During the 1980’s and 1990’s, I was the NSW President, then Australian President, of the Boys’ Brigade, the oldest uniformed boys’ association (established in 1884 by Sir William Smith of Scotland). The Boys’ Brigade was a Christian forerunner of the Boy Scouts. I enjoyed my association with thousands of boys and Officers throughout Australia. In 1990, I went to Singapore for the International Conference of Boys’ Brigades from all over the world. As the Australian President, I spoke at the Conference and became friends with the International President, Lord Thurso of Scotland.

At Singapore’s Changi Airport, we looked at a magnificent display of coloured paperweights made from crystal, featuring magnificently coloured clusters of tiny flowers. I did not know just then, but Caithness Glass was a company commenced by our International President, Lord Thurso. The Rt. Hon. Viscount Thurso of Ulster, whose name was Robin Sinclair, died in 1995 and was succeeded by his son Malcolm. Lord Thurso will be remembered as a most gracious host with his wife, Lady Margaret, and made each one feel special about a visit to Caithness, Thurso and Wick areas.

Two years after the Conference in Singapore, I took some study leave and went to Oxford University, staying at Somerville College and attending a theological study conference. When it was finished, we journeyed to the northern most point of Scotland to visit Wick, Caithness and Thurso. This is where the Clan Sinclair hold their international gatherings with about two hundred Sinclairs from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom. They gather in Caithness and the Castle Sinclair where the Sinclair flag flies proudly. There is held a ceilidh (traditional dance) with the Gordon Pipe Band and Drums, and Clan Sinclair Pipe Band, and dancers. This is an historic fishing and farming area.

If you are interested in knitting then you might take a look at the Wick museum for examples of Caithness ganseys (knitted woollen sweaters) once worn by fishermen up and down the coast. Every village had their own distinct patterns so that when the body of a drowned fisherman was washed up, they could identify the village from which he came.

At the heritage museum are items from the smallest object like tools or whistles made from cabbage roots to major items like sea going boats – one of which the Isabella Fortuna, now restored and seaworthy, is housed in the old lifeboat shed. There are also several other boats and even the whole framework of lamp and lens from the top of the old lighthouse stretching through two floors, completely taken down and reassembled inside the museum. There is plenty of old equipment, diving suits, old signs, every kind of machine and engine from old fishing boats to masons’ tools from old craftsmen.

The centre has within its walls an actual kiln used for smoking herring, which were considered of too poor quality to be cured in salt, and these smoked herring were called kippers. This kiln was used for about 100 years. It could hold nearly 10,000 herring when full, as the racks went right up to the roof. There were 50 companies in Wick making kippers at one time. While the work of preparing and packing the herring was done by women, the men hung the herrings in the kiln. The herring stood in smoke for 24 hours and fresh quantities were made every day. The largest kiln in Wick held 90,000 kippers and Wick kippers were sent all over Britain and overseas in barrels.

In the 1860’s, there were 650 coopers in Wick and they made 125,000 barrels a year, nearly all for export. Wick at that time exported almost as much herring itself as all the other ports in Scotland put together. But since the 1970’s, the North Seas began to be fished out. The unemployment crisis in this area, when the farming and herring fishing industries collapsed in the mid 20th century, meant the future of the area was bleak. The local Council, chaired by Lord Thurso, turned to him and asked what he was going to do about it.

Lord Thurso could speak in the House of Lords, but as the Laird and Clan Leader, it was expected he would solve the problem. He told me he considered all kinds of new industries, but eventually after a trip to Scandinavia, decided the local area could become a centre for making crystal. He built a factory at Wick and hired experts from other parts of the UK. So Caithness Glass was founded in 1961 at Wick in the far North East of Scotland, by the late Robin Sinclair, Lord Thurso. The Sinclair family was closely concerned with the county of Caithness and he wanted something that would find a market with the tourists who came to this remote part of Scotland, and could be easily exported. Hence Art Glass.

It converted readily available raw materials (pure fresh water, sand and lead) into prestigious products by means of artistry and skill. Robin decided to seek Government sponsorship to build the glass factory that we visited. Now a new purpose-built factory funded by the Scottish Industrial Estates agency, is one of three factories all near by. Initially, the Company made crystal bowls, vases and drinking glasses in the popular Scandinavian style of the time. They soon became well known for their distinctive coloured glass designs, which echoed the haunting colors of the Scottish landscape.

That was not the end of our interest in crystal. Four years ago I was giving some lectures on Urban Ministry at the World Convention of Churches of Christ in Brighton, England. Before we began, we spent a week in Ireland. One of our desired destinations was Waterford. I had hoped to purchase some beautiful Waterford crystal from their factory. The beginnings of glass making in Ireland are lost in the mists of time but there is sufficient archaeological evidence to show that, from the early Iron Age, glass was regarded with respect. Indeed, medieval documents can prove glass making existed in Ireland back in the middle 13th century.

However, the Waterford Crystal story started to blossom in 1783 when two brothers, George and William Penrose, founded their crystal manufacturing business in the busy port of Waterford. They were important developers and soon became the city’s principal exporters. They succeeded in producing crystal with a purity of colour unmatched in Ireland or England. Merchant ships sailed regularly from the port of Waterford with cargoes of crystal bound for Spain, the West Indies, New York, New England, and Australia.

But less than 100 years later the initial company failed due to lack of capital and excessive taxation. Another century passed before the enterprise was revived. In 1947, while Europe was still in ruins after the Second World War, a small glass factory was set up in Waterford close to the original glass factory.

The traditional cutting patterns made famous by the artisans of Waterford became the design basis for the growing product range of the new company. In November 2000, Waterford Crystal was named as the top world-class brand from among 19 world-class brands in the US market. Other brands included Rolls-Royce Bentley, Bose stereo and speaker systems, Philadelphia cream cheese, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Kodak, Heinz ketchup and National Geographic magazine. Waterford Crystal has become almost a synonym for the finest quality crystal sought after by collectors and connoisseurs around the world. Many great sporting events seem to have Crystal trophies held up by the winners.

In chemistry, mineralogy, and materials science, a crystal is a solid in which the constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are packed in a regularly ordered, repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions. As the father in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” always said, “Tell me any word and I will tell you the Greek word from which it comes.” Well, the word crystal is a loan from the ancient Greek word κρύσταλλος (krustallos), which had the same meaning. It means anything congealed. The word once referred particularly to quartz, or “rock crystal”.

The process of forming a crystalline structure from a fluid, or from materials dissolved in the fluid, is often referred to as crystallisation. In the ancient example referenced by the root meaning of the word crystal, water being cooled undergoes a phase change from liquid to solid beginning with small ice crystals that grow until they fuse, forming a polycrystalline structure. The physical properties of the ice depend on the size and arrangement of the individual crystals, or grains, and the same may be said of metals solidifying from a molten state.

While the term “crystal” has a precise meaning within materials science and solid-state physics, colloquially “crystal” refers to solid objects that exhibit well-defined and often pleasing geometric shapes. In this sense of the word, many types of crystals are found in nature. Snowflakes, diamonds, and common salt are common examples of crystals.

Lead crystal is lead glass that has been hand or machine cut with facets. Lead oxide added to the molten glass gives lead crystal a much higher index of refraction than normal glass, and consequently much greater “sparkle”. The presence of lead also makes the glass softer and easier to cut. Crystal can consist of up to 35% lead, at which point it has the most sparkle. Makers of lead crystal objects include Baccarat and J.G.Durand in France, Royal Leerdam Crystal of the Netherlands, Steuben Glass in the United States, Waterford Crystal in Ireland, Mikasa in Japan, Swarovski in Austria, Preciosa in Czech Republic and Rogaška Crystal in Slovenia.

We are aware of the problem with lead poisoning in paint but what about lead crystal and food safety? It has been proposed that the historic association of gout with the upper classes in Europe and America was, in part, caused by their extensive use of lead crystal decanters to store fortified wines and whisky. There is statistical evidence linking gout to lead poisoning in drinking containers.

Significant amounts of lead can migrate from lead crystal containers into beverages stored in them. Lead crystal typically contains 24–35% lead oxide. In a study performed at North Carolina State University, the amount of lead migration was measured for port wine stored in lead crystal decanters. After two days, lead levels were 89 micrograms per litre. After four months, lead levels were between 2,000 and 5,000 micrograms per litre. White wine doubled its lead content within an hour of storage and tripled it within four hours. Some brandy stored in lead crystal for over five years had lead levels around 20,000 micrograms per litre. To put this into perspective, EPA’s lead standard for drinking water is 15 micrograms per litre.

Citrus juices and infant formula leach lead from crystal just as effectively as alcoholic beverages. Several companies do make lead crystal baby bottles and it is suspected they may present a health danger to infants. Similarly, the luxury champagne Cristal may also present a danger to consumers from their lead crystal bottles. But all of this did not make a piece of crystal from the Waterford factory any cheaper. The booming Irish economy and the high price of the Euro meant, regretfully, we could not afford to bring home any Waterford crystal.

Not long afterwards we retired from Wesley Mission. One of the farewell gifts came from our staff in our Employment Services. It was an extremely large box, very carefully packed and very heavy. It contained the largest Waterford crystal vase you have ever seen, beautifully cut, and when filled with flowers is absolutely stunning. You don’t have to worry, as teetotalers, the only fluid going into this crystal is water, not wine.

Rev The Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes, A.C., M.L.C

Faced with that tough situation, farming communities need hope. Some of that hope comes from public support, and the NSW Government is playing its part with $400 million worth of drought assistance thus far and even more to come. But surviving through the drought is not just a matter of rain or finances. It’s about having a bit of optimism – about knowing you are not alone. That is why the Spirit Lifter Convoy organised by my distinguished parliamentary colleague, Dr Gordon Moyes MLC, is so important.

Not only will it bring welcome supplies to country families, it will bring hope – the hope that comes from faith, from a love of this country, and a respect for our precious rural heritage. So I commend Dr Moyes and all the volunteers who are working with him to make the 2008 Convoy a truly spirit lifting event, extending a hand of friendship from city to country and ensuring that while the drought may persist, our care and concern for country families will never run dry.

The Hon. Morris Iemma MP, Premier of New South Wales

Therefore, it is worthwhile for everyone to learn the following simple signs of stroke, so that we can recognise them in ourselves, co-workers, and loved ones, and seek the appropriate emergency medical care without delay. An easy way to remember how to tell if it is a stroke is using the first 4 letters of the word “Stroke”:

S – Smile – If your smile is unusually lopsided that can mean stroke.
T – Talk – try to say something clearly – if you cannot speak, or have a problem doing so, that can mean stroke.
R – Raise both arms – if you cannot raise both arms that can mean stroke.
O – stick Out your tongue – if it is pointing to one side or the other that can mean stroke.

If you have trouble with even ONE of these simple tasks ring 000 for an ambulance immediately, as you need to get to the Emergency Room for treatment. You can reduce your risk of having a stroke by keeping your blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels low, quitting smoking, eating a healthy diet, and being physically active.

Sophie and Molly are the two little girls who suffered dreadful burns when a car crashed into their day care centre, just before Christmas 2003. It caught fire and incinerated the children. Seven children were injured with Sophie, then two and a half years of age, sustaining the most significant injuries. Third degree burns covered 85% of her body. She lost both her feet, the fingers on her right hand and her right ear. She will continue to need surgery until she is an adult.

Then, while in a stroller pushed by a carer on a Pedestrian Crossing near her home, she was hit by a car again in 2006 and was left with a brain injury, punctured lungs, nine broken ribs, a broken jaw, broken collarbone and spinal fractures. Once again she was in intensive care for many months.

Somehow she has recovered and continues with her rehabilitation and recovery. Resilience.

My interest in her recovery began just after the original accident. I had some years earlier, while Superintendent of Wesley Mission Sydney, set up a nursing service known as Noakes Nursing Service. The service had several hundred nurses and carers that were hired to hospitals, nursing homes and injured and disabled individuals who needed specialist care. We were contracted to provide Sophie’s nursing needs for the next ten years.

It was Wesley nurses and community support workers that provided Sophie and her family with 24-hour care, seven days a week. The nine nurses and support workers provided a diverse range of support and nursing services to the family: bathing Sophie, changing her dressings, putting sorbolene cream on her scars, ensuring that her dietary needs were met; through to making meals, washing, cooking, ironing and ensuring that Sophie completed her physiotherapy.

“When Sophie came home, physiotherapy was the first priority and then keeping us functioning as a family,” Sophie’s mother, Carolyn said to a member of my staff at the time, Graeme Cole, who wrote an account of what Carolyn said for “Impact” the Wesley Mission Sydney magazine.
“Sophie had to learn not to look to me for all her medical needs and to accept that this was the responsibility of the nurses. I needed to just be mum even though I still co-ordinated her requirements. Along with nursing care for Sophie also came help with her young brother Mitchell as well.

“There was no time for the normal chores of running a household. I needed to care for Mitchell along with washing, ironing, shopping and cooking so the nurses had to fill that void as well, said Carolyn.
“Along with dietary requirements for Sophie, the nurses would look after morning tea and lunch. There was no way Ron and I would have been able to cope by ourselves.”

As Sophie adapted, the nurses and support workers became her friends and playmates. “Life became like a pre-school,” Carolyn said. “She became more independent and mobile. We developed a daily planner around burns and baths.”

An account of how the nurses worked with Sophie is found in “Sophie’s Journey” a very moving book by Sally Collings. (Harper and Collins).

Registered Wesley nurses are with her every night because of Sophie’s medical requirements. Sophie could wake up to six times a night itching or from suffering a muscular spasm. The nurse is there ready to care for her.

The nurses have all had hospital training and have been trained by the physiotherapists. They respect the privacy of the family but are there when needed.

The deep optimism and hope embodied in Ron and Carolyn Delezio is anchored in their faith in God. From the day of the ill-fated accident, through to the agonising life and death decisions and living for six months at the hospital and waiting to see what each day would bring, faith has upheld this family.

“It would have been so hard to go through this without faith, to cope on our own,” Carolyn said. “You have to believe there is a higher purpose in the things that happen to us.

“It’s been really tough to know if Sophie would get through each operation and we didn’t think she’d survive in the early days. We thanked God for each half hour we had with her. As she goes into each operation she carries a little bag of prayers that people have sent her.

“From the beginning we wanted something good to come out of the event itself, knowing that we can make a difference for others and raise awareness of burn injuries, disabilities and people who are different.”
To this end Ron and Carolyn Delezio established the Day of Difference Foundation to raise funds for the burns unit at the Children’s Hospital, Westmead, and to change public attitudes towards disabled people.

“The Day of Difference Foundation is a paediatric charity established to provide funding for specialised medical treatment, ongoing medical research, outpatient rehabilitation and education in the community. “ They have Gala Balls and other fundraising events in the community.

Earlier this year Sophie and her brother, Mitchell were driven in a Chevrolet Convertible, accompanied by 200 motorcyclists, from Sydney Showground at Homebush Bay to Harbord Diggers Club to support the Day of Difference Foundation.

In the last three years Day of Difference Foundation has raised $1,458,837.68 for the direct purchase of “Wish list” equipment for the children’s hospitals in Sydney.”

Website: http://www.dayofdifference.org.au/index.php

Her survival both times was miraculous. The family attributes her survival to their faith and prayers. Sophie’s resilient and extrovert personality seems to be the key to her survival, and all the support from the community has helped.

Sophie and her family are 2008 Ambassadors for World Youth Day, Sydney.

Rev Dr Gordon Moyes, A.C., M.L.C.

Many professionals feel that ADHD is not an actual diagnosis reliant upon certain conditions being met, but is a catch-all term for a range of difficult behaviours with different causes.

The Diagnostic & Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders provides the following criteria for diagnosing ADHD.

Inattention

Defined as:
1.Child often does not give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, work, or other activities.
2.Child often has trouble keeping attention on tasks or play activities.
3.Child often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly.
4.Child often does not follow instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace (not due to oppositional behaviour or failure to understand instructions).
5.Child often has trouble organizing activities.
6.Child often avoids, dislikes, or doesn’t want to do things that take a lot of mental effort for a long period of time (such as schoolwork or homework).
7.Child often loses things needed for tasks and activities (e.g. toys, school assignments, pencils, books, or tools).
8.Child is often easily distracted.
9.Child is often forgetful in daily activities.

Hyperactivity

Defined as:
1.Child often fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in seat.
2.Child often gets up from seat when remaining in seat is expected.
3.Child often runs about or climbs when and where it is not appropriate (adolescents or adults may feel very restless).
4.Child often has trouble playing or enjoying leisure activities quietly.
5.Child is often “on the go” or often acts as if “driven by a motor”.
6.Child often talks excessively.

Impulsivity

Defined as:
1.Child often blurts out answers before questions have been finished.
2.Child often has trouble waiting one’s turn.
3.Child often interrupts or intrudes on others (e.g., butts into conversations or games).

How ADHD affects the community

ADHD is a chronic public health problem from early childhood through adulthood. It causes problems for home life, at school, and in social life and general lack of effectiveness as a person. Interventions have not been effective in the long term, including drugs that affect the brain. The cause of ADHD is unknown, but genetic factors are believed to be important. Other factors may include prenatal parental alcohol use and smoking, and low birth weight. Eating sugar or food additives has been ruled out as causes of ADHD, and specialised diets have met with little success in treating it.

Problems for the community and the public health system include the enormous social, educational, health and economic burden of people who are not fully functioning throughout their lifespan including interpersonal relationship problems with the family, peers, co-workers, teachers, etc. There has been a great deal of research over the past 30 years, but without a standard definition of ADHD because it covers so much ground, and the resulting studies have not been comparable. Therefore, the research has been contradictory or too variable to be useful.

Current Treatments: Psychiatric drugs, behaviour modification, and counselling

One key concern to the general community is the safety of pharmacological interventions since prescribing mind-altering drugs, such as Ritalin, is extremely common. Ritalin is categorised by the Therapeutic Goods Administration as Schedule 8, a Drug of Addiction. Assessing the health risks and benefits of this drug use to very young children should be a high priority. Children who begin medication therapies very early in life and receive it on a long-term basis may have unknown outcomes, although recent research has shown that these children are no more likely to experiment with illegal drugs than are other children. But these drug interventions may not normalise behaviour. The existing research suggests that children and adults with ADHD experience substantial problems in the school, home, workplace, and community settings despite the drugs they take to control it. If drug therapy is already not proven to be effective in the long term, we join the child advocates who question if the risks involved are really worth taking? The UN High Commission on Human Rights has also criticised the use of psycho-stimulants to children with difficult behaviours.

Behaviour modification therapies and counselling, for young people in particular, have been proven to be beneficial for the treatment of various behavioural disorders including ADHD. The effectiveness of behavioural interventions must be further studied in the treatment of ADHD, to better understand their potential to normalize the behaviour and functioning of those with the disorder, especially when combined with pharmacotherapy.

Experimental Treatments

Some studies have found that supplementation with Omega 3 oils, such as flaxseed or fish oil capsules, which are cheap and readily available, can halve the symptoms of ADHD. Although specialised diets have met with little success in treating ADHD there is still a great deal of ongoing research in that area.

Recommendation for future research

One suggestion from Australian experts is for each state to establish a voluntary Registry of individuals treated for ADHD, in order to monitor the health effects and potential benefits of their long-term treatment for ADHD. Additionally, collecting other related life-outcomes such as school attainment, interface with judicial system, work performance, and other pertinent variables, would provide evidence for comparison of treatments.

For further information:
http://www.livingwithadhd.com.au/
http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/public-health/adhd/index.html
http://www.adhd.org.au/

References:
American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association, 2000.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/symptom.htm
Barkley, RA, Fischer, M, Smallish, L, Fletcher, K. Does the Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder With Stimulants Contribute to Drug Use/Abuse? A 13-Year Prospective Study. Pediatrics Vol. 111 No 1 January 2003 pp 97-109.

COMMENT:
In 1855, when a bill restricting Sunday trading was being considered by the English Parliament, the working classes rioted. They were furious that their prized one day off per week, when they could shop and attend entertaining events, was going to be taken away from them. It was an apparent effort on the part of the establishment to force them to attend church services. They pointed out that the wealthy classes, which passed the bill, were not affected and could do whatever they wanted with their Sundays. The English rioters would have appreciated this bill, which seeks to keep shops open, rather than closed, on Sundays.

Times change. The bill deregulates almost all the old restrictions that control when shops can open. Supporters claim that the bill will get rid of needless red tape and allow retailers to set hours in accordance with market demand, except for the most significant traditional public holidays. They argue that exemptions to trading restrictions have been granted for shops in almost 70 per cent of the New South Wales local government areas, and that the bill reflects the change in society over the past 50 years since the Shops and Industries Act 1962 came into effect. Almost every organised human society has had regular days off. Today societies all over the world have a day that perhaps was originally reserved for religious observance but now is set aside to help structure shared social life. Whether it is Fridays throughout the entire Muslim world, Saturdays in the Jewish world or Sundays in the Christian world, there have always been days set aside when the demands of the marketplace do not make a valid claim on us. The weekly observance of the Christian Sunday may no longer be shared by many in the multicultural Australian community, but the need for a shared day away from the demands of business to spend with the family still exists.

We are not asking people to “remember the Sabbath and keep it holy”—which, the previous speaker will note, was one of the Jewish commandments as well as historically being part of the Christian tradition, especially among Scottish Christians, or Presbyterians—but something from the same world view that applies to everybody. The need for humans to have opportunity for rest and recreation, as was argued so well by the Australian Labor Party in its historic Eight Hour Day legislation, is still valid today. With the stress of modern life, it is more important than ever to hang on to every opportunity for rest and relaxation. We are asking that human beings not be defined as consumers, businesses, or individuals whose every desire demands instant gratification, and that the wording does not try to make it sound reasonable by terming it “choice”. We reject that world view and the definition of humans as merely economic units.

We believe, rather, that our Creator makes us for the purpose of relationships: relationships with our community, with our nuclear and extended families, with His creation, and with Him. We meet the demands of the external world on five or six days of the week with duty and responsibility—where do people think the term “Protestant Work Ethic” comes from? But the seventh day belongs to us, to our families and to whatever meaning we wish to give it—away from the demands of the outer world. Whether we want to attend worship services, take our family to the zoo, play sport, see a play or visit our relatives, that time is our own. We must acknowledge and respect the basic human rhythm. People can give and give, but then they need the time to recharge and rest. Human beings are not machines: we are not running in the same gear 24/7—we are vulnerable creatures. Society and the marketplace seem to have lost sight of, and respect for, that basic human need.

When people demand choice about when they are able to shop, I ask “whose choice”? The person who has to work on a Sunday who would rather be home with his or her family, but cannot afford to say no? It should be remembered that we are discussing an issue concerning the least skilled and least specialised workers: those who are required to work in shops on Sunday. Is there a social justice aspect to the question that we have not considered? Do such workers desperate for part-time hours have the right or ability to turn down work on Sundays? We are not talking about judges, lawyers, surgeons or scientists; we are talking about shop clerks. These jobs are filled mostly by working-class women who are helping their husbands support their young families, young people, and people either at the beginning of their work lives or at the end of their work lives. These are not people at the upper end of the social ladder.

I note that the bill provides for staff to be employed on Sundays supposedly without coercion, harassment, threat or intimidation by the owner or occupier of the shop or lessees in a shopping complex. But who is fooling whom? When the power imbalance is so striking, what employee or lessee would be foolish enough to say no? Kevin Rudd’s Labor Party was voted into Federal Government on the strength of its pitch to the voters of being committed to “helping working families”. How does this legislation contribute to that promise? If mothers and fathers cannot spend the weekends with each other and their families because of their conflicting work schedules that is a serious step backward for the working families of New South Wales.

For decades there has been increasing concern about the loss of community in our modern society being one reason for the rise in shocking antisocial behaviour. One aspect of community is people having the same days off to share activities and have the opportunity to participate in celebrations of shared values. Such occasions help to create and cement bonds and to reinforce our interdependence; they are opportunities to make our communal life more harmonious. If we are all to go our separate ways 24 hours a day 7 days a week there will be no time for communal sharing of anything. This would be a huge loss psychologically, socially and emotionally, and to our sense of belonging to a society. If we share nothing of value we are not a functional society or people. Changing the rhythms and structures of society is very serious, and it must be reflected upon.

If Sunday is just the same as any other day, would members of this House be willing to come to work on a Sunday? It would seem to make more sense than working until 3.30 in the morning during the week. If members accept this principle, why not work on Sunday? A large number of bills and private members’ business items are currently before the House. Are we prepared to work on those on a Sunday? Why do we not all come back this Sunday, for example, and discuss the urgent business of Parliament? I guess not many of us would like that idea. And why not? Because we are not shop clerks; we are not the pushed around and poor people within the community. We believe we deserve a day of rest: a day when we can put our private lives and our families ahead of our work and the time we spend in this Chamber—a well earned day away from here. Everyone else who has a job deserves that right too. After all, the Jewish Old Testament records that even our Creator rested on the seventh day after six days of work.

CONCLUSION:
Because of the negative impact of the bill on the community, working families and individuals, I cannot in good faith support it.

We have never had the money to buy fine bone china collectables. Some people have collected Toby jugs, figurines, Christmas plates, and special editions celebrating the opening of the Opera House or Royal wedding. (I do not think they celebrate royal divorces with a plate!) We can admire them, but we have never collected a set or series. Except one.

It is a Royal Doulton series like Mrs. Hyacinth Bucket collects. Royal Doulton porcelain and china takes its name from John Doulton, who in 1815 joined a Pottery in Lambeth, England. The firm soon assumed the name of Doulton and made a wide variety of decorative objects for an affluent buyer. Their pottery came to the attention of the British Royal family. By 1885, Doulton was producing world-class wares for an international clientele. By the late 19th century, Doulton had won honours at major international exhibitions, and was producing a tremendous variety of figurines, vases, character jugs, and other decorative pieces.

While production was interrupted for the two World Wars, the years in between offered Royal Doulton a period of great prosperity. Doulton always produced fine English china sets for both a domestic and international market, but after World War II production shifted to these simpler designs which could be mass produced at a price more people could afford. Today, Royal Doulton is still producing popular figurines and fine bone china as well as the Doulton Lambeth line of stoneware. The Royal Doulton Group is now the largest manufacturer of ceramics in Britain.

My wife Beverley greatly loved her older sister Gwen. Gwen and her husband did not have children of their own, and our children became the delight of their Auntie Gwen’s life. Gwen was so generous with spending her time with them and nothing was too good for them if she thought it would bring them pleasure. It was a time in our life when we were under mortgage stress. There was much belt tightening on non-essentials, but both agreed we should buy Gwen something for Christmas she would really enjoy in appreciation for all that she did for our children.

So for Christmas 1979 we bought her a Royal Doulton plate, the first in a series of six to be produced one a year for the next six years. The series was called, “All of God’s Village People”. This first one was called “A brighter Day”. The series would feature two or three children, each from a village in a different part of the world, and from most of the continents. The oil paintings were by the renowned Belgium artist, Lisette DeWinne, regarded as one of the world’s finest painters of children. Her discerning eye and ability to paint emotions created a warm and beautiful response from the viewer.

Gwen loved it instantly and knowing our financial sacrifice indicated that she would get each of the other plates as they were released. True to her word, in 1980 she purchased No 2. This plate depicts village children of Nepal taken from a painting DeWinne did from a photograph she had taken in a Nepalese market. Like all of the Royal Doulton series it was limited to just 10,000 plates, with set numbers for major countries. Australia was limited to 1,000 plates. Each plate is individually numbered and bears the signature of Lisette DeWinne, and a paper label placed by the inspector of Royal Doulton.

Gwen enjoyed her two plates and we were glad because Gwen was battling cancer. She died age 53, in September 1981, while I was preaching as an associate speaker in the San Jose Crusade California with Billy Graham. Mr. Graham asked me to sit with him that night in the Spartan Stadium and he prayed for Gwen and Beverley before the crowd of 60,000 people.

In her will, Gwen left the two plates to Beverley along with many of her other precious possessions. A year or so later, on April 23rd 1983, in London I was preaching in Westminster Hall and City Temple, and walking down the street we saw in a shop window the next in the series, # 3. It is called “Noble Heritage”. The English pound was very expensive in regard to the Australian dollar but we had no hesitation in buying it in remembrance of Gwen.

At Christmas that year the 1983 plate was released. In the week before Christmas, David Jones told me they had some in. I purchased the next in the series “My Little Brother”. It also is a beautiful plate. We very nearly did not have it. I was carrying my bag of papers, some other parcels and the plate gift-wrapped in its protective box. I was in a rush. I was speaking at a special Christmas Service at Wesley Hospital in Ashfield. It was always a great service with large crowds present.

Four hours later I was unpacking the car at home and I couldn’t find the plate! I was devastated, as I then remembered putting it on the roof of the car parked next to mine while I unlocked the car. Of course it would not still be there. Someone would have taken it, or it would have fallen when the car drove off. But I raced into the heart of the city at full speed, and there where I had parked was the other car, with a Christmas package still wrapped on its roof! Never had a heart been so full of thanksgiving to God.

You can be sure that the next year I was first in line to purchased “Sisterly Love” the sixth and final one in the series. But we still did not have #4. It came out at a difficult time and I was unable to buy it. I put it off until I had a little more money. But by the time I had enough money, not a plate was to be found. I checked all the Sydney stores and some in Melbourne, but to no avail. I contacted Royal Doulton but they did not have one left. There was a worldwide demand for this series and people told me I could never get a new one, but perhaps, because their value had gone up so much, I might find one in a place that sold such collectables. Some hope. Everybody in charge knew the series, but no-one had seen any come onto the market. I tried everywhere for the next few years to no avail. It is always disappointing to have only part of a set. But the collecting of a series is the really meaningful part, not just owning it.

Then twenty years ago this week, July 31st 1988, I was in Canada where I was guest preacher at the huge North American Baptist Convention in the Saddledome in Calgary. The morning service had finished, and Beverley and I were walking past the closed shops back to our hotel. It was 4 pm on a quiet Sunday afternoon, and as we passed a second-hand store, I saw it in the window! It was our missing #4, “Buddies”. There was all sorts of junk in the window, but there was only one plate, and it was ours! But the shop was closed, and early next morning we were flying back to Australia. I made three phone calls to Sydney just to check the number, packed our bags for an early departure, and went first thing back to the store to await the owner opening his shop.

Fortunately, he came to open early. We did not indicate any desperation lest the price be put up. He asked a ridiculously low price and the deed was done! Twenty years ago our set was complete. The six plates with their years of memories hang on our bedroom wall. They will be part of our heritage of fine bone china we leave for our children, and with them this record of our searching.

Rev The Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes, A.C., M.L.C.

I use this opportunity in the House to add my support to World Vision’s Don’t Trade Lives campaign, which focuses on human trafficking. It is estimated that human trafficking enslaves more than 27 million people around the world, mostly in developing countries, in forced labour, bonded labour, forced child labour and sexual servitude. Although it would be naïve to suggest that we are immune to it in Australia, statistics show that from January 2004 and September 2006 there were only a small number of convictions for human trafficking in Australia. Human trafficking occurs when people are recruited, transported and received through deception to work as slaves under fear of threats or abuse.

Children under 10 years can be sold by their parents to go and work in cities or in particular industries, where they can stay for years or even life. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that human trafficking generates approximately $31 billion a year, and is the third biggest crime in the world behind drugs and arms. Earlier this year the head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Antonio Maria Costa, spoke at a United Nations conference on human trafficking in Vienna and said, “It’s a beast of which we only know the footprints but don’t know the size of it.”

According to United Nations figures, approximately 2.5 million people are trafficked around the world at any given time and 80 per cent are women and children. Certainly widespread calls have been made for more and improved data collection from around the world to determine the true extent of human trafficking, which is a major challenge.

World Vision’s Chief Executive in Australia, Tim Costello, recently visited Ghana and the Ivory Coast of Africa, where there is reportedly child exploitation of children in the cocoa industry. Approximately 600,000 children work in cocoa fields, with more than half failing to attend any schooling and many working in hazardous conditions.

Interestingly enough, Australia is one of the largest consumers of chocolate in the world—some of us more than others! But instead of calling on people to abandon chocolate, which would have a negative impact on poor working families in developing countries, World Vision is asking people to write to the Confectionery Manufacturers of Australasia, and express their concerns that manufacturers and retailers have a responsibility to make sure their supply chains are child labour and human trafficking free.

As consumers we have a responsibility to demand answers of where our products come from and how they are produced. As consumers we also have a responsibility to play our part in the supply chain and vote with out feet. Under the Howard Government greater action and funding were aimed at eradicating human trafficking. In 2003 the Government committed $20 million to address the issue. In 2005 Australia ratified the United Nations protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons and new Federal offences came into force.

These were very welcome initiatives but we must be vigilant and continue this action. Research papers in this country back the United Nations argument that there are large gaps in information and statistics in the area of human trafficking. Filling the gaps would greatly help efforts to police, reduce and eradicate the problem. As an adjunct to this topic, I am pleased to see some of Australia’s corporate giants play their part in humanitarian and conservation endeavours.

Recently I was interested to see a sign at McDonald’s saying that the company had received Rainforest Alliance certification. So I did a bit of research on what this certification actually means. The Rainforest Alliance is an independent and non-profit environmental organisation working to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behaviour. It aims to bring responsibly produced goods and services to consumers. I have brought along other products: Fair Trade chocolate and coffee. We as consumers in this place have responsibilities as well.

I have written to the Presiding Officers asking that we adopt the use of Fair Trade coffee and chocolate in our Parliament. I think it is the least we can do as leaders in the New South Wales community. We as consumers must all be more aware of the products we buy and how they are made. We must encourage retailers to stock products that are ethically produced.

I encourage members to look at products that are available on the shelves at supermarkets, large chains and at Oxfam. They are as good as any other products we would normally buy. We need to think about our actions and make a real difference to stop human trafficking. Local governments must enforce laws that prohibit child exploitation and trafficking. We must call on the Federal Government to increase its support of victims of human trafficking and contribute to the millennium development goals. I look forward to a response from the Presiding Officers in relation to adopting Fair Trade products in this Parliament.

The Hon. Robyn Parker MLC

The Hon. Eric Roozendaal: I thank the member for his question. I will refer it to the appropriate Minister for a response.

The Hon. Tony Kelly: I thank the honourable member for his very well thought out and important question. I undertake to get a speedy response from the Minister concerned.