Accident survivor couldn’t bear to look in the mirror

It was 1995 and Ellen Harper was out with a friend. They were having a coffee at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast. Ellen knows now she never should have driven home. On her way to Tallebudgera Valley the 18-year-old began to feel tired, so she wound down her window. Just under a kilometre from […]


Fiery Khadija fights the horror of genital mutilation

“A-lo!” She shouted down the line. (A mutual friend had warned me that the Sierra Leone-born Australian was “full-on”, “fiery”.) I took the phone away from my ear and placed it on speaker so I could better hear the electric mix of loud, bouncing West African intonations and subtle Australian inflexions bubbling from the phone. […]


Lost boy winched to safety by chopper

A 15-year-old boy has an exciting story to tell after he was rescued by a helicopter from dense bushland on Fitzroy Island near Cairns yesterday. The boy went bushwalking with his carer and after reaching the lighthouse at the high point of the island, he left the track and became lost in bushland. Urgent calls […]


Protest at sex clinic cuts

Federal Labor this week joined the fight against a Queensland government decision to cut 32 staff from the Brisbane Sexual Health Clinic at Biala House in Roma Street. Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd (pictured) and parliamentary health secretary Shayne Neumann voiced their anger on Tuesday night at a meeting organised by the Queensland Nurses Union. […]


Win for Newsbytes as bubblers return to city rail stations

Hot and thirsty train commuters are welcoming the arrival of water bubblers on Brisbane station platforms this week – but it could take up to four months before they can take a drink. Newsbytes reported last year on the quiet withdrawal of bubblers across the Queensland Rail network. Our story resulted in reversal of the […]


Feds blast Newman government

The Newman government’s decisions on aged care and education were condemned by Prime Minister Julia Gillard and deputy Wayne Swan at last night’s federal community cabinet in Redcliffe. Mr Swan said the state’s closure of Eventide Sandgate to sell some of the site was “simply cruel”. The Commonwealth pays for residents in state-run nursing homes […]


Springborg calls for more federal health funding

A lack of long-term federal government funding could threaten Queensland’s health system, according to the state health minister. Lawrence Springborg said the federal Ggovernment needed to do more than just fund the initial start-up costs for health programs. “What we are seeing with regard to a range of projects which have been developed in Queensland […]


Nurses launch campaign to put pressure on government

The Queensland Nurses Union has launched a campaign to convince the government of the importance of nurses’ work. The union says rumours about job and service cuts are unsettling members and lowering morale. Union secretary Beth Mohle said today the union was launching a positive marketing campaign to remind government of the important role nurses […]


Theatre-goers inspired to help disease victims

Brisbane audiences have opened their hearts to Alana Valentine’s play A Head Full of Love, donating more than $75,000 towards indigenous people with chronic kidney disease. The play, based on verbatim interviews with renal patients, blasts the myth that alcohol is a primary cause of indigenous kidney disease. Recent research by the Australian Institute of […]


Bodybuilder to defend her international title

One of Brisbane’s youngest bodybuilders has announced she’s training for three more competitions, just weeks after taking the Melbourne International Natural Bodybuilding Association’s International Figures title. Personal trainer Nicole Banney, 20, said she would defend her International Figures title on 29 September at the Brisbane INBA Classic. Then, just days later, she’ll hit the stage […]


Iron men face death risk

About one in 200 Australians may not know a potential killer lurks in their blood: iron. Haemochromatosis, described as “an inherited iron overload disorder”, was little known, but easily treated, medical specialists said at a seminar last week. Those at risk are descended from Vikings or Celts. Queensland Institute of Medical Research hosted the seminar […]


Safety of women and children paramount in alcohol review – minister

The government will not liberalise indigenous communities’ alcohol management plans in in any way that will put women and children at risk, Queensland Parliament was told yesterday. The Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Multicultural Affairs, Glen Elmes, said revised plans needed to ensure women and children were not bashed or neglected. In […]


Health workers’ pay dates to be pushed back

Health Department staff will not be paid until 10 days after their roster, instead of the current three days. The change, to take effect in October, was announced in Parliament yesterday by Health Minister Lawrence Springborg. Mr Springborg said employees would be given loans to cover the one-off gap in pay periods. “In October, Queensland […]


Aussies’ cushy lifestyles may make them tougher on refugees – sociologist

Australians’ comfortable lifestyle may make them less sympathetic to refugees, a refugees advocate said yesterday. Sociologist and mental health nurse Jane Hasler said many people were driven by the “I’m all right Jack” philosophy. There was a prevailing attitude of “don’t come and play in my back yard”. Dr Hasler spoke to Newsbytes before the […]


Concerns over health risks of shared bike helmets

A leading Queensland hairdresser and members of the public have expressed concern over hygiene risks of shared bike helmets, although a scientist says the danger of head lice is low. The hairdresser criticised Brisbane City Council for providing helmets as part of the city cycle scheme, claiming the helmets are a violation of the council’s […]


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