Brian Spillane (69), was indicted on nine charges of indecent assault relating to the abuse during the 1970s and the 1980s, when he became a pastor in Sydney and rural disebuah in the state of New South Wales.

The judge who jailed Spillane, Judge Michael Finnane said that he had used his position to gain the trust of the family of the young girls and consent to their homes.

He called on each attack is an attack that is “serious, deliberate and callous” and described Spillane as “perpetrators of violence and cowardly”.

“He’s very reliable and the parents of each victim gave him easy access to their daughter and because of the belief that is what membut he was arrested,” said the judge.

“This is sexual harassment committed by a trusted priest and a great breach of trust.”

Some of the violations occurred when Spillane was alone with his victims were in their bedroom for the evening prayer. One occurred in the car after she attended a memorial service.

The court heard that Spillane has shown remorse.

Australia Day is a day set aside to commemorate the arrival of the First Fleet of eleven convict ships from Great Britain at Sydney Cove in 1788. Australians enjoy this day in an assortment of ways, and usually with family or friends.  It is a day which had been celebrated nationally as a public holiday in Australia every year on 26th January, since 1994.

As Australians are not known to pass up an opportunity to celebrate, you may wonder why it took 206 years (from 1788 to 1994), to do so! However, as history reveals, Australians were celebrating Australia Day in the early years of settlement all along. They just didn’t call it Australia Day!

In 1804 early almanacs, calendars and the Sydney Gazette referred to 26th January as First Landing Day or Foundation Day: ‘The day in 1788 in which Captain Arthur Phillip, commander of the First Fleet and the first governor of New South Wales arrived, raising the flag of the Union Jack to symbolise occupation of the eastern half of the continent; claimed by Captain James Cook on 22nd August 1770.’

In 1818 Governor Lachlan Macquarie (known as ‘the emancipists friend’) acknowledged the thirtieth anniversary of the 26th January as a public holiday with a thirty gun salute; and in compliance with the ‘anniversary dinners’ and ‘emancipists festivals’ where the emancipated convicts; ‘celebrated their love of the land they lived in – with drinking and merriment.’

In 1838 the 26th January was proclaimed an annual public holiday, marking the Jubilee (50 years) of British occupation in New South Wales. By 1888 representatives from Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand joined New South Wales to celebrate the centenary (100 years). The 26th January was being called, Anniversary Day and (still) Foundation Day.

In 1901 the Australian colonies federated to form the Commonwealth of Australia; the Australian Capital Territory was created out of New South Wales (1908) and the federal capital named Canberra (1913). The Australian Natives’ Association campaigned to have 26th January celebrated throughout Australia as Australia Day on a Monday, making a long weekend. Victoria agreed (1931); the other states and territories following by 1935.

However, it was still a few years yet before Australia Day became officially set on 26th January. Other names by which the indigenous people attempted to name this day included; Day of Mourning (1938) and Invasion Day (1988) termed by Aboriginal Australians choosing to observe this day solemnly. Survival Day (1992) was also put forward by indigenous Australians as a more appropriate name.

In 1988 it was agreed by all states and territories of Australia to celebrate Australia Day on 26th January rather than as a long weekend, thereby celebrating it as a public holiday on the day according to the calendar. By 1994 Australia Day was finally establised!

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Official language: English

Land area: 2,969,907 sq mi/7,692,024 sq km

Population: 21,865,000

Dominant religion: Christianity

Capital: Canberra

Current leader: Prime Minister Julia Gillard

Australia is the only country in the world whose boundaries are co-extensive with an entire continent. It is both the world’s sixth largest country in landmass and the world’s smallest continent. It is also the only inhabited continent that lies wholly south of the Equator. Much of the coastal parts of Australia are marked by urban areas such as Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane while much of the vast interior remains virgin, unspoiled wilderness most notable for the Outback. Australia was first settled as a British penal colony. It became an independent country in 1901 but remains a member of the British Commonwealth and recognizes Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. Australia consists of six states, each with its own government and two self-governing mainland territories.

1. Australian Capital Territory (Canberra) – land area: 930 sq mi/2,400 sq km; population: 324,034

2. New South Wales – land area: 309,500 sq mi/801,600 sq km; population: 6,549,177

3. Northern Territory – land area: 519,800 sq mi/1,346,200 sq km; population: 192,898

4. Queensland – land area: 666,900 sq mi/1,727,200 sq km; population: 3,904,532

5. South Australia – land area: 380,000 sq mi/984,000 sq km; population: 1,514,337

6. Tasmania – land area: 26,200 sq mi/67,800 sq km; population: 476,481

7. Victoria – land area: 87,900 sq mi/227,600 sq km; population: 4,932,422

8. Western Australia – land area: 975,100 sq mi/2,525,500 sq km; population: 1.959,088

From 2003 to 2007, almost 20% increase of the young offenders with at least one finalisation of criminal matter (before the NSW Children’s Court).

Most of the finalised matters involved males much more than females. In 2007 the male numbers increased to that of 4 times than female finalised matters.

The numbers of finalised appearances 10 – 14 year, 15 year olds and 16 olds have been marked decrease from 1997 to 2002.

Numbers of Finalised appearances of 10-14 year olds increased by almost 30% between 2003 and 2007. Also since 2004 the finalised appearances increased slightly for 15 and 16 year olds.

Majority of males of finalised matters were involved (before NSW Children’s Court) from 1997 to 2002. Smaller increases in finalised court were reported involving both males and females from 2004 and 2997.

From 1997 to 2002 the decline in the numbers of finalised matters involving males accounts for the most of the decline overall numbers during this period.

In metropolitan NSW from 2003 and 2007 the finalised appearances increased and there are more appearances than the rest of NSW. Also the rest of NSW has seen increase over the years but still less than NSW metropolitan.

Less than 500 appearances have been shown in the NSW Children’s Court between 1996 and 2007 for 17 year olds. Also 18 year olds even lesser in 17 year olds.

2.     Over the time 2004 to 2008 the number of robbery offences against young people and children aged 15-17 years has been consistently higher than other age groups. Number of kidnapping/abductions against 10-14 year olds has more than doubled from 0.14 per 1000 to 0.30.

Males were five times more likely to be counted as victim of robbery while females about as much likely to be victims of abduction/kidnapping in 2008.

The number of abductions increased from 1996 to 2008, more than trebling from 0.05 per 1000 to 0.17.

Victimisation rate associated with robber decreased from 0.90 in 2007 to 0.77 in 2008. Between 2005 and 2007 reverse increasing trend has been seen.     

The number of offences against 14-15 year olds has more than doubled from 2004 to 2008.

Question 2

1.     Ronald Ryan is remembered in Australia because he was the last man to be hung as a capital punishment. The remembrance is observed as signal moment in our political history, for the event of the abolishment of capital punishment. Mainly he is remembered for provoking (by the state of his execution) public outcry that created a barrier between men/women and the thinking about the revival of capital punishment.

2.     He was neglected by alcoholic parents and was caught for minor theft

This engaged him into petty crimes. In 1964 he was sentenced to 13 years of jail for a series of robbery. He was jailed at Melbourne’s Pentridge Prison.

3.     He was sentenced to death because of his crimes while escaping and after the when they escaped. While he was escaping from the prison he shot Warden George Hodson who was chasing them and after they escaped they robbed a bank. But he was mainly sentenced to death for murdering prison officer George Hodson.

4.     It was regarded ambiguous because it was revealed that another prison guard fired a gun at the escapees and Ryan claimed that he never shot anyone. Also the gun Ryan shot with was never examined so the evidence that put forward saying that he didn’t shoot anyone was not clear enough.

5.     Extradited: When an alleged criminal is returned to the town or country where they are accused is a crime.                                                                                                                                Commuted to life: Convicts sentences were often reduced from the death penalty to the lesser penalty of life imprisonment.

6.     The Victorian premier, Henry Bolte was determined to see Ryan executed.

·        The new and tougher laws were introduced on 1st of July, 2007 because ‘they’ve been made for one major reason, to try to stop young people getting killed or injured on the road.’ Also because they are inexperienced so they need to have strict rules to learn to be responsible and not follow irresponsible things like using the mobile phone while driving, speeding, drink driving and other dangerous things.

P1 drivers and motorcycle riders and speeding offences.                                                                                     Penalty:

·        Minimum 4 demerits

·        Three month licence suspension

·        A fine 

Learner, P1 drivers and provisional motor cycle riders are banned from using mobile phones including phone equipments.                                                            Penalty:                                                                                                                    

·        Three demerit points                                                                                                

·        Four demerit points if offence occurs in school zone

P1 drivers under 25 years of age can carry one passenger only under the age of 21 between 11pm to 5am                                                                                          Penalty:

·        Three demerit points                                                                                             

·        A fine

L and P plates attached outside of car, cannot stick P plates inside car window anymore.                                                                                                             Penalty:

·        Two demerit points

·        A fine

New leaner drivers must complete 120 hours under supervision of driving and hold their licence for minimum 12 months.

Question 4

How the drug court operates.                                                                                                                           The conduct of the Drug Court uses or is governed by

·        The drug Court Act 1998:

·        The Drug Court Regulation 2005

·        The past decisions of the Drug Court

·        The policies of the Drug Court

The Court contains the Local Court and the District Court Jurisdiction. The operation of the Court comes from the Parramatta Court complex.

The drug court consists of the Senior Judge, one associate to the Senior Judge, Registrar, two Solicitors from ODPP, and inspector from NSW Police Service, three solicitors from Legal Aid Commission, Corrections Health Service Nurse Manager and Co-ordinator from the Probation and Parole Service.

Team meetings are help due to every report back sitting of the court and are chaired by the presiding judge for that day, Case management case for each participant are discussed.

The court works with number of other organizations, including department of corrective services, the probation/parole service, department of health, through justice health and the area health services. 

Detoxification in Custody

If the Court decides that an applicant is eligible, the person will be remanded in custody for detoxification and assessment.

Discretionary refusal    

The DPP may aim to a person’s entry in to a Drug Court program because of matters in the person’s ancestors.

Rewards and Sanctions

The Drug Court allows the court to confer rewards on a participant when they maintain a satisfactory level of indulgence with their Drug Court.

Termination of a program

Program will end in 12 months at least unless terminated sooner.

Reasons:

·        The offender terminates the program

·        No progression seen

·        Has done enough to be rehabilitated

Appeals

No automatic right for a person to enter the drug court program and no appeal allowed a against a decision of the Drug court to refuse to allow a person to enter a Drug Court program.

The Drug Court effectiveness in achieving their aim

It is shown NSW Drug Court has that it is more cost effective than prison reducing the rate of reoffending among offenders whose crime is related to drugs.

Aims of the Drug Court

·        Reduction of drug dependency by eligible persons.

·        Promote the re-integration of such drug dependent persons into the community.

·        Reduction of criminal activities influenced by drug dependency to support their drug dependencies.

·        Social support and development of living skills

The aim is to be achieved by stating a plan, under which person under the influence of drug dependency, who is charged with criminal offences, can join programs creates to discard or at least reduce their drug dependency. The reduction of influence of drug dependency should result in the reduction of criminal activities and support that dependency. Also should increase a person’s ability to function by following the laws of citizen.

 To be eligible for the Drug Court a person must:                                                                                                                          

·        highly likely to be sentenced to full time imprisonment if approved

·        be 18 years of age or over

·        be willing to participate

·        indication of pleading to being guilty to the offence

·        be dependent of denial of further drug use

·        reside within the catchment area

·        be referred from a court in the catchment area                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

The type offenders which use this Court are maybe addicted to illicit drugs and criminal violence under the influence of drug dependency or are just drug dependent. 

After detoxification and assessment, the offender appears before the Drug Court where he or she enters a guilty plea, receives a sentence that is suspended, and signs an undertaking to abide by his or her program conditions. This process marks the commencement of the offender’s Drug Court program.

Each participant’s program comprises three phases:

1.     The initiation phase where participants are expected to reduce drug use, stabilise their physical health and to cease criminal activity. In this phase, participants are required to undergo drug testing at least three times a week and to report back to the Drug Court once a week.

2.     the consolidation phase where participants are expected to remain drug-free and crime-free, and to develop life and job skills. In this phase, testing for drug use is conducted twice weekly and report-back court appearances occur fortnightly.

3.      is the reintegration phase where participants are expected to gain or be ready to gain employment, and to be financially responsible. In this phase, drug testing is conducted twice weekly and report-back court appearances are conducted monthly.

The Court may receive rewards on a participant when they maintain a satisfactory level of compliance with their Drug Court program. Rewards may be simply a round of applause, or perhaps permission to work even during Phase One.

Sanctions may be imposed on a participant who fails to comply with the program.

A program will last for at least 12 months unless it is terminated sooner.

A Drug Court program can be terminated when: the Court decides that the participant has substantially complied with the program, or the participant applies to have it terminated, or · the Court decides that the participant is unlikely to make any further progress in the program, or that further participation poses an unacceptable risk to the community that the offender will re-offend.

When the Court finds that a participant has substantially complied with a program a bond is the usual final court order. The Court awards a Certificate of Graduation or a Certificate of Substantial Achievement to participants who have met the standards that the Court has set.

The effectiveness of the drug court

The Court has helped almost 1700 drug-dependent offenders to address the causes of their criminal behaviour. Around 150 defendants complete the program each year.

The Court’s success at rehabilitating the non-violent, drug addicted offenders has given it significant international recognition, according to Drug Court Judge Roger Dive.

The Deputy Director of the NSW Drug Court by the Bureau of Crime Statistics and the researchers found that those who had completed the Drug Court program were less likely to be re convicted than offenders given conventional sanctions.

When you have located him continue to search subsequent directories. This type of entry will be found eg for John Brown and his wife Emily, your grandparents:- 1875 Brown,John , mariner, 100 Sydney Street,Balmain., 1976 No Entry, 1877 Brown, Emily,Mrs, 100 Sydney Street, Balmain. You can be fairly assumed that if he was an elderly man, John Brown died about 1876. Married women as distinct from widows are not usually listed,while a name may disappear from a directory some years before death if an elderly person spent his last few years at home of a younger relative.

(d) Collected records of death and burials. Library of the Society of Australian Genealogists there is an extensive collection of transcripts of cemetery memorials chiefly in New South Wales and Victoria. Some have been published and some are indexed but most remain in manuscript form.

(e) Searches in Official records. Extended searches will be made for a record of death on application to the principal registration office in the state where the death is believed to have occurred. The Starting point for the search must be given and additional years are searched at a special rate. Using other sources which have been suggested the cost of such extended searches will be reduced and much valuable time is saved.

I hope this story will help you all with your researchin to your family history and let me know what you thinkofthis and share it with your family and friends.

George T Saviel

03 June 2011

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   In the first case where a number of backpackers were murdered and dumped at location in forest, it was considered that the person or persons had help. The family of the convicted person was big on guns and would use a selection of guns under the umbrella of “hunting”. The fact that the victims were ferried to locations and the probability of different vehicles used and had locations where they could have been held captive. The way it was portrayed to the public was a one man event where he gained their trust initially. He would then change mentally most notably by the passengers where he would inject terror into their lives. We are made to either accept or wonder what other possibility existed.Has this most recent event yet another murder, have a link to primary types committed at the same location, a relative where it was suspected family ties were possibly involved.

   It was only last year where a psychic detective brought in to see if she could feel some bearing and ascertain some leads to bring about some truth to a case that is tragic. It was felt that there was more than one involved as there was quite a lot of activity spelling out that the victims were more than likely robbed of their cash and belongings and distributed among the web. There was speculation on a psychic level of the afore mentioned vehicles and homes at different locations. In the latest comparison we are told that a group were supposed to be friends who gathered at the location.

   After some discussion and argument and difference of opinion occurred. This is where we the public are told that one of the group was killed with what Police describe as a machete attack. The weapon had not yet been found. Although interesting with the history of this death pool location, was simple as that where a friend is killed off, rather than where common sense prevails a fight would break out a decent punch up, where the others would break it up not stand by and watch an execution take place. One wonders was it all set up on the pretence of going into the forest for a good time yet all the while the others had planned the demise.

The Uncyclopedia calls the bunyips hobgoblins of the imagination.  They come in a wide variety of shapes including double-jointed legs and neck because of their genetic variability.  The bunyips have a terrifying appearance and are members of the Gargantuan size class.  They are said to be excellent swimmers.

Aborigines usually translate the word bunyip as “evil spirit” or “devil”.  “The Geelong Advertiser” revealed that fossils of the creature were found in 1845.  This was the first written use of the word bunyip.  Over the past 150 years, Europeans have tried to explain and understand the origins of the bunyip as a physical entity.

Europeans believed the bunyip was a living unknown animal during the early settlement of Australia.  Many sightings of the creature occurred during the 1840s and 1850s.  The sightings took place mostly in South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria.  In his 1852 autobiography, an escaped convict wrote that he saw the bunyip on several occasions.  The Philosophical Society of Australasia offered to compensate explorer Hamilton Hume for any cost incurred in recovering a living specimen.

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, many tales of  the bunyip appeared in written literature.  There was even a newspaper called the Bunyip.  The creature has undergone cultural crossover from Australia to the United States since World War II.  The bunyip now appears as a character in several computer games. 

Most Australians consider the bunyip to be a mythological creature.  Scientists believe it to have been a living animal at one time but is now extinct.  Some scientists think the bunyip was a creature called a “diprotodon”.  The diprotodon became extinct 20,000 years ago and terrified Australia’s earliest settlers. 

The bunyip may be extinct but people were seeing something in the nineteenth century.  Is it still alive now? 

No one knew about America before Columbus. People in those days had heard about only three continents – Asia, Europe and Africa. After the discovery of America in 1492 by Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus no other new continent was heard of for more than a hundred years.  Claims have been made that it was in the year 1605 that the Spanish or Portuguese sailor Luis Váez de Torres had the first sightings of a huge land in the southern Indian Ocean. However, it was in 1606 that the first documented and undisputed European landing of the Terra Australis Incognita (unknown southern land) was made by the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon aboard the ship Duyfken.

Australia – Buy at AllPosters.com

Initial Expeditions

In the initial years of Australian exploration, the land was called New Holland by the Dutch explorers. In the year 1642, a Dutch sailor named Abel Tasman set sail to find the new land. He landed in an island to the south of Australia. This island was later named Tasmania after his name. He did not realize that Tasmania was an island and mistook it as the much talked about new land. However, he did not get much chance to explore the land. Many Dutch sailors came to this island after Tasman. Nearly 50 years after this, an English sailor named William Dampier landed in the eastern coast of Australia. They found a beautiful green country out there. There were beautiful flowers, colorful birds and many strange animals. They saw a really strange animal which was larger than a man but which had a head like a mouse. This was the Western world’s first encounter with a Kangaroo. They found the locals to be tall and black and they did not wear clothes but leaves and tree barks. 

Hollandia Nova (New Holland), 1659 map prepared by Joan Blaeu

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Captain Cook’s Expedition

After nearly 80 years after Dampier, Captain Cook from England set out for this new land aboard the HMS Endeavour in 1768. He was one of the bravest sailors of the time. The place Captain Cook reached first was not Australia; he had reached New Zealand. He sailed all around New Zealand and found out that it was in fact a large island but the main land mass was to the West.

Captain Cook is the First European to Set Foot in New Zealand – Buy at AllPosters.com

After this he left New Zealand on April 20, 1770 and reached New Holland after nineteen days. When they anchored at a suitable place and the sailors tried to land, some strange men painted in mud tried to attack them with spears. Blank firings from the ship could not stop them. Only when one of them was shot at did they leave the newcomers. Captain Cook could not leave the place for a few days in order to repair the ship.

Scrapbook of the British Sailor – Buy at AllPosters.com

After the repair, he sailed northwards along the east coast and on August 22, 1770 he proclaimed British authority in the eastern coast of Australia in the name of King George III of England at Possession Island. He named eastern Australia as ‘New South Wales’. During this northward journey Endeavour was stuck in the Great Barrier Reef and had to be repaired.  

Captain James Cook

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Beginning of British Colonization

Now it was time to decide what was to be done with this new land. The British government decided to exile many of its prisoners to this new continent. Captain Arthur Phillip and his First Fleet comprising of eleven ships and about 1350 people were sent to establish the first British colony in Australia. Soldiers were sent to guard the prisoners, sailors went along with them and so did doctors, laborers and other people. They found a suitable place and built small wooden huts and houses for themselves. In this way a Western settlement was established in this new land.

The Charlotte, a ship of the First Fleet which carried prisoners at Portsmouth before departure in May 1787

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This was only the beginning of a British colony in the new continent. Initially it had been decided that ships would bring provisions for the settlers from Britain. It became a problem pretty soon because the ships would be delayed for long and all the people including Governor Phillip would have to go on ration. The colony faced severe scarcity of women because there were only about one woman for every four man. Gradually people started to come to this new country. Some came to mine, others to farm the land; some to explore the lands and others to find a job. One small settlement grew into several towns pretty soon. In the mean time the name had been changed from New Holland to Australia or the Southern land.

Exploration of the Australian Continent

For quite some time, the central parts of Australia had remained largely inaccessible and unexplored. Many people tried to find out what was there in these vast patches of open lands and barren deserts. There were thrilling stories of adventurers and their exploits all around. Going deep into the continent was very dangerous. There were vast deserts, strange people, venomous snakes and large rivers. Everything in this strange land astonished the adventurers.

Burke and Wills deserve special mention among the explorers. Explorer’s like Charles Sturt, John Oxley, Edward John Eyre and others explored vast stretches of the Australian landmass over a period of time.    

A Real Adventure in the Central Australian Deserts

There are many stories of brave adventurers and their adventures in the wilds of Australia. I shall end this article with one such tale.

In the year 1840, a man name Edward John Eyre set off to see what was there in the central parts of the huge continent. He was going from South to North – for days he could find nothing other than red gravels and dried lakes. Then he went westwards but even there he could not find anything other than some cactuses and thorny bushes. It was such a dry land that the the scarcity of water slowed them down tremendously. In forty days he and his men could walk only about one hundred and fifty miles. Everybody fled, only an European name John Bacster and three aborigines were left with him. 

Edward John Eyre – Buy at AllPosters.com

They were nearly blinded by sandstorms. The horses started to die for the lack of water and so did the sheeps and goats. Strange flies started biting them and the bites were very painful. When the provisions started finishing, two locals murdered Bacster, looted all the food and fled. There was only one local left with Eyre. He was named Wylie. There was only one horse left. They killed it and ate its raw flesh. After this they started eating a small amount of wheat flour they had with them by mixing a little bit of water. Even this was finished one day. They were now moving without food.

Explorers Eyre and Wylie Reach the Coast – Buy at AllPosters.com

Suddenly one day, they reached the shores of an unknown sea (present Rossiter Bay) and there were some French sailors, under Captain Rossiter, who had set sails there. All of them were both astonished and happy to see a white man and an aborigine together in the deserted bay.

Eyre was relieved. He had returned from the doors of death.

Image by State Library of New South Wales collection via Flickr

Corporation X has agreed to settle the lawsuilt without admitting guilt to the matter at hand. We all know there’s a good chance they might be guilty. But with these mighty lawyers we call corporate lawyers on the case they have spin into companies minds it’s better to sovle the case then the bad publicity that comes from it.

 So when judges say we have too many bad cases tying up the court system. That’s only half right. Because with the tricks invovled in keeping cases tied up in courts by lawyers that’s why lawsuits are tying the court up.

We know most company with major clients. Doesn’t want negativity that might throw off their profits. But this we admit no guilt tell volume to others. We like to say why settle instead of fighting the outcome to your favor.

A corporate lawyer gets paid on retainer don’t matter what. But always fight to win if you’re innocence. Even if the news put their spin on the case at hand.