Melb hospital joins PM in adoption apology

A MELBOURNE hospital has apologised to women who were forced to give up their babies for adoption over a 30-year period.

Monash Health chief executive Shelly Park said she was truly sorry for the pain and loss so many experienced through past adoption practices at the Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital in the 30-year period up to the late 1970s.

"I recognise that many women, particularly young single women, experienced grief, pain, anger and loss, some of which have continued to the present time," Ms Park said on Wednesday.

"For this, I apologise unconditionally."

From the 1950s to the 1970s, about 150,000 unwed Australian mothers had their babies removed by churches and adoption agencies.

A number of states, including Victoria, have apologised to mothers who had to relinquish their babies during this time.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Julia Gillard will make a formal apology in Canberra.

The Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital was one of the major maternity hospitals in Melbourne for several decades.

"On behalf of Monash Health, I acknowledge that many past adoption practices, particularly when considered against today's standards, were clearly misguided; often based on societal attitudes and pressures rather than the best interests of mother and child," Ms Park said.

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Two WA men acquitted of insider trading

TWO Perth men have been acquitted of 28 insider trading charges but still face a further five offences after a jury failed to reach a verdict on all the counts.

Roberto Gerald Catena and Flemming Hood Nielsen were accused of engaging in unlawful conduct while possessing inside information on a possible takeover of Vision Systems Limited (VSL).

A WA Supreme Court jury returned not-guilty verdicts on 28 out of 33 counts in the indictment but were not able to reach verdicts on the remaining counts.

Catena, 46, was charged with 20 counts of insider trading between July and August 2006 when he was a broker with Citigroup Wealth Advisers and advised five clients, including Nielsen, to purchase VSL shares.

Nielsen, 56, faced 13 counts of insider trading for the same period while he was a client and received the inside information and purchased VSL shares through Citigroup and CommSec.

Catena and Nielsen were granted bail to reappear in the WA Supreme Court on April 8 to face the remaining five counts.

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Dead pigs in China river exceed 13,000

The number of dead pigs found in a river running through Shanghai has reached more than 13,000. Source: AAP

THE number of dead pigs found in a river running through China's commercial hub Shanghai has reached more than 13,000, as mystery deepened over the hogs' precise origin.

Shanghai had pulled 9,460 pigs out of the Huangpu river, which supplies 22 per cent of the city's drinking water, since the infestation began earlier this month, the Shanghai Daily reported.

Shanghai has blamed farmers in Jiaxing in neighbouring Zhejiang province for dumping pigs which died of disease into the river upstream, where the official Xinhua news agency said on Monday another 3,601 dead animals had been recovered.

The Jiaxing government has said the area is not the sole source of the carcasses, adding it had found only one producer that could be held responsible.

Shanghai said it had checked farms in its southwestern district of Songjiang, where the pigs were first detected, but found they were not to blame, the Shanghai Daily said.

The scandal has spotlighted China's troubles with food safety, adding the country's most popular meat to a growing list of food items rocked by controversy.

Samples of the dead pigs have tested positive for porcine circovirus, a common swine disease that does not affect humans.

"Due to some farming households having a weak recognition of the law, bad habits, and lack of increased supervision and capability for treatment have led to the situation," the national agriculture ministry's chief veterinarian Yu Kangzhen said.

Yu attributed a higher mortality rate among pigs to colder weather this spring, though he ruled out an epidemic, the ministry said in statement posted on its website over the weekend.

The thousands of dead pigs have drawn attention to China's poorly regulated farm production. Animals that die from disease can end up in the country's food supply chain or improperly disposed of, despite laws against the practice.

In Wenling, also in Zhejiang, authorities announced last week that 46 people had been jailed for up to six-and-a-half years for processing and selling pork from more than 1,000 diseased pigs.

China faced one its biggest food-safety scandals in 2008 when the industrial chemical melamine was found to have been illegally added to dairy products, killing at least six babies and making 300,000 people ill.

In another recent incident, the American fast-food giant KFC faced controversy after revealing that some Chinese suppliers provided chicken with high levels of antibiotics, in what appeared to be an industry-wide practice.

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Dead pigs in China river exceed 13,000

The number of dead pigs found in a river running through Shanghai has reached more than 13,000. Source: AAP

THE number of dead pigs found in a river running through China's commercial hub Shanghai has reached more than 13,000, as mystery deepened over the hogs' precise origin.

Shanghai had pulled 9,460 pigs out of the Huangpu river, which supplies 22 per cent of the city's drinking water, since the infestation began earlier this month, the Shanghai Daily reported.

Shanghai has blamed farmers in Jiaxing in neighbouring Zhejiang province for dumping pigs which died of disease into the river upstream, where the official Xinhua news agency said on Monday another 3,601 dead animals had been recovered.

The Jiaxing government has said the area is not the sole source of the carcasses, adding it had found only one producer that could be held responsible.

Shanghai said it had checked farms in its southwestern district of Songjiang, where the pigs were first detected, but found they were not to blame, the Shanghai Daily said.

The scandal has spotlighted China's troubles with food safety, adding the country's most popular meat to a growing list of food items rocked by controversy.

Samples of the dead pigs have tested positive for porcine circovirus, a common swine disease that does not affect humans.

"Due to some farming households having a weak recognition of the law, bad habits, and lack of increased supervision and capability for treatment have led to the situation," the national agriculture ministry's chief veterinarian Yu Kangzhen said.

Yu attributed a higher mortality rate among pigs to colder weather this spring, though he ruled out an epidemic, the ministry said in statement posted on its website over the weekend.

The thousands of dead pigs have drawn attention to China's poorly regulated farm production. Animals that die from disease can end up in the country's food supply chain or improperly disposed of, despite laws against the practice.

In Wenling, also in Zhejiang, authorities announced last week that 46 people had been jailed for up to six-and-a-half years for processing and selling pork from more than 1,000 diseased pigs.

China faced one its biggest food-safety scandals in 2008 when the industrial chemical melamine was found to have been illegally added to dairy products, killing at least six babies and making 300,000 people ill.

In another recent incident, the American fast-food giant KFC faced controversy after revealing that some Chinese suppliers provided chicken with high levels of antibiotics, in what appeared to be an industry-wide practice.

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Cost for water on the rise in southeast

RATEPAYERS in five southeast Queensland Council areas, including Brisbane, will pay an extra 3.9 per cent for water and sewerage this coming financial year.

Confirming the news this afternoon, Queensland Urban Utilities, which services the Brisbane, Ipswich, Lockyer Valley, Somerset and Scenic Rim council areas, said the increase should amount to about $28 to $37, or 53 to 71 cents per week for the average residential bill.

But consumers could be in for another hit yet, with the State Government yet to reveal any changes to the component of water bills that it controls - bulk water charges.

The increase comes after Queensland Urban Utilities froze its residential water and sewerage prices for the 2012-13 financial year.

QUU chief executive Louise Dudley said factors including increased operating costs and lower-than-expected growth had been taken into account when determining the increase.

Ms Dudley said she understood some found it hard to pay their bills and payment plans had ben developed to help those in need.

Charges for non-residential customers will also increase by 3.9 per cent in 2013/14, with final prices to be released in June.

Changes to the QUU water and sewerage access charges will be reflected on residential accounts issued from July 1 while consumption charges, including the state's bulk water charge, will be reflected on accounts issued from October 1.

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Cost for water on the rise in southeast

RATEPAYERS in five southeast Queensland Council areas, including Brisbane, will pay an extra 3.9 per cent for water and sewerage this coming financial year.

Confirming the news this afternoon, Queensland Urban Utilities, which services the Brisbane, Ipswich, Lockyer Valley, Somerset and Scenic Rim council areas, said the increase should amount to about $28 to $37, or 53 to 71 cents per week for the average residential bill.

But consumers could be in for another hit yet, with the State Government yet to reveal any changes to the component of water bills that it controls - bulk water charges.

The increase comes after Queensland Urban Utilities froze its residential water and sewerage prices for the 2012-13 financial year.

QUU chief executive Louise Dudley said factors including increased operating costs and lower-than-expected growth had been taken into account when determining the increase.

Ms Dudley said she understood some found it hard to pay their bills and payment plans had ben developed to help those in need.

Charges for non-residential customers will also increase by 3.9 per cent in 2013/14, with final prices to be released in June.

Changes to the QUU water and sewerage access charges will be reflected on residential accounts issued from July 1 while consumption charges, including the state's bulk water charge, will be reflected on accounts issued from October 1.

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Anti-fracking artists 'fail' to register

DOZENS of celebrities may be running foul of US law as they unite under the banner of one group that is seeking to prevent a method of gas drilling in New York state.

Artists Against Fracking opposes hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and boasts members including Yoko Ono and actors Mark Ruffalo and Susan Sarandon.

The group says forcing water and chemicals deep into shale deposits to extract gas threatens drinking water and the environment. The group's website implores, "Tell Governor Cuomo: Don't Frack New York."

But the group and nearly 200 entertainers who are gaining attention and support in the dispute, which is splitting New Yorkers, aren't registered lobbyists, according to a search by The Associated Press of the database of the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics.

State law is designed to disclose who is trying to influence government action, how much money they are spending and where the money's going.

"You spend money lobbying, you have to register," said David Grandeau, former executive director of the state lobbying commission and now an lawyer representing lobbyists and clients.

There's no public record of how much money Artists Against Fracking has spent, but its website contains links for visitors to make donations, which are directed to the Sustainable Markets Foundation. Although the foundation is an established charitable organisation and its donations are recorded publicly, it isn't registered with New York as a lobbying client, either.

Under New York law, however, it appears Artists Against Fracking is required to be a registered lobbyist because the law hinges on spending over $US5,000.

The group hasn't filed lobbying reports, so the amount it has spent and what it was spent on isn't known publicly. Experts in Albany say the website and public events appear to have cost well over $US5,000.

The group hasn't responded to requests for comment in the past two weeks. The group's account executive at its public relations firm, Fenton of New York City, didn't respond to a request for comment.

The group includes Ono and Sean Lennon, the widow and son of musician John Lennon. They recently attended an anti-fracking event in Albany with Ruffalo, actors Zooey Deschanel, Alec Baldwin and Hugh Jackman, and singer Lady Gaga, along with other longtime activists such as David Crosby and Paul McCartney. None of them are registered to lobby in New York.

A week ago, Artists Against Fracking widely released a music video done through Skype from various locations featuring dozens of entertainers singing a Sean Lennon song, "Don't Frack My Mother." In it, Ono sings part of the chorus, "Don't frack me!"

Failing to register as a lobbyist is not a criminal offence. Commonly, when a person new to lobbying is believed to have failed to lobby as required by law to track the influence of money on public policy, that person is given a chance to submit a lobbing form and pay a $US200 fee.

One of the main players supporting fracking, the Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York, is registered.

Lobbying is big business in New York. The New York Public Interest Research Group reported that more than $US220 million was spent lobbying in 2011 - and that was before the fracking debate really heated up.

The biggest penalty for failure to follow the lobbying law resulted in a $US250,000 fine against Donald Trump and others over casinos in 2000, and the Philip Morris tobacco company was hit with a $US75,000 fine in 1999.

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Aussie man, 93, on Thai child rape charges

LAWYERS for a 93-year-old Australian are arguing he is too ill to face charges of sexually assaulting children in Thailand.

German born Karl Joseph Kraus, from Western Australia, is accused of abusing four sisters for almost two years. The youngest was aged five when the alleged abuse began.

Kraus will ask a Thai court for freedom on Monday.

At the time of his arrest almost three years ago, police said they found more than 100 photos of naked children on the hard drive of his computer.

Kraus pleaded not guilty to rape and sexual assault and was granted bail of 400,000 baht (A$12,000).

In mid-2012 he fled to neighbouring Myanmar (Burma) before being arrested and sent back to Thailand.

Lawyers say Kraus has several health issues, including dementia and cancer.

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Man under police guard over two Vic deaths

THE son of one of two brothers found dead in a country Victorian property has been arrested and remains under police guard in hospital.

Ross Streeter, 30, is the son of Douglas Streeter, who police believe was shot dead along with his brother John Streeter, at their property at Natte Yallock, near Avoca, on Thursday evening.

Mr Streeter was arrested at Avoca in connection with the deaths on Saturday.

Paramedics found him near a water tower in Cambridge Street with self-inflicted injuries, an Ambulance Victoria spokesman said.

The man was taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital in a serious condition under police escort.

Police said the man's injuries were not life-threatening, but he is expected to remain in hospital for at least another day.

He is yet to be interviewed by police.

Police have said it appeared the men, both aged in their 60s, had been shot.

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Vic police call for stabbing witnesses

A man has died after being stabbed multiple times in the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy. Source: AAP

MYSTERY surrounds the death of a young man who was stabbed multiple times in inner Melbourne.

A passing council worker found the man in distress in Fitzroy about 5am Sunday (AEDT), police said.

The worker gave the man first aid and called 000 but paramedics were unable to revive the young man.

Detective Sergeant Allan Birch said police are still trying to establish what happened to the man.

"It would appear he had a number of stabbing injuries," he told reporters.

"We don't know what happened ... we don't know exactly how the injuries were inflicted."

Police were initially unable to identify the man, but now say he is a 21-year-old from Werribee.

The man was found in Johnston Street near the intersection of Fitzroy Street.

On Sunday morning a small lane way was draped with a tarpaulin as crime scene examiners combed the area.

Det Sgt Birch said police are not aware of any witnesses besides the council worker and urge people with information to come forward.

He said the homicide investigation is very wide, given the lack of information.

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