Keith's Journal

ONE in six free-range eggs is not what it seems.

An analysis of egg industry data has confirmed what most consumers have suspected: it is doubtful enough free-range layer hens in the country exist to produce the number of eggs labelled free-range.

From January 2006 to January 2007 the free-range flock would have had to grow by more than 37 per cent to match the increased sale of free-range eggs in the grocery sector, as recorded by the Australian Egg Corporation in its annual reports.

Over that time the number of eggs sold in the grocery market jumped from 811 million to 971 million and the proportion of those sold as free-range rose from 20.3 per cent to 23.4 per cent.

But at the same time the total number of eggs produced dropped from 3 billion to 2.8 billion, and the overall flock of laying hens decreased by 6 per cent.

The total free-range flock would have had to grow from 891,000 hens to 1.22 million to meet the free-range sales figures.

Dump the toy boy for a lasting union
Adele Horin
July 11, 2009

THE secret to a lasting marriage? It goes like this. Marry a man who is about your own age. If he is nine or more years older than you, the chances of ending up divorced double. And if your parents are still together, marry a man whose parents are also still together.

The advice comes not from an agony aunt in a women's magazine but from some of the country's top demographers.

Rebecca Kippen and Bruce Chapman, from the Australian National University, and Peng Yu, from the Department of Families, Housing Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, have traced the marital fortunes of 2482 Australian couples over six years to see what factors lead to compatibility, and what to divorce and separation.

In short, they advise marrying someone who is more or less like you. But surprisingly, similar education levels, attitudes to religion, and country of birth are not important.

What matters is age. Marriages in which the husband was nine or more years older than the wife, or two or more years younger, had a separation rate of 17 per cent compared to about 10 per cent for their more age-compatible peers.

"Age captures a range of things about being in the same place in life, at the same time," said Dr Kippen, of ANU's Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute.

As well, couples in which the husband's parents had divorced but the wife's parents had not were almost 90 per cent more likely to separate than couples where both sets of parents were together. It also helps if the husband is over 25 when you marry, and if neither of you have children before getting married. Having a similar attitude to wanting children or another child is important, also.

Being comfortably off helps in the cause of marital stability, but not so comfortable as to be among the richest 25 per cent - they have a higher risk of separation. Being poor, unemployed and feeling financially stressed, is a deadly trifecta for marriage stability. About 20 per cent of those unemployed at the start of the survey later separated compared to 10 per cent of those who had a job.

And another thing the demographers advise: don't marry a smoker if you are a non-smoker. It is definitely a romance killer. Two smokers, however, will get along fine.

Dr Kippen said she was amazed that differing educational levels had no impact on a couple's propensity to divorce, and surprised to find believers and non-believers appeared to rub along well.

People born in different countries were at no higher risk of divorce than those from the same country. And nor were those who had lived together before marriage.

The data was drawn from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia, survey with an initial sample of 7682 households. The findings will be presented at the HILDA conference in Melbourne next week.

One woman's incredible story:
It was 2 years ago this month that I was sitting in a chair looking at my unborn baby in 4D. She was precious! We had previously found out that our baby had several “markers” for down syndrome and had enlarged kidneys which may have required surgery upon birth. Thus we were monitored more carefully and had a ton more ultrasound shots at a hospital. This was the first level 3 ultrasound with this pregnancy (I had had one with my 3rd with no problems). I got to gaze upon my baby for almost a full hour – it was wonderful! I was there alone as my husband was out of town. The specialist doctor called me in after the ultrasound to go over the findings. The first words out of his mouth to me were “Well you will have to come in tomorrow for your abortion because of how far along you are.” I was utterly shocked and devastated. All I could do was mutter “What??????” He then proceeded to tell me that my baby had more “markers” for down syndrome and it didn’t look good. I was more shocked that his automatic assumption was that I would abort my baby. I almost couldn’t comprehend what he was telling me in that office . . .

I decided against the amnio to find out for sure and thus my pregnancy went on not knowing whether or not I was going to have a baby with down syndrome. For me at that point the risk of miscarriage outweighed the need to know. What I did do was to research as much as possible about down syndrome to prepare. What I found out is what I want to remember and never forget. I do not know what the implications of this knowledge will be for my life but I am confident that this ordeal was not an accident. I found that over 90% of babies that are diagnosed with down syndrome are aborted. Those words the doctor spoke to me were for a reason and out of his experience. This has chilled me to the bone. Another fact I found was that even if your baby is diagnosed with down syndrome there is no way to tell what function level the child will be at. Some children with down syndrome go on to graduate from high school and lead independent lives. Others will require continual care. The point is that they can not tell you what the function level of the child will be. Having a special needs child is hard. It is life changing. It alters the family in ways that are not predictable. But who are we to judge who lives and dies?

Our fourth daughter was born in August with no physical problems. Her kidneys were fine and she did not have down syndrome. What my heart went through in the months of not knowing I hope and pray will never leave me.

Salvos apologise to sex workers over ads

The Salvation Army has issued an apology to sex workers for its newspaper advertisement featuring the story of a prostitute that the charity helped.

A row broke out after the Australian Sex Workers' Association, the Scarlet Alliance, claimed the charity was capitalising on prostitution in its latest campaign.

The Red Shield Appeal advertisement details the story of 'Rick', a prostitute who left a message on a computer screen inside the Salvation Army's Oasis van.

"Disguised as a client, we picked him up, took him to the airport and flew him interstate to one of our rehab centres, miles away from the heroin and hustling," it says.

It says that months later, Rick is living a new life.

Scarlet Alliance President, Elena Jeffreys, said her organisation received many calls from upset sex workers who had seen the ad.

"(We) are angry that the Salvation Army is capitalising on discrimination against sex workers, when sex work is not their core work," she said.

The Salvation Army, which is preparing to doorknock for its annual Red Shield Appeal this weekend, says the story featured in the ad is genuine, but is sorry for any offence it may have caused.

Major Phillip Maxwell says the advertisment will now be pulled.

"The potential was that it could seriously damage the relationship that we have in providing services," he said.

"Our priority is to look after the needs of people and we gain nothing if we marginalise or distance ourselves from the very people we desire to serve."

Sex workers had been planning to protest at the Appeal's launch, unless the charity said sorry.


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