a pants man in paradise

WEEKEND EDITION
ADELE HORIN WHAT WORKING MOTHERS WANT
WARNE: EXCLUSIVE
A PANTS MAN
IN PARADISE
UNAUTHORISED BIOGRAPHY
GOOD WEEKEND
No. 52,687 First published 1831
THE $6M
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MATT
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SPECTRUM
LIFE ON A
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A DAY IN THE
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ALSO INSIDE
■ NEWS
Eggs not always
what they’re
cracked up to be.
PAGE 3
The mystery of a
Macquarie Street
sacking.
PAGE 9
■ WORLD
Little hope of an
end to Middle East
violence.
PAGE 13
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CELEBRATING 175 YEARS
JULY 29-30, 2006
SPORT
ALAN RAMSEY MAL THE MOUTH GETS HIS MONEY’S WORTH
Peter who?
The Liberals’
invisible man
Anne Davies
State Political Editor
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ONLY one in five NSW voters can
name the Leader of the Opposition, Peter Debnam, according
to a Herald/ACNielsen poll that
shows Labor would be comfortably re-elected in an election
held now.
Labor’s lead has slipped markedly but it would still have a
buffer of more than a dozen seats
– and Mr Debnam’s low visibility
will alert the Coalition to the size
of the challenge.
‘‘This result, for a person who’s
been leader of a party for nearly a
year, would probably be a bit disappointing,’’ said the pollster,
John Stirton.
The exclusive telephone poll of
1000 voters, conducted over three
nights this week, found Labor
leading the Coalition 51-49 on a
two-party-preferred basis. This
compares to 56-44 when Labor
won the 2003 election.
While this might look like a
tight contest at first glance, in
reality it would lead to the loss
of only three Labor seats –
Tweed, Monaro and the new
seat of Wollondilly on Sydney’s
south-west fringe – assuming a
uniform swing. This would still
leave Labor with a comfortable
lead of 13 seats, assuming the
same number of independents.
Mr Stirton explained: ‘‘This is
because much of the Coalition
vote is concentrated in Sydney’s
North Shore.’’
In 1991 the Liberal premier,
Nick Greiner, gained 53 per cent
of the two-party preferred vote
yet ended up with a hung Parliament, Mr Stirton said.
Labor’s primary vote is now
40 per cent, down three points
from the 2003 election result,
while the Coalition’s primary vote
DO YOU KNOW
THIS LEADER?
No? Nor do four in five
voters.
Poll figures – Page 8
Why is he laughing?
News Review
Page 23
was up eight points, to 42 per cent.
The Greens recorded 9 per cent of
the primary vote, independents 5
per cent, the Democrats 1 per
cent, One Nation 1 per cent, and
other parties 2 per cent.
But Labor pulls in front after
preferences because most Greens
preferences flow to the ALP.
To wipe out Labor’s majority
and form a minority government
with the independents, the Coalition needs an 8.7 per cent
swing. To win government in its
own right it needs a 12.3 per cent
swing, according to Antony
Green, the ABC’s election analyst.
The problem for Mr Debnam, says
Mr Stirton, is that most voters do
not know him. The poll reveals
that only 20 per cent of respondents could name Mr Debnam,
although a further 7 per cent
nominated a similar name.
In contrast, 53 per cent of
voters could name the Premier,
Morris Iemma, and a further
15 per cent nominated a similar
name. Mr Stirton said it was not
surprising that Mr Iemma had a
stronger recognition factor as it
was easier for premiers to secure
media coverage.
At the last election – in March
2003 – 86 per cent of voters
could name the premier, Bob
Carr, and 57 per cent could
name the Opposition leader,
John Brogden.
In terms of preferred premier,
Mr Iemma is well ahead on 59 per
cent to Mr Debnam’s 25 per cent.
The only demographic where
Coalition support outweighs
Labor’s is among over-55s, who
make up about a third of NSW’s
voting population. But strangely,
53 per cent of this group prefers
Mr Iemma as premier, to 33 per
cent for Mr Debnam.
This suggests that Mr Iemma
may be able to woo these voters.
Health will be a critical issue – as
usual it has topped the list of important state issues, especially
among the over-55s. (Full report
– Page 8). But industrial relations
has emerged as a top-of-mind
issue, particularly in the 25-54 age
group, for whom financial security is a priority.
smh.com.au
In richness and in wealth: why
cash is the new wedding gift
For richer ... Gareth Williams and Rachel Eldridge with the wishing well they will display at their wedding today. Photo: Brendan Esposito
Bellinda Kontominas
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WHEN Rachel Eldridge, 23, and
Gareth Williams, 24, get married
today, they won’t be receiving
toasters, cutlery or linen.
The Lumeah pair – who asked
their guests to deposit envelopes
of cash into a wishing well at the
reception – are among a growing
number of couples asking for cash
instead of wedding presents.
In a city where property prices
are sky high and people marry
later, wedding consultants report
up to 60 per cent of couples are
now asking for cash to pay for
anything from the honeymoon to
a deposit on a house.
The traditional wedding gift
registries offered by the big
department stores are also facing
competition from travel agents
and online adventure companies
which offer fun alternatives to
crockery and vases.
Flight Centre is setting up
registries where wedding guests
YOU’RE INVITED
We are sending out this invitation,
And hope you will join our celebration.
If to send a gift is your intention,
In modesty we would like to mention,
We have already got a kettle and a toaster,
Crockery, dinner mats and coasters,
So rather than something we have already got,
Please give us money for our saving pot.
But, most importantly, we request,
That you turn up as our wedding guest.
Posted on partypop.com, a party ideas website.
can help pay for the honeymoon
and there are countless online
adventure companies which
allow the bride and groom to
choose experiences, such as a
dinner at the Eiffel Tower, that
guests can pay for.
Home improvement store
Bunnings Warehouse also offers a
gift registry at its Bankstown
Airport store, where couples can
list tiles and grout for their
bathroom renovation. It can be a
practical solution for today’s bride
and groom as the average bride is
aged 29 and the average groom is
31, said Franki Hobson, editor of
Cosmopolitan Bride magazine.
Many were already established,
with 74 per cent of couples having
lived together before marriage,
according to the Australian
Bureau of Statistics. ‘‘As society
has changed our needs as
newlyweds have changed,’’ Ms
Hobson said.
‘‘The realistic thing to do is to
help them in the next stage of life,
which is likely to be buying a
house or paying off a house. The
couple will appreciate it more
than a set of long-stemmed
glasses.’’
Ros Smith, who for 40 years has
owned and managed the Araluen
House reception centre in Epping,
estimated two-thirds of her clients
were now asking for money.
‘‘Quite often these couples are
in their 30s and they have bought
everything they need for their
home,’’ she said. ‘‘Lots of people
do it these days.’’
The trend is also spawning
small businesses. The wishing
well, a timber box in which
wedding guests can deposit
envelopes filled with cash, is fast
becoming popular among
Sydney’s engaged set, with at
least one provider booked solidly
Continued Page 4
DNA reopens a mystery
Minister shops when she stops
Malcolm Brown
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Robert Wainwright
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THE federal Minister for Tourism, Fran Bailey, has acknowledged making several private
stopovers in Singapore to go
shopping and visit her daughter
while on official overseas trips.
The travel habits of Ms Bailey
have been placed under the spotlight since the departure of Tourism Australia’s managing
director, Scott Morrison, who lost
his $350,000 job because of what
insiders say was a bitter fallingout with the minister.
The veteran MP upset embassy
staff in Singapore on two
stopovers when she insisted on
one of her daughters being driven
to and from the airport by official
vehicles, sources in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
have told the Herald.
Asked about the stopovers yesterday, a spokesman said the minister would not discuss private
matters, adding: ‘‘Fran Bailey has
travelled five times overseas in
her capacity as Minister for Small
Business and Tourism. All travel,
including accommodation, was
approved and complied with
Commonwealth requirements.
All travel was via the hub of
Singapore. Two involved transits
only and three involved
stopovers. The three stopovers included one official visit and two
private visits. The minister stayed
in private accommodation for all
three stopovers at no expense to
the Commonwealth.’’
It is not the first time Ms Bailey’s
spending habits have come under
fire. In May it was revealed that
taxpayers had paid $5156 to train
her in public speaking – an outlay
she defended, saying: ‘‘I think it is
essential for every employer to
maintain personal skill levels and
to provide professional training
for their staff.’’
Last month Ms Bailey was listed
by the Department of Finance as
one of the top 10 spenders on
travel among federal MPs, having
spent $73,137 last year.
Ms Bailey’s office has yet to
answer questions, posed by
Labor at the Senate Estimates
Committee two months ago,
which focused on three
taxpayer-funded trips the minister took in the past year. The first
related to an official visit to India
between September 17 and 24
Continued Page 2
Saved by Big Doctor
SHE’S used to being
watched, but a phone call
from a vigilant viewer may
have saved the life of a
former Big Brother
housemate, Bree Amer,
when a doctor noticed a
growing lump on Amer’s
neck during her Friday night
stints on television. Page 22
DNA tests on a skeleton found
deep in a cave in rugged
bushland near Grenfell in the
state’s south-west could hold the
key to a 70-year-old murder mystery which made legal history –
and sparked a royal commission.
The NSW Coroner’s office has
confirmed it will hold an inquiry
into the death of William Henry
Lavers, an English-born storekeeper last seen in 1936 just a few
kilometres from the area where
the bones were found.
It is understood that a DNA
sample taken from Lavers’s
Released ... McDermott in 1952.
granddaughter,
Michele
Johnson, who lives in Ooma,
north of Grenfell, was forwarded
to the Coroner for testing against
the skeleton discovered late in
Continued Page 2
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