Updated August 26, 2018 11:27:11
Photo: Jamayne Isaako (L) scored 18 of Brisbane's 22 points in the Broncos' win over the Roosters. (AAP: Dan Himbrechts) Map: Australia The Roosters waste a chance to keep the pressure on the Storm with a loss to Brisbane, after the Raiders produce a big comeback win in the capital and Melbourne gets the points over Gold Coast. Quick navigation Broncos win overshadowed by ugly Napa hit Brisbane have made a statement with a 22-8 NRL win over the Sydney Roosters in a match overshadowed by an ugly Dylan Napa hit on Andrew McCullough. Napa was put on report after leading with his head in a tackle that forced the Brisbane hooker to be taken from Sydney Football Stadium on a medicab. He was sin-binned for the 24th minute incident that was almost identical to the one that left Brisbane's Korbin Sims with a broken jaw in May. Broncos staff reported that McCullough suffered a concussion and a lacerated mouth however he was cleared of a break or structural damage. External Link:Roosters Broncos summary Napa will come under the scrutiny of the match review committee on Sunday and could be set for a lengthy stint on the sidelines. Sims missed four weeks after being hit by Napa in round 11, however the Roosters front-rower was not charged for that incident. The Broncos came into round 24 in seventh but fired a shot across the bow of the rest of the competition with a comprehensive win over the second-placed Roosters. The Roosters were often their own worst enemies, coming up with 15 errors on their way to a second straight loss to put them on uneven footing just two weeks out from the finals. External Link:Roosters Broncos chalkboard Hooker Jake Friend had a monumental game, making 71 tackles, just shy of Shaun Fensom's all-time record of 74. With Napa off the field, the Broncos struck through Jamayne Isaako who produced an acrobatic put-down to give his side a 12-8 lead. And when Daniel Tupou made a mess of an Anthony Milford bomb, Kodi Nikorima picked up the spoils to put the Broncos in front 20-8 at the break. External Link:Roosters Broncos stats When Latrell Mitchell was sin-binned in the 56th minute for a professional foul, Isaako booted the only points of the second-half with a penalty goal to extend the Broncos' advantage to 14 points. The Broncos are now showing signs of peaking at the right time of the year with prop Matt Lodge (118 metres) and Tevita Pangai Junior (150m, 21 tackles) leading their side up front. The Roosters were on two occasions denied by the video referees in the second-half with James Tedesco nearly reeling in a Friend grubber and Joseph Manu putting a foot on the sidelines after beating three defenders. Storm take the points at Robina Photo: Billy Slater finished a winner in his last game in Queensland as the Melbourne Storm beat the Titans 10-8. (AAP: Dave Hunt) Melbourne has ground out a 10-8 win on the Gold Coast to edge ahead in the race for the NRL minor premiership. The Storm rallied from 8-0 down at half-time, overcoming a flat first half to guarantee a top-four finish ahead of the final regular-season round. Billy Slater ran for a career-best 289 metres in his final game in Queensland, while opposite number AJ Brimson (196 metres and three try-saving tackles) impressed for the hosts and Cameron Smith overcame a back concern to notch 44 tackles for the Storm. External Link:Titans Storm summary Melbourne were sloppy in the first 40 minutes but slowly squeezed the Titans after the break. Pressure built with Curtis Scott's 45th-minute try and they hit the lead with 20 minutes to play, Cameron Munster probing nearly 30 metres across field before ducking under a Kane Elgey tackle for the go-ahead try. Gold Coast were then denied a penalty for a high tackle on Ashley Taylor that forced him from the field with nine minutes to play as the hosts were unable to create a chance at the death. External Link:Titans Storm chalkboard The Titans dominated the first half but only led 8-0, with Brimson's spinning try and a penalty goal their only reward. It could have easily been more if not for a staggering defensive effort from Storm winger Josh Addo-Carr. Brimson had broken down the left wing and kicked inside for Phillip Sami who was charging towards the line. But the Melbourne winger came from the opposite side of the field to hold him up over the line in what proved to be a match-winning play. External Link:Titans Storm stats Earlier Slater had swallowed a kick return and broken the line to put a maiden NRL try on a platter for Justin Olam, only for the winger to spill it. Melbourne were lucky to finish the half with a full contingent, with Olam off the line early in a clear off-side that stalled the frustrated Titans' final set before the break. Raiders stun the Rabbitohs in Canberra Photo: The Raiders scored three second-half tries to beat South Sydney in Canberra. (AAP: Rohan Thomson) Canberra Raiders have continued their giant-killing run by putting a huge role in South Sydney's minor premiership hopes with an inspired 24-12 victory. Six days after upsetting the Sydney Roosters, the Raiders overcame a 12-0 deficit to overrun the Rabbitohs in the nation's capital and secure their 10th win of the NRL season. External Link:Raiders Rabbitohs summary Anthony Seibold's men dominated the opening 25 minutes, with their defence standing firm to hold out the powerful Raiders attack and look every bit a premiership contender. But the turning point was South's Jason Clark being sin binned for a professional foul after 53 minutes - Raiders centre Michael Oldfield running in his second try almost immediately. The visitors never really recovered as the Raiders rode a wave of momentum to continue their late-season resurgence. External Link:Raiders Rabbitohs chalkboard Canberra had a couple more attacking threats when having a man advantage, but the home side didn't hit the front until veteran Sia Soliola crossed with 16 minutes to go. Star winger Nick Cotric sealed the upset by scoring a brilliant individual try with eight minutes to go, which halfback Sam Williams converted. It wasn't the try-fest many expected from a game between the two best attacking teams in the competition, with the Rabbitohs going into halftime leading 12-4. External Link:Raiders Rabbitohs stats After being on the end of some heartbreaking defeats during the past two year, the Raiders' end to the season will give supporters hope for a return to finals football in 2019. A positive for the Rabbitohs was an outstanding return after two months on the sidelines from a broken hand for captain Greg Inglis, who scored a try midway through the first-half. NRL ladder External Link:NRL 2018 ladder AAP Topics:nrl,rugby-league,sport,australia,act,canberra-2600,nsw,qld,robina-4226,brisbane-4000,sydney-2000,sydney-south-2000,vic,melbourne-3000 First posted August 25, 2018 14:30:31 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-25/isaako-leads-broncos-over-roosters-wins-for-raiders-storm/10160232
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Updated August 27, 2018 08:12:30
A cyber security expert has doubted advice given to the Australian National University assuring no data was compromised during a prolonged security breach. Last month the ANU said in a statement it was working with intelligence agencies to minimise the impact of an ongoing data hack. The threat, which is believed to have come from China, has since been contained but it lasted for at least seven months. Photo: An email sent to ANU students about the cyber security infiltration. (Supplied) The university did not inform students of the hack until several months later. In a statement to students and staff, the ANU said it did not believe any data was compromised, but could not confirm this. "Current advice is that no staff, student or research data has been taken," the university said. But Visiting Fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute Tom Uren said that was highly unlikely. He said it was possible that someone had hacked into the system simply as an observer. "But in that case I think it would be pretty straightforward for the ANU to say what they were doing and why they didn't take any data," Mr Uren said. "When they just have assertions like that it's hard to believe them." Mr Uren said it was possible the university did not actually know the extent of the breach. "Often in these things, if you set up your security well beforehand you can tell what was stolen," he said. "You're logging basically to record what's going on in the right way. "I suspect they just didn't have logs." What would hackers be after? The Australian National University is considered to be one the nation's most prestigious educational institutions and is home to global leading research. Many international students attend the university and some experts have suggested that hackers could have been trying to find out information about them. The ANU also educates on national security and houses the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre and the National Security College. Mr Uren said universities were good places to keep track of people's histories. "I imagine quite a few uni[versity] students from ANU end up in federal government," he said. "Inevitably some of them will become important people down the track." The ANU did not provide further details such as the hacker's potential motivations, which parts of the university's database were compromised or when the breach was contained, saying they were matters of national security. Topics:security-intelligence,defence-and-national-security,university-and-further-education,education,australian-national-university-0200,canberra-2600,act,australia First posted August 27, 2018 06:05:11 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-27/doubts-over-data-safety-after-anu-breach/10164726 8/26/2018 0 Comments What does 'ScoMo' as PM mean for the Coalition's electoral chances in Queensland?Updated August 25, 2018 08:07:08
With Queensland's Liberal National Party hanging onto seven federal seats by margins of four per cent or less, it desperately wanted one of its own in The Lodge in Canberra ahead of the next election. But instead of favourite son Peter Dutton, the Liberal Party backed Scott Morrison to replace Malcolm Turnbull and become Australia's 30th Prime Minister. So, what does the straight-talking, rugby league-loving, Christian social conservative and New South Welshman known as 'ScoMo' mean for the Coalition's electoral chances in Queensland? Dr Paul Williams, a political analyst at Griffith University, said a Scott Morrison prime ministership was more likely to help save marginal seats in Queensland. "Most, if not all of those seats would've been lost if Malcolm Turnbull would've continued as Prime Minister," Dr Williams said. "The fact that Scott Morrison has stepped into the job as the compromise candidate, he does offer some hope." Photo: Dr Williams believes Mr Morrison could help stop conservative voters from deserting the LNP for One Nation. (AAP: Mick Tsikas) Dr Williams also believed Mr Morrison could help stop disaffected conservative voters from deserting the LNP for One Nation. "He's more conservative, more of a straight-shooter, as it were," he said. "He's likely to appeal to some not all but some of those One Nation voters, and I think he might stymie the One Nation vote and increase the LNP vote in Queensland." 'Morrison shares the LNP's values' Queensland LNP president Gary Spence had privately urged some MPs to back Mr Dutton in the leadership spill, but said Mr Morrison would make a "great Prime Minister". "Scott Morrison shares the LNP's values, I've got absolutely no doubt about that," Mr Spence told ABC Radio Brisbane. The LNP was spooked by the loss of the seat of Longman during the super Saturday by-elections in July where it recorded a primary vote of just 29.6 per cent. Mr Spence believed Mr Morrison would be able to bridge the divide between the party's liberal and conservative factions that had been so bitterly exposed in Canberra. "I think Scott is going to be able to do that, certainly from a Queensland perspective and frankly I'm looking forward to his Prime Ministership and what I think is going to be a pretty exciting time over the coming months," he said. Warren Entsch, the LNP member for the seat of Leichardt in far north Queensland, opposed Friday's leadership spill, saying "the revolving door of Prime Ministers has got to stop". But, he said, because Mr Morrison and his deputy Josh Frydenberg had not been involved in "knifing" Malcolm Turnbull, or Tony Abbott before him, it was the best possible outcome. "We've now got a situation here where you've got two leaders that have come in, that have got clean hands, they've got no political blood on their hands," Mr Entsch said. "They have been loyal, they have been committed and they have shown leadership, and so I say it's a great day for us and I think we can move forward from there." Topics:government-and-politics,federal-government,federal-parliament,parliament,liberals,political-parties,brisbane-4000,qld,canberra-2600 First posted August 25, 2018 05:05:45 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-25/what-does-scott-morrison-as-prime-minister-mean-for-queensland/10162266 8/25/2018 0 Comments What does 'ScoMo' as PM mean for the Coalition's electoral chances in Queensland?Updated August 25, 2018 08:07:08
With Queensland's Liberal National Party hanging onto seven federal seats by margins of four per cent or less, it desperately wanted one of its own in The Lodge in Canberra ahead of the next election. But instead of favourite son Peter Dutton, the Liberal Party backed Scott Morrison to replace Malcolm Turnbull and become Australia's 30th Prime Minister. So, what does the straight-talking, rugby league-loving, Christian social conservative and New South Welshman known as 'ScoMo' mean for the Coalition's electoral chances in Queensland? Dr Paul Williams, a political analyst at Griffith University, said a Scott Morrison prime ministership was more likely to help save marginal seats in Queensland. "Most, if not all of those seats would've been lost if Malcolm Turnbull would've continued as Prime Minister," Dr Williams said. "The fact that Scott Morrison has stepped into the job as the compromise candidate, he does offer some hope." Photo: Dr Williams believes Mr Morrison could help stop conservative voters from deserting the LNP for One Nation. (AAP: Mick Tsikas) Dr Williams also believed Mr Morrison could help stop disaffected conservative voters from deserting the LNP for One Nation. "He's more conservative, more of a straight-shooter, as it were," he said. "He's likely to appeal to some not all but some of those One Nation voters, and I think he might stymie the One Nation vote and increase the LNP vote in Queensland." 'Morrison shares the LNP's values' Queensland LNP president Gary Spence had privately urged some MPs to back Mr Dutton in the leadership spill, but said Mr Morrison would make a "great Prime Minister". "Scott Morrison shares the LNP's values, I've got absolutely no doubt about that," Mr Spence told ABC Radio Brisbane. The LNP was spooked by the loss of the seat of Longman during the super Saturday by-elections in July where it recorded a primary vote of just 29.6 per cent. Mr Spence believed Mr Morrison would be able to bridge the divide between the party's liberal and conservative factions that had been so bitterly exposed in Canberra. "I think Scott is going to be able to do that, certainly from a Queensland perspective and frankly I'm looking forward to his Prime Ministership and what I think is going to be a pretty exciting time over the coming months," he said. Warren Entsch, the LNP member for the seat of Leichardt in far north Queensland, opposed Friday's leadership spill, saying "the revolving door of Prime Ministers has got to stop". But, he said, because Mr Morrison and his deputy Josh Frydenberg had not been involved in "knifing" Malcolm Turnbull, or Tony Abbott before him, it was the best possible outcome. "We've now got a situation here where you've got two leaders that have come in, that have got clean hands, they've got no political blood on their hands," Mr Entsch said. "They have been loyal, they have been committed and they have shown leadership, and so I say it's a great day for us and I think we can move forward from there." Topics:government-and-politics,federal-government,federal-parliament,parliament,liberals,political-parties,brisbane-4000,qld,canberra-2600 First posted August 25, 2018 05:05:45 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-25/what-does-scott-morrison-as-prime-minister-mean-for-queensland/10162266 8/24/2018 0 Comments What does 'ScoMo' as PM mean for the Coalition's electoral chances in Queensland?Updated August 25, 2018 08:07:08
With Queensland's Liberal National Party hanging onto seven federal seats by margins of four per cent or less, it desperately wanted one of its own in The Lodge in Canberra ahead of the next election. But instead of favourite son Peter Dutton, the Liberal Party backed Scott Morrison to replace Malcolm Turnbull and become Australia's 30th Prime Minister. So, what does the straight-talking, rugby league-loving, Christian social conservative and New South Welshman known as 'ScoMo' mean for the Coalition's electoral chances in Queensland? Dr Paul Williams, a political analyst at Griffith University, said a Scott Morrison prime ministership was more likely to help save marginal seats in Queensland. "Most, if not all of those seats would've been lost if Malcolm Turnbull would've continued as Prime Minister," Dr Williams said. "The fact that Scott Morrison has stepped into the job as the compromise candidate, he does offer some hope." Photo: Dr Williams believes Mr Morrison could help stop conservative voters from deserting the LNP for One Nation. (AAP: Mick Tsikas) Dr Williams also believed Mr Morrison could help stop disaffected conservative voters from deserting the LNP for One Nation. "He's more conservative, more of a straight-shooter, as it were," he said. "He's likely to appeal to some not all but some of those One Nation voters, and I think he might stymie the One Nation vote and increase the LNP vote in Queensland." 'Morrison shares the LNP's values' Queensland LNP president Gary Spence had privately urged some MPs to back Mr Dutton in the leadership spill, but said Mr Morrison would make a "great Prime Minister". "Scott Morrison shares the LNP's values, I've got absolutely no doubt about that," Mr Spence told ABC Radio Brisbane. The LNP was spooked by the loss of the seat of Longman during the super Saturday by-elections in July where it recorded a primary vote of just 29.6 per cent. Mr Spence believed Mr Morrison would be able to bridge the divide between the party's liberal and conservative factions that had been so bitterly exposed in Canberra. "I think Scott is going to be able to do that, certainly from a Queensland perspective and frankly I'm looking forward to his Prime Ministership and what I think is going to be a pretty exciting time over the coming months," he said. Warren Entsch, the LNP member for the seat of Leichardt in far north Queensland, opposed Friday's leadership spill, saying "the revolving door of Prime Ministers has got to stop". But, he said, because Mr Morrison and his deputy Josh Frydenberg had not been involved in "knifing" Malcolm Turnbull, or Tony Abbott before him, it was the best possible outcome. "We've now got a situation here where you've got two leaders that have come in, that have got clean hands, they've got no political blood on their hands," Mr Entsch said. "They have been loyal, they have been committed and they have shown leadership, and so I say it's a great day for us and I think we can move forward from there." Topics:government-and-politics,federal-government,federal-parliament,parliament,liberals,political-parties,brisbane-4000,qld,canberra-2600 First posted August 25, 2018 05:05:45 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-25/what-does-scott-morrison-as-prime-minister-mean-for-queensland/10162266 Posted August 23, 2018 06:19:59
Photo: Tour operator Jimmy 'Dillon' Andrews say a work-for-the-dole scheme is hurting people keen to work. (ABC Kimberley: Emily Jane Smith) An Indigenous business owner in remote Western Australia says a government work-for-the-dole scheme is hampering the growth of his local business. Jimmy 'Dillon' Andrews is a tour guide for international tourists in the Kimberley's Windjana Gorge an area with almost no mobile and internet reception. Mr Andrews said his employees struggled to comply with the Community Development Program (CDP) a Federal Government initiative addressing welfare dependency because they could not phone Centrelink or report online. "We want to be self sufficient, but we are in the middle of no-where and I believe the current situation isn't working for Aboriginal businesses," he said. Mr Andrews pays his staff, but the inconsistency and seasonal work means they rely on welfare to stay above the poverty line when there are no tourists. Photo: Windjana Gorge is now a popular site for tourists and is Jimmy 'Dillon' Andrews ancestral land. (ABC Kimberley: Emily Jane Smith) He said the logistics of reporting to Centrelink with very little telecommunications had prevented him from employing and training more local workers. Mr Andrews said staff had left due to complications reporting for the CDP. "We tried to get these young kids out here, to give them some kind of future," he said. "They have to report every two weeks but we are in the middle of nowhere." Driving hours to report Emmanuel James Brown, a tour guide working for Mr Andrews has stood by the company despite telecommunications difficulties. "What I like about my job is that I get to stay out on country, to see the beauty of this land and teach different nationalities about our culture," he said. Mr Brown is one of the 33,000, mostly Indigenous, participants in the CDP, who are required to work up to 25 hours a week before receiving welfare payments. Photo: Emmanuel James Brown is a proud our guide in the Kimberley. (Emily Jane Smith) He said he drives two hours to Fitzroy Crossing or borrows the Parks and Wildlife phone to report his income. If he misses a reporting date he faces reduced payments, or no payments, for up to eight weeks. "For us mob, we have to stick to reporting to make sure we have a good record," he said. "It's stressful because eight weeks is a bloody long time." Claims of poor service from scheme manager In most instances, the CDP is managed by local non-government agents that are given taxpayer dollars to assist communities and individuals fulfil their reporting requirements. In the Fitzroy Valley, the scheme is administered by Marra Worra Worra Aboriginal Corporation. But Mr Andrews said they had failed to provide support for his staff and business. "They have a lot of vehicles out in town and Fitzroy Crossing, they need to come out here and start helping us out," he said. Marra Worra Worra declined to comment about Mr Andrews' situation. Photo: Jimmy Dillon Andrews believes that the CDP is a barrier to the growth of his business. (ABC Kimberley: Emily Jane Smith) Remote communication and Centrelink In addition to sketchy coverage, severe weather and flooding in summer months regularly knocks out mobile and internet coverage in the Kimberley. At the Pandanus Park community, around 200km away from Mr Andrews at Windjana Gorge, the CEO Patricia Riley said she had heard similar experiences from other CDP participants. Ms Riley said unreliable telecommunication services in remote areas continued to make it harder for scheme participants trying to do the right thing. "We've had people miss payments during the wet season when telephone and internet services are down," Ms Riley said. Photo: James 'Dillon' Andrews's workers sleep in tents during the tourist season in the Kimberley. (ABC Kimberley: Emily Jane Smith) She said people hitchhiked into the nearest town to report income or talk to Centrelink. "The gentlemen on the phone will ask the recipient if they can go see their service provider and they don't understand that it is two hours away," she said. "And they have to go in to receive their payment." Penalties fairly applied: Minister With the CDP facing scrutiny for punitive measures and a lack of effective results, reform has been discussed, but is yet to be acted on. A spokesperson for Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion said Mr Andrews' case had not been presented to the Government. But he said the Government had moved to address issues some of the issues with the CDP including ensuring penalties for missed reporting did not cause undue hardship. "The Government makes no apology for ensuring all job-seekers meet activity requirements no matter where they live in Australia," he said. "Under the Community Development Program, the Coalition has lifted remote job-seeker participation up to 75 per cent from a woefully low 6 per cent under the failed policies of Jenny Macklin and the Labor Party," he said. Topics:business-economics-and-finance,federal-government,indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander,indigenous-policy,unemployment,welfare,work,fitzroy-crossing-6765,canberra-2600 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-23/government-cdp-hampering-kimberley-tour-operator-business-growth/10152586 Posted August 20, 2018 14:45:23
Photo: Saddan and Dahlia were delighted to play netball for the first time. (ABC Canberra: Hannah Walmsley) One of Australia's most popular sports is helping open doors for children across diverse communities in Canberra. Netball ACT has launched an outreach program to pave new pathways for kids of all backgrounds to get into sport. Year 1 students at the Islamic School of Canberra, Dahlia and Saddan, have had their first taste of netball and they loved it. "I've never played netball before," Dahlia said. "I'd really like to play again." Hundreds of thousands of kids across the country spend each Saturday in winter running around footy fields and netball courts. But for kids whose parents and grandparents have not grown up in Australia, playing weekend sport is not necessarily as easy as it looks. "We rolled out some multicultural training for staff and development officers to create an awareness on what backgrounds some of these kids might be coming from," Netball ACT general manager Benita Bittner said. "We want the kids to have some sort of common ground and be able to create a sense of belonging. "Which is so important when you're moved into a whole new environment. "We just want the kids to feel more confident, knowing that in any of our districts they can walk into a netball centre and know they'll feel welcome." Photo: Players from the Canberra Giants joined Netball ACT to teach kids at the Islamic School of Canberra about netball. (ABC Canberra: Hannah Walmsley) The multicultural outreach program launched last week with more than 100 kids from the Islamic School of Canberra from kindergarten to Year 3. "Some of the kids didn't speak much English, so instructions were translated into Arabic," Ms Bittner said. "That's where sport can be such a great leveller." Many of the students at the school had never before touched a netball. "We asked [the kids] at the start of the day whether they knew what netball was and about 75 per cent of the kids didn't," Ms Bittner said. "We really wanted to connect with kids in their environment becasue we found that if people had never walked into a netball centre, or any big sportsground, it's very intimidating. "We probably take that for granted in Australia becasue that's what we grow up with and that's what we know. "This time around, we wanted to take our sport to the kids and create relationships and this is just the beginning." Netball coaches also conducted workshops with school-aged kids from Canberra's Indian community as well as its Pacific Islander community. Photo: Netball ACT wants kids from across Canberra to have access to play team sports from an early age and feel very welcome. (ABC Canberra: Hannah Walmsley) The initiative is the result of Netball ACT's collaboration with Amnesty International, Fair Canberra and the Confident Girls Foundation. "We really just want kids from all walks of like to lead a fun and active lifestyle," Netball ACT's Matt Tanner said. "Netball is a sport for everybody so we're bringing it directly to communities that otherwise might not experience it." Topics:netball,multiculturalism,primary-schools,canberra-2600 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-20/multicultural-netball-opens-doors-for-children/10139416 Posted August 13, 2018 18:40:29
Map: Canberra 2600 A woman who was raped by a former Anglican priest 30 years ago has detailed the extensive and long-lasting impact of the abuse in court. John Philip Aitchison was today sentenced to nine years behind bars for the historical rape. Earlier this year, a Supreme Court jury found Aitchison guilty of seven acts of indecency and five counts of rape against the woman, then a 13-year-old Canberra girl, which took place over two years in the 1980s. Aitchison pleaded not guilty to all charges. He has previously been convicted of other offences involving children in the ACT, Victoria, New South Wales and the United Kingdom, and he served roughly two years at the Junee Correctional Centre in the late 1990s. The first assault on the Canberra teenager took place at the All Saints' Anglican Church in Ainslie, after the she finished violin practice. During the trial, the woman told the court Aitchison had told her to look into the corner while he abused her, and pray that she might see her pet dog that had died. At the same time, Aitchison then a deacon prayed to God for forgiveness. In handing down his sentence, Justice Michael Elkaim said that incident was "a massive demonstration of hypocrisy". Other assaults took place at the church, as well as at the victim's Red Hill home. Justice Elkaim said Aitchison had been "dealt with leniently" by judges in relation to his other offences, saying he was "unquestionably a paedophile". "The offender maintains his innocence. Accordingly, there is no element of remorse," Justice Elkaim said. During sentencing, Justice Elkaim took into account an extensive victim impact statement read by the woman who was abused. In it, she said that three decades on she still thought of Aitchison every day and was frightened of him. "I see myself as dangerous to society because my judgement is flawed," she said. While the statement was read, Aitchison rocked back and forth slowly, shutting his eyes and facing up to the ceiling. The woman also talked about the impact the abuse had on her receiving medical treatment. She said she did not want anyone to touch her, and was frightened of obstetricians during her three pregnancies, causing her to choose to give birth via caesarean section. She said she found it difficult to make friends and had never held a permanent job. Aitchison will be eligible for parole in April 2023, after serving five years of his sentence. Topics:law-crime-and-justice,crime,child-abuse,courts-and-trials,canberra-2600,act,australia http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-13/priest-jailed-for-nine-years-for-raping-canberra-teenager/10115536 Updated August 14, 2018 09:49:33
Federal Member for Canberra Gai Brodtmann has confirmed she will not contest the next federal election, citing personal reasons. Ms Brodtmann has been the member for the most southern of Canberra's two electorates since 2010, and said in a statement on Monday evening she would not contest the newly created seat of Bean. The Labor MP said time spent with her mother over the past week affirmed the decision. "My mother turned 79 last week. Faye Anderson and my working-class matriarchy are why I am Labor to my bootstraps and why I ran for the seat of Canberra in 2010," she said. "My mother is now one of the reasons why I am not nominating. "By her own admission, Mum has years, not decades, left. I want to be there for those years." Ms Brodtmann said she had also missed too many precious and significant moments in her sisters' lives. She said serving the people of Canberra had been an "enormous honour and privilege and brought me inestimable pride and joy". "I have also loved influencing, shaping and developing policy, particularly on national and cyber security, women's health and empowerment, small business, public service and administration and Norfolk Island," she said. Ms Brodtmann also dismissed rumours she was sick, her mother was sick, or that she had been "pushed". "I've given this job 150 per cent and will continue to do so until I am no longer the Member for Canberra," she said. "After that I want to be able to focus more on my family and friends." 'I am not a career politician' In a statement, Opposition Leader Bill shorten praised the Member for Canberra's dedication. "Every one of us can relate to the things Gai feels like she has missed, and all of us can understand why she wants to spend more time with the people who mean the most to her," he said. "I know she will continue to give her all for Canberra and the Labor cause in the next phase of her life." Ms Brodtmann has served as Opposition spokeswoman for cyber security and defence since 2016. She confirmed her time in federal politics was over, but said she did not know what the next step for her was. "I am not a career politician," she said. "I had two careers before I went into politics and I plan to have another after politics, I'm just not sure what that will be." Ms Brodtmann said, while it was a decision for the party, she hoped to see another woman fill her seat. "I would like to see a woman continue the 30 plus years of tradition we have in that southern-most seat of women representing that community," she said. On July 3 Ms Brodtmann suggested she would be contesting the seat of Bean. Topics:federal-government,government-and-politics,elections,federal-elections,federal-parliament,parliament,canberra-2600,act,australia First posted August 13, 2018 17:45:33 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-13/gai-brodtmann-wont-contest-election/10115554 8/12/2018 0 Comments Sir John Eccles: The Aussie Nobel Prize-winning scientist who went in search of the soulPosted August 13, 2018 06:55:42
Photo: Sir John Eccles photographed in his lab in 1963. (Supplied: John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University) Sir John Eccles was one of the icons of Australian science. In 1963, along with British biophysicists Sir Alan Hodgkin and Sir Andrew Huxley, he won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for their groundbreaking work on synapses and the electrical properties of neurons. How Sir John Eccles revolutionised neuroscienceSir John Eccles shared the 1963 Nobel Prize for Physiology Or Medicine with Alan Lloyd Hodgkin and Andrew Fielding Huxley "for their discoveries concerning the ionic mechanisms involved in excitation and inhibition in the peripheral and central portions of the nerve cell membrane".Eccles' work showed that the transmission of information and impulses between neurons in the brain was both electrical and chemical in nature.His experiments paved the way for treatments of nervous diseases, as well as further research into the brain, heart and kidneys. That same year, Eccles was named Australian of the Year. But, as University of Sydney Honorary Associate Professor John Carmody once wrote: "the nation appears to have forgotten [Eccles despite the fact] modern neuroscience is forever in his debt". Part of the reason for the decline in his regard could stem from his latter-career work, in which he controversially attempted to marry his scientific prowess with his religious beliefs, and went in search of the soul. 'We are spiritual beings' Eccles was born in Melbourne and grew up in a Catholic household in south-western Victoria where he was home-schooled for much of his early life. He was a student at Warrnambool High School, which now boasts a science wing named in his honour. He then studied medicine at the University of Melbourne. His burgeoning scientific career took him around the world, and included stints in Oxford, Sydney, Dunedin, and Canberra's Australian National University, where he won his Nobel Prize. After departing ANU in 1966, Eccles headed to Chicago according to the Australian Academy of Science, "an important factor in Eccles' decision to leave Australia was his feeling of intellectual isolation, especially in relation to his increasing interests in philosophy and the mind-brain interaction". For a long time, Eccles had been fascinated by the notion of the self as separate to the physical brain, which was in part driven by his beliefs as a Catholic-raised theist. "We have to recognise that we are spiritual beings with souls existing in a spiritual world as well as material beings with bodies and brains existing in a material world," he wrote in his 1989 book Evolution of the brain: Creation of the self. Senior lecturer at ANU's John Curtin School of Medical Research, Dr Andrew Bell, said Eccles would not hesitate to use the unscientific word "soul", which "didn't quite endear him" to the scientific community. "He was a dualist he thought there was both a mental realm and a physical realm. It's not a popular theory," Dr Bell said. "Basically he [was trying to prove there were] various mental levels, started with sensation at the bottom and going up to God at the top. "He had a prime role for supreme beings and this is where it got together with his religious ideas. His religious basis was the foundation he tried to fit everything into. "He was brought up a Catholic and maintained that throughout his life and he tried to reconcile that with the scientific knowledge of the time and try to get a theory of how the brain and the mind interacted." Dr Bell said Eccles' attempts to mix religion and science marginalised him in the scientific community, but won him fans in the Catholic Church and invitations to the Vatican. Photo: Warrnambool High School has a science wing named in his honour. (ABC South West Vic: Matt Neal) '16th-century sort of thinking' Professor Allan Hobson, a retired Harvard Medical School professor of psychiatry, attended some of Eccles' lectures while a student in the 1960s and was shocked to learn Eccles was "a card-carrying Cartesian dualist". "He was going all around the world talking about The cerebellum as a neuronal machine, and I read that book and I was very impressed," Professor Hobson said. "The guy was a great scientist. "It was shocking to me to recognise he was a dualist. He thought the mind was one thing, and the brain was another, and so the soul and the mind are immaterial and they are floating around in the atmosphere controlled by God. "[It was] 16th-century sort of thinking." Professor Hobson said Eccles had "established his scientific reputation" and "after he got the Nobel Prize and all the professorships he wanted, he was free to play with ideas that really interested him". "He devised experiments in which he attempted to show the influence of religious belief on the brain and he couldn't find any evidence for it," Professor Hobson said. "To his credit, he had the courage to publish that stuff. Most people wouldn't. "I think people made the distinction between his religious beliefs, which were obviously foolish to most people, and his science, which was impeccable." 'A gigantic figure' ANU emeritus professor Stephen Redman was a PhD student at Monash University when he met Eccles. "He bowled into my laboratory completely unannounced and introduced himself I was a little bit overwhelmed and overawed," Dr Redman said. "He was huge. He'd won the Nobel Prize a few year earlier, that made him a gigantic figure in Australian neuroscience." Eccles invited Dr Redman to work with him in Chicago for six months, which was "a bit disappointing to be frank because [Eccles] was so busy travelling". Photo: Sir John Eccles won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, along with two colleagues, in 1963. (Supplied: Wellcome Library under Creative Commons Attribution licence) "When Eccles did come home and sit down and talk to me, he was terrific, I enjoyed it, but the interactions were limited. "He was amazingly easy to chat to. By the time I got to know him, I think he was getting a little bit dogmatic, waving his finger at me and telling me how it was rather than arguing the case. "But everyone that I spoke to that knew him from earlier days said what a wonderful person he was to engage with both in general and scientifically and how helpful he'd been. I thought he was enormously helpful." Dr Redman said Eccles was already on his quest for the soul when he worked with him. "His drive was always to try and set up hypotheses that were testable, experimentally. So in all of the meanderings he took to try and find the basis of mind and will, the hypotheses were always set up in such a way that they could be testable. "That is you could do measurements in the brain to see if he was right or not. That's the honest scientific part, the part that's got nothing to do with his religious thought. I think until he was very old, he kept them pretty separate. "To be fair to him, even though there was a religious basis to a lot of his thinking, at no stage did he let that interfere with what was fact and what wasn't fact." Dr Redman said older scientists remembered him and continued to be inspired by him, "but I don't think young people doing neuroscience are reading Eccles". "His reputation, in my opinion, is not based on his attempt to get a neurophysiological basis of [the soul] it's the solid hardcore stuff he got the Nobel Prize for that he'll be remembered for." Topics:science-and-technology,science-awards,pseudo-science,science,religion-and-beliefs,brain-and-nervous-system,health,warrnambool-3280,canberra-2600,australian-national-university-0200,melbourne-3000,koroit-3282,new-zealand,sydney-2000 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-13/sir-john-eccles-the-scientist-who-went-in-search-for-the-soul/10089676 |
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