The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • 1

i7fSV L- No 49792 FIRST PUBLISHED 1831 58 PAGES 90c first lady of chutzpah THURSDAY APRIL 3t 1997 Parramatta real sporting heart -j 1 V' iV 1 tome DOMAIN LTFTOUT FEATURES PAGE 11 SPORT PAGE 44 How the PNG plot was hatched in a Cairns hotel from PNG or people from other countries meeting Australia to discuss bringing mercenaries to PNG" he said would prevent Chris Haiveta visited him in London accompanied by a British merchant banker Mr Rupert McCowan of Jardine Fleming in Hong Kong and was given a copy of the proposal JHaiveta said that it looked interesting and that he would take it away and if there waa any government interest I should come to PNG to discuss it" Spicer said Mr McCowan had approached Continued Page 10 PAGE 10: Australia stuck with Sandline hardware BRA vows to fight on The officials who described themselves PNGh Defence Council told the Sandline pair that Australia had put restrictions on tiie use of four donated Iroquois helicopters and that they were therefore looking elsewhere A month later in May 1996 Spicer handed a written proposal on Sandline's solution to the Bougainville crisis to General Singirok when the former commander was in London After hearing nothing bade from PNG Spicer said he rang his contacts and in October the former finance minister Mr Senior Government sources in Canberra said last night that they were unaware of any such meeting but that it waa not unusual for senior PNG figures to travel to Cairns ministers go in and out of Cairns all the time' one source said A spokesman for the Attorney-General's Department said that the meeting would not have been illegal under the Australian Crimes (Foreign Incursions and Recruitment) Act which applied only to Australians or residents of Australia would not stop people By UICY PALMER and TONY WRMHT Hie secret to wipe out rebels on was lint planned more than a year ago at die coffee shop in the rfrfrM Hilton Hotel At Papua New Guinea's commission of inquiry yesterday die director of Sandfine International Lieutenant-Colonel Tim Spicer painted an extraordinary picture of clandestine meetings and multi-million-dollar deals In four hours of testimony Spicer said he met the sacked Defence Force commander Brig this doesn't seem to be the case rti situation" In his evidence Spicer said PNG officials hid made it dear during their three-hour meeting that they wanted support for military operations on Bougainville including the purchase of Russian-built attack helicopters and suggested a fee of about $US30 million a figure he later said waa never challenged COLUMN CALLING all civil engineers andor surveyors: Fancy an adventure cruise of the South Seas? Tom Christian great-great-great-grandson of the Bounty's Fletcher Christian is in Aurtralia seeking help to have an airstrip built on remote Pitcairn Island Its population about 200 in postwar yean is down to 40 and Tom thinks air access would boost tourism and keep young people from leaving If tiie population falls further he says there won't be enough men to do essential work and the island might have to be abandoned SO HE WANTS to take a dvil engineer bade to survey a runway of at least 2000 ft which would allow an air link to Mangareva to the north-west and thence to Papeete Dick Smith aviator-adventurer will pay the cost of getting the engineer to and from Pitcairn by ship and will help raise the money to build the airstrip Abort fatal reality Damage control in forgotten country adier-General Jerry Singirok and other senior PNG officials at die Gums Hilton on April 7 Easter Sunday last year to what became die controversial $46 million mercenaries deal Also at die meeting was key adviser Mr Tony Buckingham a London-based fomurBritifo militaiy man and mining entrepreneur with wide international interests and the former PNG defence minister Mr Mathias (jape it is understood that Australian intelligence had no knowledge of the Cairns meeting Gfenmar of hope IwaHlqr with 16 people employed ia mental health on the Cape: see any discernible improvement in the quality of life from mental health or other perspectives in the populations that I am working with are chronically in damage But on the test day of the when we visited the Bamaga on the northwest tip of the Cape we found a glimmer of hope The clinie provides central administration for the health services of five Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities a team of I health working shirts discing Islander and Aboriginal emblems The women ted by the co-ordinator Ms Patricia Nona embody what everybody working on Aboriginal health istheoul agree solution to the problem -to give responsibilities back to the communities and to switch the focus from dinical curative medicine to primary care and prevention It appears to be working While the problems remain -diabetes accidental iajniy alcoholism morbidity in the area which only five yean ego waa four times that of tie white popnlation has been reduced dramatically The five communities which are served by Bamaga centre and the Bamaga hospital grapple with ail the social eavtron-mental and geographical difficulties of the area The roads during the wet season are virtually impassable Water comes ont of taps brown and must be boiled before Continued Page 6 By DEBRA JOPSON The Hfe expectancy of indigenous people is lower than that of the inhabitants of most other nations and is natrhH only in India and Central Africa says a repent released yesterday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders die at a higher rate than other Australians in every age group says the bureaus damning report on the state of indigenous health launched in Darwin by the Governor-General Sr William Deane Australians suf- fer a higher burden of Alness and die at a younger age than non-indigenous Australians and this is true for almost every type of disease or condition for which information is available" the repot said Sr William said: Any caring Australian who reads this report must recognise that nothing can justify any delay in our doing whatever we can to address the overwhelming health problems of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians' The report The Health and Welfare of Aboriginal and 1 Torres Strait Islander Peoples it the most comprehensive national statistical overview of indigenous weA-being or lack of it ever published Indigenous people continue to die IS to 20 years earlier than other Australians said the report published jointly by the bureau and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare There was in indigenous death rates over the decade up to 1994 when the last figures were collected and there was a "huge in deaths from diabetes While reliable statistics were unavailable on Hfe expectancy in south-eastern Australia indigenous people in Western Australia South Australia and the Northern Territory had lower Hfe expectancy than toy other indigenous minority within a First World country the report said health disadvantage of indigenous Australians begins early in fife and continues throughout the Hfe cycle average indigenous mothers give birth at a younger age th" non-indigenous mothers In most States and Territories their babies are about two to three tunes more likely to be of low birth weight and about two to four times more likely to die at birth than are balnea bom to rum-indigenous mothers' Aborigines are admitted to hospital at a rate two to three times greater than other AnstraL tens they die from infectious at a rate IS to 18 times the children at ptaqr in Cape Yoik fertility clinics were invalid bemuse they contradicted theSex Discrimination Act prohibition on services favouring people on (he basis of "i status Queensland is moving to overturn iyitinn which outlaws discrimination on the basis of sexuality that came about after a lesbian won a case against a dfafc which refused her access to donor sperm In a tetter to the Liberal MP and Lyons Forum member Mr John Bradford the secretary of the CDHL Mr Richard Egan SHAMEFUL COMPARISONS Smoking More widespread mamm Fowty Homes income far basic Multiples are lower rangn higher add they are more likely to abuse substances and be diagnosed with self-harm or suicidal behaviour Indigenous people suffered levels of using indicators of environmental health such as adequate water supply crowding and breakdown of utilities such as electricity and plumbing Almost four in 10 indigenous households were estimated to be unable to afford adequate housing or to have insufficient income to meet basic needs before taking housing into account Other health risk factors indude poor nutrition obesity substance abuse and exposure to violence the report said White Aborigines are more likely to abstain from alcohol than other Australians who do drink are more likely to drink at unsafe levels" The Federal Minister for Health Dr Wooldridge said no significant improvement in indigenous life expectancy was likely until indigenous communities governments and service providers addressed issues such as an Aboriginal mnlring rate which was twice the national average report contains dear evidence that mainstream programs targeting smoking diet and exercise have had little impact on indigenous communities" he said The repent warned that the health effects for smokers who make up more than half the indigenous population could hidden for years" If Aborigines did not quit the habit at the same rate other Australians are doing so the health gap between die two groups could PAGE 6: Aboriginal health -crisis report The former Sex Discrimination Commissioner Ms Sue Walpole warned yesterday it would be a if the Government weakened an act which banned discrimination on the grounds of marital status this day and age when 27 per cent of all families are not composed of a married mother and father it's flying in the face of reality" she said But the CoaHtion for the Defence of Human Life (CDHL) said recent court and victories against fertil WEATHER TOOAYSydasy warm ahead of limped 14 to READING the Bric-a-brac column in our Money section esterday Don Wood of ount Kuring-gai noted that someone paid a Newcastle museum $9975 for a Bofors anti-aircraft gun they live under a flight he asks hopefuHy NICOLE Taylor of Baulkham Hills was not surprised when her baby bom on March 24 at Westmead Hospital was a boy Joshua Nicole works with other nurses on the first floor of the Red Cron Blood Bank in Clarence Street now the last nine babies boro to the nurses have been boys What's in tiie water there? SIR Robert Norman who died at tiie weekend was the much-liked chief executive of the Bank of NSW (remember that mend name?) for 13 yean to 1977 He retiied in 1984 from the board of Westpgc after serving the bank for 56 years One of hia proudest boasts was that under his stewardship the bank's employee numbers rose from 13000 to 21000 Nowadays banking chiefs boast about how many thousand! they've cut from the payroll Obituary Page 32 FROM a Canberra reader comes a program for the ACT Heritage Festival In it the National Trust offers a Heritage Walk of foe Ainslie-Braddon area and note: Brochure cm fate" Well it is make-every-one-pay Canberra JOE PARKES of Leura suggests that the confusion of two young women over tiie meaning of Easter (Column 8 Tuesday) could have been caused by some of tiie TV programs shown over the weekend Channel 10 celebrated Good Friday with three Hallowe'en stories on The Simpsons and Channel 9 promoted foe Euler spirit cm Saturday with an episode of The Pretender in which learns the meaning of Christmas" nothing sacred? Obviously not" capital By MARION DOWNEY Health Witter On remote Cape York the story is distressingly familiar heart disease diabetes chronic alcoholism sexually transmitted diseases and more recently youth suicide and Infertility In an area the riae of Victoria there are only IJJIOO people and the Aboriginal community suffers Third World diseases and unacceptably low Hfe expectancies Dr Geoff King of the Royal Flying Doctor Service calls the region Australia's forgotten country The local Aboriginal community backed 'by academics politicians and the Australian Medical Association (AMA) have been decrying the health situation for years What is new and frustrating for those working in the field is that the health of these people is going backwards On a three-day trip last month I accompanied Dr Keith WooAard president of the AMA Mr Roger Fraser of the Australian Pharmaceutical Manufocturen Association and the Opposition health spokesman Mr Michael Lee as they attempted to And out why On the first day senior consultants from Cairns Base Hospital described problems which from their perspective they hardy seemed to be making an impact on A pediatrician Dr Richard Heaxtewood shocked his audience with graphic slides of abuse and the effects of chronic drinking during and after pregnancy on babies and young children A psychiatrist Dr Ernest Hunter noted that five years after arriving in the region and Pay me more says Colston Senator Mai Colston is seeking an increase in his salary aa Deputy President of the Senate In a submission to the Remuneration Tribunal he is king that his annual salary and allowances package of $124276 or $2390 a week less tax and superannuation be supplemented by an increase in the $1644-a-year component of the package he gets as Senate President He cites the job's increased responsibiUties PAGE 3: Full report COMBINE THE THRILL OF SPENDING WITH THE THRIFT OF SAVING BECOME AN INVESTOR No marriage no child: women face Photofaph by PETER RAE new ban said recent cases had raised fears that gay couples would test the law saying the only effective remedy was changing the Sex Discrimination Act "to exclude its application to reproductive technology and Mr Bradford is overseas and could not be contacted for comment test night A spokesman for Mr Williams add the proposals were "in the very early stages of consideration" He played down the significance or the Lyons Forum intervention ity dinks by single women meant it would longer be possible for State governments to put the best interests of children The CDHL which is aligned with Mr A National Gvic CouncA and Right to Life has gained the support of the Federal Government Christian faction die Lyons Forum which helped overturn the Northern TerritoryTs euthanasia law Cases in South Australia and Victoria have found tint State hwi restricting single womens aooeas to By JODIE BR0U8H The Federal Government is coo-adering watering down the 1984 Sex lriminiii Act for the first time by refusing unmarried women access to mom banks frrtffiqr efinics and cmld adoption The Attorney-General Mr WAHama has been lobbied by some States foDowing a aeries of in which unmarried women and lesbians success-fiilty argued that they were being discriminated against by State laws restricting their aocem to fertility services ABT Funds Management A subsidiary of Banker Trust 16 to 27 Mostly fine and a coder 27 TOMORROW Sydaoy Fine and a INSIDE Crosswords23 Obituaries 32 PHONE maximum of 22 degrees Edttoriais 14 Opinion 15 RSVfc Isolated showers persisting Amusements lS-22 11 Personal Notices 32 Edtorid 9282 2822 in the southeast and in the far Arts 1213 Herald Trader 16 Sport A246 CfasaMad northeast of the State Business 25-31 Law Notices 41 Television 24 13 25 35 DETARS Page 23 Classified Index 46 $2 Lottery 6220 40 World B-10 8aaarri92822833 BT Funds Miaifracat hmitrd and Group do not gnmmrr liu ttpiytnl of NSWiShowersinthesouthoastand Vl isoiatedthundeiyshowerslnttienorttveast 6A9amSaaaot5A8pm.