A rage-filled Prime Minister

Quite normal for Leftists. Rudd's predecessor Mark Latham was the same and all conservative bloggers know how rage-filled are the emails and comments that they get from Leftists

Kevin Rudd is surrounded by c**** and everything is f*****. Let me explain. I don't mean the Prime Minister is making mistakes, or that his government is hopeless. I mean he has a potty mouth. He swears all the time, about everything, no matter whom he's addressing.

He likes the f-bomb almost as much as he loves the c-word. He's f****** sick of p***** saying he's just a nerdy f****** bureaucrat, all right? It's just bulls***! He's as tough as the next b******. Got it? Anyone who says otherwise can eat s***.

And he desperately wants us all to hear him loud and clear. In the past week, political geeks such as me have been chuckling over the revelation that the Prime Minister interrupted high-level climate-change negotiations at the Copenhagen summit last year to observe: "Those Chinese f****** are trying to rat-f*** us." Rudd spoke this sentence to a roomful of journalists, as part of a background briefing at the summit.

But none of them reported the line, because the understanding at such a briefing is that everything is off the record. When something is off the record, it means journalists are getting information that is useful for informing and enhancing their stories, in return for their tacit agreement that the source and exact wording of the supplied information will be kept secret.

A background arrangement such as this is useful for a leader such as Rudd, because it allows him to be frank in his assessments without having to deal with an outbreak of Rudd-effigy burnings across Beijing, or explain to the Australian dairy industry why China has decided to cancel 400 years' worth of advance import deals.

So the line stayed a secret until journalist David Marr published his fine new Quarterly Essay about the curious quirks of Captain Kevin. Marr also details how Rudd, during a long day of interviews, had an extraordinary explosion of temper when he realised Marr wasn't planning to write a particularly flattering piece.

Marr wrote that Rudd delivered "a dressing-down which registers about a 3.8 on his Richter scale". "He doesn't scream and bang the table as he does behind closed doors, (but) in his anger, Rudd becomes astonishingly eloquent. This is the most vivid version of himself I've encountered. "At last he is speaking from the heart, an angry heart."

Marr's thesis is that the real Kevin Rudd is this furious, self-righteous foot-stamper - a grown man who has tantrums just like those of a toddler. "He's a politician with rage at his core, impatient rage," Marr adds.

Oh, how I wish Marr had written exactly what the Prime Minister had said. I'm sure the air between them turned blue for a few moments, as Rudd questioned Marr's thesis, talent, intelligence, motivation and parentage. It would, if nothing else, be delightfully amusing to read.

But really, the words themselves are not as important as what they reveal: the Prime Minister's routine, casual and cynical use of the "off-the-record" convention as an opportunity to swear. He does it all the time, and he usually gets away with it....

Anyway, foul language is part of the Labor Party's genetic code. When modern lefties use a c-word to refer to one another, it's unlikely to be "comrade".

The phrase "rat-f***" has a long and proud Labor heritage. It's the sort of thing they say in Sussex St when the dim sims are running low. Now, Rudd has inadvertently brought it into the open. Bring it on, I say.

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Nurses on ramp duty outside Queensland's accident and emergency departments

This means that long waits for admission are now accepted as routine. It is an Australia-wide problem, however

NURSES are being assigned to ramp duty outside accident and emergency departments to check on patients waiting for up to four hours to get inside Queensland's "bed-blocked" public hospitals.

The Sunday Mail has learnt that at the Gold Coast and Logan hospitals during peak periods, patients either on the ramp to the A&E department or in a corridor leading to the emergency department would be given a unique record number and minor treatment as they waited for a bed to become available.

Senior nurses employed in A&E, while not placed on an official roster for the ramps, knew there was an "unwritten rule" that they must care for the patients waiting outside. "The reason it's an unwritten rule is Queensland Health is trying to cover its arse," a hospital source told The Sunday Mail. "Every nurse when in charge in stretches has to check on the patients. If they (patients) deteriorate and suffer complications, your registration is at risk."

At Logan their wait in the corridors can range from "30 minutes to four hours", with nurses refusing to let their patients remain on the ramp.

Ramping first surfaced as a problem about three years ago but has reached crisis point, and lines have been blurred about whether paramedics with the Queensland Ambulance Service or nurses had responsibility for patients.

Staff estimate Logan can treat about 180 new patients a day, about 10 less than the number through emergency at Gold Coast, yet the hospital has about 300 beds, which is half the number at Southport. "We don't want a 65-year-old with a broken hip out on the ramp in the open," the hospital source said. "We don't think that's a dignified way to treat people so we let QAS wait in the corridor."

But the practice of admitting patients to A&E from the ramps and corridors is causing a legal dilemma for nurses in terms of duty of care. Queensland Health management had deliberately not included ramp coverage as a staffing area on its rosters because it would be admitting the system was failing, the source said.

Liberal National Party Mudgeeraba MP Ros Bates, a registered nurse, asked whether patients were being admitted on the ramp on her recent tour of the Gold Coast Hospital. "I noticed the patients had ID bands on their wrists. I asked (senior management) if patients were admitted on the ramp and was told yes," Ms Bates said. "They're staying on the trolleys because they can't get them through A&E."

Ms Bates said she had spoken to hospital staffers concerned about their legal position regarding patient care. "You have patients on ambulance trolleys and legally the ambos are responsible for that, but the nurses are coming out on the ramps to do their observations, take bloods before they can get them off on a trolley," she said.

Documents obtained by the Opposition show the average waiting times for Code 1 patients - people facing a potentially life-threatening situation - at Logan Hospital was 50 minutes.

Nurses Union state secretary Gay Hawksworth said ramping was a major concern and would only get worse during the winter flu season. The Queensland Health payroll crisis had compounded the problem, because casual staffers had signed up to the private sector, she said.

"Once a nurse is involved with a patient, whether it's on a ramp, in an ambulance or in the corridor then the nurse has a responsibility," Ms Hawksworth said.

Health Minister Paul Lucas denied ambulance trolleys were being counted as beds and said patients were not being admitted on the ramp. "I am advised that if ramping occurs at an emergency department, clinical staff may triage the patients who are waiting to ensure they receive timely access to treatment if required. However, admission is a separate process which is done in the emergency department," he said.

Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union ambulance organiser Nigel Stamp said ramping was a daily frustration for paramedics.

SOURCE





Roseanne Catt is still fighting her frame-up

Getting justice where crooked police are involved is a long hard road

Roseanne Beckett was released from jail in 2001 after serving 10 years for conspiring to murder her husband. Seven of her nine charges were quashed. Now she is suing the state, writes Alicia Wood. Shes not afraid to name names.

Roseanne Beckett - formerly known as Roseanne Catt - is preparing a civil case against the state of NSW. She intends to reveal the individuals - including high-ranking police officers, Crown prosecutors, and a former MP - who she claims were involved in a conspiracy to have her arrested and jailed for a false crime.

The story of her alleged framing has all the elements of a John Grisham novel. In her statement of claim filed with the Supreme Court, Ms Beckett alleges former detective sergeant Peter Thomas led a malicious prosecution against her to create the belief that she was trying to murder her then husband, Barry Catt. She claims his actions included planting a gun in her house and leading a witness to give false evidence.

In 2007, Tracy Taylor, a witness in Ms Beckett's trial, signed an affidavit saying that she had given false evidence because she was frightened for her life. Ms Taylor's evidence supported the Crown's claim that Ms Beckett tried to poison Mr Catt. Yet despite now admitting that her evidence was a lie, Ms Taylor has never been asked to reappear in court.

Ms Beckett's conviction for that offence, along with six other charges, was quashed in 2005 by the Court of Appeal, which found the then sergeant Thomas had an "apparent hostility" towards her and an "apparent propensity to place improper pressure on witnesses".

Ms Beckett's challenge to convictions for wounding and assault of her husband was rejected. The Director of Public Prosecutions elected not to pursue a retrial of six of the seven quashed convictions.

"Everything I say is on public record, and that is what outrages me," Ms Beckett said. "It is already there, it is so well documented, and yet these people that did this are still walking around. It is hard for good-living Australian people to get their heads around that."

Ms Beckett first met Peter Thomas in 1983 when he investigated a fire at her delicatessen and charged her with arson. Those charges were dropped and Ms Beckett made several complaints to the Ombudsman and Police Internal Affairs department about alleged misconduct by Detective Thomas although none was upheld.

She married Barry Catt in 1987. In August 1989, Ms Beckett was arrested and charged with conspiring to murder her then husband.

The state claims malicious prosecution is the only allegation made that can now be heard, and that information gathered to arrest Ms Beckett was not solely gathered by Mr Thomas, but all investigators working on the case. The court has barred her other claims - including those for damages - because the limitation period on bringing the actions has expired.

Together with her staunch ally, Sister Claudette Palmer, Ms Beckett is calling for legislative reform to protect those who have been wrongly incarcerated. "There needs to be legislation for wrongly convicted people. You should have the right to compensation," Sister Palmer said.

It has now been 21 years. Asked why she does not let it go, Ms Beckett's voice quivers. "Closure. It is long overdue."

Ms Beckett's matter is before the Supreme Court on June 24.

SOURCE







West Australian police goons again

And it took a newspaper to "bring it to the attention" of police authorities. Too bad about the 99% of cases where newspapers don't get involved

POLICE have been filmed kicking and kneeing a man on the ground during a brutal arrest - sparking an internal police investigation and moves to have the officers charged. A spokesman for Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan confirmed on Friday that "an internal investigation (is) under way into this matter".

The Sunday Times alerted his office to the incident, which occurred in William St, City, in May last year but was only revealed by related court proceedings three months ago.

The spokesman said the Commissioner could not comment until the investigation finished "as he may have to adjudicate over any disciplinary proceedings that might arise from it".

Lawyer Shash Nigam said he was submitting evidence, including city council CCTV footage, to Mr O'Callaghan and the Corruption and Crime Commission because his client, ceramic tiler Richard Korculanic, 37, believed two officers should be charged with assault for the way they arrested him.

In March Magistrate Robert Black described one male officer's actions as "an assault" and raised concerns about police kicking people, during a hearing where he threw out the sole charge against Mr Korculanic of obstructing a public officer.

"It concerns me greatly that in the last two weeks I have heard matters whereby police officers have kicked people they are involved with," Mr Black said after acquitting Mr Korculanic in Perth Magistrates Court on March 2.

He said Mr Korculanic had not been threatening and the fact that he had asked why he was being handcuffed "does not enable a police officer to push someone vigorously in the manner that (the male officer) did". Mr Black said: "That's an assault."

About 11pm on May 24, 2009, in William St, police told Mr Korculanic and two friends, who were talking to several young people, to lean against a police car to be searched. In court, the officer claimed the trio were suspected of having stolen "cash cards" and money, but conceded that proved incorrect.

CCTV footage showed the male officer slamming Mr Korculanic against the car after he turned to speak to a female officer. Mr Korculanic said he was only asking why he was being cuffed. The film then showed the woman officer tackling him, the male officer holding him around the neck, then the woman kneeing him.

Footage also showed the male officer kicking him. The officer admitted in court he had "kicked him in the shoulder twice", claiming Mr Korculanic was moving towards hypodermic needles he had earlier placed on the ground. However, Mr Black said there was "absolutely no reason for that (the kicking) to occur".

Mr Korculanic wants publicity for his case because he is concerned about police getting more power with mandatory sentencing and proposed stop and search laws. Of the William St incident he said: "What did I assault? His shoes when he was kicking me in the head? Lucky there were cameras."

SOURCE