Crispin Hull

A former public servant, Geoffrey McGibbon, is to appeal to the Federal Court against a finding by the Disciplinary Appeal Committee that he should be dismissed from the Public Service.

Mr McGibbon is manager of the Dickson Pool. He was shot in the legs at Dickson pool last year just before his assailant crashed into the Jolimont Centre later killing himself.

The committee found he had put up a front man to get a cleaning contract when he was manager of the Civic Olympic Pool (a public service position in the ACT Administration) and had used pool employees to do work that should have been done under the contract, and that he had not disclosed that his wife had been employed by the contractor.

Mr McGibbon said yesterday he had not been represented at the hearing because of a confusion over notification of hearing dates. He defended his solicitor, Michael Higgins, who had been criticised by the committee. Mr McGibbon said Mr Higgins had given notice to the committee that he was unavailable on the hearing date, but the committee had continued the hearing.
Continue reading “1994_03_march_poolman1”

A groundwell of resentment about urban in-fill and planning had been under-estimated by ACT politicians and it would become a major issue at the next election, according to the chair of a group of 19 resident-action groups.

The groups were concerned about dual-occupancy, townhouse development and housing at the Tuggeranong homestead site. They have formed a group called the Save Our City Coalition under the chair of the Canberra Conservation Council.

The president of the council, Jacqui Rees, said ACT politicians had not tapped the level of distress by people affected by changes to the Territory Plan allowing for second houses to be built in gardens of existing houses and then for the title to be split and sold off.

Most ACT politicians “”think it is a few loudmouths, but it is not”, she said. “”They do not recognise the depth of distress. They have not tapped it. That’s why they are coming to us. It’s going to be a major election issue.”
Continue reading “1994_03_march_planelct”

The pharmaceutical industry is heavily research-based. It costs around $200 million for a company to produce a new drug and get it approved by the US Federal Drugs Administration. That is the major barrier. After that approval in other countries usually follows, though it is not routine, nor cheap. In Australia, the Federal Government’s Therapeutic Goods Administration rigorously evaluates new products before approval.

Australia is about 2 per cent of the world pharmaceutical market.

The marketability and financial return for the new drug will depend on many factors, the most significant being the difference between the new treatment and the old in effectiveness, side-effects, ease of administration, price and acceptance by patients, pharmacists and doctors.

The high price of producing a new drug is mainly in the cost of failures. It is an uncertain business. Some companies can get several quick hits and other might languish with failures. So there are often there are corporate shake-ups, mergers and break-ups.
Continue reading “1994_03_march_pharmbk”

In the Middle Ages witches used to tell fortunes and prescribe cures for ills demanding only that the patient “”cross my palm with silver”.

All of the fortune-telling and part of the cure prescriptions were nonsense, but some made sense. For example, witches prescribed thyme-leaf tea for colds and flu. Nowadays, pharmacists prescribe various pills which contain the active ingredient thymol, C10H13OH2.

The range, purity and accuracy of prescriptions have grown exponentially since the Middle Ages. And so has the amount of silver crossing palms.

In the Middle Ages, governments persecuted the witches. Now they join in the business of drug prescription, and rightly so. Without intervention, drugs would be denied the poor and research incentives for drug companies would disappear.
Continue reading “1994_03_march_pharm”

The scene is the Erindale Centre in Tuggeranong last Thursday night. About 100 people are playing competition squash and volleyball.

In the room normally used by the squash people for a few drinks and supper after a hard game, seven people sit on plastic chairs listening to someone talk. Seven people. It could be a class in esoteric Japanese silk painting, or a class in Galbraithian economics. It is not. In fact it is a public meeting and information night about appeal rights under the new Territory Plan.

It is hard to get people interested. It was the same during the consultation process before the plan became law last November. People are not interested unless it directly affects them. Then they get very active. They suddenly wake up to find their neighbourhood is being changed.

This is happening in Canberra now, five months after the plan became law. People are putting in development proposals under the new plan and neighbours are getting worried.
Continue reading “1994_03_march_perma”

The masses were effectively kept out of the big PC94 Personal Computer show at Darling Harbour last week.

Signs said: “”No children under 18 allowed”. And if that was not enough, there was a $15 entry fee. Naturally serious buyers could get free tickets, in the same way serious gamblers get free beer at the casino.

So it was all suits and ties and mobile phones in a great exhibition hall with 300 exhibitors (three of Exhibition Centres five halls were joined for purpose). None the less, having excluded the kids, the sounds were unlike past computer exhibitions. Instead of soothing elevator music being piped homogeneously throughout the hall, a cacophony emerged from competing computer sound and games systems such that it was impossible to hear yourself talk on a mobile phone.

Business and kids stuff dominated the show. Education took back desk. Accountancy packages and games dominated the software displays. We have heard so much about multi-media. Well the junk is coming first. Movies, movies, movies. Games, games, games. And dinosaurs. Pick a movie; click the director; up comes a head shot; and there are all the other films she directed. There are one or two encyclopedias on CD ROM and the birds of Australia and a couple of Atlases. But there is a long way to go on the range of CD ROM books. It’s a pity because keyword and concept searching is a superior way to work, learn and research.
Continue reading “1994_03_march_paint”

Some people were putting worthless extensions and renovations on houses in North Canberra’s new development zone, and agents, architects and builders could be sued for not telling them about the changes, according to a landlords’ spokesman.

The president of the ACT Landlords’ Association and a principal of Cotswold Real Estate, Peter Jansen, said yesterday that there was widespread ignorance about changes to the Territory Plan, especially to what is known as the B1 Area. The B1 area is in the Northbourne Avenue corridor and affects about 900 blocks of land. Under the Territory Plan and guidelines that came into effect last week, these blocks can be amalgamated and three-storey units built on them.

Mr Jansen said people were doing renovations and extensions in areas that would be redeveloped. When they sold to developers, however, the price they got would be dependent upon land area; and extension or renovation would be irrelevant.

Builders, agents and architects either did not know or were not telling people about the changes. People misadvised could sue for negligence or breaches of the Trade Practices Act. He called on the ACT Government to advise all affected land owners by letter.
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The NSW TAB has conducted dummy race days in Las Vegas and is technically able to take bets, according to its general manager, Allen Windross.

NSW races would be broadcast into Las Vegas casinos by Kerry Packer’s Sky Channel, he said yesterday.

The move comes after the ACTTAB has set up off-shore betting in Vanuatu with an agreement with a company called VITAB.

Both systems will allow punters overseas access to the Australian pools. The VITAB deal has been criticised because big Australian punters might be able to bet through Vanuatu (with a discount or kickbacks) and thereby deprive the Government and the racing industry of revenue.
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The Native Title Act is only the first of 15 rounds in the Mabo saga, according to the retiring chief executive of the Australian Mining Industry Council, Lauchlan McIntosh.

The land-title position was possibly more uncertain now than it was before the Bill was passed. He warned that unless changes were made and complementary legislation passed by the states, investment would go to other countries.

“”Given there is no state with complementary legislation, and all titles are issued by the states, then there is a long way to go because some states are not issuing titles and others are being delayed,” he said. “It will be only six months before it really starts to burn.

“”And even Aboriginal people claiming native title will find the process very difficult, trying to deal with a state that has no complementary legislation. It’s just going to become messier and messier.”
Continue reading “1994_03_march_mine”

Lauchlan McIntosh has seen in the workings of the Federal Government from near and far. And he sees too much regulation, duplication and ministerial lack of training.

“”Who trains the Minister?’ he asks.

“”Why do we need a Federal Department of Industry, or Education?”

“”How can we learn to trust ourselves not to be regulated?”

Mr McIntosh leaves the Mining Industry Council later this month to take up the chief executive’s position at the Australian Automobile Association. He has been with AMIC for eight years and before that managed mines in many parts of Australia: several years at Mount Newman, five years at Groote Island, two years at Yampi Sound and Southern Cross and several years in Melbourne.

“”There is a view in Australia, which is different in other countries, that if you can’t provide for yourself government will provide it. People believe government creates wealth. It doesn’t; it just redistributes wealth created by business.
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