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Ltd. advise that it is recalling the 1995-1996 Odyssey to replace the ignition switch. All affected vehicles are within the vehicle identification number ranges listed below: 1995 Odyssey JHMRA18700C000010 - C006696 1996 Odyssey JHMRA18*00C100075 - C105976 (*7/8) The VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) is located in the Engine Compartment on the rear panel (Firewall). It can also be found in the Owners’ Warranty and Service Policy Manual (inside front cover). CONDITION: Poor contact between the ignition switch contacts which may lead to arcing causing burning of the contacts and increased electrical resistance. As a result, this may interrupt the ignition switch circuit and cause the engine to stall. Additionally, heat generated due to increased resistance may melt solder withing the switch and may fall into the drivers footwell. 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That way you’re free to cruise wherever the road takes you. spiritoftasmania.com.au 1800 628 041 ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S GREAT JOURNEYS Cars from $ 69 * each way Cruise Seats from $ 101 * per person each way Costello supports f loat of Medibank Phillip Coorey Political Correspondent ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ‘I would like to see serious work done on offering it to the public.’ PETER COSTELLO, Treasurer A PUBLIC float of Medibank Pri- vate appears most likely after the Treasurer, Peter Costello, threw his weight behind the idea. Mr Costello indicated yesterday that, as reported by the Herald on Saturday, the health fund’s 3 million policyholders would re- ceive beneficial treatment in a float to sweeten the process. ‘‘I would like to see us very carefully examine the possibility of offering Medibank to the pub- lic, particularly to policyholders,’’ Mr Costello told the Nine Net- work’s Sunday program. ‘‘The usual thing would be to just sell Medibank Private to another health fund and you would get a larger health fund. ‘‘But I would like to see serious work done on offering it to the public.’’ He hinted that a privatised Medibank would be transformed into a for-profit fund when he said that policyholders would have an added incentive to buy shares by benefiting from the company’s growth. The Treasurer said a publicly listed health fund ‘‘would be a bit of a first’’ and might lead to reform in the increasingly expen- sive industry. The Government is consider- ing offering Medibank’s policy- holders a guaranteed allo- cation of shares or a discount on their purchase. ‘‘We’ve got to get to this decision [about a share float] before we work that out,’’ a Coalition spokesman said yesterday. Giving Medibank’s customers free shares is not an option because the Government believes it, not the members, owns the fund and should profit from its sale. Cabinet has agreed to sell Medibank, which is worth about $1.5 billion, but has not decided whether to float it or sell it it to another company or institution. The Finance Minister, Nick Minchin, will make the final decision in consultation with senior colleagues. He is waiting for advice from the investment bank Carnegie, Wylie and the Australian Compe- tition and Consumer Com- mission, which is investigating any competition issues that may arise from the sale. Like Mr Costello, he favours a share float rather than a trade sale. A decision is expected in the next two weeks, but the timing of the sale will depend on whether the Government can sell $8 billion in Telstra shares as planned before Christmas. Labor voiced its opposition to selling Medibank, saying it sup- ported neither a share float nor a trade sale. The shadow minister for health, Julia Gillard, said selling or floating Medibank would reduce competition in the indus- try and push up premiums, which have risen 40 per cent since 2001. Late on Friday Labor referred to a Parliamentary Library report that said the Government was the legal owner of Medibank but did not own its assets. Fund members had rights to the benefits of the fund and associated assets, it said. Senator Minchin dismissed the findings and said legal advice showed the Government owned the lot and was entitled to sell it. Mr Costello would not be drawn on Telstra yesterday, say- ing he could not offer the public any advice on whether to buy the shares. ‘‘Telstra has got its strengths and if that fits in and you have got some cash and you believe that the prospectus is the one that appeals to you, well, make your decision accordingly,’’ he said. Rough trot to the track makes champions of also-rans Winners are a bonus ... raceday fashions at Birdsville are often as unorthodox as the horses that win there. Photo: Steve Christo Daniel Lewis Regional Reporter ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● IT IS 125 years since they first ran Australia’s most famous outback race meeting at Birdsville. Over the weekend the tiny south-west Queensland town again attracted the bush trainers who are the great nomads of the thoroughbred industry. They had come from Winton, Quorn, Armidale, Barcaldine, Mount Isa, Tamworth, Port Lincoln and Longreach. They travel vast distances and often roll out their swags for race meetings in places few city people have ever heard of, such as Louth and Enngonia. They love Birdsville for the big prizemoney, the party atmosphere created by thousands of spectators and the fact it can make champions of even the worst horses. Birdsville is so far from anywhere that just about everyone has to travel several days to get there and the journey includes hundreds of bone- shaking kilometres over red dunes and gibber plains. The Nyngan trainer Rodney Robb says the road to Birdsville is the greatest leveller in Australian racing. After three days on the road, he arrived last Tuesday and stabled his six horses next to the tree on the banks of Diamantina River where Burke and Wills once camped. In the coming weeks he will do hundreds more kilometres travelling on to the outback race meetings at Bedourie and Betoota. On such long journeys horses can get fatigued, dehydrated, go off their food, suffer travel sickness and injure each other by kicking and biting. To his amazement, Robb won the Birdsville Cup in 1999 with a gelding called Amirreb. ‘‘I never had much time for him,’’ Robb said, ‘‘but the conditions suited him. He came here, he travelled well, he ate, he drank, he was up for it. He was a very ordinary horse and I reckon I have had 500 better than him, but they probably wouldn’t be able to win at Birdsville.’’ Robb spends about three months each year on the road going to race meetings as far afield as Balranald, Alice Springs, Darwin and Broken Hill. His parents were drovers and that’s where he got his love of life on the road. ‘‘I think I’m droving half the time. I love the lifestyle. Horse people are good people. Racing’s been good to me.’’ For the Condobolin owner and trainer Mark Ward, race horses are merely an excuse to get away from the farm and have some fun. ‘‘If a winner comes along, that’s a bonus,’’ he said. ‘‘Everyone’s here for the party.’’ Mother and toddler caught in stem cell scam Jane Lyons ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Deceived ... Sibel Reagin and her son Ethan. Photo: BBC A SYDNEY mother determined to find treatment for her brain- damaged son has become the un- witting victim of an apparent in- ternational stem cell scam. Sibel Reagin’s three-year-old son, Ethan, is one of at least three Australians who have been in- jected with cord blood stem cells never intended for human use. After meningitis left Ethan severely brain damaged a year ago, his mother was told he would not survive but he fought back against the odds. Then Ms Reagin heard about a family friend in Sydney whose little boy had regained movement after a spinal injury from a car accident. He had received an in- jection of stems cells derived from umbilical cord blood at a Rotter- dam clinic that was being extolled in the international media. With the help of family and friends, Ms Reagin raised the $34,000 fee and set off for the Netherlands in July. ‘‘You grieve for the child that you lost, but it doesn’t mean you love them any less when some- thing happens to them or a tragedy takes place,’’ she told the Herald. ‘‘And so you have every bit of hope and faith that you have got to give your child every chance that you can so they can regain that life they had before.’’ But her excitement turned to anger when a BBC documentary team uncovered the cells’ source. ‘‘I feel deceived, duped,’’ she said. Last week Newsnight revealed that Advanced Cell Therapeutics, the biotech company behind the treatment, had been buying the cells for only $US900 ($1174) a shot from a US company, AllCells, which sold them for in vitro re- search purposes only. AllCells’ general manager, Jay Tong, was shocked to learn the cells were being injected into people. He said they were not guaranteed free from bacterial or viral contamination. Two former employees of Ad- vanced Cell Therapeutics said one of its founders, Laura Brown, had written the certificates ver- ifying the cells’ purity. Stem cells from cord blood are used in Australia to treat blood- related illnesses such as leu- kaemia. Scientists say their effi- cacy in treating other conditions has not been clinically proven. Advanced Cell Therapeutics’ website says the company has treated 500 patients with 80 dis- eases including multiple scler- osis, autism, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury, brain damage, Parkinson’s and diabetes. ‘‘Benefits have ranged from mild to full restoration in many areas of degenerative disease and injury,’’ it says. Brown, an American ex-model, and her South African business partner, Steven Van Rooyen, are fighting extradition orders from South Africa to the US. The US Food and Drug Administration laid 51 charges against them in March for selling fraudulent stem cell therapies through a previous company, Biomark International. Bob Williamson, chairman of the National Committee for Medi- cine from the Australian Academy of Science, said patients with severe neurological diseases had approached him about stem cell transplants overseas. ‘‘Unfortunately, I have to tell them that there is no data what- soever to support the use of hu- man stem cells to treat severe disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, Friedreich ataxia or mul- tiple sclerosis,’’ Professor Wil- liamson said. ‘‘In the absence of evidence, people are being given false hope and are taken advantage of both financially and emotionally.’’ The Dutch health inspectorate is investigating the Preventative Medicine Clinic, the clinic where Ethan was treated, after com- plaints from neurologists. Clinics administering Ad- vanced Cell Therapeutics’ stem cell therapy have been found in South Africa, Spain, the Nether- lands, India and Mexico. The Irish Medicines Board recently closed a clinic in Ireland. Ms Reagin is now looking into compensation. However, she believes her story has a moral for the Aus- tralian Government. ‘‘People want these treatments and it’s go- ing to happen anyway. The Government should come on board and form legislation that makes it foolproof.’’ Advanced Cell Therapeutics originally welcomed an inter- view. Three emails and two phone calls later, its media de- partment asked for a list of ques- tions. Emails now bounce back and the phone has been cut off.