Darwin: 2011

2011年7月2日星期六

Missing man's torched boat found in outback

在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
在 ServiceModel 客户端配置部分中，找不到引用协定“TranslatorService.LanguageService”的默认终结点元素。这可能是因为未找到应用程序的配置文件，或者是因为客户端元素中找不到与此协定匹配的终结点元素。
Updated June 30, 2011 08:34:00

Extensive air and land searches have failed to find a Victorian man missing in South Australia's outback.

The disappearance of Jason Neil Richards, 28, has been declared a major crime after he failed to arrive in his home town of Ballarat from Darwin last week.

He was driving a blue ute with a distinctive dog cage and was towing an aluminium boat that he bought in Darwin.

His family last heard from him on June 20 when he called from Coober Pedy where he was spending the night.

Mr Richards' burnt-out boat has been found on a track near Pimba, south of Woomera, but his blue Toyota Hilux utility and dog have still not been located.

Detective Inspector Grant Moyle says he may have made it to the Woomera area.

"It's a big country out there and very hard to locate anyone in," he said.

Mr Richards' mother, Yvonne Richards, says her son always stays in contact.

"He was really excited about coming home and he said see you in a few days... I love you," she said.

She says her son would not have changed his plans without telling his family.

"If he was going to go anywhere he would always call me and tell me what he was doing," she said.

"He wouldn't have gone off the beaten track because he was coming home for his son's birthday party, because Jason and he shared the same date."

Police say forensic response teams are examining the boat.

Tags: community-and-society, law-crime-and-justice, missing-person, nt, darwin-0800, sa, coober-pedy-5723, vic, ballarat-3350

First posted June 29, 2011 18:56:00

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Darwin chills out in coldest June on record

Posted June 30, 2011 12:32:00

The weather bureau says Darwin residents are experiencing the coldest June on record.

Senior forecaster Graeme King says minimum temperatures have dropped into the teens every day this month.

"It has been a great start to the dry season," he said.

"It is the coolest June ever recorded in Darwin.

"We have now had 42 nights in a row below 20 degrees Celsius.

"To put that in context, last dry season we only had 20 [nights] for the whole season."

About 85 per cent of weather stations across the Northern Territory recorded their coldest June on record.

Overnight temperatures north of Alice Springs have been between 4C and 6C below average.

Maximum daytime temperatures have hovered around the 27C to 30C mark.

The next record in weather watchers' sights still has almost two weeks to go.

The longest big chill-out in the Top End capital is 54 consecutive nights below 20C, set in the 1960s.

Tags: lifestyle-and-leisure, weather-phenomena, darwin-0800

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Last-minute tune wins NT Anthem song comp

Updated July 1, 2011 16:50:00

An Alice Springs resident is the winner of the Northern Territory Anthem song writing competition.

Stephanie Harrison's song Stand as One was chosen from more than 120 entries.

Darwin Symphony Orchestra artistic director, Leif Sundstrop, has predicted the anthem will be popular in schools.

The orchestra and chorale performed the anthem for the first time during Territory Day celebrations at Parliament House today.

Mr Sundstrop says it is a great piece and the Central Australian songwriter should be proud.

"Once we work out how to make it as accessible as possible, we will try and get it exploited in ways that everybody can have a version of the anthem," he said.

"It truly is a great, great song."

Ms Harrison says she is thrilled her song has been chosen.

"I kind of bashed out a few chords, then I came up with the line, 'from the seas of Arafura, to the rocks of Kata Tjuta'," she said.

"I just kind of kept singing that over and over, and a few other lyrics came.

"Then the day of the competition came... I had to submit the song.

"I quickly recorded it and rushed off and sent it away."

Tags: people, australian-composers, music-competitions, alice-springs-0870, darwin-0800

First posted July 1, 2011 16:39:00

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Campaign targets hearing problems of young Indigenous

Posted July 1, 2011 17:27:00

The Federal Government has started a new campaign to address higher rates of hearing loss among young Aboriginal children.

Nearly $10 million more will be spent over four years on ads in Aboriginal media outlets, and on booklets for teachers and early childhood workers.

Hearing loss among remote children has been labelled a "national emergency", and the Government says many people do not understand the nature of the problem.

The Northern Territory Health Department's Kathy Currie says the high rates are partly due to overcrowding.

"[It can be] attributable to... living conditions that we see in a lot of the remote communities," she said.

She said ear infections could be transferred between people, especially from young children to babies.

Studies have shown many young children in remote Australia suffer hearing loss, which restricts their ability to learn at school and develop life skills.

Indigenous Health Minister Warren Snowdon says many remote Aboriginal residents do not know enough about hearing loss.

"People simply don't understand it," he said.

"I think what we need to understand is that, in the bush, the communication systems are different.

"Often the way in which we talk to people needs to change so that people understand the message more directly."

Tags: indigenous, child-health-and-behaviour, programs-and-initiatives, nt, alice-springs-0870, darwin-0800

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Banned grog register begins in NT

Posted July 1, 2011 11:54:00

From today, all people wishing to buy takeaway alcohol in the Northern Territory will have to provide identification.

As part of tough new alcohol controls, a banned drinker register also begins.

About 500 people subject to court orders about alcohol consumption are already on the register, but within hours of the register coming into effect police have already started adding to it.

Police have banned a 25-year-old woman from buying alcohol for three months after she was caught drink-driving on the Victoria Highway.

She allegedly registered a blood alcohol reading of 0.237.

Indigenous Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda is criticising the Government's decision to stop allowing existing Aboriginal identification cards to be used to buy alcohol.

From today, the Tangentyere card in Alice Springs and Larrakia card in Darwin will not be approved ID forms for purchasing alcohol.

The cards were introduced for Aboriginal people who did not have conventional identification, such as drivers licences or birth certificates.

Mr Gooda says it defies logic to only prevent the cards from being used for alcohol sales but not other functions.

He says the cards can be used to set up bank accounts and obtain drivers licences.

Australian Hotels Association NT branch president Doug Sallis says it is a busy day for the new alcohol reforms to begin because of Territory Day celebrations.

He says licensed venues will do the best they can to cope with the new computer software and legal requirements.

Mr Sallis says it is unrealistic to expect there will not be some delays and difficulties during the day.

"We certainly will be asking that the community understand that our employers are doing their very best to implement these reforms," he said.

Mr Sallis says he hopes the Territory's news alcohol laws will be effective enough to allow other controls to be rolled back.

He says regulations governing trading hours and service of alcohol could be tweaked, depending on the success of the new laws.

"The majority of the community in the Northern Territory do enjoy their consumption of alcohol responsibly," he said.

Tags: beverages, social-policy, programs-and-initiatives, nt, alice-springs-0870, darwin-0800

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Department boss regrets cattle deaths

Updated June 30, 2011 17:45:00

The head of a Northern Territory Government department responsible for animal welfare inspections has told a parliamentary committee he wished his officers had investigated cattle deaths at Mataranka Station earlier.

In 2009, hundreds of cattle died from neglect at the station, 400 kilometres south-east of Darwin.

The Territory ombudsman asked the Department of Housing, Local Government and Regional Services to investigate the matter in June last year.

However, the department failed to act within the statutory time limit for animal welfare prosecutions, even though the ombudsman had provided officers with a detailed file of evidence against the station manager.

Department chief executive Ken Davies told the Council of Territory Cooperation today that he regrets that failure to act.

"With the benefit of hindsight, I wish we had, in a nutshell," he said.

"There is no doubt, given what we now know and our investigative capacity in our Animal Welfare Branch, that a situation like has occurred there, would not happen again."

Earlier, the vice-chancellor of Charles Darwin University (CDU), which operates Mataranka Station as a training facility, told the committee he does not know why efforts to stop the cattle starving to death were too slow.

Barney Glover says university management first received complaints about the condition of cattle on Mataranka Station in August 2009.

The Territory ombudsman, who investigated the cattle deaths, found that provable incidents of animal cruelty were still occurring in September 2009.

The ombudsman gave the government a detailed file last June containing evidence about animal cruelty.

The Animal Welfare Authority failed to act on her advice to prosecute.

A statutory deadline for prosecutions of those responsible expired in October.

The Ombudsman also said poor management by CDU was partially responsible for the deaths, and that systemic failings in three government departments allowed people to avoid penalty.

Mr Glover says he regrets the university's attempts to save the cattle were not fast enough for many of them.

"I am on the record as being very concerned that our actions were not quick enough, that our actions were tardy," he said.

"Whether that is because of inaction of individuals, or whether it is simply because getting feed and water to those animals was just not possible to be done quickly enough, I don't know."

A report into the Animal Welfare Act in 2007 recommended extending the statutory time limit for prosecutions and expanding the scope of animal cruelty offences.

Yesterday, Mr Davies told the committee he believes the Act could be improved.

Tags: environmental-management, government-and-politics, beef-cattle, darwin-0800, mataranka-0852

First posted June 30, 2011 11:13:00

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Murderer granted parole after seventh application

Posted June 30, 2011 15:30:00

Convicted murderer Daniel Heiss has had his latest application for parole granted by a Northern Territory parole board.

Heiss has spent more than 21 years in jail.

Last night the Northern Territory Parole Board considered Heiss' seventh application for parole.

He has been serving a life sentence for the murder of Dean Robinson at a cattle station in the Territory in 1989.

Robinson had been shot, burned and buried under an anthill.

Peter Kamm was also convicted for the murder and was released on parole early last year.

Parole board chairman Justice Stephen Southwood says the board unanimously decided it was in the public interest for Heiss to be released, on conditions.

Justice Southwood says the board has given paramount consideration to the protection of the community and to the likely effect of Heiss' release on the victim's family.

The victim's father has said Heiss should remain in jail, as he does not think Heiss is remorseful.

Tags: prisons-and-punishment, murder-and-manslaughter, nt, darwin-0800

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Detention centre detainee hospitalised

St John's Ambulance says a detainee at Darwin's Immigration Detention Centre was taken to hospital with wrist injuries this afternoon.

The ABC has been told it was a case of self-harm.

An ambulance spokesman says the man required treatment and was taken to Royal Darwin Hospital.

There are reports more than 150 detainees at the centre are not attending meals, but the Immigration Department says the number is nowhere near that figure.

Yesterday, asylum seeker advocate Pamela Curr said detainees in Darwin were threatening to go on hunger strike.

Tags: community-and-society, immigration, refugees, nt, darwin-0800

First posted July 1, 2011 20:39:00

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Pact marks end of longest land rights claim

Posted June 30, 2011 11:21:00

An agreement has been reached in Australia's longest land rights challenge.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard says a heads of agreement will be signed by the federal and Northern Territory governments and the Northern Lands Council (NLC) to settle the Kenbi land claim.

The area covers 65,000 hectares on the Cox Peninsula, west of Darwin.

The Larrakia people lodged their claim over the land in 1979.

Ms Gillard told a community cabinet meeting in Palmerston last night plans to develop the peninsula can now go ahead.

The Larrakia Development Corporation is eager to start building on part of the land.

"This means that there will be a new suburb, more housing, so that is good news for Darwin," Ms Gillard said.

"It also means there will be a strong economic future for the Larrakia people.

"So, congratulations."

But one of the Larrakia traditional owners at the community cabinet meeting says the Larrakia Development Corporation should not be allowed to develop the Kenbi claim site.

Raylene Singh says the corporation has not discussed its plans with her.

"We are not giving the authority to the Larrakia Development Corporation ... why are they developing on our country?" she asked.

Ms Singh says she is considering legal action to prevent the development.

The Larrakia Development Corporation has welcomed the announcement.

Chief executive officer Greg Constantine says it has been a long time coming.

"I am very pleased," he said.

"It has taken since 2000, when Justice Grey awarded the claim, and 2009, when the Northern Territory government did their due diligence.

"I think it is a good start.

"There is still a long way to go ... it is not finished but it is a very positive start."

The agreement allows about 13,000 hectares of the land to be made freehold to allow for the development of homes and industry.

The remaining 52,000 hectares will be designated Aboriginal land for the Larrakia people.

Tags: land-rights, urban-development-and-planning, indigenous-policy, nt, darwin-0800

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Rooftop protest at Darwin detention centre

Updated June 29, 2011 15:19:00

One of six men protesting on the roof of the Darwin Immigration Detention Centre has harmed himself.

An Immigration Department spokeswoman confirmed six asylum seekers climbed on to a roof at the centre.

The ABC has been told the men are from Afghanistan.

The men held up a sign which read "Please help us to get out of cage" and "tell Human Rights we are here like animals".

The men say they have been held in detention for 18 months.

One of the men appeared to be bleeding.

The department says the men are being encouraged to cease the protest action.

It says they have access to healthcare and psychological support.

Another man being held at the centre staged a rooftop protest last week.

Rohingyan (Burmese) man Habib Rahman told the ABC he was found to be a genuine refugee in May last year but has not been given security clearance to leave detention.

He says he wants to be removed to another country if Australia will not accept him.

Tags: community-and-society, immigration, government-and-politics, refugees, activism-and-lobbying, australia, nt, berrimah-0828, darwin-0800

First posted June 29, 2011 14:54:00

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Remote communities sign leases to join housing push

Posted June 30, 2011 11:16:00

Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin says two central Australian communities will qualify for new housing after signing 40-year township leases.

Ms Macklin says traditional owners at Lajamanu and Hermmansburg have signed the leases and can join the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing.

Construction on 17 new houses will start in Lajamanu next year, and 27 will be built in Hermannsburg, where work is due to begin in 2013.

The Minister says her department is working on new houses in the northern half of the Territory and then will turn to the two new signatories.

"We have got a five-year program that runs till 2013," Ms Macklin said.

"The houses are ... being built right across the north of the Northern Territory where we've already got leases signed. Nearly 300 houses have been built.

"Now we have to get Lajamanu and Hermannsburg into the program."

Tags: indigenous, regional, programs-and-initiatives, hermannsburg-0872, lajamanu-0852

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Three left with facial injuries after fireworks parties

Three people have sustained facial injuries from fireworks during celebrations in Darwin and the surrounding area last night.

Fireworks lit up much of the region as the NT celebrated the annual Territory Day, which marks the transition to self-government.

But a 34-year-old woman was burnt in the neck and face by fireworks at Nightcliff foreshore, a 47-year-old man was hit in the face at Humpty Doo and a 33-year-old man was burnt on the neck and arm at Dundee Beach.

All three were treated by St John Ambulance.

A woman working at the Palmerston McDonald's escaped injury after a firework was thrown through the window of the fast food outlet's drive-through and exploded in her face.

The Northern Territory is now the only Australian jurisdiction where the general public is allowed to let off fireworks without a special licence. Fireworks went on sale on Friday and can only be used between 6.00pm and 11.00pm on Friday.

But police say many people flouted the law on Territory Day, with 147 reported disturbances in Darwin and eight in Alice Springs.

Police were called to put out more than 207 blazes during celebrations last night - 158 of the fires were directly caused by crackers.

Senior Sergeant Michael Potts says in Alice Springs some people set off crackers outside the police station after the 11pm curfew.

"We had probably several fireworks discharged probably even outside the police station last night," he said.

District officer Dave Pettit says sky rockets caused the most problems.

"The idiot element with sky rockets really excelled last night. We had reports from people firing them from high-rise buildings down on to cars and passers-by and that's a real concern," he said.

The Darwin City Council is calling for firework zones to be introduced on Territory Day.

Lord Mayor Graham Sawyer says council crews have had a busy weekend cleaning up the rubbish left behind from fireworks and it would be easier if people where limited to letting them off only in defined places.

Councillor Sawyer says the council will review cracker night and look at ways of reducing the burden on fire crews.

"It's something that needs to be considered," he said.

"I mean we've looked at the factors around trying to restrict zones where people can let off fireworks but I think it's certainly something we should be having a look at; whether or not it's possible or feasible, I don't know."

Tags: disasters-and-accidents, accidents, accidents, fires, australia, nt, darwin-0800

First posted July 2, 2011 08:17:00

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