News That's Fit To Punt

Shoving The Figure Under The Carpet
Vivain Alvarez who was wrongfully deported to the Phillippines by overzealous DIMIA folks is getting a payout in the millions, except we won't get to know just how much of our tax-payers' money we're talking about.

Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone defended the secrecy surrounding the deal, saying it was "not in the public interest" to reveal how much taxpayers would pay for the bungle.

The deal follows eight months of arbitration by former High Court judge Sir Anthony Mason to determine how much compensation Ms Alvarez should receive for being wrongly sent to The Philippines in 2001.

She was not found until last year, after The Australian revealed her identity in May.

She requires ongoing medical care and has partial amnesia, a partly paralysed hand and a spinal injury as a result of being struck by a car in Lismore in March 2001.

Since returning to Australia she has been reunited with her two sons, a teenager who lives with his father in Brisbane and a nine-year-old who is in foster care.

Her case, and that of Cornelia Rau, an Australian wrongly detained at Baxter detention centre, sparked sweeping reforms in the Immigration Department.

Ms Alvarez's legal team - which includes former Federal Court judge Marcus Einfeld - welcomed the deal yesterday.

I'm going to start my guess at $51.1million. :)

Stem Cell Debate
The bill is being discussed in Parliament.

After the first four hours of debate, 13 MPs spoke in support of the Bill while six opposed it.

Supporters emphasised the medical benefit that could flow from therapeutic cloning and said Australia would lose its position as a research leader if the ban held.

Opponents said it was ethically indefensible to create an embryo to destroy it, particularly when adult stem cell research _ which did not carry the same moral considerations _ was already showing promising results.

Liberal MP Louise Markus and independent Peter Andren said money marked for embryonic stem cell research would be better directed to stem cell research.

``In rejecting this Bill, I urge us all to follow the only ethical path, that of adult stem cell research,'' Mr Andren said.

Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane said it was not yet known whether therapeutic cloning and embryonic stem cell research or adult stem cell research would prove the most useful.

``But in keeping all research paths open we are more likely to identify the best mechanism to reduce human suffering and improve quality of life,'' he said.

I hate it when religion passes itself off as having the only ethical position in this debate. It's a crock. There are just as, if not more compelling ethical reasons to undertak the experiments. The allegedly ethical arguments against are medieval throw-backs. It's pathetic that it causes such a stir in the Twenty-first Century. Really!

Second Test
England are batting first and making it very dreary by crawling to 2/140 runs at tea on the first day.

Collingwood was the most attacking-minded of the batsman, lifting Warne three times and cutting a number of boundaries, bringing up his second consectutive Test half century just before the break.

Ian Bell threw down the anchor, scoring at about 30 runs per hundred balls as he too reached 50.

Both batsmen began to look increasingly comfortable as the session wore on, but it was a fighting rather than dominant display by the two right-handers.

Bell had a close call when he french cut a quick Brett Lee delivery to the fine leg boundary.

Likewise, Collingwood chipped Clark just out of reach of a diving mid-wicket.

Collingwood and Bell's partnership now lies at 99.

Both batsmen had trouble playing Shane Warne, whose variety and big first day spin caused problems.

The naggingly accurate Australian bowling disguised what is a very dry and easy pitch for batting.

Because of the slow nature of the pitch, Ponting stacked his catchers in front of the wicket rather than packing the slip cordon as is the custom when on top of the batsmen on the first day of a Test match.

Despite the slow scoring, Collingwood and Bell's partnership is looking ominous, so much so that Ricky Ponting called on part time spinner Michael Clarke late in the session for a breakthrough.

My hunch is that this is going to be a draw.