Disaster
In Grantham and beyond, they searched for bodies in battered houses and hot, swampy fields. Clearing debris from footpaths, roads and yards. Eighteen months before, they’d fought the inferno in southern and central Victoria, fighting fires, saving lives, and making endless cups of tea.
They’re Australian volunteers - thousands of them - who left jobs and families to lend a hand to the natural disaster recovery efforts that swept across our eastern states in the past three years.
Their work saved lives and homes. Comforted hearts, and made towns livable again. Actions fit for a reward of huge proportions. But here’s what they got instead. A muddled up medal with serious eligibility issues and a confusing criteria that ignored the efforts of thousands of others. And a bungled up awards ceremony. Seem unfair to you? Well, here’s how it happened.
Continue reading "A muddled medal: Our volunteers deserve more" »
You can well imagine that in better times, Francesco Schettino is the kind of guy you’d like to have around. A little bit debonair, as he chats at the bar with the ladies. And a little bit dangerous; careening around the waters off the coast of Tuscany, “as if the boat was a Ferrari”.
But as we know, the good times reveal very little about a person’s true character. It’s what they do when a situation goes horribly wrong that says the most.
In times of danger, the best people protect themselves from immediate harm, so as not to further inflame the situation. But their first instinct is to help others, or help defuse the situation. The worst people think only of themselves. They take risks for their own safety and threaten the lives of others. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out which category, Francesco Schettino, the 52-year-old captain of doomed cruise ship Costa Concordia, who literally jumped ship in the time of crisis falls into.
Continue reading "I tripped and fell into the lifeboat! Costa Coward" »
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sam says:
Ben,You still can’t get over the world cup? I just hope we ( Australia) make it ti\o the next one! Don’t let the rest of your life be conditioned by one disapointment. Read more »
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Terence of OZ says:
Where does the blame really lie? The Costa Concordia Captain or the Costa Concordia Company? Do the shipping lines place more importance these days on the Ships Captain being more a floating Hotel Manager where he is suposed to mix and keep all the passengers happy or a Ships Captain… Read more »
‘Tis the season for many predictions. Here’s mine: The world will not end. Earth will not be ripped apart by titanic tectonic shifts, swallowed by a black hole, or smashed to blithereens by another planet.
Doomsday prophet Harold Camping had to crawl back into his shell after two failed predictions of the world’s end last year – this year there’s a broader belief that the end is nigh. This too will prove false.
The ‘2012 phenomenon’ is a meme, an idea that has spread across the world, gathering layers of bullshit as it goes. It was born from a murky misunderstanding of an ancient Mayan calendar.
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Bruce says:
If you wanted to corrupt a civilisation and desecrate a planet you would devise an economic system based on perpetual growth, promote consumerism and materialism as virtuous, subsidise it with usury and propagate it globally. If left unchecked, the epidemic of greed, growth and globalism has the capability… Read more »
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acotrel says:
@Y2J ‘Its a shame more people don’t listen to peer reviewed scientists rather than conservative commentators pushing agendas.’ Can I quote you on that ? Everyone’s a bloody expert ! Read more »
The toxic oil spill in the Bay of Plenty will leave tonnes of dirty, sticky fuel on New Zealand beaches.
The clean up will continue today, even as “fist-sized patties about 5mm high” continue to wash up, with the weather hampering efforts to battle the spill from the crashed cargo ship Rena. It’s a looming environmental disaster.
Authorities can’t use booms to stop the spread because of the ocean conditions, and are hoping dispersants will reduce the damage. There is also some speculation marine microbes could help.
Continue reading "A quick Punch guide to the Rena oil spill" »
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gnome says:
So here’s a non-punch quick guide-. The whole fuel load on the ship was equivalent to about a minute and a quarter’s delivery from the deepwater horizon spill, which has been forgotten now that it was about a year ago and caused no effect. A non-event blown out of all… Read more »
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fairsfair says:
Ah, from glowing rock to covered rock! You do live the high life JS Hows the serenity? Read more »
The day after Japan suffered its largest ever earthquake and a subsequent, devastating tsunami, the number of deaths and extent of damage is still unclear. Up to 1000 people are feared dead, and there are concerns about radiation leaking from reactors. The Pacific remains on tsunami alert.
For full coverage including pictures and video, and live updates throughout the day. see news.com.au.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard this morning described it as a “terrible, terrible natural disaster” and said about 45 Australians were registered in the region.
Continue reading "Major disaster still unfolding in Japan" »
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thhe pieman says:
@ jag I find the whole scene over in Japan overpowering. In my case when these disasters happen as the always will; we should elect a govt that is finacially adept enough to have large reserves of money and food to be able to help out immediatley. I am most… Read more »
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paul says:
My wife and i have visited Japan on several occasions. A beautiful country with beautiful, friendly people. The earthquake and resultant tsunami have produced a tragedy of mammoth proportions. It is heart wrenching to see the loss of life. The Japanese are such resiliant people that they will bounce back… Read more »
Sometimes people just get it plain wrong. And that goes for me as well.
Often we’ve thought that Generation Y are so preoccupied with themselves that they are not interested in the world around them. Or worse, they’re interested but not doing anything about it.
The stereotype goes along these lines: locked up in their bedrooms, on Facebook 24 hours a day, playing computer games, comfortable in the world of anonymity. And no social responsibility. Well, it’s time to put all their prejudices back in their box. Because what has happened in Brisbane in the last few weeks is the total and comprehensive counterproof.
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hatingitall says:
i’m not sure why one age group needs thanking in a crisis that affects all- but being grateful for grouping together-sure. it’s not right to make it about generations who deserve thanking! ludacris! To be gen x-or “gen x-stra ignored bias” This is ,YET another example of it. rather than… Read more »
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Julian says:
Ben H the main thing which is clear is your personal bias against Rudd. Kevin is thanking genY (which is mostly maligned for having no social conscious), for stepping up to clean up the debris, rubbish and mud. You however seem more then happy to sling as much verbal rubbish… Read more »
Sometimes it takes a disaster to shake the complacency out of us. To rethink the attitude of ‘she’ll be right’ when clearly things are not right.
So isn’t it time to develop a national masterplan to help guide future planning and development in this country to try and stop the increasing loss of life and damage that the natural forces around Australia unleash?
If you look at the past decade there have many natural disasters, both fire and flood, which have destroyed so many homes. We have seen the fires in Victoria which swept through the hill communities of Flowerdale, Kinglake and Marysville in 2009 destroying over 2,000 homes and taking 173 lives. Back in 1983 Ash Wednesday fires in South Australia destroyed 2,400 homes.
Continue reading "We need a masterplan to deal with worsening disasters" »
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Ray says:
It is ironic that the Wivenhoe Dam that was built to lessen the risk of flood damage to Brisbane, has in fact contributed largely to the 2011 Brisbane Flood, thanks to the ineptitude of the dam operator, which is a Qld Govt instrumentality. As a taxpayer, I find it appalling… Read more »
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Population Pooper says:
Having toomany kids is a disaster! Read more »
Through the uncertainty, devastation and loss, Brisbane has finally revealed itself to me.
As the flood waters continued to rise in the city’s suburbs yesterday, so too did its fiercely defiant spirit.
You could almost feel a little tall poppy syndrome settling in.
Continue reading "Brisbane’s spirit defies watery tormentor" »
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Joy Bowa says:
As a former Brisbanite, you sure have forgotten the Queensland spirit. Grow up! Read more »
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jg says:
Is it now time to introduce an Australian volunteer medal into the Honours and Awards system? After all, defence personel recieve a service medal after 4 years, uniformed volunteers have to wait 15 years. Alternatively an Australian Humanitarian Medal, which would address the inbalance with regard to the Humanitarian Overseas… Read more »
Extreme situations bring out extreme behaviour.
So far we have seen heroism, desperation, and stoicism. Grief and relief.
And now we’re seeing the lowest of the low – scammers pretending to be collecting money for flood victims.
Continue reading "In the wake of disaster, scammers strike" »
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psyco-corporation says:
{its just a freezing cold world for them.emotion is to be exploited.} Theyre feeding on the commoners? Read more »
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Daylight robbery says:
Unfortunately like NSW and Vic the report on the ABC news of fake tradies wouldn’t happen. You have to have a licence identification to operate in those states. Because QLD doesn’t have trade identification cards or licenses for some trades QLD is open to abuse from people pretending to be… Read more »
There will come a time for introspection, but for now we watch the tide.
Before dawn broke this morning much of Brisbane’s CBD will have been swamped by a muddy deluge that will scour and scare the city.
But this is a news story like no other in our history because this story is playing out painstakingly live on at least four channels.
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Sarah Siltman says:
Agree with Heather. I was in a flood zone, (luckily stayed dry on a hill) but had no tv, signal - got cut at the start of the floods, and I just watched twitter, Facebook flood groups, Qld police website, and ABC 612 on the radio. I got HEAPS of… Read more »
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Lee says:
Hate the headline. This is reality, not a movie… Read more »
The floods in Pakistan are too enormous to comprehend. The equivalent of 85% of the Australian population has been made homeless in just a couple of weeks. The death toll is not yet known. The nation has been turned upside down.
These events made it hard even to take seriously the news reports this week on the ‘floods’ in the Sydney suburbs of Paddington and Carlingford, in which residents lost sports cars and Sex Pistols memorabilia.
There are tragedies, and there are tragedies.
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Shiloh says:
‘There were some present at that very time who told (Jesus) about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you;… Read more »
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Davey H says:
God gets thanked for Academy awards also. He gets waaaaayyyyy to much praise for things he had no bearing on whatseover. Read more »
A month on from the devastating earthquake that killed 230,000 Haitians, we are once again witnessing the ongoing and intrinsic apathy in this country.
Don’t get me wrong, I am by no means saying that as a nation we didn’t care, that we didn’t dig deep, band together and support the rescue efforts in Haiti, we most certainly did, like we always do – but is that enough?
Four weeks ago the devastation was front-page news, with stories infiltrating every digital sphere. Now, that’s simply not the case.
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Pat Allen says:
God bless the tall poppy syndrome in Australia… all those people whose response to this article was to attack the author need to wake up to themselves. Richard is obviously passionate about his work in trying to eradicate poverty and is no doubt well aware of every single issue you… Read more »
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Rob Weaver says:
Sometimes what appears to be apathy is in fact a feeling that - making a donation aside - there isn’t anything the average person can do about such disasters. Grand schemes such as those suggested are the precinct of governments, not individuals. If Kev and Co have a couple of… Read more »
Our flag flutters from letterboxes, fenceposts and trees along our roads – an enduring and binding tribute to the resilience of our communities in the 12 months since that fateful February day we now call Black Saturday.
Their resilience was tested like never before on February 7, 2009. And it has been severely challenged many times since as they struggle to slowly rebuild lives, homes and entire towns.
The progress has been slow, painfully so, for many communities. A year on Kinglake is still without a petrol station, Marysville still waits for a school and new shops. And people in each community have had to battle ever increasing bureaucracy and building permits based on new building standards that still can’t deliver the required roofing and window materials.
Continue reading "Bureaucracy adds to pain of Black Saturday recovery" »
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persephone says:
Ah - interesting admission there, Jane. So you do know that free firewood collection is still allowed from roadsides! And, as I said, even twenty years ago you needed a permit. The reason I cut down trees was that the DSE directed us to do so rather than collect from… Read more »
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Captain Koala says:
Well put Mrs Bailey - your sentiments same as I have heard from friends in fire towns -. They reckon, and after track record with Victorian Police force, cant blame them that Christine Nixon is all about mug in paper. Let the locals do the job Read more »
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