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Croc bites teenage boy at NT billabong

Written By Unknown on Senin, 17 Desember 2012 | 23.20

A 16-year-old boy has been mauled by a crocodile near a remote Northern Territory community.

A croc has bitten a teenager boy's leg in the Northern Territory.  It follows two other attacks in the past two months.  Both of those were fatal. Source: Northern Territory News

A TEENAGE boy has been airlifted to hospital after he was attacked by a crocodile in a remote part of the Northern Territory.

The 16-year-old boy was bitten on the leg by the one-metre-long croc while hunting at a billabong in the remote community of Ramingining in Arnhem Land yesterday.

Ramingining lies about 440 kilometres east of Darwin and is just 100 kilometres east of Gumarrirnbang outstation where a seven-year-old girl was eaten by a croc last month.

Careflight said the boy was treated at a local clinic before being flown to Royal Darwin Hospital where he remains in a stable condition.

The NT News reports that it is the third serious attack in the past two months - the other two were fatal.


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Kids 'addicted' to fast food app

Hungry Jacks was singled out for "Encouraging a young audience to consume unhealthy food any time" via a simple shake of their phone. Picture: Supplied Source: news.com.au

DIETITIANS are pushing to ban a smartphone app that dishes out free hamburgers and fries at Hungry Jacks restaurants, saying children are becoming addicted to the promotion and are putting their health at risk.

Since the "Hungry Jacks Makes it Better" app was launched five months ago, doctors have reported seeing children and teens who have become "addicted" to it, with one Sydney dietitian reporting a morbidly obese 15-year-old patient using the app every day to score discounted food.

Paediatric dietitian Jessica Lee, of Brisbane child obesity clinic CHOC4Kids, this week launched an online petition to ban the app which she describes as "appalling".

"The reason kids end up morbidly obese is over-consumption and the big food industry, like Hungry Jacks, they push over-consumption through promotions like this," she said.

"Most children have phones now, especially teenagers and adolescents, and it's the excitement that it's an app - they love that electronic stuff. So if they keep getting these apps that give free food they're going to keep using it."

The free app, which is available on both iPhone and Android, displays vouchers for free or discounted food when users shake their phone at any Hungry Jacks location.

Vouchers expire after 20 minutes, or when they are marked as redeemed by a staff member, and users are only allowed to redeem one voucher at the same restaurant once every 10 hours.

However Sydney dietitian Caroline Trickey said a morbidly obese 15-year-old patient, who used the app every day, had been using vouchers repeatedly in a single visit, sharing them with friends because busy staff members often forget to reset them when they are redeemed.

"He had been seeing me for his obesity but not losing weight, and it wasn't until the last consultation when I discovered that he has this app on his phone," she said.

"He was using it every single day with friends - they'd all walk home together and unfortunately they'd go near a Hungry Jack's store and all five of them would get their phones out and shake them and invariably one of them wins something.

"What often happens is that the staff member forgets to reset the phone, so one will hand his phone to his mate and he'll get a freebie as well."

In an emailed statement a spokesperson for Hungry Jacks said the fast food chain "does not have children as part of its core target audience", and the app was not aimed at children.

However Dietitians' Association of Australia spokeswoman Lisa Renn said the app was still irresponsible, as teenagers would certainly be attracted to use it.

"When we talk about children we inlcude adolescents, and certainly most adolescents have a smartphone and are into apps like that," she said.

"We know that developing an overweight issue in adolescence carries through into adulthood, so while the app may not be targeted at primary school-age children, adolescents will still definitely be targeted, and it's still irresponsible."

Last month the app was "shamed" in the Parents' Jury's annual "Fame and Shame" awards for sneaky marketing of unhealthy food to children and encouraging pester power.


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Only Aussie made will do for Diggers

An Australian soldier wearing a torn US-made uniform last year. Source: News Limited

COMBAT clothing for Australian troops will be 100 per cent Australian made under a new contract due to be revealed today.

The government got into hot water in 2010 when News Limited exposed plans to use cheaper Chinese made camouflage fabric to make the standard combat uniform worn by diggers on operations, in training and as daily dress.

A year later in Afghanistan the American made MultiCam combat uniforms literally fell apart at the seams leaving soldiers' combat pants in tatters.

That prompted Defence Materiel Minister Jason Clare to insist that new uniforms be made in Australia and are robust enough to handle combat situations.

The government will announce that Australian Defence Apparel in Bendigo, Victoria and Pacific Brands Workwear Group in West Footscray, Victoria will produce the uniforms under a five-year contract, worth an estimated $14.5 million per year.

Fabrics used in the uniforms will also be made in Australia, by Bruck Textiles in Wangaratta, Victoria and by Technical Fabric Services Australia in South Stapylton, Queensland.

Up to 90,000 combat uniforms will be produced in the first year of the new contract using about 350,000 metres of fabric.

The Standard Combat Uniform is the disruptive pattern camouflage printed shirt and trousers worn by all Australian Defence Force members including navy and RAAF personnel.Mr Clare said the new contract meant that the fabric was woven in Australia and the garment would be stitched together in Australia.

''This is an outstanding result for the men and women of our Defence Force, ensuring quality, Australian-made combat uniforms into the future,'' Mr Clare said.

Soldiers were happy with MultiCam clothing, which is more comfortable and better able to ''hide'' troops in mixed terrain, but in many cases they tore along seams where stretch fabric met non-stretch fabric.


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Xmas shoppers to spend $12b this week

Customers are expected to part with nearly $520 each on average in the week before Christmas. Source: news.com.au

RETAILERS expect shoppers to spend almost $12 billion within Australia this week in the run-up to Christmas, nearly twice as much as last week.

Customers are expected to part with nearly $520 each on average in the week before Christmas, according to projections from the Australian National Retailers Association (ANRA) and GE Capital Christmas Retail Index.

This week NSW shoppers are tipped to be the biggest spenders with an estimated total of over $2.5 billion, followed by Victorians on $1.97 billion, Queenslanders on $1.9 billion and West Australians on $1.1 billion.

Last week's total spend within Australia was estimated at around $6.5 billion.

ANRA Chief Executive Margy Osmond said some states and territories would see less spending this week as more organised shoppers in the ACT, Northern Territory and South Australia wrapped up their shopping early.

She said most Australians would have one or two gifts left to purchase as they finalised their Christmas lists.

Only 10 per cent of people reported doing most of their shopping in the two to six days before Christmas but twice as many said they would complete theirs in the last few days.

About $9.85 billion is expected to be spent at bricks and mortar stores while $2 billion is expected to be spent locally on online purchases, making a total of $11.85 billion.

The projections do not include overseas online spending prospects.

Ms Osmond said many Australians would take advantage of extended trading hours to finish off their shopping and enjoy the buzz around the shops.

Check out some great ideas in our Christmas Gift Guide


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Cops to fight beard rights in own time

Beards: Police officer Michael Kuyken fronts the media after an initial hearing in October. Source: HWT Image Library

A GROUP of officers challenging a Victoria Police ban on beards and ponytails will have to pursue their discrimination bid in their own time.

Leading Senior Constable Michael Kuyken accused the police force of victimising the 16 officers behind the discrimination claim in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) by forcing them to wage a legal battle against the dress code while off-duty.

The officers wanted to be paid and on-duty when attending the tribunal hearing as they fight Chief Commissioner Ken Lay's decision at the start of this year to tighten up the force's dress code after they had worked for nearly 10 years under more lenient rules.

Const Kuyken, representing the group, said the officers suffered detriment as a result of having to go to the tribunal on leave or on off-duty days and were not given proper support in rostering to attend.

"We have not sought to claim any allowances other than our normal day's pay," Sen Const Kuyken told the tribunal.

Mr Lay's lawyer Jack Tracey said the officers had not been victimised, and had been supported.

"To the contrary, this is not victimisation, it's actually assisting applicants in bringing proceedings," Mr Tracey told the tribunal.

Mr Tracey said the state should not be required to pay individuals representing themselves in personal claims.

"A situation where claims are being brought in the personal interests of alleged members, there is no way of suggesting reasonably this is a situation where they are on-duty."

VCAT senior member Genevieve Nihill said she was not satisfied the officers were acting on official police business and threw out the application.

"I'm not satisfied that there is any detriment to applicants attending proceedings," Ms Nihill said.

Ms Nihill conceded there needed to be sufficient time to plan around the officers' rosters and said any damages could be pursued by the officers if their discrimination claim was successful.

Outside the hearing, Sen Const Kuyken said the officers would continue their fight to uphold their rights.

"It's very disappointing since we are complying with the police manual to report misconduct," he told reporters.

The matter will return to the tribunal for a hearing in June.


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End of an era as Ford shuts FPV shop

Ford Performance Vehicle quality controller for 20 years, Des Meehan. Picture: Tony Gough Source: HWT Image Library

THE beeping of forklifts normally signals the arrival of parts coming in, but today it means equipment is being moved out.

The factory floor is deserted but for one car, and some hoists that are about to be disassembled.

Ford Performance Vehicles has shut its doors after putting the finishing touches on more than 100,000 cars - including 12,000 Falcon GTs - over the past 21 years.

The last one was a shiny red Falcon GT (build number 305) that was waiting for a rear bumper to be fitted, before being loaded onto a truck.

As the Australian car manufacturing industry continues to operate on the brink, and as all three local makers ''resize'' their workforces with redundancies, FPV has been forced to shutter its factory in Campbellfield, across the Hume Highway from Ford's Broadmeadows assembly line.

The final production team for the last GT Falcon. Picture: Tony Gough

''It's sad because this is the best Falcon we've ever built,'' said David Stule, a 20-year veteran of the company, who has been working at Ford's performance car operations since he left school.

''After years of our cars being down on power [compared to Holden], we've smashed them out of the park with the new GT. Unfortunately, though, the sales speak for themselves.''

At its peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s, FPV and its predecessors (it has had three names as ownership changed) employed 140 workers who put out close to 100 cars a day.

But for the past 18 months the company has been operating with just 21 employees (three in the parts store, eight in the engine shop, and 10 in the assembly area) who produced about eight cars a day.

The final production team for the last GT Falcon. Picture: Tony Gough

The workers at this facility hand-finished every fast Ford since 1991 and helped keep the faith with loyal fans even when it appeared the mothership had lost its way.

When the awkwardly-styled AU Falcon was unveiled in 1998, business boomed at the Campbellfield facility as buyers favoured the XR6 over the dowdy design of the standard model.

To help keep workers gainfully employed, the operation also pumped out LPG conversions, sunroofs and other accessories.

In response to the reborn Holden Monaro, Ford also got them to convert a batch of Mustangs to right-hand-drive for Australia.

But over the past 10 years Ford has slowly picked off FPV's fruit (and profitability), taking the XR6 and XR8 models back into mainstream production, and later the LPG models.

In the end, FPV was only left with the high-performance turbo and V8 models, of which only 1500 are sold each year - a fraction of its previous annual output.

And now Ford is taking that in-house too.

From next year the Falcon GT will be made on the same production line as the regular models, presumably as Ford tries to capture more of the profit from these top-end cars.

Today, a Falcon GT costs in excess of $70,000.

The workers, who leave with five weeks' pay for every year of service, are not sure what they will do next.

''A lot of us would like to stay in the industry, because it's what we know,'' said Salv Pezzano, who worked there for 14 years, first as a technician before moving to logistics.

''None of us really know where we'll end up yet."

Another 14-year veteran, Wayne King, found out about FPV's closure about the same time he was informed by his doctor that he needed to have life-saving surgery.

He was operated on a fortnight ago and made a speedy recovery in time for his last day.

The blue-collar workers may spend most of their time under a hot tin roof, but they have a crystal clear understanding of the challenges facing the car industry.

Des Meehan has worked for Ford's performance car division for 20 years. In quality control he drove every Falcon GT off the line and on a 10km road test before each car was trucked to dealerships.

''I think it would be a dangerous move to go back into the auto industry in Australia, I think it's going to die,'' Meehan told News Limited.

''Where do you go, because Toyota, Holden, Ford, they're all laying people off. We're a drop in the ocean in the Ford world.''

Meehan added: ''I think we haven't moved with the [new-car] market. Maybe we should have been building Focuses years ago. People want small cars.''

Ford had the same idea, but it never made it.

In 2007, Ford announced it would build the Focus small car in Broadmeadows, alongside the Falcon – but Detroit scrapped those plans two years later.

The Focus now comes to Australia from Thailand, where labour costs are cheaper and which has a free trade agreement with Australia.

''It's not a level playing field, Australia versus the world,'' says Neil Barker, a manufacturing engineer and a 20-year veteran of Ford's performance car business.

''We've got different rules here, be it carbon tax or free trade agreements. And the importers have the currency in their favour.''

When asked about the future or the fate of the Falcon beyond the publicly stated 2016 deadline, no-one knows. Or if they do, they're not saying.

''The (AU Falcon of 1998) very nearly didn't make it into production,'' said Barker.

''That's how long the Falcon's been close to the line in Australia. But Ford still finds a way to make it work.''

It may be a bigger struggle next time around. Sales of the regular Falcon are at record lows, with about 12,900 deliveries so far this year.

The year before Mitsubishi closed its Adelaide factory in 2008, it built 11,000 cars.

THE HIGHLIGHTS

1991: Tickford is formed to do the engineering and final assembly of performance Falcons, LPG conversions and other accessories. And a limited edition Capri convertible.

1998: The awkwardly-styled AU Falcon is launched, Tickford's business picks up as buyers embrace the better looking XR6 and XR8 sports models.

1999: Ford Tickford Experience dealer network is established.

2000: In response to the reborn Holden Monaro, Ford imports about 400 Mustangs and Tickford converts them to right-hand-drive for Australia.

2002: Prodrive buys out Tickford and the Ford Performance Vehicles brand is created.

2002: Ford brings XR6 and XR8 production inhouse and online at Broadmeadows, leaving FPV with only the high-performance turbo and V8 models.

2010: The most powerful Falcon GT of all time is released. Despite a $40 million investment in the supercharged V8, it doesn't meet sales expectations, selling at less than half the rate of the equivalent Holden Special Vehicles model.

December 17, 2012: The last Falcon GT 'R-Spec' is finished by hand at FPV - 350 were built, but the last customer car to leave the premises was build number 305, a red manual sedan, that was waiting for a rear bumper bar to be fitted.

This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling


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Christmas party tragedy as plane crashes

An experienced Gympie pilot has been killed in a fiery crash just moments before he was due to land at a Christmas party

A CHRISTMAS party has ended in tragedy after a plane crash killed a pilot hired by a skydiving company in southeast Queensland.

The Cessna's undercarriage clipped power lines and crashed at Burrum Heads, just north of Hervey Bay, about 10am (AEST) on Monday.

The plane was engulfed in flames on impact and the 59-year-old pilot, from Gympie, died at the scene.

He was the only person on board.

The crash also sparked hundreds of power outages in the area.

Police Inspector Troy Pukallus says a skydiving company hired the plane for a Christmas party at the Flame Lily Adventures park across the road.

"The aircraft was landing in the nearby airfield to assist with activities for Christmas celebrations at the adventure park here," he told ABC.

"There were children and adults here at the time."

An adventure park staff member, who did not want to be identified, said the tragedy had ended what began as a good day.

"All I can say about the pilot is he was very experienced, he was a really nice chap and we're all going to miss him terribly," she told AAP.

An Ergon Energy spokesman said the plane knocked out four electricity transmission lines, cutting power to 1600 homes and businesses.

"Initial reports said there was actually contact with the pole," he told AAP.

"We haven't confirmed that with our crews yet."

The Department of Community Safety said three fire crews put out the fire.

The Australian Transport and Safety Bureau will investigate the crash.


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Help sought for amphetamine abuse

There are no proven medications to effectively treat amphetamine-type substance dependence. Source: Supplied

A NSW drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre has experienced a spike in the number of people seeking treatment for amphetamine-type stimulants.

Odyssey House reported a 20 per cent increase in admissions to its residential rehabilitation clinic for drugs such as ice and speed in 2011/2012, accounting for 30 per cent of clients.

Alcohol was the main drug of concern for 29 per cent of people followed by heroin and other opiates at 24 per cent.

There are no proven medications to effectively treat amphetamine-type substance dependence.

Odyssey House took part in a trial of a therapy-based treatment for people dependent on this group of drugs, with the results due to be published next year.

There were 643 admissions to Odyssey House's residential program and 327 to its withdrawal centre throughout the year.


Chief executive James Pitts said more than half of the centre's clients have mental illnesses.

Fifty-six per cent of people had been diagnosed with a mental illness compared to 42 per cent the previous year.

He said mental illness could be a pre-existing condition, exacerbated by alcohol or drug use or a symptom of withdrawal.

"People often turn to alcohol and other drugs in an attempt to feel better, have a good time or self-medicate their personal issues, yet many end up in the grip of dependence and suffering serious mental health problems, sometimes long-term," he said in a statement.


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