Weak grip on the rudder

BERNIE Banton, the mesothelioma victim, has been given the opportunity by the NSW Court of Appeal to pursue Hawker Britten client James Hardie for extra punishment damages as part of his compensation claim.

Zuma Zuma – democracy’s fast track to a certain death

THE election of ANC boss Jacob Zuma as South Africa’s president will push the country further down the slippery slope towards the failed nation status of Zimbabwe.

Come off it, spinner

IN line with its whatever-it-takes politics, Labor has been running an unrelenting – but highly misleading – campaign emphasising interest-rate rises under the Howard Government.

No quick fix for shooting gallery

THE drug minimisation lobby which recently attempted to introduce young school pupils to “safe” methods of using dangerous illicit drugs is now trying to pressure the NSW Government into legitimising its Kings Cross shooting gallery and making it a permanent fixture.

Labor will crash, no matter who’s driving

Labor’s artistic propaganda

The Gillard government is asking artists to help its propaganda campaign for the wasteful NBN (Not Bloody Necessary) communication program.Arts Minister Simon Crean has approved an Australia Council for the Arts project with grants of up to $100,000 of taxpayers’ money to create “visionary” works to promote the monstrous scheme.

Wilkie-Gillard to dump pokie pledges

Tasmanian Independent Andrew Wilkie and Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard have played their natural games.He has backed down on his once-tough position on poker machine reform and she has broken yet another promise.The surprise is that anyone would be surprised.

Labor sneers at Medicare waste report

Medicare is being ripped off to the tune of $2 billion to $3 billion a year, according to Dr Tony Webber, the former head of the Professional Services Review which was set up to police Medicare.The scheme is a “monster” says Webber, who highlighted two items – the government’s General Practice Management Plans (GPMPs) and Team Care Arrangements (TCAs) as “opportunities for bonanza”, in an article in today’s Medical Journal of Australia.As former chief of the Professional Services Review, he said he gained insight into how dysfunctional the system had become.What has the Leftist Gillard Labor-Green-Independent minority government’s response been?

Nicola Roxon promises new laws will be scrutinised to meet the UN standard

Insane policy for the insane

There is to be an inquiry into how drug-addled killer Trent Jennings was permitted to leave Morisset Hospital last week.Jennings possessed a passport, a current driver’s licence and was on unsupervised day release.Four years ago, he arranged to meet another man, tied him up and stabbed him to death. He was found not guilty of murder because a court concluded he had been in a drug-induced psychosis at the time of the killing.Last Thursday, he arranged to meet another man on the internet for some sexual action, tied him up (apparently with his consent) and then stole his Mercedes four-wheel drive.Police stopped him and charged him with some minor driving offence but had no knowledge the car was stolen as it had not been reported missing at that time nor was there any alert issued about Jennings absence from Morisset.Jennings was later captured at Byron Bay.