LANDSLIDE: Conqueror Colin Barnett takes four more years

JOYOUS: A beaming Premier Colin Barnett claims victory and thanks the WA voters and promises four more years of good government. Picture: Daniel Wilkins Source: PerthNow

VICTORIOUS WA Premier Colin Barnett has congratulated his successful MPs and promised "good government for another four years.''

Mr Barnett congratulated his coalition MPs who retained all the seats won at the last election.

``We've also won a further seven seats with a few still up for grabs,'' he told supporters.

He said the coalition deserved re-election as it had been a ``good government'', which was strong on the economy, ethical, principled and had introduced ``fantastic reforms in education and health.''

``This is the moment to enjoy,'' he said.

``And I promise you a good government for another four years.''

Mr Barnett congratulated Mr McGowan on his energetic campaign which he said gave the people of Western Australia a real choice.

GRACIOUS: Labor Leader Mark McGowan concedes defeat. Picture: Stewart Allen Source: PerthNow

Earlier, before 9pm -- less than three hours after polls closed -- Labor leader Mark McGowan conceded defeat after a crushing victory by the Liberal-National coalition, led by Mr Barnett.

At 8.50pm, Mr McGowan, who comfortably won his seat but saw his party decimated, said he had rung the Premier and congratulated him on his victory.

Mr McGowan said he was proud of the values that were reflected in his party's policies, which aimed to support West Australians in the regions as well as in the suburbs.

``I think we did a good job,'' he said.

``We went out there and we were bold in what we stood for.

``I know that we need to provide those basic core services, those basic facilities where people live in an expanding, growing state like Western Australia, and that was the vision we took to the election.

``That was what we wanted to make sure people understood that we stood for and that we strived to achieve in the course of this campaign.

``All of those ideas are ideas that we will pursue into the future.''

News Mark McGowan and wife Sarah voting at the Rockingham High School9.3.2013 Source: PerthNow

Labor had been courageous in putting out its ideas, he said, adding he was proud of the Metronet plan.

WA Labor's election campaign revolved around the Metronet train project but it was seen as an ambitious proposal and competed with the Liberal party's more piecemeal transport plans.

Federal Labor's sinking popularity and ailing image has dragged down the party's WA leader Mark McGowan, who was heading for a massive defeat in one of the state's most swiftly called elections.

Moments after counting began, ABC commentators said the polls that had pointed to a crushing victory to premier Colin Barnett and his the Liberal/Nationals coalition were proving correct and called the result about an hour into the tallying.

A brutally frank defence minister Stephen Smith said federal Labor had not helped Mr McGowan, who, despite a strong campaign, could not achieve an extremely rare defeat of a first term government.

Mr Smith said Saturday's result in the west proved the Labor party had many issues to work on before the federal election on September 14.

``We've had a tough time federally - you don't need to be a rocket scientist to work that out - and there's no doubt we have been a drag on Mark and there's no doubt that we haven't been helpful,'' Mr Smith said.

``We have a range of tough political issues to work through between now and September.

``It will go down to the wire.''

With 56.7 per cent of the vote counted, the coalition had 58 per cent of the vote on a two party preferred basis, with Labor taking 42 per cent, accounting for a swing of 6.6 per cent to the government.

Deputy federal opposition leader Julie Bishop said the WA election results - which very early in counting pointed to a Liberal/National coalition securing an overwhelming majority in the WA parliament - reflected poorly on Labor's brand.

Independent Liz Constable, who is retiring from the seat of Churchlands, said: ``I don't think anyone anticipated such a landslide''.

And WA Labor must have known it, with a very small contingent turning out for the party's gathering in Mr McGowan's home of Rockingham, where the atmosphere was decidedly sombre.

'WHAT A BLOODBATH' - LABOR MP

``It looks terrible. What a bloodbath,'' one Labor supporter lamented at the function.

Deputy leader of the Opposition Roger Cook admitted there had been some damage to the Labor brand from the federal government.

``To what extent it had a role to play in the state election is very difficult to say,'' he said.

WA Treasurer Troy Buswell, who had been attacked by the Labor party in the last week of the campaign, said the tactic had backfired.

``It's pretty un-Australian to play the man - I don't think West Australians have taken too kindly to that,'' Mr Buswell said.

HANNAH BEAZLEY MISSES OUT

Hannah Beazley, the daughter of former federal Labor leader Kim Beazley, looks highly unlikely to unseat sitting member for Riverton, Liberal member Mike Nahan.

The Swan Hills area, the focus of some of the key campaign issues including the Ellenbrook rail line and Perth-to-Darwin Highway, seems certain to remain firmly in the grip of Liberal Frank Alban.

Veteran Midland Labor MP Michelle Roberts and former Labor Transport Minister Alannah MacTiernan conceded early that the election was lost for Mark McGowan.

LIBERALS CELEBRATE EARLY

Pizzas by the hundreds were ordered, the balloons were standing proudly to attention, and the mood at the Sea View Golf Club in Colin Barnett's heartland of Cottesloe was a combination of New Year's Eve and a raucous 70th birthday party.

With the polls predicting a landslide, and the analysts saying similar within minutes after the polling booths closed, any Liberal nerves that may have existed on the morning of March 9 had dissipated long before the sun had set over the Indian Ocean.

The blue waves lapping against the nearby Cottesloe beach were being mirrored on the tally boards, as the seat of Churchlands fell first and many more followed.

Mr Barnett's advisers, who had spent the first weeks of the campaign playing catch-up to Mark McGowan's Metronet express, had the tired, relieved looks of those that would still have a job on Monday morning.

And when the numbers came through that there was an eight per cent swing toward Liberal enfant terrible Troy Buswell, who had become the target of Labor's bile in the final days of the campaign, the party really got started.

Mr Barnett had begun the day casting his vote next to a fellow constituent wearing his budgie smugglers.

As WA goes to vote, Premier Colin Barnett says he's confident he will be reelected and continue on as the state's leader.

And such was the astonishing tide of votes flowing the way of the Liberals, that the sight of a few of the more elderly supporters donning similar apparel running across the 18th green would not have been out of the question.

Balcatta, Kimberley, and then the seat of the Midland - parliamentary home of former Labor Police Minister Michelle Roberts - all swung violently, and the gasps of astonishment from the staunchest of Liberal supporters told the story.

Not only was Colin Barnett going to win, he was going to annihilate Labor, and secure himself a mandate to power ahead with his big vision for WA, while also sending a significant message to Prime Minister Julia Gillard, and a major boost to her September opponent Tony Abbott.

Take a graphical look at the entire state's seat-by-seat vote count so far, here.

SOMBRE MOOD AT LABOR HQ

By Angie Raphael
It was such a sombre mood among the WA Labor camp on election night that one of the only cheers from the crowd came when an image of the party's leader appeared on the television.

Less than 100 people gathered in Mark McGowan's electorate of Rockingham on Saturday night.

Heading into the state election, it looked like Labor was going to lose.

But no one expected political experts to begin calling the result before 7.30pm (WST).

``It looks terrible. What a bloodbath,'' one Labor supporter lamented.

Deputy leader of the Opposition Roger Cook was the only Labor politician to front the venue early in the evening and admitted to reporters that it was looking like a tough night ahead for his party.

``We need to just wait and see how the night develops,'' he said.

Mr Cook said there was still a sense of anticipation because it was early in the count.

He said there was a sense of pride in how the election campaign had been run by Labor.

``We believe we've run a very competitive campaign for a party that obviously doesn't have the resources to draw upon that the Liberal party does,'' he said.

``We've brought forward bold policies, bold visions for Western Australia.''
Mr Cook also admitted there had been some damage to the Labor brand from the federal government.

``To what extent it had a role to play in the state election is very difficult to say,'' he said.

They may be headed for a whitewash in the election, but at least there is plenty of good food to eat while Labor supporters drown their sorrows.

Mr Barnett maintained that at least a dozen seats hung in the balance, and that the Liberals would form another coalition with the Nationals even if the conservatives won the election outright.

Labor leader Mark McGowan, who holds the seat of the working-class suburb of Rockingham, said he'd run the best campaign he could have.

``You can't get down, you can't get distracted - you have to focus on what matters to the people in the community and not be deterred by whatever comes along,'' Mr McGowan said.

LEADERS CAMPAIGN TO LAST MINUTE

Both leaders spent the day visiting polling booths around the city in a bid to drum up last-minute support.

The WA Electoral Commission (WAEC) said voters surged to the polls early in the day, but a new computerised voter checking system at many centres kept waiting times to a minimum.

In the regions, WAEC staff in the Pilbara town of Karratha were stretched to their limit with the early turnout.

``We were hammered,'' local returning officer Jill Johnson said.

``And in all my time working on elections I have never seen so many party officials and volunteers working so hard to canvass people's votes.''

On top of the strong morning turnout, there was a 30 per cent increase in early voting, with 140,000 votes ready for tallying as soon as booths closed.

There were some light moments, including a raft of fancy-dressed superhero and fantasy fans who attended the Oz Comic-Con convention casting their votes in the Perth city polling place.

And a complete bridal party arrived at the Riverton district's Shelley Primary School centre before kicking on for festivities.

Deputy federal opposition leader Julie Bishop was full of praise for Mr Barnett, saying he would continue to stand up for the state's interests.

Ms Bishop said Mr McGowan had tried to distance himself from federal Labor, but that was futile because there was a deep distrust of the Gillard government that the state party couldn't shake.

Sportsbet called the election winner on Friday, almost 24 hours before polls opened.

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PM's limo is just an old clunker

JULIA Gillard is being driven round in an armoured Holden clunker.

Despite giving Holden $275 million to keep making cars in Australia until 2022, the Prime Minister is making do with an official limousine that's almost 10 years old.

If it were just a civilian version of the Holden Caprice, a mint-condition example would be worth about $10,000 today.

But in a rare example of being thrifty with taxpayers money Ms Gillard has elected not to update to the latest model - because it would cost in excess of $250,000 by the time its modified with heavy armour.

The Commonwealth Caprice bearing the number plates C1 has bullet-proof doors, glass, roof and floor and there are even tiny X-shaped bars in the exhaust to prevent someone from inserting a bomb - or a banana.

And if you're wondering why Ms Gillard doesn't give a royal wave outside the window (apart from the fact it is illegal for a person's arms to protrude from a moving vehicle) it's because the two-inch-thick glass doesn't wind down. No doubt everyone on board hopes the air-conditioning works on hot days.

The metal armour and extra-thick glass adds about 800kg, bringing the cars mass close to 2800kg - as heavy as a LandRover Discovery 4WD.

To handle the extra weight Holden fitted a high-powered V8. But despite the extra grunt it's no quicker than a Toyota Corolla because of all the extra equipment.

The prime ministerial car might be bullet-proof but it's still fallible. It got a flat tyre after clipping a kerb at Federation Square during Oprah's visit in December 2010.

At least that incident wasn't as embarrassing as the time US President Barrack Obama's six-tonne Cadillac limousine was left stranded after scraping its belly on a steep driveway as it tried to leave the US Embassy in Ireland in May 2011.

The PM's office declined to comment on the vehicle but a spokeswoman for Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus confirmed it was expected to be replaced by security agencies in the first half of this year.

"These vehicles provide for the protected carriage of Australian High Office Holders, visiting foreign dignitaries and other Internationally Protected Persons," the spokeswoman said.

"For operational security reasons it is inappropriate to discuss specific details of the civilian VIP protected vehicle fleet."

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JSF companies are too greedy: general

Australia plans to buy up to 100 of the combat jets for $16 billion. Picture: Chase Tom Reynolds Source: The Australian

THE US Air Force general charged with rescuing the troubled $600 billion Joint Strike Fighter program has blasted the plane's maker and engine provider for being too greedy.

Australia plans to buy up to 100 of the combat jets for $16 billion, but delays and technical concerns have the government and Defence deeply worried.

The government is set to announce soon that it will purchase another 24 Boeing Super Hornet fighters from the US Navy to plug a possible "capability gap" as early model Hornet fighters retire and delays in the JSF program increase.

Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan, the newly appointed head of the US F-35 Joint Strike Fighter office, said giant US aircraft companies Lockheed Martin (the builder) and Pratt and Whitney (engine maker) were behaving as if they were selling him the last aircraft and engine rather than the first of what could be between 3000 and 4000 of the advanced stealth fighters.

The plain-speaking general also accused Lockheed of not always acting in the best interests of taxpayers.

"In the past Lockheed Martin had some of the program's money in their coffers and I had some of that money in my coffers. In general when Lockheed Martin used the money from their coffers it was not necessarily with our government's approval and they got to choose where they used it," he said.

In Australia for high-level briefings and the Australian International Air show, General Bogdan stated bluntly that he was not a "cheerleader" for the JSF program.

He said he could understand why people had become cynical about the plane, but he insisted that the biggest developmental challenges, including excessive weight, were in the past and the program was back on track.

He said the program had met every milestone since 2011 and was stable now that the companies clearly understood who was in charge.

"Today there is no doubt in my mind that I am in charge of this program," he said.

"I control all the money on this program now."

He said in 2011 it was taking Lockheed 18 months to act on a fix when a fault was found.

"In 2012 we made Lockheed Martin responsible for half the costs and they have skin in the game. Suddenly things get better and 18 months is now down to 13 and heading below 12 months," he said.

The final cost is expected to be in between Lockheed's estimate of $67 million per jet and today's list price of $92 million.

If the price is $75 million then Australia will be able to afford about 75 of the fifth-generation fighters.

He said the plane's low observability combined with world's best radar and electronic attack system and the fusion of sensors meant it was "more survivable than any other aeroplane on earth."

Head of the JSF program at Lockheed Martin, Steve O'Bryan, stepped up the sales pitch during a recent visit Down Under saying Australia risked falling behind China and Russia if it stuck with current generation jets such as the Super Hornet.

"We have a history of building stealth airplanes. The decision for Australia is do you want to move to where the future is . . . or do you want to buy the last generation fighter off a specific assembly line?" he said.

"Do you want to look to the future or the past - that is every country's sovereign choice."

THE FUTURE OF AIR COMBAT

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will be the mainstay of air combat for Australia, the US, Britain, Israel and several other countries for the next 40 years.

It is designed to be a low cost coalition aircraft and is being developed by the US with several partner nations including Australia.

The jet's key features are its low radar signature, making it very difficult to detect electronically, and its high speed, powerful electronic warfare kit and internal weapons storage.

Current generation fighters are vulnerable to long-rage radar detection and missile lock-on.

Once fully operational the JSF will be able to "kill" enemy aircraft and systems from far greater range while remaining undetected.
 

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Dodgy private hospitals revealed

Patients at private facilities labelled "C-triple-minus" can be left with infections or procedure may need to be redone. Source: HWT Image Library

SOME private hospitals are so bad that health insurers don't want to cover procedures done in them.

The insurers commissioned a leading academic to assess four years of data on as many as 600 private hospitals - which treat 3.6 million people a year - and apply gradings from "A-triple-plus" to "C-triple-minus".

As many as 177 of the hospitals are in NSW. As many as 166 of the hospitals are in Victoria. As many as 106 of the hospitals are in Queensland. As many as 59 of the hospitals are in South Australia. As many as 58 of the hospitals are in Western Australia. Up to eight of the hospitals are in Tasmania. It's believed two of the hospitals were in the Northern Territory.

They want to cut off "C-triple-minus" facilities, where operations are most likely to:

• INFECT patients with bacteria such as golden staph;
• LEAVE patients in intensive care; or
• NEED to be redone.

The insurers have sought to release the research, arguing the community has a right to know.

However, they have decided to not publish it for fear of being sued by staff at the sub-standard hospitals.

The insurers also believe that were the research made public it would help them to make the case for refusing to pay shoddy facilities, or to pay less.

This, they say, would lead to lower premiums. An operation that goes bad could end up costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"If we don't have to cover that, we don't have to ask as high a premium increase next year," said Dr Michael Armitage, CEO of the body which commissioned the research, Private Healthcare Australia (PHA), the official representative of the nation's health insurers.

Premiums have been rising at twice the rate of inflation for more than a decade.

The rapidly increasing cost of cover prompted News Limited to join forces with consumer network One Big Switch in the Big Health Insurance Switch campaign. In just two weeks more than 60,000 people have joined the campaign by registering an interest in receiving a no-obligation discount health insurance offer. Registration is free.

The PHA does not support the campaign.

Rather, Dr Armitage said, the "real gain" was in "fixing rats**t outcomes" that drive up costs.

"There are a whole lot [of hospitals] that are C-triple-minus," Dr Armitage said. "And we just keep backing up the truck full of gold bars" to pay them.

Private hospitals perform about two-thirds of all elective surgery.

The unpublished hospital research was based on figures from 2004 to 2007 using the 25 million "data points" insurers gather each year. The work was completed in 2009. Since then the PHA has been fighting to get the findings into the public domain. It lobbied politicians from both sides and even sought advice from the Privacy Commissioner. Dr Armitage said the advice was that the PHA would be sued.

The battle to make the research public has taken the PHA so long that Dr Armitage said that even if it could now be released it would need to be done again to bring it up to date.

He would not release details of the research to News Limited.

Dr Armitage, who was South Australia's health minister until 2002, said private health insurers "are not utilised appropriately in helping the health system get over its problems".

"The real gain for the health system is in fixing rats**t outcomes. But governments of all persuasions won't let us off the leash."

Australian Private Hospitals Association (APHA) CEO Michael Roff said he was not aware of the insurers' research.

"If they have that data they've never shared it with the APHA or with any individual hospitals," Mr Roff said, adding that he was willing to see it.

Mr Roff also said there was "nothing to stop a private health insurer from not entering into a contract with one or more hospitals".

He wasn't aware of that having happened.

A spokesman for federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek said her office would like to see the research. Without seeing it, the minister was unable to comment.

Dr Armitage said the Productivity Commission had found private hospitals, on average, offered higher quality treatment than public.

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Troll to face the music over 'assault'

Swamp Thing's drummer Michael Barker, who is Tristan's father, is pictured here performing at WOMADelaide 2013. Picture: Dylan Coker Source: The Advertiser

INTERNET troll Tristan Barker will face a New Zealand court tomorrow accused of assaulting a Today Tonight reporter.

Channel Seven's Dave Eccleston travelled to Rotorua, where Mr Barker is living with his father Michael, a former drummer of bands Split Enz and The John Butler Trio, for the interview.

Mr Barker jnr had reportedly agreed to be questioned but when the pair met the internet troll allegedly physically lashed out at the reporter, who required medical attention.

Mr Eccleston had wanted to ask the keyboard warrior about widespread accusations of online bullying. Mr Barker jnr has hundreds of thousands of teenage "fans" who read his rants on Facebook and Twitter.

Today Tonight has previewed their story on the notorious Tristan Barker, including his alleged assault on a Today Tonight reporter. Featuring next week on Seven.

Following the alleged attack Rotorua police investigated and arrested Mr Barker jnr from his parent's seaside Haumurana property.

He was charged with common assault. The penalty is a maximum one year imprisonment.

News Ltd has discovered if Mr Barker jnr, 18, is found guilty of assaulting the journalist he will earn a criminal record as he has previously appeared in a New Zealand court.

Are they Super XD Trollz, cyber-bullies or brats with brains? You decide if Nebz and Tristan from Facebeef have too much time on their hands.

New Zealand law allows criminals to be given a chance for a first offence under a "diversion" scheme which means offenders do not get a criminal record.

But Mr Barker jnr was charged with wilful damage in March 2012. Details of the alleged offence are unknown.

On 23 May last year Mr Barker jnr was given "diversion" by a district court judge and walked free without a criminal record.

Tristan Barker has been arrested and charged for an alleged assault in New Zealand on a TV reporter. Picture: Kerry Grant/ Herald on Sunday NZ

His father was in Adelaide this weekend to play at the WOMADelaide festival as part of his group The Swamp Thing.

He told News Limited yesterday he was focusing on "making good music" and "earning a quid" rather than the sideshow his son has become in recent days.

He said of his son's online diatribes: "We live in a world where we can voice our opinions and that is a great thing."

Today Tonight reporter David Eccleston was allegedly assaulted by internet troll Tristan Barker.

Mr Barker snr questioned the assertion that his son was impacting on his career.

"Destroying (my career)?" he said. "I won't deny this is not normal for me to have people like you talking to me about this type of thing."

Meanwhile, a friend of Mr Barker jnr, "Nebz Adlay", has posted a message online saying because of legal issues Mr Barker jnr would not be using social media until further notice.
 

Triple M's Grill Team managed to have a rough time interviewing Tristan Barker who is dubbed 'Australia's worst internet troll'.

Some footage of the incident emerged online yesterday and will screen in full on Monday night's episode of Today Tonight.

Tristan Barker has made international headlines for his cyber attacks.

Internet troll Tristan Barker singing with his dad Michael Barker in bottom right corner, on drums.

The 18-year-old is currently wanted for questioning by Melbourne police in relation to allegations of a sustained harassment campaign against a small business owner.

Police cannot do anything until he returns from Rotorua.

Who is Tristan Barker?

Barker, 18, has a track record of terrorising vulnerable members of the community, and has said his aim was to see how far he can push his 300,000-plus teenage internet-subscribed fans.

He has used internet portals Facebook and Twitter to encourage harassment and ridicule of everyone from Muslims, businesses, local and overseas celebrities, murder victims and people who have committed suicide as a result of online bullying.

As well as using his own personal Facebook profile, which has more than 300,000 "friends'', to push nasty crusades, Mr Barker is also a ringleader of Facebeef, a Facebook group page with 43,000 "likes''.

In an exclusive interview Mr Barker admitted to causing havoc online whilst high on "Red Bull and Ritalin''.

"I would consider myself an entertainer,'' he boasted. 

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'All Aussies need grog restrictions'

Frank Shadforth, owner of Seven Emus cattle station near Borroloola in the Northern Territory, says the drinking culture in Australia is out of control. Picture: Brad Fleet Source: News Limited

FOR A man who's never had a drink in his life, Frank Shadforth knows a lot about alcohol. He's seen many family members -including his younger brother - perish from the drink.

The Aboriginal pastoralist, who lives on the Northern Territory's Seven Emu station near the Queensland border, believes the type of drinking problems that have plagued his nearby town of Borroloola, causing such violence and despair, are now evident among white people living in Sydney, Melbourne and Darwin.

"It's all over the country now,"he says.

"It's getting worse. I've never heard of it like this before. They're fighting in packs, not fighting one on one. They're like a pack of wolves. Killing people, young people, fighting all hours. Why?

"All they want to do it fight. They're hitting kids, they're hitting people just for looking at them."

Shadforth, aged 56, lives in one of the most isolated parts of Australia. But he is engaged: he listens to the radio, watches the television news, reads newspapers when he can and has recently become an internet user.

He believes there's a national alcohol crisis. "They need to restrict the grog,"Shadforth says. "At ten or twelve o'clock, they should close everything, all the pubs. Shut it down. Put people to work."

To hear an Aboriginal man have a go at all of us for our drinking carries obvious irony to those who consider Aborigines represent the hardest and most wrecked drinkers in our society.

But Shadforth doesn't think in terms of black or white. He sees a changing society where people are more interested in play than work.

Shadforth's father ran Seven Emu and Frank ended his schooling in Alice Springs in Grade Four, after which he went home to work. He says he's never had the time to drink.

"I've never had a drink, never,"he says. "Never even tasted it. I can see what's around. I grew up and spent a lot of time working, and I wasn't hardly in town much. I didn't see any need for it. My family was drinking, and why walk around like a poisoned dog? I couldn't see sense in that."

Shadforth's younger brother died from dehydration after coming off a drinking bender on Seven Emu, only 800 metres from the homestead. "We was very close and that really put me off alcohol,"he says.

"If you look at Borroloola, they were dying at 30 but now they're dying in their teens from alcohol. My own nieces and nephews are dying. But it's not only black people, it's white people. I'm pointing the finger at everybody.

"Our bodies aren't working now, we're soft people. You're eating ice cream and jelly, so your body is soft. Twenty or 30 years ago, people didn't fight so much and get killed. Everybody was working, then. They were harder. They could handle it better."

Shadforth believes there is a direct link between unemployment and alcohol—related violence. He wants to the government to shut off the dole for young people and use the same money to fund small businesses.

He would like to see the money used to initially pay wages until people get back in the cycle of working.

Shadforth believes the young people who are fighting and brawling and ending up with brain damage in the bigger cities are all unemployed. On this point, we disagree: I put it to him there's every chance they're fully employed, cashed-up young people going on binges.

"Well, I'd stop the dole, give it to the old people and pensioners,"he says. "Everyone should go to work.

"You look at Black Caviar. They train it to be the best horse in the world. But if you're sitting down, eating and drinking on your backside, what good are you?

"You're brain is sitting still when you're sitting down. If you're active, you'll be like Black Caviar. A winner."

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Convict call centre collects personal data

The prisoners are paid $2 an hour and the company charges $9 for the work. Picture: Thinkstock Source: Supplied

A CONVICT call centre is using prisoners to collect Australians' personal details. Inmates are paid $2 an hour to update databases for private companies, in the behind-bars business.

The NSW Government owned Corrective Services Industries (CSI) employs 150 prisoners a year in the call centre, at Dillwynia jail, near Windsor west of Sydney.

Businesses provide the phone numbers of customers and contacts, so prisoners can phone them to check the addresses, phone and fax numbers and email details are up-to-date.

Inmates also call clients to remind them of events and appointments.

CSI, which made of a profit of $24 million last financial year, also uses prison workers to clean headsets for Qantas and repair appliances for Breville.

CSI executive director Steve Thorpe yesterday said prisoners worked for about $2 an hour, but the company charges clients $9 an hour, due to rules banning jails from competing unfairly with rival firms.

Mr Thorpe said only women prisoners who had shown excellent behaviour in custody were allowed to work in the call centre.

Murderers "may or may not" be able to work in the call centre, he said, depending on how long ago they committed the crime and whether they had been rehabilitated in custody.

"You don't want people who've committed horrendous crimes talking to the public," he said.

"You could have a murderer and that might have happened many, many, many years ago and the issue of violent behaviour has been addressed in prison.

"That person may or may not be able to attend the call centre."

Mr Thorpe said the prisoners' crimes included "larceny and knocking stuff off from shopping centres".

The prisoners are electronically assigned phone numbers to dial by an automated system and while they can enter and see people's data they are unable to access any other information from the system.

They are also not allowed to take data away from the centre in any form.

Mr Thorpe said the workers could only dial the numbers assigned to them, and were closely supervised.

"There are no credit cards, no money, no selling," he said.

Mr Thorpe said jail labour was "not as efficient as in the real world", as prisoners did not work eight hours a day.

"You've got urine analysis that must take place, search days, or violence can occur and you have to lock everything down," he said.

"They might have to spend two hours a day at a sex offender's program."

A Qantas spokesman said the airline had used CSI to clean headsets in Sydney since 2010.

"We've always been happy with the work they've done for us," he said.

Breville Australia general manager Jeremy Sargeant yesterday said prisoners carried out "fault analysis" and "minor refurbishment of products to have them resold as reworked product through factory outlets".

Mr Thorpe said former clients included internet cable manufacturer CommScope, Cumberland Newspapers, and T-shirt manufacturer Bilprau, which had since folded.

CSI is targeting Australian companies that would otherwise send work offshore.
"You won't have to abandon plans or go offshore," it says in a brochure. "Forget the clichés - rock-breaking is done at the controls of complex machinery."

Inmates also operate a Gloria Jeans coffee shop in the same medium-security jail.

CELL-PHONE CALL CENTRE:

• Run by NSW Government-owned Corrective Services Industries
• Based at Dillwynia jail, west of Sydney
• Employs 150 women inmates each year
• Prisoners are paid $2 an hour
• Company charges clients $9 an hour
• Provides "a quality endorsed total service solution in telemarketing"
• CSI turned over $72m in sales last financial year
• Company made $24m profit

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Deadline looms for Julia Gillard

Source: The Sunday Telegraph

JULIA Gillard's leadership faces a crucial fortnight with Labor powerbrokers privately canvassing the option of a delegation of MPs urging her to stand aside.

In another blow, an exclusive Galaxy Poll conducted for The Sunday Telegraph reveals the ALP's primary vote has dropped three points in the past month to just 32 per cent.

Faced with the choice between Ms Gillard, a fresh face or the man Ms Gillard replaced as prime minister, Kevin Rudd, only one in three voters believed Ms Gillard should remain PM.

While she is expected to fight off any further attempts to destabilise her leadership, Labor MPs bracing for more dire polls have warned it could prove unsustainable.

Galaxy revealed voters are divided over the leadership: 33 per cent believe Labor must elect a fresh face such as Bill Shorten or Greg Combet - a prospect MPs say is unlikely.

Confronted with the choice, 32 per cent of the total polled suggested the ALP should stick it out with Ms Gillard. Support for the status quo was strongest among Labor voters. Kevin Rudd was the third choice on 26 per cent, a surprise after several polls declared him a vote-switcher.

MPs returning to parliament on Tuesday are bracing for a Newspoll this week and Nielsen results next week, suggesting these figures hold the key to whether the Ms Gillard will tough out the fortnight.Kevin Rudd has repeatedly warned his backers he will not challenge for the leadership and would only agree to a political resurrection if it were accompanied by a smooth transition without a ballot.

"He is not going to challenge," a Rudd backer said. "When he says there's no challenge, he means it."

Giving Ms Gillard "the tap" and forcing her to stand down remains the only live option to remove her and reinstate the man she ousted in 2010.

But her backers have long warned giving up is "not in her DNA".

Former Labor powerbroker Graham Richardson confirmed last night he had spoken with Mr Shorten about shifting support to Mr Rudd, but he is not for turning. "All I can say is I always give him the benefit of my wisdom," Mr Richardson said.

"But he's not shifting."

"I believe the chances are 55-45 the leadership change will happen in the next fortnight. And I think they'll do it. "I think Rudd is probably high 40s to 50 (votes in caucus). If Newspoll comes out with a bad result I think she's gone."She doesn't listen to anyone. If you want a delegation, it would have Right-Left clout.

"Even her strongest supporters are starting to think, 'Is it all worthwhile?' I think it will be in the next two weeks but we will see.

"She's still got a good chance of surviving.

Labor was also on track for a devastating state electoral loss in WA last night as polling suggested federal factors were significant for some voters including anger over the carbon tax.

Ms Gillard has not set foot in WA since December, agreeing to orders from campaign chiefs not to participate in the campaign amid concerns voters' views about federal politics were "toxic".

Source: The Sunday Telegraph

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