www.ntnews.com.au Northern Territory News, Thursday, December 10, 2009 — 7

PU

B:

NT

NE

WS

DA

TE

:1

0-D

EC

-20

09

PA

GE

:7

CO

LO

R:

CM

YK

mg

11

04

03

NEWS

APOLOGY

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause to our customers.

Page 2 features Ryobi Lithium Drill Driver at $299Page 10 features Deck Chair at $79

and 24 Can Party Stacker Cooler at $44Page 19 features Moderno Black Rug at $159

These products are currently unavailable.

CATALOGUE COMMENCING 9/12/09

BTAS1438

Up the duff, on the puffMany pregnant NT women won’t quit

ByNADJAHAINKEHealth Reporter

HUNDREDS of NT women refuseto quit the fags during pregnancy,according to new statistics.

The annual mothers and babiesreport — published today by theAustralian Institute of Health andWelfare — showed women in theTerritory were more likely to smokeduring pregnancy than their south-ern counterparts.

More than 27 per cent of pregnant

women admitted they kept up theunhealthy habit throughout preg-nancy in 2007.

This is 1030 women. The nationalaverage was 16.6 per cent.

NT preventative chronic diseaseprogram leader Dr ChristineConnors said the Health Depart-ment made ‘‘every effort’’ to assistall pregnant women to quit.

‘‘Staff constantly provide educat-ion, information and program sup-port to urban and remote communi-ties in tobacco cessation, Quitdiscussions, training local staff inQuit techniques and working withlocal organisations to implementsmoke free policies, as well asworking to create effective legis-lation and social marketing cam-

paigns to change the smoking cul-ture,’’ she said.

The report said smoking waswidely associated with pregnancycomplications and poorer perinatalo u t c o m e s , i n c l u d i n g l o wbirthweights, preterm birth, smallfor gestational age babies andperinatal death.

It also showed the NT topped the

nation in perinatal deaths. Up to 49babies died after birth — 13.3 babiesper 1000 births.

Fetal deaths had a rate of sevenper 1000 births and neonatal deathsreached 4.4 — also the highest ratesin the country.

Eight per cent of all birthsweighed less than 2.5kg while thenational average was 3.9 per cent.

NT woman also had the shortestduration of pregnancies, reaching amean of 38.6 weeks — compared tothe national mean of 38.8 weeks.

Camel cullstarts butmedia banblocks infoByNICKCALACOURAS

MARKSMEN have startedtheir aerial cull of 3000 camelsin Central Australia.

But a worldwide publicbacklash against the cull hascaused a freeze on informationcoming out of the cull.

The Territory Governmentlast month declared war on thecamels that invaded DockerRiver, 500km southwest ofAlice Springs.

The 350 residents had beenunder siege by up to 6000marauding feral animals andthe McDonnell Shire Counciland Central Land Councilwere given $50,000 to exterm-inate the pests.

The Central Land Councilrefused to admit the cull of3000 had started or make anycomments on the issue.

But residents in the com-munity yesterday confirmedto the Northern TerritoryNews that the four-day cullhad commenced.

CLC spokeswoman JaneHodson said the organisationwould not comment until afterthe cull was completed.

Media has also been bannedfrom flying over the area tofilm the cull.

The thirsty camels have beenattracted to the town — report-edly trampling sewerage lines,breaking pipes and drinkingfrom air conditioners.

And they have also takenover the airstrip — blockingall medical evacuations.

GREEN FINGERS Driver Primary School will grow a kitchen garden. Here Natalia Lucas, 10, and Waisele Morgan-Thomson, 11, plant a tree

NT school to partake in Aussie kitchen garden programBy EMMASMITH

DRIVER Primary School has beenselected from hundreds of schoolsacross Australia to partake in theaward-winning Stephanie AlexanderKitchen Garden Program.

The hands-on program enableschildren in Years 3 to 6 to help buildand cultivate a fruit, vegetable andherb garden.

They will also get the chance to testtheir culinary skills by preparingmeals with their own freshly grownproduce and sharing them withtheir classmates.

The school received a $60,000Federal Government grant fromyesterday.

Principal Rob Presswell said theprogram was an exceptional

opportunity to engage the children ina learning environment resulting inhealthy outcomes.

‘‘The grant will be used to buildraised garden beds for the vegetablesand herbs, complete the five kitchenbay facilities and build an outdoorteaching and learning area,’’ he said.

The students are thrilled with theproject and are eager to get their

hands dirty. ‘‘I am looking forward tocooking the vegetables. I lovecooking,’’ Natalia Lucas, 10, said.

Waisele Morgan-Thomson, 11, saidshe couldn’t wait to watch the treesgrow bigger and dig some holes.

Solomon MHR Damian Hale was onsite to announce the news and joinedsome of the pupils in planting a fruittree to celebrate the occasion.

First flight celebrationAN EVENT will be held in Darwin today tocommemorate the first flight from Londonto Australia.

Ross and Keith Smith arrived in Darwin fromLondon on December 10, 1929.

Today’s commemoration will be held at the FirstFlight Memorial on the corner of East Point Rd andDick Ward Drive, Fannie Bay at 3.30pm.