COURAGEOUSLY and passionately, she wrote as she took her last breath: “I have fought a good fight... and now there is waiting for me a prize of victory, awarded for the righteous life, not only for me but for all those who wait with love.”
Jane McGrath, 42, was indeed an extraordinary person, an inspiration to many women for her dedication and determination to help others despite the pain and suffering in her 11-year battle against cancer.
Wife of Australian pace bowler Glenn McGrath, she died in her Sydney home last week with her husband and two young children at her bedside. Her health had declined rapidly in the past week. But she had never complained about her illness and was always loving, laughing and often being funny.
Love match: The dating couple Glenn and Jane in May 1997. — AFP Her short but meaningful message, read out at her funeral, had great impact on many people.
Fighting the tears welling in her eyes, her close friend Tracy Bevan, wife of Test batsman Michael Bevan, described Jane as “kind and generous, creative and sensitive, a loyal wife and loving mother and the best friend anyone could ever have”.
She added: “She’s the one I’ve shared many of my fondest memories. We’ve cried together, but mostly we’ve laughed together. I really miss her.”
About 400 people, including cricketers, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Opposition leader Brendan Nelson, attended the funeral service at historic Garrison Church on The Rocks where Jane and Glenn were married nine years ago.
Rudd had earlier described Jane in Federal Parliament as a “remarkable woman who would remain a source of inspiration and hope to all Australians, in particular to those personally affected by cancer”.
Letting go: Glenn and his children James and Holly releasing white doves during the funeral. — Reuters She and her husband were both awarded the Member of the Order of Australia six months ago for setting up the McGrath Foundation, which has raised millions of dollars for the fight against breast cancer.
Initially, Jane had cancer in her breast and bone and then suffered a brain tumour.
It was in 1997 – two years after Jane, a flight attendant from Britain, met Glenn in a Hong Kong nightclub – when she first discovered a lump on her breast.
A year after chemotherapy and radiotherapy, her doctor told her that she was free of the disease. But in 2003, the cancer re-emerged in her hip. Three years later, doctors discovered she had a brain tumour. For a moment, she lost control of herself and went into deep depression.
“Hearing that you have breast cancer is awful,” she said then. “And hearing that you have secondary cancer in your hip is terrifying. But to hear that, after all that, you have a brain tumour, that’s about the only thing that could be worse.”
It was not until she went to the funeral of actress Belinda Emmett, who also had breast cancer, in Melbourne that she faced her mortality. She decided she had to get out of the depression and get involved in helping other breast cancer victims.
Last week, while thanking the public for their support to the family, Glenn said he was devastated by the loss of his beautiful wife and that he knew Jane would want those women who were battling breast cancer to stay strong.
“She would want them to draw strength from the fact that she didn’t only ‘survive’ breast cancer for 11 years, but during that time she lived life to the fullest and found pleasure in the simple things so many people take for granted. I never took for granted the time I had with Jane and, if there is one thing that can be drawn from her life, it is that every day is a blessing.”
He said he would bring up the children himself and ensure that they would never forget how much their mother loved them.
His former Test captain Steve Waugh, who remembered Jane’s determination to fight cancer despite the “darkness of her life”, said she also ensured that Glenn kept up his dream of playing cricket in the Indian Premier League.
“That to me sums up the type of person she was,” he added. “Even when she was very ill she was telling Glenn, ‘You go out there and play, let’s just get on with things.’”
APART from its name, which sounds exciting to many patrons, the Iguana Club at Gosford in central New South Wales is really no different from any nightclub where young people gather for dinner and drinks and some dancing.
But an alleged altercation between the club staff members and Federal Labour MP Belinda Neal and her husband State Education Minister John Della Bosca caused two days of uproar in Federal Parliament, including an unsuccessful motion of dissent against Speaker Harry Jenkins for disallowing an Opposition question on the affair.
Out of the disarray and controversy arose claims and counter-claims of what really happened at the Iguana – allegations of bullying, intimidation and abuse of power, foul language and bad behaviour and, to top it all, accusations of Neal taunting a Liberal pregnant MP Sophie Mirabella that “evil thoughts” would make her unborn child “a demon”.
Initially, the beleaguered Neal denied the accusation. But a tape with her voice recorded at a seemingly innocuous committee debate last month was heard saying to Mirabella: “Your child will turn into a demon if you have such evil thoughts. You’ll make your child a demon. You’ll make your child a demon. Evil thoughts will make a child a demon.”
When Mirabella, who was expecting her first child within two weeks, asked Neal to withdraw her comment unreservedly, she denied making it. Instead she accused Mirabella, a tough debater in parliament, of having imagined hearing that statement.
The following day, however, Neal apologised, not directly, though. Nonetheless Mirabella took it as an admission that she had, in fact, made those offending remarks.
What made Neal taunt Mirabella is not known yet. Presumably, this will come out when the all-party parliamentary privileges committee questions her.
Neal has been formally referred to the committee over the allegation that she misled the Federal Parliament by initially denying the demon-baby comment.
According to the Act of Parliament, apart from contempt of parliament which is punishable with a six-month jail, there is no specific penalty for misleading parliament.
However, any MP guilty of such an offence may be reprimanded or given a warning when the House of Representatives adopts the privileges committee’s report.
For Neal and her husband, who has been stood down from his education portfolio, the matter is also under police investigations over two sets of conflicting sworn declarations about the incident at the Iguana two weeks ago. In other words, the police want to know which of the two parties has not been telling the truth – the couple or the staff of the club?
A false declaration is a criminal offence under the Oaths Act and is punishable with a jail sentence of up to seven years.
The incident occurred when the club staff wanted to move the couple’s table to make space for dancing.
There were some exchanges of words and alleged threats that the club would lose its liquor licence and an alleged intimidation of “Don’t you know who I am?” to young people at the Iguana.
While Neal sat in silence at the Federal Parliament in Canberra last week and helplessly watched the Opposition attacking the government over her “pattern of unacceptable behaviour” – as Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had described it – her husband assured state MPs in Sydney that he would cooperate with the police investigation.
Asked by the Opposition what he meant by “pattern of unaccepted behaviour”, Rudd replied with tongue-in-cheek: “Unacceptable means not acceptable. Pattern means a series of events. Behaviour means what you do. That’s the truth.”
But the truth of the matter is that Rudd was furious over Neal’s recent behaviour.
On May 25, she was suspended for two weeks by her football club for reportedly kicking a young opponent during an amateur soccer match in Gosford. The young woman claimed it was a vicious attack and that she feared permanent damage to her right ankle and leg.
Three days later, she made the provocative remarks about Mirabella’s unborn child during a debate which was captured on the parliamentary broadcast service.
Then on June 6, the incident at Iguana made things worse for the government which was trying to get the Budget approved in parliament.
Rudd immediately phoned Neal, advising her to seek counselling on anger management. He also warned her that no one in the Australian Labour Party would be guaranteed a future in politics if they did not behave responsibly and represent their constituents properly.
HARDLY seven months in office as prime minister, Kevin Rudd has made many changes in key areas of the government structure, given grim notice to its departmental heads that they could be removed if they failed to work harder and smarter, and implemented new economic and foreign policies to cope with future challenges facing Australia.
But he has so far failed to stop the escalating food and fuel prices despite the heated debate with the Opposition in the Federal Parliament.
The hours of argument, ostensibly over a proposed national fuel watch to be introduced in November, seem pointless because no one can stop the rising cost of fuel. And despite what his critics argued, fuel watch, which has been in operation in Western Australia for the past eight years, gives motorists a choice to go to the cheapest bowser of the day.
But looking ahead to the challenges beyond the nation, Rudd believes that Australia and its economic and security partners would have to consider what sort of long-term vision they want in the “regional architecture” in 2020.
His question goes further than the aims of the existing regional institutions such as APEC, Asean, Asean Plus 3 and, recently, East Asia Summit – each of which has its own positive role and will continue to do so.
He points out that none of the regional mechanisms, as currently configured, is capable of developing a “genuine and comprehensive sense of community whose habitual operating principle is cooperation”.
“We need to anticipate the historic changes in the region and seek to shape them rather than simply reacting to them,” he told the Asia Society in Sydney last week.
His proposal is to set up an Asia-Pacific Community (APC) spanning the entire region, including the United States, Japan, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and other countries.
It would enhance a sense of security community similar to the achievement of the European Union (EU), which has transformed centuries of animosity into an unparalleled degree of transnational cooperation.
Although the APC does not necessarily follow the EU identikit, it would develop a capacity to deal with terrorism, natural disasters and diseases in Asia Pacific – problems that definitively transcend national boundaries.
It would also enhance non-discriminatory and open trading regimes across the region in support of global institutions.
And it would provide long-term energy, resource and food security.
“Our special challenge is that we face a region with greater diversity in political systems and economic structures, levels of development, religious beliefs, languages and cultures, than did our counterparts in Europe,” he said. “But that should not stop us from thinking big.”
Rudd, whose study on Asian history, language and cultures at the Australian National University had opened his eyes to the importance of the region, will send former Ambassador to Indonesia Dick Woolcott as his envoy to the regional capitals to discuss the proposal.
Depending on the outcome of Woolcott’s discussions, this will be followed by a high-level conference of government and non-government representatives on the formation of APC.
Explaining the urgency of the matter, Rudd points out that the speed and scope of changes in the Asia Pacific means Australia needs to be at the forefront of the challenge, helping to provide the ideas and drive to build a new regional architecture.
“We need to invest in our relationships with our partners around the region,” he stresses.
“In South-East Asia, we have to add even more depth to our relationships with our key partners – Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and others.”
After visiting Tokyo where he had discussions with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on economic, political and strategic relationships last week, Rudd flew to Jakarta to meet President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to discuss lifting the task force on emergency preparedness and response following the Indian Ocean tsunami four years ago.
He has some specific proposals on how Australia and Indonesia could do more to bring together disaster relief experts from the region to respond quickly to a crisis.
Rudd believes Australia has to make itself “the most Asia-literate country in the collective West”.
“Asia is a diverse continent and we have to put great effort into building and maintaining our engagement into the future. Our business, our academic institutions and our government agencies need to understand Asia,” he says.
“This government will be investing more in this direction because we, in this nation, have a unique requirement to fully comprehend and engage with the great new global dynamics of the Asia-Pacific century.
“Australia must play its part in shaping the region’s future ?”
FUN and games are now seen as a possible alternative treatment for children who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – or ADHD for short.
At present, many ADHD children in Australia as well as in other countries, including in the Asian region, are being prescribed with stimulant medication, which has always been controversial among specialists and psychologists.
But the reality is that at least 20% of Australian children diagnosed with the disorder are under medication to overcome their disruptive behaviour, lack of concentration and difficulty in learning.
Although the doctors would prefer alternative treatment such as behavioural therapies, a recent government review has found that it is difficult to access such services throughout Australia.
Yet, according to the review chairman, Prof Philip Mitchell of the University of New South Wales, ADHD is a very common problem in Australia and many other countries.
Most people have hitherto believed that this disorder in children is the result of a slow development in the functioning of the brain, which the children would grow out of as they get older.
However, in a laboratory at Sydney University, psychologist Andrew Campbell and his PhD student Krestina Amon have been researching a computer game specially designed to teach the ADHD-affected children to be calm and relaxed.
Dr Campbell, who believes that children are receptive to new technology, wants to find something that would engage them for long periods of time to change their terrible mood and bad behaviour.
The research team has developed a computer game in which players wear biofeedback sensors to measure their heart rate and skin temperature and the use of breathing techniques.
The concept is to use their breathing and mind power to control the speed of the computer game (mainly slow breathing in and out) to teach them to relax and enjoy the fun. This, in turn, would help them to concentrate on what they are doing.
A group of 24 children between the ages of five and 15 are taking part in the trial. More than half of them are under stimulant medication. The others are not.
The initial results of the trial, according to Dr Campbell, have been “very encouraging”.
“The (ADHD-affected) children are translating their newfound skills from the game into real life,” he said.
“There has been an improvement in their mood in the school and at home. They are paying more attention to their tasks and are eating and sleeping better.”
For example, six-year-old Nicholas Tragotsalos, who was diagnosed with ADHD soon after he started school, has changed dramatically from being fidgety to being calm, cool and self-confident.
He is thriving in school tasks and approaches any activity with an “I can do it” attitude. His mother Janet is quite amazed with the change in him.
They appeared on a television programme last week as proof of the success of the alternative treatment for children with ADHD.
But Dr Campbell is yet to be fully convinced. He wants to see how the specially-designed computer game will benefit ADHD-affected children over a long period of time.
Signs of ADHD
How does a parent know that his or her child has ADHD?
According to research, children with ADHD always seem to be constantly in motion. They will dash around touching or playing with whatever is in their sight or talk incessantly.
They will often speak out and act impulsively without thinking of the consequences or grab a toy from another child or hit out when they are upset.
Many people believe that ADHD, first discovered in 1845 by Dr Heinrich Hoffman, is a children’s problem. However, even teenagers and healthy adult workers can suffer the disorder, according to a recent international study, which interviewed more than 7,000 ADHD-affected adults in 10 countries.
The study found that those who suffered the disorder and their lack of ability to concentrate cost an average loss of nearly a month’s work per year.
The highest loss rate was Colombia with 29.4 days, Italy 22.2 days, Lebanon 19.4 days, Belgium 16.5 days and Germany 13.6 days.
What is not commonly known is that many famous people are believed to have had ADHD, including Albert Einstein, Walt Disney, Sir Winston Churchill, Henry Ford and the late US President Dwight Eisenhower.
LET alone the question of migration, the issue of recruiting foreign workers per se brings some conflicting views from different people with different perspectives.
Therefore, it is not surprising that a proposal, yet to be decided by the Rudd government, has re-ignited the spectre of ugly racism and fears of backlash against immigration.
In a private address to the ruling Labour Party’s New South Wales branch last week, Senator-elect Doug Cameron warned that recruiting a big number of unskilled or low-skilled foreign workers could resuscitate parties such as One Nation or, more ominously, lead to the rise of a far-right force akin to the British National Party (BNP).
His fears, which he confirmed later, are apparently justified. They are based on a British Broadcasting Corporation’s analysis that found BNP, which is linked to neo-fascist groups, has managed to get 56 councillors elected across Britain.
Most of them have won office on a backlash against immigration through Europe’s open borders.
BNP’s recent victory was three weeks ago when the party, with 5.3% of the vote, grabbed its first seat in the London Assembly.
With such a significant success, Cameron, who will take his seat in the Senate on July 1, is understandably troubled and concerned that it could happen in Australia under a similar situation.
To prove his case, he cited research by British academic Chris Dent on East-Asia Regionalism, who identified three key concerns in countries that imported guest labour. These are pressure on social cohesion, demand for public services and other aspects of the country’s social infrastructure.
Unskilled migrant workers, he said, sometimes nudged locals out of the blue-collar labour market, suppressed wages and were exploited by employers, often within their own communities.
He also argued that proposals to bring in temporary Chinese labour to work on major national infrastructure projects could undermine efforts to develop engineering and construction skills among young Australians.
But Immigration Minister Chris Evans and the business community disagree with Cameron’s arguments.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Peter Anderson said increased migration would not unleash resentment in the community if it were done on a logical and orderly basis.
Evans believes that Australia has matured on these issues and has accepted large-scale migration over the years.
The controversy arose over the Rudd government’s first Budget two weeks ago, which increased the intake of migrants for next year to a record 60-year high of 190,300, most of whom would be skilled migrants.
It is also over a proposal to consider a New Zealand-style guest workers scheme that would bring a big number of foreigners to Australia to farm seasonal crops. These workers must go back to their home-countries after the harvests are completed.
Treasury secretary Ken Henry believes that lifting the skilled migration would offset some of the wage pressures that have been building across the country, particularly in areas such as Western Australia and Queensland, which are suffering from a severe shortage of skilled workers.
Ethnic Communities Council of Western Australia president Ramdas Sankaran, however, believes that it is in Australia’s interest not to ignore the experiences of countries such as France and Britain where big intakes of unskilled workers had created racial tension and “an underclass of exploited and dissatisfied workers”.
But he pointed out that, unlike Europe and other parts of the world, Australia has not in the past relied on guest workers as a means of meeting its labour shortage.
“Australia has historically relied on permanent migration, not temporary migration, to complement the Australian-born skilled work force,” Sankaran told me.
Statistically, the Philippines is the biggest source of international migrant workers in the Asia-Pacific region.
It has 4.75mil migrant workers in 2004. Burma has three million workers available, Indonesia two million, China one million and Vietnam 340,000.