Men found guilty over harbour crash deaths

April 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Two men have been found guilty of causing the deaths of six of their friends in a boat crash on Sydney Harbour after a day of drinking and drug taking in 2008.

Matthew Reynolds of Tweed Heads and Percy Small were among a group of 14 young people who decided to take a runabout for a joy ride from Balmain in the early hours of May 1.

Four women and two men were killed when the overloaded boat crashed with a fishing trawler off Bradley’s Head.

As the boat’s skipper, 32-year-old Matthew Reynolds has been found guilty of six counts of manslaughter because he handed the helm to Small before the crash.

Small had never been behind the wheel of a boat. The 26-year-old has been found guilty of six counts of dangerous navigation occasioning death.

He told the Supreme Court trial he had been drinking and using cannabis and cocaine throughout the day.

Reynolds’ girlfriend, Ashlei Ayres, was one of the victims of the crash. The Crown accused him of criminal negligence and said he had also been drinking and taking cocaine.

Reynolds chose not to give evidence. Outside the court today, his father, Charlie, said his son had unfairly shouldered the blame for the tragedy.

“They all lost on that day and especially Matthew,” he said. “Everyone lost.”

Charlie Reynolds said the skipper of the other boat had received different treatment to his son.

“It’s absolutely deplorable. There was no coroner’s inquest, no court of inquiry,” he said. “The whole system has fallen down due to lack of protocol.”

Both defence teams blamed the fishing vessel for the crash.

The jury deliberated for nearly a week after hearing evidence over nearly five weeks.

Supporters of the co-accused wept in court as the verdict was read out this afternoon. Relatives of some of those killed in the crash cried, hugged each other and punched the air.

Reynolds and Small remained stony-faced and did not make eye contact with each other.

Both were taken in custody to await sentencing.

The victims of the crash were: Alexander Rumiz, 22, Jessica Holloway, 25, Elisabeth Holder, 20, Stacey Wright, 21, Alex Nikakis, 30, and Ashlei Ayres, 32

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Driver to front court after police chase

April 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A driver will face court today after allegedly speeding and evading police during a car chase yesterday.

A 35-year-old Queensland woman was stopped by police for speeding on the Pacific Highway between Grafton and Coffs Harbour yesterday.

Her driver’s licence was suspended but police allege she got back behind the wheel and a chase began.

Road spikes were used to puncture the car’s tyres but when it did not stop police say the chase was called off near Macksville.

The woman was arrested after dumping her car and walking away along the highway.

The woman faces a string of driving offences and is due in Kempsey court later today.

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Uni seeks pregnant women for midwife course

April 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Southern Cross University is looking for pregnant women between the Gold Coast and Port Macquarie to be matched with a midwifery student.

Associate Professor of Midwifery Heather Hancock says as part of their studies, students will monitor 10 pregnant women a year for three years.

She says while learning they will provide a supportive role at antenatal and postnatal appointments as well as at the birth if the woman permits.

“The student’s experience has no influence whatsoever on the woman’s primary care or care provider. Students are there in an observational capacity,” she said.

“The woman gets to know the student and they get a much deeper form of learning than the more superficial learning they get in more fragmented experiences.

“It would be good for women to understand they’re making a significant contribution to the midwifery students’ education.”

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Pub lockouts plan tipped to have little impact

April 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The secretary of a north coast liquor accord says a plan to enforce lockouts and closing times at pubs and clubs will not affect many licensed venues in the region.

Unions representing police, doctors, nurses and ambulance workers have formed an alliance to call for 1:00am (AEDT) lockouts for every hotel and 3:00am closures.

Nathan Whiteside from the liquor accord manages the Yamba Bowling Club and says none of the venues in the Lower Clarence stay open past 1:00am.

“It is a good idea but it doesn’t really affect us in this area,” he said.

“By that time you weigh up whether to make a little bit more money or you get to the point where everybody is at the stage where they’re getting towards having enough to drink, so you don’t really need to push the envelope much further than that.”

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Yamba residents rally against Maccas

April 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

You are either a MacDonald’s town or you are not – that is the feeling from a meeting last night of people opposed to a proposal to build a MacDonald’s fast-food outlet at Yamba.

More than 300 people gathered at the town’s youth hostel to hear how they can stop the proposal.

The meeting was organised by the town’s chamber of commerce and attended by local business people, residents and environmental groups.

Local businessman Bob Kershaw says the town will use the Easter long weekend to garner support for its anti-MacDonald’s campaign.

“It seems that MacDonald’s have used Easter to submit their DA [development application] while everyone is busy with Easter and holidays,” he said.

“Well we’re going to turn it around and use Easter to generate publicity and interest and letter writers, we’ll just be down the street rallying people and getting them onboard to write letters to the council.”

There is similar opposition in Port Macquarie, where McDonald’s has resubmitted plans to build another outlet in the town.

The initial proposal was rejected by the local council, but McDonald’s has now submitted a revised application which it says addresses the council’s concerns.

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Investor keeps faith in perpetual-motion machine

April 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A Northern Rivers man who invested in a company which claims to have developed a perpetual-motion machine says it should be allowed to continue its work.

Cycclone Magnetic Engines are said to produce power using magnets rather than fuel, and the company raised more than a million dollars from investors in the Lismore area.

Last year it was found guilty of misleading and deceptive conduct after proceedings brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, and its appeal was dismissed by Queensland’s Supreme Court last week.

But shareholder Donald Greene says those who put up the money still have faith.

“We held a shareholders’ meeting prior to these proceedings being commenced because shareholders were being canvassed by ASIC to make complaints about our own company,” Mr Green said.

“There was a motion put at that meeting of shareholders and it was unanimous; that we advise ASIC to go take a running jump, it was our company, we know what it’s doing, and we had no concerns,” he said.

“It was raised many times in those court proceedings that ASIC could not get any complaints from any of the shareholders,” Mr Greene said.

“Despite all their efforts, they couldn’t get anyone to complain about it, therefore the shareholders must have been happy and satisfied with the conduct of the company,” he said.

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Cage fighters implicated in brawl

March 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Lismore police are investigating a possible link between a weekend brawl outside a hotel and a cage-fighting event that was held in the city on the same night.

Detectives say competitors from the tournament were among those outside the venue when police were called at about half past three on Sunday morning.

Detective inspector Greg Moore says few witnesses were willing to co-operate with the attending officers, and closed-circuit television footage is now being reviewed.

He says it’s not clear what involvement, if any, the cage fighters had in the brawl.

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Think tank to map out regional solutions

March 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Local government members, business representatives and academics will meet today to discuss the future of the New South Wales mid and north coasts.

The Northern Rivers think tank is being hosted by Southern Cross University’s Regional Futures Institute in Lismore.

The institute’s Kate Neale says the aim is to come up with practical regional solutions and look at areas that need further research.

She says speakers will include the chief executive of the Northern Rivers Social Development Council and a coordinator for the Keep Australia Working initiative.

“We’ll be discussing things such as transport, telecommunications, climate change and sustainability [and] creating business and employment opportunities, especially entrepreneurship,” Ms Neale said.

“It’s quite big in the regional areas.

“So it’s bringing us all together and saying, ‘this is where we want to be, how can we work together, how can we network and make sure we’re not all doing separate pieces of work on the same issues?’”

Ms Neale says the aim is to bring together representatives from Brisbane to Coffs Harbour and find ways to work together for the good of the region.

“So look at it from a research perspective, ‘what do we need to find out in order to further our region?’” she said.

“Also look at what we can do in a very applied manner, whether it’s training or mentoring, how can we be really practical about this and make sure that we’re moving forward as a region.

“It’s going to be the first of many conversations [and] hopefully we have people sitting across the room saying, ‘wow, I can really help you on that problem’.”

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Hospital patient calls 000 to get nurse

March 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment

An elderly patient on the New South Wales north coast has used his own mobile phone to ring a nurse for help.

The Lismore Base Hospital’s Medical Staff Council says the patient used the phone because the emergency call buttons in that ward were not working.

Staff say the patients were issued with bells to ring the nurses for help.

The council’s spokesman Doctor Chris Ingall says there has been a downgrading of services because of inadequate funding.

“We’ve got to a point where it’s passed services and we’re looking at infrastructure,” he said.

“We’re looking at buzzer systems in wards, which are critical things. People are pretty crook in Lismore Base Hospital they’re not just mildly unwell.

“It’s a lot of money to replace the system, but it’s a critical system.”

The head of the North Coast Area Health Service, Chris Crawford says he is angry to hear of the patient’s ordeal and has personally apologised to the elderly man.

“I originally received assurances from Lismore Base Hospital that they would have a permanent system in two to three weeks and that they had an adequate interim solution,” he said.

“The situation surrounding [the patient's] circumstances has indicated that Lismore Base Hospital had not kept to the time table that they had indicated to me.”

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Mayor urges bigger roads spend

March 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Pacific Highway Task Force’s chairman says he welcomes more New South Wales Government funding to fix local roads, but more needs to be done.

NSW Roads Minister David Campbell has announced $45 million to help local councils upgrade roads, while $9 million will be spent on improving truck safety.

The Clarence Valley Mayor and task force chairman, Richie Williamson, says more needs to be done to make an impact on the roads network.

“This is welcome news, but it’s only the start of what we believe should be more funding from the state to local government for the maintenance and upgrading of the local road network,” he said.

“We think that the $45 million is a good start but there will certainly need to be further funding from state, local and federal governments to really make an indent on our local road networks.”

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Minister says affordable housing is value for money

March 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Seniors and people with a disability will be offered discounted rent in 26 new homes to be built in Lismore.

The Federal Minister for Housing, Tanya Plibersek says rents will be fixed at 20 percent below the market rate.

She says the $5-million project on the corner of Dibbs and Dalziel streets will be developed in conjunction with Baptist Community Services.

The Minister says it will go some way to relieving housing stress in the region.

“This program and other programs like our Nation Building Economic Stimulus Social Housing Program, which will build 116 new homes in Ballina, Casino, Grafton and Lismore will begin to make a difference,” Ms Plibersek said.

“I don’t think there are any overnight solutions to the housing stress, but I hope our contribution will begin to make a difference,” she said.

The Minister says she’s confident homes built under the National Rental Affordibility Scheme represent value for taxpayers’ money.

The Government has been accused of wasting money by paying too much for school renovations under its Building the Education Revolution scheme.

But Ms Plibersek says housing figures for New South Wales tell a different story.

“We anticipated that homes would cost around $300,000 each for a home and land, and in fact in NSW we’re getting much better value than that. We’re seeing homes come in between (a) 250 and 270,000 dollar average, which is pretty good for a home-and-land package when you average out costs right across the state,” she said.

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Uni student 95 not out

March 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The world’s oldest university graduate says he hopes his return to study might inspire others to do the same during Seniors Week.

95-year-old Allen Stewart made history in 2006 when he received his law degree.

He’s now enrolled in a Master of Clinical Sciences course at the Southern Cross University.

“As I try to keep a certain amount of physical exercise going to get physical fitness, I think it’s terribly important to have the fitness of mind, or intellectual fitness, and to study and do the assignments, use your computer regularly, I think this all helps to keep your intellectual mind going well,” Mr Stewart said.

Mr Stewart says he was inspired by his own family.

“My daughter at the age of 70 is now studying, doing an under-graduate arts course at the same university that I’m at,” he said.

“Actually she was the catalyst that introduced me to the university and induced me to take up further studies,” Mr Stewart said.

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NRMA urges truck safety crackdown

March 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The peak motoring body the NRMA says governments should play a role in regulating safety features on trucks to help address the rising road toll.

More than 300 people a year are killed in crashes involving trucks across the nation.

The motoring body says with the number of trucks on the roads set to triple by 2050, the safety risks will worsen.

NRMA president Wendy Machin says more rest stops need to be provided and trucks also need better safety features.

“Barriers to stop your car running underneath a truck in the event of a crash,” she said.

“Technology in trucks that monitors how long they’ve driven … whether they’ve taken the number of rest stops and stability control – the sort of things we’re now seeing on cars that makes sure that if a truck is going round a corner, it maintains its stability and doesn’t spin out.”

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Council considers rates rise move

March 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A special meeting is being held today to decide on whether Clarence Valley Council should go ahead with plans to increase rates above the New South Wales Government’s cap.

The Government is allowing councils to increase their rates for the next financial year by 2.6 per cent.

But Clarence Valley Council’s general manager, Stuart McPherson, says it wants more money for community projects and services.

“There is a proposal that the rates increase by an additional 5.5 per cent above the 2.6. There are a range of programs that we would like to use the money for – additional works for rural roads, additional money for public halls,” he said.

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Parties to debate north coast issues

March 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

While Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott go head-to-head today in a televised debate over health policy, Lismore will also host its own political public forum.

The federal Labor Member for Page, Janelle Saffin, and Nationals’ candidate Kevin Hogan, have agreed to enter the political boxing ring tonight in Lismore to discuss a range of issues.

The talks will cover economics, health reform and funding.

Ms Saffin says the discussion will highlight key differences between the Coalition and the Labor Party.

She says it will be interesting to see what the Coalition will present about health.

“Kevin Rudd has announced a health and hospitals reform package but it’s about action on the ground now which is what we’ve got,” she said.

“Delivering a lot more money into our region and about fixing the health system … Tony Abbott was the Health Minister that I noticed for a long time. He used to talk about the problems never ever tried to fix any.”

Mr Hogan says there is a crisis facing north coast hospitals with understaffing and a lack of resources.

He says big job losses within the the North Coast Area Health Service has worried a lot of people within the community.

“Well obviously there’s a funding crisis within the North Coast Area Health Service. I mean we’ve seen 400 jobs go from that area over the past 12 months and lots of other issues that follow on from that, so that will certainly be some of the things I’ll be talking about,” he said.

The debate will be held at the Lismore Workers Club from 7:00pm (AEDT) tonight.

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Country drivers in vicious cycle – magistrate

March 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A recently-retired north coast magistrate says something must be done to help country drivers trapped in to a vicious cycle of repeat offences and escalating sentences.

Nicholas Reimer recently retired from the NSW Local Court Bench, after 20 serving years in Sydney and the Northern Rivers.

He says country drivers often have no other transport options to turn to if their licences are disqualified.

“So they just hop in a car and drive and bang, they get done again and they get another three or four years disqualification,” Mr Reimer said.

“Something should be done to provide transport for them and something should be done to change the mandatory results of these things so that people don’t have a completely impossible disqualification to the end of their life,” he said.

“I keep coming across people, particularly in the aboriginal community, people who live in remote areas who have an accumulated disqualification that goes for years and years and years and they get to the stage where they think that there’s no point in even worrying about trying to get a licence because they’re disqualified until 2030 or whatever it might be and there’s no transport for these people,” Mr Reimer said.

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House fire sends two to hospital

March 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Detectives are investigating an overnight house fire in Lismore.

Emergency service crews were called to a home in Hindmarsh Street at about half past three.

Police say two men were seen in a car in the area around the time the blaze started in a garage.

Two children were checked at the scene by ambulance officers and two people were taken to the Lismore Base Hospital with smoke inhalation.

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Top cop targets tired drivers

March 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The New South Wales deputy police commissioner says he would like to see drivers pulled over on suspicion of being fatigued.

Dave Owens is touring the state’s north coast, where last week two people died in a head-on crash in a notorious fatigue zone.

He says it might be time for police to test new strategies.

“Do we start stopping cars and talking to drivers? And I know people are telling us by law we can’t do that, well I think I can,” Dep Commissioner Owens said.

“I think we have to look at a way where on some of these long stretches we pull drivers over that are perhaps drifting onto the cat’s eye and yes, have a look at them, you get them out of the car, you walk them to the back of the car and you have a chat to them,” he said. “What you’ve done you’ve broken the cycle of maybe three, four hours of straight driving – get out, have a walk, have some fresh air, have safe trip, then they’re right to go again, maybe we need to look at that.”

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Rescue chopper faces bumpy ride

March 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The region’s rescue helicopter service says it is vital that it raises a million dollars more than it did last year.

General manager Kris Beavis says donations dropped by about 12 percent during last year’s global financial crisis, but costs are still rising.

Mr Beavis says this year’s operating budget of $6.5-million is almost double what it was four years ago.

He says records show only about 1.3 percent of local residents make a regular donation to the service.

“That was a bit confronting for us in terms of a statistic, and I’d make the point that’s direct donors to the service,” Mr Beavis said.

“It doesn’t include doorknock donors where they don’t take a receipt etcetera, but in terms of the direct donors that we’re aware of that come to us through payroll or direct deposits toward us, it’s one in a hundred,” he said.

“Our costs have continued to rise with external factors such as the labour market for aviation quite different to CPI… so we’ve gone back and said ‘okay to be sustainable long term, we need to increase our donor base’,” Mr Beavis said.

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