The Age from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Page 9

NEWS THE AGE FRIDAY 20 NOVEMBER 1998 Beauty linked to gambling Poverty AJjeading charity says jot cuts and gambling have caused demand for its services to soar. relief committee also known as Vic-Care. is the only legislated charity in Victoria. Dame Phyllis said one in four people being assisted by the committee needed help for gambling addiction. To help meet record demand, the committee has called on the State Government to restore its budget to pre-1992 levels.

The administrative budget was chopped by 38 per cent when the Kennett Government came to power in 1992. The combined impact of shrinking private donations and increased competition for public money has Some well-known groups were "off-loading" their responsibilities onto Vic-Care and there had been a dramatic Increase in requests for aid from Commonwealth Government departments and migrant resources centres. "There is evidence to suggest that welfare groups with significant resources are increasingly referring applicants (to us) in an effort to conserve (their) funds," he said in the committee's annual report tabled in State Parliament this week. Without naming names, Dame Phyllis said some agencies were taking gifts of clothes and furniture from Vic-Care and selling them at a "grand price" in opportunity shops. "Some of the now major organisations are charging for.

the things they're giving people. That isn't social work they're running these aid organisations like she said, Mr Stang said Vic-Care was unable to keep up with demand for' food packages and had to limit quantities this year to make the donated food go around. The committee has also dipped into its diminishing cash reserves to appoint two more gambling counsellors. Of 3092 families seeking assistance last year, 980 related to problem gambling. By SANDRA McKAY STATE POLITICAL REPORTER A Hew class of poverty born of economic downsizing and the proliferation of gambling has led to record calls for help, according to Dame Phyllis Frost, the chairman of the Victorian Relief Committee.

Widespread redundancies and boxing Doctors shape up for a bout against child One Nation had ho permit for raffle, court told i Viet jv 5 It' also left it unable to help In some "It's like a big wave in surfing it curls over the top of you a bit, and we're struggling very much," Dame Phyllis said, The Government grant was reduced from $382,430 to $355,530 last financial year, while private donations dropped from $203,307 to $156,229. The committee's chief executive officer, Mr Christian Stang, said attracting support from corporate and private benefactors was the biggest challenge in a climate of enormous competition between charities. The AMA launched the advertisement as It called upon the states and territories to ban child boxing. The AMA president, Dr David Brand, said while his organisation was opposed to all forms of boxing, it was particularly concerned about the brain damage being suffered by children taking part In bouts. "Boxing is a sport that involves a high degree of risk and we have got a situation where promoters are not protecting children and parents are not protecting children, so it is time governments did," he said.

Dr Brand said boxing differed from other contact sports because the object was to inflict brain damage on an opponent. i By SUE CANT Aivofficial of Mrs Pauline Hanson's On'e Nation appeared in court yesterday to face charges of running an illegal lottery for a world trip that raised $42,000 for the party. One Nation Ltd and its director, Mr David Ettridge, faced nine charges in the Geelong Magistrates Court, including conducting an illegal lottery and selling lottery tickets. Counsel for the Victorian Casino and Gaming Authority, Mr Rob Taylor, told the court the charges related to a fund-raising raffle run by the; party without a permit between January and April this year. Mr Taylor said $42,000 was raised nationally for the party.

The court heard that the maximum penalty for running a lottery without a permit, which recently doubled under new gaming laws, wai $15,000. The charges relate to breaches of the Lotteries, Gaming and Betting Act and new legislation, the Gaming No.2 Act. A former One Nation employee, Mr Bill Croft, also faces three charges of assisting to run a lottery without a permit. The court heard there had David Brand, Federal President of the AMA, stands before an image from the graphic advertising campaign picture: mike bowers debate has two faces Beauty Is more than skin deep, a study shows. 1 An evolutionary psychologist, Dr Linda Mealey, has demonstrated that people are attracted to people whose faces are symmetrica.

And that's because it's a sign of good health, she said. Dr Mealey used photographs of 43 identical twins' faces cut down the middle to demonstrate the point. A group of students were asked to rate symmetry and another group to rate good looks, and it turned out that the scores correlated. Dr Mealey, a research consultant to both the psychology and zoology departments of the University of Queensland, said symmetry is basic to the health of all animals. "If you load up a baby pigeon with parasites it will develop asymmetrically," she said.

While such experiments cannot ethically be carried out on humans, there is a body of medical literature supporting the theory that symmetry equals being robust. "We know that asymmetry in humans is associated with schizophrenia, with Down syndrome and with pre-term birth," Dr Mealey said. "It's also associated with infertility people who are more asymmetrical have more trouble getting pregnant." Dr Mealey said people are attracted to symmetry as part of the process of genetic selection nature's way of encouraging mating with the healthiest individual. "This research shows there is a real biological basis for our instinctive judgment about a person's looks," she said. Using twins was important to the study, to be published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, as It allowed differentiation between genetic asymmetry and asymmetry that developed later.

One twin might be more symmetrical than the other because of factors such as minor Illness or psychological stress at key development milestones such as babyhood and puberty. Dr next study will look at the asymmetry of infants and track their development. "Asymmetry In young babies could be a marker of future physical problems and psychological distress," she said. AAP Andersons have only 14 Leather Recliners ij $1699 Limited Nillumbik shire gets new administrator restructuring had also contributed to a new strata of welfare recipients. simply that we're getting so many people now that have been sacked, people 1 who Dame Phyllis never thought they'd be on the other end of charity," she said yesterday.

Founded during the Depression to collect and distribute food and clothing to people in desperate need, the been no charges relating to the lottery laid in other states. Mr James Kewley, defending, told the court his clients would plead guilty in a further hearing but needed more time to David Ettridge prepare. Outside the court, Mr Ettridge said the matter was a misunderstanding because of different state gaming laws. "We believed that we were conducting a lottery under New South Wales law and that's where the confusion has arisen," he said. "We did not intentionally break the law.

Nobody wants to do that or seeks to do that." Mr Ettridge said the first prize for the lottery was a trip around the world. "I wish I was on it." The magistrate, Mr Ian Von Einem, adjourned the case until 8 December. interim administrator when Nillumbik's five councillors were suspended by the Government on 13 October on the grounds of incompetence, according to the Premier. New elections at Nillumbik will be held in March. The council has received nearly 12,000 submissions from residents on six proposed options on changing ward structures and councillor numbers.

They include keeping five wards but providing more councillors, and abolishing the wards and introducing seven or nine councillors to represent the whole municipality. only Moran 'Dreamer' Images of brains colliding are aimed at getting under-1 8 contests banned. By ADRIAN ROLLINS CANBERRA A graphic television advertisement is the centrepiece of an Australian Medical Association campaign to have child boxing banned. The advertisement, featuring two exposed brains colliding, has been devised to highlight the damage caused by blows to the head suffered In boxing. Dr Brand said as part of its campaign the AMA would lobby each of the Commonwealth, state and territory sport ministers meeting in Canberra today.

A spokesman for the Federal Sport Minister, Ms Jackie Kelly, said the minister was concerned about the Issue. He said Ms Kelly welcomed the AMA's Initiative In raising health concerns about child boxing. "She recognises that It is a tremendously emotive issue and It will be discussed by the minister with her state and territory counterparts," the spokesman said. He said the minister was keen to arrive at a uniform, national course of action to tackle child boxing. By SIAN WATKINS The former administrator of the City of Darebin, Mr Don Gillies, will take over as interim administrator of Nillumbik Shire on Monday, the State Government said yesterday.

The appointment was criticised by Nillumbik's sacked shire president, Mr Robert Marshall, who said it was ironic that Mr Gillies had failed to be elected at City of Banyule elections last year but then should "pop up as an unelected dictator" first at Darebin, then Nillumbik. Mr Gillies takes over from Mr Merv Whelan, who was appointed as an ANDERSONS AND MO RAN WILL GUARANTEE YOU A VERY COMFORTABLE CHRISTMAS! I (BUT YOU'LL HAVE TO HURRY.) The association's vice-president, Dr Sandra Hacker, said boxers suffered cumulative brain damage from blows to the head and protective headgear did little to reduce such Injury. Dr Hacker said the association wanted competitive boxing bouts to be banned for people under the age of 18 years. The AMA campaign came days after a boxing tournament involving girls as young as 1 1 years was held In Queensland. Dr Brand accused the tournament's promoters of including young girls because it would "titillate an "I think Its an appalling exercise, one that has made the public aware of this problem and totally supportive of a ban." off in your at $1 895.

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