Anti-vaccination group accused of harassing parents Vaccination group needles opponents TRACEY HORDERN meets Meryl Dorey, the

driven activist behind the controversial Australian Vaccination Network AVN stripped of charitable status AVN asked to defend charity status AVN cops flak from watchdog Health Commission steps up its warning against vaccine group Top doctor backs disclaimer for anti-vaccination site STAR BRIEFS Vaccine campaigners 'breached fundraising laws' AVN facing new probe into affairs Vaccination group says it's being censored Vaccine opponent risks charity status Failure to post website disclaimer a breach of Act Fundraising ban needles plans of vaccination campaigners BANGALOW GROUP IN CHARITY PROBE AVN facing new probe into affairs Vaccination network in the spotlight Mother's crusade began the night her baby stopped breathing Anti-immunisers needled AVN alleges hate campaign Check facts on vaccine AVN seeks legal advice Warning issued about anti-vaccination group AVN's charity status revoked Failure to post website disclaimer a breach of Act Anti-vaccination group loses charity status Charity status lost

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Vaccination controversy continues Lobby group under siege AVN investigated after complaints Injection data row Vaccine website warned Anti-vaccine group accused of harassing parents A charity no more Blue over vaccinations Vaccination group shut ANTI-VACCINE GROUP Advice misleading ANTI-VACCINE GROUP MUST POST WARNING A shot in the arm Anti-vaccination group loses status Copyright breaches land group in trouble Anti-vaccine group defiant Vaccination risks being suppressed Anti-jab lobbyists censored in WA Outrage over campaign after baby's death Whooping cough baby victim's family fume at anti-jab campaign Vaccination row sparks anger at use of library News headlines. - Julia Gillard promises money for mental health services. - The Opp is... NEWS BRIEFS FED:Anti-vaccination website 'misleading' Vaccines warning Vaccine activists labelled a threat Give anti-vaccine campaigners a shot of truth serum Anti-vaccine lobby puts everybodys children at risk of deadly disease Vaccination fear campaign killing our babies Cancer jab fears raised

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RE Russel (SMS, Observer, Wednesay 25). The sharp end of the vaccination debate Roxon failed to deliver immunisation awareness: parents QUICK NEWS Still no warning on whooping cough PRESS DIGEST-Australian General News - July 27 Disrespectful Parents opt out of childhood jabs No Title Health Alert - 9 August 2010 Medical council slams doctor who linked vaccine to autism PRESS DIGEST-Australian General News - Aug 5 FED:CheckUp medical column for October 15 Web headline 25 characters| here to a max 50 chars Good health sparks vaccine row FED:CheckUp medical column for July 16 Mum to dozens is Mother of the Year AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTS - AUG 5, 2010 FED:CheckUp medical column for July 30 Child flu vaccine alert was too slow: parents Skatebowl has already ripped community apart and will continue to do so Vaccination to save loved ones Shame of junk food sold to kids in schools Letters Letters Vaccine faithful are shaken Known Unknowns: Influenza Memorial erected for backpacker

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The anti-vaccination lobby believes it is fighting for personal freedom but is it selfishly putting children's lives at risk? Sticking Point War zone rhetoric missing the point 150 155

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Anti-vaccination group accused of harassing parents Steve Cannane 1,372 words 12 July 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation Transcripts ABCTRS English (c) 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: The NSW Health Care Complaints Commission has compiled a damning report after examining Australia's most prominent anti-vaccination group, the Australian Vaccination Network. The commission accuses the AVN of providing inaccurate and misleading information and selectively quoting research out of context to argue against vaccination. It's also noted accusations that the AVN harassed the parents of a child who died of whooping cough last year, after they'd advocated the importance of childhood vaccination. The report's likely to go public within the next two weeks. For its part, the AVN maintains it's not an anti-vaccination network, merely wanting parents to make informed choices. Steve Cannane reports. STEVE CANNANE, REPORTER: Meryl Dorey runs the Australian Vaccination Network from a home office on the North Coast of NSW. The AVN provides anti-vaccination information through their website, their magazine and seminars. But an investigation into the AVN by the Health Care Complaints Commission has found that the information they provide to parents is inaccurate and misleading. MERYL DOREY, AUSTRALIAN VACCINATION NETWORK: This was not an independent investigation. This was an investigation by an organisation that set out to support Government policy, which is pro-vaccination. ... We do not agree that the HCCC has any jurisdiction over us and we have been telling this from the very beginning and we are seeking legal advice on this issue. KEN MCLEOD, COMPLAINANT TO HCCC: I think they're a bunch of ratbags. I mean, reason and science just does not break through. They're not interested in the reality, they're interested in conspiracy theories and junk science. STEVE CANNANE: Ken McLeod is the man who took the initial complaint against the AVN to the Health Care Complaints Commission. KEN MCLEOD: I remember as a six-year-old seeing the look of horror on my father's face as the doctor told him that my sister had polio and my mother just being so shattered. And I remember going to the hospital ward in Townsville to visit my sister and it was an entire ward full of dozens of kids, little babies with polio. And it was awful, absolutely awful, and then only a year or so later, the polio vaccine came and this just disappeared. It was like magic. And it was just wonderful, and then, all these years later you now find people who are trying to set the clock back fifty years, and I thought, "Someone's got to do something." STEVE CANNANE: More and more people rely on the internet for health care information. If you Google vaccination, the Australian Vaccination Network comes up second on the list of sites. But nowhere on their website do they declare they are an anti-vaccination organisation. MERYL DOREY: Our position is to provide information that balances the information that parents get from their doctors and from the government. We have never said that we provide both sides of the story. We don't. STEVE CANNANE: Nobel prize-winning immunologist Professor Peter Doherty says denying children vaccines is a crime against humanity. PETER DOHERTY, NOBEL PRIZE WINNER: The reason it is a crime against humanity is it's really a crime against children, and children are vulnerable, we're responsible for them and basically anything that will adversely affect children strikes at us as a society. STEVE CANNANE: Dana McCaffery died of whooping cough in March last year. She was just 32 days old - too young to be vaccinated against the disease also known as pertussis. Page 5 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

What her parents didn't realise was that they lived in an area with one of the lowest rates of childhood vaccination in the nation and one of the highest rates of whooping cough. The McCaffery's live just a few kilometres from the headquarters of the Australian Vaccination Network. They say they've been harassed by the AVN since their daughter died and that the AVN has made repeated claims that Dana didn't die of pertussis. TONI MCCAFFERY, PARENT: Our daughter wasn't even buried and it began. It began the day before her funeral. It began with phone calls to the Health Department to get her medical records contending she didn't die of pertussis. STEVE CANNANE: This email from Paul Corben, the director of public health at the North Coast Area Health Service, backs up Toni McCaffery's claims. PAUL CORBEN, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH, NORTH COAST AREA HEALTH SERVICE (male voiceover): "Ms Dorey called me on 12 March seeking details of your daughter's illness and death. Ms Dorey contended that I had misled the public in attributing your daughter's death to pertussis." MERYL DOREY: I never said any of that. All I asked was ... STEVE CANNANE: That's what he says in an email to Toni McCaffery. MERYL DOREY: Well, I'm sorry, that's not true. That is not true. All I said was, "How was the diagnosis made? If it was a quick test, do you know that it's a real test and that the result is real? Was it really whooping cough?" STEVE CANNANE: Meryl Dorey says repeatedly that Dana McCafferey "supposedly" died of pertussis. TONI MCCAFFERY: It's the most offensive statement because I watched over five days my beautiful daughter suffer the most agonising death. She was just this innocent little girl who - it was cruel. But then to be put in a position where I have to prove that she died of pertussis, that's even crueller. DAVE MCCAFFERY, PARENT: And she's diminishing the fact that pertussis does and can kill and it's gonna lead to someone to make a decision about vaccination that could put their baby or their family at risk, and that's not right. STEVE CANNANE: OK, there is a post that you made in reference to the sceptics which said, "Isn't it incredible how they have made Dana into a martyr because she supposedly died from whooping cough?" Now could ... MERYL DOREY: Did I say that? STEVE CANNANE: Yeah. MERYL DOREY: I don't believe I did. STEVE CANNANE: OK. MERYL DOREY: Let me see. (Steve Cannane hands over statement.) MERYL DOREY (reading from statement): "... but ignore all of the children and adults who have died after vaccination." STEVE CANNANE: Yeah, but you still said that. MERYL DOREY: I did say that and I still think that a death is a death. STEVE CANNANE: Could you imagine reading that if your daughter had died of whooping cough? How would that make you feel? MERYL DOREY: Can you imagine reading the Stop the AVN site or the Dana site ... ? STEVE CANNANE: I'm asking you about comments you've made; I'm not asking you about comments they've made. MERYL DOREY: OK. That's fine. That's fine. Page 6 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

STEVE CANNANE: Can you imagine reading those comments? MERYL DOREY: I can imagine and it would probably be hurtful and I would be sorry if she felt hurt from what I had said. But, from my point of view, all children are important, all deaths are important. STEVE CANNANE: The McCaffrey's have made their own complaint to the HCCC about the AVN. They have continued to advocate publicly for vaccination and say the AVN continues to publish false and hurtful comments about them - like this Facebook post by an AVN representative. AVN REPRESENTATIVE (Facebook post, female voiceover): "One day I hope the parents of this baby tell the whole story and are able to see how they've been used by a group of ruthless scumbags with alterior (sic) motives. Then maybe they will be able to honour their child's life with the truth." DAVE MCCAFFERY: To suggest that we're being used by a group of people, that we're not honouring our daughter's life with the truth, is just reprehensible. They're terrible people. STEVE CANNANE: The AVN has been given 14 days to comply with the HCCC's findings and place a statement on their website telling consumers they provide anti-vaccination information and that this information should not be read as medical advice. Steve Cannane, Lateline. Document ABCTRS0020100712e67c000dz

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Vaccination group needles opponents 483 words 27 July 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) News ABCNEW English (c) 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Bangalow-based Australian Vaccination Network says it won't be putting a new disclaimer on its website. The New South Wales Health Care Complaints Commission has issued a public warning about the page, saying it poses a danger to health and safety. The Commission says the site provides misleading information about the dangers of immunisation, and should prominently display a statement declaring it's anti-vaccination stance. But spokeswoman Meryl Dorey says the group is being unfairly targeted. "It's like going to Greenpeace and saying 'well you tell people about the dangers and the problems with whaling, why don't you also tell them how good it is to eat whale meat and how wonderful it is the kill whales?', that would be ridiculous," Ms Dorey said. "Well saying to us that we have to say that we're anti-vaccine and that we have to show the government's side, which is available everywhere, as well as our own side is just as ridiculous," she said. "The Health Care Complaints Commission wants us to state that we are anti-vaccination, and we are not and never have been anti-vaccination, we are pro-choice, pro information and health and safety watchdog," Ms Dorey said. Meanwhile, a North Coast doctor has accused the group of fear-mongering. Paediatrician Chris Ingall treated a four week old baby Dana McCaffery from Lennox Head, who died from whooping cough last year. He says the region's immunisation rates have fallen dramatically since the Australian Vaccination Network became active in the area. "They spook many young families into believing them that vaccinations are bad, that the risk outweighs the benefit, which is quite wrong," Dr Ingall said. "Ever since the AVN became active up here immunisation rates have fallen, we're the lowest in the state, we have pockets below 50 percent vaccination," he said. One of the people who filed a complaint against the Australian Vaccination Network says it's time the state and federal governments stepped in to address the issue. Ken McLeod says a planned pro-vaccination campaign has been put on hold while market research is being conducted. He says it shouldn't be left to individual citizens to tackle major health issues. "It's not the job of people like me, or even the McCafferys to counteract the propaganda of the antivaccers, it's the job of government," Mr McLeod said. "It's the job of our health ministers and senior bureaucrats to do that and they have been conspicuous by their absence," he said. "I think it's possible for the HCCC to go to court and apply for a court order to have the disclaimer put up, they don't need enabling legislation to do that, so I'll be writing to the Commissioner eventually asking them to consider that," Mr McLeod said. Document ABCNEW0020100727e67r0003p Page 8 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

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TRACEY HORDERN meets Meryl Dorey, the driven activist behind the controversial Australian Vaccination Network 1,200 words 18 September 2010 The Northern Star APNNOS Main 39 English Copyright 2010 APN Newspapers Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved Two mothers with opposite views but the same quest for information Meeting Meryl Dorey, the anti-vaccine campaigner and founder of the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) comes with conditions. I can only meet Dorey in neutral territory journalists are not welcome at her home, which doubles as AVN's headquarters. Vaccination is a controversial, and sometimes litigious, subject. When I meet Dorey at a popular Bangalow caf, she looks more like an affable schoolteacher than a rabid campaigner. Dorey greets me with her soft American accent and a genuine smile. With humour, Dorey describes her background including a career as a Wall Street broker that ended with the loss of her job in the 1987 stock market crash. From there, Dorey travelled across America where she met her husband, Ballina-born Ken Dorey, a farmer and a volunteer rainforest regenerator. It is through her marriage that Dorey came to the Northern Rivers. According to Dorey, she was an average conservative housewife I was mainstream, I'm a farmer's wife. Then, the event that was set to change her life occurred. According to Dorey, her eldest son had an adverse reaction to his first routine vaccination. When he was two months old, I took him to a doctor for his DTP (diphtheria, typhoid and pertussis) and oral polio vaccines. I never questioned it it was just something that parents did if (they) cared about their children, she says. The events that followed set in motion an obsession to which Dorey has dedicated much of her life. He started screaming within an hour or two after his vaccinations and continued screaming, for about five or six hours straight. Dorey believes that her son developed sleep apnoea in reaction to the vaccines and asserts that he continues to be affected by his reaction to the drugs. He's a fantastic kid, but he's not as well as he should be, she says. For Dorey, it was the lack of available information that spurred her to establish the Australia Vaccination Network What I found was that I had to really search for information, it wasn't available and that's not fair, she says. Dorey has championed her campaign for the past 16 years, often in the face of enormous opposition. There have been well-covered stoushes with ABC-TV's Lateline and a growing call to shut down her network, culminating with the AVN being found guilty of providing misleading information on immunisation in Australia. The AVN was later ordered by the Health Care Complaints Commission to include disclaimers on their website. More recently, there have been death threats aimed directly at Dorey. Some of the worst, she repeats to me, including: You deserve to die by fire'. According to Dorey, threats have been published on the internet with her home address. I just think there needs to be some thought about why people threaten violence if they don't agree with someone. But still Dorey refuses to stop. She explains her tenacity: I was going to going to start an organisation to support parents that were trying to find information, because it wasn't right that parents had to dig and there is so much work to get the information. I put it to Dorey that here in the Northern Rivers it is well known that we have a comparatively low rate of pertussis (whooping cough) vaccination uptake and a correspondingly high incidence of the disease, and could she explain that? Pressed, Dorey avoids the statement, claiming she cannot find that Page 10 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

information. Dana McCaffery, the daughter of Lennox Head couple, Toni and David McCaffery, was only four weeks old when she died in March 2009 from whooping cough. The death was not only tragic, but was a watershed event for the voices of all sides of the vaccination debate. According to Toni McCaffery, Our greatest heartbreak is that we did not get one warning and yet this area has the highest rate of notification [of whooping cough] in the state. We don't know how Dana got it. I had taken our other daughter to preschool and Dana was with me. As it turns out our son's school was rife with it. It wasn't till after Dana died, we realised it [whooping cough] was everywhere we had been! We didn't get a chance to protect her. Lismore-based paediatrician Dr Chris Ingall, who treated Dana McCaffery, responds: From my professional point of view, that's myself, and my colleagues, we are the ones that are coming into contact with the repercussions. Meryl doesn't have to deal with them she lives in a bubble. Meryl is removed from the consequences and we are the ones that bear the brunt of her actions, not her that's why she carries no cred with us. I decided to put some of Dorey's arguments, transcribed verbatim from our interview, directly to Dr Ingall. Dorey stated that when Dana died, The blame was being laid at the doorstep of people who hadn't vaccinated. But the fact is, she was one month old, she was too young to have been vaccinated, she had two older siblings and I'm not sure whether or not they got whooping cough, but the fact is there was no link between Dana McCaffery's death and exposure to an unvaccinated child. Dr Ingall responded with, It is adults who are infected with pertussis who give it to children and infants. An infected adult has coughed on Dana at some point, perhaps at the local daycare centre, and she has contracted pertussis in this way. Dana was unlucky to be born in the Northern Rivers, as it increased her risk of being infected. Dorey questions: Could Dana McCaffery have fallen victim to a more dangerous strain of pertussis because we use the pertussis vaccine? Dr Chris Ingall replies: The risk of an adult having the disease is much greater in the Byron Shire where disease prevalence is high because of the low immunisation rates. If we could get those rates up, babies too young to be immunised, like Dana, would have a fighting chance. When I ask Toni McCaffrey if there is anything that she would like to see come from this tragedy, she says, I would like to see state and federal governments implement their promised educational programs and provide factual information. There's not enough information out there about what these diseases can do. Parents shouldn't have to dig to find information. I realise I have heard exactly the same words from Dorey it wasn't right that parents had to dig. Two mothers, two very different circumstances. But both are driven, and both want the same thing more readily available information for parents to make the best decision for their children. Amid the propaganda, vested interests and conflicting information on both sides, there must be an absolute truth. But how can we know for sure, until all the information is put on the table? Document APNNOS0020100917e69i000gp

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AVN stripped of charitable status John Stewart 506 words 14 October 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation Transcripts ABCTRS English (c) 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: Australia's most prominent anti-vaccination group has been stripped of its charitable status. The Australian Vaccination Network will no longer be able to make public appeals for money after NSW authorities moved to restrict the organisation's fundraising ability. Leading vaccination experts have welcomed the move and say the group's dangerous, but the vaccination network's leader has vowed to fight on. John Stewart reports. JOHN STEWART, REPORTER: The Australian Vaccination Network is run by Meryl Dorey on the North Coast of NSW. The AVN provides anti-vaccination information through its website, magazines and seminars. In July, the Health Care Complaints Commission accused the AVN of providing inaccurate and misleading information about vaccinations to parents, but the criticism was dismissed by the group. MERYL DOREY, AUSTRALIAN VACCINATION NETWORK: This was not an independent investigation. This was an investigation by an organisation that set out to support government policy, which is pro-vaccination. JOHN STEWART: The Health Care Complaints Commission ordered the AVN to publish a statement on its website, saying that the group is against vaccinations and its information should not be read as medical advice. But the group refused to publish the warning. Today the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing revoked the group's charitable status, stopping it from making public appeals for money. Meryl Dorey says the decision was politically motivated. MERYL DOREY: This is the way that they handle dissent: by shutting organisations down that don't agree with their policies, and it's not the sort of move that you would expect in a democratic nation. JOHN STEWART: But vaccination experts like Professor Robert Booy from Westmead Children's Hospital in Sydney say the group is spreading a dangerous message and discouraging parents from vaccinating their children. ROBERT BOOY, NATIONAL CENTRE FOR IMMUNISATION RESEARCH: Children on the North Coast of NSW have died of pertussis. Only last year a child died. Only last year another child in NSW died of varicella, or chicken pox. And these are vaccine-preventable diseases. It's a tragedy. JOHN STEWART: Meryl Dorey says her group will continue, regardless of the new fundraising limits. MERYL DOREY: It may make things more difficult, but it's not gonna stop us. We have a right to operate. Parents have a right to the information that we offer them. ROBERT BOOY: They are certainly a danger to public health. I've been very concerned for quite a long time about the fact that the very thing they say they're doing, which is providing people with options, with choice, is the very thing they take away, by being completely subjective, non-evidence-based and not supportive of the truth, which is that vaccines are generally beneficial and have some side effects. By being that way, they have reduced people's choices, convinced people not to vaccinate and children have died. JOHN STEWART: The AVN says it will keep going by using private donations. Page 12 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

John Stewart, Lateline. Document ABCTRS0020101014e6ae000b8

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AVN asked to defend charity status John Stewart 495 words 4 August 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation Transcripts ABCTRS English (c) 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation TONY JONES, PRESENTER: A prominent anti-vaccination group has been given 28 days to explain why it should be allowed to continue raising funds as a charity. The Australian Vaccination Network is being investigated by the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing for potential breaches of charity fundraising laws. John Stewart reports. JOHN STEWART, REPORTER: The Australian Vaccination Network is run by Meryl Dorey from a home office on the north coast of New South Wales. The AVN provides anti-vaccination information through their website, their magazine and seminars. Last month the healthcare complaints commission accused the AVN of providing inaccurate and misleading information about vaccines to parents, but the criticism was dismissed by the group. MERYL DOREY, AUSTRALIAN VACCINATION NETWORK (July): This was not an independent investigation. This was an investigation by an organisation that set out to support Government policy, which is pro-vaccination. JOHN STEWART: Now the AVN is under fire again, this time from the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing which wants the anti-vaccination group to show why it should be able to continue raising funds as a charity. The man who started the complaint against the AVN, Ken McLeod, was interviewed by Lateline earlier this year. KEN MCLEOD, COMPLAINANT TO HCCC: We thought that it was a travesty that the AVN should hold a charity licence. They are not performing charitable activities - quite the opposite. JOHN STEWART: In his complaint, Ken McLeod accused the anti-vaccination group of misusing funds. He claimed that the AVN had been raising funds to place anti-vaccination pamphlets in bounty bags which are given to mothers of newborns. But he said the company which made the bounty bags had nothing to do with the AVN. KEN MCLEOD: It's very clear that, for example, money raised for the bounty bags could never be spent on the bounty bags. The bounty bags company didn't want to have a bar of the AVN. But the money was raised; where did it go? Well it was obviously spent on running the AVN. JOHN STEWART: Today the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing said their audit of the AVN had detected a number of breaches of charity fundraising laws, including: - fundraising without an authority; - unauthorised expenditure; and, - failure to keep proper records of income and expenditure. Meryl Dorey could not be contacted tonight, but last month she made the following statement. MERYL DOREY (July): The Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing has been investigating the AVN's fundraising. We will wait until they've made their final judgement before we make any comment on this. JOHN STEWART: The Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing said it had also identified possible breaches of the Charitable Trust Act which will be referred to the Department of Justice and the Attorney General. The AVN has been given 28 days to respond to the investigation. John Stewart, Lateline. Page 14 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

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AVN cops flak from watchdog MEL MCMILLAN mel.mcmillan@northernstar.com.au 653 words 14 July 2010 The Northern Star APNNOS Main 5 English Copyright 2010 APN Newspapers Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved Vaccination group found tohave misled' community LISMORE pediatrician Dr Chris Ingall has welcomed the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) report on its 12-month investigation into the Bangalow-based Australian Vaccination Network. The investigation was triggered by two complaints made to the HCCC, a NSW authority that investigates complaints relating to the provision of health care. The first was from Toni and David McCaffery, of Lennox Head, parents of baby Dana who died at four weeks from whooping cough (pertussis) on March 9 last year. The second complainant was made by Ken McLeod. The investigation found the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) provided misleading and inaccurate information' on vaccination. It backs up what we have been saying about the AVN, Dr Ingall said. It has directly affected the health of child-ren on the North Coast. Health academic Dr Sue Page said the report was an exhaustive study that showed the AVN's claim to be aprovider of balanced information was false. The report shows that they are anti-vaccination, Dr Page said. In this local area they have had a major and negative impact. David McCaffery welcomed the report's findings. Part of his complaint to the HCCC was that AVN president Meryl Dorey had misrepresented the facts of Dana's death by implying the infant had not died from pertussis. The investigation found Mrs Dorey was not in possession of all the facts and circumstances of Dana's illness and death when she spoke with the media and postedinformation relating to Dana on her weblog'. Mr McCaffery said thereport proved the AVN could not be trusted'. People need to accessinformation that gives them the real benefits and risks, he said. People should keep away from the AVN because they do not tell the truth. Mr McCaffery also said the State and Federal governments were not doing enough to provide accurate information on vaccination. The HCCC has recommended the AVN include a prominent statement on its website to say its purpose is to provide information against vaccination in order to balance what is it believes is the substantial amount of pro-vaccination information available elsewhere'. It also said there should be a statement on the website explaining the information provided should not be taken as medical advice and thedecision about vaccination should be made in consultation with health-care providers. The Australian Vaccination Network has been given 14 days to comply with the HCCC recommendations. Page 16 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

Mrs Dorey issued a media release to say she would be investigating all options in order to respond to the outrageous attack on free speech inherent in the recent allegations made against it by a NSW state authority, the HCCC'. Mrs Dorey argued the AVN did not fall under the jurisdiction of the commission. However, the HCCC found that Mrs Dorey was a health-care educator and the AVN was a health education service, so therefore fell under the jurisdiction of Health Care Complaints Act. Mrs Dorey is yet to respond to the findings of the report and did not agree to be interviewed for this story. FINDINGS CONCERNING THE AVN Purports to provide balanced information, but clearly takes an anti-vaccination stance. There was evidence it misleads people by using reliable and peer reviewed research, but quotes selectively from it, often in contradiction to its findings. Provides information for which there are no references quoted, and refers to cases where there are no tests of reliability of data. Makes strong assertions about the benefit of exposure to childhood illnesses, but has no supporting research. No references are provided to support its claim there is a link between MMR vaccination and the development of autism, Crohn's disease and irritable bowel disease. Wrongly asserts pertussis does not kill. Uses statistics irresponsibly. Document APNNOS0020100713e67e000ma

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Health Commission steps up its warning against vaccine group Bronwyn Herbert 512 words 27 July 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation Transcripts ABCTRS English (c) 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation TONY EASTLEY: The New South Wales Health Care Complaints Commission has taken the unusual step of issuing a safety warning against a group of anti-vaccination campaigners. The Commission says the group, known as the Australian Vaccination Network, has refused to include a prominent disclaimer on its website stating the information should not be taken as medical advice. Bronwyn Herbert reports. BRONWYN HERBERT: Australia faced a whooping cough epidemic last year. More than 19,000 cases were reported and three babies died, including four-week-old Dana McCaffery from the New South Wales north coast. Paediatrician Chris Ingall treated the sick baby and says since the Australian Vaccination Network became active in the region immunisation rates have fallen dramatically. CHRIS INGALL: They spook many young families into believing them that vaccinations are bad, that the risk outweighs the benefit which is quite wrong. Ever since the AVN became active up here the immunisation rates have fallen, we're the lowest in the state, we have pockets below 50 per cent vaccination. Those are the pockets where the pertussis outbreaks seceded. Unfortunately it rolls out to the entire community so everyone gets affected and we've seen that in waves over the last two or three years and poor little Dana McCaffery was caught up in one of those waves. BRONWYN HERBERT: The Health Care Complaints Commission has been investigating the network. It's now issued a new public warning. VOICEOVER: The Commission recognises that it is important for there to be debate on the issue of vaccination. However, the AVN provides information that is inaccurate and misleading. The AVN's failure to include a notice on its website of the nature recommended by the Commission may result in members of the public making improperly informed decisions about whether or not to vaccinate, and therefore poses a risk to public health and safety. BRONWYN HERBERT: The Australian Vaccination Network spokeswoman is Meryl Dorey. MERYL DOREY: We already have two of the three items that the Health Care Complaints Commission asked us to put up on the website and we've had these things up there for years. The only thing that the AVN refuses to put up on the website, and we do refuse to put it up and surely this is censorship at its highest level to insist that we put this up, the Health Care Complaints Commission wants us to state that we are anti-vaccination and we are not, never have been, antivaccination. We are pro-information, pro-choice and a health safety watchdog. BRONWYN HERBERT: So you do advocate that vaccinations should be taken when it is appropriate? MERYLY DOREY: No, we advocate that people make informed decisions when it comes to all medical issues, including vaccination and that's all we say. BRONWYN HERBERT: Meryl Dorey says since the AVN is neither a healthcare practitioner or educator, it's a breach of the Health Care Commission's jurisdiction to investigate the group. TONY EASTLEY: Bronwyn Herbert. Page 18 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Top doctor backs disclaimer for anti-vaccination site Simon Lauder 705 words 13 July 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation Transcripts ABCTRS English (c) 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation ELEANOR HALL: Victoria's chief health officer is urging parents who turn to the internet for advice on vaccinations to use caution. An investigation by the NSW Healthcare Complaints Commission has found that an anti-vaccination group called the Australian Vaccination Network provides misleading and inaccurate information online. The Commission ordered the group to post a disclaimer on its website making its anti-vaccination agenda clear and pointing out that it does not dispense medical advice. Victoria's chief health officer, Doctor John Carnie, told Simon Lauder that misinformation about vaccinations is a constant frustration for the medical profession. JOHN CARNIE: It's quite sad that unfortunately some parents are put off from having their children immunised because of misinformation that is put about in relation to vaccines and the potential adverse effects of vaccines. Now the truth is that yes of course vaccines can have minor side effects and very occasionally there can be rare side effects from vaccines. We know that but the issue is that in the great majority of instances the benefits of vaccination far outweigh any potential adverse effects and it's important that parents get access to accurate information about immunisation. SIMON LAUDER: The New South Wales Healthcare Complaints Commission says the Australian Vaccination Network is providing inaccurate and misleading information about vaccinations. Do you share those concerns? JOHN CARNIE: I would certainly share concerns about any organisation that is putting out misinformation about vaccines. Now immunisation providers in this country have access to the Australian Immunisation Handbook, which is a very good source of reference in relation to vaccination, all the vaccines and so on and also this companion document called Myths and Realities. But also I would encourage people to have a chat with your doctor if you're in any doubt about the benefits of getting your child vaccinated. SIMON LAUDER: When it comes to misleading and inaccurate information, do you have particular concerns about parents turning to the internet for advice? JOHN CARNIE: Well the internet is both good and bad and this is the problem that people can find it difficult sometimes to distinguish between reputable sites and sites that have misinformation and that can be a problem. SIMON LAUDER: Do you support the recommendation that sites such as the Australian Vaccination Network should have a disclaimer saying that they provide anti-vaccination information and not medical advice? JOHN CARNIE: Yes. I agree that people should make it clear what their views are and if it's an extreme view about a certain topic it should be clear that it is their view and that they're not speaking on behalf of for example the medical profession or the nursing profession in this country. SIMON LAUDER: Apart from the Australian Vaccination Network are there any other websites which have come to your attention as being possibly misleading and inaccurate? JOHN CARNIE: There are from time to time, I mean I don't have a list of those, but yes there are certain websites obviously that from time to time you know have misinformation and that's not confined to Australia of course. There are different parts of the world, there are people who for whatever reason disagree with the concept of immunisation. Page 20 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

Now while we accept people's right to, you know, have those views for themselves and their own families, what I object to is people trying to, you know, give those views and convert people who are really undecided about this. And this is where the problem arises that people who genuinely want information can be misled by websites of that nature. ELEANOR HALL: That's Victoria's chief health officer, Dr John Carnie, speaking to Simon Lauder. EDITOR'S NOTE: 6.8.10 A comment from the AVN denying that it is "anti-vaccination" was included in the introduction to this story but was inadvertently omitted in the sub editing process. It should also be noted that the NSW Healthcare Complaints Commission has now issued a health warning against the AVN over its refusal to post a disclaimer on its website. http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2010/s296509 6.htm Document ABCTRS0020100713e67d00032

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STAR BRIEFS 233 words 5 August 2010 The Northern Star APNNOS Main 5 English Copyright 2010 APN Newspapers Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved AVN's debate call AUSTRALIAN Vaccination Network (AVN) spokesperson Meryl Dorey has challenged the Australian Medical Association's vice-president, Dr Steve Hambleton, to a public debate on the benefits and risks of vaccination. The Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) recently ruled the Bangalow-based AVN had put lives at risk by providing misleading, inaccurate and deceptive information'. Let Dr Hambleton choose three statements the AVN makes which he feels are either misleading, inaccurate or deceptive, gather his information and provide it in a public venue at which parents and other health professionals can attend, Ms Dorey said. NORTH Coast residents can get active and keep healthy thanks to the North Coast Area Health Service (NCAHS) Live it Up' Physical Activity Guides now available in hard copy and online at: www.ncahs.nsw. gov.au/healthy-weight There are now 12 Physical Activity Guides covering all local government areas from Tweed Heads in the north to Port Macquarie. CLARKES Beach Holiday Park in Byron Bay was awarded a prestigious Environmental Award on July 28. It received the Land and Property Management Authority Environmental Excellence Award for Holiday Parks at the Caravan and Camping Industry Association of NSW (CCIA) Awards of Excellence gala dinner at the Sheraton on the Park in Sydney. Judges were exceedingly impressed with the park. Document APNNOS0020100804e6850010b

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Vaccine campaigners 'breached fundraising laws' 117 words 5 August 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) News ABCNEW English (c) 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Vaccination Network has 28 days to respond to claims that it breached charitable fundraising legislation on several occasions. Last month the Health Care Complaints Commission accused the group of spreading misleading information about the dangers of immunisation through its website. Now the New South Wales Office of Liquor and Gaming says an audit of the group shows it conducted fundraising activities without permission, did not keep proper records and spent money without authority for a two-year period from 2007 to 2009. The Office says it has also identified possible breaches of the Charitable Trusts Act, which it has referred to the Department of Justice and Attorney General for investigation. Document ABCNEW0020100805e68500043

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AVN facing new probe into affairs 381 words 7 August 2010 Coffs Coast Advocate COFFS Main 23 English Copyright 2010 APN Newspapers Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved THE Australian Vaccination Network Inc is being investigated after claims it engaged in unauthorised fundraising. The Bangalow-based anti-vaccination group has three weeks to prove why its charity fundraising authority should not be revoked after an audit by the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (OLGR) found alleged breaches of legislation. Possible breaches of the Charitable Trusts Act 1993 also have been referred to the Department of Justice and the Attorney-General. The OLGR recently visited the non-profit company's offices where its officers examined records and interviewed staff. According to the OLGR, the audit revealed breaches of the Charitable Fundraising Act 1991, including alleged incidents of fundraising without authority, unauthorised expenditure and failure to keep proper records of income andexpenditure. The AVN now has 28 days to prove otherwise, an OLGR spokesman said. We are asking them to address the breaches identified, he said. They may want to put forward evidence defying these breaches or any sort of arguments for their future. Breaches of charitable fundraising legislation can lead to an organisation or company being prosecuted in court, although the OLGR spokesman said whether the AVN would be prosecuted or not relies on what they rec-eive from them and what their final determination is'. The AVN was granted a fundraising authority from July 5, 2002, to July 4, 2007. The authority was renewed on June 2 last year following a two-year lapse. The allegations of unauthorised fundraising fall between the two-year lapse period of July 4, 2007, and June 2, 2009, when the AVN did not have an updated fundraising authority. It is claimed that during that time the AVN asked for contributions to fund a pamphlet to be inserted in maternity gift bags called Bounty Bags. But the organiser of the gift bags knew nothing about the pamphlets. Additionally, one of AVN's opponents, the Vaccination Awareness and Information Service, claimed the AVNreceived donations in 2006 to conduct a vaccination testing program that never occurred. AVN released a statement yesterday saying it followed the audit process to the best of its capability and had co-operated with the OLGR each step of the way'. Document COFFS00020100806e68700009

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Vaccination group says it's being censored 364 words 13 July 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) News ABCNEW English (c) 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Vaccination Network says it doesn't accept the findings of a report by the New South Wales Health Care Complaints Commission. The Bangalow-based group is accused of selectively quoting research out of context to argue against vaccination. The AVN has been told to put a statement on its website advising people that it provides antivaccination information which should not be read as medical advice. Spokeswoman Meryl Dorey says she's being censored. "This is not just an issue about vaccination, this is an issue about whether or not an organisation or an individual... has the right to freedom of communication and freedom of speech in Australia and whether a government department that is supporting government policy has the right to censor anyone," Ms Dorey said. A Lennox Head woman who complained about the activities of the AVN says she's relieved by the findings of the HCCC report. Toni McCaffery lost her new-born daughter to Whooping Cough last year. She says she's been harassed by anti-vaccination campaigners ever since. Ms McCaffery says it's wrong to suggest the group is being censored. "AVN still gets to operate but what they have to do is put a disclaimer on their site so parents know the information they're providing is opposed to vaccination and... that's the whole that we submitted our complaint," Ms McCaffery said. "Information that the AVN is putting forward is misleading, they've selectively got data from what they claim are peer-reviewed journals and they've just twisted information and the purpose behind our complaint is that we got sick and tired of them twisting information about our daughter's death," she said . Ms Dorey says she doesn't know if she'll comply with the HCCC direction to amend her website. "The AVN is seeking advice on that right now," Ms Dorey said. "A decision will be made shortly but the AVN says what it has always said, that in order for any parent to make a decision about vaccination they need to access information on both sides and make an informed choice," she said. Document ABCNEW0020100713e67d0006i

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News and Features Vaccine opponent risks charity status Kate Benson HEALTH 522 words 5 August 2010 The Sydney Morning Herald SMHH First 5 English 2010 Copyright John Fairfax Holdings Limited. THE Australian Vaccination Network has three weeks to show why its charity licence should not be revoked after an audit revealed it was soliciting donations without permission. Charity inspectors from the NSW Office of Liquor Gaming and Racing visited the group's office in Bangalow to examine records and interview staff after it received a complaint that the group was calling for donations even though its licence had expired. The group, run by Meryl Dorey, was granted a fund-raising authority from July 5, 2002, to July 4, 2007, but allowed that to lapse for two years. During that time, it is believed the group asked supporters for money to provide brochures on vaccination to be inserted into gift packs, called Bounty Bags, that are given to new mothers across Australia. But Megan Baker, the organiser of Bounty Bags, said yesterday she had never had discussions with the group and would not permit its brochures to be distributed in the bags, which contain product samples, such as nappies, baby wipes and rash creams, educational materials and parenting magazines. "We only insert information which follows public health guidelines set down by the [National Health and Medical Research Council] and the AVN doesn't follow public health guidelines. They are just so controversial," she said. "We would only insert materials in support of immunisation." A spokeswoman from the Office of Liquor Gaming and Racing said the audit had detected a number of breaches of the charity fund-raising law. They included: fund-raising without an authority; unauthorised expenditure; and failure to keep proper records of income and expenditure. She said other possible breaches of the Charitable Trusts Act 1993 had been referred to the Department of Justice and Attorney-General. The demand to show cause comes a week after the Health Care Complaints Commission issued a public warning against the group for refusing to display a disclaimer on its website that indicated its information should not be taken as medical advice. The commission also found that the group's website presented incorrect and misleading information which was solely anti-vaccination and quoted selectively from research suggesting that vaccination may be dangerous. The Vaccination Awareness and Information Service, which opposes Ms Dorey's work, claims she also solicited donations from June 2006 to test vaccines for mercury, lead and other heavy metals, but the testing never occurred. "And in 2009 the AVN solicited donations to place an autism advertisement in a magazine. Despite raising thousands of dollars from the general public, these ads were never placed. We are not aware of these donations being refunded," the service's website says. In a Lismore newspaper article yesterday Ms Dorey challenged the vice-president of the Australian Medical Association, Steve Hambleton, to a debate after he publicly sided with the complaints commission. When contacted by the Herald, Dr Hambleton rejected the offer, saying: "I have no interest in providing her with any further oxygen. People want mainstream advice from their medical practitioners." Ms Dorey did not return the Herald's calls yesterday. Document SMHH000020100804e68500050 Page 26 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Failure to post website disclaimer a breach of Act 227 words 16 October 2010 Coffs Coast Advocate COFFS Main 21 English Copyright 2010 APN Newspapers Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved THE Australian Vaccination Network will no longer be permitted to collect charitable donations after the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing revoked the organisation's fundraising authority. The decision, effective from Monday, came after the OLGR found the AVN had breached Section 31 of the Charitable Fundraising Act. It found the AVN had not raised funds in good faith' because it had refused to comply with a request made earlier this year by the Health Care Complaints Commission that a disclaimer be displayed on its website, stating the information provided was anti-vaccination and not medical advice. This has resulted in an unacceptable risk of potential donors to the organisation being misled when making a decision whether or not to make a donation, which has led to appeals not being conducted in good faith, the OLGR said. The OLGR also found fundraising appeals had been improperly administered' because the AVN's website may have misled people into believing they were making a donation to a cause which promoted vaccination, whereas the organisation adopted an anti-vaccination position'. It was in the public interest to revoke the fundraising authority, referring to the AVN's failure to comply with the HCCC recommendation to display a website disclaimer. Document COFFS00020101015e6ag000b6

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Fundraising ban needles plans of vaccination campaigners 271 words 18 October 2010 Coffs Coast Advocate COFFS Main 11 English Copyright 2010 APN Newspapers Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved THE Bangalow-based Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) is considering its options after the Office of Liquor Gaming and Racing (OLGR) cancelled its authority to raise funds last week. NSW Minister for Gaming and Racing Kevin Greene approved the revocation, effective from this month, after an investigation found the group breached NSW charity laws and potentially misled the public AVN media spokeswoman Meryl Dorey said about 10 to 15 per cent of the group's operating revenue came under the jurisdiction of the Charitable Fundraising Act. This will make a hard situation more difficult we are used to difficult, Ms Dorey said. The OLGR found the organisation had been fundraising without authorisation to do so. It is understood that between July 2, 2007 and June 2 last year, the AVN was without authorisation to raise funds. Ms Dorey admits this was true but claimed the OLGR was aware of the AVN's fundraising status. During this time we were unable to find an auditor, Ms Dorey said. It took the AVN 12 months to find an auditor and then another year before the audit was conducted because the AVN was put at the bottom of the new auditor's work pile, Ms Dorey claims. The OLGR also found there had been unauthorised expenditures. Ms Dorey said she did not know what these expenditures were. The findings also said the AVN had failed to keep proper records of income and expenditure. The group was also found to not be operating in good faith.' Document COFFS00020101017e6ai0005o

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BANGALOW GROUP IN CHARITY PROBE AVN facing new probe into affairs AVA BENNY-MORRISON ava.benny-morrison@northernstar.com.au 523 words 6 August 2010 The Northern Star APNNOS Main 2 English Copyright 2010 APN Newspapers Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved Audit reveals Australian Vaccination Network may have breached fundraising law THE Australian Vaccination Network Inc is being investigated after claims it engaged in unauthorised fundraising. The Bangalow-based anti-vaccination group has three weeks to prove why its charity fundraising authority should not be revoked after an audit by the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (OLGR) found alleged breaches of legislation. Possible breaches of the Charitable Trusts Act 1993 also have been referred to the Department of Justice and the Attorney-General. The OLGR recently visited the non-profit company's offices where its officers examined records and interviewed staff. According to the OLGR, the audit revealed breaches of the Charitable Fundraising Act 1991, including alleged incidents of fund-raising without authority, unauthorised expenditure and failure to keep proper records of income andexpenditure. The AVN now has 28 days to prove otherwise, an OLGR spokesman said. We are asking them to address the breaches identified, he said. They may want to put forward evidence defying these breaches or any sort of arguments for their future. Breaches of charitable fundraising legislation can lead to an organisation or company being prosecuted in court, although the OLGR spokesman said whether the AVN would be prosecuted or not relies on what they rec-eive from them and what their final determination is'. The AVN was granted a fundraising authority from July 5, 2002, to July 4, 2007. The authority was renewed on June 2 last year following a two-year lapse. The allegations of unauthorised fundraising fall bet-ween the two-year lapse per-iod of July 4, 2007, and June 2, 2009, when the AVN did not have an updated fund-raising authority. It is claimed that during that time the AVN asked for contributions to fund a pamphlet to be inserted in maternity gift bags called Bounty Bags. But the organiser of the gift bags knew nothing about the pamphlets. Additionally, one of AVN's opponents, the Vaccination Awareness and Information Service, claimed the AVNreceived donations in 2006 to conduct a vaccination testing program that never occ-urred. AVN released a statement yesterday saying it followed the audit process to the best of its capability and had co-operated with the OLGR each step of the way'. The statement also said AVN was confident at the end of the auditing process they will be able to retain their charitable process' and at no time throughout the due process have there been suggestions of fraud'. AVN president MerylDorey declined to comment further. Earlier this month the Health Care Complaints Commission issued a public warning against the AVN. Page 30 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

The commission found selective information on the AVN website may be dangerous and, by omitting a warning on their website of their nature, poses a public and safety risk. The OLGR said it was taking this public warning into consideration' as part of its audit as it related to allegations of misleading thepublic'. Document APNNOS0020100805e686000ul

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Vaccination network in the spotlight Ava Benny-Morrison ava.benny-morrison@northernstar.com.au 256 words 16 September 2010 The Northern Star APNNOS Main 7 English Copyright 2010 APN Newspapers Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved INVESTIGATIONS are continuinginto whether the Bangalow-based Australian Vaccination Network Inc has solicited unauthorised fund-raising. Last month, the NSW Office ofLiquor, Gaming and Racing (OLGR) issued AVN with a notice to show why its charitable fundraising authority should not be revoked following complaints. An OLGR spokesman said a decision about whether AVN would retain its charitable fundraising licencewould be delivered sooner rather than later'. They have responded to the notice and we are currently assessing that response, he said. According to the OLGR, an audit of AVN revealed breaches of the Charitable Fundraising Act 1991, including alleged incidents of fundraising without authority, unauthorised expenditure and failure to keep proper records of income and expenditure. AVN president Meryl Dorey said she was not worried about the investigation. We have submitted a response, but I cannot completely comment at this stage until the investigation is finished, she said. We are not really concerned as we have been told by (OLGR) there has been no fraud. Ken McLeod, from the Stop the AVN advocacy group, made the initial complaints to the OLGR. We would hope earnestly that they go out of business, he said. I have recommended in my letter to the Minister (NSW Minister for Gaming and Racing Kevin Greene), as per the Charitable Fundraising Act, they cancel the AVN's licence, which means they cannot appeal for money. Document APNNOS0020100915e69g000ul

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News and Features Mother's crusade began the night her baby stopped breathing Saffron Howden 591 words 28 July 2010 The Sydney Morning Herald SMHH First 7 English 2010 Copyright John Fairfax Holdings Limited. THE Australian Vaccination Network, which has run foul of the NSW health watchdog for its claims about the dangers of child vaccination, is based in a ramshackle house overlooking the Byron Bay hinterland. But its roots lie in the night 21 years ago when Meryl Dorey's first child stopped breathing. Ms Dorey, 51, a New Yorker, founded the network in 1994 after years of research into the illnesses her son Matthew had as a small boy. "He had a bad birth to begin with," Ms Dorey said in her small office yesterday, surrounded by books, pamphlets, magazines and box files filled with information warning of the potential dangers of vaccinations. "[But] he was a very placid baby, never cried." But "within an hour and a half" of his diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and polio vaccinations, she said Matthew was "screaming". "He ran a very high fever and that night, in his sleep, he stopped breathing." Her son later developed obstructive sleep apnoea and Ms Dorey, whose organisation is the subject of a Health Care Complaints Commission investigation and a public warning, believes "he's only just getting over it". "I never associated that reaction with the vaccine. I just thought he got sick. It wasn't until my doctor asked me after the last vaccine ... That was the first alarm bell that I had." Ms Dorey said Matthew, now 21, still had breathing problems and was hospitalised after his second set of vaccinations when he was 18 months old. She chose not to vaccinate the final two of her four children, now 17 and 14. Her second child, 19, received only the first set of vaccinations. "My second child got mumps and she was over that within about 48 hours. We've all had whooping cough and they've all had chicken pox," Ms Dorey said. The two youngest had the strongest immune systems, she said. "There's no doubt about it." Ms Dorey married a local macadamia farmer and moved to the north coast in 1988. The network is run out of a room in her home at Newrybar. It employs two part-time staff, produces a magazine and has a membership base of about 2500. Ms Dorey said this included GPs and nurses. "There are a lot of people within the medical community that question vaccination." MS DOREY ON VACCINATION "Make no mistake folks, this measles 'outbreak' was orchestrated for one reason and one reason only to force the issue of compulsory vaccination." "Is the use of the nasal flu vaccine nothing more than a blatant attempt by the government to spread the disease further, thereby ensuring future demand for the vaccine?" "I met my first asthmatic when I was 26 years old. I'd never heard of that before. Why, you know, 30 years ago did we have no asthma, and now 25 to 30 per cent of children are asthmatic." "I don't see that the measles vaccine has done anything for Australia." Page 33 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

"I have just discovered ... that the only [World Health Organisation] facility in the southern hemisphere that is involved with flu vaccine research is in Melbourne - the part of Australia where the largest number of swine flu cases has been reported. This in the country that is also creating the world's first 'swine' flu vaccine and has the most number of cases in this area of the world. Things that make you go hmmmm." Document SMHH000020100727e67s0004a

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Anti-immunisers needled MEL MCMILLAN mel.mcmillan@northernstar.com.au 377 words 11 February 2010 The Northern Star APNNOS Main 3 English Copyright 2010 APN Newspapers Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved New community group wants to stop anti-vaccination campaigners THE BANGALOW-BASED Australian Vaccination Network will undergo a full audit by the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing following complaints it has been unlawfully fundraising. Charity inspectors are expected to soon visit the organisations office to examine records and interview staff to check if it has been operating in breach of the Charitable Fundraising Act 1991. A spokesperson for the office said it made inquiries about the network last year after a complaint was lodged. The office warned the network about a breach of its fundraising authority conditions as it did not have a mechanism to properly and effectively deal with complaints relating to fundraising. The audit will also attempt to determine whether the network has conducted unlawful fundraising during a period it was without a fundraising authority, between July 2, 2007 and June 2, 2009. Network president Meryl Dorey said the authority had expired but they had been granted an extension. The complaint against the network was lodged by a group known as Stop the AVN, which was formed after the death of Lennox Head baby Dana McCaffery from whooping cough last year. The group blames the network for low-immunisation rates and high levels of whooping cough in the Northern Rivers. Mrs Dorey described the group as a thorn in the AVNs side. On July 14 last year, Stop the AVN member, Ken McLeod, lodged a complaint with the Health Care Complaints Commission about the network and Mrs Dorey, on the basis she was assuming the role of a health educator and advisor, but was in breach of the code of practice for health providers by disseminating wrong information. The commission is expected to conclude its investigation soon. Mr McLeod is also threatening Mrs Dorey with legal action after she published statements about him online that he alleges were defamatory. The group has also lodged a complaint with the Registry of Co-operatives and Associations alleging the network has operated in breach of the law. The Northern Star was unable to confirm if the registry received the complaint. Document APNNOS0020100210e62b000m9

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AVN alleges hate campaign DIGBY HILDRETH digby.hildreth@northernstar.com.au 276 words 3 September 2010 The Northern Star APNNOS Main 7 English Copyright 2010 APN Newspapers Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved THE argument over childhood vaccination is turning very nasty. The Bangalow-based Australian Vaccination Network isunder attack from several quarters, spokeswoman Meryl Dorey said. It has recently been accused of breaching copyright by including photocopied articles in the information packs it sells online. Ms Dorey said the AVN rem-oved the packs from its website immediately the allegations surfaced and would seek legal advice. We don't want to do the wrong thing and in fact have always tried to do the right thing, Ms Dorey said. Not one of the authors whose articles we used has contacted us to complain. Rather, the claims came from a Sydney journalist setting out to create the news' by telephoning the writers, she said. More seriously, Ms Dorey and other members of the AVN have been receiving death threats since December. Ms Dorey said the original threat was an anonymous message on Facebook that said we are coming for you, babykiller'. The people who sent such messages were unbalanced', she said. This is no way to have a debate. Meanwhile, the AVN is compiling a petition to take to Federal Parliament seeking three pieces of legislation. This included a requirement for all health practitioners to report vaccine reactions when these reactions are reported to them by parents; a requirement to reveal the vaccination status of those who contract vaccine preventable' illnesses; and the funding of a study comparing the amount of Medicare money spent on healthcare for vaccinated Australians as compared with unvaccinated Australians. Document APNNOS0020100902e693000xd

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Check facts on vaccine 136 words 28 August 2010 The Tweed Daily News APNDNQ Main 6 English Copyright 2010 APN Newspapers Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved THE fear over measles is not warranted, according to Meryl Dorey, of the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN). It seems the area health service is certainly fear-mongering on this issue, she said of the current outbreak. Ms Dorey said it was the parents' decision whether to vaccinate their children against measles and they should get as much information as possible. She said there were two questions parents should ask themselves before using the measles mumps and rubella vaccine: Is the vaccine effective? And is measles a dangerous disease? People need to know that vaccination is not compulsory. The Health Care Complaints Commission has issued a public warning about AVN, saying it provides incorrect and misleading, solely anti-vaccination material. Document APNDNQ0020100827e68s00106

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AVN seeks legal advice MEL MCMILLAN mel.mcmillan@northernstar.com.au 412 words 16 October 2010 The Northern Star APNNOS Main 5 English Copyright 2010 APN Newspapers Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved Group unable to fundraise after authority was revoked this week THE Bangalow-based Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) is considering its options after the Office of Liquor Gaming and Racing (OLGR) cancelled its authority to fundraise on Thursday. NSW Minister for Gaming and Racing, Kevin Greene, approved the revocation, effective from this month, after an investigation found the group breached NSW charity laws and potentially misled the public AVN media spokeswoman Meryl Dorey said about 10 to 15 per cent of the group's operating revenue came under the jurisdiction of the Charitable Fundraising Act. This will make a hard situation more difficult we are used to difficult, Ms Dorey said. The OLGR found the organisation had been fundraising without authorisation to do so. It is understood that between July 2, 2007 and June 2, last year, the AVN was without authorisation to fundraise. Ms Dorey admits this was true but claimed the OLGR was aware of the AVN's fundraising status. During this time we were unable to find an auditor, Ms Dorey said. It took the AVN 12 months to find an auditor and then another year before the audit was conducted because the AVN was put at the bottom of the new auditor's work pile, Ms Dorey claims. The OLGR also found there had been unauthorised expenditures. Ms Dorey said she did not know what these expenditures were. The findings also said the AVN had failed to keep proper records of income and expenditure. The group was also found to not be operating in good faith', a requirement of the Act, because it had failed to comply with recommendations by the Health Care Complaints Commission. The HCCC ordered the AVN to place a disclaimer on its website stating its purpose was to provide information which was against vaccination and its information should not be taken as medical advice. Ms Dorey said the AVN had strong support from solicitors and barristers and it would consider its legal options. Ms Dorey has stepped down from the role as president of the AVN but would not reveal the identity of her replacement or any of the other committee members. They are too scared they will be threatened, Ms Dorey said. She has claimed committee members have been subjected to death threats and hate mail for their activities. Document APNNOS0020101015e6ag000p3

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Warning issued about anti-vaccination group By Andy Parks 570 words 15 July 2010 The Northern Rivers Echo APNNRE Main 3 English Copyright 2010 APN Newspapers Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved A report by the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) into the Bangalow-based Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) has found that the information they provide is often selective, misleading and inaccurate. Contrary to what the name suggests, the Australian Vaccination Network is essentially an antivaccination advocacy group, but this is not made clear on their website. The group has a high profile on the North Coast, which has the lowest vaccination rate in the country. The HCCC report, which has not been made public but was leaked to the media and made available on the web, was triggered by two formal complaints: one from Moruya resident Ken McLeod and the other from David and Toni McCaffery, whose baby daughter Dana died from whooping cough (pertussis) in 2009. The McCafferys then embarked on a media campaign to warn other parents about the dangers of pertussis, which led to the NSW Government announcing free pertussis boosters for parents and grandparents of newborns, with the ACT and Queensland soon following suit. But the McCafferys said they were harassed by the AVN for nine months, which led to their HCCC complaint. The AVN has accused us of running a fear campaign. We call it a reality check. We only wished someone had warned us of the epidemic. We do not know how Dana became infected, but we now know that the Northern Rivers of NSW has the lowest rates of vaccination in the country, and in 2009 had a pertussis notification rate that was twice the state's average. We saw the healthiest, most beautiful baby suffer the most agonising death and there was nothing we could do. We will not stand by and let this happen to another family, the McCafferys said in a statement. We respect parents' rights to making an informed choice and understand they have concerns over vaccination. But we plead with parents, before you make a decision, please access factual information on vaccines, and understand how dangerous the diseases are that they prevent. Stay away from the AVN and be very careful of the internet. The HCCC report recommends that the AVN put the following three-point statement on their website in a prominent position: 1) The AVN's purpose is to provide information against vaccination in order to balance what it believes is the substantial amount of pro-vaccination information available elsewhere; 2) That the information not be read as medical advice; and 3) The decision about whether to vaccinate or not should be made with a health care provider. The AVN has 14 days to respond to the report (which they received about a week ago) and if they fail to follow the recommendations, HCCC executive officer Ken Swan said they have the power to make a public statement warning people that the AVN service poses a threat to public health and safety. AVN president Meryl Dorey said she was still waiting on legal advice about how the organisation would respond, but said in a statement that they rejected the HCCC's assertion that the AVN is a healthcare provider, and therefore does not fall within the jurisdiction of the HCCC. Vaccination is not compulsory in Australia, nor is it illegal to not vaccinate. In addition, prior to the HCCC's decision, it has not been illegal to publish information that questions a medical procedure, she said. Document APNNRE0020100714e67f000gt

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AVN's charity status revoked Failure to post website disclaimer a breach of Act MEL MCMILLAN mel.mcmillan@northernstar.com.au 371 words 15 October 2010 The Northern Star APNNOS Main 2 English Copyright 2010 APN Newspapers Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved Anti-vaccination group ordered to stop taking donations THE Australian Vaccination Network will no longer be permitted to collect charitable donations after the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing revoked the organisation's fundraising authority. The decision, effective from Monday, came after the OLGR found the AVN had breached Section 31 of the Charitable Fundraising Act. It found the AVN had not raised funds in good faith' because it had refused to comply with a request made earlier this year by the Health Care Complaints Commission that a disclaimer be displayed on its website, stating the information provided was anti-vaccination and not medical advice. This has resulted in an unacceptable risk of potential donors to the organisation being misled when making a decision whether or not to make a donation, which has led to appeals not being conducted in good faith, the OLGR said. The OLGR also found fundraising appeals had been improperly administered' because the AVN's website may have misled people into believing they were making a donation to a cause which promoted vaccination, whereas the organisation adopted an anti-vaccination position'. The OLGR also found it was in the public interest to revoke the fundraising authority, referring to the AVN's failure to comply with the HCCC recommendation to display a website disclaimer. This failure posed a risk to public health and safety and, for this reason, it was not in the public interest to permit the organisation to conduct fundraising appeals under the Act, it said. AVN media spokesperson Meryl Dorey said the decision was an abuse of power and a government attempt to suppress legitimate dissent. Had the OLGR based its decision upon the simple errors which were found during our audit errors which any small, volunteer-run organisation can and does make it would have been unfair, but not unexpected, Ms Dorey said. Ms Dorey said the AVN was a victim of a campaign to shut it down, which had included death threats to committee members and hate mail. Document APNNOS0020101014e6af0013b

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Anti-vaccination group loses charity status 104 words 15 October 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) News ABCNEW English (c) 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation A NSW-based anti-vaccination group has been been stripped of its charitable status. The Australian Vaccination Network has lost the right to make public appeals for money, following a decision by the New South Wales Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing. The move comes after the group, based in Bangalow on the state's north coast, refused a directive from the Health Care Complaints Commission to post a warning on its website. It was told to advise people it was against vaccination and that the information on the web page should not be read as medical advice. Document ABCNEW0020101014e6af000up

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General Charity status lost 83 words 15 October 2010 The West Australian TWAU First 44 English (c) 2010, West Australian Newspapers Limited A controversial anti-vaccination group has been stripped of its charity status by the NSW Government. The Bangalow-based Australian Vaccination Network, which held several public meetings in WA earlier this year warning about the health risks of childhood vaccination, has been ordered not to continue carrying out fundraising appeals. The NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing wrote to the AVN yesterday, telling it had four days to comply. Fundraising without authority can attract a fine of $5500. Document TWAU000020101014e6af0003d

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Vaccination controversy continues 296 words 29 July 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) News ABCNEW English (c) 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Director of the National Centre for Immunisation Research is calling for a full investigation of the Bangalow-based Australian Vaccination Network. Professor Robert Booy says the group is dangerous and misleading. He's also backed calls for a state or federdal government marketing campaign aimed at increasing the vaccination rate for Whooping Cough. Professor Booy says the AVN's work is a concern for both parents and health professionals. "The AVN produces inaccurate and actually misleading information and far from giving people a choice, they are actually narrowing their choices by misleading them into believing that vaccines are far more dangerous than they actually are," Prof Booy said. "I think that government agencies should look very seriously at what they are doing and look into how best to require of them to indicate that they are anything but a health information source," he said. Meanwhile, the New South Wales Health Department says parents who are unsure about immunisation should get advice from their family doctor. The message follows the public battle between the Australian Vaccination Network and the Health Care Complaints Commission. The AVN was found to be spreading misleading information about the dangers of immunisation, and the Commission has issued a public warning about the network's website. The State Government's Chief Health Officer, Kerry Chant, says the situation can be confusing for parents. "A GP of the family is probably a very good port of call to get a balanced view of the evidence or the Early Childhood Centre nurse and they can also ring the Public Health Unit," Ms Chant said. "I think those sources of information, particularly the GP, can be in a position to understand the particular circimstances of the child and the family," she said. Document ABCNEW0020100729e67t0005m

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Lobby group under siege 222 words 1 September 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) News ABCNEW English (c) 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation Police are investigating reports of death threats being made against members of a Bangalow-based anti-vaccination group. Meryl Dorey from the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) says she has been receiving abusive calls almost daily in recent weeks. The group has been under attack after the New South Wales Health Care Complaints Commission ruled the AVN website was spreading misleading information about the dangers of immunisation. Ms Dorey says the trouble started after opponents of the group lodged complaints with the commission. "I have had threats of violence against myself, against other people in the organisation on an almost daily basis," Ms Dorey said. "We don't answer the phone at night any more unless we know who is calling because we get so many angry and violent calls; I'd say under siege is an understatement." The spokesman for Stop the AVN, Ken McLeod says the group was set up to counter the claims of the anti-vaccination campaign. Mr McLeod says has never been involved in aggression towards Ms Dorey, nor to his knowledge has any member of the group. He says similar allegations have been made in the past and have been referred to his lawyers. Anti-vaccination campaigners have previously been accused of harassing a Lennox Head couple whose baby died from Whooping Cough. Document ABCNEW0020100901e691000ba

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AVN investigated after complaints 303 words 14 July 2010 Coffs Coast Advocate COFFS Main 12 English Copyright 2010 APN Newspapers Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved LISMORE Paediatrician Dr Chris Ingall has welcomed the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) report on its 12 month investigation into the Bangalow-based Australian Vaccination Network. The investigation was triggered by two complaints made to the commission, a NSW State authority to investigate complaints relating to health-care providers. The first was from Toni and David McCaffery, of Lennox Head, parents of baby Dana who died at four weeks from pertusis on March 9, last year. The second complaint was made by Ken McLeod. The investigation found the network provided misleading and inaccurate information' on vaccination. It backs up what we have been saying about the AVN, Dr Ingall said. (It) has directly affected the health of children on the North Coast. Dr Sue Page said the report was an exhaustive study which showed the network's claim to be a provider of balanced information was false. The report shows that they are anti-vaccination, Dr Page. In this local area they have had a major and negative impact. David McCaffery said he welcomed the report's findings. Part of his complaint to the commission was the network president, Meryl Dorey, had misrepresented the facts of Dana's death by inferring the baby had not died from pertusis. The investigation found Mrs Dorey was not in possession of all the facts and circumstances of Dana's illness and death when she spoke with the media and posted information relating to Dana on her weblog'. Mr McCaffery said the report proved the network could not be trusted'. People need to access information that gives them the real benefits and risks, he said. People should keep away from the AVN because they do not tell the truth. Document COFFS00020100713e67e000mx

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Local Injection data row 89 words 13 July 2010 Daily Telegraph DAITEL 4 - City Edition 11:30pm 5 English Copyright 2010 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved AN anti-vaccination group is providing inaccurate and misleading information, the Health Care Complaints Commission inquiry has found. The HCCC has been checking the Australian Vaccination Network over allegedly giving medical advice without authority, especially on its website. It is alleged the AVN does not declare it is an anti-vaccine organisation on its website and has been given 14 days to rectify this. AVN founder Meryl Dorey told the Lateline program they do not agree with the HCCC findings. DTM-20100713-4-005-253012 Document DAITEL0020100712e67d0008h

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NATION Vaccine website warned 70 words 14 July 2010 The Gold Coast Bulletin GCBULL B - Main 15 English Copyright 2010 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved SYDNEY: An anti-vaccination group has been ordered to place a prominent warning on its website stating it `should not be read as medical advice'. The Australian Vaccination Network, based in NSW, has been given 14 days to comply, after an investigation found the group promoted `inaccurate and misleading' information on its website. The AVN said they would fight the censor. GCB-20100714-B-015-113427 Document GCBULL0020100714e67e00019

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Anti-vaccine group accused of harassing parents Steve Cannane 963 words 12 July 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) News ABCNEW English (c) 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation The New South Wales Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) has compiled a damning report into Australia's most prominent anti-vaccination group, the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN). The HCCC accuses the AVN of providing inaccurate and misleading information and selectively quoting research out of context to argue against vaccination. The report has also noted accusations that the AVN harassed the parents of a child who died of whooping cough last year, after the parents advocated the importance of childhood vaccination. Meryl Dorey runs the AVN from a home office on the north coast of NSW. The AVN provides anti-vaccination information through its website, magazine and seminars. An investigation by the HCCC into the AVN has found the information it provides to parents is inaccurate and misleading. But Ms Dorey told ABC1's Lateline the investigation was biased. "This was not an independent investigation - this was an investigation by an organisation that set out to support government policy, which is pro-vaccination," she said. "We do not agree that the HCCC has any jurisdiction over us and we have been telling them this from the very beginning, and we are seeking legal advice on this issue." Ken McLeod is the man who took the initial complaint against the AVN to the HCCC. He says the AVN's anti-vaccination stance is indefensible. "I remember as a six-year-old seeing the look of horror on my father's face as the doctor told him my sister had polio, and my mother just being so shattered," he said. "I remember going to the hospital ward in Townsville and it was an entire ward full of dozens of kids, little babies with polio, and it was awful - absolutely awful. "Only a year or so later the polio vaccine came and this just disappeared. It was like magic and it was just wonderful, and all these years later you now find people who are trying to set the clock back 50 years." Mr McLeod says the AVN are "a bunch of ratbags". "I mean reason and science just does not break through [to them]," he said. "They're not interested in reality, they're interested in conspiracy theories and junk science." More and more people rely on the internet for health care information. If you Google "vaccination", the AVN comes up second on the list of sites. But nowhere on its website does the AVN declare it is an anti-vaccination organisation. But Ms Dorey says the AVN has never claimed to "provide both sides of the story". "Our position is to provide information that balances the information that parents get from their doctors and from the Government," she said. Page 48 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

Dana McCaffery died of whooping cough in March last year. She was 32 days old - too young to be vaccinated against the disease also known as pertussis. What her parents Toni and Dave did not realise was that they lived in an area with one of the lowest rates of childhood vaccination in the nation, and one of the highest rates of whooping cough. The McCaffery's live just a few kilometres from the headquarters of the AVN. They say they have been harassed by the AVN since their daughter died and that the AVN has made repeated claims that Dana did not die of pertussis. "Our daughter wasn't even buried and it began," Ms McCaffery said. "It began the day before her funeral, it began with phone calls to the health department to get her medical records, contending she didn't die of pertussis." An email from Paul Corben, the director of Public Health at the North Coast Area Health Service, backs up Ms McCaffery's claims. In the email, Mr Corben says Ms Dorey called him on March 12 seeking details of Dana's death and accusing him of misleading the public by attributing the cause to pertussis. Ms Dorey denies the claims. She repeatedly says Dana "supposedly" died of pertussis, but the McCaffery's say that is an offensive claim. "It's the most offensive statement because I watched over five days my beautiful daughter suffer the most agonising death," Ms McCaffery said. "Then to be put in a position where I have to prove that she died of pertussis, that's even crueller." Mr McCaffery says Ms Dorey is "diminishing the fact that pertussis can and does kill". "It is going to lead to someone making a decision that could put their baby or their family at risk, and that's not right," he said. The McCaffery's have made their own complaint to the HCCC about the AVN. They have continued to advocate publicly for vaccination and say the AVN continues to publish false and hurtful comments about them. They say an AVN representative posted a message on Facebook urging them to "tell the whole story". "One day I hope the parents of this baby tell the whole story and are able to see how they have been used by a group of ruthless scumbags with alterior (sic) motives," the Facebook post said. "Then maybe they will be able to honour their child's life with the truth." Mr McCaffery says the comment is "reprehensible". "To suggest that we're being used by a group of people - that we're not honouring our daughter's life with the truth - is just reprehensible. They are terrible people," he said. The HCCC report is expected to be made public within the next two weeks. The AVN has been given 14 days to comply with the HCCC's findings and place a statement on their website telling consumers they provide anti-vaccination information and that the information should not be read as medical advice. Document ABCNEW0020100712e67c000mm

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Local A charity no more 85 words 15 October 2010 Daily Telegraph DAITEL 1 - State 19 English Copyright 2010 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved A NSW anti-vaccination group has been stripped of charity status after the State Government found its appeals were not done in good faith. The Australian Vaccination Network was ordered in July to publish a website disclaimer stating it was anti-vaccination and its material should not be read as medical advice. The NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing yesterday revoked the group's charity status on the grounds it had failed to publish the disclaimer. AVN has appealed. Document DAITEL0020101014e6af0000p

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Blue over vaccinations MEL MCMILLAN mel.mcmillan@northernstar.com.au 407 words 27 July 2010 The Northern Star APNNOS Main 11 English Copyright 2010 APN Newspapers Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved Public warning issued on inaccurate' advice from Bangalow-based group A PUBLIC health warning has beenissued by the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) about the Bangalow-based Australian Vaccination Network (AVN). The warning, issued yesterday, came after the AVN failed to comply with a recommendation by the HCCC to put a statement on its website in a prominent position stating its purpose was to provide information that was against vaccination and it should not be considered as medical advice. The HCCC also recommended the AVN advise visitors to its website that any decision about immunisation should be made in consultation with a health care provider. The HCCC said while it was important there was a debate on the issue of vaccination, the AVN provided information which was inaccurate and misleading. The AVN's failure to provide a warning on its website meant members of the public may make improperly informed decisions on vaccination and therefore it posed a risk to public health and safety, the HCCC warning said. The HCCC investigated the AVNafter it received two complaints about the organisation, the first from Ken McLeod, of Stop the AVN (SAVN), and the second from Toni and David McCaffery, of Lennox Head, who lost their daughter, Dana, to whooping cough at four weeks old in March last year. Earlier this month, the HCCC released a report which found the AVN provided information about vaccination that was incorrect and misleading and quoted selectively fromresearch to suggest vaccination may be dangerous. AVN president Meryl Dorey yesterday said the HCCC had no jurisdiction over the AVN and that its legal representatives had written to the HCCC advising them of this. The whole investigation has been handled in an extremely irregular manner, Mrs Dorey said. In a media release, the AVN said it was taking advice on future steps to defend against the unsubstantiated allegations that our information is anything but complete, unbiased and fully-referenced from the medicalliterature'. The AVN, which describes itself as a consumer advocacy and vaccinesafety watchdog', has accused the HCCC's investigation of being biased. Mr McLeod said the AVN's attack on the HCCC was deplorable'. He said SAVN would ask the HCCC to consider an injunction to take the AVN to court to compel it to comply with the recommendations. Document APNNOS0020100726e67r000gq

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Local Vaccination group shut KATE SIKORA 413 words 16 February 2010 Daily Telegraph DAITEL 1 - State 8 English Copyright 2010 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved THE country's largest anti-vaccination group -- accused by critics of endangering children's lives through misinformation -- is on the brink of collapse. The likely demise of the Australian Vaccination Network by the end of the month comes just weeks after the State Government launched an investigation into the organisation. The Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing will conduct an audit following complaints the group was allegedly fundraising without a licence. A spokesman said inspectors would shortly visit the organisation's North Coast offices to examine records and interview staff. The Health Care Complaints Commission is also wrapping up a six-month investigation into AVN over allegedly giving medical advice without the authority to do so. In response to the investigations, AVN founder Meryl Dorey yesterday told her supporters via an email that a spiteful campaign had been run against her. ``What the outcome of all these investigations will be is unknown,'' Ms Dorey said. ``I gave up a long time ago expecting justice from government departments but am hopeful that those who throw the dirt will find it flying back in their faces.'' She claimed the reason she was quitting the network was to focus on being a ``mother, wife and activist''. Ms Dorey had posted a plea for financial aid, asking members to donate 1 per cent of income to keep the network going. ``If nobody comes forward to take on the role of president or if the funds are not provided to allow us to continue however, the AVN will be ceasing operations on or about the 28th of February,'' she said. ``Please don't feel that by leaving the AVN I am turning my back on the vaccination issue.'' Contacted twice for comment yesterday, Ms Dorey referred The Daily Telegraph to her email. Ms Dorey has run the AVN for the 17 years from Bangalow, a region with one of the country's highest rates of unvaccinated children. Entrepreneur and pro-vaccine supporter Dick Smith yesterday said Ms Dorey and her group were dangerous. ``This can only be a good thing,'' he said. ``I knew she was having an effect on parents of young children by sending information out about the risk of vaccination and people were following that.'' Mr Smith has waged a campaign against the AVN by taking out full page advertisements and lobbying the country's chief medical officer Jim Bishop to stop the group. DTM-20100216-1-008-925634 Document DAITEL0020100215e62g0000h

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News ANTI-VACCINE GROUP Advice misleading 87 words 14 July 2010 The Advertiser ADVTSR 1 - State 7 English Copyright 2010 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved A NSW anti-vaccination group has been ordered to place a prominent warning on its website stating it ``should not be read as medical advice''. The Australian Vaccination Network was given 14 days to comply, after an investigation concluded the group promoted ``inaccurate and misleading'' information to parents via its website. The network will challenge the order. The Health Care Complaints Commission move followed complaints, including from a NSW couple whose baby died from whooping cough. ADV-20100714-1-007-795975 Document ADVTSR0020100713e67e00038

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ANTI-VACCINE GROUP MUST POST WARNING 135 words 14 July 2010 The Southland Times SLANDT 16 English 2010 Fairfax New Zealand Limited. All Rights Reserved. A NSW-based anti-vaccination group has been ordered to place a prominent warning on its website stating it "should not be read as medical advice". The Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) was given 14 days to comply, after an investigation concluded the group promoted "inaccurate and misleading" information to parents via its website. The Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) investigated the website after complaints including one from a couple whose four-week-old daughter died from whooping cough. In a report sent to the AVN, the HCCC said the group "provides information that is solely anti-vaccination" despite its name, and that it "quotes selectively from research to suggest that vaccination may be dangerous". The AVN published the report on its website and said it was seeking legal advice. Document SLANDT0020100719e67e0002y

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Magazine A shot in the arm Greg Callaghan 424 words 7 August 2010 The Australian Magazine AUSMAG 1 10 English Copyright 2010 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved PARENTING WATCH Try this little experiment: type "vaccination" into the Google search engine and the first entry to pop up will be a slick-looking website called the Australian Vaccination Network. With an official-sounding name like that, you could be forgiven for thinking it's run by the federal Department of Health. Scroll down, however, and you quickly discover it belongs to a zealous anti-vaccination lobby group that has recently become mired in nationwide controversy: first, over complaints that it promulgates inaccurate, misleading information; second, over a demand by the Health Care Complaints Commission that the AVN publish a prominent disclaimer on its site (which it has failed to do); and third over allegations that AVN activists harassed a northern NSW couple - Toni and David McCaffery - who had spoken publicly i n support of vaccination after their baby girl died from whooping cough last year. The president of the AVN, Meryl Dorey, 51, insists the network is not an anti-vaccination lobby group but a "pro-choice", "balanced" information source. But talk to Dorey for a few minutes or peruse her website and it becomes clear she is an impassioned adversary of vaccination. She has run the AVN and its forerunners for nearly 17 years, she explains. Her mission began when her son developed sleep apnoea and other symptoms after a triple antigen and polio vaccine (he is now a happy and healthy 21-yearold). Australian Medical Association federal vice-president Steve Hambleton says the AVN demonstrates not only medical illiteracy but also an appalling ignorance of history. Vaccines have dramatically improved global health, leading to the eradication of smallpox and a 99 per cent reduction in polio. And contrary to the network's website, mumps and measles can in fact be devastating if allowed to spread. And the mistaken message seems to be sinking in. In parts of NSW Northern Rivers, vaccination rates are down to 60 per cent, leading to whooping cough and measles outbreaks. Earlier this year the global medical establishment torpedoed a small study of 12 children published in 1998 and which linked the mumps, measles and rubella vaccine with autism. Its lead author was found guilty of having manipulated his research. Despite such damning findings, anti-vaccine campaigners such as the AVN continue to believe in a vast pro-vaccine conspiracy involving the media, the government and medical authorities. It would all be laughable, says Dr Hambleton, if it were not so dangerous. GC TAM-20100807-1-010-405233 Document AUSMAG0020100806e68700009

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Anti-vaccination group loses status Julian Drape AAP 336 words 14 October 2010 AAP Bulletins AAPBLT English 2010 Australian Associated Press Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved A controversial NSW-based anti-vaccination group has been stripped of its charitable status after the state government found its appeals had not been conducted in good faith. The Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) was ordered in July to publish a disclaimer on its website stating the group was anti-vaccination and its material shouldn't be read as medical advice. On Thursday, the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (OLGR) revoked the group's charitable status on the grounds it had failed to publish the disclaimer as recommended by the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC). "This has led to appeals not being conducted in good faith," the office says in a letter sent to the AVN. "The organisation's website is misleading in that it may lead people making donations to believe they are donating to a cause which promotes vaccination, whereas the organisation adopts an anti-vaccination position." The HCCC investigated AVN's website following complaints including one from a couple whose fourweek-old daughter died from whooping cough. Shortly after Dana McCaffery's death her parents discovered their story was being used as part of an anti-vaccination campaign. AVN is currently appealing the HCCC's decision to the NSW ombudsman. Spokeswoman Meryl Dorey told AAP the group was now "investigating its options" regarding a possible appeal of the OLGR's decision. She insisted the Australian Vaccination Network wasn't anti-vaccination. "This is a great injustice," she said. "It's not the sort of action you'd think a democratic government would take." Despite losing the ability to appeal for donations from anyone other than AVN members, the group insists it will continue campaigning. "Just because the government has done something immoral it doesn't mean we should lay down and die," Ms Dorey said. "It may make our job more difficult, but it's not going to make us give up." AVN claims to have 2500 members in Australia and overseas. Document AAPBLT0020101014e6ae000b6

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News and Features Copyright breaches land group in trouble Kate Benson HEALTH 411 words 1 September 2010 The Sydney Morning Herald SMHH First 7 English 2010 Copyright John Fairfax Holdings Limited. AN ANTI-VACCINATION group is under fire for allegedly breaching copyright laws by selling newspaper and medical journal articles online without permission from the authors. The Australian Vaccination Network, which was the subject of a public warning issued by the Health Care Complaints Commission last month, withdrew 11 information packs from its website yesterday after complaints from authors. The packs, which were selling for up to $128, included home-made books filled with articles photocopied from journals around the world, information on drugs taken from MIMS, the medical guide used by doctors and nurses, and copies of brochures inserted in medication boxes by pharmaceutical companies. Under the Copyright Act, articles can be copied for personal research or for use by students but cannot be disseminated widely or sold. For most works, copyright lasts for 70 years after the death of the creator or 70 years after the work was first published but none of the authors contacted by the Herald knew their work was being sold. Helen Signy, a freelance medical writer, said: "I've never even heard of this group and I certainly did not give consent to have my work reproduced. "That article is at least 15 years old so is not based on current information." Mary-Anne Toy, from The Age newspaper, said she did not recall giving the network permission to sell her work and would seek payment. Leigh Dayton, a science reporter at The Australian newspaper, was also unaware her story was being sold. Kate Haddock, a copyright lawyer, said those found breaching the law could face substantial damages. Damages would increase if articles were reproduced in a way which would cause readers to think less of the writers, Ms Haddock said. The network is also under investigation by the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing after reports it solicited donations without a fundraising licence. If found guilty, the network will no longer be allowed to operate as a charity. The president of the network, Meryl Dorey, said she was unaware she had breached copyright but accepted there had been problems with her licence. "We've made mistakes but they've been honest mistakes. They've been out of ignorance rather than fraudulence," she said. Yesterday she asked her supporters for $150,000 to fight the HCCC claiming it "stepped outside of its jurisdiction to persecute a non-profit organisation". Document SMHH000020100831e6910002x

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General Anti-vaccine group defiant 116 words 15 July 2010 The West Australian TWAU Second 16 English (c) 2010, West Australian Newspapers Limited A controversial anti-vaccination group will push ahead with its second public seminar in Perth warning against childhood vaccination, despite a damning finding by NSW health authorities that its information is biased. Australian Vaccination Network founder Meryl Dorey said that like its first seminar last month, Tuesday nights event would be held at a 200-seat State Library auditorium. The NSW Health Care Complaints Commission this week found the group had selectively quoted research out of context to argue against vaccination. The AVN has been given two weeks to put a statement on its website advising that it provides anti-vaccination information which should not be read as medical advice. Document TWAU000020100714e67f0005b

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General Vaccination risks being suppressed CATHY OLEARY MEDICAL EDITOR 380 words 2 June 2010 The West Australian TWAU Second 17 English (c) 2010, West Australian Newspapers Limited Young parents and pregnant women made up the bulk of more than 200 people who attended an antivaccination meeting in Perth last night Half a dozen security officers were at the State Library seminar room, where the Australian Vaccination Network told the $10-a-head meeting that Governments and the media were suppressing information about the risks from childhood vaccines. Murdoch University PhD student Judy Wilyman, whose background is in science teaching, said despite receiving more than a dozen vaccines in infancy, Australian children today were the unhealthiest they had been in decades. Meanwhile, Australian health authorities will seek the help of American disease experts to solve what they admit is a phenomenon of bad reactions in young children having the flu vaccine this year. An interim review headed by the Therapeutic Goods Administration has failed to identify why a spate of convulsions occurred but has found the rate was the same across Australia. There were more cases in WA because more children were vaccinated. Overall, the rate of convulsions for this years seasonal flu vaccine in Australian children aged under five was nine per 1000 instead of the expected rate of less than one per 1000. The Commonwealths chief medical officer Jim Bishop said as a precaution the flu vaccination program in healthy children aged under five would stay on hold. CSL, which makes the vaccine Fluvax, will also be required to include a new warning in its production information to alert doctors that the vaccine has been linked to an increased risk of high fever and convulsions in young children. The investigation has identified no apparent clinical, biological or epidemiological factors that would explain the higher than expected observed rates of fever with convulsions, Dr Bishop said. Dr Bishop said while he was not recommending the seasonal flu vaccine this year for healthy young children, it was still the best option for children who had medical conditions which put them at risk of serious complications from the flu. Parents could also consider giving the swine flu vaccine, Panvax, to their children. A one-year-old WA girl who became seriously ill after having a flu vaccine remains in a stable condition in Princess Margaret Hospital. Document TWAU000020100601e6620002p

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General Anti-jab lobbyists censored in WA CATHY OLEARY MEDICAL EDITOR 368 words 14 May 2010 The West Australian TWAU Third 17 English (c) 2010, West Australian Newspapers Limited Anti-vaccination lobbyists say their views are being censored in WA, after having to cancel a planned public forum on flu vaccination in children because the Uniting Church refused to provide a promised venue. The Australian Vaccination Network had booked a meeting room at the Uniting Church in the Queens Building in the city for a forum tonight but it was told yesterday the event could not go ahead there. Group spokeswoman Meryl Dorey said more than 100 people had been expected at the forum, which was publicised as giving parents accurate information about the risks associated with childhood flu vaccination. It comes after a recent and still unexplained spike in bad reactions in at least 250 WA children who had injections since mid-March. Ms Dorey said Church officials had told her they had received calls from WA Health Department staff advising them that the lobby group should not be allowed to discuss the topic in the Church venue. I was at the airport ready to fly to Perth when I got the call so we had no chance to get another venue, she said. The seminar was about the flu vaccine in children, and WA is the reason why the vaccine program has been suspended in children under the age of five, and now parents there are being denied information. The venue had nothing to do with what we were talking about so I dont know why they cancelled. Ms Dorey said she planned to organise the WA seminar for a later date. But the Health Department denied it had made any approach to the Church to have the event cancelled, a claim supported by a Church spokesman. The Church said it had cancelled the booking yesterday because of concerns about hiring the room to the lobby group and a possible perception that the Church did not support childhood vaccinations. The level of public response had also raised security concerns for other users of the building. The statement said the Church regretted the inconvenience to the lobby group. It was now reviewing its policy on community use of the Churchs meeting areas. Document TWAU000020100513e65e0008t

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Outrage over campaign after baby's death Steve Gray AAP 433 words 27 July 2010 AAP Bulletins AAPBLT English 2010 Australian Associated Press Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved A mother who lost a four-week-old baby to whooping cough has called on the state and federal governments to do more to promote vaccination. The call came as NSW's Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) issued a warning against the Au str ali an Va cci nat ion Ne tw or k (AVN), which campaigns against vaccination, after it allegedly used the baby's death to promote its opposition. In March 2009 Toni and David McCaffery lost their four-week-old baby Dana to whooping cough. Shortly afterwards they learned that Dana's death was being used as part of an anti-vaccination campaign. Toni McCaffery said health ministers had agreed to a national immunisation strategy and campaign by the end of 2009, but had failed to deliver. "We've had letters from NSW Health (saying) they're ready to go, but the federal Department of Health and Ageing have said to wait," she told AAP on Tuesday. "We've followed up with Nicola Roxon's office twice or three times since February and just can't get an answer. "We did the right thing and allowed Dana's death to be made public ... and in doing that we've been thrust out, exposed to some pretty nasty people. "It would be nice if (governments) were more pro-active about it." Ms McCaffery said the AVN campaign which began just days after Dana's death, claiming the baby girl had not died of whooping cough, had shaken her to the core. "To suddenly be in this situation of vitriol and lunacy out there, it was extremely distressing," she said. "It's bad enough losing the child to such an horrific disease, but to see lies printed about us which could potentially mislead another parent was so distressing. "To publish information that whooping cough is not dangerous is completely irresponsible and that's why we put our complaint to the HCCC." The HCCC said its investigation revealed that the AVN provides information that is solely antivaccination, incorrect and misleading and that it quotes selectively from research to suggest that vaccination may be dangerous. The HCCC has recommended that the AVN should include a statement in a prominent position on its website pointing out it is against vaccination, is not offering medical advice, and the decision about whether to vaccinate should be made in consultation with a health-care provider. AVN spokeswoman Meryl Dorey said the HCCC does not have the jurisdiction to ask the AVN to change its website. The AVN is seeking legal advice, she told the ABC. Document AAPBLT0020100727e67r000b9

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Whooping cough baby victim's family fume at anti-jab campaign 283 words 28 July 2010 The Gold Coast Bulletin GCBULL B - Main 9 English Copyright 2010 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved A MOTHER whose four-week-old baby died from whooping cough has urged the state and federal governments to do more to promote vaccination. The family's call came as NSW's Health Care Complaints Commission issued a warning against the Au str alia n Vac cin atio n Net wor k which campaigns against vaccination, after it allegedly used the baby's death to promote its policy of opposition. In March last year, Toni and David McCaffery, from Lennox Head, lost their four-week-old baby Dana to whooping cough. The Bulletin reported in July last year that Mrs McCaffery believed her daughter's death was the catalyst for authorities changing the recom- mendation for babies to be vaccinated from six weeks old instead of eight weeks. The NSW north coast was in the grips of the epidemic, with nine times more whooping cough cases reported than the previous year. Soon afterwards they learned that Dana's death was being used as part of an anti-vaccination campaign. Toni McCaffery said health ministers had agreed to a national immunisation strategy and campaign by the end of 2009 but had failed to deliver. ``We've had letters from NSW Health (saying) they're ready to go but the federal Department of Health and Ageing have said to wait,'' she said yesterday. ``We've followed up with Nicola Roxon's office twice or three times since February and just can't get an answer. ``We did the right thing and allowed Dana's death to be made public. In doing that we've been thrust out, exposed to some pretty nasty people. ``It was extremely distressing,'' GCB-20100728-B-009-262216 Document GCBULL0020100728e67s0000u

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General Vaccination row sparks anger at use of library ROBERT TAYLOR and CATHY OLEARY 449 words 1 June 2010 The West Australian TWAU Third 3 English (c) 2010, West Australian Newspapers Limited A political row has broken out over the State Librarys decision to allow an anti-vaccination group to hold a public forum at its Northbridge premises tonight. Two weeks ago, the Uniting Church had a last-minute change of heart and cancelled an Australian Vaccination Network forum scheduled to be held at one of its city properties. Network spokeswoman Meryl Dorey told followers its members in Perth had excellent contacts with larger and better venues...and we are hoping to reschedule this talk for some time within the next four weeks. More than 200 people have paid $10 each to attend tonights event and the network is planning another one next month. Ms Dorey said parents were still contacting her group wanting to attend tonights forum but there were no more seats. Shadow arts minister John Hyde said the Barnett Government had opened the floodgates for any group to use the librarys facilities to push their agendas. Does this mean that the Liberal Party can hold a membership drive there, or for that matter the Ku Klux Klan or a bikie gang, Mr Hyde said. He said the State Government should not have allowed the group to use the library to push its antivaccine message. Why should a group that endangers the lives of WA children be allowed to speak and promote their cause at a taxpayer-funded venue dedicated to learning, Mr Hyde said. Their dangerous propaganda which is putting children at risk of polio, smallpox, cholera and other preventable diseases should not be able to gain respectability by using the good name of the State Library. Yesterday, State Library chief executive Margaret Allen refused to say how the group, which has been criticised by health authorities for discouraging parents from having their children vaccinated, was able to book the library for its forum. Instead she issued a brief statement saying the library provided facilities and services to the WA community as a whole. Inevitably from time to time this may include interest groups with views that some may find controversial, she said. Australian Medical Association WA president Gary Geelhoed said he was worried the use of the venue could give the group credibility. The State Government needs to make it clear it does not support this groups beliefs, and if there is a danger people might think otherwise, that needs to be addressed, he said. Health Minister Kim Hames said the Government encouraged parents to have their children vaccinated but would not make it compulsory. Arts and Culture Minister John Day declined to comment. OPINION 21 Document TWAU000020100531e66100052 Page 63 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

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News headlines. - Julia Gillard promises money for mental health services. - The Opp is... 94 words 27 July 2010 Federal Government Broadcast Alerts MMAGBA English Copyright 2010 Media Monitors Australia Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved 27/07/2010 12:34:09 4QY ABC Far North Cairns 12:30 News Newsreader News headlines. - Julia Gillard promises money for mental health services. - The Opp is today holdin g formal talks with Nauru about again housing asylum seekers on the island. - The Australian Vaccination Network says it's considering legal action after the Health Care Complaints Commission accused it of spreading misleading information about the dangers of immunisation. - Hockey - Kookaburras win 10-3 over Belgium Duration - 36 seconds. Syndicatedstationcount - 0. Document MMAGBA0020100727e67r000ck

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NEWS BRIEFS 186 words 16 October 2010 The Tweed Daily News APNDNQ Main 9 English Copyright 2010 APN Newspapers Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved NEWS BRIEFS Charity tag lost A CONTROVERSIAL NSW-based anti- vaccination group has been stripped of its charitable status after the State Government found its appeals had not been conducted in good faith. The Australian Vaccination Network (AVN), set in Bangalow, was ordered in July to publish a disclaimer on its website stating the group was anti-vaccination and its material should not be read as medical advice. On Thursday, the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing revoked the group's charitable status on the grounds it had failed to publish the disclaimer as recommended by the Health Care Complaints Commission. New head named THE Northern Rivers Community Foundation has appointed director Lucy Ashley as its new chair replacing Christopher Dean, who helped set up the organisation seven years ago. Ms Ashley joined the board in 2005. The foundation is an independent not-for-profit organisation that provides funding to local charities supporting causes as wide-ranging as youth at risk, the elderly, people with disabilities, volunteering and indigenous development. Document APNDNQ0020101015e6ag00105

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FED:Anti-vaccination website 'misleading' 310 words 13 July 2010 Australian Associated Press General News AAP English (c) 2010 Australian Associated Press Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved VACCINE By Danny Rose, Medical Writer SYDNEY, July 13 AAP - A NSW-based anti-vaccination group has been ordered to place a prominent warning on its website stating it "should not be read as medical advice". The Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) was given 14 days to comply, after an investigation concluded the group promoted "inaccurate and misleading" information to parents via its website. The Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) moved to investigate the website following complaints including from a NSW couple whose four-week-old daughter died from whooping cough. "The commission recognises that it is important for there to be debate on the issue of vaccination," the HCCC said in a report dated July 7 sent to the AVN. "However, the AVN provides information that is inaccurate and misleading." The HCCC's confidential report said the group "provides information that is solely anti-vaccination" despite its name, and that it "quotes selectively from research to suggest that vaccination may be dangerous". The AVN published the report on its website along with a statement that said it was seeking legal advice. "We will be definitely be fighting against any efforts to censor, suppress or stop the distribution of our information," the AVN statement reads. "... As a government department, the HCCC would be required to uphold government policy which is pro-vaccination. "It is therefore no surprise that they have found against the AVN, a body that questions government policy and urges informed choice on this issue." The AVN has about another week before the prominent warning required by the HCCC must be in place. It is required to state "information provided by the AVN should not be read as medical advice" and a parent's "decision about whether or not to vaccinate should be made in consultation with a health care provider". AAP dr/ht Document AAP0000020100713e67d000ba

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01 News Vaccines warning 190 words 31 July 2010 New Scientist NEWSCI 684 English (c) 2010, New Scientist, Reed Business Information UK, a division of Reed Elsevier, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Vaccines warning MISLEADING and inaccurate claims published by an Australian anti-vaccines group pose a risk to public health, a government watchdog has ruled. The Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC), a New South Wales government body based in Sydney, issued the public warning on Monday over information presented on the website of the Australi an Vaccina tion Networ k (AVN). The HCCC said the AVN site "quotes selectively from research to suggest vaccination to be dangerous" and "contains information that is incorrect and misleading". For example, the AVN's website says measles is a "non-threatening illness", despite it having caused an estimated 733,000 deaths worldwide in 2000. The pressure group Stop the Australian Vaccination Network is to seek a court order to force the AVN to state on its website that its claims do not constitute medical advice, as requested by the HCCC. "The website quotes selectively from research to suggest vaccination to be dangerous" Anti-vaccination website poses public health risk Australian public health watchdog says campaigners' claims about vaccines are misleading, inaccurate and may be dangerous to public health Free reuse - RBI + third parties Document NEWSCI0020101027e67v0000w

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News and Features Vaccine activists labelled a threat Kate Benson 559 words 27 July 2010 The Sydney Morning Herald SMHH First 1 English 2010 Copyright John Fairfax Holdings Limited. HEALTH WHEN their four-week-old baby daughter Dana died from whooping cough Toni and David McCaffery sought love and healing to ease their grief. Instead, they say they were subjected to a campaign of harassment and abuse at the hands of antivaccination campaigners, a group who were yesterday labelled a serious threat to the public's health and safety. The Health Care Complaints Commission issued a public warning against the Australian Vaccination Network after it refused to display a disclaimer on its website to inform readers its information should not be taken as medical advice. Earlier this month the HCCC investigated the network, run out of Bangalow on the north coast by Meryl Dorey, and found its website presented incorrect and misleading information which was solely antivaccination and quoted selectively from research suggesting that vaccination may be dangerous. Its investigation was sparked by two complaints, one from Toni and David McCaffery, whose four-weekold daughter Dana died from whooping cough last year. The couple, from Lennox Head, allege they were subjected to months of harassment and abuse by Ms Dorey and anti-vaccination campaigners, accusing them of lying about the cause of their daughter's death. They received anonymous letters and emails which said whooping cough was not fatal and vaccinations were not needed. Mrs McCaffery, whose daughter was too young to be vaccinated when she caught whooping cough, said Ms Dorey also tried to get her baby's medical records from the hospital without permission. "Instead of love and healing in the weeks after Dana's death, we got ugliness ... it has been terrible," she said. Mrs McCaffery also complained that Ms Dorey had quoted misleading statistics, spread misinformation through seminars and the internet, and gave poor telephone advice. The second complaint against the network was made by Ken McLeod, a member of a group called Stop the AVN. He said Ms Dorey had claimed that meningococcal disease was harmless and "hardly kills anybody"; that vaccination was being used to spread AIDS in third world countries; and homeopathy could take the place of vaccination. His group now wants the state government to apply for a court injunction against the network and have it closed down. The group's website says Ms Dorey believes "vaccines are part of a global conspiracy to implant mind control chips into every man, woman and child and that the 'illuminati' plan a mass cull of humans". Ms Dorey did not return calls yesterday but issued a statement on her website which said the HCCC's recommendation was "laughable" and she was seeking legal advice. "Nobody would expect nuclear safety advocates to issue statements on the benefits of nuclear power; Greenpeace to make films on the pleasures of killing and eating whales ... Why then should we be expected to make statements we don't believe are factual and that are not supported by the medical literature? "If the AVN is expected to show both sides of this issue, why aren't the medical community and the government likewise cited for their lack of disclosure on the risks and ineffectiveness of vaccines?" Page 69 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

A spokesman for the HCCC said it could take no further action but it was disappointing the network was refusing to make its position clear. Document SMHH000020100726e67r0003m

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Features Give anti-vaccine campaigners a shot of truth serum Tracey Spicer 468 words 6 November 2010 Daily Telegraph DAITEL 1 - State 36 English Copyright 2010 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved THE little girl's face was contorted in pain as she doubled over, her body wracked by coughs. Then came the vomiting. Her mother, stricken with panic, called the doctor as Isabella, 4, began turning blue. This is what happened to my best friend and her daughter last week in the latest whooping cough epidemic. Doctors are reporting double the usual number of whooping cough cases in parts of NSW, Queensland, Victoria and the US state of California. The whooping cough death of a five-week-old baby in South Australia in September was Australia's fourth in 18 months. Recent wet weather is partly to blame for exacerbating the annual spring peak. But so is the deliberate ignorance of those behind the Australian Vaccination Network. Don't let the name mislead you. An Australian Health Care Complaints Commission investigation found that the AVN website ``provides information that is solely anti-vaccination, contains information that is incorrect and misleading, and quotes selectively from research to suggest that vaccination may be dangerous''. A fortnight ago the AVN had its fundraising status revoked and was ordered to post a disclaimer on its website. It is refusing to do so. Under the heading Measles Mumps Rubella, the website states these are ``all non-threatening illnesses in early childhood''. Tell that to the parents of the 160,000 children who die each year from the measles virus. (Incidentally, a vaccination strategy by the World Health Organisation and UNICEF in the five years to 2004 averted an estimated 1.4 million measles deaths worldwide -- but the AVN doesn't let the facts get in the way of a good story.) The website adds: ``Research also suggests . . . a connection between MMR vaccination and the development of autism, Crohn's Disease and Irritable Bowel Disease.'' But earlier this year the UK's General Medical Council found Dr Andrew Wakefield -- who in 1998 linked the MMR vaccine with autism -- had made serious breaches in relation to his study. His ``dishonest, misleading and irresponsible'' research paper was later withdrawn by The Lancet medical journal. But it gets worse. When Toni and Dave's one month-old daughter Dana died of whooping cough last year they didn't realise they lived in one of the lowest childhood vaccination areas in the nation -- on the NSW North Coast. The number of conscientious objectors to vaccinations has doubled in recent years. (I'm sure there's no connection with the doubling in infection rates.) Fortunately, my friend's story has a happy ending. Isabella still has a nasty cough, but it was a mild case as she'd been vaccinated. At least she's alive -- unlike those four tiny babies, victims of a deadly and misguided propaganda campaign. Page 71 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

Document DAITEL0020101105e6b60001d

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Anti-vaccine lobby puts everybodys children at risk of deadly disease 870 words 9 February 2010 The NewsMail APNNEM Main 8 English Copyright 2010 APN Newspapers Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved Anti-vaccine lobby puts everybodys children at risk of deadly disease ON Friday it was Dana McCafferys birthday. If she hadnt died at the age of four weeks from whooping cough, she would have been turning one. Her story is well-known, and should serve as a cautionary tale to warn us all of the risks of anti-science quackery and complacence. Dana was too young to receive her whooping cough (pertussis) vaccination, so to keep safe from this disease, she relied on the common sense of other parents to ensure that their older children were vaccinated so the disease wouldnt spread to those too young to be immunised. Unfortunately for Dana, many people have been captured by the hysterical fear-mongering of anti-science, pro-conspiracy theorists like the Australian Vaccination Network. Recently, anti-vaccine messiah and unlicensed physician Andrew Wakefield, whose published research claiming a link between vaccination and autism sent parents into a panic in the late-1990s, had his findings fully retracted by the prestigious British Medical Journal. This decision is an enormous blow to anti-vaccine advocates. The health of our children is always going to be an emotive issue. Unfortunately, there are those who will exploit the fear and uncertainty in others to promote their own agenda. In the case of vaccination, its proven to literally be a life or death decision. For those wanting facts on vaccination, Id recommend referring to peer-reviewed scientific literature. Hopefully people will then be able to differentiate between science and anti-science, and needless deaths such as that of Dana McCafferys will be avoided. A fairer rates system AFTER reading the paper (NM, Feb 3), firstly congrats to councillors on your pay rise (not). Im just wondering if our rates are going to go up again any time soon? Mine are about $2500 a year. Since Bundaberg has a mixture of young families, many with one income, busting their gut to achieve the Australian dream of owning their own home, and retirees wishing to spend their retirement in a beautiful part of Australia, would it not be fairer to work out the rates on the joint family income? Say, a rough figure of 5%. I know of men and women who have to travel hours and be away for days from their families who still dont earn the amount of money that our councillors are earning. My husband travels 45 minutes every morning and night for a total sum of $17.60 an hour. Cr Pyefinch, how much would your rates be if you used this system? I know mine would be roughly the same, but on your joint family income, what would yours be? Please, on behalf of all the ratepayers and families of the Bundaberg district, think before you up our rates again. We have had to remortgage our home over a longer period just to be able to keep up with the day-to-day living. Road repairs a priority I WOULD like to know what bandwagon Mr Messenger is on these days. Page 73 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

He seems to be outspoken about a lot but doesnt seem to get results about much. If hes such a good pollie, then why are our roads in his shire among the most horrid roads going? I thought it would be a priority to get them right first without going after the drivers who have to use them in the state they are in. Heartfelt hospital praise I WOULD like to express my gratitude to Bundaberg Hospital. I had to have two separate operations in Brisbane at different times, one in a private and one in a public hospital. I was sent home with infections both times, then after a few days I had to be transported to Bundaberg Hospital with erupted wounds, and had to be looked after for more than two months by them . Let me say that these doctors, nurses, both female and male, looked after me with so much care and compassion. Not once did they make me feel that I should have gone back to the hospitals that did these operations; they just got down to cleaning up the mess and tending to my needs, always with a smile and a lot of cheerful conversation to put me at ease. I had to tell people that there is much more good done in this hospital than a few negative things that happen. I have had cause to go to the hospital on several occasions and I can assure you that I have never had cause to complain. I would like to thank Dr Frielingsdorf and the ambulance crew for getting me there, also the girls on the reception desk. Again, a big thank you to all. Build bowl at school THE children are going to play on the roads on the way to the skatebowl anyway. They still have to get there. Why not put the skatebowl in the school yards? The children just might attend for a change. Document APNNEM0020100208e629000jk

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Vaccination fear campaign killing our babies 319 words 6 August 2010 South Burnett Times APNSBT Main 2 English Copyright 2010 APN Newspapers Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved Fears whooping cough vaccinations could cause brain injury has led to an epidemic of the virus in Australia and other developed countries. About 250,000 babies now die from the disease around the world due to breathing difficulties it causes. In May this year 147 cases were diagnosed in southern Queensland, up from 119 the same time last year. We're in a whooping cough epidemic at the moment, Queensland Health spokeswoman Dr Penny Hutchinson was quoted as saying at the time. It's been going for 18 months and is very difficult to control. Queensland is not alone. South Australia received almost 3500 notifications of whooping cough in 2009 compared with 859 the year before and 318 in 2007. Doctors warn it could get a lot worse if parents don't vaccinate their children. The hesitancy has been blamed on the claims the inoculations are dangerous by anti- vaccination group, Australian Vaccination Network. Health professionals say its campaign is based on fear not facts and people put their child at far greater risk by not inoculating them against the potentially fatal condition. Whooping cough shows itself in young children and babies as being a mild respiratory problem with slight coughing, sneezing and a runny nose in the first 10 days. After one or two weeks the coughing develops into uncontrollable fits of five to 10 forceful hacks, followed by a high-pitched whoop sound as the patient struggles to breathe in afterwards . Coughing fits are sometimes followed by vomiting, which can lead to malnutrition. Fits can occur on their own or be triggered by yawning, stretching, laughing, eating or yelling. They usually occur in groups, with multiple episodes every hour around the clock. This stage lasts for two to eight weeks or longer. Infections in newborns are particularly severe. Document APNSBT0020100805e686000gp

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Cancer jab fears raised 386 words 31 March 2010 Mandurah Coastal Times NLPMCT 1 5 English Copyright 2010 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved Bernice Barlow and Donna Eliassen have warned of adverse reactions to Gardasil. Picture: Jon Hewson d329219 A MANDURAH naturopath and the Dudley Park mother of a teenage girl she fears had an adverse reaction to the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil last year have warned parents to research the drug before allowing their daughters to be injected this winter. Former registered nurse and practising naturopath Bernice Barlow and parent Donna Eliassen have spoken out following the March 12 presentation of a web seminar on international Gardasil concerns to the US Food and Drug Administration by parent-led lobby group truthaboutgardasil.org. Mrs Barlow said the issue of adverse Gardasil reactions was gaining momentum internationally. She was treating six Mandurah girls with a variety of symptoms she suspected, but couldnt prove, were negative reactions to Gardasil vaccinations administered at schools as part of a government-backed immunisation program against four strains of Human Papillomavirus, a potential cause of cervical cancer. The duo hope to encourage parents to do as the Australian Vaccination Network (www.avn.org.au) suggests, and investigate before you vaccinate. Mrs Barlow said it was possible that girls whose immune systems were already compromised by inflammatory conditions such as asthma, eczema, psoriasis, migraine and gut problems, could react negatively to the Gardasil vaccine. Her clients had experienced various chronic illnesses within two weeks of receiving the vaccine. She said she had treated many children suffering vaccine reactions as a nurse. Vaccines involve the direct injection of a substantial amount of pharmaceutical and theirs carriers. The extras in Gardasil are aluminium, which can cause severe reactions in some people, and sodium borate, the main ingredient in the ant killer Borax. Vaccination is not compulsory in Australia and there are safe, homeopathic methods, she said. Mrs Eliassens daughter Shania, a state level swimmer until she fell mysteriously ill last August, had to quit swimming. A WA sports doctor confirmed Shania did not have chronic fatigue syndrome or overtraining syndrome and we saw an immunologist for more tests last month, Mrs Eliassen said. She urged people who experienced an adverse reaction to fill in a report form available at doctors surgeries and the WA Health Department website within 14 days and send it to the departments communicable diseases control directorate. CMC-20100331-005-105009 Document NLPMCT0020100331e63v00009

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RE Russel (SMS, Observer, Wednesay 25). 903 words 30 August 2010 The Observer (Gladstone) APNOBG Main 18 English Copyright 2010 APN Newspapers Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved RE Russel (SMS, Observer, Wednesay 25). Considering our petrol comes from the centre of town. The petrol for Rocky comes from Pt Alma? The petrol for Bundy comes from the new port near Burnett Hds. Notice how prices don't fluctuate or vary much either. This is of course except for out of town where, last time I looked, was two to three cents cheaper. I know a word for this. Herb Linwood Gladstone Appreciation for Base hospital's service MY experience with the Gladstone Base Hospital is completely the opposite to that of Robyn (Robyn isn't happy with hospital' 26/8/10). Just this week I spent several hours there being checked out for a medical condition. I was seen promptly and found all the staff to be working very hard and efficiently. The attending doctor was extremely pleasant and most thorough. I heard an elderly lady in the nearby cubicle being spoken to in a genuinely warm and caring way, particularly by one of the wardsmen. I was given various tests, and a blood test result only took an hour to return not days as is the case when you normally have a blood test. I couldn't speak more highly of the Gladstone Base Hospital and it struck me that, even with all our health system's shortcomings, Gladstone Hospital staff are nonetheless doing a fantastic job. Vicki Johnson Gladstone Attack on Australian Vaccination Network THE Australian Vaccination Network has been vilified in the media in recent weeks. While it is the media's job to expose wrongdoing when it has been found, it is not their job to act as judge, jury and executioner. Newspapers and radio stations have been reporting ridiculous lies stating that the AVN believes in reptilian aliens and mind-control chips. They got this misinformation from Mr Ken McLeod, an active member of a group that has set out to either shut our small, volunteer-run organisation down or shut us up in any way they can. That is their agenda. What is the media's excuse? And while this beat-up has been taking place, 136 of 139 pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturing facilities in Australia have failed their TGA audits yet this hasn't merited so much as a mention in the press. It seems that drug companies have a privileged position in our society while vaccine safety watchdogs are shut down quicker than you can say Pan Pharmaceuticals! The AVN was formed in 1994 due to a lack of information in the community on the downsides of vaccination. We were started by a group of parents whose children had reacted to this medical procedure and the health practitioners who had helped us. Daily, we provide support and information to parents in Australia and overseas who are seeking medically-based, fully-referenced data on vaccines. Daily, we help parents report their children's serious and sometimes fatal reactions to the Australian government because their doctors have refused to do so. Vaccines are not compulsory. It was previously not illegal to criticise vaccines. The AVN are vaccine whistleblowers and, like all organisations that are perceived to threaten an entrenched status quo, we are now being victimised by a group that openly states their object is to stop us in any way they can. Their tactics include death threats, threats of violence, calling our supporters to threaten them, filing complaints with every government body they can think of and generally inciting fear, hatred and violence towards us in the Page 77 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

community all with the support and cooperation of the government and the media. That this organisation has used these tactics is shameful and should be taken seriously by the authorities. That the media and government bodies such as the HCCC have cooperated with them even sending people who request more information about the current investigations' to their website is criminal. It is time the Australian people learnt the truth about the coordinated attacks on the Australian Vaccination Network by those who want to stop anyone questioning the safety or effectiveness of vaccines. I invite everyone who is interested in knowing more about the facts behind these attacks to read the documents that can be found at http://scr.bi/cpfdTe and on our website, www.avn.org.au. Meryl Dorey Australian Vaccination Network Plebiscite on the war in Afghanistan, Republic THE time has come for the Australian people to have their say on this country's involvement in the war in Afghanistan. The people did not have any say in the commitment to war either in Iraq or Afghanistan. The Australian Constitution only provides for a de facto dictatorial power for the PM, an absurd situation. Money spent on the war effort could be used much more profitably for foreign aid purposes in Afghanistan. A plebiscite on this could be run at election time, late August. In addition, a plebiscite on the Republic is long overdue. Voters could be asked: (a) if they want a Republic; (b) if they want to elect the President directly; (c) if they want a symbolic or executive President. The public has been told that the Gillard Government wants to consult with the people. Plebiscites provide the opportunity to assess the people's wishes. It's called democracy. Klaas Woldring Pearl Beach Document APNOBG0020100829e68u000um

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Features The sharp end of the vaccination debate Jane Hansen 2,456 words 7 November 2010 Sunday Telegraph SUNTEL 1 - State 52 English Copyright 2010 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved The anti-vaccination lobby believe they are fighting for personal freedom but, as Jane Hansen reports, are they selfishly putting your children at risk. The six-month-old baby looked a picture of health -- chubby, pink-cheeked, thriving. Except the little boy was unconscious with a raging temperature and -- lying in the intensive care unit at The Children's Hospital at Westmead -- was hooked up to life support. He had pneumococcal meningitis, caused by a common bacterium that crosses into the brain with often fatal consequences. It was July, 2004 and I had a sick child of my own in the isolation unit next door and bore witness to this modern-day tragedy. ``He was fine yesterday, now he's hooked up to all these wires,'' I heard the mother say in disbelief to friends in the hallway of the paediatric intensive care unit. At that stage, she still had hope; a few hours later the curtains were drawn -- flimsy insulation against the howls of a mother who had lost her precious baby. The little boy was one of 87 to have died in 2003-04. A year later, after the January 1, 2005 introduction of the vaccination program for babies was introduced; the incidence of the disease in under-twos dropped 73 per cent. Lives have been saved. Like polio and measles, it may one day be eradicated from our shores. In 1901, one in 12 babies didn't make it to age one, in the days before clean water and mass immunisation reduced childhood death. Now it's one in 200. ``In a sense, vaccination is a victim of its own success,'' says Dr Chris Ingall, a paediatrician who works on the Far North Coast of NSW, an area with notoriously low immunisation rates. He is also the doctor who looked after four-week-old Dana McCaffery last year and remains altered by her death by the preventable disease whooping cough. ``I was devastated; a tiny baby who is dying in front of your eyes and there is nothing you can do -- that's why we vaccinate, we can't treat it,'' he says. Dana's father Dave does not hide the complete horror of his daughter's death. ``We cry ourselves to sleep with memories of our daughter coughing until she couldn't breathe, attached to a ventilator, going into cardiac arrest and holding her bruised and swollen body after her heart stopped. ``We were inconsolable as we left our baby in the hospital morgue and drove home ... with an empty baby capsule.'' Most of us are spared this tragedy because of the success of the mass vaccination program. It's called ``herd immunity'' and, with 95 per cent of the population vaccinated, we can prevent epidemics of preventable illnesses like measles, whooping cough and chicken pox, all highly transmissible diseases, says Sydney University Infectious Disease expert Professor Robert Booy. ``At present we have 92 per cent of the population vaccinated on average, but there are areas that don't have that rate and, if you have a community with more than 10 per cent not vaccinated, that increases the risk,'' he says. Green rolling hills of Mullumbimby in the Byron Shire have always attracted alternative types. The volcanic soils provide fertile ground for bananas, palm trees, marijuana -- and conspiracy theories. Here, a fifth of parents have registered as conscientious objectors to immunisation and refuse to immunise their children. The area has the worst rate of immunisation in the State, with 21 per cent philosophically against it. In nearby Byron Bay 16 per cent are. ``We chose to live in this community because of the broadminded people, but in this case they've got it Page 79 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

wrong -- immunisation is not an evil,'' says Mullumbimby mother Roesheen Ritchie. At the height of the 2008 epidemic, her three-year-old fully immunised son contracted whooping cough. The vaccine is only 85 per cent successful. ``I was outraged. Here's Kai, fully immunised and he gets this awful disease because of the luxury of others choosing not to vaccinate due to bad science,'' the business consultant says. Some in the community believe that the mass immunisation program is a covert operation between government and big pharmaceutical companies for the sole purpose of making money. Worse still, according to opponents of vaccination, they are harming children. ``We are having too many people make informed choices not to vaccinate, and the medical and pharmaceutical industries don't like it,'' says expat American Meryl Dorey, of the Australian Vaccination Network, based at the Northern Rivers town of Bangalow. Dorey insists her network does not tell parents not to vaccinate; she does however say ``the Government is paying a bounty to doctors to push vaccines''. And she talks about children being ``collateral damage'' as a result. ``Everything from brain damage to autism to ADD, ADHD, diabetes, food allergies and death, I have met with many families whose children have died after vaccines,'' she says. An angry Chris Kokegei, who has just endured the one-year anniversary of his seven-year-old son Michael's death from chicken pox, simply says: ``Where's their evidence? I've looked for it. What these people are telling parents is putting kids at risk, more kids will die. There shouldn't be kids dying of this disease.'' The Health Care Complaints Commission investigated the online activities of Dorey's network and found the group was dangerously selective in the information it distributes. The HCCC issued this public warning in July: ``The AVN website: provides information that is solely antivaccination, contains information that is incorrect and misleading and quotes selectively from research to suggest that vaccination may be dangerous.'' It also requested the AVN post the warning on their website, which Dorey refused to do. Some of the research Dorey believes in has been universally discredited. In 1998, British medico Andrew Wakefield hypothesised that the Measles Mumps and Rubella, or MMR, vaccine possibly caused autism. The study was published in The Lancet, but this year after serious conflicts of interest were revealed and proven, the respected medical journal withdrew the paper. Wakefield failed to disclose accepting pound stg. 55,000 from lawyers representing autistic children trying to sue vaccine companies. He also failed to disclose he had a patent pending on a vaccine that was a rival to the MMR vaccine. In May this year, he was struck off the UK medical register. His causal link has been disproved several times. In Denmark, a study of 440,000 children vaccinated with the MMR were compared to 96,000 who were not; there was no difference in the incidence of autism. A Swedish study and a Finnish study found the same, but Dorey discounts all of it. ``His study has been confirmed,'' she says defiantly. ``There's a new term now: he's been `Wakefielded' -- he has been used as a scapegoat.'' Dorey plans to have a host of Australian vaccines tested in US laboratories. ``We're looking for heavy metals and proteins,'' she says. The debate is an emotional one for the McCafferys. Time has done little to ease the pain of their daughter Dana's awful death. The Lennox Head couple says their grief has been enormously compounded by the actions of the AVN. Dorey tried to get Dana's medical records from NSW Health on March 12, 2009 -- the day before her funeral. ``All I did was contact the Department of Health: I wanted to know if her whooping cough was a laboratory diagnosis, because it might not have been whooping cough,'' Dorey explains. ``They were trying to disprove Dana did not die from pertussis. It was so disrespectful,'' Toni McCaffery said. Whooping cough, or pertussis, is deadly to babies, especially those under the age of six weeks. It has claimed five babies in the past 20 months. Between 1993 and 2005 there were 18 deaths -- 16 infants were aged under 12 months. Page 80 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

Paul Corben is the Director of Public Health for the Far North Coast Area Health Service. His statistics on the incidence of whooping cough shows that where there are lower vaccination rates, there are higher rates of infection. ``Whooping cough raged through Byron; it had twice the rate of adjacent Ballina, which has a good vaccination rate,'' Corben says. He says North Coast communities with the highest number of cases of whooping cough over the period 2008-10 were those with lowest childhood vaccination rates (Bellingen, Lismore and Byron), while the three local government areas with the highest vaccination rates had the lowest attack rates (Port Macquarie-Hastings, Clarence Valley and Coffs Harbour). In an unpublished review of the pertussis epidemic conducted in 2009, Professor A. M. Brown found the rate of notification in NSW peaked at 341.9 cases per 100,000 in December, 2008. Notification rates in the Byron Shire peaked at 1493 cases per 100,000 -- more than four times the State rate. Babies rely on the ``cocooning'' of the adults and children around them to shield them from whooping cough. Some 90 per cent of adults are not immunised or covered because shots wear off after 10 years. Immunisation rates are so bad on the Far North Coast that Dr Ingall says parents should take a siege mentality and simply not go out the door with a baby under six weeks -- and screen every adult coming through the door. The McCafferys are expecting another baby in February. The family will ``cocoon'' their new baby. ``We know everyone around us will have booster shots, Dave will take time off work, and we will cocoon our baby and not go out,'' Toni says. If the anti-vaccination movement needed legitimate ammunition, CSL, the makers of the Fluvax vaccine which caused febrile convulsion in children under five, handed it to them. There was one death of an infant recorded in Brisbane shortly after the child received the vaccine. ``It was an untested vaccine and children were used as guinea pigs,'' Dorey says of the tragedy. ``The coroner said in the case of the baby, the vaccine could not be ruled in as a cause, but it could not be ruled out either, so we have to take that into account,'' Professor Booy says, admitting that the incident was not ``good for the cause''. Other companies that produced a similar vaccine did not record any problem. ``The bottom line is we don't have any evidence of children dying after vaccination, but we definitely do see children dying from vaccine-preventable diseases.'' ----- WHAT IS PERTUSSIS? ----Pertussis (or whooping cough) is a disease caused by infection of the throat with the bacteria Bordetella pertussis What are the symptoms? * Pertussis usually begins just like a cold, with a runny nose, tiredness and sometimes a mild fever. * Coughing then develops, usually in bouts, followed by a deep gasp (or "whoop"). Sometimes people vomit after coughing. * Pertussis can be very serious in small children. They might go blue or stop breathing during coughing attacks and may need to go to the hospital. * Older children and adults may have a less serious illness, with bouts of coughing that continue for many weeks regardless of treatment. How is it spread? Pertussis is spread to other people by droplets from coughing or sneezing. Untreated, a person with pertussis can spread it to other people for up to three weeks after onset of cough. Page 81 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

The time between exposure and getting sick is usually seven to 10 days, but can be up to three weeks. Who is at risk? * Anyone can get pertussis. * People living in the same household as someone with pertussis are more likely to catch it. * Immunisation greatly reduces your risk of infection, but reinfection can occur. How is it prevented? Immunise your child on time: * The vaccine does not give lifelong protection against pertussis, and protection is sometimes incomplete. * Children need to be immunised at two, four and six months (the first dose can be given as early as 6 weeks of age). * Boosters are needed at four years of age and again at 15 years of age. * Immunisation is available through general practitioners and some local councils. Keep your baby away from people who cough * Babies need two or three vaccinations before they are protected. For this reason, it is very important to keep people with coughing illnesses away from your baby so they don't pass on pertussis or other germs. Get immunised if you are an adult in close contact with small children A vaccine for adults is available. It is recommended: * For both parents when planning a pregnancy, or as soon as the baby is born. * For other adult household members, grandparents and carers of young children. * For adults working with young children, especially health care and child care workers. If you are a close contact of someone with pertussis: * Watch out for the symptoms. If symptoms develop, see your doctor and mention your contact with pertussis. * Some close contacts at high risk (e.g. children under one year, children not fully vaccinated, and women at the end of their pregnancy) and others who live or work with high-risk people may need to take antibiotics to prevent infection. If you have pertussis: * Get treated early while infectious, avoid other people and stay away from young children, e.g. at child care centres, pre-school and school. How is it diagnosed? If a doctor thinks someone has pertussis, a swab from the back of the nose, or a blood test may be done to help confirm the diagnosis. How is it treated? A special antibiotic - usually either erythromycin, clarithromycin, or azithromycin is used to treat pertussis. These antibiotics can prevent the spread of the germ to other people. Coughing often continues for many weeks despite treatment. Page 82 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

What is the public health response? Doctors and laboratories must confidentially notify cases of pertussis to the local Public Health Unit. Public Health Unit staff can advise on the best way to stop further spread. Infectious children are restricted from going to pre-school and school. Unimmunised contacts may be excluded from child care unless they take the special antibiotics. Source: NSW Health ----- TIMELINE TO A TIMEBOMB ----1998 Study by Andrew Wakefield published in The Lancet raises concern that MMR vaccine causes Autism. Feb 2010 The Lancet fully retracts the 1998 Andrew Wakefield study from the published record after serious conflicts of interest not declared May 2010 Andrew Wakefield found guilty of professional misconduct and struck off UK Medical Register. July 2010 HCCC finds the Australian Vaccination Network distributes incorrect anti-vaccine information. October 2010 Office of Liquor Gaming and Racing revokes AVN charitable status Document SUNTEL0020101106e6b70003v

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Roxon failed to deliver immunisation awareness: parents Steve Cannane 560 words 27 July 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation Transcripts ABCTRS English (c) 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: The parents of a child who died of whooping cough say the Federal Health Minister has failed to deliver a promised immunisation awareness campaign. Toni and Dave McCaffery say Nicola Roxon wrote to them more than 12 months ago, suggesting that a national strategy would be up and running by the end of 2009. The McCaffery's live in a relatively low immunisation area on the NSW North Coast. They've told Lateline the promised program has failed to materialise. Steve Cannane reports. STEVE CANNANE, REPORTER: Toni and Dave McCaffery want to make sure no-one else goes through the pain they've suffered. Since their daughter Dana died in March last year, they've been lobbying governments for an immunisation education campaign. TONI MCCAFFERY, PARENT: We've been promised by three consecutive NSW Health ministers, we've been promised by Nicola Roxon. All of the Health ministers of Australia got together at two ministers' conferences to agree to doing a national review on education and prevention of pertussis and to launch a campaign. The last time they announced that was in September last year. Nothing has happened. STEVE CANNANE: Dana McCaffery was too young to be vaccinated against whooping cough, the disease that killed her. Her parents were unaware there were low vaccination rates in their neighbourhood. TONI MCCAFFERY: When Dana was born it was the highest rates of notification anywhere in the state; it was seven times what it was the previous year. We didn't get one warning. We didn't even get a warning sticker. That's why we spoke up, because my daughter was the third baby air-lifted to intensive care in three weeks and there were two babies the week afterwards. STEVE CANNANE: Ken McLeod took one of the complaints against the anti-vaccination group, the Aus trali an Vac cina tion Network, to the Healthcare Complaints Comission. Today he told ABC Radio a Government vaccination campaign had been put on hold while market research was being conducted. KEN MCLEOD, COMPLAINANT TO HCCC: It's not the job of people like me to counteract the propaganda from the anti-vaccers, it's the job of government, it's the job of our Health ministers and our senior bureaucrats to do that and they have been conspicuous by their absence. STEVE CANNANE: In a statement to Lateline, the Health Minister said tonight: (female voiceover): "Following agreement reached between Health ministers last September, the Commonwealth is currently in the process of researching the most effective ways to promote the childhood whooping cough vaccination message with a view to conducting an effective national awareness campaign." STEVE CANNANE: The HCCC yesterday released a public warning about the Australian Vaccination Network. As Lateline revealed two weeks ago, the HCCC found the AVN had been providing inaccurate and misleading information about vaccination to parents. So far, the AVN has failed to comply with the HCCC's findings that it label its website as providing antivaccination information. MERYL DOREY, AUSTRALIAN VACCINATION NETWORK: We do not agree that the HCCC has any jurisdiction over us and we have been telling this from the very beginning and we are seeking legal advice on this issue. STEVE CANNANE: The HCCC has no power to force the AVN to publish a disclaimer. Page 84 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

Steve Cannane, Lateline. Document ABCTRS0020100727e67r000e1

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QUICK NEWS 229 words 14 July 2010 Hobart Mercury MRCURY 111 English Copyright 2010 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved Mr Ed on menu in Western Australia HORSEMEAT has gone on the menu in Western Australia as a gourmet food. Vince Gareffa, of Mondi Di Carne gourmet butchers, is believed to be the first butcher in the nation to begin selling horsemeat for human consumption. Man sent to trial in Barassi bash case A MAN accused of bashing AFL legend Ron Barassi has been committed to stand trial. Travis Bowling, 27, pleaded not guilty yesterday in Melbourne Magistrates Court to intentionally causing serious injuries to Mr Barassi after the former premiership coach and player came to the aid of a woman in St Kilda last year. Crocodile pat earns bite on leg A DRUNKEN man has been bitten on the leg after trying to ride a 5m saltwater croc named Fatso. The man, who had earlier been thrown out of a Broome tavern in Western Australia for being drunk, told police he climbed into Fatso's enclosure at a nearly crocodile park because he wanted to give him a pat. Warning order on vaccination website AN anti-vaccination group has been ordered to place a prominent warning on its website stating it ``should not be read as medical advice''. The Australian Vaccination Network was given 14 days to comply after an investigation concluded the group promoted ``inaccurate and misleading'' information to parents. MER-20100714-1-011-577612 Document MRCURY0020100713e67e0000l

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News and Features Still no warning on whooping cough Kate Benson HEALTH With AAP 378 words 28 July 2010 The Sydney Morning Herald SMHH First 7 English 2010 Copyright John Fairfax Holdings Limited. TEN months after the state government promised it would launch a "social marketing campaign" to warn parents of the dangers of whooping cough, the mother of a baby who died from the illness is angry that little has been done. Toni McCaffery, whose daughter Dana died in March last year, pushed the government into promoting vaccination but has received three letters from senior government figures who cannot confirm when the campaign will begin. She said health ministers had failed to deliver a national immunisation strategy and campaign by the end of 2009. "I can't get a straight answer and I worry that another baby will die because parents are not informed about whooping cough," she said yesterday. "I've never even been told what a social marketing campaign is. We've had letters from NSW Health [saying] they're ready to go, but the federal Department of Health and Ageing have said to wait. "We've followed up with Nicola Roxon's office twice or three times since February and just can't get an answer. We did the right thing and allowed Dana's death to be made public ... and in doing that we've been thrust out, exposed to some pretty nasty people." Mrs McCaffery lodged an official complaint against the Australian Vaccination Network, claiming it subjected her to harassment and abuse in the months after Dana's death. The Health Care Complaints Commission issued a public warning against the network. Julie Leask, a senior research fellow at the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, said the network should be fined, rather than admonished by the government. She said most parents had highly tuned "rubbish detectors" and gathered information on vaccination from doctors. "This group is so radical that people tend to dismiss it." But Mrs McCaffery fears medical practitioners still are not giving mothers the right message. In numerous consultations, she said, "I still wasn't told about whooping cough." NSW Health said it continued to remind parents the first dose of vaccine could be given as early as six weeks. It had distributed new baby health "blue books" with printed warnings about whooping cough. Document SMHH000020100727e67s00046

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PRESS DIGEST-Australian General News - July 27 1,330 words 27 July 2010 06:57 Reuters News LBA English (c) 2010 Reuters Limited Compiled for Reuters by Media Monitors. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW (www.afr.com) A Treasury report released yesterday warns of "substantial risks" to the commodities boom that underpins the Federal Government's A$10.5 billion mining tax. The Pre-Election Economic and Fiscal Outlook update raised doubts about the boom that supports the projected revenue from the minerals resource rent tax, citing risks and uncertainty around terms of trade. Treasury forecasters noted that "inflationary risks are on the upside." Page 1. -Victorian Premier John Brumby yesterday proposed a greenhouse strategy that is more in line with Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's policy than Federal Labor's strategy. Asked if the state's plan would embarrass Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who has been accused of backing away from action on climate change, Mr Brumby said, "We're moving forward in relation to these matters and I would hope that other Australian states and the rest of Australia does likewise." Page 1. -Cabcharge, Australia's dominant taxi electronic payment system, is about to face strong competition over its hold on the A$450 million corporate taxi market. In an industry first, the Live Group will today launch an electronic taxi charge card and voucher system that can be used in Cabcharge Australia terminals, which are in 98 per cent of Australian taxis. On Sunday, the Transport Australia Xpress System, a taxi booking and payments system, will also launch, and is offering a lower surcharge than that used by Cabcharge. Page 3. -A rise in hotel occupancy rates in Australian capital cities over the last 12 months is pushing hoteliers to increase room rates. A Deloitte hotel survey found that hotel occupancy grew by almost five percent to 73 percent in the 12 months to May, and room rates increased by almost 35 percent to A$122. David Perry, chief executive of Hotel Windsor in Melbourne, said cheap domestic air fares and business travellers had boosted demand. Page 4. -THE AUSTRALIAN (www.theaustralian.news.com.au) The Federal Labor Government's high success rate for refugee claims was a "major pull factor" that encouraged boat people to come to Australia, immigration authorities were told earlier this year. A document that was sent to the former Rudd government prior to April 9 compared Australia's success rate for new refugee claims, and found that it was running a generous program and a magnet for people arriving in boats. The government appears to have acted on this advice, with the success rate falling rapidly since the beginning of the year. Page 1. -In the first week of the election campaign, Federal Labor's strength in health, education and industrial relations has improved, but the Coalition has shot ahead on economic management, asylum seekers and migration. The latest Newspoll figures show that Labor has extended its lead on key issues since the removal of former prime minister Kevin Rudd, but leadership is now the fourth-most important issue for voters. The figures also reveal that Australia's first female Prime Minister Julia Gillard, is losing support among women voters. Page 1. Page 88 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

-Some Aboriginal communities have been denied a large proportion of housing that was allocated to other towns under Australia's A$672 million remote housing project. A large number of the 750 houses to be built have been allocated to just seven communities, while the federal and Northern Territory governments are offering smaller packages to towns that have not yet signed leases for their land. Page 2. -South Australian treasury chief Jim Wright appeared before a state parliament committee yesterday where he refused to deny that he warned the Rann government of being at risk of losing its triple-A credit rating soon after the March state election. Mr Wright said he would not discuss issues that are "cabinet in-confidence" when asked whether he told state Treasurer Kevin Foley to enforce budget cuts or face losing the credit rating. Mr Foley faces scrutiny after he campaigned strongly in March on the good form of the state's finances. Page 2. -THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (www.smh.com.au) The Health Care Complaints Commission yesterday issued a public warning regarding the antivaccination group the Australian Vaccination Network. The commission investigated the organisation earlier this month after receiving complaints, including from the parents of a baby girl who died from whooping cough when four weeks old. Members of the anti-vaccination harassed and abused the girl's parents, accusing them of lying about the cause of their daughter's death. Page 1. -The chief executive of the New South Wales Ambulance Service, Greg Rochford, yesterday appeared before a Coroners Court investigation into the death of suspended paramedic Trent Speering. Mr Speering killed himself and his mother in 2008 while suspended from the Ambulance Service for bullying and verbal abuse. Mr Rochford said that his main concern had been for the welfare of Mr Speering's colleagues rather than Mr Speering's mental state. Page 2. -An attempted robbery of a security van in the Sydney suburb of Dee Why yesterday ended with the death of one of the two thieves, while a bystander was shot in the ankle. The security van's three guards drew pistols when approached by the two men with their heads covered, with witnesses reporting hearing three shots. The dead man was shot in the chest, dying later in hospital. Page 2. -A A$4.5 million sculpture is currently being installed in Sydney's Botanic Gardens. The artwork, designed by Chris Booth, has been paid for by the estate of the late businessman Ronald Johnson, whose will specified that a prominent piece of modern art on Sydney's harbour foreshore should be funded by the estate. The work, consisting of sandstone and quartz stones, is intended to represent the city's geography and attract wildlife. Page 3. -THE AGE (www.theage.com.au) Senior Liberal Party members are angered by former federal treasurer Peter Costello's refusal to hand over almost A$1 million that was donated to the conservative cause. The dispute is over money that Mr Costello put into an investment fund known as the Higgins 200 Foundation. It is believed that the Liberal's Victorian president Dr David Kemp, pointed out to party rules to Mr Costello that specify such donations are the party's to manage. But Mr Costello said the money has been invested for the longterm benefit of the 200 Club. Page 1. -New tests have identified 13 more women who may have been infected by hepatitis C after visiting a Melbourne abortion clinic, bringing the total to 35. The Department of Health contacted more than 2200 women who attended the clinic between 2006 and 2009 and advised them to undergo tests for hepatitis C. A former anaesthetist at the clinic, Dr James Latham, was a known drug user prior to working there. Police are investigating a link between Dr Latham and the infections. Page 3. -Page 89 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Melbourne Magistrates Court yesterday ordered a senior figure from the National Party to attend a men's counselling service after stalking his former lover. Angus Calder, who had acted as campaign director for a senior minister in John Howard's government, sent his former lover more than 100 messages, some of them offensive. Mr Calder pleaded guilty to stalking and apologised for his conduct. Page 3. -Poker machine operator Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group yesterday confirmed that it had decided to remove arcade-style games that offer large prizes from its venues throughout Australia. Antigambling activists welcomed the move, saying that the games groomed children to become gamblers. However, the company yesterday rejected the claim, saying that the decision had been made following feedback from venue patrons. Page 4. -DIGEST-AUSTRALIA-GENERAL|LANGEN|AUF|G|RBN|REVU|RNP|DNP|PGE|PMF Document LBA0000020100726e67q001jg

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Disrespectful 3,565 words 21 October 2010 The Northern Rivers Echo APNNRE Main 16 English Copyright 2010 APN Newspapers Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved Disrespectful Further to R J Poole's letter titled War of words (Echo, Oct 14), he obviously has other axes to grind and I have no wish to debate the moral or political rights and/or wrongs of the conflict in the local press, nor the many statistics available. It was Sorrensen's flippant use of the word spree which caused offence. The Oxford and Macquarie dictionaries define spree as: a bit of fun, a lively frolic, a session of indulgence. In my opinion, by Sorrensen using this word, he was insinuating that Australian troops, sent to a conflict by the duly elected government of the day, were actually enjoying themselves killing people. One hopes that in 20 or 30 years time similar disrespectful, throw-away comments will not be written about our troops currently serving in Afghanistan. End of story. Charles Robinson Modanville Right customer To all the people who have a boss. Be sure to remember your boss is not really your boss. Your boss also has a boss, and that is the customer. The customer pays all your wages including your boss. So you all should treat customers the same way you would treat your boss. Be courteous, polite and give respect to all customers (sorry, I forgot, since the mid 80s courtesy, politeness and respect are no longer taught in our schools). Please remember the customers are paying your wage! Martyn Wiggins Goonellabah Not the way If I were to suggest the economic situation in America at the moment was disastrous, and continually worsening, I'd probably be met with much disbelief. We simply aren't being told about things going so bad in the country we're modelling our own nation upon. Contrary to suggestions of recovery, and unemployment of below 10%, the hideous reality is far worse and quite hopeless. While unemployment of $150,000 plus p.a. wage earners is around 3%, it's about 20% in the $12,500 to $20,000 bracket and about 30% at below $12,500. When underemployment is added, over 50% in the lowest wage bracket live in poverty. With the middle class shrinking, mainly by losing assets, the lowest echelon is suffering more than most places on the planet, except for a few dismal places like Haiti. The great power wielded by the wealthy means the poor have little or no voice in government. They are lied about and ignored basically. They're enduring very similar conditions as occurred in the Great Depression, with no possibility of the worsening situation reversing. The jobs needed for that just couldn't possibly be generated in the most optimistic scenario. While American and Australian governments concentrated on reducing revenue raising and selling public assets, allowing private ownership profiteering, China stuck to their socialist roots. While inviting capitalists in, and allowing appalling working conditions, a class divide not seen before, and other problems, they retained ownership and control of banks, heavy industry, power, transport, communications, foreign trade and agriculture pricing. More than 50% of all industry is government owned. China survived the global financial crisis unscathed, are buying out many overseas interests and lending out huge amounts of money, much to America. All pretty frightening to the free market (private ownership for profit and no government controls) capitalists. While the foremost exponent of the capitalist system, America, turns into a hellhole of deprivation and suffering for tens of millions, a country based on the only alternative, socialism, powers on toward global supremacy. Page 91 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

And we continue to follow America's path to imminent destruction. Gawd help us. Doug Burt Kyogle LEP response I wish to inform all the residents who have sent me their letters in regards to the draft Lismore LEP 2010 that I have indeed received those letters and read them and that I will not answer them one by one. One, and the most controversial, issue of this draft LEP (based on the letters received) is the reclassification of rural properties and the increase from 0.8% to 2.6% of the so-called environmentally protected areas of our LGA.. I will not answer more than 120 letters received because by writing a letter to the editor of this paper I hope to preserve some of those trees (local or possibly from afar) and the environment that this LEP is trying to save. Whilst it is a fact that some misunderstanding of available information has happened, it is also true that Council has positioned itself in a way that helped to create those doubts and uncertainties which have resulted in more than 1600 submissions. The rezoning of properties is a serious proposition for any rural resident as the land on which they live represents their source of income for the present and future. Unclear and unreliable mapping is a fact which should have been avoided before the publication of the draft, and postponed until the completion of the proposed new Lismore Biodiversity Study (a $60,000 a year project for the next four years) which will clearly identify the flora and fauna in our LGA that deserve to be protected (http://www.lismore.nsw .gov.au/content/uploads/ councildeliveryplanweb .pdf). The unnecessary delay, caused by this draft LEP, can impact on other unchallenged and much-needed residential land releases our real estate agents' groups are screaming for. Therefore a question comes to mind: why reclassify beforehand? Why not just roll-over the existing rezoning and use the Biodiversity Study to change the biodiversity hotspot later on a case by case situation? How much money will this exercise cost Council in staff time and delays? Once again more costs for ratepayers and more money wasted which could have been spent on more important issues such as roads and services. Cr Gianpiero Battista Lismore Colourful Nimbin In response to Mani Alexander's letter (Echo, Oct 14) I would like to discuss several aspects of this misdirected diatribe. As a long-term resident of Nimbin, I find it offensive to have all residents of Nimbin described as drugaddled. Like any town, suburb or city in Australia and probably the world, Nimbin does have an undesirable element, but this element constitutes a very small component of what is in essence a vibrant, multicultural and inclusive community. Comments such as sleazy reputation of drug-addled Nimbin and the suggestion that we should have our own airport to allow shipment of drugs in and out of the town are irresponsible. The issue at hand is the renaming of Lismore Regional Airport, but this letter reads like a personal attack on a society of predominantly law-abiding citizens, perpetuating a toxic stigma that some wish to attach to Nimbin, and discriminating against our community as a whole. On page three of the same newspaper issue, councillors Simon Clough and David Yarnall articulate the uniqueness and vibrancy of Nimbin, for which I offer thanks. Both councillors understand that Nimbin has pulling power in relation to tourists. Is this pulling power derived from tourists' unquenched desire for drugs? For a small minority it may be. But the reality is that if you want to buy drugs, you can get them Page 92 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

anywhere. It is my experience that the majority of tourists visit Nimbin for other reasons: to experience alternative culture, or perhaps to visit or study at our world-renowned permaculture community, Djanbung Gardens. They might climb Mount Nardi, swim at Hanging Rock or Protester Falls, bushwalk, visit the Blue Knob, Nimbin or The Channon Markets, attend a function (too many to list), have a coffee in one of the fabulous cafes, view the latest exhibition at the Town Hall or converse with the friendly locals. It is these aspects of our community which are its biggest drawcards one just needs to chat with the tourists to confirm this is the case. Do I think the motion to rename Lismore Regional Airport was justified? Personally, I think yes. Why? Nimbin is iconic and draws tens of thousands of visitors a year. This makes renaming the airport a sound economic and progressive move for Lismore City Council. After all, more tourist dollars equate to better roads, greater employment opportunities, potential for greater community funding, and perhaps the implementation of an appropriate transport system which we so desperately need. Thereby services would be improved for all residents of the Lismore Local Government Area. Leonie Bingham Stony Chute Insult to Nimbin Mani Alexander, you made some valid points in your letter about the proposed (and since rejected) renaming of Lismore Airport. However, your comments about Nimbin were unnecessarily insulting to the many and varied people who live here. Yes, there is a very visible and sometimes ugly drug- dealing scene on the street but we have a very small street so it's hard to miss. We have injecting drug users, like Lismore and almost everywhere else. They are just easier to see in Nimbin. We have a needle exchange because in Australia we recognise the value of harm minimisation. It's easy to look from the outside and judge, but I've lived in the Nimbin community for 36 years and have seen a number of these passed out junkies go on to make good lives for themselves and contribute to the wider community. There are social problems in Nimbin but we have, as a community, worked to set up a number of very good services that support people to improve their lives. I think that, although we have sometimes been too tolerant, we are on the whole a compassionate community where people from all walks of life can find acceptance and a sense of belonging. I have raised my children in Nimbin and my grandchildren have grown up here. It's a good community. It is home to a variety of people who make Nimbin a very alive and interesting place to live. They create the art, theatre, craft, music, films, cultural events and impromptu performances that enrich our lives here. Many of Nimbin's residents won't be seen by the casual visitor because they're at work. You probably encounter Nimbin people working in Lismore in shops and offices, hospitals and schools, yet you wouldn't recognise them because they don't fit your stereotype. Nimbin people aren't all alike. They hold a whole range of differing beliefs and come from many different backgrounds but it's a place with a strong sense of community and despite any problems it may have I feel fortunate to live here. During our four years operating a bed and breakfast from our home, I met hundreds of visitors from all over the world, drawn here to experience our beautiful environment, arts and colourfully different culture. Visitors can find a painting, buy clothing by local designers, listen to live music, have a great coffee in any number of cafes, or enjoy the funky street art and sculptures. In the surrounding countryside are thriving communities, galleries, tea houses and gardens. They can visit the beautiful Nightcap National Park, which was saved from logging through the efforts of the people of Nimbin and the surrounding areas. As you point out, Nimbin is only one of the attractions in the Lismore area, but for those able to look beyond negative stereotypes, Nimbin has a lot to offer. Mandie Hale Nimbin Educational lesson Having read Michael Qualmann's pertinent letter (Road training, Echo, Oct 7), it set me thinking about the wider aspects of training via education'. Society has stipulated that our children, through the national curriculum, should, by the time they leave school, be educated in various skills to a certain standard in order to prepare them for life in the wider world. The HSC includes for two types of courses. The are 39 possibilities in the first, ranging from Aboriginal Studies to Studies of Religion and 16 in the second, ranging from Accounting to Tourism, plus a lexicon of languages. Nowadays keyboard skills are taught as a matter of course and calculators have taken over from the slide rule and abacus. But where is driving? It is not included in either of the two lists. Shouldn't we expect that our children, as a matter of course, also be taught to drive and achieve a satisfactory standard by the time they move on from school into the wider world, whether this be into employment or further education? There are those who will say that there is not time in the present timetable to include all the courses that should be included, to add this. But look outside any school during the day and one will find streets filled with Pplated cars, so their drivers obviously found some time in their busy lives to learn to achieve the currently required standard. Page 93 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

My suggestion is that by including driving within the curriculum (it doesn't, as now, have to be in school hours) AND raising the standard that has to be attained, society would be doing itself a big favour in hopefully reducing accidents through a better system of learning to drive rather than in the ad hoc method of parental or senior sibling/friend education plus possibly a few add on lessons from a driving school. What about the cost I hear people say do they say the same thing about the cost of providing our children with adequate numeracy and literacy? No. The ability to drive is no longer the confine of the wealthy. It is now a tool like reading, writing, keyboard skills, foreign languages that is an essential part of our lives that we need if we, as a society, are to develop. And as a by product of this, society will benefit from a better taught, more responsible driver who, hopefully, will better understand the dangers of driving and by this make him/her a safer driver, for this surely will produce a cost benefit to society far beyond the cost of the provision of the teaching. David Brown Goonellabah Religious history Each time I see on TV an Israeli West Bank settler proclaim (usually in a Brooklyn accent) This land was given to my people by God, I reach for my archaeology books. Given the insistence of Zionists on recovering a supposed ancestral homeland and the response this provokes from others (reasonable in the case of displaced Palestinians, unreasonable in the case of the current government of Iran and infuriated Islamists everywhere), we all should be aware of the following: Jews today are the descendants of converts to Judaism. Conversions happened from the second century BC to the early fourth century AD when Judaism around the Roman Mediterranean world was a dynamic, proselytising religion. Even the Bible gives instances of conversion to Judaism. The withdrawal into a closed faith community based on race' came later, the cessation of proselytising a result of the dominance of the Christian and Islamic worlds. Monotheistic Judaism had originated in a social revolution in Canaan, whereby the governing elite and its gods were overthrown. There was no emigration of 600,000 warriors (plus women and children) from Egypt and no conquest of Canaan by Joshua. Though the Romans levelled the Temple and Jerusalem in 70 AD, there was no dispersal of the Jews. The people of Judea largely remained in their homeland and their descendants, mixed in with all those later conquerors, are there today as Muslim Palestinians, usually referred to condescendingly as Arabs. Even David Ben-Gurion believed this, although he later revised his opinion for political reasons when drafting the Declaration of Independence of the state of Israel. The early Zionist slogan A People without a Land for a Land without People was simply based on a lie. The Jews of American or eastern European nationality who are taking advantage of the Law of Return to become Israelis are in general descendants of the vast Yiddish community that once populated the Czarist Pale of Settlement which stretched from the Crimea to the Baltic and included present-day Ukraine, Russia, Poland and Hungary. These people were descended from the displaced Turko-Slav Khazars who had had a prosperous trading empire (fur, silks, slaves, honey, amber) in the area between the Volga and Don rivers from 740 1250 AD. The Khazars sandwiched between warring Byzantine Christianity and the Abbasid Caliphate adopted Judaism as a prudent compromise. To date, research has revealed no genetic marker specific to Jews. No wonder, given the history I have outlined. It is interesting to note that though the state of Israel generously funds archaeology, certain subjects are taboo. Since 1951 not a single historical work about the Khazars has appeared in Hebrew. One could ask why Australia supports an ethnocratic state whose refusal to end its provocative West Bank settlements outrages Muslims everywhere, fuels terrorism, and endangers us all, even here at home. Peter Mullins Nimbin Different angles Glenn Beck is a FoxNews TV show host who champions conservative political values, a free market and minimal government regulation. He has held rallies in support of the US invasion of Iraq, is a strong opponent ofhealthcare reform, and holds a marked dislike of Barack Obama. On July 19 this year, a man named Byron Williams was allegedly involved in a 12-minute shootout with the California Highway Patrol, and was allegedly on his way to shoot members of staff working at the San Francisco-based Tides Foundation, a grassroots NGO working towards progressive goals. What makes this horrific incident a little more thought-provoking is that, according to Byron Williams' Page 94 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

own admission, Glenn Beck appears to have been a influence in his alleged rampage decision. Prior to July 19, Beck had, according to the group's own count, verbally attacked the Tides Foundation 29 times, sometimes in ways that people would find inflammatory. His primary grievance here appears to be with social justice, which he believes, according to a March 11 broadcast, to be code words for Communism and Nazism. Quoted from jail, Williams describes Beck as a schoolteacher on TV, who blew my mind. He also stated of Beck, he'll give you every ounce of evidence that you could possibly need. On this occasion the bad guy was a Left-orientated non-profit, but that's not always the case. While Islamic fundamentalism appears to be held in check within Australia, the same cannot be said about scientific fundamentalism, which is running amok. The key to being a scientific fundamentalist is to take a set of data and findings and believe it to be better than the data and findings held by the people who are obviously wrong because their broader view contradicts yours in key respects. Then you can go on a crusade. Over the past year or so, the Australian Vaccination Network has been under a sustained and highly organised attack with the single, and so far unsuccessful, goal of shutting it down. Organisers have been subjected to hate mail and death threats, and an issue to consider here is whether any of these threats might be serious. To the zealous defenders of public morality, the crime of AVN has been to criticise some vaccines, and as everybody knows, vaccines are entirely good. On a British website, midwives are dubbed madwives' and subjected to vicious treatment from a man who is obviously very irate. It seems that the internet is giving certain individuals a powerful platform with which to engage in personal attacks and explore the truth of the saying If you throw enough mud, some of it will stick'. Finally, at the site www.ratbags.com, there is a large section dedicated to people that the site owner considers to be rsoles.' It turns out that most of the rsoles are people engaged in a range of naturopathic modalities, when he apparently knows as any reasonable and sane person of course would that taking pharmaceutical drugs is the answer. Name and address withheld by request Family tree I am researching my family tree and am looking for an Alan Robertson, who I was told lives in Lismore. Formerly of Allambie Heights, Sydney, Alan is the son of Edward Matherson Robertson and Lillian Amelia (both deceased). He has a brother John, who I believe lives in WA. I put an ad in the Manly Daily and a gentleman gave me this information. He used to work with both Edward and his brother William and also their father William (Snowy) as linesmen for the PMG in the Manly area. Alan, I believe, lives with his mother, Jean, and his wife and family. My father, William David Robertson, was the first son born to William Mathieson Robertson (Snowy), Alan's grandfather, but when my father was three, William left my grandmother and a few years later had two sons, another William and then Edward, to Lillian Amelia, but they never married. Being the youngest in my family, I never got to see any of these people and nothing was ever said and I don't even know if my Dad knew he had stepbrothers. I am after any information or photos of these people and hope Alan, his mum Jean, wife or children are still around the Lismore area. Or if anyone knew them, please contact me on fossilrockstar@gmail .com phone (02) 9607 9932 or write to 48 Hill Rd, Lurnea, 2170. Judy Taylor (nee Robertson) Lurnea Document APNNRE0020101020e6al000p9

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Parents opt out of childhood jabs CLAIR WEAVER 410 words 25 April 2010 Sunday Tasmanian SUNTAS 12 English Copyright 2010 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved THE number of Australian parents deciding not to have their children vaccinated has more than doubled in the past decade. New figures obtained by The Sunday Telegraph reveal 26,000 children are currently excluded from the national immunisation program because their parents have registered as ``conscientious objectors''. This compares with 12,050 families in 2000. Experts say the real number of unvaccinated children is likely to be more than 52,000 as many parents do not record their intentions with the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register. The finding comes as doctors across the country are ordered to stop giving the flu vaccine to under-fives following a spate of adverse reactions marked by high fevers and seizures. But public health experts maintain children who are denied routine childhood jabs, which do not include flu, are putting themselves and others at risk. National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance director Peter McIntyre said: ``If your child is unimmunised they remain at risk of diseases that have pretty much gone away for everyone else. ``They are protected by other people being vaccinated but if a disease does emerge, they are the ones who are going to get it. ``There's the individual risk to the child but there's also the risk to other kids, like those with immune deficiency and other health problems.'' Parents who register as conscientious objectors can still receive child-care benefits and maternity allowances, which are conditional on keeping up-to-date immunisation records. But their children may be excluded from childcare or school during a disease outbreak. Immunisation register data shows 83 per cent of five-year-olds in NSW were fully immunised as of March 31, 2010. This is slightly less than the national average. Meryl Dorey, of the action group Australian Vaccination Network, said many parents did not realise they still could get government benefits if their children were not vaccinated as long as they registered. The network says parents should be able to keep their unvaccinated children in childcare or school during a disease outbreak so they can be exposed to infections. Conscientious objectors sign a one-page form saying they have a ``personal, philosophical, religious or medical'' objection to childhood jabs to retain benefits. Prof McIntyre said unvaccinated kids were 15 to 20 times as likely to get Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) and meningitis than those who are vaccinated. STS-20100425-1-002-129408 Document SUNTAS0020100424e64p0000m

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Lifestyle No Title 415 words 18 July 2010 Northern Territory News/Sunday Territorian NORTHT 135 English Copyright 2010 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved Women stressed RESEARCH commissioned by Lifeline has revealed high levels of stress among Australians, especially women. About 1200 men and women were asked to rate their everyday level from ``very stressed'' through to ``no stress'' at all. The poll showed 46 per cent of women, and 41 per cent of men, put themselves in the most stressed category. At the other end of the scale, only 9 per cent of women and 11 per cent of men could report feeling no stress. ``Our research indicates that in just about every aspect of life women are experiencing higher levels of stress,'' Lifeline chief executive Dawn O'Neil said. Hendra virus drug BRISBANE scientists can begin local production of an experimental treatment for people exposed to the Hendra virus. Queensland Health has granted $300,000 to the University of Queensland, in a deal also involving a US foundation, to produce the Hendra monoclonal antibody. The treatment was developed in Washington DC in conjunction with the CSIRO, and vials of it have been flown to Australia for emergency cases. The Hendra virus emerged in 1994 in the inner-Brisbane suburb of the same name. Of only seven people infected, four died. Teaspoons flawed PARENTS are being warned not to give their children medicine using an ordinary teaspoon because of the risk of overdose. A study of teaspoons in common use in homes shows they vary in capacity from 2.5ml and up to 7.3ml. It concluded parents should instead use the special spoon provided with a medicine -- or buy a syringe or spoon with measurements -- to ensure children received correct dosages. Paediatric dosages needed to be adjusted for body weight as well as age, he also said, making children ``more vulnerable to dosage errors than adults''. Facts muddled A NSW-based group that is opposed to vaccination has been criticised for promoting ``inaccurate and misleading'' information. The Health Care Complaints Commission also ordered the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) to place a warning on its website stating it ``should not be read as medical advice''. Alert on Avandia Page 97 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

MOVES in the US to beef up warnings for the drug Avandia are a timely reminder to those 20,000 Australians still using the controversial diabetes treatment, a doctor says. Packets of the drug in Australia have carried a warning since 2007 noting its heightened risk of heart attack, and the US Food and Drug Administration is now considering a similar move. NTN-20100718-1-035-591113 Document NORTHT0020100719e67i00028

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Health Alert - 9 August 2010 Michael Regos 4,298 words 10 August 2010 Mondaq Business Briefing BBPUB English (c) 2010 Mondaq Ltd Welcome to this week's edition of Health Alert. The Health Alert is transmitted on Monday of each week (unless there is a public holiday on Monday). Health Alert is a summary of the critical judgments, legislation, press releases and news items which have come to our attention each week. Many of the summaries will contain a hyperlink. If an item is of special interest, we may insert commentary into the body of Health Alert. However in general, Health Alert is a quick and effective means of ensuring that you are aware of significant recent changes with little or no commentary from ourselves. Legal Updates at legal.updates@dlaphillipsfox.comIf you would like to include a colleague or contact on our distribution list, or be removed from the list and not receive further issues from us, please contact with the relevant contact details. The DLA Phillips Fox Health Team 2010 TASCD 209 - DEAN, Michael Laurence Patients frequently consult one practitioner for a medical condition and then (for a variety of reasons) consult a different practitioner for the same condition (at a later stage or in the same period). This investigation by the Coroner of Tasmania looked at one of the potentially fatal consequences of this trend of mixing practitioners and mixing the medications they prescribe. A man with a long history of PTSD and depression died from multiple drug toxicity after taking a combination of medications of different classes, namely venlafaxine and fluoxetine with moclobemide. These drugs were prescribed separately by different treating psychiatrists. The deceased changed psychiatrists and did not inform the first psychiatrist of his decision to see somebody else. The GP who referred the deceased to the second psychiatrist asked him if he was prescribed any medication, and the second psychiatrist asked him the same question. He said he was not. The second psychiatrist prescribed a different set of medications which the man subsequently took alongside the medications prescribed by the first psychiatrist. The Coroner found that the second psychiatrist acted reasonably in relying on the advice of the deceased and his GP that he was not taking any other prescription medications. Because the second psychiatrist was not aware the deceased had been prescribed contra-indicated medications it was reasonable that did not warn the deceased about the risks of combining these particular medications. This case highlights the difficulties of managing patients that consult multiple practitioners for complex medical problems. The coroner recommended that specialist clinicians and medical practitioners use caution when prescribing medication to those with mental illness especially when their psychiatric history is extensive. The coroner encouraged practitioners to contact previous practitioners or pharmacists about the medications prescribed and encouraged practitioners to educate patients on the risks of combining medications. Health Insurance (Radioactive Seed Implantation of Prostate) Determination 2010 - F2010L02204 - Health - This Determination corrects an error in the drafting of the item descriptor for item 37220, th e implantation of radioactive seeds where there is localised prostatic malignancy, where item 55603 (anaesthesia) also applies. National Health (Highly specialised drugs program for private hospitals) Special Arrangements Amendment Instrument 2010 (No. 1) (No. PB 75 of 2010) F2010L02201 - Health - These Arrangement s amend the National Health (Highly specialised drugs program for private hospitals) Special Arrangements Instrument 2010 (No. PB 64 of 2010) to provide for changes to highly specialised drugs available at private hospitals to non-admitted patients, day-admitted patients or patients on discharge. Private Health Insurance (Prostheses) Rules 2010 (No. 2) - F2010L02191 - Health- These Rules revo ke the Private Health Insurance (Prostheses) Rules 2010 (No.1) and determines benefits for listed prostheses and medical treatments. Private Health Insurance Circulars Page 99 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

PHI 50/10 - Accreditation of Podiatric Surgeons (Section 3AAA of the Health Insurance Act 1973) PHI 49/10 - Amendments to Lifetime Health Cover Legislation Aged Care Better Practice Melbourne - Justice, Respect and Fullness of Life for All (An upcoming seminar) Annual Acquittal Requirements for CACP, EACH, EACH D Services and Community and Flexible Care Grants Australian Public Assessment Report (new) Ursodeoxycholic acid Iodixanol Medicines Safety Update No.4; 2010 (new) Psychiatric symptoms, including suicidal behaviour, continue to be reported with varenicline Drugs designated as orphan drugs (added everolimus (AFINITOR)) Access to IV Thiamine (new) Safety advisory: 1 Body Beautiful (new) The Hong Kong Department of Health issued an alert concerning a product known as 1BodyBeautiful which had been found to contain the undeclared pharmaceutical substances sibutramine and phenolphthalein. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is aware that some Australian consumers have purchased the product 1BodyBeautiful over the internet or from an Australian retailer, and that the product claims to be 100%herbal in origin. NHMRC Research Funding Facts Book 2010 Incidence of Type 1 diabetes in Australian children 2000-2008 - Type 1 diabetes is a serious, life-long disease which causes a major health, social and economic burden for individuals with the disease, their families and the community. There were over ... Published 5 August 2010. Conditional authorisation for generic medicines code proposed - The ACCC proposes to grant conditional authorisation for three years to the second edition of the... Issued: 3rd August 2010 Release # NR 158/10 READ MORE30 Jul 2010 - New Factsheets: Membership Arrears and Exclusions/Restrictions - Facts an d advice about your policy.... Informed Financial Consent factsheetREAD MORE23 Jul 2010 - - Before going to hospital, it's your righ t to ask about any extra costs you might have to pay. Quarterly Bulletin 55READ MORE23 Jul 2010 - - The bulletin for 1 April to 30 June 2010 is now online. English language skills needed to provide safe care to Australian community -5 August 201006 Aug 2010 - Statement from the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia - (332 KB,PDF) In July 2010 a new national registration and accreditation scheme for health professions was introduced. Each of Professional Board have set an English language skills standard and this media release sets out the standard to be required for nurses and midwives. click here to accessCertification of documentation and new proof of identity requirements - The Medical Board of Australia has developed a Proof of Identity Framework and Requirements document for the purposes of applicants seeking medical registration in Australia. These new requirements have come into effect from 1 July 2010. The AMC has always maintained identification requirements consistent with those set by medical boards in Australia. Because the AMCis aware that applicants applying directly from overseas cannot meet some of the new requirements set by the Medical Board of Australia, the Page 100 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

AMC has developed its own proof of identity requirements that must be met when applying under the AMC assessment pathways. Applicants will still be expected to meet the Medical Board of Australia (MBA) identification requirements as set by the MBA when they seek medical registration with the MBA. In addition to this, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) have recently advised the Australian Medical Council (AMC) that Australian Embassies and Consulates overseas will no longer provide the service of certifying photographs. DFAT have confirmed that they will be able to continue certifying copies of original documents, for example a person?s passport. Upon review of its policy on certification of photographs, the AMC has decided that candidates will no longer be required to have photographs certified before submitting their application to the AMC. The AMC is satisfied that proper identification will continue to be confirmed by passport and other similar documentation that contains a photograph of the candidate. All documentation apart from photographs will continue to be required to be certified before submission to the AMC. Please the new Proof of Identity Requirements for the AMC Assessment Pathways (including photograph requirements). Media releases Canberra Hospital receives donation from local familyKaty Gallagher, MLA August 5 2010 Review confirms public maternity services delivering quality care to women Katy Gallagher, MLA August 5 2010 Move and Groove to help prevent osteoporosis! Katy Gallagher, MLA July 31 2010 Sop- Ivig - PolicySop- Ivig - AdministrationSop - Ivig - ApprovalIntravenous Immunoglobulin ( ivig) Administration Sop ? The purpose of this document is to provide a systematic and consistent approach for the safe and appropriate administration of Intravenous Immunoglobulin IVIg across ACT Health. All staff involved in transfusion of IVIg are responsible for maintaining and updating their knowledge and practices. ACTHealth-Wide - Population HealthCED10-017 (PDFFile525k) - (PDFFile556k) - (PDFFile564k) Nurse Practitioner, Emergency Department, Tch, Clinical Practice GuidelinesNurse Practitioner, Emergency Department - Clinical Practice Guidelines -In accordance with ACT Health policy and current legislation this guideline defines the clinical practice of the Emergency Department (TCH) Nurse Practitioner within the Emergency Services. As required this clinical practice guideline has been approved by Portfolio Executive, ACT Health. ACTHealth-Wide - ACT Chief NurseCED10-020 (PDFFile1970k) Media releases Warning on lead poisoning from imported traditional Indian (Ayurvedic) medicine [04 August 2010] Immunisation warning as severe flu cases reported[04 August 2010] New protection for paramedics starts today[30 July 2010] Policy directive Health Executive Service - Notional Salary PD2010_051 05/08/2010 Information bulletins HSU Health Professionals' Forum - Tuesday, 14 September 2010 - Special Leave to Attend IB2010_03 9 05/08/2010 Notification of Obsolete Policy Directives and Guidelines IB2010_038 05/08/2010 Discussion Paper on Implementing the National Health Reform in NSW - Feedback is now encouraged on the proposed LHNs configuration. Media releases Kon Vatskalis ? Improving the Health of Children in Remote Areas - The health and development of children living in remote areas will be boosted with the launch of a new educational tool that provides important information for health professionals. Kon Vatskalis - New Urgent Care Clinic Opens - Health Minister Kon Vatskalis today officially opened th e Darwin Private Hospital?s new urgent care medical clinic. Page 101 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

Media releases Twin research to reveal more about epilepsy06/08/2010 Abbott?s $478 million black hole for Queensland05/08/2010 Research gives further insight into cerebral palsy05/08/2010 NO SUN SHINING ON LNP HOSPITAL COMMITMENT04/08/2010 Doctors deserve a better deal from union04/08/2010 NEW LOCAL PAYROLL MODEL PROGRESSING WELL03/08/2010 CONGRATULATIONS TO QIMR RESEARCHERS30/07/2010 Human Health Risk Assessment on air quality in Gladstone. Fourth and final Queensland Health report as part of the Clean and Healthy Air for Gladstone project Nominations are now open for the 2010 Queensland Mental Health Week Achievement Awards Metro South Mental Health - Service Expansion website standards on our websitecomplete edition hospital reporting requirementsfeedback form position statementNEW healthcare standards and information about VMO compliance - Our updated healthcare standards (version 2.0) are now online! You can browse through everything you need to know about our or download the or just the information you need. The updated standards are easier to use and we've reduced by almost half. We're keen to get your feedback - complete the to tell us what you think or suggest improvements. Attention VMOs and private hospitals- readour on Visiting Medical Officer compliance with our healthcare standards Media releases Community Clostridium difficile infection in Community settings (PDF 38Kb)5 August 2010 - - Publi c Health Information Suspension of flu vaccine in young children lifted (PDF 41Kb)30 July 2010 - - Public Health Alert Read More...New health hub for QEH - Friday, 30 July 2010 15:54 - Demolition has begun on the ol d Maternity Building at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, making way for the next stage of the hospital?s redevelopment. Sharp and to the Point - July 2010 (PDF 400Kb) read more...New CEO appointed for Country Health SA - 3 August 2010 - SA Health has toda y announced that Ms Belinda Moyes has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Country Health SA. read more...New car park for Ceduna District Health Services - 4 August 2010 The car park has been extended and improved as part of the $36 million redevelopment of Ceduna District Health Services. Older People 2010 - 2016 The health policy for older people provides advice and guidance to all staff when developing or reviewing health care relevant to older people, their family and family carers Guideline for the Use of Clinical Trial Agreements in Research A guideline that proposes the endorsement of two standard agreements for use in clinical research trials across SA Health sites and institutions. Media releases Abbott?s Health Policy Will Make Tasmania SickMinister for Health - 5 August 2010 Local Hospital Network consultation models releasedMinister for Health 2 August 2010 Page 102 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

Media releases RECORD FUNDING A BOOST FOR WESTERN HEALTH Published : - 05/08/2010 WYNNE OPENS NEW SERVICE FOR HOMELESS YOUTH Published : - 04/08/2010 $3.7 MILLION FOR WORLD CLASS CANCER RESEARCH Published : - 03/08/2010 CRANES COME DOWN ON NEW $1 BILLION ROYAL CHILDREN?S HOSPITAL Published : 02/08/2010 Victorians urged to support bushfire communities - 30/07/2010 Published : - 30/07/2010 RECORD FUNDING A BOOST FOR SEYMOUR HOSPITAL Published : - 30/07/2010 RECORD FUNDING A BOOST FOR ALEXANDRA HOSPITAL Published : - 30/07/2010 FIRST SOD TURNED ON MARYSVILLE COMMUNITY FACILITY Published : - 30/07/2010 New guide for councils - 30 July 2010 - A new handbook for Environmental Health Officers has bee n distributed to councils. New family room at Monash announced - 30 July 2010 - Southern Health has unveiled plans for a ne w family room to be built at the Monash Medical Centre in Clayton later this year. Publication Number 17 / 2010 - 5 August 2010Hospital circular - - Date Issued: 30 July 2010 - Subje ct: Highly Specialised Drugs Program Media releases New study to tackle early detection of Alzheimer?s04 Aug 2010, Marmion New defibrillator for Tom Price Hospital30 Jul 2010 Grylls, Hames 6 Aug: Saving Lives: Amenable mortality in New Zealand, 1996 - 2006 - This report analyses trends i n amenable mortality (deaths potentially avoidable through health care) in New Zealand over the past decade. It concludes that amenable mortality can serve as a useful health system performance measure, provided its limitations are understood. 3 August: Food and Nutrition Guidelines for Healthy Older People: A background paper - This background paper provides up-to-date evidence-based information to support health practitioners in improving nutrition for older people. 2 August: Practice nurse cost benefit analysis: report to the Ministry of Health - The aim of the study was to explore the financial benefits to primary health organisations and general practices of employing practice nurses. To achieve this, the project explored how, or whether, improved practice nurse utilisation increased general practice cost effectiveness and value for money. The report presents the results of a literature review and data collection from nine primary care practices in New Zealand. 30 Jul: Physical Activity - New content and guidance - The physical activity section has been relaunche d with revised information about the New Zealand Physical Activity Guidelines and advice on how to become more active. 30 Jul: Nurse Prescribing in Diabetes Services - A discussion document - Submissions are invited o n proposed changes to enable suitably qualified nurses working in diabetes services to prescribe a limited range of medicines for people with diabetes. Consultation on the listing of various pharmaceuticals on the Pharmaceutical Schedule. Closes Friday 20 August 2010 - class="smaller">05 Aug 2010 Highlights PageFullReportDirect-To-Consumer Genetic Tests: Misleading Test Results Are Further Complicated by Deceptive Marketing and Other Questionable Practices - GAO-10-847T July 22, 2010 - (PDF) (PDF, 33 pages) - In 2006, GAO investigated companies selling direct-to-consumer (DTC ) genetic tests and testified that these companies made medically unproven disease predictions. Although new companies have since been touted as being more reputable--Time named one company's test 2008's "invention of the year"--experts remain concerned that the test results mislead consumers. GAO was asked to investigate DTC genetic tests currently on the market and the advertising methods used to sell these tests. Coalition Health Policy - strong initiatives to stimulate the health debate Page 103 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

5 August 2010 - 5:20pm -The AMA welcomes the Coalition?s health policy, which will stimulate debate and bring the health policy bidding war alive in this election campaign. AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that the Coalition has made some strong commitments on hospital beds, support for GPs, and clinician involvement in hospital governance arrangements through community boards, all of which are consistent with AMA policy. Transcript: AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, with Alex Sloan, ABC Radio 666 Canberra 5 August 2010 - 9:00am - Transcript: AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, with Alex Sloan, ABC Radio 666 Canberra, Tuesday 3 August 2010 AMA calls on all parties to publicly support world's best anti-smoking action 4 August 2010 - 11:40am - The AMA today called on all parties to support the introduction of plai n packaging of tobacco products in Australia and to publicly condemn the reported tobacco industry advertising campaign against this groundbreaking public health initiative. AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said that Australia is set to lead the world with strong anti-smoking measures that will save lives and improve the health of the population, and urged all parties and politicians to get behind the plain packaging plan. President's email - 3 August 2010 - 2:10pm - Here we are in week three of a five-week election campai gn and still no sign of the major comprehensive health platforms from the major parties. Yesterday we had the Greens National Health Plan, but that was understandably and predictably aimed at prevention, with no big picture policies for hospitals or primary care. The AMA has this week been pushing general practice issues at every opportunity, with GP Super Clinics a major focus of the media. Our view is that we support GP Super Clinics where they do not compete with existing general practices and where they meet a real community need for primary care services. We insist that local GPs in the area are consulted prior to any decisions about locations for the Clinics. Our preference is for more funding to go to existing general practices to help them expand their services before any consideration is given to establishing a GP Super Clinic. President's Blog, Tuesday 3 August 2010 - 3 August 2010 - 2:00pm - The AMA has been calling on t he Government to review its GP Super Clinics program since it became a reality after the 2007 Federal election. Greens National Health Plan - strong on public health, weak on bigger picture 2 August 2010 - 5:35pm - AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that the Greens National Healt h Plan includes some positive public health initiatives but has little to say about the major issues affecting our public hospitals, medical workforce, or general practice and primary care. Dr Pesce said that the Greens? policies on cigarettes, alcohol, food labelling, junk food and obesity are very similar to the positions held by the AMA. "The proposed 1.5 per cent levy on junk food and alcohol advertising would be a welcome first step but any revenue raised from the levy must be used for alcohol and obesity education, prevention and treatment programs," Dr Pesce said. Transcript: AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, with David Speers, SKY News 2 August 2010 - 2:55pm - Transcript: AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, with David Speers and panel, Australian Agenda, SKY News, Sunday 1 August 2010 Misleading claims about vaccination putting Australian lives at risk - 2 August 2010 - 2:15pm - AMA Vi ce President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said today that the AMA is greatly concerned that groups that are promoting discredited theories about immunisation are exposing Australians to the devastating effects of preventable illnesses. Dr Hambleton said that recent media reports outlining the views of the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) show that this organisation has drawn the fire of the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC). "It is important for parents to have their children immunised. Immunisation saves lives," Dr Hambleton said. More aged care beds welcome, but medical care for older Australians ignored - 1 August 2010 - 4:45pm - AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that the AMA welcomes the Coalition?s commitment to provide incentives to free up more beds for residential aged care, but is disappointed that the medical care needs of older Australians have been ignored in today?s policy announcement. Dr Pesce said that the Coalition policy has failed to support the medical care needs of people being cared for in aged care facilities. "We know that older Australians have significant medical service needs, and these are not being adequately met in our aged care facilities," Dr Pesce said. Australian workers significantly affected by co-workers' drinking habits 1 August 2010 - 12:00pm - MJA media release - Australian workers are significantly affected by oth er people?s alcohol drinking and at a considerable cost, according to a study published in the Medical Journal of Australia. Caroline Dale, from Epidemiology and Population Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Michael Livingston, from Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre, Page 104 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

Melbourne, conducted a study to estimate the cost of extra time worked by Australian workers due to their co-workers? alcohol drinking. Mr Livingston said that around a third of Australian workers have experienced negative effects from their co-workers? alcohol drinking, with 3.5 per cent of workers reporting having to work extra hours to cover for others. Personality traits linked to mental illness and hazardous alcohol usage in Australian doctors - 1 August 2010 - 12:00pm - MJA media release - Certain personality traits, demographic and work related facto rs increase the likelihood that doctors will develop mental illness or hazardous alcohol habits according to a study published in the Medical Journal of Australia. Dr Louise Nash, from the New South Wales Institute of Psychiatry and University of Sydney and co-authors conducted a study to identify factors associated with psychiatric morbidity and hazardous alcohol use in Australian doctors. A total of 2999 doctors participated in the study. Dr Nash said that the mental health of medical practitioners is crucial to the quality of care their patients receive. Fracture patients have low awareness of osteoporosis risk - 1 August 2010 - 12:00pm - MJA med ia release - Only 40 per cent of patients with a fragility fracture are aware of their osteoporosis risk a level that is likely to remain a barrier to patients seeking medical review and managing their risk, according to research published in the Medical Journal of Australia. Dr Charles Inderjeeth, Geriatrician and Rheumatologist at the North Metropolitan Area Health Service, Perth, and co-authors implemented and evaluated a multimodal intervention to improve osteoporosis treatment in patients discharged from an emergency department (ED) after presentation with a fragility fracture. Dr Inderjeeth said that, after implementation of the intervention, the rate of bone mineral densitometry investigations improved from three per cent to 45 per cent, the number of patients receiving calcium and vitamin D supplementation increased from 12 per cent to 33 per cent and from 12 per cent to 37 per cent, respectively, and initiation of specific osteoporosis treatments increased from six per cent to 30 per cent. Broadband network offers new and improved opportunities in health care 30 July 2010 - 4:20pm - AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that the National Broadban d Network offers exciting new and improved opportunities in the provision of health care, especially in rural, regional, and remote areas of the country. Dr Pesce said that the availability of high speed, broadband internet access would allow rural and remote Australians to have access to medical services that they would otherwise have to travel hours to access. Aged care policies must include medical care - 30 July 2010 - 3:30pm - AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesc e, said today that the AMA was pleased to hear Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, announce this morning that the Coalition?s aged care policy would be released ?in the next few days?. Dr Pesce said that aged care has so far been ignored in this election campaign GP Network News Issue 10, Number 26 - 30 July 2010 - 30 July 2010 - 12pm - Support Family Doct ors campaign materials; Updated advice on the use of seasonal influenza vaccine for children; Collaborative arrangements will provide better care for patients; A national disability insurance scheme must be at the core of any national disability strategy; Labor increases mental health investment but more needed Most Doctors Will Face Malpractice Suit, AMA SaysRead the story from ABC News - Media Alert, Aug. 5, 2010 - More than 60 percent of doctors over the age of 55 have been sued at least once, according to a new survey by the American Medical Association (AMA). CMA paper pulls health care sustainability issue from shadows - August 3, 2010 DLA Phillips Fox DLA Phillips Fox is one of the largest legal firms in Australasia and a member of DLA Piper Group, an alliance of independent legal practices. It is a separate and distinct legal entity. For more information visit www.dlaphillipsfox.com This publication is intended as a first point of reference and should not be relied on as a substitute for professional advice. Specialist legal advice should always be sought in relation to any particular circumstances. Click Here for related articles (c) Mondaq Ltd, 2010 - Tel. +44 (0)20 8544 8300 - http://www.mondaq.com Judgments Tasmania Magistrates Court Legislation Commonwealth Reports Australia. Department of Health & Ageing Australia. Therapeutic Goods Administration Australia. National Health & Medical Research Council Australian Institute of Health & Welfare Australian Competition & Consumer Commission Australia. Private Health Insurance Ombudsman Australia. Nursing and Midwifery Board Australian Medical Council Australian Capital Territory. Department of Health New South Wales. Department of Health Northern Territory. Department of Health &Families Queensland. Department of Health Queensland. Health Quality and Complaints Commission South Australia. Department of Health Page 105 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

Tasmania. Department of Health & Human Services Victoria. Department of Health Western Australia. Department of Health New Zealand. Ministry of Health New Zealand. Pharmac United States of America. Government Accountability Office Australian Medical Association American Medical Association Canadian Medical Association Mr Michael Regos DLA Phillips Fox 140 William Street Melbourne Victoria 3000 AUSTRALIA Tel: 39274 5000 Fax: 39274 5111 E-mail: communications@dlaphillipsfox.com URL: www.dlaphillipsfox.com Document BBPUB00020100810e68a0002t

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Medical council slams doctor who linked vaccine to autism Lindy Kerin 619 words 29 January 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation Transcripts ABCTRS English (c) 2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation ELEANOR HALL: The British doctor who created panic by suggesting a link between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and autism has been condemned by the country's peak medical group. The British General Medical Council has found that Dr Andrew Wakefield acted dishonestly and irresponsibly in conducting his research. Medical experts here in Australia say the ruling should allay any fears of parents considering their children's vaccinations. Lindy Kerin has our report. LINDY KERIN: His theories caused panic among parents around the world when he claimed the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine was linked to autism. But now after two-and-a-half years of investigation Dr Andrew Wakefield's research methods have been condemned by the British General Medical Council. It ruled that Dr Wakefield had abused his position of trust and brought the medical profession into disrepute. It found that he'd carried out invasive and unnecessary tests on children and that he'd acted unethically when he paid children five pounds for blood samples at his son's birthday party. Investigative journalist Brian Deer has been covering the case of Dr Wakefield and his colleagues. BRIAN DEER: You cannot trust these men who were responsible for creating the MMR scare. The General Medical Council's evidence that they've brought forth today is quite clear that there is a serious lack of integrity in these people. These are people, these are doctors who are not to be believed. LINDY KERIN: But speaking outside the hearing Dr Wakefield stood by his research and said he was deeply disappointed with the ruling. ANDREW WAKEFIELD: The allegations against me and against my colleagues are both unfounded and unjust. I repeat - unfounded and unjust. And I invite anyone to examine the contents of these proceedings and come to their own conclusions. LINDY KERIN: A lobby group for parents, the Australian Vaccination Network has criticised the ruling. The national president Meryl Dorey says Dr Wakefield and his team of researchers have been treated unfairly. MERYL DOREY: These are three incredibly ethical, dedicated doctors who have actually put their careers and possibly their freedom on the line because they believe so strongly in what they have found . And they have been helping children with autism where a lot of other doctors who deny what Wakefield has found are doing nothing whatsoever to help children with autism. A lot of parents are supporting Wakefield and Walker-Smith and they will continue to support these people. LINDY KERIN: The Lancet published Dr Wakefield's initial study 12 years ago. It led to a drop in vaccination rates in the UK and an increase in cases of measles and mumps. Julie Leask a senior research fellow at the National Centre for Immunisation Research says the ruling further discredits Dr Wakefield's research. JULIE LEASK: It left parents questioning whether their child's autism was caused by something they did, Page 107 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

ie giving that child a vaccine. I think it can further reassure parents that autism is not caused by the MMR vaccine. And it can help us to look towards the real causes and early treatment for children with autism. LINDY KERIN: Julie Leask says the General Medical Council's ruling should further allay the fears of parents considering vaccinations. JULIE LEASK: Already a lot of people see this theory as one that's been discredited largely because of the poor science that was used to put it forward. So this will just be another nail in the coffin of this theory for many parents. ELEANOR HALL: That's Julie Leask from the National Centre for Immunisation Research speaking to Lindy Kerin. Document ABCTRS0020100129e61t00035

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PRESS DIGEST-Australian General News - Aug 5 1,305 words 5 August 2010 07:12 Reuters News LBA English (c) 2010 Reuters Limited Compiled for Reuters by Media Monitors. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW (www.afr.com) Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday rejected further tax reform despite calls from business for more action. "And let's remember the Henry Tax Review, unashamedly by Ken Henry and the panel that he worked with, was not a manifesto for immediate action," Ms Gillard said. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has pledged that a Coalition Government would implement more of the recommendations from the Henry review. Page 1. -Beachfront land values in northern New South Wales (NSW) have been cut by 50 percent due to the "devastating" effect of coastal erosion. The extraordinary step to slash the price of properties at Belongil Beach was taken by the NSW ValuerGeneral earlier this year. Experts say sea level rises will result in more frequent and severe storm surges in the coming decades, contributing to the price fall. The NSW Government is expected to release a coastal management policy later this year. Page 1. -A retirement adequacy index released yesterday shows that voluntary superannuation contributions fell in the second half of 2009. The index, by AMP, also reveals that overall balances increased by almost 6 percent due to strong market gains. Another find on the index was that if the super guarantee is increased to 12 percent, this would result in an increase of A$46,000 over the average Australian's life. Page 4. -Mark McInnes, the former chief executive of high-end retailer David Jones, said yesterday he would return from a trip to the United States to "vigorously contest" sexual harassment allegations. Mr McInnes resigned his position in June after behaving in a "manner unbecoming of a chief executive" toward a female staff member. Kristy Fraser-Kirk has filed a A$37 million claim in the Federal Court against McInnes and the company's board, alleging sexual harassment, misleading conduct and breach of contract. Page 5. -THE AUSTRALIAN (www.theaustralian.news.com.au) Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott will today announce the Coalition's general practice (GP) and hospitals policy, promising A$3.1 billion in funding for 2800 new hospital beds over four years. Page 109 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

The policy includes 1500 more beds than under Labor's proposed health reforms. The Coalition, which has previously said it will scrap plans for further GP super clinics, will also promise to spend an extra A$365 million on after-hours services and GP infrastructure. Page 1. -Local attractions are failing to compete with offshore destinations as more Australians opt to take overseas trips. Government figures released yesterday reveal that in 2009-10, a record 6.8 million Australians took advantage of the strong dollar and went on short term overseas trips. The Tourism Transport Forum estimates this will leave the country more than A$7 billion worse off, and this figure could rise to A$9 billion this financial year. Page 2. -About 100 senior doctors in Queensland have threatened to resign over salary negotiations with Queensland Health (QH). The national doctors union, the Australian Medical Association (AMA), yesterday said that 80 visiting medical officers have written letters of resignation to QH, and a further 20 letters are expected overnight from doctors who were "fed up" after 18 months of negotiations. AMA chairman Ross Cartmill said the resignations will throw some departments at major hospitals into chaos, while others will have to be shut down. Page 2. -New South Wales Police yesterday confirmed that the mother and stepfather of missing girl Kiesha Abrahams, were taken in for questioning as part of "routine" interviews, as the search for the six year old girl enters its fourth day. Ms Abrahams says she last saw her daughter on Saturday night when she tucked her into bed. A team of 120 police searchers trawled through bushland in the surrounds of Kiesha's home yesterday, but failed to uncover any new evidence. Page 3. -THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (www.smh.com.au) Jenny McAllister, senior vice president of the Australian Labor Party, yesterday declined to comment on questions of a potential conflict of interest arising from her role as chair of the New South Wales (NSW) Electric Vehicles Taskforce. Ben Keneally, husband of NSW Premier Kristina Keneally, is a senior executive of electric car company Better Place Australia, representatives of which have met with Ms McAllister several times over the past six months. Page 1. -A number of artefacts made from human remains were withdrawn from auction last week after the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Health said the sale would be illegal. The 15 artefacts, including decorated skulls from Tibet, Borneo and New Guinea, are illegal to sell under the 1983 NSW Human Tissue Act, which bans the sale of human tissue, including skeletal remains. Page 3. -Anti-vaccination group the Australian Vaccination Network has been given three weeks to demonstrate why it should not lose its charity licence, after an audit found a number of breaches of the charity fund-raising law. The Health Care Complaints Commission last week issued a public warning against the group, stating that the group's website contained incorrect and misleading information. Page 5. -Page 110 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

Three former staff of a KFC fast food outlet yesterday gave evidence in the Supreme Court over the outlet's hygiene practices. Monika Samaan, 11, is suing the company over claims that a Twister meal from the Sydney outlet gave her salmonella poisoning, leading to sever brain damage and quadriplegia. The former staff members told the court of staff throwing food as "pranks," and pieces of chicken being dropped on the floor. Page 5. -THE AGE (www.theage.com.au) Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday announced that Labor would guarantee a one year extension of funding for private schools. The current A$63.7 billion agreement was due to expire in 2012, but following concerns raised by independent and Catholic schools, the government "caved in," according to the Australian Education Union (AEU). Angelo Gavrielatos, president of the AEU, said "The private schools that get the most funding are the richest in the nation." Page 1. -Victorian Premier John Brumby has been called on to block a proposed new coal power station. Details emerged yesterday about the Dual Gas application to build a long-delayed plant using new "clean coal" gasification technology, claiming its greenhouse gas emissions would be up to 36 per cent lower than the cleanest existing Victorian brown-coal power plant. But its design is likely to breach emissions standards for new coal power plants, which were announced last week in the Victorian Government's climate change white paper. Page 3. -A report by the Committee for Melbourne warns that a refusal to accept population growth will result in poor urban planning. Melbourne's population will double to eight million over the next 50 years, and the state of Victoria should plan for it, the committee says. The strategic planning report supports population growth and calls for greater housing density in Melbourne. Chief executive of the committee Andrew MacLeod, warns that arguments about slow growth were "incredibly dangerous" as growth will not be slow. Page 3. -House prices in Melbourne have increased more than any other capital city in Australia over the last 12 months, according to new data. The Australian Bureau of Statistics yesterday revealed year-on-year growth from June 2009 of 24.3 per cent in Melbourne. This means that the value of an average home in Melbourne has increased by almost A$98,000 over the past 12 months. Sydney followed with a 21.4 percent rise, where the average home peaked above A$100,000. Page 5. -DIGEST-AUSTRALIA-GENERAL|LANGEN|AUF|G|RBN|REVU|RNP|DNP|PGE|PMF Document LBA0000020100804e684001kh

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FED:CheckUp medical column for October 15 827 words 15 October 2010 Australian Associated Press General News AAP English (c) 2010 Australian Associated Press Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved CHECKUP By Medical Writer Danny Rose SYDNEY, Oct 15 AAP - A weekly round-up of news affecting your health. "LAB TO CLINIC" FOR STEM CELLS: A US biotech firm announced this week it had started the first embryonic stem cell trial in human patients, approved by the US government. The first of around 10 patients with recent spinal injury was enrolled in the pioneering year-long trial by Corporation. It was hoped to show how stem cells can be used to safely regenerate nerve cells needed to repair spinal cord damage. Ultimately, it could show how people with paralysing injuries can have their lost limb sensation and movement restored. "The world will now watch with bated breath to see the outcome ... will the cells be safe? will we see a hint of clinical benefit?" said Prof Elefanty, Group Leader of the Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation Group at Monash University. "This trial marks the transition of human embryonic stem cells from laboratory to the clinic ... other trials for different conditions will probably quickly follow." SCIENCE AND THE BEACH: Nipple rash, sunburn, fin gashes, getting dragged over the reef ... surfing is a healthy pastime, but it is not without hazard. Research is now underway, seeking to determine the prevalence of injury among Australia's population of 2.5 million surfers. Dr Rudi Meir, from Southern Cross University, said for an "iconic Australian sport" surfing had attracted little research. "This project will examine one aspect of participation ... and we certainly hope to, ultimately, conduct more research in this sport," Dr Meir said this week. The research has the support of Surfing Australia and the NSW Sporting Injuries Committee. Surfers should go online to www.surveymonkey.com/s/surfinginjuryproject2010. IS THERE A ... NURSE IN THE HOUSE? Latest data on health services in regional Australia show how doctors are in short supply and, in many cases, nurses fill the gap. Two reports released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) show there were 187 doctors per 100,000 people in the bush in 2008, well short of the figure of 376 for major cities. It was the reverse for nurses, as very remote areas had the highest supply with 1275 nurses per 100,000 people, compared to 1035 in city areas. David Braddock, from the AIHW's labour force unit, said these were "nurses who've been given Page 112 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

additional roles over a normal nurse, up to prescribing drugs, and in some cases they're filling the gap left by the lack of medical practitioners in some of those remote areas". In the four years to 2008, total doctor numbers increased 18 per cent and nurses were up 12 per cent. BUSY FEET, HEALTHY BRAIN: Walking may protect your brain down the road, a US study has found. Almost 300 older people with no signs of dementia joined the University of Pittsburgh study, which determined how far they walked in a typical week. Their brains were scanned nine years later, when it was found those who walked about 10-to-15 kilometres a week had greater gray matter volume than people who didn't walk as much. Tests after another four years showed 40 per cent of the participants had developed cognitive impairment or dementia. Those who walked the most cut their risk of developing memory problems in half. "Our results should encourage well-designed trials of physical exercise in older adults as a promising approach for preventing dementia and Alzheimer's disease," said Dr Kirk Erickson. MORE ACTION ON "MISLEADING" WEBSITE: The Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) has been stripped of its charity status. The NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (OLGR) moved against the group on Thursday, stating it had failed to publish a disclaimer as required by the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC). "The organisation's website is misleading," the OLGR said. "In that it may lead people ... to believe they are donating to a cause which promotes vaccination, whereas the organisation adopts an anti-vaccination position." The HCCC in July ordered the group to publish a disclaimer on its website, informing parents it was opposed to childhood immunisation and its information should "not be read as medical advice". The AVN is appealing the HCCC's decision to the NSW ombudsman. OBESITY DRUG PULLED: A weight loss drug has been withdrawn from sale after it was found to increase the risk of heart attack and stroke in overweight people. Pharmaceutical company Abbott has ceased distribution of the prescription-only drug sibutramine (brand name Reductil), and those using it are advised to see their GP about an alternative. "Patients who wish to stop treatment before seeing their doctor can do so at any time," an Abbott spokesperson said. The move follows talks between Abbott and the Therapeutic Goods Administration, and the release of major study which confirmed the extra risk. Go online to www.sibutramine.com.au/australia. AAP dr/psm/ Document AAP0000020101014e6af009ye

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03 Opinion Web headline 25 characters| here to a max 50 chars 871 words 4 September 2010 New Scientist NEWSCI 707 English (c) 2010, New Scientist, Reed Business Information UK, a division of Reed Elsevier, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Web headline 25 characters| here to a max 50 chars Web strap goes in here, and should be one sentence that ought to come to no more than about 150 characters xxx xxxxx xhjkl hjl hjkl or about 23 words ACCORDING to homeopathy, water can "remember" a substance that has been added to it, even when the mixture is diluted to the point that not a single molecule of the stuff remains. But how can we be sure that the same water isn't also remembering all sorts of other substances it picked up in, say, the toilet it passed through on its way to the sewage farm Monika Jrgens is surprised by claims that it is possible to delete undesirable stored information and revitalise water by "whirling" it past crystals, precious stones and gold nuggets. That's all "according to the science of crystal therapy", as explained on the website of the German company Elisa Energy Systems. What's more, for a mere few hundred euros they will sell you the right equipment to do your own water-whirling. To find out more, and to discover many pages of A-grade fruitloopery, go to bit.ly/whirlingwater. BY THEIR ads shall ye know them Feedback usually applies a very strict filter a sort of mental AdBlock to visual web content, to the point that sometimes someone looking over our shoulder at the computer screen will comment on an advertisement and we're genuinely puzzled: "What ad" But it seems online ads can have their uses, offering a quick handle on what kind of site we have in front of us. For example, Pedro Plowman was curious about the New Scientist story on the New South Wales Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) issuing a warning about the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) website (31 July, p 5). So he visited the site, to be confronted by a banner ad for "Fluoride free antioxidant ultrapure alkaline ionized microclustered acid free water" and another offering workshops in shamanism and "energetic healing". These ads check enough of Feedback's fruitloop boxes for us to wonder about the seriousness of the site hosting them. When Feedback visited it on 18 August, the AVN had still not complied with the HCCC's request, issued on 7 July, that within two weeks it should publish a warning on the site stating that claims made there should not be read as medical advice. Instead, the AVN had issued a response which described those who referred it to the HCCC as a "hate group". IT SEEMS nothing is spared the q-word curse, not even dishwashing detergents. "Are you looking for an amazing shine and clean that doesn't require extra work" asks household goods company Reckitt Benckiser at bit.ly/qfinish. "Finish QuantuMatic is the solution to your needs." What could possibly justify the use of the q-word here Steven Walker, who drew our attention to this, has a theory: perhaps Reckitt Benckiser is playing a cruel Schrdinger-type joke on consumers. Maybe you won't know if anything is inside the Finish QuantuMatic box until you open it. FEEDBACK is not actually licensed to practise astronomy. But we were as surprised as Gethin Coles was by the photograph that Australian website 9News used to illustrate a story, headlined "Meteor shower stuns stargazers", about the Perseids in August (bit.ly/perseidshower). It featured a lovely long exposure of a Roman ruin in Bulgaria nearly half an hour, we'd say, judging by the length of the arcs left by the stars swinging about the north celestial pole. But there was no sign at all of any meteors moving across the sky. There were more pictures. The second: the same, but a slightly shorter exposure. The third: there's a streak across the sky, but we think it's a phone wire. The fourth: yes! A meteor (captured, naturally, using a short exposure). Can you suggest other examples of pictures that don't show what they purport to FAMILY and friends have "always known me for getting lost", Clare Taylor writes. "Now I know why." She had foolishly been operating under the belief that north and south are opposite each other. But the Page 114 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

photo she sent us of a pavement plaque marking the Lea Valley Walk in her native east London shows otherwise: in it, south is at 12 o'clock, as it were, and north at about 7 o'clock. We are reminded of Holborn station, the nearest London Underground station to the New Scientist offices. Until recently its signs for the Piccadilly line had trains from one platform heading "north" while trains in the opposite direction went "west", evoking visions of an uncomfortably sharp bend. FINALLY, in the manual for his new Nikkai television set, Peter Toye came across this: "WARNING do not watch television programmes or turn your TV set on for your own and others' safety." This seemed so strange that we asked Peter to send us a scan of the manual by way of proof that it really does say that. He did; it does. Free reuse - RBI + third parties Document NEWSCI0020100902e6940000l

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Opinion Good health sparks vaccine row 1,053 words 1 June 2010 The West Australian TWAU First 21 English (c) 2010, West Australian Newspapers Limited F or most parents, having your child vaccinated is a no-brainer. We have been brought up in an age of seeing relatively few serious contagious diseases, much of which is due to the carefully scripted childhood vaccination schedule. When rates of immunisation are high, the so-called herd immunity protects everyone. Because once you have less disease around, the effect snowballs so there is less disease around to catch and spread to others, and so on. It relies on a level of community support for the common good. Your child has the jab and it will hopefully protect him or her, and others in turn. It is a system that appears to work remarkably well, given the millions of doses administered in developed countries every year, where the rate of serious adverse reactions remains low. You may hear to the contrary, but it is not true. This year we saw something unexpected. Parents who went off dutifully to give their children the seasonal flu vaccine, which for the first time included protection against the human swine flu strain H1N1, became alarmed. Hundreds of WA children who had their jab suffered unexpected bad reactions, including 57 with convulsions, forcing health authorities to pull the pin on the flu vaccination program in children aged under five. Authorities have not yet been able to say what went wrong. This has rightfully raised questions about vaccinations, particularly how the seasonal flu cocktail is tested, but has also provided fodder for vaccination critics. It has given a new injection of life for the somewhat misnamed Australian Vaccination Network, a lobby group which maintains it is not anti-vaccination but rather pro-information. A planned public forum at the State Library complex tonight is sold out, with more than 200 people parting with $10 a piece to hear both sides of the vaccination debate. The event comes two weeks after the group was forced to cancel an earlier forum in Perth when the Uniting Church in the City made a last-minute decision to withdraw its venue. That brought cries of censorship but probably gave the event even more publicity. So what is the Australian Vaccination Network? It is a non-profit organisation formed in NSW in 1994 by a group of parents and health professionals concerned about protecting the rights of Australians to make free and informed health choices. The groups mission statement says it is dedicated to the idea that health can be achieved and maintained without the use of pharmaceutical drugs and vaccines. It is headed by Meryl Dorey, who is due to attend tonights forum, but who in recent months was said to be winding down her involvement in the group for personal reasons. The main thrust of the groups efforts over the years has been to fight any form of compulsory vaccination because it argues governments have no right to tell people whether to vaccinate or not. It argues many parents feel pressured to comply. However, the network has been widely criticised by medical professionals, and in 2007 it was forced to make a public apology to the Australian Medical Association in NSW after wrongly claiming on its website that the medical association had received funding from pharmaceutical companies and censored information provided to its members. Page 116 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

Last year, the Australian Skeptics awarded the AVN its Bent Spoon Award presented annually to the perpetrator of the most preposterous piece of paranormal or pseudoscientific piffle. It said the award had been earned for scaremongering and misinformation about childhood vaccination. In turn, Ms Dorey said winning the award meant she was on the right track. As far as the flu vaccine goes, the group said there were not enough checks and balances in place. This has clearly struck a chord with some parents. Some of the unanswered questions, it argued, include whether parents were fully informed about the testing of the vaccine and why health authorities still wont provide the batch numbers of the vaccines associated with this cluster of reactions. The group is right when it says there are many unanswered questions, more than a month after the flu vaccine program in young children was suspended. Until there are answers, parents are likely to worry. It will also reignite the highly emotive debate between parents who choose to vaccinate their children, and those who dont. It was not surprising then that the story of Perth mother Sarah Chivers in last Fridays The West Australian attracted strong reaction. Ms Chivers said she had elected not to vaccinate her nine-month-old son after researching the risk of side effects. But by the next day, others were criticising parents who did not vaccinate their children, saying they put other children at risk of catching preventable diseases. Yesterday Ms Chivers wrote to The West , defending her decision and saying it was up to parents to make the decision about what was right for them and their children. Meanwhile, the final chapter in a long-standing saga about the safety of childhood vaccines has played out quietly in Britain. Disgraced researcher Andrew Wakefield, who was at the centre of a massive scare linking the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine to autism in children, was finally struck off the medical register for serious professional misconduct. Years earlier it was found Dr Wakefield had financial interests in the outcome of his research and had taken money to prepare evidence for solicitors who hoped to bring cases against vaccine manufacturers, alleging that the MMR triggered autism. Im not an apologist for health authorities. I think they misjudged the whole swine flu vaccination issue last year, buying up millions of doses of a vaccine that really few could be bothered having, and which now sit idle under refrigeration. Nonetheless, you dont throw the baby out with the bathwater. Perth paediatrician Gary Geelheod, who is soon to step down as president of the Australian Medical Association in WA, does not mince his words. We have to do everything we can to prevent childhood illnesses, and the science is rock solid, he says. People who vaccinate their children save them from death and disability, and parents who dont vaccinate their children put them at risk of death and disability. Document TWAU000020100531e6610002n

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FED:CheckUp medical column for July 16 790 words 16 July 2010 Australian Associated Press General News AAP English (c) 2010 Australian Associated Press Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved CHECKUP A weekly round-up of news affecting your health By Medical Writer Danny Rose TAKE A MENTAL BREAK Research commissioned by Lifeline has revealed high levels of stress in among Australians, especially women. About 1200 men and women were asked to rate their everyday level from "very stressed" through to "no stress" at all. The poll showed 46 per cent of women, and 41 per cent of men, put themselves in the most stressed category. At the other end of the scale, only 9 per cent of women and 11 per cent of men could report feeling no stress. "Our research indicates that in just about every aspect of life women are experiencing higher levels of stress," Lifeline chief executive Dawn O'Neil said. "Stress is a major issue for our whole community ... but often women neglect their own self care, putting themselves at the bottom of the list after work, family and friends." Lifeline has declared July 23 Stress Down Day (www.stressdown.org.au). LOCAL DEFENCE AGAINST HENDRA VIRUS Brisbane scientists can begin local production of an experimental treatment for people exposed to the Hendra virus. Queensland Health has granted $300,000 to the University of Queensland, in a deal also involving a US foundation, to produce the Hendra monoclonal antibody. The treatment was developed in Washington DC in conjunction with the CSIRO, and vials of it have been flown to Australia for emergency cases. The Hendra virus emerged in 1994 in the inner-Brisbane suburb of the same name. Of only seven people infected, four died. Humans appear to contract the extremely rare virus from close contact with infected horses. The first batch of locally made antibodies should be available in about six months. WELCOME NEWS ON SMOKING Research into smoking in remote indigenous communities has uncovered some positive news. Although about 50 per cent of adults in the communities were found to be smokers - compared to less than 17 per cent for the broader population - indigenous smokers had a lower daily intake. The study took in records for all cigarettes sold in 2007 from stores in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands of South Australia. Indigenous smokers consumed six to eight cigarettes a day - almost half the average daily intake (14 Page 118 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

cigarettes) of smokers in the wider community. Associate Professor David Thomas, from Darwin's Menzies School of Health Research, said the research "busts the myth" that indigenous people were heavily addicted to tobacco. TEASPOONS NOT ACCURATE Parents are being warned not to give their children medicine using an ordinary teaspoon because of the risk of overdose. A study of teaspoons in common use in homes shows they vary in capacity from 2.5ml and up to 7.3ml. It concluded parents should instead use the special spoon provided with a medicine - or buy a syringe or spoon with measurements - to ensure children received correct dosages. "Our research clearly shows that using domestic teaspoons and tablespoons can result in children receiving considerably more or less medicine than they need," said Professor Matthew Falagas, director of the Alfa Institute of Biomedical Sciences in Athens. Paediatric dosages needed to be adjusted for body weight as well as age, he also said, making children "more vulnerable to dosage errors than adults". PA GROUP ORDERED TO POST WARNING A NSW-based group that is opposed to vaccination has been criticised for promoting "inaccurate and misleading" information. The Health Care Complaints Commission also ordered the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) to place a warning on its website stating it "should not be read as medical advice". "The commission recognises that it is important for there to be debate on the issue of vaccination," the commission said in a report sent to the AVN earlier this month. "However, the AVN provides information that is inaccurate and misleading." The network has until later this month to post the warning. HEART ATTACK RISK Moves in the US to beef up warnings for the drug Avandia are a timely reminder to those 20,000 Australians still using the controversial diabetes treatment, a doctor says. Packets of the drug in Australia have carried a warning since 2007 noting its heightened risk of heart attack, and the US Food and Drug Administration is now considering a similar move. "The take home message is that if a person is taking Avandia ... it's a really good time to go in and talk to their doctor," said Dr Gary Deed, a Queensland GP and former national president of Diabetes Australia. "There are many newer agents on the market that might effectively manage their type 2 diabetes if they do not wish to continue, or should not continue, on Avandia." AAP/PA dr/jhp Document AAP0000020100716e67g0002t

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General Mum to dozens is Mother of the Year 492 words 7 May 2010 The West Australian TWAU Second 19 English (c) 2010, West Australian Newspapers Limited Mum to dozens is Mother of the Year Gosnells mother, grandmother and foster mother Kaye Worth was named Barnardos Australian Mother of the Year in Sydney last night. Mrs Worth received the top honour for her dedication and devotion to looking after some of the most vulnerable children in the community. She has cared for more than 50 babies and children over the past 15 years, many of whom have had disabilities or needed crisis care. She also offers respite for parents and struggling young mothers. Mrs Worth was nominated by her granddaughter Amy Pratt, who said her grandmother had an extraordinary love and had given many babies a wonderful start in life. State probes workers club sale The Office of State Revenue has launched an investigation into the sale of a Fremantle workers club property to former deputy mayor Phil Douglas for a quarter of its estimated $2 million value. The Department of Treasury and Finance said it was unable to comment, but The West Australian has obtained an email sent from a compliance officer confirming the $482,559 sale of the RSL Club Wyolaowned building on Bannister Street was being investigated. It is believed the department is checking, among other things, whether stamp duty reflecting the market value of the property was paid. Anti-vaccination lobbyist heads west The head of Australias main anti-vaccination group will hold a seminar in Perth for parents on childrens flu vaccination, a move likely to highlight concerns about the recent spike in bad reactions in WA. Austr alian Vacci nation Netwo rk spokeswoman Meryl Dorey, an outspoken critic of the countrys childhood vaccination program, and Murdoch University PhD researcher Judy Wilyman are hosting the forum. Next Fridays meeting will focus on flu vaccine risks, but promotional material says it will also discuss links between vaccines and allergies, autism and behavioural problems. Algal balls fuel ocean-warming fears Scientists probing the sea floor off Jurien Bay have found billions of bright pink algal balls they fear could signal the start of rising ocean temperatures because of global warming. The coral-like balls, each about the size of a softball, are known as rhodoliths and help form living reef systems on the seabed. Although common in temperate waters, the prevalence of the balls off Jurien surprised scientists who had been expecting to see big kelp forests on the sea floor. The balls would usually be covered by thick kelp but instead were clearly visible on the bottom. ALP suspends lying NSW MP NSW Labor MP Karyn Paluzzano has been suspended from the Australian Labor Party and faces a possible jail term after admitting she lied to the Independent Commission Against Corruption. State ALP general secretary Sam Dastyari confirmed yesterday the Member for Penriths membership was suspended pending the final report of the ICAC after Premier Kristina Keneally asked the party to review it. Document TWAU000020100506e65700037

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AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTS - AUG 5, 2010 675 words 5 August 2010 Asia Pulse APULSE English (c) 2010 Asia Pulse Pty Limited SYDNEY, Aug 5 Asia Pulse - Highlights of today's newspapers: THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW: - Julia Gillard has opened a new divide over tax reform by playing down further action on the Henry review as Tony Abbott declared the Coalition would implement more of the recommendations. - Outdoor clothing and equipment retailer Kathmandu has missed its prospectus forecast for earnings of $50.6 million due to heavy discounting hurting margins. - Land values on a beach front strip near Byron Bay in northern NSW have been slashed by 50 per cent, in an early sign of the devastating effect climate change can have on coastal property. - Melbourne has defied the national trends as its vacancy rate hit 6.5 per cent the lowest among the CBD markets. - Junior miners are wary of the big three manoeuvring to get their way on the mining tax, write Luke Forrestal and Perry Williams. THE AUSTRALIAN: - Massive iron ore exports to China have delivered Australia a record trade surplus, but business surveys reveal the rest of the economy is in trouble. - A coalition government would spend $3.1 billion to fund 2800 new hospital beds over four years -- 150 0 more beds than promised by Labor. - Kevin Rudd has broken his silence to deny he has been leaking against Julia Gillard and to strongly back the Prime Minister for re-election. - If they are struggling in the marbled halls of Marina Mirage on the Gold Coast, you have to wonder how they are faring elsewhere in retail land. - Australians are shunning superannuation as a way to save for retirement. - A rush by Australians to take overseas trips is expected to leave the country more than $7 billion worse off. THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: - The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, says Tony Abbott's spending policies will drive the budget close to deficit in three years, saying opposition promises have already sliced $2 billion off the forecast surplus of $4.5 billion. - Peter Costello has called on both Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott to promise personal tax cuts. This is the first federal election campaign in a generation in which neither party is offering personal tax cuts. - The state government taskforce examining electric vehicle issues that could affect a company associated with the husband of Kristina Keneally, has been chaired by the senior vice president of the ALP. - A surge in mining income has driven Australia's trade surplus to a record high, beating the previous record by more $1 billion. - The Australian Vaccination Network has three weeks to show why its charity licence should not be revoked after an audit revealed it was soliciting donations without permission. - Australians living in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane believe a bigger population is inevitable. THE AGE: - Crown is planning a massive redevelopment of the Southbank promenade that will increase the Page 121 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

casino's floor space, including extra gaming areas. - A country rugby league player has been banned for life after pulling out a knife during heated finals match. - Former David Jones CEO Mark McInnes will return to Australia with his pregnant girlfriend to fight the $37 million sexual harassment lawsuit brought by Kristy Fraser-Kirk. - Victorian Labor is in mourning for much-loved former deputy premier and attorney-general Jim Kennan . - Melbourne's population will double to 8 million in the next 50 years and Victoria should plan for it with more houses in existing suburbs - according to a business think tank. - Victorian Premier John Brumby is facing calls that he must block a proposed new coal power station in the Latrobe Valley to back up his claim that he will lead the nation on climate change policy. - Extraordinary growth in house prices in Australia's capital cities over the past year has resulted in the value of an average home in Melbourne rising by nearly $98,000. - Opposition leader Tony Abbott will attempt to outflank Labor on health today with a $3.1 billion package funding 2000 new public hospital beds and an extension of late-night GP services. ASIA PULSE ry Document APULSE0020100805e6850002z

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FED:CheckUp medical column for July 30 840 words 30 July 2010 Australian Associated Press General News AAP English (c) 2010 Australian Associated Press Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved CHECKUP GROW YOUR OWN THE WAY TO GO People with knee or hip problems could in future "grow" their own replacement joints using their own stem cells, scientists have said recently. A team of experts has, for the first time, shown it is possible to grow joints inside the body which have a full range of movement and can bear weight. The joints could potentially last longer than commonly-used artificial joints, saving elderly patients from having to undergo gruelling operations to replace those that have worn away. The pioneering study was carried out on rabbits but researchers believe it paves the way for a future where people grow their own bone and cartilage. They used a computer to help create artificial scaffolds that were anatomically the same size and shape as rabbit hip joints. Data suggests that many patients currently undergoing joint replacements will outlive their replacement joint. They will then need another operation in old age to replace it, potentially without much bone left to support another joint. PA A LONELY WAY TO GO New study by US researchers has shown that loneliness can be as deadly as heavy smoking or drinking. After reviewing medical articles involving more than 300,000 people, the researchers found those with a strong social network had a 50 per cent greater chance of outliving those with lacking friendships or a partner. The results concluded that some of the side-effects of loneliness, including a greater risk of obesity and lack of motivation to exercise, were not dissimilar to smoking and heavy drinking. While it has been known for decades that social interaction has an impact on morality, researchers said they have found conclusive evidence to now back that claim. Doctors are now being urged to treat wellbeing and one's happiness as seriously as they would other medical issues like diet, smoking and exercise. Another recommendation in the report was for hospitals to implement patient support networks as part of one's recovery from an injury. BEST FEEDING WITH THE BREAST Negative attitudes to breastfeeding may have contributed to a rise in chronic disease in Australia, particularly among disadvantaged families, new research shows. The researchers set out to assess the public health significance of premature weaning of infants from breast milk on the risk of chronic illness later in life. Dr Julia Smith, from the Australian National University (ANU), said the study mapped the public health Page 123 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

impact of premature weaning over the past five decades in Australia. The researchers found that even now, very few Australian babies are breastfed to six months. Research has shown breastfeeding can reduce the long-term risk of chronic disease. But during the 1960s, 90 per cent of people now aged between 35 and 45 were weaned off breast milk before they were six months old. This was because "inappropriate and unsupportive" health policies, as well as public attitudes, had undermined breastfeeding in postwar decades, Dr Smith said. AD NO WHOOPING MATTER A mother who lost a four-week-old baby to whooping cough has called on the state and federal governments to do more to promote vaccination. The call came as NSW's Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) issued a warning against the Au str ali an Va cci nat ion Ne tw or k (AVN), which campaigns against vaccination, after it allegedly used the baby's death to promote its opposition. In March 2009 Toni and David McCaffery lost their four-week-old baby Dana to whooping cough. Ms McCaffery said the AVN campaign began just days after Dana's death. The advertisement had shaken her to the core, she said. While health ministers had agreed to a national immunisation strategy and campaign by the end of 2009, they had failed to deliver, Ms McCaffery said. The HCCC said its investigation revealed that the AVN provides information that is solely antivaccination, incorrect and misleading and that it quotes selectively from research to suggest that vaccination may be dangerous. THE FACTS BEHIND DIRTY TALK Mobile phones can harbour 18 times more living bacteria than a flush on a men's toilet, according to research for consumer group Which? A hygiene expert who swabbed and analysed 30 handsets for the study found seven had warning or high levels of environmental bacteria. One harboured levels of bacteria, including faecal coliforms, high enough to give its user a serious stomach upset. Which? said the findings suggest millions of UK mobiles would exceed the recommended acceptable levels of bacteria. While not immediately harmful, elevated levels indicate poor hygiene and can act as a breeding ground for more serious bacteria. "The levels of potentially harmful bacteria on one mobile were off the scale. That phone needs sterilising," said Jim Francis, a hygiene expert. The tests showed how easily bacteria could linger on the surface of a phone, which could be passed on to other people if they held the handset to look at photos or other applications. Which? advises that phones can be cleaned with an alcohol wipe. PA AAP nep/jnb Document AAP0000020100729e67u007y5

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General Child flu vaccine alert was too slow: parents CATHY OLEARY MEDICAL EDITOR 459 words 24 April 2010 The West Australian TWAU Third 1 English (c) 2010, West Australian Newspapers Limited WA health authorities have been accused of taking too long to warn parents and GPs about a surge in children suffering from potentially serious side effects after being given the flu vaccine in the past month. Some parents told The West Australian yesterday they would not have taken their children to have the vaccine this week if they had known dozens of children had already experienced convulsions within hours of having their injection. Since mid-March, 23 children under 10 have been treated at Princess Margaret Hospital for febrile convulsions that have been linked to the childrens flu vaccine. Twelve children have been admitted to hospital, including a baby understood to be critically ill. The spike prompted the State Government to suspend its free flu vaccine program for children under five on Thursday night. The Federal Government has since extended the halt on the vaccine to all children under five throughout Australia. The Health Department confirmed yesterday another 40 cases of febrile convulsions in Perth children were also being investigated. Australian Nursing Federation State secretary Mark Olson criticised the department for delaying its advice to the public until this week, saying it had probably put some families through unnecessary stress. Im not saying the vaccine isnt safe, but parents have a right to know if there has been an unusually high number of adverse effects over several weeks, Mr Olson said. Australian Medical Association State vice-president Steve Wilson, a Bassendean GP, said he was concerned doctors first heard about the vaccine concerns from the media. Parents shouldnt panic because vaccines these days are generally very safe and there is an investigation into whats happened here, he said. But it is disappointing that there were concerns around at least a few days earlier and it highlights that the alert system needs to be tidied up. Chief health officer Tarun Weeramanthri defended his departments action, saying it acted appropriately after doctors reported a higher than usual number of adverse reactions. He said Health Minister Kim Hames decision to suspend the vaccination of young children was made on advice from the department. We take all reports very seriously and we believe weve acted in a very timely manner and Ill take responsibility for that, Dr Weeramanthri said. As soon as we got information from clinicians, particularly at PMH, this week that they were seeing something more than they normally see, we acted as promptly as we could. He hoped the program could be reinstated this winter. The Australian Vaccination Network has written to the State Government asking it to further investigate the safety of the flu vaccine. COMMENT 8 Page 125 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

Document TWAU000020100423e64o0009h

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Skatebowl has already ripped community apart and will continue to do so 814 words 4 February 2010 The NewsMail APNNEM Main 8 English Copyright 2010 APN Newspapers Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved Skatebowl has already ripped community apart and will continue to do so ROB Messenger is certainly correct. Bundaberg Regional Council needs to spend its ratepayers money on something better than yet another skatebowl, and an unwanted one at that. Bundy needs more jobs, and Im sure $100,000 could be more wisely spent encouraging or making permanent jobs. With swimming, fishing, cricket, football, barbecuing, playground, and the dozens of activities for children already at Innes Park Reserve, it is difficult to see any need for a skatebowl, especially with so many others about and so close to a residential area. Except for Carlyle Gardens, its difficult to imagine a more inappropriate place for one. Seems to be a good location, says RickyL (NM SMS, Jan 28). It is nice and green, with lots of trees. Now compare that to the multicoloured concrete monstrosity of Moore Park skatebowl. How would you like to live across the street from that? It would seem to be obvious to build the skatebowl where the kids are (Coral Cove), rather than where they are few, and where its wanted instead of where its not. Rob Messenger is also right in the statement that if this project goes ahead, its going to rip the community apart. It already has and will get uglier if started. Come on, council, do the right thing. Build it elsewhere, dont arrogantly shove it down the throats of people youre suppose to represent. A foregone conclusion? MY mother, bless her soul, often intoned: Being told a lie does not offend me. Being expected to believe the lie is the epitome of offensiveness. When all the heavies attend a public forum, chicanery is afoot. It is akin to nuclear missile diplomacy. Why is it that Australian politicians from local, state and Commonwealth government have so little respect for the Australian community that they need to use subterfuge and chicanery to feign democratic process? It would have been so much simpler to present the proposed Gin Gin CBD streetscape works as: This is what we have to go with. How can we best get the most appropriate and beneficial outcome, without lulling the forum into a delusion the council was prepared to act on community wishes. It is not that the trees have to go it is the duplicity implicit in, If they had to go, would you agree to replacing them with new largish trees, even if that proved to be expensive?, knowing full well there was no choice at all. When will governments treat their constituents as intelligent adults by telling them the truth without the artifices of feigned democratic process? Most constituents can accept and deal with truth. Still waiting for paydirt MANY years ago I too received a letter to say I had won a huge amount overseas. Page 127 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

I sent them a letter back authorising them to take the fee and any charges out of my winnings and send me the rest. I am still waiting. Euthanasia the answer IT would appear the Labor Party is having difficulty in balancing forecast budgets due to an ageing population. It is calculated that the ageing will be a financial drain on the country. No ageing person wants to be a burden to themselves, their family, the state or the medical profession. They have no wish to live with a terminal illness or be subjected to the regime of hospitals and nursing homes. Solution. Legalise euthanasia. Other side of vaccines IN response to the story, Vaccines have erased many diseases. Oral polio vaccine was banned in the USA because the inventor of the injectable version testified before a senate committee that most of the small number of cases were traced back to the vaccine itself. As for the other diseases vaccines are said to have virtually eradicated, looking at graphs that go back further in time than the ones published in the tiny government pamphlet, you will note a steady decline in rates regardless of when the vaccine was introduced. An example of this is scarlet fever. No vaccine was introduced but it virtually disappeared. Taking a sick child to the doctor, invariably you will be asked the vaccination status of your child. Unvaccinated will be diagnosed as measles, vaccinated as fever accompanied by a rash. Dr Young would have you believe there is no risk with vaccination, even though they contain formaldehyde and heavy metals such as mercury and aluminium. I too have some required reading for parents: the Australian Vaccination Networks handbook. Then you will have a truly informed decision. By the way, wasnt thalidomide downplayed by health professionals before accepted as the cause of all those birth defects? Document APNNEM0020100203e624000p1

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Agenda Vaccination to save loved ones Jane Hansen 1,693 words 7 November 2010 Sunday Mail, The SNDMAL 2 - State - Main Country 50 English Copyright 2010 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved Whooping cough is reaching epidemic proportions in Queensland and immunisation is crucial, writes Jane Hansen ``We don't have any evidence of children dying after vaccination but we definitely do see children dying from vaccine preventable diseases'' PROFESSOR ROBERT BOOY IT'S the nightmare every parent dreads but for Lennox Head couple Toni and David McCaffery it is a nightmare from which they will never wake. Last year the couple made the emotionally harrowing journey from Brisbane to Lennox Head with an empty baby capsule in the back seat of their car. They'd had to leave the body of their four-week-old daughter, Dana, in the morgue at Brisbane's Mater Hospital. Dana died from whooping cough. For the past two years Queensland has been in the grip of a whooping cough epidemic and unless parents get serious about it, the disease will claim more lives. Already this year there have been 6153 Queenslanders who have contracted the disease that causes a painful, hacking cough that can kill the very young and the very old. In 2003, there were 716 cases. In 2007, just before the epidemic began, there were 1537 cases. While doctors will say better diagnosis is part of the reason, the other part is that many people, mainly adults, are not immunised and it is highly contagious. Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital infectious diseases expert Dr Michael Nissen says people are not aware of the time limits on the vaccine. ``Even if you have had a shot, or even whooping cough itself, the immunity lasts only ten years,'' he says. ``So we have a case of adults with low immunity possibly giving it to young children.'' It's the reason AMA president Dr Gino Pecoraro had his whooping cough booster shot last week, during a tour around Queensland that was, in part, to raise awareness of the disease. ``I'm an obstetrician and I'm around babies all the time and we are in the middle of an epidemic,'' he says.'' ``Queensland is running higher than any other state.'' Queensland Health communicable diseases director Dr Christine Selvey expects the number of cases of whooping cough to hit 7000 before the end of the year and says it is only ``sheer luck'' that the Sunshine State has not recorded a death in 2010, but it has claimed five babies in the past 20 months. Between 1993 and 2005 there were 18 deaths - 16 of the babies less than a year old. It also concerns Dr Selvey that pockets of Queensland have low immunisation rates, which is why the Government has introduced a pertussis booster shot for all Year 10 students. ``The immunisation program is a victim of its own success,'' she says. ``People just don't see death from these diseases any more.'' Page 129 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

At four weeks of age Dana McCaffery was too young to be vaccinated and probably caught the fatal pertussis bacterium from an adult or child in a far northern New South Wales region notorious for low immunisation rates. Dana was airlifted to Brisbane's Mater Hospital but nothing could stop the toxins that attacked her immune system and heart. Dana's father Dave explains his and his wife Toni's overwhelming horror at their baby daughter's death. ``We cry ourselves to sleep with memories of our daughter coughing until she couldn't breathe, attached to a ventilator, going into cardiac arrest and holding her bruised and swollen body after her heart stopped,'' he says. ``We were inconsolable as we left our baby in the hospital morgue and drove home from Brisbane with an empty baby capsule.'' The Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast hinterland have the lowest rates of vaccination in the state between eight and 18 per cent of parents believe their children will be harmed by vaccines. Generations ago, children regularly died of preventable diseases, such as whooping cough. In 1901, before clean water and mass immunisation, one in 12 babies didn't make it to the age of one. Now it's one in 200. Most of us are spared this tragedy because of the success of the mass vaccination program. It's called herd immunity and with 95 per cent of the population vaccinated, we can prevent epidemics of measles, whooping cough and chicken pox - all highly transmissible diseases, says Professor Robert Booy from the National Centre for Immunisation and Research Surveillance. ``At present we have 92 per cent of the population vaccinated on average but there are areas that don't have that rate and if you have a community with more than 10 per cent not vaccinated, that increases the risk,'' he says. Pockets of southeast Queensland, like the Sunshine and Gold Coast hinterlands, have rates as low as 88 per cent. And a trip down to the Byron shire may end up giving you more than a suntan. One in five parents has registered as conscientious objectors to immunisation and refuse to immunise their children. It was the hotspot of the whooping cough epidemic that started in 2008. The Australian Vaccination Network opposes vaccinations for children but its spokeswoman Meryl Dorey denies the organisation encourages parents not to vaccinate their children. She does, however, say ``the Government is paying a bounty to doctors to push vaccines''. And she talks about children being ``collateral damage'' as a result. Professor Booy dismisses any suggestion that children may have died as a result of being vaccinated. ``The bottom line is we don't have any evidence of children dying after vaccination but we definitely do see children dying from vaccine preventable diseases,'' he says. The debate is an emotional one for the McCafferys. Time has done little to ease the pain of their daughter Dana's awful death. They say their grief has been enormously compounded by the actions of the network. On March 12 last year Ms Dorey tried to get Dana's medical records from NSW Health. It was the day before the four-week-old's funeral. ``All I did was contact the Department of Health because I wanted to know if her whooping cough was a laboratory diagnosis, because it might not have been whooping cough,'' Ms Dorey says. The McCafferys see it differently. ``It was such an invasion of privacy,'' Mrs McCaffery says. Page 130 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

``They were trying to disprove Dana did not die from pertussis, it was so disrespectful.'' Babies rely on the ``cocooning'' of the adults and children around them to shield them from whooping cough. Some 90 per cent of adults are not immunised or covered because the shots wear off after 10 years. The McCafferys are expecting another baby in February. ``We know everyone around us will have booster shots,'' Mrs McCaffery says. ``Dave will take time off work and we will cocoon our baby and not go out.'' Dr Pecoraro says vaccinate and be vigilant and if you are about to have a baby, get everyone around you to have a booster shot. WHOOPING COUGH DESCRIPTION Whooping cough, also known as pertussi, is a highly contagious respiratory infection caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. It can affect babies, children, adolescents and adults. For adolescents and adults the infection may only cause an irritating, persistent cough. It can be life-threatening for babies and young children, particularly those not fully protected by vaccination. During coughing attacks, a baby or child's breathing can be obstructed and they may become blue or stop breathing. SYMPTOMS It may start like a cold, with a runny nose, sneezing and tiredness, and then the characteristic cough develops. These coughing bouts can be severe and frightening, and may end with a crowing noise (the whoop). This occurs as air is drawn back into the chest, and can be followed by vomiting or gagging. Bouts of coughing may continue for many weeks even after treatment. Infants under six months, vaccinated children, adolescents and adults often don't have the typical whoop. TRANSMISSION It is highly infectious and can spread to other people by an infected person coughing and sneezing. The infection can also be passed on through direct contact with infected secretions from the mouth or nose. The time between exposure to the bacteria and getting sick is usually seven to 10 days, but can be up to three weeks. A person is most infectious in the early stages of their illness. Unless treated with antibiotics, a person is regarded as infectious for three weeks after the cough began. TREATMENT Treatment is a full course of antibiotics. Antibiotics need to be given within 21 days of the start of general symptoms or within 14 days of the start of coughing. Some people who have had close contact with an infected person may need to take antibiotics to prevent infection. This includes people at high risk of serious complications (for example, children aged less than one year who are not fully vaccinated and women near the end of their pregnancy) and others who live or work with people at risk. CONTROL Infected people should stay away from work, school, preschool and childcare until they have had at least five days of their course of antibiotics or until 21 days after the cough began. If children who have had less than three doses of the vaccine are in close contact with an infected person, they should stay away from preschool and childcare until they have taken a full course of antibiotics or for 14 days after their last exposure. PREVENTION Vaccination is the most effective way to prevent whooping cough. The vaccine is recommended and Page 131 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

available free for: * All children at 2, 4 and 6 months of age and 4 years of age. Vaccines due at 2 months of age can be given from 6 weeks, and those due at 4 years can be given from 3 years 6 months; and * Year 10 students (booster). * A booster is also recommended for any adults who haven't had a booster, particularly parents planning a pregnancy, or as soon as the baby is born, and anyone caring for babies and young children. Source: Queensland Health Document SNDMAL0020101106e6b70003q

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Extra - Letters Shame of junk food sold to kids in schools 1,605 words 26 September 2010 Sun Herald SHD First 16 English 2010 Copyright John Fairfax Holdings Limited. GOOD on The Sun-Herald for highlighting the shame of junk food being sold to school children in school canteens ("Fat lot of good done by healthy canteen rules", September 19). That Helen Walton, president of the Federation of Parents and Citizens' Associations of NSW, should appear to defend such behaviour because profits might decline is also a shame. A similar logic is used to defend poker machines by clubs, hotels and the NSW Labor Party. Noel Pearson points out the same logic is applied by land councils to outlets for alcohol under their control. But children are most vulnerable, being captive in schools, and there is a special need to follow NSW government policy for school canteens. That some new canteens have inadequate work areas should not be a reason to blame the federal government for a widespread problem. It smacks of a cargo-cult mentality. State government policy has been clear on this subject for years and it is too often ignored. Some leadership from the NSW P&C Federation, the peak parent body, would help attack the root of the problem. Ian Muldoon Coffs Harbour IT IS interesting that public school canteens have managed to institute a consumer-friendly, traffic-light system of food labelling to help children differentiate between everyday "healthy" foods, "sometimes" foods and treats. While the system might be imperfect, it seems the Department of Education has done what the federal government has failed to do - force a recalcitrant food industry to simplify their nutrition labels. It's about time we took a step towards a simpler system. Not everyone has the time, energy or knowledge to decipher the fine print of nutrition labels and that makes it easy to put the wrong thing in the trolley. It sounds to me like a precedent for the Gillard government to green-light a simpler labelling system for us all. The big end of town does very well out of keeping us in the dark, and if we help parents to make better food choices for themselves they will make better choices for kids. Perhaps then there will be fewer articles written to make a social scapegoat of the public school system and more about corporate social responsibility. Zo Myers Marrickville GOOD luck to any parent who wants a healthier school canteen. Our school canteen does not contain one item that a nutritionist would consider healthy. Initially, I didn't even get a chance to veto my kids' orders. My five-year-old just came home and said: "I ordered meat pie, hot chips and a chocolate Yogo. This is the money I need." When I raised the issue, I was told: "This is what the kids want." Canteens should be at the forefront of educating kids about fresh, unprocessed foods. But too often Page 133 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

I have learnt that the institutions we expect to support us in raising physically and emotionally healthy children actually undermine us. Perhaps the only option I have is to ban my kids from the canteen food and deal with them feeling left out. Kate McMaugh Balgowlah A lesson for pollies on euthanasia PAUL DALEY'S poignant article describing the suffering of his terminally ill father (September 19) should be compulsory reading for all politicians who will vote on legalising voluntary euthanasia. Younger, healthy individuals, who have no experience or knowledge of such torment and indignity, should not decide this issue. Joe Payne Coogee Fresh blood won't save Keneally IT WILL take more than a blood transfusion to help the ALP win the next state election ("Give me fresh blood", September 19). What Kristina Keneally should do is ask The Gruen Transfer to come up with an advertisement trying to sell the unelectable to us. Where do you find a positive when the government is in decline and on the nose? Robert Pallister Punchbowl Abbott's skills IF YOU don't let Parliament operate and thus force another election, Tony Abbott, you're a dead duck. Australians are sick and tired of the bitching, the conflict for the sake of conflict, the hatred whipped up by extremists. They want Canberra to get on with it. We will have a chance to elect your mate Barry O'Farrell here in NSW. No government is going to suffer such defeat as this NSW one will. Every Sunday I hear prayers in church for good government. It's about time they were answered. Geoff Hinds Merrylands HOW ironic is it that veteran political writer Michelle Grattan says that Tony Abbott was previously criticised for "lacking good people skills" (September 19), But it was Abbott, when he put up his hand for the first time for the leadership position after the Howard government loss, who said his greatest strength was people skills. Mukul Desai Hunters Hill IN 2075, would the Pope look back upon our government sending Afghan refugees to detention centres indefinitely, and refusing to process their asylum claims, as the actions of our atheist Prime Minister? Would he then apply the same explanation to Tony Abbott's policies? Tony Backhouse Narraweena Turn back the boats SINCE when should we give trouble makers a free visa to stay here? If Sri Lanka doesn't want Tamils because they caused trouble, why should we take them? Turn back the boats. There are too many criminals and illegal immigrants coming in, taking advantage of all the freebies stupid Aussie governments give them. Wake up, people! Stop listening to all the sob stories while we are being taken advantage of. Carol Prendergast Moss Vale ROB OAKESHOTT and Tony Windsor, I was wondering what stand you two made when farmer Peter Page 134 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

Spencer was up a pole for 45 days protesting his rights when the left-wing, pinko, Leninist-led government wanted to take away his land rights. What stand did you take to support him? So some illegal immigrants are up on a roof and refusing food. They want justice. The government is in a tizzy. Spencer wanted justice and the government ignored him. Susan Colvin Bilgola Plateau Killing is no sport I THOUGHT we had moved beyond the Neanderthal stage, but apparently not. David Lockwood's piece ("Matter of scale as hunter spears biggest fish", September 19) took my breath away with the advocacy of such hunting. So a guy spears a big fish. Whacko. I hope he got his jollies. Lockwood's piece then furthers this brilliant "cause" with a bit of free publicity by telling to what extent the brave hunter hosts tours around various islands in the Pacific. Let us not try to debate the merits of this sport with the specious arguments of ducking the following sharks, needing special equipment or the (not mentioned) argument of "we only eat what we catch". It just seems so senseless for the appeasement of some individual's ego. Rod Mead Kambah (ACT) I'M SURE Philippe Virgili must be a happy man after spearing what is probably the largest fish taken in that manner. For my part, I'm sickened by the killing of a beautiful marine creature that was swimming in the ocean when its magnificent life was snuffed out. Killing for the sake of killing is not sport. Charmain Williams Foster Fitzy has his religion A DAY or two before Peter FitzSimons's anti-religious rant (September 19), I read an article denouncing rugby as the lowest, slowest, most boring and irrelevant of all the footy games. I can see it now: Fitzy's response. Sacrilege! There is no more devout follower of the game that is played in heaven. He may be an atheist, but he is not without religion. Do I blaspheme? Doug McLaughlin Bonnet Bay Addicts need help GRETEL KILLEEN'S white-arm-sling plea for sympathy for an injecting centre on the high street is misplaced ("Abandon prejudice and vote for compassion", September 19). She forgets Kings Cross is the densest urban area in Australia, and local businesses and residents also have rights to exist. She neglects patients' long-term welfare and should promote a compassionate solution that sees addicts taken off drugs, not just given a safe haven entrenching their dependency or decriminalising drugs based on nimbyism and political expediency. Andrew Woodhouse Potts Point Get vaccination facts THE emotional response by those unfortunate souls who are trying to censor the Australian Vaccination Network should consider long and objectively the words of Thomas Szasz: "Formerly, when religion was strong and science weak, men mistook magic for medicine; now, when science is strong and religion weak, men mistake medicine for magic." If you do not appreciate the research and information provided by others, then, research all perspectives yourself. Censorship is a lazy, inefficient, emotional response. Ian Ward Ballina Selling family silver Page 135 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

ANOTHER state-owned icon is about to bite the dust. Queensland Rail National is to be sold off. Commonwealth Bank, Qantas, State Bank, NRMA Insurance etc - we once owned them all and they were substantial assets performing a vital honest broker role for community. No doubt our electricity and water infrastructure, schools and hospitals will, one by one, come under attack from the same lobbyists and corporate opportunists who make mega bucks out of spruiking such deals. These community assets have been built up by generations who have fought wars to protect our way of life and they'd be rolling in their graves to see what's become of such icons. Selling our future for a few silver coins is not in Australia's best interests. Richard Talbot Cheltenham Document SHD0000020100926e69q0001x

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News and Features - Letters Letters 645 words 2 September 2010 The Sydney Morning Herald SMHH First 12 English 2010 Copyright John Fairfax Holdings Limited. Churches' view of families an insult I wonder if those in the NSW Council of Churches who say "every child has a right to a mother and a father" to argue against same-sex adoption have any idea how much of an insult that is ("Churches get opt-out point on same-sex adoption bill", August 31). Not only to single mothers and fathers, but to the thousands of decent, stable and rational citizens who are products of atypical family compositions. I would have thought church representatives would feel sufficiently ill at ease to refrain from comment on what has the greatest adverse effect on children, but it seems their arrogance knows few bounds. I did very well with just a mother. But if she had decided to take on a female partner after my father drank himself into obscurity, I am confident it could not have been any worse than the years previous. John Long Caringbah Why does Verity Firth want to "expand the pool of potential adoptive parents" when there are many more heterosexual couples eager to adopt than available children ("Same-sex couples face injustice on adoption", September 1)? There were only 20 local adoptions in NSW last year. There has been no long-term research on the effects on children of growing up with same-sex parents, and NSW should not embark on a massive experiment on children in the name of gay rights. The proponents of gay adoption use only examples of known adoption (where an existing parent has a same-sex partner). Family Court parental responsibility orders and will drafting will deal with their concerns. But what about when the child is to get two new parents? Give them a chance to receive the distinctive roles of a mother and father. Adoption is about the best interests of a child, not adults' wants. Polly Seidler Darlinghurst Same-sex couple adoption is about the rights of all children. Those who oppose a same-sex partner adopting their partner's child are denying that child's right to certainty. If something happens to the legal parent, there is no guarantee that child will remain with the person they know and love as a parent. Regardless of views on sexuality, that can only be an awful outcome. Samantha Chung Newtown Unflattering light Ian Morwood (Letters, July 5) spoke of sexual and emotional abuse he experienced at the hands of a parish priest at least once a month over a four-year period in his youth. He argued the $25,000 he received at the hearing of the Catholic compensation panel chaired by Susan Crennan, QC, was a fraction of amounts received in similar cases in the US and Ireland. Now we read $850,000 has been offered to a young woman to settle a sexual harassment - not a sexual abuse - case ("Fraser-Kirk rejected $850,000 offer from David Jones", September 1). This means either the church's compensation is "indefensible", as Morwood argued, or the settlement sum offered has been a serious miscalculation. I suggest the church stands damned by its miserly and insincere treatment of those abused in its institutions. Meg Wallace Gosford Ignorance abounds Page 137 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

Meryl Dorey of the Australian Vaccination Network says she made "honest mistakes out of ignorance rather than fraudulence" ("Copyright breaches land group in trouble", September 1). Are we to believe that the outrageous claims her groups appear to make have also been out of ignorance? That would explain a lot. Peter Haggarty Cranebrook The queen is dead I had never heard of theology referred to as the "queen of the sciences" until five minutes ago (Letters, September 1). Now I have checked, I know why; theology has not been regarded as the queen of the sciences since the Middle Ages, for obvious reasons. Brad Fuller Macksville Document SMHH000020100901e69200059

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News and Features - Letters Letters 617 words 3 September 2010 The Sydney Morning Herald SMHH First 16 English 2010 Copyright John Fairfax Holdings Limited. It's about selling booze, not music Sacha Molitorisz peddles the simple old line that pits selfish NIMBY residents against the obvious virtues of live-music venues in the inner city ("Disturb the sound of silence in the city", September 2). In one area where he considers live music warrants protection - Bayswater Road - venues such as th e World Bar have been blasting the neighbourhood with extraordinarily high levels of noise, sometimes through to dawn. Since the arrival of World Bar and similar venues, residents, who in some cases had lived relatively peacefully in the area for many years, have been bombarded through closed windows and doors with music designed to sell large volumes of alcohol. And this is really the point: selling more alcohol, not live music, is the name of the game, and this is the story of Sydney. Live music that is not beholden to greedy alcohol interests? Residents treated decently? Don't hold your breath for either. Peter Scott Kings Cross People who move into vibrant neighbourhoods such as Newtown, Surry Hills or Camperdown must realise they have no right to complain when the pub next door continues to host live bands as it has done for years. This reminds me of the people who moved into Milsons Point in the 1990s who got Luna Park shut down, even though it had been there since the '30s. What did they expect? Why move to the inner city if you want perfect silence? Hornsby awaits you with open doors. Andrew Taubman Queens Park Afghan anguish The juxtaposed headlines on Page 5 of yesterday's paper make depressing reading: "Booming economy rest of the world would kill for" and "Police deny asylum seekers water". Sue Adams Rodd Point Is our presence in Afghanistan making life safer for the ethnic minority of Hazaras? Judging by the Darwin detention breakout this week, and their brief appearance on our TV screens, it would appear not. Vivienne Martin Hurlstone Park Would someone tell these Afghan men that Australians are dying in Afghanistan for their cause, and ask why they aren't back in their homeland fighting for freedom? Andrea Wright Brisbane Less to prove Meg Wallace (Letters, September 2) says the $25,000 an abused person received from the Catholic compensation panel was a fraction of amounts received in similar cases in the US and Ireland, and minuscule compared with the $850,000 that has been offered to a young woman to settle a sexual harassment case. Nothing stops the abused person going to the civil courts to seek compensation, instead of from the church panel, whose compensation limits are well known. But apart from the costs involved, that person would have to meet the threshold of "proof beyond reasonable doubt", in an adversarial situation, with strict rules of evidence. It is much easier to establish a case at a church panel which is free and private, Page 139 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

conducted on a non-adversarial basis, and where a decision is reached on the balance of probability. The level of compensation reflects this much lower level of proof. The church should be commended for providing an avenue for compensation where otherwise there might be none, given the age of most of the cases. Paul Borg East Burwood (Vic) No need for needle Perhaps the Australian Vaccination Network believes it gets immunity from copyright (Letters, September 2). Dr Ashley Collard Fairlight About that noise ... Tony Blair's memoir apparently records his admiration for the "clanking great balls" of his former spin doctor Alistair Campbell ("Booze, tears and bear hugs: Blair tells", September 2). I guess this must be a bloke thing. Anne Ackroyd Melba (ACT) Document SMHH000020100902e6930005y

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Agenda Vaccine faithful are shaken Professor Gary Geelhoed 1,327 words 1 May 2010 The West Australian TWAU First 28 English (c) 2010, West Australian Newspapers Limited L ike most mothers, Jacqueline Spencer has always been adamant her children be immunised against childhood diseases, but six weeks ago her trust in the vaccination program took a battering. Within hours of her three daughters being given the seasonal flu vaccine at a Nedlands doctors surgery on March 17, two of them became ill with reactions she had never seen before. Eighteen-month-old Louisa had the worst ill-effects, suffering high fever and vomiting overnight and remaining pale and listless the next day, while three-year-old Annabel had a high temperature over several hours. Big sister Emily, six, had no reaction. What worried Ms Spencer most was that when she contacted the health hotline Healthdirect, she was told by nurses they were getting many reports of bad reactions to the vaccine. Now she wants to know why those concerns were not made public until five weeks later, the same time health authorities put the vaccination program for children under five on hold, but only after more children had been given the jab and become sick. We very much believe in having our children vaccinated and will continue to do so with the normal recommended ones, but from now on we will consider very carefully whether to have these optional ones, Ms Spencer told Agenda this week. I think we need to know the results of clinical trials of all vaccines so we have confidence in them. Ms Spencer is one of thousands of WA parents who support childhood vaccination but are questioning whether this time they have been let down by a system that might not be as fail-proof as they believed. Many want to know why WA has seen an unexplained surge in cases of bad reactions to this years seasonal flu vaccine the cocktail of drugs which protect against human swine flu and two other strains predicted to cause havoc in the southern hemisphere this winter. Authorities are still trying to piece together what caused adverse reactions in at least 250 WA children, including 55 who had convulsions. What is clear is that seasonal flu vaccines have to be prepared under time constraints. Australian experts watch the strains of flu that circulate in the northern hemispheres winter and are likely to reach our shores. There is no time to do extensive six-month trials on vaccines to monitor possible reactions. Health authorities invest significant time and money in their flu vaccination campaigns. But many parents want to know why it seemed to have taken health authorities so long to push the alert button in this recent scare, when there were reports of bad reactions, such as those of Ms Spencers daughters, going back weeks. The effect on this years flu vaccine campaign could be severe, but it is the longer-term cloud over vaccinations that most worries health experts. They argue it could give the anti-vaccination lobby ammunition to convince parents to be wary of all vaccines, even those that guard against childhood diseases capable of killing and disabling hundreds of children if left unchecked. Health Consumers Council executive director Michele Kosky said people needed to have confidence in the vaccination system and reassurance that it was looking after them. And this (scare) is such a grave Page 141 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

concern to people, she said. I dont think weve ever faced a crisis of faith in immunisation as large as this one. If governments want to maintain a policy of immunisation, and even that might be up for debate, then they need to reassure the public that theyre looking after their interests. Australian Nursing Federation WA secretary Mark Olson said the system had been found to be lacking. Hundreds of kids potentially were put at risk and Im in disbelief there was no proper monitoring, no effective collation of data and even now we dont have the explanation of what happened, he said. The saddest part of all of this is the damage this may have had to overall participation in vaccination programs. Vaccination programs rely on trust, the trust between parents, who want to do the best thing for their children, and the authorities. The Australian Vaccination Network has written to WA Health Minister Kim Hames calling for a review into the safety of the flu vaccine. Similarly, Murdoch University PhD student Judy Wilyman has warned the Government needs to ensure parents are more aware of the risks and benefits of vaccines. It is not that long ago public health officials had a fight on their hands getting parents to have their children vaccinated against diseases more dangerous than the flu. Many health experts still remember the battle they had convincing worried parents that giving their babies the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine would not cause autism, after British researcher Andrew Wakefield linked the two in the medical journal The Lancet in 1998. Over the next decade he would be roundly discredited, finally resulting in the journal retracting his article this year, but the damage had been done. Even today, thousands of parents around the world refuse to give their babies the MMR vaccine, and WA child-health clinics still have to post reassurances about the vaccine on their walls. V accination programs are charged with a special responsibility because, by and large, they involve giving healthy people a drug to stop them becoming sick. In the case of flu vaccines, it is to stop a relatively small number of people becoming seriously ill. This may sound fine in theory, unless the vaccine itself makes people sick, possibly many more than would have become sick without the vaccine program. Perth GP Joe Kosterich, who has been a critic of the Federal Governments swine flu vaccination program, said the recent scare highlighted the risk that authorities were going too far in pushing the immunisation line. I dont know any other place that tries to do a mass flu vaccination of healthy children under the age of five, he said. Ive been in practice for 20 years and Ive seen plenty of colds. At the end of the day, flu does cause some deaths but its been made into something its not. Its not the bubonic plague and I think authorities have misjudged this. Dr Kosterich said there was a serious risk that lumping together all childhood vaccines could deter some parents altogether. But Australian Medical Association WA president Gary Geelhoed, who treats sick children at Princess Margaret Hospitals emergency department, said it would be tragic if people lost faith in the vaccination system. There are all these diseases we just dont see anymore, like polio and diphtheria, which can kill you or you maim you for life, and more recently the virtual disappearance of rubella and measles, he said But the system is its own worst enemy, because these illnesses disappear and people dont appreciate the daily miracle that it is the thousands of children over time who would otherwise have died or been affected for life if it wasnt for immunisation. Professor Geelhoed said although the flu vaccine scare had been traumatic for parents whose children became sick, most were well after 24 hours and had made a full recovery. That had to be weighed up against the number of children who could become seriously ill from the flu. We have to look at whats happened here, and maybe we have to look at the reporting system to see if we can improve it, but the reality is that so many lives are saved by immunisation and yet we take that for granted, he said. Page 142 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

But you only have to go to a developing country to see crippled children everywhere to be reminded of what we have to lose. Cathy.OLeary So many lives are saved by immunisation ... we take that for granted Document TWAU000020100430e6510004l

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Known Unknowns: Influenza BY MALCOLM KNOX 3,864 words 1 April 2010 The Monthly THEMON English Copyright 2010. The Monthly Pty Ltd. At the outset of the 2010 flu season, 16 million vials of the vaccine for H1N1, also known as swine flu, lay unused. The biggest vaccination program in our countrys history, costing an estimated $120 million, triggered a wave of inaction. The federal health minister, Nicola Roxon, sees this inertia as the palpable cost of complacency. Since the vaccines arrival on 1 October last year, Ms Roxon, backed by the major voices in our health system, including the Australian Medical Association, has been urging Australians to take the injection. By the end of January, only 27%, or 6 million people, had listened, a figure considered so low that it prompted the federal Oppositions health spokesperson, Peter Dutton, to call for a review of the governments commitment to buy 21 million doses from the pharmaceutical company CSL. Not even the alarming news that by the end of 2009 about 10,000 Americans had died from the virus and 22 million had been infected was enough to send Australians to their doctors. If the take-up rate does not increase markedly this autumn, the program will become an embarrassment for the government and a possible public-health catastrophe. But our relationship with influenza is unique among all illnesses and nothing about it has ever been simple. Although it is an everyday virus, there is something about influenza that inspires awe. This microscopic hard-shelled parcel of genetic matter lives in aquatic birds, which have been flying it around in first-class comfort for generations. It is coughed into the air and across the species barrier and lodges in the lungs of mammals such as pigs and humans, where it becomes the common flu, our most cited cause for staying home from work. This bird-borne cocktail brings with it our muscle pain, headaches, chesty coughs, sore throats and fevers. It also incites some of our deepest fears, because influenza is often not just a passing illness, but a killer. More than 200,000 times per year in the US, flu develops into a lethal cascade of symptoms that require hospitalisation; death from flu, via pneumonia and organ failure, is fever-racked agony. It kills the young and the old, the pregnant and the chronically weakened; occasionally it juggles its genetic material into a new combination and kills millions. Because flu begets fear, it can become political. Public preparedness for the flu season is a matter for the state. Vaccination is argued over, not just as a question of available dosage, but on quasi-religious terms. Due to the centrality of fear, the public argument over influenza takes the same shape as the argument over terrorism, or climate change, or immigration, or the economy: it is as much about belief as it is about scientific assessment and says much about our disposition toward fear itself. The mysteries of the virus itself are genuine rather than warped by ideology, though. The worlds foremost influenza experts know remarkably little; they have not even known that flu was a virus for very long. To inform us about its evolutionary history, its human history and what it might do next, scientists are piecing together a narrative from the barest scraps. Great resources have been marshalled for solving the flu mystery, yet most of our knowledge is contingently held. It is likely, says Dr Keith Horsley, that nobody in Australia had the flu before July 1820. Horsley, a former medical officer with the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, has been working on a book about historic flu pandemics in Australia. There was a good reason Australia was flu-free before 1820, he argues: The ships were too slow. As far as we know there was no flu in the Aboriginal population, and among the Europeans, if influenza broke out aboard a ship it would have passed through its cycle and no longer been contagious by the end of the voyage here. The flu virus can only live in humans for days or, at most, weeks. It needed shorter voyages than the early sea journeys that took months to get to Australia, and Dr Horsley says it probably came after island-hopping through the South Pacific to New Zealand, and then someone from New Zealand could have infected someone here. The evidence is circumstantial we suspect a New Zealand origin because a flu contagion could have survived the four-day Tasman voyage but the consequences were real. It decimated the Aboriginal people, who had already lost 20% of their population in the smallpox outbreak after 1789, Dr Horsley says, and it also laid low the white population, who were immunologically naive. Immunological naivety (where resistance to viruses has not been developed) is at the heart of every public health debate over flu. Opponents of vaccination maintain that getting the flu this year is an insurance against getting a worse bout next year. The first wave of swine flu, which hit Australia last winter, has either prepared us for a less-severe second wave or left us vulnerable because of its mildness we dont yet know which. All we can be sure of is that resistance is a product of exposure. Thirty-eight years ago the South Page 144 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

Atlantic island of Tristan de Cunha was a human laboratory of immunological naivety. Some 300 inhabitants of the island evacuated to England after a volcanic eruption in 1961, then grew homesick and returned in 1963. For the next nine years they were isolated from diseases affecting the rest of the world. Then, says John Mathews, a population health professor at the University of Melbourne, an outbreak of influenza infected 96% of the population, a rate never seen before or since. That says very strongly that if you havent seen any influenza in the population, people become highly susceptible to it, he concludes. The Tristan de Cunha outbreak of the virus known as H3N2 was not particularly lethal. But a similar yet fatal unintended experiment on an isolated population had taken place in 191819, when, says Professor Mathews, virtually the entire population of Western Samoa fell ill with influenza, and as many as 20% died. In Alaska, another isolated place, the mortality rate [for the same outbreak] was even higher. Throughout the rest of the world although 20 million people died in the pandemic the mortality rate was a much lower 0.2%. From these experiences we can conclude that any sort of flu provides some protection against later exposure. * The years 191819 are the most critical to our knowledge of flu, and the pandemic from that time still forms the basis of our knowledge of how an outbreak shapes itself. The 1918 outbreak, nicknamed Spanish flu though we are uncertain of its origins spread in military camps and on troop ships at the end of World War I, reaching Australia in early 1919. In January of that year, it broke out almost simultaneously in Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney. Its onset was devastating, says Dr Horsley. Many people were, literally, healthy today, gone tomorrow. More than 12,000 Australians died from the flu in the 1919 pandemic. Symptoms included severe forms of common flu afflictions, as well as gastrointestinal bleeding and haemorrhaging from the nose, ears, anus and vagina. It killed so swiftly that newspapers reported the disease not as flu but as the Black Death. So little was known about viruses that the Spanish flu was widely thought to be caused by bacteria. Uniquely, the 191819 flu killed populations in an M-wave; that is, it decimated those in their early twenties as well as the vulnerable infants and elderly who are generally most susceptible. The reasons are believed to be twofold. Firstly, the Spanish flu created a cytokine storm in the body of the sufferer. Cytokines are pro-inflammatory chemicals produced by influenza-infected cells as part of the bodys immune response. Among healthy young adults, the cytokine response was over-stimulated, leading to inflammations that closed down vital organs. Secondly, complacency was believed to be highest among young adults. While the wearing of masks was widespread, and cinemas, restaurants, clubs and train stations were soon deserted, young adults were the last to change their social habits, which meant they continued to spread the contagion. Young men contracted the illness more often than their female counterparts, probably because they were more likely to be exposed to it at work or at the pub. Among the general populace, ignorance created its own kind of storm. Leaflets propounded theories triggered by ideology and fear: the flu was a visitation from God, punishment for the Russian Revolution or a result of excessive ozone. Groups calling themselves firefighters would rush to the scene of an influenza outbreak and measure ozone levels. Quack cures abounded, from Bonox and tobacco (which the cigarette companies did little to dispel) to snake oils such as Dr Morses Indian Root Pills. Inhaling machines were set up in public places, such as the lobbies of department stores, so shoppers could breathe in a powder disinfectant before entering. It is likely, says Dr Horsley, that the machines actually helped to spread the virus. Although the level of precaution did limit Australias mortality rate to below the global rate, Dr Horsley says that if Australia ever came close to war between the states, it was in 1919. If New South Wales had a standing army, it would have declared war on Victoria. New South Wales police were stationed along the Murray to enforce the closure of the border, as the government believed the flu was migrating north from Melbourne. (In fact it was radiating out from all of the eastern port cities.) Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia soon closed their borders too; food shortages ensued, and trade, tourism and the economically vital sport of horseracing came to a standstill. More than 600 South Australians who had been stranded in Victoria when the border closed were taken on a special train to Adelaide and put up in a tent city on Jubilee Oval for four days. By then, ironically, the flu had broken out elsewhere in Adelaide, and it is possible that Camp Jubilee was the most flu-free location in the city. While the Australian Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet whose later virological work led to the development of a flu vaccine is justly famous for his contribution to this area, John Cumpstons work during and after the 191819 pandemic was no less influential. A former quarantine and military doctor and a specialist on the 1789 smallpox epidemic, Cumpston was at the forefront of the public health response to the 191819 flu pandemic. When Australian servicemen returned from World War I and were put into quarantine against the flu outbreak, Cumpston personally supervised them. He played a key role in delaying the arrival of the virus until 1919. In 1921, Cumpston was appointed Australias first Commonwealth director-general of health. As well as being a doctor and administrator, Cumpston was, says Dr Horsley, a historical epidemiologist of particular fanaticism. While assuming the highest position in the new health bureaucracy, Cumpston was also combing library records; from an 1834 clipping from the Australian Almanack & Sydney Page 145 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

Directory he began to compile a record of the 1820 arrival of flu in Australia, which he wrote up in his book Health and Disease in Australia: a History (1928). Cumpston also wrote about Australias first large-scale flu pandemic, the Russian flu episode of 188990, when 2362 deaths were recorded. He found that the lethality of the Russian flu was increased by the confusion of the populace. Nobody knew how the illness moved from one person to another: people speculated that it stemmed from diet, sunspots and ozone. In a similar pattern to the 1919 pandemic, the virus spread right through Sydney within just a week of its arrival from Russia and the first cases were not correctly diagnosed as flu. The patterns Cumpston was able to observe in the Russian and Spanish flu pandemics remain central to the current study of flu. Flu spreads so rapidly (and in fatal cases kills so swiftly: usually within about ten days) that quick identification remains a problem. Dr Barry Gilbert, a public health physician who consults to government and business, says that last June he was talking to the Australian Industry Group about swine flu and nobody had heard of it. It had last been seen in the 1970s. Yet within days it was known about in every household. Flu hits that suddenly. * Diseases live in a Darwinian kind of world and the Spanish flus greatest enemy, in the end, was itself. The survival advantage for any virus is that it has lower lethality, Dr Horsley says. Flu survives and prospers when the carrier goes out in public and spreads it. But the 191819 flu killed, so by 1920, it had effectively burnt itself out. It was not until the turn of this century that the genetic nature of the 191819 flu was conclusively identified. Frozen bodies of victims were disinterred and pathology slides were produced at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. They showed that the virus was H1N1; the worst pandemic of last century was a cousin of what we know today as swine flu. * Those Hs and Ns may need explaining. There are three types of the influenza virus, of which one, type A, is most relevant to humans. The virus is spherical, about 100 nanometres in diameter, and contains eight genes that act independently of each other and are collectively coded for 11 different proteins. Most viruses, by contrast, have just one gene that performs all the viruss functions. Flu is comparatively complex in both structure and behaviour. There is no Linnaean evolutionary tree for viruses, says leading Australian virologist Professor Gregory Tannock, of Melbournes Macfarlane Burnet Institute, so we cannot say with any certainty where the flu virus evolved or what animals hosted it in the distant past. Its tempting to speculate that, as birds are phylogenetically descended from dinosaurs, the giant reptiles were flu carriers. But there is no evidence to say that flu, in its current viral form, has been around that long. Genetically, influenza is an RNA virus (like polio), whereas many common viruses (such as herpes) are composed of DNA material. One of the characteristics distinguishing the flu virus, says Professor Tannock, is its complicated method of replication, in which carbon copies of genes are produced rather than the genes themselves being reproduced. Because this copying process is imperfect, the consequent errors produce mutated versions of the virus, which will have an initial resistance to existing antibodies. The viruss hard outer shell contains glycoproteins in different combinations; these create flu variants that each have different symptoms and their own contagion rates. The main glycoproteins are haemagglutinin and neuraminidase: the now infamous H and N. Haemagglutinin helps the virus bind and break into host cells, while neuraminidase assists the spread of viral material into other cells. The current H1N1 virus (swine flu) is a mixture of avian flus that passed through pigs to humans. Though related to the Spanish flu of 191819, it is more complicated, with a triple re-assortment of genes including two pig genes and one bird gene, says Professor Tannock. Other combinations are H2N2, which caused the Asian flu of 1957; H3N2, which caused the Hong Kong flu outbreak of 1968; and H5N1, commonly known as bird flu, which is a matter of serious concern worldwide because of its lethality. Although H5N1 has seldom crossed the species barrier to humans, it is believed to be fatal to more than 50% of those who contract it. The infection and mortality rates of these flu types are measured against the background, or ambient, rates of seasonal flu, which thrives in cooler weather and spreads at the onset of each winter. * The weakness in our preparation for flu is in what Donald Rumsfeld might have called the known unknowns. A virus can appear out of left field that we dont have a vaccine for, says Professor Tannock. The time lag in developing a vaccine is usually about six months, and in that time [the virus] can do a lot of damage. There is some work being done on developing universal vaccines, but its doubtful that those will be able to counteract a new flu virus. The 2009 swine flu, the first wave of which hit Australia last winter, appears to have had a similar mortality rate to seasonal flu. There was already a good deal of cross-immunity because the virus was Page 146 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

similar to seasonal flu, says Professor Mathews. The optimistic scenario for the future is that because most people in most parts of the world are exposed to seasonal flu, while the virus can be contagious, future pandemics wont have the severe mortality rates of the 191819 flu. The pessimistic scenario is that something like the H5N1 virus could cross the species barrier in high numbers. The H5N1 virus is believed to have killed only about 263 people, mostly in South-East Asia. It can spread from birds to humans, but is not believed to have the ability to spread from person to person, because, Professor Mathews says, the molecule grabs onto the host cell and is adapted to spreading among birds, which have a receptor for it, but the vast majority of human cells dont have that receptor and so the species barrier is hard to negotiate. The alarming prospect is if the virus mutates in a way that enables it to spread from human to human. The 191819 outbreak is still the benchmark against which contemporary factors are measured. The globalising effect of World War I and the mass movement of returned soldiers by sea in late 1918 was humanitys first experience of such rapid migration. But we are much more highly connected now, says Professor Mathews. Due to air travel, everyone is only a couple of handshakes from London and Washington. What this means is that a virus can spread extremely quickly, but it also means that immunity spreads quicker. While H5N1 flu is obviously lethal, some milder flus pose a greater societal threat, Professor Mathews says. These flus can spread through the population without showing symptoms. Therefore people wont stay home and will spread it, until it finds high-risk groups. This is what took place in the winter of 2009. It is believed that 191 Australians mostly belonging to the highest-risk groups died from the effects of H1N1 last year. They were not the very young and the very old, but were rather Indigenous people, who are at risk because of isolation and the immunological naivety that is a consequence of this, as well as the health effects of poverty; pregnant women, whose vital organs are already under the mechanical pressure of an enlarged uterus and the immunological pressure of pregnancy; and people already suffering from chronic diseases. The elderly, Professor Mathews speculates, probably got off lightly because the antigens in this new virus could have been recycled from when [they] were young, and their bodies had already seen them and developed a relative immunity. * With so much to fear about influenza, you might expect that Australians would have rushed to their doctors after 1 October 2009 when the swine flu vaccine became available to every one of us. Yet the relationship between fear and inaction is always closer and more perplexing than we would like to think. Dr Barry Gilbert says, the biggest issue is the apathy of the population and its wilful desire for ignorance. Maybe its the inherent optimism of humanity, but its astonishing how much indifference, even hostility, there is towards the vaccine at a time when we are the only country who can supply a swine flu vaccination to every man, woman and child. Sometimes the opposition does not come from apathy or indifference. The anti-vaccination movement is strong in the Byron Bay area of northern NSW, where the Australian Vaccination Network lobby group is based. A Canberra doctor, Ian Griffith, who has advised the federal government on pandemic prevention, attacked the AVN last November, saying: Id like to put all those unvaccinated people into a leper colony, because theyre a threat to me and my children. Dr Gilbert says such groups have a barrow to push. Meryl Dorey, the past president of AVN, has said the groups opposition to the vaccine is based on doubts about its effectiveness and safety. She cites a study by the British-based Cochrane Collaboration (an Australian branch of which, based at Monash Medical Centre, is funded by the federal government), which, she says, showed low effectiveness of flu vaccines among children and the elderly. The safety concern relates to the swine flu vaccines mercury content and anecdotal reports of pregnant women suffering miscarriages after taking it. Our concern is that the vaccines are not studied fully before being released into the population and then the claims of adverse reactions are not taken seriously, Dorey says. There has been a panic over swine flu here, and there doesnt seem to be a lot of logic in what the federal government is doing. We take heart from the low take-up of the vaccine, because perhaps it shows peoples real doubts. If the take-up remains low, Nicola Roxon is going to have to explain why the government has spent so much money on a knee-jerk reaction. The view of virologists such as Gregory Tannock is that the current swine flu will prove to be only a small part of an ongoing portrait of the virus, which will take decades to put together. The situation is always moving quickly around us, but we are quite blessed in having more handles on the virus now than we used to. Professor Mathews is also sanguine: My guess is that the [current swine flu] wont be too much of a problem. However, he believes the production of data from hospitals and death certificates is too slow and imprecise. Ive told the government that they should expedite the process of pulling data together, because they cant respond quickly or appropriately if they dont have a clearer picture of whats going on. Page 147 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

For Barry Gilbert, the issue is one of wise risk-management. We had a first wave of swine flu last year, and it was quite mild. In public health terms that was a tragedy, because it lulled people into complacency. History has shown that second waves, if the virus has adapted sufficiently, can produce severe illness and death among a great many people. The next wave might or might not cause that level of sickness, but I believe the outcome will be appallingly bad if we have the expected rate of mortality while millions of doses of the vaccine lie idle. Document THEMON0020110919e641000a4

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Memorial erected for backpacker 408 words 27 December 2010 The Northern Star APNNOS Main 15 English Copyright 2010 APN Newspapers Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved Simply the most expensive NORTHERN Rivers land prices officially exceeded those of Brisbane, Adelaide, Launceston and Perth, and were the most expensive outside Sydney and Melbourne, it wasreported in February. The shockfigures, showing median residential land value in Richmond-Tweed was $255,000 (compared with Brisbane, $220,000), were given in a Residential Land Report from the Housing Industry Association and RP Data, which put the Sunshine Coast at number two at $241,500 and the Gold Coast a close third on $240,275. Soup Kitchen milestone THE Lismore Soup Kitchen celebrated 20 years of helping the homeless. Kitchen patron Reverend Tim Costello attended an event at the Winsome Hotel, now the centre of the Soup Kitchen's operations, andpalatial' compared with the previous inadequate, tin shed venue. Simone remembered ON the fifth anniversary of the murder of German backpacker Simone Strobel, who had been staying at a Lismore caravan park with her boyfriend Tobias, his sister and another friend, we noted the case had still not yet been solved. Tobias Suckfuell, who had returned to Germany and from there headed to a new life in the South African town of Wilderness, was the prime suspect in the case. He had declined to return to Lismore for the inquest into Simone's death in October 2007. Simone's Lismore friends erected a handcrafted granite bench, inscribed with her favourite quote, opposite the murder scene on the site of the old Italian bocce court on the corner of Dawson and Uralba streets in Lismore. The quote is: Defenceless I will be, and vulnerable, I know, on the open sea and protected only by love, your love.' Investigation of anti-vaccination campaigner THE NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing announced an investigation into the Bangalow-based ed Australian Vaccination Network which campaigned against the vaccination of babies to protect them from deadly diseases such as diphtheria, whooping cough and polio. Charity inspectors were to examine the organisation's records and interview staff to determine if they had been operating in breach of the Charitable Fundraising Act of 1991. AVN president Meryl Dorey admitted its fund-raising authority had expired but the group had been granted an extension. The AVN was ordered by the Health Care Complaints Commission to publish disclaimers on its website. Its authority to fundraise was revoked in October. Document APNNOS0020101226e6cr0002t

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Features The anti-vaccination lobby believes it is fighting for personal freedom but is it selfishly putting children's lives at risk? Sticking Point JANE HANSEN, Additional reporting by Sarah Mennie 2,440 words 5 December 2010 Sunday Mail SUNMAI 1 - State 56 English Copyright 2010 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved THE six-month-old baby looked a picture of health - chubby, pink-cheeked, thriving. Except the little boy was unconscious with a raging temperature and - lying in the intensive care unit - was hooked up to life support. He had pneumococcal meningitis, caused by a common bacterium that crosses into the brain with often fatal consequences. It was July 2004, and I had a sick child of my own in the isolation unit next door and bore witness to this modern-day tragedy. ``He was fine yesterday, now he's hooked up to all these wires,'' I heard the mother say in disbelief to friends in the hallway of the paediatric intensive care unit. At that stage, she still had hope; a few hours later the curtains were drawn - flimsy insulation against the howls of a mother who had lost her precious baby. The little boy was one of 87 to have died nationally in 2003-04 of pneumococcal meningitis. A year later, after the January 1, 2005, introduction of the vaccination program for babies was introduced; the incidence of the disease in under-twos dropped 73 per cent nationally. Lives have been saved. Like polio and measles, it may one day be eradicated from our shores. In 1901, one in 12 babies didn't make it to age one, in the days before clean water and mass immunisation reduced childhood death. Now it's one in 200. ``In a sense, vaccination is a victim of its own success,'' says Dr Chris Ingall, a paediatrician who works on the north coast of NSW, an area with one of Australia's lowest immunisation rates. He is also the doctor who looked after four-week-old Dana McCaffery last year and remains deeply affected by her death by the preventable disease whooping cough. ``I was devastated; a tiny baby who is dying in front of your eyes and there is nothing you can do - that's why we vaccinate, we can't treat it,'' Dr Ingall says. Dana's father, Dave, does not hide the complete horror of his daughter's death. ``We cry ourselves to sleep with memories of our daughter coughing until she couldn't breathe, attached to a ventilator, going into cardiac arrest and holding her bruised and swollen body after her heart stopped. ``We were inconsolable as we left our baby in the hospital morgue and drove home with an empty baby capsule.'' Most of us are spared this tragedy because of the success of the mass vaccination program. It's called ``herd immunity'' and, with almost 95 per cent of the population vaccinated, we can prevent epidemics of preventable illnesses like measles, whooping cough and chicken pox, all highly transmissible diseases, says Sydney University infectious diseases expert Professor Robert Booy. ``At present we have 92 per cent of the population vaccinated on average, but there are areas that don't have that rate and, if you have a community with more than 10 per cent not vaccinated, that increases the risk,'' he says. Green rolling hills of Mullumbimby in the Byron shire have always attracted alternative types. The Page 150 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

volcanic soils provide fertile ground for bananas, palm trees, marijuana - and conspiracy theories. Here, a fifth of parents have registered as conscientious objectors to immunisation and refuse to immunise their children. The area has the worst rate of immunisation in the state, with 21 per cent philosophically against it. In nearby Byron Bay 16 per cent are. ``We chose to live in this community because of the broadminded people, but in this case they've got it wrong - immunisation is not an evil,'' says Mullumbimby mother Roesheen Ritchie. At the height of the 2008 epidemic, her three-year-old fully immunised son contracted whooping cough. The vaccine is only 85 per cent successful. ``I was outraged. Here's Kai, fully immunised and he gets this awful disease because of the luxury of others choosing not to vaccinate due to bad science,'' the business consultant says. Some in the community believe that the mass immunisation program is a covert operation between government and big pharmaceutical companies for the sole purpose of making money. Worse still, according to opponents of vaccination, they are harming children. ``We are having too many people make informed choices not to vaccinate, and the medical and pharmaceutical industries don't like it,'' says expatriate American Meryl Dorey, of the Australian Vaccination Network. She insists her network does not tell parents not to vaccinate; she does, however, say ``the Government is paying a bounty to doctors to push vaccines''. And she talks about children being ``collateral damage'' as a result. ``Everything from brain damage to autism to ADD, ADHD, diabetes, food allergies and death, I have met with many families whose children have died after vaccines,'' she says. Vaccination Information South Australia president Kathy Scarborough agrees, saying vaccines aren't worth the risk. ``This is a serious health issue when you've got 18-month-old babies, toddlers, who are now asthmatic, who are now diabetic, who are now diagnosed autistic,'' Ms Scarborough says. ``The evidence in medical journals linking all of those conditions with vaccines is overwhelming.'' But SA Health chief medical officer Professor Paddy Phillips says this just isn't true. ``The autism link has been completely debunked, it's a myth, it's just not true, it's false and people are lying when they go out and say that,'' he says. And, according to Professor Phillips, the ``hard evidence'' is that vaccinating does far more good than harm. ``Vaccinations are one of the most important public health interventions that have been developed to help protect the community since sanitation, running water and sewers,'' he says. ``We, in societies that have high vaccination rates, have forgotten the impact of vaccine-preventable diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio and smallpox. ``These are devastating diseases that kill and maim thousands - if not millions - of people every year i n areas where they don't have vaccinations,'' Professor Phillips says. But Ms Scarborough still isn't convinced and what worries her most is the lack of information available to parents about possible adverse reactions to vaccines. ``If you pick up literature that promotes vaccines in surgeries and health clinics, you won't find an adverse event listed. People aren't forewarned,'' she says. ``Adverse reactions are severely underreported.'' And Ms Scarborough says this is because most parents won't recognise an adverse reaction if their child has one. Page 151 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

``People don't know that when their child screams in a high pitch or has a fever or develops an ear infection or develops a rash, they are reportable (adverse) events that people are not forewarned about.'' Ms Scarborough says she realised people were wary of people - like herself - who questioned vaccines. ``People think that we are some kind of fringe lunatics or something,'' she says. ``All of the information comes from medical journals, out of their own mouth, from government bulletins.'' The Health Care Complaints Commission investigated the online activities of Ms Dorey's network and found the group was dangerously selective in the information it distributes. The HCCC issued this public warning in July: ``The AVN website: provides information that is solely antivaccination, contains information that is incorrect and misleading and quotes selectively from research to suggest that vaccination may be dangerous.'' It also requested the AVN post the warning on their website, which Ms Dorey refused to do. Some of the research Ms Dorey believes in has been universally discredited. In 1998, British medico Andrew Wakefield hypothesised that the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine possibly caused autism. The study was published in The Lancet, but this year - after serious conflicts of interest were revealed and proven - the respected medical journal withdrew the paper. Dr Wakefield failed to disclose accepting $90,000 from lawyers representing autistic children trying to sue vaccine companies. He also failed to disclose he had a patent pending on a vaccine that was a rival to the MMR vaccine. In May, he was struck off the UK medical register. His causal link has been disproved several times. In Denmark, a study of 440,000 children vaccinated with the MMR were compared to 96,000 who were not; there was no difference in the incidence of autism. A Swedish study and a Finnish study found the same, but Ms Dorey discounts all of it. ``His study has been confirmed,'' she says defiantly. ``There's a new term now: he's been `Wakefielded' - he has been used as a scapegoat.'' Ms Dorey plans to have a host of Australian vaccines tested in US laboratories. ``We're looking for heavy metals and proteins,'' she says. The debate is an emotional one for the McCafferys. Time has done little to ease the pain of their daughter's awful death. The couple, from Lennox Head, a NSW coastal village near the Queensland border, say their grief has been enormously compounded by the actions of the AVN. Ms Dorey tried to get Dana's medical records from NSW Health on March 12, 2009 - the day before her funeral. ``All I did was contact the Department of Health: I wanted to know if her whooping cough was a laboratory diagnosis, because it might not have been whooping cough,'' Ms Dorey explains. The McCaffreys see it differently. ``They were trying to disprove Dana did not die from pertussis. It was so disrespectful,'' Dana's mum, Toni, said. ''It was such an invasion of privacy.'' Whooping cough, or pertussis, is deadly to babies, especially those under the age of six weeks. It has claimed five babies in the past 20 months, including a five-week-old SA boy in September. The little boy wasn't vaccinated, being one-week shy of the earliest time he could have been protected from the disease. There have been 24 deaths nationally from whooping cough since 1993 - 16 infants were aged under 12 months. Page 152 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

In SA, 6414 cases of whooping cough have been reported so far this year, compared with just 369 reported 15 years ago. And in that time there have been six deaths recorded in the state, including three infants under two months of age. This is despite an increased vaccination rate in the state. Professor Phillips said there was a good explanation for these statistics. ``Whooping cough goes in cycles, so we see up swings and down swings and we're in an upswing,'' he says. ``And more people are getting tested because the testing is easy.'' But he warns that the incidence of whooping cough would be even higher than it currently is if less people were vaccinated. ``If we didn't have as high a vaccination rate as we do in babies and children we'd be seeing a lot more (deaths), there's absolutely no doubt about that,'' he says. For the McCafferys, the pain of losing a child will never go away although there is some good news on the horizon - they are expecting another baby in February. ``We know everyone around us will have booster shots, Dave will take time off work, and we will cocoon our baby and not go out at all,'' Toni says. FYI What to do > FOR more information on whooping cough and vaccinations, visit SA Health's website at www.sahealt h.sa.gov.au or Vaccine Information South Australia's site at www.visainfo.org.au > ANYONE who is concerned about whooping cough should seek medical attention or contact healthdirect Australia on 1800 022 222. FYI What's pertussis Pertussis (or whooping cough) is a disease caused by infection of the throat. What are the symptoms? > Pertussis usually begins just like a cold, with a runny nose, tiredness and even a mild fever. > Coughing then develops, usually in bouts, followed by a deep gasp (or "whoop"). There can be vomiting. > Pertussis can be very serious in small children. They might go blue or stop breathing during coughing attacks. > Older children and adults may have a less serious illness, with bouts of coughing that continue for weeks, regardless of treatment. How is it spread? > Pertussis is spread to other people by droplets from coughing or sneezing. > Untreated, a person with pertussis can spread it to other people for up to three weeks after the onset of coughing. > The time between exposure and getting sick is usually seven to 10 days, but can be up to three weeks. Who is at risk? > Anyone can get pertussis but people living in the same household as someone with pertussis are more likely to catch it. Page 153 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

> Immunisation greatly reduces your risk of infection, but reinfection can occur. How is it prevented? > The vaccine does not give lifelong protection against pertussis and protection is sometimes incomplete. > Children need to be immunised at two, four and six months (the first dose can be given as early as six weeks of age). > Boosters are needed at four years and again at 15. Immunisation is available through general practitioners and some local councils. > Babies need two or three vaccinations before they are protected. For this reason, it is very important to keep people with coughing illnesses away from your baby. > Get immunised if you are an adult in close contact with small children. A vaccine for adults is available. Who else should be vaccinated? > Both parents when planning a pregnancy, or as soon as the baby is born. > Other adult household members, grandparents and carers of young children. > Adults who work with young children, especially health-care and childcare workers. If you come into close contact with someone with pertussis: > Watch out for the symptoms. If symptoms develop, see your doctor and mention your contact with pertussis. > People who have close contact with high-risk people (such as children under one year, children not fully vaccinated and women at the end of their pregnancy) and others who live or work with high-risk people may need to take antibiotics to prevent infection. If you have pertussis: > Get treated early while infectious, avoid other people and stay away from young children, childcare centres and schools. How is it diagnosed? > If a doctor thinks someone has pertussis, a swab from the the nose or a blood test may be done to help confirm the diagnosis. How is it treated? > A special antibiotic - usually either erythromycin, clarithromycin or azithromycin - is used to trea t pertussis. Coughing often continues for many weeks despite treatment. Document SUNMAI0020101204e6c50002g

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War zone rhetoric missing the point 595 words 14 January 2010 The Northern Star APNNOS Main 13 English Copyright 2010 APN Newspapers Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved IN HIS Christmas message, Mr Rudd said Christmas was also a time to think about those unable to be with families and loved ones. We think first of our troops in the field, whether they be in the Middle East, Afghanistan, the Solomons, East Timor, the Sudan or elsewhere, he said. We thank them for the sacrifices they make in Australias name. And we think of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and those they have left behind. Mr Rudd said it would be a hard and bloody year in Afghanistan. Let us make sure that our soldiers in the field know that they always have our support back at home, he said. But he still fails to tell us exactly why Australian troops are there other than a vague notion of protecting us from terrorism. I would suggest killing fathers, brothers and sons will breed even more terrorism and increase Australias enemies. The best thing Australia could do is stop slavishly following Americas lead and get out of these war zones and let the UN do the job it was created to do. Then it would be appropriate for Australia to send troops. Reports from Afghanistan show that the West has once again blundered into a situation which will not be resolved for decades and will most likely result in another debilitating war of attrition wherein no one really wins. It is time we stopped killing the Taliban and got them to the negotiating table, something Bush and his warmongering cronies did not even consider. With Obamas planned troop increase, Afghanistan is once more becoming a massive graveyard and a maker of widows and orphans. These orphans will be radicalised and the cycle goes on and on. War is never a solution. War is the actual problem. Peace is possible but politicians need to show more will to peace rather than war. Rudd just continues with the same rhetoric as Howard which is why he is just Howard mark II. Use diplomacy YES, whaling activities should cease. This will eventually be brought about through intentional diplomacy, not through the violent ego-driven tactics of activist Paul Watson and his ilk. RICHARD KIDBY, Mullumbimby. Vaccination I AM vitally concerned by a series of TV advertisements being run in New South Wales and Queensland by the Australian Vaccination Network (really the anti-vaccination network). These ads list a series of conditions that the AVN says have been directly attributed to vaccinations, Page 155 of 156 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved.

including comas, autism and blindness. True to the AVNs form, these claims are false or are misrepresentations. Just like the misrepresented name of the organisation, the AVN is giving misleading information to the public under the guise of balance and openness. These ads also give contact details for the AVN instead of experienced and knowledgeable medical professionals. Let me say it here and now, I support vaccination. It is a necessity. It has proved extremely beneficial and the benefits far outweigh the risks. Those who campaign against it should be ashamed of themselves, as they themselves open the door to increased disease and death, especially of children. The AVN is wrong, and everyone should ignore it, its leaders and its advice. Council labour I SEE the work being done around Lismore, and I am disappointed with council. Can someone tell me why council does not use its own employees? Instead it prefers to pay double and use JHA hired staff. Document APNNOS0020100113e61e000jn

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