An Australian news roundup

Your bureaucracy will protect you: "Children trapped in Victoria's most depraved family have suffered 17 years of horrendous abuse under the noses of authorities. One of the five siblings is forced to live with an elder brother accused of sexually assaulting and bashing him. The Department of Human Services has known about the "house of hell", in country Victoria, since 1989. But its file on the family has been stamped "case closed" or "no further action" 10 times since then. Department documents, sighted by the Sunday Herald Sun, admit welfare workers have been made aware of "extreme patterns of sexualised behaviour over a long period within the family". The youngest child in the family is aged less than 10, while two boys still live together though the elder has been accused of abusing his younger sibling. "Whether (the pair) would be able to have a relationship without sexual abuse occurring is doubtful," the documents state.... A member of the community where the family lives described it as a "house of hell". "Life for these kids has been a nightmare," the person said."









Conservative Anglicans thrive: "Moore Theological College, which trains clergy for the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, is expanding so quickly it will soon outgrow its Newtown premises. The college's director of property planning, Doug Marr, said the rapid growth in trainee minister numbers had forced a search for new premises. The preferred option is the Lindfield campus of the University of Technology, Sydney. There have been discussions about the college buying it, although it would need to sell its premises on Carillon Avenue. "We've had huge growth in the last 20 years," Mr Marr said. "The number of ministers in training has grown enormously . . . we're running out of space." The number of full-time, undergraduate students this year is 314. That has grown from 303 last year, 287 in 2004 and 235 in 2001. Strong demand for training at the college comes as other denominations find it difficult to attract people to vocations. The state's biggest Catholic seminary, The Seminary of the Good Shepherd, at Homebush, has 42 seminarians"









Another pro-baby initiative: "Federal Treasurer Peter Costello plans to fund 100,000 new childcare places in the May 9 Budget. With the Government's surplus now tipped to reach $14 billion, all spending on the additional childcare places will be new money - not diverted from existing programs. The ambitious plan means childcare will take its place alongside tax cuts as the centrepiece of what could be Mr Costello's last Budget. In a recent speech setting out his vision for the future, Mr Costello declared he wanted to make Australia "the most female-friendly country in the world". The Budget plan is a substantial downpayment on that ambition, but some critics would say it is still not enough. The Government created 50,000 childcare places last year but lobby groups argue that the real shortfall is still 175,000 places. They say the Budget will still come up short by 75,000 places. Mr Costello's package is intended to bring working mothers back to the Coalition and head off Labor, which is expected to promise a major childcare boost at the next election.





Bizarre! Australia welcomes Al Qa'ida fellow-travellers: "Australia has granted asylum to five men who claim their membership of an organisation accused of ties to al-Qa'ida would expose them to persecution in their home countries. The men from Syria, Egypt and India sought protection on the basis of their membership of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been banned in Syria and is considered the father of terrorist groups including al-Qa'ida. Osama bin Laden's right-hand man Ayman al-Zawahiri adopted the organisation. And earlier this month, The Weekend Australian revealed that one of the five asylum-seekers, Ahmad al-Hamwi, who arrived in Australia 10 years ago, was a senior al-Qa'ida bagman linked to 1993 World Trade Centre bomber Ramzi Yousef. US terror expert Steven Emerson said the practice of allowing Muslim Brotherhood members into Australia was "extremely dangerous"."

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