SUNDAYS HEADLINES: - CARS TORCHED IN EARLY MORNING BLAZES: Police are investigating after two vehicles were allegedly set alight at a property in Melbournes south-east this morning. Emergency services were called to an address in Beddoe Avenue, Bentleigh East just after 2.30am after it was reported two cars were on fire in the driveway and front yard of a property. The fires caused moderate to extensive damage to both vehicles. No one was injured during the incident and there was no damage to the residential premises. Investigators believe an accelerant was used to start the fires which are now being treated as suspicious. - MAN CHARGED OVER VICIOUS ASSAULT ON CABBIE: Police have arrested a 21-year-old man over the robbery and assault of a taxi driver in Melbournes north-west last night. Its alleged the offending passenger punched the driver a number of times and ripped his turban from his head before pulling his head and beard, after he and a woman walked away without paying for their fare. Police said the man then dragged the driver to a nearby fence and pushed him head-first over it, then kneed him in the shoulder and repeatedly punched him. The man stole cash from the drivers shirt pocket and then the pair walked away. The driver suffered a dislocated shoulder and swelling and bruising as a result of the attack and was treated at the scene by paramedics. The 21-year-old Essendon man was taken into police custody Sunday morning. He will face court in February, charged with robbery, theft, intentionally cause injury, recklessly cause injury, and unlawful assault. - NO FAITH ON THE ROADS: A P-plate driver, who claimed he was running late for church, has been caught speeding at more than 68km/h over the limit on a Melbourne highway this morning. The 23-year-old was clocked travelling at 148km in an 80km zone on the Hume Highway in Craigieburn at about 10.45am, with his three sisters in the car. When asked to explain his behaviour he insisted he was running late for church. The vehicle was immediately impounded with a $848 release fee. It is expected he will be charged on summons with exceeding the speed limit and failing to display P plates. A short time later at midday, a second male P-plater was caught speeding at 122km/h in a 70km zone on Sydney Road in Campbellfield. The 24-year-olds Holden commodore sedan was immediately impounded with a $706 release fee. It is expected he will be charged on summons with exceeding the speed limit. - MEN HELD OVER MURDER OF AUSTRALIAN CHARITY WORKER IN INDIA: Three men have been arrested over the alleged murder of an Australian grandmother in India. Sydney grandmother Toni Anne Ludgate, who was doing charity work at the ashram of popular Hindu guru Sai Baba, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, went missing in August. It is believed the 75-year-old was taken into the fields 16km away from where she was staying and was buried, along with all her belongings. Her remains were cremated in a traditional Hindu ceremony at the request of her family. - VICTORIAN COALITION PLEDGES $4B PUBLIC TRANSPORT POLICY: The Victorian Coalition has pledged to spend almost $4 billion on public transport if re-elected in less than three weeks time. At the partys election launch in Ballarat on Sunday, Premier Denis Napthine said 170 new trains and trams will hit the tracks, at a cost of $3.9 billion. Under the policy, a re-elected Napthine Government would immediately order another 12 X’Trapolis trains from Alstom in Ballarat, new order of 75 high capacity suburban trains, 24 country rail cars and delivers a new train every month for 10 years. Dr Napthine said his party would also order 75 E Class low floor trams, from Bombardier’s Dandenong South factory, creating 3,500 jobs in the manufacturing, supply and construction industries as a result of the biggest order of rolling stock for more than 30 years. “From 1 July next year, a re-elected Coalition will deliver a new train every month for the next decade,” Dr Napthine said. “If the Coalition is re-elected, this historic order will mean we will have the trains and trams Victoria needs for the Coalition’s major rail projects to support a growing population,” Dr Napthine said. “The Coalition will insist that each new high capacity metropolitan train and tram under these orders have a local manufacturing content of 50 per cent with the new VLocity rail cars to have a minimum of 70 per cent. Minister for Public Transport Terry Mulder said the new trains and trams will allow an extra 150,000 passengers to be carried each week day. “A re-elected Victorian Coalition Government will deliver the 75 new suburban trains between 2019 and 2026,” Mr Mulder said. The extra new trams will mean that by 2024, Melbourne will have a fleet of 225 low floor trams. Meanwhile, Dr Napthine has announced two new policy initiatives to reduce cost of living expenses for families. The initiatives include delivering a $100 rebate on kindergarten fees for every Victorian child attending kindergarten in the year before school; and increasing the number of primary welfare officers to cover all state schools. Dr Napthine said the Fairer Kinder rebate will apply each year for the next four years, with more than 200,000 families expected to benefit from the measure. “While the government already provides substantial per capita funding to kindergartens to ensure Victorian children have access to 15 hours of kinder per week, this rebate will cut costs by directly reducing the fees paid by parents, he said. Dr Napthine said that having delivered on its commitment to provide an additional 150 Primary Welfare Officers in its first term, a re-elected Coalition Government will increase the number of welfare officers to cover all state primary schools. - TONY ABBOTT BOUND FOR TWO SUMMITS: Prime Minister Tony Abbott has departed for a whirlwind trip, visiting Beijing and then Burma to meet world leaders, before returning to Australia for the G20 Summit in Brisbane. Mr Abbott is on his way to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ meeting, which has promoted regional economic integration and fostered free trade and investment since its inception in Canberra 25 years ago. APEC brings together leaders from 21 economies that account for more than half of global GDP; are home to more than 2.7 billion people and represent more than two-thirds of Australia’s trade in goods and services, Mr Abbott said. Leaders will discuss ways to further liberalise trade and better integrate our economies for the benefit of all nations. Australia and China are hoping to finalise a free trade agreement so I will also use my visit to Beijing to further these important negotiations. On Wednesday, Mr Abbott will travel to Nay Pyi Taw in Burma to attend the East Asia Summit, engaging all the major regional powers. It is an important forum to promote the prosperity and security of the region, he said. I look forward to positive and open discussions with world leaders at both APEC and the East Asia Summit. The PM will return on Friday to welcome UK Prime Minister David Cameron to Australia and attend his formal address to a joint-sitting of the Parliament in Canberra. We will then join other leaders in Brisbane for the G20 Leaders’ Summit on November 15 and 16. - BENDIGO MAN KILLED IN SPEED BOAT CRASH REMEMBERED AS A GENTLE GIANT: A Victorian man, killed in a speed boat accident north of Sydney yesterday, has been remembered as a cheerful, gentle giant. Ian Baker, a 44-year-old from Bendigo, was an observer on a boat, which was towing two waterskiers at the time, when it lost control and flipped during the Bridge to Bridge race trial waterskiing event on Sydneys Hawkesbury River. Boat driver Daniel McMahon was airlifted to Westmead Hospital in a serious but stable condition. The two waterskiers swam to shore and were uninjured. Friend Todd Newman, a former waterskier, said Mr Baker was a positive and outgoing person. He was always in a good frame of mind, always in a good mood, Mr Newman said. He was always a positive person to be around - good to have a chat with and talk about the sport and family. His personality reflected on where he went in his career, as a father and in the sport - he gives 100 per cent. (His) focus was to get to that end result and that was how he tackled life. Mr Baker leaves behind wife Joanne and four young daughters. - DESPERATE CALLS FOR MORE FUNDING TO ATTACK KILLER CANCER: A National Action Plan for ovarian cancer research, setting out urgent priorities for the way in which Australia tackles one of the biggest killers, has been launched in Melbourne today. To kick start the strategy a $1 million funding contribution will be made to support the priorities identified in the plan which includes a $900,000 funding partnership between Ovarian Cancer Australia and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. The ovarian cancer survival rate has failed to improve while others - breast, bowel and prostate - have improved significantly due to major breakthroughs in detection, treatment and prevention. Alison Amos, chief executive of Ovarian Cancer Australia, said the plan is aimed at providing a strategic framework for transparent and accountable investment in ovarian cancer research to ensure available funds are used to optimal effect and act as a catalyst to drive further, much needed investment. This is the first time a national plan has been developed and for the first time provides a priority driven focus for investment, unifying the efforts and providing a blueprint for researchers and funders from around Australia. “It is just not good enough that there had been no significant change in the treatment options for women with ovarian cancer for many years. With a fundamental new understanding of the disease and the successful adoption of targeted therapies in many other cancers the time is right to step up efforts with ovarian cancer. Ms Amos said. We have some of the best researchers in the world in Australia. But, like everywhere else, we have a limited amount of funding. To this end, more research is needed to understand how ovarian cancer initiates, why it develops rapidly in some and not others, and how we can circumvent resistance to treatment. The plan calls for more Australian led clinical trials as well as having Australian patients participating in local arms of international clinical trials and additional funding for infrastructure to enable research. A shift in research funding in Australia from detection to the treatment, control and prevention of the disease is also called for. Ovarian cancer has the lowest survival rate of any women’s cancer and has a five year survival rate well below the average for all cancers. Each year 1400 Australian women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and more than 1000 will die from the disease – that’s one woman every 8 hours. Each day in Australia, four women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer and three will die from the disease.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 12:04:56 +0000
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