The Age from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Page 4

4 News 1 THE AGE SATURDAY 27 DECEMBER 1997- ILessil aid aekning follows qmieiry In a submission to the chairman of Victoria Legal Aid, Mr Geoff Masel, Mr Tatterson had raised concerns about salary levels for some executive officers and the use of about $25,000 in legal aid funds to pay an employee's stamp duty on a new house. The five-page submission, details of which have been obtained by The Age, 'referred to senior public servant guidelines that allow the "reasonable" reimbursement of expenses subject to approval by the rele vant departmental head. The guidelines, issued by the Office of the Public Service Commissioner, were used as the basis for approving the stamp duty payment. In his submission, Mr Tatterson questioned whether such a payment would have an impact on Victoria Legal Aid's budget. He did not query the payment or make allegations against the employee who received it.

Mr Tatterson indicated his statutory duty to raise concerns about financial management. The Victorian Auditor-General's Office is believed to have carried out a financial audit of the matters raised in the submission and concluded the payments would not "substantially'' affect the financial accounts of Victoria Legal Aid. The managing director of the organisation, Mr Robert Cor-nall, said the board had met last week to discuss the matter and decided to terminate Mr Tatter-son's employment. He said Mr Tatterson had raised a number of matters with the board, which had been proved by independent auditors to be "without "In these circumstances, the board no longer had confidence in Mr Tatterson's ability to discharge the responsibilities of his position," he said. Mr Cornall said he did not believe Mr Tatterson's sacking would prejudice the administration of legal aid in Victoria.

Mr Tatterson declined to comment. However, it is believed he intends seeking legal advice on whether he can lodge an unfair dismissal claim. The organisation's finance department will now be restructured as a result of the sacking. The Opposition spokesman on legal affairs, Mr Rob Hulls, said yesterday that the Attorney-General, Mrs Jan Wade, should call an inquiry to examine the extent of "financial turmoil" in the legal aid system. "There has to be transparency in why this person was removed from his office," he said.

During the past financial year, Victoria Legal Aid record ed a $2.4 million surplus after a $6.4 million loss in 1995-96. Stringent new legal aid guidelines imposed by the body have led to fewer people being able to qualify for aid. A survey early this year of the impact of legal aid cuts found a sharp increase in the mimbcr of people forced to defend themselves against criminal charges. Twenty-six per cent of lawyers who responded to the survey by the h'ederation of Community Legal Centres said they had clients who had pleaded guilty to criminal offences eveu though they had valid defenceSr In 1996-97. there were 39,940 applications for legal aid, Of which 7307 were rejected.

During the previous period, there were 47,759 applications for legal aid, of which 8000 were denied. According to Victoria Legal Aid's latest annual report, the drop in applications for funding was caused by new restrictions on grants and media coverage of legal aid funding negotiations. Paul Conroy LAW REPORTER A senior manager with Victoria Legal Aid has been sacked after the organisation claimed that concerns he had raised about its financial management were without substance. 'The general manager for finance and administration, Mr Ian Tatterson, 52, was notified late last week of the decision by the organisation's board. $25,000 Sales can be a hand-full uiiccii it- icciiu Christmas Day road horror fa far I His job was to find out what caused the crash, and why.

"The last thing you want to do is leave your family behind and go to something like this," he said. "You have to put your emotions and thoughts about how terrible this is to one side and do your job, but nobody deserves to die the way they did. "Nobody deserves to go and piece it all together, and it's not just us. It's the local police, the State Emergency Service, the community. This doesn't just affect one family, it affects dozens." Senior Sergeant Talbot said that when he opened the boot of the wrecked car he saw the family's Christmas presents, and then their diaries with plans they had made for next year.

"It makes you realise it doesn't matter what plans you prepare, at times there may not be a tomorrow." He added: "You go to crashes like that, then go home and give your little daughter an extra hug." There was some respite for traffic police yesterday, with no road deaths recorded in Victoria. The national Christmas road toll stands at 44. Queensland recorded the most fatalities, with 12, Victoria 11, New South Wales nine, South Australia six, and the Northern Territory, ACT and Tasmania each recorded two. Western Australia is the only state to remain road-death free. Jane Faulkner A Stawell policeman, Sergeant Ray Parmenter, was heading home for Christmas dinner when he saw a car veer across the Western Highway, hit a hitch-hiker, crash into a tree and burst into flames.

cars stopped then someone said 'there's a baby'," Sergeant Parmenter said yesterday. "There were flames coming out of the bonnet, and the cabin was filling up with smoke, and we could hear the child crying." The child's parents and the hitch-hiker were killed instantly: Sergeant Parmenter saved the baby boy. With 18 years' experience, the traffic officer responded automatically: he unlocked the back door, unfastened the capsule and pulled the child to safety. While he was pleased to have saved the baby, it was "at cost of three other "There was nothing anyone could have done," he said. "But standing back I kept thinking 'could I do Not being able to was probably the greatest feeling of frustration I've ever had." 'While Sergeant Parmenter was being hailed a hero, another policeman called to investigate the collision said he had just been doing his job.

After finishing Christmas lunch with his family, acting Senior Sergeant Michael Talbot, from the accident investigation section, drove to the crash site, near Great Western. i i U. Bargain hunters play the silent but serious game of one-upmanship, getting to the selected stock first and making on-the-spot to cherish via credit or cash. Many shoppers had worked out a strategy for their day's shopping, one retailer said. Big stores get a Boxing Day 1 decisions to have or to hold, Pictures: heath missen bonus "The Christmas village has been very busy, with people obviously buying Christmas decorations for next year.

A lot of shoppers are obviously planning well ahead." The manager of David lones' city store, Ms Cathy Sultana, said the crowds gravitated yesterday towards men's wear, women's wear, and homewares, which offered discounts of up to 50 per cent. Smaller retailers that The Age spoke to at Doncaster and Chadstone shopping centres said yesterday's sales were strong but, in some cases, did not match pre-Christmas Louise Martin Melbourne's department stores have this year held bumper stocktaking sales, recording an estimated 10 per cent increase in sales on last year. The number of customers flocking to the stores yesterday was estimated by a retail source to have increased by between 3 per cent and 4 per cent on last year. The massive Increase in sales was believed to have been largely confined to the department stores In the city and suburbs. sands of customers outside their stores yesterday well up on the previous year's crowds.

A spokesman for Myer Melbourne, Mr Simon Lowry, said sales were in excess of expectations. The department store had been anticipating more than 100,000 customers through its doors yesterday, and had already counted 60,000 by mid-afternoon. "As usual it's clear that many shoppers have planned a strategy for their day's shopping and they have been heading off to their favorite departments to take advantage of the savings. Australia for AIDS Senior Sergeant Michael Talbot was one of the officers to Investigate the tragedy. Picture: michael clayton-jones Felicity Astin, Emerald, arrived at Chadstone shopping centre at 9am yesterday and bought a jacket for her husband, clothes for her children, jeans for herself, towels and crystal wine glasses, saving at least $140.

Jacinda Hunt and Scott Louder, Doncaster, bought three books for $10, three singlet tops for $30, a CD with a gift voucher, and groceries at Doncaster, but were still on the look-out for bargains. Tim Higgs, Box Hill, bought a fry-pan, phone, answering machine, crystal vase and a fruit bowl from Westfield Shoppingtown, Doncaster. He only Intended to buy the phone, but saved $150 on everything he bought. A BRILLIANT CAREE Qi Professor John Mills fll Born 30 May 1940 New York Began research at Harvard Medical School in 1960s; moveg to Australia 1991; assumed citizenship 1994 Director of Macfarlane Burnet -v-Centre for Medical Research since 1992 Director of Australian National Centre In HIV virology Researctr: sfi Founding president of Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes -j 4 Member of research advisory committee of Australian I Council on AIDS and Related, Published ISO scientific artk gntBoK7cek( mtMSt27L wins coveted grant vaccine research in Si Smaller retailers reported steady Boxing Day trade that did not match the crowds that gravitated to the department stores to buy the advertised specials. "Smaller stores were happy, but the department stores were very happy," the source said.

The department stores were obviously riding on the coat-tails of the advertising and' the major specials they offered, the source said. At least one department store head believed that, based on yesterday's trading, the stocktaking sales could make up for the slower-than- Briefly Far north put on cyclone alert FAR northern Australia was on cyclone alert as a tropical low built up in the Arafura Sea, north-east of Darwin, the weather bureau said -yesterday. The bureau said the low could develop into a tropical cyclone by late last night. A cyclone warning is in force for coastal and island communities between Point Stuart and Maningrida in Arnhem Land, while a cyclone watch extends west to Daly Mouth, south-west of Darwin and east to Elcho Island. Yesterday the tropical low was centred nearly 235 kilometres north-east of Darwin and moving slowly eastwards, parallel to the coast, where it was expected to produce gales with wind gusts of up to 100 kmh between Snake Bay and Croker Island.

One Nation summit PAULINE Hanson's One Nation party will consider harsher sentences for criminals and possibly the death penalty at the first summit of party officials in Queensland next week. Ms Hanson and between eight and 10 officials are to meet at an undisclosed location to map out policies before the Queensland and federal elections, both expected in 1998, a party spokesman, Mr David Oldfield, said. Three resorts told CRUISE ship and resort operator Australia Ltd has bought three of Queensland's best-known ufand resorts for $25 million, sabstantiaUy less than the original asking price. They are the exclusive 16-villa Bedarra expected trade in the lead-up to Christmas. The executive director of the Retail Traders Association, Mr Timothy Piper, said yesterday trading represented one of the best stocktaking sales yet and definitely the best stocktaking sale this decade.

"It has been tremendous, what we have got to do is continue on with that momentum," Mr Piper said. There were large crowds waiting outside the city department stores and many of the suburban retail centres. Both Myer and David lones said there were several thou Island Retreat, the 148-unit Dunk Island Resort (both off Cairns) and the 108-unit Brampton Resort, in the Whitsunday region. Dog blitz DOG owners will be blitzed with messages to clean up after their pets in an attempt to remove the nationwide problem of dog excrement. Owners should sweep their dogs' faeces into a bag and take it away rather than littering the environment, the general manager of the Lost Dogs Home, Dr Graeme Smith, said yesterday.

Silence on surplus THE Federal Government was quiet yesterday about its plans for a surplus from the national gun buy-back scheme, as figures suggest up to $185 million could be left over. According to the latest NSW police force figures, current to mid-December, 643,238 guns had been surrendered across Australia at a cost of $314.7 million. About $500 million was drawn from taxpayers in 1996-97 from a special Medicare levy to fund the buy-back, which ended on 30 September and followed last year's Port Arthur massacre. Lotteries TATTS 2s Winning numbers: 17 and 86, for a division-one dividend of $884. KENOi Winning numbers: 6, 9, 13, 20, 23, 26, 27, 30, 33, 38, 39, 40, 43, 54, 55.

59, 62, 68, 74, 76. Access live (Average of the Australia Sdhtfa Africa Boxing Day Test at Australia top sports site www.tiieage.com.au pjiniifl IMlil ills A A A A EMPORIO ARMANI RICHARD JAMES ENGEL ICEBERG UNITY COMKIC DEQ CARCONS COM ME DES GARCONS I EG VAN NO cawN, Professor John Mills: "Australia Is on the cutting edge of world AIDS vaccine research." Picture: john woudstf- Mary-Anne Toy MEDICAL REPORTER A Melbourne researcher who won a grant to develop a DNA-based AIDS vaccine said yesterday field trials could be held within two or three years, but he warned against complacency. The non-profit International AIDS Vaccine Initiative said yesterday it was granting $635,800 to Professor John Mills, the director of the Mac-farlane Burnet Centre, In Melbourne. It was one of only three grants made worldwide. "One argument is that the HIV epidemic is not as much of a problem in Australia, but if you don't continue the vigilance It will become a problem and Australia Is basically an island floating in an ocean of HIV Infection," Professor Mills said.

"If Australia doesn't contribute to controlling the epidemic, it will have important economic and social consequences. Itfe like the effect on Australia of the collapse of Asia financial markets the same Is true of health." Professor Mills said the grant, announced In New York, was particularly welcome, as the centre had been told to expect a 5 per cent cut In Federal Government funding next year. "It means Australia is on the cutting edge of world AIDS vaccine research," he said. "IAVI Is a US-based International organisation which gives grant! on merit, and we were In competition with Investigators from around the worhL' The other recipients were researchers from the Beth 'vfflk 4 1 til' 0 i Israel Deaconess Medical Centre and the Dana Farber Cancer Research Institute, who won $756,080 to study hybrid AIDS viruses in Asia and Africa, and a Harvard Medical School researcher who won $50,400 to test an AIDS vaccine on monkeys. 1 That means we're neck to neck with Harvard, and thatfe not too bad." The cash grant, over three years, will be used to Investigation HIV strains that can Infect people and generate a protective Immune response without causing disease.

Professor Mill said the DNA-based vaccines were attractive because they were cheap and did not need refrigeration, making them suitable for mast vaccination In developing countries, where AIDS I expected to take Its greatest toll. jkAx Ail Hi- J. lA. 0- IL 2, L' 1 iff. 1' IV1: it'-'- jit.