The parents of baby Gammy could face up to 14 years in jail for lying in court about the genetic make-up of Gammy and his twin sister Pipah while under oath.
David and Wendy Farnell could be charged with perjury after WA Attorney General Michael Mischin on Thursday referred the allegations to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to investigate.
The Bunbury couple were awarded custody of two-year-old Pipah on April 14th after the Family Court ruled that the young girl could continue to live with the Farnell’s under strict conditions.
Baby Gammy, who has Down’s Syndrome, continues to live with his surrogate mother, 22-year-old Pattaramon Chanbua, in Thailand.
Baby Gammy with his surrogate mother Pattaramon Chanbua.
During the judgement, Justice Thackray said that the Farnell’s had lied under oath. They told the court that Wendy had been the egg donor for the twins when the couple had actually used an anonymous egg donor.
“I note that the Farnell’s only told the truth about the identity of the egg donor after the story broke in the media.”
He said there was “no excuse” for the lie, but added he was concerned about the criminal proceedings would have on Pipah given the “stress, expense and public humiliation” for her carers.
A spokeswoman for Attorney-General Michael Miskin confirmed perjury allegations had been referred to the DPP.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, the Australian actress revealed she has signed on to join the cast of channel Ten’s long-running soap, Neighbours.
“As an actor in Australia, I am thrilled to be working,” the brunette beauty said to the publication during a break from filming.
“The biggest hurdle for me right now is will my brain fit all these scripts in and will I deliver,” she pondered.
“Literally all I’ve been doing is sitting in my hotel room, learning my scripts, learning my lines and trying to get back into the motion of TV script learning.”
When she’s not busy filming, the 31-year-old loves spending time with her darling daughter, Aleeia.
Australia fell in love with the mother-of-one when she portrayed Martha MacKenzie on Home and Away from 2005 – 2010.
Fast forward six years, and it is believed that she’s signed on to Neighbours for three years, and will soon hit the small screen as school teacher, Elly Conway, in July.
“Elly is the fun, feisty unpredictable niece of Susan and Karl Kennedy,” the 31-year-old said of her character.
“She is an English teacher, which is amazing because I get to play out one of my childhood dreams of being a teacher and I get to have fun and be a little bit naughty.”
The brunette beauty, pictured with her ex Braith, will be splitting her time between Sydney and Melbourne as she films the show.
To accommodate for her new role, the Logie-award winner will split her time between Sydney and Melbourne.
While her two-year-old daughter remains her number one priority, the Myer ambassador is thankful for Neighbours’ support of her work-life balance.
“They understand that Aleeia is my priority, which says a lot about their family values and how they operate with their actors.”
“I find it so incredible that they are allowing me to fulfil a dream but they’re also letting me be the best mum I can.”
Loading the player...
The model muma and her then-husband, Braith Anasta, split in December last year.
Despite the differences that drew them apart, both parties have decided to remain friends for the sake of their darling daughter.
At the time of their breakup, the pair said, “We are going to continue to support each other and remain best of friends, we only want the best for each other and more importantly our amazing daughter Aleeia.”
With their spokesman adding, “They have had challenges like all married couples and despite best efforts to make things work they have agreed that a trial separation is best for them and their precious daughter.”
Congratulations on the new role, Jodi! We can’t wait to meet Elly.
A two-year-old boy from rural Queensland is fighting for his life after he suffered burns to 90 per cent of his body from a fire in his home in Eidsvold.
Little Austin Citterill had surgery yesterday morning at Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital after the Tuesday night fire.
Austin went through four hours of operations to remove the dead tissue, and his dad Steven told the Courier Mail they hope their “little fighter” will be able to recover.
“It was touch and go there for a while. The surgeons we spoke to said they’ve never seen burns like that on a child before,” he said.
Austin was in his bedroom when the fire broke out from a candle and destroyed one side of the two-storey house.
Steven was out at the time picking up his brother-in-law from the airport, and his wife Mandy pulled out their other two kids before firefighters went in to save Austin.
The little toddler is expected to stay in hospital to recover.
We’re wishing Austin a speedy recovery.
Trending video: Peta the koala crawls for the first time since being hit by a car
Married at First Sight star Simone Lee Brennan has revealed she was terrified of what people would say about her skin while on the reality show.
The 29-year-old make-up artist said she was more worried about her acne scarring than the ordeal of getting hitched to a stranger.
“When I got the call to say I was going on the show, as excited as I was, I called my mum, and said: ‘Mum, what am I going to do about my face?’” she says.
She developed adult acne at 20, which lead to five years of Roaccutane, and said she still suffers from self-esteem related issues.
“Acne stole a large portion of my self-esteem: my ability to confidently look people in the eye and hold my head high, particularly on days when the sun is beaming down on my face and my skin is on show for the world to see,” she wrote on her blog.
Her acne “hell” has now prompted her to use her new-found fame to help other sufferers.
“Acne and adult acne is something that people don’t want to talk about. It’s something that takes over your life,” she said.
“I want to show people what works for me.”
She shared her beauty-bag must-haves on her blog which include Aspect Purastat 5 Cleaner, $62 and Benzac AC Gel, $19.99.
A painful disease which if untreated can prove chronic and even fatal is causing a storm in the medical world with some doctors denying its existence. Professor Kerryn Phelps investigates.
Medicine is no stranger to controversy, but a debate is raging in the medical community about whether a disease even exists in Australia. This debate has polarised experts, leaving people who believe they are suffering from it, as well as the doctors who are treating it in an intolerable state of limbo. A high level advisory committee has been established by the Federal Department of
Health to investigate Borreliosis (or Lyme Disease) and was due to report this year (Note: This article was first published in the September issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly so this date refers to late 2014).
For years a debate has raged about whether Lyme Disease or a Lyme-like disease exists in Australia. The official word has been that Lyme Disease just does not happen here. Yet tell that to sufferers who are convinced they have the disease, or people who have been cured of debilitating symptoms and you will get a fierce response that it does exist and it should be treated. Then there are doctors who are convinced that they are diagnosing and successfully treating the disease.
Meanwhile, the medical board is interrogating and disciplining doctors who claim they are identifying cases and helping patients to recover.
So what is this mysterious disease? Lyme Disease (more accurately known as Borreliosis) is well recognized in the USA and Europe. It is a bacterial disease caused by an organism called Borrelia, one of a group of bacteria known as spirochaetes. Spirochaetes include the organism responsible for syphilis.
“Following a tick bite, the infection begins with a fever and a bulls-eye shaped rash.”
Following a tick bite, the infection begins with a fever and a bulls-eye shaped rash. If it is diagnosed and treated with antibiotics at this early stage it is completely curable. If it is not treated at this stage, it can spread to become a debilitating chronic disease causing neck stiffness, shooting pains from nerve damage, other brain effects, weakness, heartbeat irregularities and a loss of muscle tone in the face, known as Bell’s palsy. In extreme cases, it can cause death.
The Royal College of Pathologists of Australia made the bold move of declaring the disease does not exist in Australia because standard testing not been able to identify the bacteria in samples or in ticks here. Yet Australian laboratories only test for one type of Borrelia, the one that is commonly found in the USA.
Australians who contract the illness in Europe or Asia, or indeed even possibly here in Australia will not be tested for other variants of the disease and so the diagnosis can be missed.
People who have confirmed infection may have traveled in the past to areas of the world known to have Borrelia, raising doubt that the infection arose in Australia.
Meanwhile, practitioners working in this area tell me they have definitely identified Borrelia in people who have never traveled outside of Australia. So where does the truth lie?
Jenny Burke of Australian Biologics, a private Sydney laboratory, is convinced that there is a home-grown Australian form of Borreliosis. She told me: “We have sequenced Borellia from patients who have never left the country. We have published papers where we have found Borrelia in Australian ticks and in the bite site. We are set up to detect low level chronic infection in blood. Our tests have a lower sensitivity than a routine lab and nobody else is doing this work. ” She added: “This is a very contentious organism. There is power politics around this similar to the early days of syphilis. It is frightening. So many people are being misdiagnosed and put on immune suppressants, which just makes the infection worse. Patients are really sick, some are dying.”
Several of the doctors I contacted were happy to give information but were not happy to be named. They gave two reasons for this. The first was that they are aware that doctors treating suspected Lyme Disease are being targeted by the disciplinary panels and they want to be able to continue to help their patients. The second is that their workload is already so great that they feel they just cannot cope with any more patients.
Dr Richard Schloeffel is an exception. He has been treating patients with Borreliosis and other related infections for 19 years and he has been involved in research through the University of Sydney. He says that from his research he believes these days the majority of his patients developed the disease in Australia but many tell a harrowing tale of trying to find the right treatment.
“This is an infectious disease in epidemic proportions. Patients have been yelled at and told they have mental illness, told they have conversion reactions or, if they are parents, suspected of Munchausen’s by proxy. The evidence is staring them in the face. This is an emerging illness.”
A senior pathologist who also preferred not to be identified, told me that his view was that “there is no hard evidence of the existence of Lyme Disease in Australia. That doesn’t prove that it doesn’t exist. I am happy to be proven wrong if someone comes up with a reliable test.” He is concerned that patients are paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars for tests which are not officially recognised, and where the criteria for a positive test are “more generous than criteria for accredited laboratories in Australia, the USA and Europe”.
On the flip side of that argument though is the criticism of “standard” testing. The bacteria often fail to show up in blood tests. The bacteria are slow-growing so other bacteria in skin specimens may overwhelm the Borrelia before it can be recognised in skin biopsies. False negatives and false positives are common. If there is an endemic species of Borrelia in Australia, it has yet to be identified and so a specific test for it has not been developed. But this does not mean that the disease does not exist here.
Dr Schloeffel says “Pathology testing here is inadequate. We have to rely on overseas labs.”
Jenny Burke of Australian Biologics Laboratory is convinced that the disease exists in Australia. “There are three labs in three different countries doing different types of tests and coming up with the same conclusions. Borrelia is here.”
One of the reasons for concern amongst those in the profession who do not believe there is sufficient evidence for this disease is that once it has moved into the chronic stage, it takes large doses of multiple antibiotics over months or years to eliminate the bacteria.
The senior pathologist expressed concern that the therapies recommended by some GPs dealing with these patients are, in his words, “heroic”.
Dr Schloeffel explains: “Acute Lyme disease you treat for one month with (the antibiotic) doxycycline. I usually see people who have been sick for months or years. We have all these damaged people and they present with all sorts of symptoms like arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, seizures with normal EEGs. In the brain it causes a range of symptoms. I have 300 patients with Borreliosis, some have intravenous lines for intensive antibiotic treatment. The organism has the capacity to morph and move inside and outside of cells. Makes it hard to treat, it may take 2 to 5 years and that is what is controversial.
Many are getting better. It is amazing to see the transformation in patients when they are properly diagnosed and treated.”
There is no question that these people are sick, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that Lyme disease or a Lyme-like disease caused by Borrelia is the cause of their illness.
A government advisory committee (the Clinical Advisory Committee on Lyme Disease) involving Australian and international experts has been established by Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Baggoley. They are now sifting through the evidence and a research study is underway to try to identify if this microorganism is endemic in Australia, and to provide some guidance on testing and treatment options.
According to Dr Schloeffel, “Until we get accurate and easily repeatable tests in every lab in Australia there will be under-diagnosis and we will have to rely on expensive tests here and overseas.
The committee is also looking at how we can look after these patients without specialist support. It is going to come down to well-trained GPs.”
In the meantime patients continue to suffer unless they manage to find a GP who will treat them.
SYMPTOMS OF BORRELIOSIS
Early skin lesions have an expanding ring form, often with a central clear zone.
Fever
Chills
Muscle and joint pains
Headache
Meningitis (headache and neck stiffness) may follow.
Central nervous system (brain), psychiatric and other complications may occur weeks or months after the onset of illness.
Irregular heartbeat
Arthritis may develop up to 2 years after onset.
A version of this article first appeared in the September 2014 issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.
Video: An orphaned Tree Kangaroo raised by surrogate could be the cutest thing you’ve ever seen.
Family members related to Melbourne woman Sofina Nikat who confessed to murdering her baby girl have received death threats from people who believe they were complicit in the killing.
Ms Nikat, 22, initially told police she and her 14-month-old daughter Sanaya were walking in Melbourne’s Olympic Park on Saturday afternoon on April 9 when a shoeless African man smelling of alcohol took the baby out of her stroller and ran away with her.
After Ms Nikat made the full confession, she was charged with murder.
According to North West Divisional Commander Superintendent Tim Hansen, grieving relatives of Sanaya are living in fear after being abused at their homes and on social media.
Superintendent Hansen wrote a letter to the editor of The Age: “Sanaya’s relatives and the extended families have had to deal with this difficult news whilst struggling with the loss of their baby girl, daughter, niece, granddaughter and loved one.”
“Not only have they been facing these tragic circumstances, they have been the victims of malicious attacks in their own community.”
He called the attacks “callous and unjustified”, as there is no evidence to support that the family helped the horrific crime. Superintendent Hansen was adamant the family have been helping police.
Trending video: Prince Harry’s reaction to a kid asking him if he’ll be king is priceless
Six years ago, Jodi Anasta said farewell to Summer Bay and left Home and Away.
However, the Aussie actor is getting back to her soap roots having signed on to long-running TV drama, Neighbours.
Scroll down for video
“As an actor in Australia, I am thrilled to be working,” she told The Daily Telegraph.
“The biggest hurdle for me right now is will my brain fit all these scripts in and will I deliver.”
“Literally all I’ve been doing is sitting in my hotel room, learning my scripts, learning my lines and trying to get back into the motion of TV script learning.”
Australian fell in love with her when she played Martha MacKenzie on Home and Away from 2005 – 2010.
It’s believed she’s signed on to Neighbours for three years and will hit screens as school teacher Elly Conway in July.
“She is an English teacher, which is amazing because I get to play out one of my childhood dreams of being a teacher and I get to have fun and be a little bit naughty,” she said.
You might also like: Seven Year Switch’s Tim makes shock confession
The Queen Bey might have given her “beautiful husband” an on-stage shout out as she kicked off her Formation world tour this week, but eagle eyed fans – who are notorious for never missing a trick – were quick to spot that the Crazy in Love singer was rocking the stage without her big ole rock.
The mother-of-one was snapped both backstage and onstage throughout the incredible performance at Marlins Park in Miami, but the stars $6.5 million diamond ring was noticeably absent.
And while some fans believe the ring was removed to prevent damage while she dances up a storm, it wouldn’t explain why her rapper husband’s band was also nowhere to be seen as he watched from the audience.
The timing seems a bit too sensitive, what with the ongoing buzz around the themes of marital infidelity on Bey’s latest album, Lemonade.
“I want to dedicate this song to my beautiful husband,” she said before performing Halo, “I love you so much.”
Jay’s bare ring finger can be clearly made out from a picture taken backstage in which the rapper is having a conversation with DJ Khaled.
Despite the lack of rings, the couple have matching tattoos on their ring fingers to mark the date of their wedding on April 4, 2008.
The A-listers chose a roman numeral for four, IV, which also symbolises Jay’s birthday of December 4, and Beyonce’s on September 4.
Bling! The biggest rock at the back is Bey’s impressive wedding ring but it was nowhere to be seen on the first night of her Formation tour.
The tattoos were seen in the Lemonade footage, however it has been rumoured that the mother-of-one has taken steps to have hers removed, as she was spotted with a bandage over that section of her finger in 2014.
Since then, the ink has faded over time.
It’s been a tumultuous week to say the least for the high-profile pair, who have been dealing with the fallout from the release of Beyonce’s surprise visual album entitled Lemonade.
Along with the gift of our next incredible playlist, the mother-of-one also dropped some very suggestive lyrics in her songs which addressed themes of infidelity regarding her husband of eight years.
Despite the ongoing drama, Beyonce, 34, knows that the happiness of her daughter, Blue Ivy, remains the most important thing. The singer shared this precious new snap with Blue on her website, beyonce.com
“Looking at my watch, he shoulda been home. Today I regret the night I put that ring on. He always got them f—ing excuses. He only want me when I’m not on there. He better call Becky with the good hair,” she says in the telling tune, Sorry.
It was the latter lyric that stood out most to fans, with her devoted fans proceeding to go on a witch-hunt to discover Becky’s identity.
) in Indonesia and the families of the two men are due to hold services to commemorate the somber occasion.
According to the SBS, Chan’s family have booked a Hillsong chapel in Sydney’s northwest on Friday while a private service is due to be held for Sukumaran on Saturday at the nearby DaySpring Church in Castle Hill.
Chan, 31, and Sukumaran, 34, were killed by firing squad with six other drug offenders on the island of Nusakambangan shortly after midnight on April 29, 2015, 10 years after they were caught smuggling heroin into Bali.
According to Andrew’s brother Michael Chan his family are still grieving the loss of their boy.
“(It) has been a roller coaster ride for the family to come to terms with the loss,” he told Reprieve Australia, a group fighting the death penalty.
“There has not been a day that has gone by that he is not in our thoughts. Countries need to look at ways to rehabilitate prisoners instead of executing them.”
Despite an intense public and political effort to try and save Andrew and Myuran – two men many believed had been rehabilitated in prison – the Australians were eventually put to death by the Indonesian government by gunfire – a killing that many of their supporters deemed cruel and senseless.
Febyanti Herewila, who wed Chan two days ahead of his execution, said it was her husband’s dying wish that the death penalty be abolished globally.
“People make mistakes especially when you are young like him,” she told Reprieve Australia.
“Also Andrew wants the young people from around the world to learn from his life.”
Andrew became a pastor while he was in prison – it’s believed he and Myruan were the two who began singing Amazing Grace when the death row inmates were lead out of their cells in the dark to face the firing squad.
Apart from being devoted to his newfound Christianity Chan was an obsessive rugby league fan – a supporter of the Penrith Panthers.
Michael Chan – a Canterbury Bulldogs devotee – said the NRL season was yet another reminder of the loss of his brother.
“I miss the good old banter we used to have,” he says. “This time of year, he’d be telling me how good his team is. I’d be telling him how shit his team is.”
Since the Bali duo were killed there has been a mandate on executions and no one has been killed by firing squad in Indonesia, although according to Amnesty International 121 remain on death row.
Now in its second year, The Australian Women’s Weekly/CPA Australia Women In Business Awards seeks to uncover the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.
With $75,000 in prizes to be won, the major prize winner will be awarded $10,000 plus Bauer Media Trade credits to the value of $25,000. In addition, two highly commended winners are awarded $5000 each, plus Bauer Media Trade credits to the value of $15,000.
Our panel of judges, each a recognised leader in their field and including former CEO of the Australian Industry Group and Reserve Bank Board member Heather Ridout, as well as the Federal Minister for Small Business and Assistant Treasurer Kelly O’Dwyer, are looking to reward women whose existing business is primed to go from small- to medium-sized, and then take on the world.
We are proud to announce the following 15 semi-finalists in our exciting competition.
ZIAH LANE
BUSINESS NAME: No Issues Tissues
FROM: Potts Point, NSW
THE BUSINESS: No Issues Tissues is the only premium, environmentally friendly tissue product available in Australia. The 100 per cent tree free products, made from renewable and sustainable bamboo, are now available in Woolworths, Coles and Harris Farm Markets, with a strategy to sell the products to airlines, hotels and overseas markets.
CARMEN O’KEEFE
BUSINESS NAME: Riga Precast Pty Ltd
FROM: Griffith, ACT
THE BUSINESS: Riga Precast is Canberra’s preeminent precast panel supplier. In 12 months since being incorporated, Riga has experienced rapid growth, securing $12.5 million in contracts, and now has a team of 11 employees.
KRISTY CHONG
BUSINESS NAME: Modibodi
FROM: Gladesville, NSW
THE BUSINESS: Modibodi is a revolution in women’s underwear – stylish and comfortable, but also leak and sweat-proof. Launched in 2013, in the three months to March this year Modibodi has increased their revenue 20 fold since January 2015.
Top row: Kristy Chong, Carmen O’Keefe, Julie Adams and Lorna Cook
Second row: Kim Liddell, Alison Cotton, Ebony Shalders
ALISON COTTON
BUSINESS NAME: First Base
FROM: Bondi, NSW
THE BUSINESS: The women’s sports-inspired basics clothing brand was launched in 2013. Since then, First Base now is sold in more than 125 stores throughout Australia, Asia, UAW and the US and has expanded to include lifestyle products and high performance active wear.
CAROLINE MONET
BUSINESS NAME: Caroline’s Skincare
FROM: Hamilton Hill, WA
THE BUSINESS: A specialised range of therapeutic skincare products for the treatment of dry and inflamed skin conditions. Available in pharmacies, health stores and from health-care practitioners throughout Australia, as well as online, Caroline’s Skincare has grown from a cottage industry to a national company in just four years.
Top row: Ziah Lane, Seona Emanuelli, Rachel Van Nierop
Second row: Sue Turner, Roslyn Sutton, Nicola Mason
NICOLA MASON
BUSINESS NAME: Smitten Merino
FROM: Taroona, TAS
THE BUSINESS: Specialising in merino and organic cotton, all Smitten Merino garments are designed and manufactured ethically in Tasmania. The website with 50 products was launched in 2011, and by 2014 had expanded to 600 products available online and in stores nationwide.
SUE TURNER
BUSINESS NAME: The Uniform Exchange
FROM: Pymble, NSW
THE BUSINESS: A service to recycle and exchange used school uniforms and text books either at the Pymble store or nationally via the website. Currently there are over 45,000 items available, which represent substantial saving on education costs for parents.
STACEY FISHER
BUSINESS NAME: Minnow Designs
FROM: Balmain, NSW
THE BUSINESS: Practical, beautiful and unique beach booties designed to protect babies’ feet from hot sand, shells and rocks while they explore the sea and sand. The trial product first launched to a hugely positive consumer response in 2015 and retail exclusively at minnowdesigns.com.au.
Rachel Perkins and Caroline Monet.
RACHEL VAN NIEROP
BUSINESS NAME: Henty Brook Angus
FROM: Burekup, WA
THE BUSINESS: Grass fed beef delivered straight to consumers’ front doors. A range of bulk beef products are available, with a focus on quality (MSA graded and dry-aged) grass fed beef of exceptional value from animals treated with compassion and respect, and without the use of feed antibiotics or hormonal growth promoters.
RACHEL PERKINS
BUSINESS NAME: JustMums Recruitment
FROM: Coburg, VIC
THE BUSINESS: A niche recruitment agency dedicated to connecting working mums and mums returning to work with jobs with a focus on full and part-time, flexible and family-friendly employment. The agency specialises in job placement, resume development and referral to specialist services tailored to working mothers.
KIM LIDDELL
BUSINESS NAME: Non Destructive Excavations Australia
FROM: Vineyard, NSW
THE BUSINESS: World leaders in subterranean safety, protectors of underground infrastructure, the business began with one truck in 2005. Now operating a fleet of trucks, NDEA is branching into fully sustainable, 100 per cent recycling of mud slurry construction waste.
Stacey Fisher
EBONY SHALDERS
BUSINESS NAME: Pig in a Pickle
FROM: Sandy Beach, NSW
THE BUSINESS: Full day meat preserving workshops in the creation of sausages, salami, pancetta and more. Since 2013 Pig in a Pickle has grown from a small word of mouth to people from all over Australia attending workshops.
SEONA EMANUELLI
BUSINESS NAME: Bidibots Pty Ltd
FROM: Reservoir, VIC
THE BUSINESS: Bidibots is a healthcare company specialising in the design, manufacture and supply of products for Newborn Intensive Care units. Research of premature nappies commenced 10 years ago and Bidibots now supplies nappy product to 15 of the 22 Neonatal ICUs in Australia.
JULIE ADAMS AND LORNA COOK
BUSINESS NAME: Chemo@Home
FROM: Perth, WA
THE BUSINESS: Chemo@Home administers chemotherapy and other infusions to patients in the comfort of their own homes through metropolitan Perth. The company now administers over 200 treatments per month in the private sector.
ROSLYN SUTTON
BUSINESS NAME: Sutton’s Juice Factory & Cidery
FROM: Stanthorpe, QLD
THE BUSINESS: A family run, fully functional apple orchard which has grown from a traditional apply orchard to a multi-faceted boutique business incorporating a juice factory, cidery, distillery, pick your own apples and Shed Café.
.jpg?resize=380%2C285)
.png?resize=380%2C285)
.jpg?resize=380%2C285)
.jpg?resize=380%2C285)
