Third case of swine flu in Australia

A third swine flu case has been confirmed in Australia, NSW Health Minister John Della Bosca says.

A NSW woman caught the virus while travelling in the United States earlier this month and was prescribed Tamiflu while still overseas, Mr Della Bosca said.

She had recovered from the illness and was no longer considered infectious when she returned to Australia last week, he said.

She is now regarded as NSW's first swine flu sufferer after US authorities on Tuesday confirmed she had contracted the virus, NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant told reporters.

Her travelling companion, another woman, had experienced "a mild respiratory illness which could have represented a mild case of human swine influenza", Dr Chant said.

From 11.30pm (AEST) on Tuesday, NSW authorities began contacting the 13 travellers who were seated near the second woman on the flight back to Sydney.

She said authorities had collected samples from individuals who were on the flight.

"That will be archived and should a test become available in the future, we can retrospectively go back and determine it, but we will never, ever be able to clarify whether that travelling companion had the disease or whether it was something else," Dr Chant said.

Mr Della Bosca revealed the swine flu case soon after Victorian authorities said a nine-year-old Melbourne boy had the illness.

The boy recently returned from a trip to the United States, Victorian Health Minister Daniel Andrews says.

Mr Andrews says the boy is recovering at home and was not ill enough to be hospitalised.

"The child's symptoms appeared on Monday and based on what we know about this form of influenza, agencies do believe he was not infectious when he returned to Australia on May 12," Mr Andrews said.

He said the boy's parents and siblings had all been tested and treated with Tamiflu and were in isolation in their home.

Victoria's Acting Chief Health Officer Dr Rosemary Lester said the test results from the rest of the family were expected during the next few days.

She said other precautions included contacting other passengers on flight QF94 from Los Angeles to Melbourne on May 12 who were sitting close to the family.

"Based on what we know about this form of influenza, passengers on the flight are highly unlikely to become unwell because we strongly believe that the boy was not infectious when he travelled," Dr Lester said.

She said any other passenger of the flight with concerns can call the Swine Influenza Hotline on 180 2007.

It is Victoria's first confirmed case of swine flu.

Australia's first case was a 28-year-old NSW woman who flew into Brisbane from Los Angeles on May 7.

The woman was no longer infectious and had a weak strain of the virus.

Rudd hints at 3rd stimulus in Budget

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has indicated a third economic stimulus package will be announced in next month's federal Budget.Mr Rudd conceded yesterday Australia will soon slip into recession, and today in Perth he revealed the Government would act soon to cushion the blow.

"We must therefore, through the Budget, continue to provide economic stimulus," he said.

"Because unemployment will go up because of the global recession.

"The bottom line for us all is simply this, we are all in this together."

The Federal Opposition has warned the Government against implementing another economic stimulus package.

Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull says Mr Rudd's previous two spending packages have not helped to insulate Australia from the effects of the global recession.

"Mr Rudd's spending and borrowing big has failed, his policies have failed, he doesn't have a plan for recovery," he said.

"We have a plan for recovery. Mr Rudd has a big borrowing big spending project which has failed."

Opposition Treasury spokesman Joe Hockey says all the talk of recessions and stimulus packages is designed to distract people from issues Mr Rudd can not control.

"Such as that relating to illegal immigrants," he said.

Mr Hockey says the Government's spending spree will have long-term consequences.

"They are not being fair dinkum with the Australian people about the need in the future for increased taxes," he said.

Mr Rudd is yet to reveal what form a third stimulus package would take.

Shocking crashes on Sydney roads

Shocking crashes on Sydney roads

A truck driver has died after his B-double semitrailer left the F3 freeway, crashed through a railing and plunged 80 metres down a cliff in Sydney's north.

The accident happened just before 12:00pm (AEST), about a kilometre south of Mount Colah.

In another fatal accident, a smash that split a car into three parts, killing its two occupants, could have occurred at speeds of more than 180km/h on a residential road, police say.

The red Alfa Romeo left Epping Road at Marsfield, in Sydney's northwest, about 3am (AEST) on Tuesday and hit a power pole.

"The impact left pieces of the vehicle strewn across the roadway and it's believed two males died at the scene," police said in a statement.

Police officers from Eastwood attended the crash, with a senior officer from the station saying it was one of the worst crash sites he had attended.

"I've been in the job for 34 years and it's certainly one of the worst I've seen," Superintendent Peter Marcon told Macquarie Radio.

"In all honesty, we get sick of these senseless deaths. There's just no rhyme or reason. These guys think they're bulletproof and it can't happen to them, and it does."

Supt Marcon told AAP the crash, which occurred in wet weather, is not believed to be the result of street racing, with no reports of a second vehicle.

"We have absolutely no evidence at this stage that there is street racing involved," Supt Marcon told AAP.

"However, as we have no evidence we are appealing to the public for anyone who may have seen this red Alfa (before the crash) to contact police."

Crash investigators are looking into the crash and at what speed the car was travelling on the 80km/h speed limit zone in the lead up to the crash.

"My own view is that it is in excess or well in excess of 120km/h, it could be 180, that's only my guess," Supt Marcon said.

He added that there is a slight bend at the point where the car left the road, but not to a degree he would expect to cause an incident.

"There are some skidmarks on the road that go back a considerable distance but due to the road being wet it's hard to know exactly where they start," Supt Marcon said.

Police have not yet formally identified the two dead men, one of whom was thrown some distance from the vehicle by the force of the crash.

"We've got a new line of inquiry which would indicate that they may be students from overseas in their mid-20s," Supt Marcon said.

He would not confirm if they were students of nearby Macquarie University.

Australia urged to boost military buildup: China’s might

MELBOURNE, April 16: Australia must boost defence spending to give its military the hardware to deal with strategic challenges presented by China’s rise as a global superpower, an influential think tank has warned. China’s growth meant the US, Australia’s main military ally, would lose its dominant position in Asia in coming decades, creating uncertainty and a higher risk of conflict, the Lowy Institute for International Policy said.

The institute, in a report released this week ahead of a major government review into the defence force, recommended a huge boost in military spending to take it to 2.5 per cent from 2.0 per cent of total Australian gross domestic product.

It said Australia should triple its submarine fleet to 18 vessels and double its order for F-35 Joint Strike Fighters as well as increasing the number of infantry troops available for regional deployments.

The report’s author professor Hugh White, who wrote the last major government defence review released in 2000, said China may not pose a direct threat to Australia but its rise was changing regional power dynamics. “This power shift poses an unprecedented challenge to American primacy, which has kept Asia stable and Australia safe for many decades,” he said.

“China’s challenge to US primacy undercuts the most basic assumptions of Australian defence policy, and poses big questions.” White said Australia could not assume it would retain its status as a middle-ranking regional power as its neighbours expanded rapidly in what is being dubbed “The Asia Century”. “The long-term trends suggest that Australia has no choice but to spend more on defence or accept a steady decline in strategic weight,” he said.

“A mere 20 years ago, Australia’s economy was the second largest in Asia after Japan -- larger than either India’s or China’s.

“How quickly the balance has shifted.” The government’s defence review is expected to be released before the annual Budget is handed down in Canberra on May 12.—AFP

Mushaira 2008 in Sydney

Video of Imran Khan's arrival at Sydney airport

Imran Khan speaking at Eid Festival 2008 in Sydney Imran Khan speaking at Eid Festival 2008 in Sydney Category: Autos & Vehicles Tags: Cricket Eid

Imran Khan's Speech in Sydney on 12 October 2008