Australia Burns..Our worst ever natulal disaster..

[okosh]

Iconic rock bands reform for bushfire benefit

* Patrick Donovan
* February 24, 2009 - 1:59PM


Some of the most popular acts in Australia, including Wolfmother, Jet, Paul Kelly, Gabriella Cilmi, Kasey Chambers and internationals Kings of Leon and Jack Johnson will play the Sound Relief bushfire benefit at the MCG on March 14.


In a major coup for organisers, Labor MP Peter Garrett has agreed to reunite with iconic Australian rock group Midnight Oil.

Midnight Oil, Hunters & Collector and Split Enz will reform especially for the Melbourne event, while Coldplay (acoustic), Eskimo Joe, Hoodoo Gurus and Icehouse will play the Sydney version of the show held simultaneously at the SCG on the same day. Jet and the new look Wolfmother will play both cities.

Each band will play about 20 minutes of hits.

Organisers of what Premier John Brumby called "the biggest music event in Australian music history" expect more than 100,000 people attend the shows. With all involved donating their services, they hope to raise about $5 million for charity.

"Between the two cities, there's a multi-million dollar bill there, but it's costing us zero," said Sydney co-organiser Mark Pope.

With two of the most popular international bands in the country, Kings Of Leon and Coldplay, both touring here at the same time, the chosen date was a no-brainer. Both bands will play in the mid afternoon before preparing for sold out shows that night.

The Bushrangers Victorian cricket team has agreed to move its home Sheffield Shield final from the MCG to St Kilda's Junction Oval.

"Everyone in Australia wants to help in some way," said Kasey Chambers.

"I can't put out fires, I can't rebuild houses, but I can use my position as a musician to help raise some money and hopefully inspire people to help find their thing that they can do."

"It's pretty easy for us as musicians to turn up for half an hour and play music," said Wolfmother's Andrew Stockdale. "These people are going to have to do a lot of work for years. So if we can raise as much money as possible to help them rebuild their lives, then that's the least I can do."

Mark Seymour said it took something as significant as this to reform Hunters & Collectors after 11 years.

"We felt our time had come and gone but the sheer magnitude of this tragedy really hit home to all of us ... the tragedy simply came about because they happened to live in a certain postcode. What's happened to them could have happened to any of us," he said.

"I never expected to be playing with the band again, so this is a major event in my lifetime."

Melbourne promoter Michael Gudinski said it had been "phenomenal" seeing the music industry pull together in this horrific time.

"The Sound Relief concerts are for the survivors of the bushfires," he said. "The sad reality is that rebuilding their lives and communities will be a lengthy and costly process. Without doubt these concerts will be once in a lifetime events that will live on in the memories of everyone who attends."

Mr Gudinski said "it took a few phone calls to the prime minister, to (Treasurer) Wayne Swan'' to get Mr Garrett on board for Midnight Oil's first show since 2005's WaveAid tsunami benefit in Sydney.

"I have hardly sung a note since the Oils last played at WaveAid,'' said Mr Garrett in a statement.

"But this event is so unique and important that it will be terrific to now catch up with my mates and put on a performance that gives all those people affected by the terrible events what they dearly need.''

Sydney promoter Michael Chugg said the shows would remember those who had lost as well as celebrate the heroes of this devastating story.

"Around the world, some of the words that are used to describe Australians include big hearted, generous, battlers and troopers," he said.

"These concerts will honour all of those characteristics of the Australian people, both those who have suffered so much through this terrible tragedy, but also saluting the heroes who fought against the fires, and the courageous people whose fight is just beginning.

"With the help of the Australian music community, these concerts hope to bring people together, not just on the hallowed turf of the MCG and SCG, but around the country as we share the joy of live music."

Tickets will be sold for $75 and go on sale from Ticketek 132 849 or www.ticketek.com.au on Wednesday March 4 at 9am. General Admission standing on the field and reserved seating in the stands will be available for both concerts.

All of the profits from the Melbourne concert and half of the profits from Sydney will be donated to the Red Cross Victorian Bushfire Appeal. The other half of the Sydney profits will be donated to The Premier's Disaster Relief Fund Appeal in QLD to aid the victims of the Queensland floods.

The Age

[jambutty]

Any news on Sam?

How is she faring?

[okosh]

Originally Posted by jambutty

Any news on Sam?

How is she faring?

Sam has a lawyer now

She is still in an animal shelter being rehabilitated....

>Snipped<

TressCox Lawyers are acting pro bono for Sam and the Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter in Rawson, about 170km east of Melbourne.

Full Story

[jambutty]

Originally Posted by okosh

Sam has a lawyer now

She is still in an animal shelter being rehabilitated....

>Snipped<



Full Story

Thanks okosh.

It’s great to now that Sam is being well looked after and recovering from her ordeal.

[okosh]

CFA volunteer 'suspect in Marysville fire'
Article from: Herald Sun

By Anthony Dowsley

April 16, 2009 05:55pm

A CFA volunteer is the prime suspect for lighting the fire that devastated Marysville, killing 39 people.
The Herald Sun reports sources have revealed a man has been interviewed and released over the Marysville blaze by the Phoenix Taskforce investigating the Black Saturday fires.

The man, who has not been named, was formally interviewed in the weeks after the catastrophe, but has not been charged as investigators gather more evidence.

A police spokesman said the force would not confirm or deny a lead suspect had been identified.

On April 1, Assistant Commissioner Dannye Moloney said police were close to pinning down the culprit for the blaze, confirming the fire was deliberately lit.

"We are satisfied that it was deliberately lit,'' Mr Moloney said at the time.

"We are looking at some strong leads that indicate certain behaviours, and we intend to pursue those. But, of course, we need the community to give us the information to help us support that.

"I can assure you the minute we establish the identities of any individuals that caused this, they will be prosecuted at the first available possibility.''

It is believed the CFA volunteer under suspicion fought the blaze.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sto...005961,00.html

[Tdinoz]

Well they'll plug away till they have enough to formally charge someone.

Released can be a temporary state

[okosh]

Update on Sam the koala....And it's not good news

>snipped<

But shelter spokeswoman Peita Elkhorne said on Wednesday that Sam had developed abdominal cysts due to a disease called urogenital chlamydiosis, which affects up to 50 per cent of Australia's koala population. The disease can cause infertility, urinary tract infections and blindness and can be life-threatening.

Sam will undergo surgery on Thursday and the prognosis for surviving the operation is not good, Elkhorne said.

"We're telling the public to brace for the worst-case scenario," she said.

Elkhorne said Sam was "comfortable" but that a decision was made to try to remove the cysts because the disease can kill koalas.

She said Sam's prospects would be known by Friday.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/newshome/5780713

[Tdinoz]

Source: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sto...-24218,00.html
SAM the koala, a survivor this year's horrendous bushfires, will be remembered around the world because of a picture that appeared in this newspaper and online. It shows volunteer firefighter David Tree giving the female koala a lifesaving drink from a water bottle during the fires that claimed 173 lives.

Sam's burns from the fires had healed but she was put down by a veterinarian yesterday when it was decided she should not be put through any further pain from a disease that kills many koalas.
This small animal held a big place in the hearts of the bushfire survivors and those who gave so generously to the Victorian Red Cross Bushfire Appeal.

Sam became a symbol and her rescue from a disaster that cost so many human lives can be seen again on video.

[okosh]

Check out this scum bag

Mary-Ann Martinek applies to make Sam the Koala chocolate

August 11, 2009 12:00am

A FORMER army major may profit from Sam the Koala less than a week after the marsupial died.

Mary-Ann Martinek of Bendigo has applied for three trademarks of Sam the Koala.

She has applied to use the words Sam the Koala on chocolates and her image having a drink from firefighter David Tree's water bottle on chocolates. She also wants the right to use an image of Sam wearing a cork hat in a colouring book.

Mr Tree, who cried when the world famous koala died last week, slammed Ms Martinek.

"When I first heard about it I thought, 'Isn't that sort of typical, everybody is going to come out of the woodwork and just try and do something for themselves financially'," he said. "There's no way I am going to sit back and watch."

Ms Martinek, an ex-army major who was discharged from the military after being deemed psychologically unfit, alleged radio identity Derryn Hinch sexually assaulted her in March 2006 when the pair were business partners.

No charges were laid.

Nic Pullen from TressCox Lawyers, which has been acting pro bono for Sam and the Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter in Rawson, was unaware of the applications.

"It would be totally inappropriate if it's done for commercial purposes where she's going to be profiting from it," he said. The Department of Sustainability and Environment owns and controls the use of the image, he said.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sto...6-2862,00.html

[Tdinoz]

I'm still shocked that they want to stuff her. They can't tell the story with a picture and let the little bugger go home. JMO