungle somewhere watching out for people in trees to shoot me -- and sadly a lot of poor bastards were.

"It was six months of intense non-stop training. It was the hardest six months of my entire life. It changed my life completely. I just kept saying: `I'm going to do this. I'm going to get through it.'

"I'm no coward, but I think walking around a jungle somewhere with a rifle in my hand, waiting to get shot, is a waste of time.''

The six-month course was Sattler's school of hard knocks, which became part of his transition from a self-professed lazy bastard of a kid to a petrified digger-in-training to the stubborn, feisty character familiar to thousands of radio listeners today. He believes this sink-or-swim test of guts helped prepare him for the daily battle his life has now become.

Sattler's alarm blares.  It is 2013. Every ounce of his being wants to close his eyes and go back to sleep, but one thing forces him to rip the sheets off his bed and get up – fear. Fear of the alternative. Fear of what will happen to him if he gives up.

Sattler is 68 years old, but retirement never crosses his mind - it's as good as giving up the ghost, he reckons.

He now realises though, that he may not have a choice in the matter.

The Parkinson's condition he was diagnosed with last year has been gradually getting worse - coiling a tightening hand around his throat, stifling and slurring his once forceful voice. The symptoms are a constant reminder of his own mortality -- weakening his movements and stiffening his limbs as if rigor mortis is already trying to set in.

But Howard Sattler isnt the kind of person who will do anything quietly, let alone die quietly.

And this is why, despite the weariness and the early hour, Sattler wrenches himself up just as he did when he was a 23-year-old desperately trying to avoid a bullet to the head, and prepares for his daily exercise sessions.

"It'd be that easy to lie down, throw a doona over my head and give up and just die,'' Sattler says. "It crosses my mind that this is just all too hard, but I've got to do it. If I don't do it, I'm going to go downhill really quickly.

"I can go back to sleep, seize up and become atrophied or I can give it a shot. I want to hold the line and probably, hope for a miracle, I want to beat this thing."

So, he gets out of bed and asks "How bad is it today?". Sattler's wife, Despene, listens to his slurring, nearly incomprehensible voice and tells him: "You're a bit off," so he gets to work.

Before his morning exercise session at the pool with a personal trainer, he must first limber up. He grasps his bottom lip and tongue and starts yanking his mouth around wildly, stretching his mouth open, up, down and to each side.

"I've got to keep pliable," Sattler explains. "I've got to be like a rubber man."

He stretches his legs, arms, back and neck flailing his limbs around like an out-of-control windmill. If he doesn't look strange enough yet, now come the voice exercises. Sattler breathes in deeply, holds it, and suddenly forces the air out of his lungs all at once like an over-zealous accordion-player. He screws up his face into flamboyant expressions and shouts out long vowels as if casting a demon out of his body. In many ways, he is. Besides medication, the best way to manage Parkinson's is constant exercise.

The routine is repeated several times every day, especially during his radio segments. After talking the audience to each ad break, Sattler jumps out from behind the microphone and begins stretching and whirling around. He takes his mouth and tongue in forefinger and thumb and contorts his jaw into various positions, then starts spitting out nonsensical sounds in the middle of the studio. Thankfully the microphone is off.

Sattler is not taking a single second on-air for granted. He's come a long way in the past year by doggedly sticking to his exercise routines and special therapies, which include acupuncture and physiotherapy sessions, gym workouts, massages, long walks, fun runs and golf excursions.

When he first started displaying symptoms in 2011, irate radio listeners rang up accusing him of being drunk on air.

No one knew what was wrong and his condition deteriorated to the point that 6PR management was forced to take him off air for his own good, while he figured out what was going on.

"I was talking Swahili,'' Sattler says. "It got to the stage where no one could understand me.''

It became difficult to walk and he began limping, dragging his body around like the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

His symptoms were quickly getting worse as he was passed from doctor to doctor. His movements became more and more restricted and his voice became less and less coherent. Time was running out as the radio talk-back host was robbed of his defining identity his voice.

"Compared to some other people's conditions, it's nothing, but for me it was everything because this is my career,'' Sattler says. "If I can't speak properly, I'm gone. I want to do radio until I die. I've always said there's only one thing that would take me off the air - my voice.

"They can wheel me in, I could be paralysed, but if I can speak, I'll be OK. And the one bloody thing that has been attacked is my voice.''

Finally in June last year, after two wrong diagnoses, a specialist confirmed Sattler had a form of Parkinson's.

"I asked him: `Is this career-ending?' He said: `No, between all of us, we can keep you going if you do all the treatment and take the medicine and do the exercises.'  "I said: `I'll be in that.'

"So every ad break I'm up doing something and I find that I improve out of sight. If I don't do it, I just go off. I must keep moving, I can't stop. That's what it's all about.

"It's the biggest challenge of my life. Every day I wake up and think: I've got a challenge. I don't wake up complacent.

"Parkinson's is like a mob boss - it doesn't kill people directly, but once it comes into your life, you are held hostage to its whims.''

The condition strikes without warning and slowly robs sufferers of many of the joys in life, until eventually leading to myriad other problems that can cause premature death.

Parkinson's nurse specialist Janet McLeod said a growing number of Australians were affected by the condition partly due to our ageing population, with more than 6000 currently diagnosed in WA.

"Parkinson's affects people differently," Ms McLeod says. There is no cure, but there are treatment options.

"One of the biggest issues is that people get frustrated they aren't able to express themselves properly, because their voice may become quieter or they're unable to use facial expressions.

"When a smile breaks through on a person with Parkinson's face, it's just so beautiful because it's in such stark contrast to the stiff mask expression that is usually there.

"The communication difficulties can be very frustrating for people's partners, so it's really important for loved ones to be patient.''

Sattler's wife Despene is ever supportive, but the radio veteran says she is his biggest concern.

"I'm scared for my wife, because it wouldn't be fair to her,'' Sattler says. "Despene is the most important thing to me.

"I want to have a good life with her. I want to travel with her. I want to take her to Italy. I just want to be well for her. I don't want her to have a cot case. I don't want her to ever be pushing some bloke around in a wheelchair.

"She lost her mother and her father in the past 10 years and it shattered her. I thought to myself then: `The one thing I'm never going to do is be a liability to you', and now the prospect looms that I could be. I don't want to be and I don't intend to be''.

The other woman central to Sattler's life is his radio show producer Kate Cuthbert. Under directions from his wife, she tells Sattler the brutal truth when Despene is not there to give him the kick-start he needs.

Some people close to Sattler worry about his changed, sometimes faltering, appearance, describing him as gaunt, terrible, but Ms Cuthbert says he is managing OK.

"He hasn't stopped doing a million and one things,'' Ms Cuthbert says. "It was really hard, watching him when he was at his worst, but since he was diagnosed properly and started treatment, he's got his fire back.''

The severity of Sattler's symptoms change from hour to hour, depending on how well he is keeping up with his exercises.

And it goes up and down depending on how tired he is, Kate explains. "He's just very cautious and takes a lot of time to rest to make sure he's physically able to perform well on air."

If Sattler is in denial about how bad his symptoms have become, perhaps it's a good thing. As with some of his arguments on air, a blind faith in his ability to overcome his opponent may be helping him stick to his constant exercise regime, even as others fear the worst.

Sattler certainly believes that getting through the intense army officer training ordeal helped spawn the relentless, single-minded doggedness that first made him popular with radio listeners and is now helping him beat Parkinson's.

In fact, he thinks that unleashing his aggressive attack-dog radio persona helps him fight the disease, which is thought to be caused by a lack of dopamine in the brain.

"When I do the go-for-the-jugular type interviews and nasty things are said, and I savage them unashamedly, I find that the adrenalin flows and somehow it helps the dopamine (levels). So when I go for it, I still go for it.

"It's good to have one of those interviews early in the program. It seems to keep me going through the program.''

Cuthbert also notices an improvement in his performance after an aggressive encounter on air: "If he has a nice big fight with a politician, I know it's going to be a good program."

Sattler's belligerent nature and sometimes divisive commentary has spawned countless critics and even enemies during his decades in the media industry, so when news spread of his current plight, the reaction surprised him.

"I always had the impression that everybody hated me because I'm aggressive and have a go at people, but it appears not,'' Sattler says. "People were ringing into the station to pass on their sympathy and wish me well.

"I'm not the type of person who tries to conjure up love of me. I just thought most people would say: `Too bad, mate. You're in a rough and tumble world and you're pretty nasty at times, disrespectful, it serves you right.'

"But people didn't say that at all. There's some nice people out there. It brought a few tears to my eyes.''

Howard Sattler's words are still slightly slurred, despite his regular exercises, but clearly brimming with hatred, frustration and fear of the degenerative disorder trying to suck the life out of him and thousands of other Australians.

"There are a lot of people suffering out there with much more serious conditions that I could ever imagine,' Sattler says. "I want to try and help them by raising funds or encouraging people to really tackle it head on. Don't just lay there and take the pill that won't do it.''

If Sattler had never faced death as a terrified youngster, would he have the same dogged hunger for life?

"The (army training) taught me that there's nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it,'' Sattler muses. "I've kept it with me all my life. All those years have gone by and I think the training has stood me in good stead for this fight with Parkinson's. Now I'm saying: `I'm just going to beat it.'

"My motivation is I think of the alternative. The alternative is too awful to contemplate. If I start doing that -- giving in -- then Goodnight.

For more information or to support people with Parkinson's, go to www.Parkinsonswa.org.au 

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All roads lead to inner-city living

Professionals WA chief executive David Hobbs recommends investing in a unit within 4km of the CBD.   Source: News Limited

HOMEOWNERS are giving up on the great Australian dream of a big back yard and turning to inner-city apartments.

Industry experts said traffic congestion and busy work schedules meant an increasing number of West Australians saw city apartments as more convenient.

Professionals WA chief executive David Hobbs said if he had $500,000 to invest in the next 12 months he would be looking for a unit within 4km of the CBD.

"With the traffic jams on freeways and highways in and out of the city, city living is very appealing," he said.

"Low vacancy rates and a shortage of accommodation in Perth's hotels and motels give investors and company executives all the more reason to look at units close to the city. Other areas I would be looking to invest in would be Victoria Park, East Perth, Mt Lawley, Burswood and Highgate.

"The rental market continues to be stretched, with Perth's median rental rate for houses at December 2012 at $489 a week, and $436 a week for units."

Realmark director John Percudani said the popularity of inner-city living was growing as cities became "more vertical and less horizontal".

"At the moment there is a trend towards inner-city living, particularly in apartments even one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartments in the Adelaide Tce and East Perth precinct," he said.

Peter Wright, of inner-city apartment specialist Real Estate 88, said the modern lifestyle suited apartment living.

"Perth has been going through a lifestyle change for the past five to 10 years," he said. "Instead of buying a quarter-acre block with a big back yard, people want easy-maintenance, lock-and-leave places.

" They want to be out socialising or doing things instead of mowing the lawns or cleaning the house."

Mr Wright said there had been a definite increase in sales in the $500,000 to $800,000 range over the past 12 months, but properties worth more than $1 million were still on the market.

Apartments were most popular with investors, downsizing baby boomers and middle-aged professional couples working in the CBD.

Supplying higher-density housing in central Perth was a key directive of the Barnett Government's Affordable

Housing Strategy 2010-2020 to keep pace with WA's growing population.

According to independent government authority Landgate, 1047 units were sold in the central metropolitan area in the past 12 months. East Perth was the best performer in the region. 

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Baby Montana a tiny Easter miracle

Joanne McAuley with baby daughter Montana Bland who was born at 25 weeks gestation.   Source: The Sunday Times

MONTANA Bland is the baby girl who made her doctors believe in the power of determination.

Even her mum Joanne McAuley was sure Easter Sunday last year would forever mark the day her tiny daughter was born and then tragically died. But Montana had other ideas.

Only two weeks after Ms McAuley found out she was pregnant in March last year, little Montana made a surprise Easter entrance into the world at only 25 weeks gestation.

Luckily, she was born at King Edward Memorial Hospital, which has world-class neo-natal equipment and specialists.

But all the equipment and expertise in the world could only do so much. Montana had to fight the rest of the battle.

On her second day of life, her fragile brain starting bleeding out. Two severe bleeds on either side of her head began leaking the 50ml of blood in her body.

Montana's doctor David Baldwin describes her survival as one of the miracles he has witnessed in a career saving premature babies.

"Sometimes it seems as if babies just really want to be here," Dr Baldwin said. "They continue to surprise us on a daily basis.

"The haemorrhages in Montana's brain meant she might not have survived or ended up with more severe neurological problems than she has, and that speaks probably to her abilities than what anyone else was able to do.

"Sometimes the parents or ourselves think the situation is very dire or hopeless and they manage to get through it.

"I think the fact she survived is more an observation of her robustness and strength than our ability to keep her alive.

"She proved she wanted to hang around."

Ms McAuley said she was as amazed at Montana's recovery as hospital staff working around the clock to save her.

"She's just a little fighter," Ms McAuley said. "There's no doubt she's meant to be here.

"When I think back on it, there were so many different things that happened that could have gone bad, but every time she got through it.

"It just makes me think she's here for a reason."

After more than five months in hospital, Montana went home with her mum and six-year-old brother Tyler.

Next Sunday, she will celebrate her first Easter and a week later, her first birthday.

Dr Baldwin urged people to donate blood to help other premature babies such as Montana, who often need several transfusions.

To support The Women and Infants Research Foundation, which undertakes research helping sick babies like Montana, go to wirf.com.au or call 93401437.

To contact the reporter: linda.cann@news.com.au 

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Voters: Gillard is lame duck leader

Julia Gillard with deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan at a press conference in Canberra, March 21, 2013.   Source: News Limited

LABOR's leadership fiasco has trashed the office of the Prime Minister, according to a majority of voters who have also declared Julia Gillard a "lame duck" leader.

In the first opinion poll to ask voters' verdict on the wreckage of Kevin Rudd's final leadership tilt, voters have warned the Prime Minister's third leadership battle victory has not legitimised her.

A majority 60 per cent agree she is a "lame duck" in the lead-up to the September 14 election and 71 per cent believe the office of the Prime Minister has been damaged.

But voters are divided over whether an early election is the answer, with support growing to 44 per cent of voters but still short of a majority.

Support for the Labor Party is unchanged at a rock bottom 32 per cent, a result that would see Ms Gillard preside over the lowest primary vote since the 1930s and lose up to 18 seats.

The exclusive Galaxy Poll has found the majority of voters 52 per cent still believe the Labor Party made the wrong decision rejecting Mr Rudd.

Tomorrow, the Prime Minister is likely to announce her second major frontbench reshuffle in just seven weeks after four ministers were sacked or quit over the failed Rudd coup.

The fate of Aged Care Minister Mark Butler still hung in the balance yesterday amid suggestions some senior frontbenchers were cautioning against sacking him.

Gillard backers had been calling for Mr Butler's head with one describing him as "gutless' for not falling on his sword after he was linked to the Rudd camp, but the Prime Minister praised him as an "able minister".

"I'll deal with the ministerial reshuffle in coming days," Ms Gillard said.

Another Rudd backer, Anthony Albanese, also broke his silence over claims he was Mr Rudd's choice as deputy prime minister, acknowledging the former prime minister had been "supportive of my political contribution".

"(But) I have never asked for support as deputy. There was and is no vacancy," Mr Albanese told The Sunday Times.

"I would never run against Wayne Swan."

According to the Galaxy Poll, which included a national sample of 1005 voters and was held over Friday and yesterday, a majority of voters 55 per cent also believe Mr Rudd has been true to his word not to challenge, rather than acting as a prima donna.

In an olive branch to the Prime Minister, Mr Rudd yesterday announced he would campaign with her in Queensland if she wished to deploy his popularity to save the party from a looming electoral massacre.

But the Prime Minister's announcement of a September 14 election date may not be final if some MPs have their way.

With Opposition Leader Tony Abbott planning a no-confidence motion for May 14 that could terminate the Government and force Australians to an early poll, key independents have urged Ms Gillard to lift her game.

"I tell you what, if the Government doesn't start showing some stability and some competency I think it is going to struggle to get the numbers when that motion of no confidence does come up," independent MP Andrew Wilkie said.

Liberal frontbencher Malcolm Turnbull said the Opposition was not asking the independents to hand the Coalition power, but for an early election.

"We are not asking to be made the government," he said. "We are not asking the independents for a baton change. We're just saying let the people decide."

Likely winners from the Cabinet reshuffle are Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare, David Bradbury, Catherine King and the so-called faceless men who counted numbers of the Prime Minister, South Australia's Don Farrell and Victoria's David Feeney. Some suggested veteran Victorian MP Michael Danby may even secure a parliamentary secretary gig.

Despite the resignations of Chris Bowen, Martin Ferguson, Senator Kim Carr, and the sacking of senior minister

Simon Crean, Ms Gillard said she "absolutely" had enough talent at her disposal in deciding the make-up of her new Cabinet.

But she flatly ruled out a return to the front bench for Mr Rudd.

"Mr Rudd some time back made clear that his future is as the member for Griffith," she said. "He verified that as recently as yesterday."

samantha.maiden@news.com.au
 

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Father, sons run down at Karrinyup party

A father and his three sons were hit by a car in Karrinyup. Picture: Jordan Shields Source: PerthNow

A MAN and his three sons have been run down in an altercation at a party in Karrinyup last night.

Five men were asked to leave an 18th birthday party being held at a home in Draycott St at about 10pm.

As they were leaving, the group had several altercations with other party-goers.

Some of the men drove away in a gold or maroon Holden Commodore, which side-swiped another vehicle causing damage.

Another man then drove down Draycott Street in a white hatchback a short distance before doing a u-turn and stopping the vehicle.

A 44-year-old father and his three sons, aged between 19 and 24, walked towards the vehicle.

The driver then started the engine and drove towards the men, hitting two of the brothers before making contact with the father and his other son.

The four men were treated in hospital for cuts, bruises and lacerations.

Major Crash officers are investigating.

Police are asking anyone who can assist in the investigation to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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