Manslaughter surgeon attacked in prison

Dr Teo said he had met fellow brain surgeon Suresh Nair in 2000, when the latter was a registrar at Prince of Wales Hospital.

Although describing Nair as "a bit odd" and "awkward socially", Dr Teo said the pair had spent up to 16 hours a day working together and become close.

"I spent so many hours with him, I got to know the real Suresh in that year... I had nothing but good things to say about him," Dr Teo told the District Court.

"(He is) a fine person, a fine character with a good heart ... (He had) a peaceful sort of soul who cared very much for his patients and I thought he was an excellent neurosurgeon."

Dr Teo said he knew nothing of Nair's cocaine addiction and was shocked when Nair was initially charged with the manslaughter of one escort Victoria McIntyre in February 2009, and the murder of call girl Brazilian national Suellen Domingues Zaupa nine months later.

He has ultimately pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Ms Zaupa, and one count of drug supply relating to Ms McIntyre's death.

Nair, 42, also pleaded guilty to a charge of supplying a prohibited drug while on bail last January.

A preliminary hearing of the case revealed Nair's penchant for having "model type" escorts visit his apartment to consume large amounts of cocaine, sometimes in "rock" form he inserted into their bodies.

There are many surgeons who, because of ego, would rather let their patients die than refer them to someone else," Dr Teo said.

"But he would refer patients to me regularly that he thought I could help with."

Dr Teo said that he had initially found Nair to have an "odd personality" when they started working together at Prince of Wales in 2001.

But over the course of many hours spent together the two had formed a very close bond, he said.

"I don't believe that Suresh would ever operate on a patient under the influence of drugs.

"His patient care was of the highest level.

"Patients speak very highly of him."

Dr Teo said that his family and colleagues had not wanted him to "stick his neck out" by supporting Nair but that he had wanted to support his former colleague and friend.

Tsunami woes reach flood-hit beef jobs

JBS Australia's Beef City Meat Plant at Toowoomba will close from Friday, to July 15.

A spokesman said it was the first time in the plant's history that it had shut down due to poor trading conditions.

Factors in the decision were the high Australian dollar, increasing labour costs and government fees making Australian beef uncompetitive in international markets.

"At the same time we are faced with these challenges here in Australia, cheaper US beef is rapidly taking the place of Australian beef on shelves across the northern Asian markets," the spokesman said.

Opposition agriculture spokesman Andrew Cripps said it was a tough time for the entire beef sector.

Live exporters have been affected by the federal government's decision to suspend trade with some Indonesian facilities.

Mr Cripps said it was a "Labor-created crisis".

While I remain confident operations will start again soon at JBS, we will watch the situation closely."

JBS's head office did not return calls yesterday.

The vast Beef City abattoir, which processes 1100 cattle a day, employs 940 people and is Toowoomba's biggest job provider. JBS operates 10 abattoirs in Australia and five cattle feedlots.

Those reporting for duty at Beef City yesterday were told that operations would cease in preparation for the two-week shutdown because of the slump in demand from Japan.

Sixty per cent of the plant's output is sent to Japan, Beef City manager Justin McCormick said. The company was seeking alternative customers, domestically and abroad, and could bring forward the start-up if any were found for the high-quality output from Toowoomba.

Workers would be able to take accrued annual leave while production was suspended, Mr McCormick told The Australian. A limited number of positions could be opened up at JBS's Dinmore plant in Brisbane's west for those who had no time owing.

Slaughtermen Scott Mengel and Robert Beilefeld said they were shocked by the development. Both have pregnant wives at home, due to give birth soon.

"I've heard the shut-down could extend to three or four weeks. It's devastating. I don't know what I'll do. I have a mortgage to pay. I'll have to find work somewhere else until the abattoir reopens," Mr Beilefeld said.

Clover Moore's council policies are sending businesses away

On Monday night, Sydney City councillors controversially voted to use the term "invasion" in the council's Aboriginal policy.

Ms Moore said on Thursday that the word accurately described the impact of colonisation on indigenous communities.

"They (the Aboriginal community) told us very strongly that the word described the impact on the community," she told reporters in Sydney.

Owner of CBD lingerie store Arianne, Douglas Reedy, pays thousands of dollars in rent but cannot vote for the council as a business.

He said Ms Moore's council was "killing" Sydney with controversial policies such as the bike lanes.

"The little people are going broke everywhere over the (CBD). She's disrupting traffic and trying to get people out of the city," Mr Reedy said.

He said this year was a "shocker" for revenue - the worst in 25 years: "She's just driving money out. All the developers have left."

Urban Taskforce CEO Aaron Gadiel blasted the council for driving business to despair with red tape, preventing development, and failing to represent all the community.

"People want to invest in other places to save themselves the difficulty in dealing with the City of Sydney."

Parramatta Economic Development Forum CEO Christopher Brown said business realised the encumbrance of working in the CBD.

"Parramatta is a willing player. It's not only laying out the welcome mat, it's knocking on people's doors," Mr Brown said. "Gone are the days if you didn't have your office in Martin Place it wasn't a real office."

Meriton managing director Harry Triguboff said Sydney's councils had a reputation for stalling projects.

Luring Sydney families with a $7000 grant

Forbes’ population could be set to swell under the state government’s new relocation scheme.

As of tomorrow, the government’s Regional Relocation Grants scheme will provide payments to Sydney families who move to regional NSW.

Families will receive $7000 in a one-off grant if they leave Sydney, Newcastle or Wollongong for regional NSW on the condition they don’t spend more than $600,000 on a home.

By moving to places like Glen Innes, Inverell, Armidale, Guyra, Uralla and Tenterfield families can escape the high cost of living and congestion of life in the big smoke,” Mr Stoner said.

“The NSW Government is determined to kick-start regional NSW by supporting growth, creating jobs and improving infrastructure.”

Northern Tablelands MP Richard Torbay said any initiative to relocate people from Sydney to regional areas had his support and the financial incentive being offered by the government was a positive first step.

“As the scheme rolls out it should be carefully monitored and reviewed to see what the take up is, where people are choosing to move to and whether further incentives might assist in making them consider areas where population growth is required,” he said.

“What it shows is that families with young children are willing to move to rural areas if the incentives are sufficiently compelling.”

Mr Torbay said the government should also reconsider zone taxation measures supported by the NSW Farmers Association and the Chartered Accountants Association.

“This would see tax cuts for businesses that relocate to regional areas,” he said.

However, Mr Torbay said the scheme should be more specific about the location.

“While I applaud the initiative to counterbalance the overdevelopment of Sydney, I would also like to see some positive discrimination towards areas in this state that need extra population,” Mr Torbay said.

“Many parts of the coast, the Hunter and Illawarra where these incentive grants also apply are already overpopulated. Attracting more people would place too much stress on local infrastructure.

Man jailed for killing gay housemate

Aaron James Johnstone, 29, said he lost control after his drunk housemate Phillip Higgins, 46, propositioned him in September 2006.

He told police he kicked and punched Mr Higgins before dropping the platypus statue on him. He also struck him with a chair.

Johnstone was today sentenced to 18 years' jail with a minimum term of 14 years at the Victorian Supreme Court.

Justice Robert Osborn described the injuries suffered by Mr Higgins, which included six broken ribs and a battered face, as horrific.

He said Johnstone moved into the rented flat of Mr Higgins and was his friend for some years.

"Your attack was a savage betrayal of his trust and generosity," Justice Osborn said.

He said that even if Mr Higgins made advances towards his friend, his reaction was outside of what an ordinary person would do.

"I do not accept that even if Mr Higgins had made homosexual advances to you in the terms you now assert, the ordinary person might be so provoked to totally lose control and do what you did.

Justice Osborn said Mr Higgins' injuries, which included six broken ribs and a battered face, were horrific.

The court heard Johnstone moved into the rented flat of Mr Higgins and was his friend for some years.

"Your attack was a savage betrayal of his trust and generosity," Justice Osborn said.

The judge said he took into account that Johnstone was affected by alcohol at the time of the bashing, his conduct was followed by some degree of remorse and he was relatively co-operative with police.

Justice Osborn said Mr Higgins, a disability pensioner, was described to the court as having a kindly and generous nature and his bloody and violent death had a deep impact on his family.

"Phillip Higgins' family has lost a dearly loved member in circumstances which will leave them with a permanent sense of overwhelming hurt and loss," he said.

Boats slower since Malaysia proposal

Deal to send 800 boat people from Australia to Malaysia will be signed within weeks - and includes a plan to give each refugee a barcode for indentification as soon as they arrive.

Senior Home Affairs officials said the refugees who arrive in the country will not be given special treatment.

During a one-hour meeting with opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison, Malaysian Home Affairs senior deputy secretary-general Dato Alwi bin Haji Ibrahim detailed how the refugee swap would work. The deal is set to be signed in early July.

The only remaining "sticking point" is which country would be responsible for sending immigrants back to their country if they did not meet the refugee criteria. Each of the 800 boat people who arrive in Malaysia will be screened by national security and tested for communicable diseases.

They would be issued with a special barcode, which only immigration officials - not police or RELA - can scan with mobile phones.

Our number of boat arrivals is about a third of that, way down, so it is a very significant reduction."

Seven boats carrying more than 300 asylum seekers have arrived since the government's announcement.

Mr Bowen maintained the recent arrivals would be processed in "a third country".

He said Australia and Malaysia were still working through "one or two operational issues" to finalise the deal.

The government was still talking with Papua New Guinea about the possibility of reopening the Manus Island detention centre despite that country's political upheaval.

Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare this week stepped down to battle illness.

"They have had a change of prime minister, a considerable Cabinet reshuffle; they have had some issues to work through and that is perfectly appropriate," Mr Bowen said.

"We continue to talk to PNG of course but it is also appropriate that we give them time to sort through their domestic political situation.

Bush mailman dies aged 96

Esmond Gerald (Tom) Kruse, MBE 28 August 1914 – 30 June 2011 was a former mailman on the Birdsville Track in the border area between South Australia and Queensland. He became known as the result of John Heyer's 1954 film The Back of Beyond, and in the year after the film's release, in the 1955 New Year Honours, Kruse was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for "services to the community in the outback".

Early life

Kruse was born at Waterloo in South Australia to Harry (Heinrich) and Ida Kruse. He was the tenth of their twelve children. He left school when he was 14 years old, and worked as a casual labourer on local farms. However, due to the Depression, he "went 'bush'" around 1934 to work in John Penna's haulage business which ran out of Yunta in the mid-north of South Australia. 

Kruse married Audrey Valma Fuller (known as Val) on 24 January 1942 in Adelaide, South Australia. They had four children: Pauline, Helen, Phillip and Jeffery.

The Birdsville Track and The Back of Beyond

In 1936 Harry Ding bought the mail contract from John Penna and Kruse began his first run on 1 January of that year. Kruse bought the mail contract in 1947. He sold the contract in 1963.

Kruse worked the Birdsville Track mail run from 1936 to 1957, driving his Leyland Badger truck. He delivered mail and other supplies including general stores, fuel and medicine to remote stations from Marree in north-west South Australia to Birdsville in central Queensland, some 325 miles (523 kilometres) away. Each trip would take two weeks and Tom regularly had to manage break-downs, flooding creeks and rivers, and getting bogged in desert dunes.

Tom Kruse came to fame with the release of John Heyer's documentary The Back of Beyond in 1954. While the film follows a "typical" journey made by Kruse, showing the various people he met along the Track and the sorts of obstacles he faced, this particular journey was closely scripted and includes a number of re-enactments and a 'lost children' story. John Heyer had undertaken a research trip with Kruse earlier. Shooting on the film began in late 1952. He was appointed MBE in 1955.

The Leyland Badger

Kruse abandoned the truck on Pandie Pandie Station near Birdsville in 1957. It was located in the desert in 1986 during the Jubilee Mail Run re-enactment, and retrieved in 1993. A group of enthusiasts led by Neil Weidenbach, with the help of Tom, fully restored the Badger between 1996 and 1999. The truck is now kept at the National Motor Museum, at Birdwood in the Adelaide Hills.

Later life

Tom retired in 1984, and moved to Cumberland Park in Adelaide. In May 1986, South Australia's 150th Jubilee, Tom re-enacted his run, with 80 vehicles joining in the northbound convoy. There was a second re-enactment In 1999, and in October of that year the Leyland was trucked to a few kilometres out of Birdsville so Tom could drive it into the township for celebrations. The next morning it was loaded with mail for "The Mail Truck's Last Run" to Marree. A major reason for the event was to raise funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. This run resulted in another documentary, Last Mail from Birdsville - the Story of Tom Kruse. As well as this a book written by Kristin Weidenback entitled Mailman of the Birdville Track was also written about Tom's life.

In 2000 Tom was inducted into the National Transport Hall of Fame in Alice Springs, and in 2003 he was officially recognised as an Outback Legend by Australian Geographic magazine. Also in 2003, Tom and his truck, the Badger, were nominated South Australian icons by the National Trust of Australia.

In 2008, bronze busts of Tom were placed in the National Motor Museum at Birdwood, at Waterloo (his birthplace), and at Birdsville and Marree.

He died in Adelaide, aged 96, on 30 June 2011.

Sydney woman faces $1.3m fraud allegations

Woman has been charged with fraud after police discovered she had allegedly obtained more than $1.3 million in fraudulent motor claims and loans.

Between September 2010 and December 2010, police will allege the woman lodged 46 motor equity insurance claims which had a combined total of $509,000.

The woman allegedly set up a bank account under a false name which she used when lodging the claims.

It is further alleged that in December 2010, the woman applied for, and was granted, a home loan of $720,000. Again it is alleged the woman used the false bank account to apply for the loan.

Following exhaustive inquiries, City Central Detectives today arrested the woman at a home in Gladesville.

She was taken to Ryde Police Station where she was subsequently charged with 10 counts of fraud.

Between September and December 2010 the 31-year-old filed 46 motor equity insurance claims worth $509,000, using a bank account set up under a false name, NSW police allege.

Around the same period she also obtained a home loan worth $720,000, using the same false bank account, it is claimed.

Detectives arrested the woman at a home in Gladesville, on Sydney's north shore, today.

She was taken to Ryde police station and charged with 10 counts of fraud.

She's due to appear at Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court on July 20.