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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2012 // THETELEGRAPH.COM.AU 03

MOURNING HOWIETHE theatre world is in mourning followingthe death of showbiz publicity queen SuzieHowie who yesterday lost her battle withbreast cancer.

Howie, the stepmother of actor NoahTaylor, died in a Melbournehospital four months after hercancer returned.

Tributes came from acrossthe globe, among them JohnFrost, for whom the 63-year-old had been most recentlyworking to promote a newproduction of A Funny ThingHappened On The Way To TheForum, starring Geoffrey Rush.

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EXODUS PAYS OFFTHE axing of more than 800 jobs over the past12 months has helped dramatically boostMacquarie Group’s first half profit by more

than 18 per cent to $361 million.Despite a lacklustre past few years,

Macquarie chief executive NicholasMoore remained cautious about theoutlook as markets remain quiet.

‘‘We continue to expect animproved result in 2013 providedmarket conditions are not worse thanthose experienced last year,’’ he said.

Macquarie, which consistently beatestimates before the GFC, is renewingits focus on stable businesses such asfunds management.

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BROTHERS’ BRAVE FIGHTTWO young brothersdetermined to save theendangered orang-utan areamong finalists in today’sPride Of Australia NationalMedal ceremony.

Daniel and William Clarkehave already raised over$850,000 to save the orang-utans of Borneo and are notabout to stop there. They wantto reach $1 million and beyond.

Daniel, 16, has cerebralpalsy but it has been his dreamto help the orang-utan eversince watching a Steve Irwindocumentary.

‘‘We want to talk at the

United Nations about theplight of the orang-utans andinspire the youth of the worldto do whatever they feel needsto be done to make adifference,’’ Daniel said.

William, 14, has beenalongside his brother all theway. The Clarkes have beennominated in the environmentcategory, one of 10 nationalmedals to be presented today.

The ceremony, proudlysupported by Network 10, willbe broadcast on ONE at9.30pm tonight.

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Childcare cost blowoutEXCLUSIVE

NATASHA BITANATIONAL SOCIAL EDITOR

CHILDCARE costs in Sydneyare soaring three times fasterthan inflation — and tax-payers are picking up the tab.

Fee increases and a stam-pede of back-to-work parentshave created a $654 millionblowout in the federal govern-ment’s budget for childcare

subsidies and rebates over thenext four years. The amountthe government spendssubsidising childcare fees hasoverrun the May budget fore-casts by $133 million thisfinancial year alone, to$4.6 billion.

Childcare Minister Kate El-lis yesterday blamed the blow-out on a 9 per cent jump in thenumber of children usingchildcare, with 81,500 extrachildren in daycare this year.

But centres have also beenraising their fees, with the

latest Australian Bureau ofStatistics data revealing thatSydney families are now pay-ing 6.3 per cent more in out-of-pocket costs for childcare thanthey did a year ago.

And the nation’s biggestchildcare provider, GoodstartEarly Learning, is warning thatnew quality standards thatrequire centres to hire moreand better qualified staff willadd $150 million a year to thecosts of operating its 655centres — equivalent to a 20per cent fee hike for parents.

Goodstart’s daily fees haverisen by $5.70 this year.

Its chairman, philanthropistand Macquarie Bank co-founder Robin Crawford, yes-terday said he had spoken toPrime Minister Julia Gillardand Opposition Leader TonyAbbott directly about the needfor more taxpayer support tokeep childcare affordable.

‘‘Nobody is wanting to in-flict another $2.5 billion to$3 billion on the budget butcrunch time has come,’’ hetold The Daily Telegraph.

‘‘What parents can afford atthe moment doesn’t give you ahigh quality childcare.’’

One of NSW’s biggestchildcare providers, the not-for-profit KU Children’s Ser-vices, increased its longdaycare fees by an average of5 per cent, or $4.23 per day,this year. More rises are in thepipeline, as KU has agreed togive its preschool teachers a14.5 per cent pay rise over thenext three years to bring theirwages closer to primary teach-er salaries.

Australian Childcare CentresAssociation president LynnConnolly — who owns eightchildcare centres in Sydney’swest — said parents werehaving to go back to work tocope with rising living costs.

‘‘More children are takingup places because the parentshave to go back to work to paythe mortgage,’’ she said.

‘‘But the fees have to go upor we close the doors.’’

Ms Connolly added thatunemployed families were suf-fering the most.

LONELINESS TOOMUCH TO BEAR

ALONE and unsure of where to step next, this polar bear was snapped from a boat in Svalbard — an archipelago midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole — around four in the morning. Walking onbroken-up ice floes, the bear appeared tentative, not quite sure where to trust its weight. Polar bears rely almost entirely on the marine sea ice environment for their survival and year by year increasing temperaturesare reducing the amount of ice cover and the amount of time available for the bears to hunt marine mammals. Picture: Anna Henly