BEHIND ENEMY LINES: Cops to infiltrate families

WA Police will infiltrate the six worst crime families in Perth by monitoring their day-to-day activities in an attempt to "break the cycle of crime". Picture: File image Source: PerthNow

WA POLICE will infiltrate the six worst crime families in Perth by monitoring their day-to-day activities in an attempt to "break the cycle of crime".

The pilot project will see authorities visiting the families in their homes up to six hours a week and forcing them to take part in programs such as drug and alcohol rehab, mental health counselling, parenting courses and anger management.

Families will even be given help to paint their houses and tidy the gardens in an effort to get them on the straight and narrow.

The "very intensive and persistent approach" will also see transport and childcare arranged so family members can make appointments.

Service workers will also observe the "breakfast routine" of the families to make sure children start the day right – going so far as to accompany kids to school to ensure they go to class.

At the end of the 12-month program, children in the family are required to have 90 per cent school attendance rates.

There must also be an appreciable decrease in police call-outs and anti-social behaviour by family members.

WA Police is advertising for a community service provider to take up the challenge. Applications for the $250,000 contract close next month.

It comes after a similar, though less intense, trial in the south east metropolitan district saw police identify and target the 20 "worst" families in the area.

That trial saw local police give their mobile phone number directly to problem families to become a permanent part of their community.

It resulted in a 43 per cent reduction of calls from those homes.

Crime rates for the whole district have fallen four per cent.

The service provider in the new program is required to visit families selected by police three times a week, as well as being permanently on call.

They have to provide weekly verbal reports to police on the family's progress.

The identity of the families will be kept secret, but police say they need "significant support to reduce intergenerational cycles of poor outcomes, which often results in criminal behaviour."

It will be a last resort to fix families "for whom interventions may not have been successful in the past".

Criminology expert Greg Hall, an Associate Professor at Murdoch University, said strategies like this had been proved to have a "dramatic effect" on crime levels.

"The idea of helping people is vastly more effective than the idea of punishment and policing," he said.

Associate Prof Hall said repainting someone's house – which might seem trivial – actually reduced criminal behaviour by creating pride in the home and community.

And, by targeting the six worst families, police could drastically reduce the overall level of crime in an area at relatively low cost.

"It's a very, very small number of offenders who commit the overwhelming majority of offences," he said.

Acting Deputy Commissioner Paul Zanetti said the program was part of a move toward "proactive problem solving" in WA Police, called Frontline 2020.

The philosophy behind the movement is to free up frontline police officers to target the causes of crime, rather than just cleaning up afterward.

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$100k food fine blamed on droppings

The Rottnest Bakery has recently been fined for hygiene breaches, which the owner blames on quokka droppings. A quokka is seen walking in front of bakery. Source: News Corp Australia

THE Rottnest Island Bakery has been slapped with a $100,000 food hygiene fine – a penalty the owner is blaming on quokka droppings.

A magistrate this week whacked the bakery with the six-figure fine, one of WA's biggest penalties for food hygiene offenc­es.

Bakery owner Ivan Rutherford said Health Department inspectors found quokka droppings in a lane behind the business last August.

The 73-year-old stressed no quokkas had reached the production or retail areas of the bake­ry.

The Rottnest Island Authority has since spent $300,000 redeveloping the lane and a gate has been erected to keep the marsupials out of a new delivery area.

The Rottnest Bakery has recently been fined for hygiene breaches, which the owner blames on quokka droppings.

Mr Rutherford, who has owned the bakery for 24 years, described the $100,000 fine as "ludicrous" and said it had "devastated" staff.

"You will never overcome quokka excrement," he told The Sunday Times yesterday.

"What can you do? You can only coax them to get out of the way – you can't physically touch them."

Mr Rutherford said stopping the creatures from scavenging was a constant battle and he'd even suggested relocating them to the island's west end.

Droppings on the western side of the Rottnest Bakery.

"There is a resistance for them to be removed," he said.

"You cannot discount we are in a bush setting and you cannot discount them coming into busin­esses."

Abellio Pty Ltd, Mr Rutherford's company, was fined $100,000 and ordered to pay $896.60 in costs at Fremantle Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

The bakery was found to have breached the WA Food Act by failing to take all practicable measures to prevent pests entering the premises.

Other offences comprised storing of food in a way that it is protected from the likelihood of contamination and cleanliness of premises and equipment.

Mr Rutherford said inspectors found a pot of meat without a lid, flour on a rack and a hole in the roof caused by a storm the previous week.

He said the business received a certificate of clearance after complying with recommendations, only to be fined eight months later.

Rottnest Bakery is one of 25 eateries named on the Health Department website for food safety offences over the past 12 months.

McDonald's on Read St, Rockingham, was hit with WA's biggest food hygiene penalty when it was ordered to pay $180,000 in September 2012.

Rottnest Island Authority (RIA) chief executive Paolo Amaranti said: "The RIA is very concerned and will continue to work with the Health Department to ensure compliance with health regulations by all Island businesses."

It comes as the island is desperate to increase visitor numbers as more West Australians opt to travel to destinations like Bali instead.

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Strict rules: Ugly parents sin binned

South Perth Lions junior rugby league club manager James "Sully" Sullivan and coach Andrew Cameron are passionate about promoting the safe play message. Source: News Limited

JUNIOR sporting clubs are being forced to introduce codes of conduct for parents to stamp out foul behaviour like "obscene language" or "scolding a child for making a mistake".

Spectators are also told that drinking alcohol on the sidelines is banned and there is a zero tolerance to violence.

Football West – which looks after junior soccer – has even banned national flags and "inappropriate banners, whether written in English or a foreign language" as part of their rules for parents.

Junior Australian rules clubs across WA have been asked to put up a poster reminding parents that coaches are volunteers and umpires are human.

"There is international research that suggests kids do get turned off sport due to over-enthusiastic parents, so it is important for all parents to be aware that their actions and behaviours do impact on a child's willingness to be involved or engaged in sport,'' Mr Tuohey said.

The WA Rugby League has implemented a code of conduct for parents and spectators that forbids complaining or arguing about referee decisions during or after a game.

It warns "unsportsmanlike language, harassment or aggressive behaviour will not be tolerated''.

The sport has introduced the Tough Love in League policy to curb violence in junior games, on field and on the sidelines, which means a spectator who enters the game's playing area "with intent'' would be banned from attending any other junior games for a month and may be fined.

WARL operations manager Murray Newham said they were trying to stamp out bad behaviour completely.

Football West chief executive Peter Hugg said "massive improvements'' had been made in parental behaviour after a Spectator Code of Behaviour was rolled out to clubs.

The code of behaviour condemns violence, racism and ridicule.

WA Cricket Association metropolitan field manager Alan Singer said there were a lot more people coming into the sport from "diverse backgrounds" that don't understand the "spirit of cricket".

Mr Singer said sledging could be common in cricket, so coaches had to educate parents and players that it was not acceptable.

A South Perth Lions junior rugby league club poster made by James Sullivan. Source: Supplied

SIGNS KEEPING IDIOTS ON SIDE AT GAMES

SOMETIMES you just need a "no-idiots'' policy.

South Perth Lions junior rugby league president James "Sully'' Sullivan, who was named National Rugby League Volunteer of the Year in 2012, has created signs to put up at games to remind parents how to act.

The signs read: "Please remember: these are our kids, this is our game, the referees are human.''

"We'll have a sign at each ground,'' he told The Sunday Times.

"Sometimes people get a bit silly, but at least they will see it when they're walking into the ground and it's a bit of a check.

"Instead of us having to go to them and say something, they'll walk in and be aware.''

The Thornlie father has been involved with the team his three sons play in for six years. He currently coaches the under-11s at the club.

"You've got to have a no-idiots policy,'' Mr Sullivan said.

"Some parents have never played the sport and you do get the odd one who lives through the eyes of their children.

"At the end of the day, they're our kids, let's just enjoy the game.''

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WA’s deadliest roads revealed

Booze buses are just one of many police resources blitzing WA roads this Easter. Source: News Limited

THEY are the most lethal stretches of bitumen in the state, the kill or disability zones that motorists need to heed.

A section of the Great Northern Hwy at Newman has the unenviable status of the worst stretch of WA's deadliest road. Of the 82 fatal and serious crashes on the highway in the past five years, 11 have happened close to the Pilbara town.

Closer to Perth, a section of Beaufort Street in trendy Mount Lawley has been the scene of eight fatal and serious crashes. On the Albany Hwy, seven souls have lost their lives or have suffered serious injuries in smash-ups near Maddington. Six people have suffered the same fate a little bit further along at Gosnells.

Also in the southern suburbs, five people were killed or badly maimed on Rockingham Road at Spearwood.

On the South Western Highway, the deadliest section is at Coolup, which recorded eight fatal and serious crashes, followed by Waterloo with five.

The kill zones were revealed in data for 2009-2013 supplied to The Sunday Times, as police mounted an Easter road blitz. These zones will receive special attention from marked and unmarked police vehicles.

And a police tactic, known as the "octopus technique", is being used as part of booze bus operations. It involves as many as six police vehicles being placed within a 10km radius of the booze bus to catch drivers who are speeding, not wearing seatbelts or using mobile phones.

Acting Superintendent Ian Clarke warned the road toll for the year so far was creeping towards a five years high.

"That's extremely disappointing from our perspective," A/Supt-Clarke said.

"There are literally thousands of people already this year who've been affected by road trauma."

Inattention was also killer for many motorists.

"It doesn't matter what day it is, whether it's the holidays or otherwise, the moment you get in a car you've got to switch on," A/Supt-Clarke added.

Meanwhile police officers are increasingly frustrated by lenient punishment dished out to "moron drivers", the WA Police Union said on Friday.

"Our members and the community at large have had enough of offenders who have blatant disregard for the road rules and the safety of others," union president George Tilbury said.

He said people convicted of their second reckless driving offence should be sent to jail for up to nine months.

"We need the support of the judiciary to ensure these morons are kept off our roads," he said.

"Now is the time for the judiciary to get tough and send these recidivist dangerous drivers to jail for the unnecessary risk (they) pose to other road users.

"The community are angry and frustrated and the judiciary need to hand out penalties which will deter these habitual offenders from reoffending."

Twenty-one people were killed on WA roads last year who either had no licence at all, or one which was expired, suspended or cancelled.

The Sunday Times last week revealed a man who caused a fatal quad bike crash in 2012 had 11 prior traffic convictions to his name.

Maida Vale man Joshua Bonjour, 21, was found guilty last month of dangerous driving causing death in the crash which killed teenager Jodie Maree Worthington.

Jodie Maree was a passenger on the quad bike when Bonjour crashed it into a car in Lancelin. Moments before the fatal collision Bonjour had been "fishtailing" the quad.

● Double demerits apply this weekend to speeding, drink and drug-influenced driving, not wearing seat belts, hooning, using a mobile phone and running red lights. The penalties will remain in place across WA until midnight on Monday.

WHERE THE MOST FATAL AND SERIOUS CRASHES OCCURRED:

Great Northern Hwy — Newman (11)

South Western Highway — Coolup (8)

Albany Hwy — Maddington (7)

Albany Hwy — Gosnells (6)

Old Coast Rd — Myalup (6)

Brand Hwy — Cataby (6)

Rockingham Rd — Spearwood (5)

Pinjarra Rd — Ravenswood (5)

Thomas Rd — Oakford (5)

North West Coastal Hwy — Karratha (5)

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Catholic Church to ‘guard’ children

Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe Source: Supplied

CHILD safety officers would be appointed in parishes across Perth under a proposal to eradicate sex abuse in the Catholic Church.

Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe recently outlined to senior church personnel a draft policy to appoint child safeguarding officers with specialist training.

Common in the UK, the officers take a key role in responding to allegations of abuse and advise parishes on child protection policies.

A spokesman for Archbishop Costelloe said he was "keen to act as swiftly as possible" to strengthen the protective measures already in place.

In his Easter Sunday message, Archbishop Costelloe will today reflect on the "terrible history of abuse perpetrated by some of our diocesan clergy".

The sermon comes days after Perth priest Patrick Holmes admitted sexually abusing two young girls more than 30 years ago.

The guilty pleas sparked Archbishop Costelloe to issue a "sincere apology" to the victims.

"We are supposed to be a light for the world and salt for the earth and often we are anything but," the head of the Catholic Church in Perth will tell worshippers at St Mary's Cathedral.

"In my own Church we have a terrible history of abuse perpetrated by some of our diocesan clergy and religious clergy, and an equally distressing history of inaction by some of our leaders.

"We are supposed to be disciples of Jesus and we have failed very badly."

Archbishop Costelloe is overseeing a range of strategies as part of his aim to "ensure the Catholic Church becomes the safest place for children". These include:

● More than 200 clergy, religious and lay staff attending a three-day seminar on the protection of minors and steps to prevent child abuse;

● Examining child protection policies and procedures of the Catholic Education Office;

● Ensuring the continuation of professional psychological assessment of young men who want to become priests;

● Mandate ongoing formation programs to ensure trainee priests mature psychologically, emotionally and spiritually;

● Regular letters to clergy highlighting and explaining critical aspects relating to pastoral boundaries.

Archbishop Costelloe's spokesman said recommendations and feedback relating to the proposal for child safeguarding officers were still being received.

Recommendations from the ongoing Royal Commission into child sex abuse, which will hold its first pubic hearing in Perth on April 28, are likely to be years away.

The Catholic Church's Truth Justice and Healing Council has also recently drafted a discussion paper on reforms to deal with safeguarding.

The paper will be considered at a meeting of bishops and religious leaders in Sydney next month ahead of a broader consultation.

"Archbishop Costelloe is keen to move forward with all that needs to be done in the Archdiocese of Perth while being a part of any national policy being introduced by the Catholic bishops of Australia as a whole," the spokesman said.

"The challenges remain many and yet the Archbishop is determined to do all he can to confront them and to bring about all necessary change."

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Inmates trash Albany prison

Albany Regional Prison, where inmates have trashed a cell unit. Picture: file image Source: Supplied

PRISONERS have damaged a unit at Albany Regional Prison in an eight-hour rampage last night.

And the WA Opposition and Western Australian Prison Officers Union said overcrowding in the prison system was to blame.

About 20 prisoners barricaded themselves into a unit at the maximum security prison about 6pm yesterday.

They trashed the unit and the yard, and did not surrender to prison guards until 2.20am.

No prisoners or prison guards were injured.

Prison Commissioner James McMahon said the incident was sparked by a few ringleaders.

Mr McMahon said most of the prisoners involved were being transferred and separated into different prisons today.

He said the damage was not believed to be extensive.

"Prison officers and other Department staff responded quickly, professionally and appropriately to manage the incident," he said.

Opposition corrections spokesman Paul Papalia said serious incidents like this were the inevitable consequence of overcrowding in WA Prisons.

Mr Papalia said Albany Prison was originally built for 186 inmates, and now housed 318.

Double bunks have been put in single rooms to increase capacity.

"That prison, like most prisons, is way overcrowded," Mr Papalia said.

"Right across the prison system the situation is the same and it means there's more chance of this sort of thing happening."

Mr Papalia said harsh government policies were to blame for the crushing prisoner numbers.

"It's not a big increase in dangerous criminals that come into our system, it's a big increase in really minor, fare-evading, aboriginal, poor-people," he said.

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Tom Meagher: Stop the violence

Tom Meagher says since his wife Jill was killed he has been inundated with stories of violence from women often too afraid to seek help from the police. Source: News Limited

JILL Meagher's husband Tom has spoken out about violence against women, saying he has been inundated with stories of sexual abuse from thousands of women.

In an emotional blog as part of the White Ribbon campaign, Mr Meagher also recalled the "chilling" and "disturbing" moment when he confronted his wife's killer Adrian Bayley in court.

"One of the most disturbing moments of the past eighteen months of my life was hearing my wife's killer form a coherent sentence in court," he wrote.

"It was chilling. I had formed an image that this man was not human, that he existed as a singular force of pure evil who somehow emerged from the ether."

Mr Meagher says his wife's death should highlight the problem of violence against women.

He said confronting Bayley also made him face the "more terrifying concept that violent men are socialised by the ingrained sexism" in our society.

READ TOM'S POST IN FULL

WHY WAS BAYLEY OUT, ASKS TOM MEAGHER

Mr Meagher, seen here with Jill's mother and brother, says confronting his wife's killer Adrian Bayley in court was a chilling experience.

POLICE APOLOGISE FOR USING JILL'S PHOTO

"What would make this tragedy even more tragic would be if we were to separate what happened to Jill from cases of violence against women where the victim knew, had a sexual past with, talked to the perpetrator in a bar, or went home with him," Mr Meagher said.

"The more I felt the incredible support from the community, the more difficult it was to ignore of the silent majority whose tormentors are not monsters lurking on busy streets, but their friends, acquaintances, husbands, lovers, brothers and fathers," he said.

He said he received messages from prostitutes who "felt it pointless to report sexual assault" and women whose tormentors received suspended sentences and they were "too frightened to stay in their home town".

Mr Meagher said his slain wife had introduced these issues to him before she was killed, and he had since tried to channel his rage against Bayley into focusing on how society allowed rape and violence to exist.

"I dreamed for over a year of how I would like to physically hurt this man, and still often relish the inevitable manner of his death," Mr Meagher said.

"But wouldn't it be more beneficial for Jill's memory, and other women affected by violence to focus on the problems that surround our attitudes, our legal system, our silence rather than focusing on what manner we would like to torture and murder this individual?"

"Adrian Bayley murdered a daughter, a sister, a great friend to so many, and my favourite person."

"I am the first one who wants to see him vilified and long may he be one of Australia's most hated people, but it only does any good if this example highlights rather than obscures the social issues that surround men's violence against women."

Last year, the Supreme Court handed Bayley a life sentence, with a 35-year non-parole period, for the rape and murder of Ms Meagher.

tom.minear@news.com.au

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Twelve dead in Everest avalanche

The world's tallest peak. an avalanche has occurred on Mount Everest. Source: News Limited

AN avalanche swept Mount Everest's slopes along a route used to climb the world's highest peak, killing at least 12 Nepalese guides and leaving three missing in the worst disaster to hit climbers on the mountain, officials said.

The Sherpa guides had gone early in the morning to fix ropes for other climbers when the avalanche hit just them below Camp 2 at about 6.30am, Nepal Tourism Ministry official Krishna Lamsal said from the base camp where he is monitoring rescue efforts.

Worst accident ever ... Mount Everest as it rises behind Mount Nuptse as seen from Tengboche, in the Himalaya's Khumbu region, Nepal. Source: AP

Rescue workers pulled out 12 bodies from under mounds of snow and ice and were searching for the three missing guides, Lamsal said.

Two Sherpas who were injured were taken by helicopter to hospitals in Nepal's capital, Katmandu.

Hundreds of climbers, their guides and support crews have gathered at the base camp to prepare for attempts to scale the 8,850-metre high mountain early next month when weather conditions become favourable. They have been setting up camps at higher altitudes and guides have been fixing routes and ropes on the slopes above.

Camp 2 ... where the avalanche has occurred on Mount Everest. Source: News Limited

As soon as the avalanche hit, rescuers and fellow climbers rushed to help.

Ang Tshering of the Nepal Mountaineering Association said the area where the avalanche hit is nicknamed the "popcorn field" and is just below Camp 2 at 6,400 meters (21,000 feet).

Earlier this year, Nepal announced several steps to better manage the heavy flow of climbers and speed up rescue operations. The steps included the dispatch of officials and security personnel to the base camp at 5,300 meters (17,380 feet), where they will stay throughout the spring climbing season that ends in May.

More than 4,000 climbers have scaled the summit since 1953, when it was first conquered by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. Hundreds have died attempting to reach the peak.

The worst recorded disaster on Everest was on May 11, 1996, when eight climbers were killed in one day because of a snowstorm near the summit. Six Nepalese guides were killed in an avalanche in 1970.

Inside Mount Everest ... the many camps at the world's tallest peak. Source: News Corp Australia

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Police ‘doing all they can’ amid horror Easter toll

After three fatalities on the first day of the Easter road campaign, WAs top crash investigator says police can do no more.

WA'S top crash investigator says police can do no more and the onus is on drivers to stop the state's "shocking" road carnage.

It comes after three deaths within 10 hours in a horror start to WA's Easter road holiday period.

Detective Senior Sergeant Brian Hunter, the officer-in-charge of WA Police's Major Crash Investigations unit, said: "So far in the last 24 hours, three men have lost their lives on WA roads. To them, that's tragic, and to their families, it's devastating."

But he denied police could have done more or should use different tactics to promote the road safety message.

"WA is a huge state. Police can't be everywhere. The responsibility really lies with the motorist," Det Snr Sgt Hunter said.

The horrific scene near Collie, where a 20-year-old man died yesterday afternoon. Picture: WA Police.

"We've got a huge campaign in the country over this long weekend, we've got booze buses in country areas, and we have Traffic Enforcement Group officers targeting all areas in the country.

"We're doing all we can. We are sending the message out. We're sending our officers to all parts of the state and we're pleading with motorists. We've got every available officer out there policing the roads as we speak.

"Double demerits are just one tool we use… but we have to attack it at every level. One is getting the message out there, two is policing roads… and three is the hip pocket.

"But there is only so much we can do. Every fatal crash has a cause and in most cases the cause is avoidable human error."

He said no officer wanted to break the news of a fatality to a family.

"It's frustrating for police officers… because we have to go and speak to families. We see the fallout. We see the devastating effects of road fatalities on families. And we've seen enough of it," he said.

"It's a difficult task and it's tragic we have to deliver that message. When young lives are lost needlessly… it's just terrible."

WA averages six fatal and serious crashes over the Easter period, and Det Snr Sgt Hunter said "we don't want any more, that's for sure".

The crash unit boss said young men continued to be over represented in crashes, while country roads claimed the majority of lives.

The horrific scene near Collie, where a 20-year-old man died yesterday afternoon. Picture: WA Police. Source: Supplied

HORROR START TO EASTER ON WA ROADS

THREE families have had a devastating start to Easter after three young men died in separate crashes within hours of each other on WA roads yesterday.

And police warned that it could have been four young men, had a passing motorist not pulled the surviving passenger from a flame-engulfed car after a crash in the South West.

The men –aged 17, 19 and 20 – all died in single vehicle crashes on country roads.

The first crash occurred at 12.55pm yesterday, when the 17-year-old driver of a Nissan Patrol travelling north on the Gnaraloo-Quobba Road apparently lost control about 500 metres from the intersection with Blowholes Road at Quobba Station near Carnarvon.

The car rolled several times and the front seat passenger, a 17-year-old boy from East Carnarvon, was thrown from the car.

People from the car that was following the Patrol called for assistance and performed CPR on the boy until an ambulance arrived, but he died on the way to the hospital.

The male driver of the car was treated for cuts and bruises.

Two hours later, a Ford Falcon being driven toward Collie on the Collie-Williams road in the South West slid into the gravel verge and struck a tree.

The tree hit the driver's side of the car and sparked a fire in the engine bay.

The driver, a 20 year-old man, died at the scene.

His passenger, a 22-year-old Bunbury man, was knocked unconscious and was pulled from the wreckage by a passing motorist, who also extinguished the fire.

"Had it not been for the actions of the passing motorist, it is believed the fire would have engulfed the whole vehicle and the passenger may not have survived," a spokesman from WA Police said.

A 19-year-old man died in this horror smash near Bruce Rock, 240km east of Perth, last night. Picture: WA Police Source: Supplied

The third fatal crash occurred at 9.30pm last night, when a Nissan Navara being driven by a 19-year-old Bruce Rock man driving towards the town on the Bruce Rock-Narembeen Road crossed on to the wrong side of the road and struck a tree.

Ambulance officers attempted to revive the man after firefighters cut him from the car, but he died at the scene.

Police say the small Wheatbelt town of about 700 people has been devastated by the loss.

WA is on track for a grim Easter road toll with three deaths already. Last year six people died across the whole weekend.

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Houston: MH370 my hardest task

Searchers for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight say they'll push on over the Easter long weekend.

"I am hopeful that we will find something" ... Chief Coordinator of the JACC (Joint Agency Coordiantion Centre) Retired Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston. Picture: Marie Nirme Source: News Corp Australia

FOR Angus Houston, rescuing drowning sailors in darkness from a stormy sea, searching for downed planes in snow-capped Canadian mountains, and dropping supplies to fishing boats in the middle of the ocean is nothing compared with the magnitude of the "unique" task of trying to find Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

MISSING FLIGHT MH370: Underwater search launched for fifth time

In an exclusive interview with News Corp Australia, the Chief Coordinator of the Joint Agency Coordination Centre and former defence chief said the sheer scale and global focus on the mission to find the missing Boeing 777 airliner and the 239 souls on board Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 dwarfed anything he had done as a young helicopter pilot or as military chief.

After the initial confusion from Malaysian authorities about the fate of the jet it was clear that Australia needed a steady pair of hands to coordinate the massive search effort inside its search and rescue zone.

MALAYSIA AIRLINES LOST PLANE: Who is Angus Houston

Launched to search on the ocean floor for a fifth time ... The US Navy's Bluefin-21 is about to be dropped over the side of Australian Defence Vessel Ocean Shield. Source: Supplied

Air Chief Marshal Houston said he was hopeful the underwater search of a "closely defined area" by the US Navy submersible Bluefin 21 and its sonar would yield results soon.

The vessel did its fifth dive to 4500 metres yesterday after its sonar drew a blank on Thursday night. So far it has covered 110 square kilometres.

"Right now we are still in the inner circle," Air Chief Marshall Houston said.

"We will cover the entire area in the next few days.

"I am hopeful that we will find something, but if we don't then so be it."

COMMENT BELOW: Is Angus Houston an inspired choice as search chief?

Eleven aircraft and 12 ships were due to cover 52,000 kms across three search areas yesterday.

Allan Grant "Angus" Houston has a long and distinguished career in search and rescue and overseeing large scale military operations.

In 1980 he was awarded the Air Force Cross for valour when he flew his Iroquois chopper into a fierce storm at night off the NSW coast to conduct an open sea rescue.

The citation referred to his "outstanding skill, resolution and leadership".

But he says: "There is no comparison between this and the simple operations I used to do when flying a helicopter, or supervised later on.

"Rescuing people from wild seas is very demanding and intense for a short period, but you go out and do the rescue and then come home and the mission is done.

"The additional level of complexity on this operation makes it unique, and a huge challenge."

That includes managing a fleet of 14 ships and more than a dozen aircraft and upwards of 4000 people from seven nations, including 1500 Australians; juggling the demands of several governments, including China and Malaysia, that are not known for their transparency; the expectation of hundreds of angry relatives; and feeding an insatiable media machine.

While the search continued yesterday 2000km northwest of Perth, authorities began to prepare angry relatives and a global audience for the end of the costly and futile sea and air search that has already cost close to $100 million.

Keeping track ... Able Seaman Communications and Information Systems Atlanta Heysen in the Machinery Control Room on-board HMAS Toowoomba, which is part of the search team. Source: Supplied

As the head of the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) Angus Houston will make the call about when to cease the air-sea search and he told News Corp Australia that day would come later next week.

He conceded that the expensive search could not go on indefinitely, but stressed that any decision would be made "in conjunction with our international partners."

He said he was driven by the need to find visual proof of the final resting place of the airliner so the families of those lost could obtain some closure.

Today marks six weeks since the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing vanished in thin air.

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