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We didn't ground Hardy Aviation: CASA

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 08 Desember 2012 | 15.02

THE Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) says the grounding of the Northern Territory's biggest airline is not a result of an order by the regulator.

Hardy Aviation has confirmed it grounded all its flights on Saturday after CASA wrote to it on Friday about safety issues, which first emerged a week ago.

CASA spokesman Peter Gibson says "instrument rating" issues had been raised in relation to Hardy's chief pilot.

"We wrote to them yesterday about a range of issues and made a series of proposals," he told AAP.

Hardy had been given until Monday to respond to the letter, Mr Gibson said, but CASA had not moved to ground the airline.

"What happens next depends on what their response is," he said.

"If the whole airline is grounded, if that's the case, it must have been their (the airline's) decision."

However, Hardy's managing director, John Hardy, said on Saturday that CASA had grounded all its flights on Friday night over concerns with its pilot training and flight simulator.

Mr Hardy said hundreds of people would be affected by the grounding of the airline's 32 planes.

"How is the Northern Territory going to be serviced? I am really flabbergasted by their action, they're just diabolical," he told the ABC.

"Maybe they've got some concerns with us and we're working through them, most of it's administrative I think, and we'll work through it.

"But to shut the place down just while they flex their muscles with us is quite disappointing."


15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Dutch to send Patriot missiles to Turkey

The Dutch government has approved the sending of Patriot missiles to the Turkey-Syria border. Source: AAP

THE Dutch cabinet has given the go-ahead to sending NATO Patriot missiles to Turkey to defend its border against Syria, along with a maximum 360 soldiers to operate them.

"The cabinet has decided shortly to send two Dutch Patriot batteries to contribute to the protection of our NATO ally Turkey," a government statement said on Friday.

The deployment, which comes on the heels of a similar German move, will be initially for one year and the government said the surface-to-air missiles could not be used offensively.

"The aim of the Patriot deployment is not to enforce a no-fly zone or to carry out attacks," Prime Minister Mark Rutte told journalists after the weekly cabinet meeting.

The missiles will arrive in Turkey mid-January, Defence Minister Jeanine Hennis told Dutch news agency Novum.

The exact location for the missiles' deployment will be decided in talks with Turkey, the United States and Germany.

The government statement said a maximum of 360 soldiers would be sent to Turkey to operate the missiles.

NATO on Tuesday approved Turkey's request for Patriot missiles to defend its border against Syria following a series of blunt warnings to Damascus not to use chemical weapons.

The German government announced on Thursday it had approved its participation, saying it would also send up to 400 troops. The move still needs to be approved by the German parliament.

NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the alliance's decision reflected a "steadfast commitment" to preserving the security of its 28 member states.

The alliance said The Netherlands, Germany and the United States would provide the Patriot missile batteries, which would come under the command of the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR).


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Walking Dead wins game of the year at VGAs

Interactive zombie series The Walking Dead has won game of the year at the Spike Video Game Awards. Source: AAP

THE Walking Dead: The Game has taken a bite out of the Spike Video Game Awards.

Telltale Games' interactive episodic series based on the zombie comic book franchise was selected as game of the year at Friday's extravaganza, which honours outstanding achievements in the video game industry over the past year.

"Look, Walking Dead fans, this is obviously for you," beamed Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman.

"Thank you so much. You guys watch the TV show. You read the comics. You play the video games. You make all this possible."

The Walking Dead also won prizes for best downloadable and adapted game, as well as best performance by a human female for Melissa Hutchison as young survivor Clementine and studio of the year for Telltale Games.

The Avengers star and shooter fan, Samuel L Jackson, hosted the much-censored 10th annual ceremony at Sony Pictures Studios, his fourth time hosting the show.

Gearbox Software's cartoony shoot-'em-up sequel, Borderlands 2, won the most awards - for best shooter, multiplayer, performance by a human male for Dameon Clarke as villain Handsome Jack and character of the year for chatty robot Claptrap.

Other titles winning multiple trophies included 343 Industries' sci-fi shooter Halo 4 as best Xbox 360 game and graphics; Queasy Games' musical platformer Sound Shapes as best handheld game and song for Cities by Beck; and thatgamecompany's artsy downloadable adventure, Journey, as best independent, PlayStation 3 game and original score.

For the first time, the VGAs were streamed on Xbox Live, the online service for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console. During the ceremony, online viewers could vote on what songs and clips would be played during the VGAs.

The winners of most categories were chosen by an advisory council, while viewer votes selected character of the year and most anticipated game, which went to Grand Theft Auto V.


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Zombies storm Qld art exhibition

About 20 protesters dressed as zombie farmers have stormed the opening of an art gallery in Qld. Source: AAP

THE curators of Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art were probably expecting critics wanting to pick their brains about a new exhibition, instead, they got a zombie invasion.

About 20 protesters dressed as zombie farmers stormed the official opening of the 7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art on Saturday.

The undead farmers were protesting against a sponsorship deal between the gallery and the coal seam gas giant Santos.

Groaning and drooling fake blood as they shuffled into the building, the scabbed flesh-eaters shocked the crowd of weekend art buffs and gallery staff.

One elderly lady, however, thought they were part of the exhibition.

Two police officers managed to push back the onslaught before reinforcements were called in.

But by the time it arrived, the protest had died down with the zombies mingling on a nearby lawn.


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WA angered by backdown on green tape

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 07 Desember 2012 | 15.02

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard says she wasn't willing to hand environmental approval powers to the states for fear it would create a "dalmatian dog" of legal risk and uncertainty for business.

The federal government on Friday backed away from its earlier plan aimed at cutting "green tape" for major projects, angering state leaders, but pleasing conservationists who fought tooth and nail against the idea.

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in April agreed to shift some federal powers to the state and territory governments in a bid to streamline environmental regulation and slash duplication for business.

It would have given states responsibility over their own environmental approval and assessment processes, a scenario conservation groups and the Australian Greens campaigned heavily against.

Ms Gillard said it became clear the states had conflicting views on the issue and there was a real risk of creating more legal uncertainty and litigation for businesses.

"I became increasingly concerned that we were on our way to creating the regulatory equivalent of a dalmatian dog," she told reporters after the COAG meeting on Friday.

"That for businesses would be the worst of all possible worlds."

COAG did commit to working towards achieving the "twin goals" of high environmental standards and streamlining for businesses, and will report back on progress at the next joint meeting.

Ms Gillard also indicated the federal government would legislate some measures in response to the Hawke review aimed at streamlining and bolstering environmental regulation.

Several state leaders were unimpressed, with WA Premier Colin Barnett branding it a step backwards in the fight against green tape.

"I would hope that the commonwealth would be more trusting of the states to deal with environmental assessments," he said.

He said the commonwealth would always have retained the power to intervene if it thought a project wasn't being properly handled.

The Australian Conservation Foundation's Charles Berger welcomed the "reprieve", but urged more to be done to make sure they're not revived later on.

"Giving state governments the final say on major development proposals that affect the environment would be a grave mistake future generations would find hard to forgive," Mr Berger said in a statement.


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Four Chinese ships in disputed area: Japan

FOUR Chinese government ships have sailed into the territorial waters of disputed islands controlled by Tokyo, Japan's coastguard says.

The maritime surveillance vessels entered the 12-nautical-mile zone around Kubashima, one of the islands in the chain called the Senkakus by Japan and the Diaoyus by China, shortly before 1pm (1500 AEDT).

Chinese vessels have been spotted in and around the territorial waters almost every day for the last two months.

Beijing on Monday branded a US-Japan security treaty "a product of the Cold War" when Washington lawmakers reiterated their support for Japan by passing an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Bill.

The amendment noted that while the United States "takes no position" on the ultimate sovereignty of the territory, it "acknowledges the administration of Japan over the Senkaku Islands".


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Philippine camps overflow after typhoon

The death toll from Typhoon Bopha that slammed into the Philippines has risen to about 420 people. Source: AAP

HUNDREDS of thousands of survivors of a deadly Philippines typhoon have crammed into overcrowded shelters, braving the stench of corpses as the government vowed action to prevent storm disasters.

Typhoon Bopha, which smashed into the country's south on Tuesday leaving at least 484 people dead and 383 missing, was the deadliest natural disaster this year in a region that is regularly hit with quakes, floods and volcanic eruptions.

President Benigno Aquino flew into the southern island of Mindanao which bore the brunt of Tuesday's storm, to meet with bruised and grieving survivors who must now rebuild their lives.

"We want to find out why this tragedy happened and how to keep these tragedies from happening again," he told dazed crowds after arriving by helicopter in the town of New Bataan which was mostly obliterated by the storm.

As the president spoke, a yellow excavator tore into the rubble of a row of flattened houses a short distance away, allowing rescue workers to pull out the bodies of two more victims.

Among the 306,000 left homeless by the storm were 2000 people huddled in a basketball gym in New Bataan, one of only a few buildings left standing in the town which is a centre for the country's banana and gold mining industries.

With the overpowering stench of decomposing corpses from the parking lot outside, farmer's wife Violy Saging, 38, tried to focus on the needs of her surviving children.

"It (the typhoon) snatched our life away. There is nothing left, but we are hoping our relatives or friends will take us in," she said.

Her eldest son's body was found wrapped around a coconut tree that he had climbed in a vain effort to flee the deluge.

The youngest of her three children who survived, a son aged aged three, has a high fever.

The concrete floor of the crowded gym was caked with mud, and part of its roof was blown away by the cyclone, exposing the newly homeless to heavy rain that began pouring again shortly after Aquino left.

Families took turns to sleep on benches around the walls, and the 2000 occupants had to share the building's two toilet stalls.

The government has appealed for immediate international aid for food, tents, water purification systems and medicine, and warned that the homeless face months in evacuation centres before safe places can be found for new homes.

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas told reporters during Aquino's visit that more rescue workers, equipment and canine units, capable of sniffing out any people still alive beneath the rubble, were being fielded in the worst-hit areas.

He said the government is also investigating why so many people were killed even when advance warnings were given ahead of the typhoon.

"They should not have built houses there," Roxas said, noting many of the mining areas which are a magnet for the country's poor had been declared unsafe for habitation due to frequent deadly landslides.

Outside the gym, Medarda Opiso, 47, joined crowds with handkerchiefs pressed to their noses as they gingerly peeled away death shrouds covering faces and bloated bodies laid out on the pavement.

Her son's wife and daughter are among the missing.

"My son is in despair. He is not talking to anyone. I am afraid he will lose it," Opiso said.

The son, farmer Gomer Opiso, had been tending to his crops when the wall of water and debris nearly wiped out the town of 48,000 people.

But amid the despair there were also some poignant reunions.

Lucrecio Panamogan, 74, found his grown children huddled together with their families in a devastated school yard two days after the storm.

"I thought I had lost them," he said, his tears welling up.

"We may no longer have a house, or any possessions, but we still have each other."


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Floods put sea turtles off breeding: study

ENDANGERED marine turtles in Queensland still haven't recovered from the extreme weather of early 2011, scientists say.

Numbers of nesting green turtles near Cape York Peninsula have fallen to the lowest level in almost four decades, nearly two years after floods and cyclones hit Queensland.

Dr Col Limpus, the chief scientist of threatened species with Queensland's Department of Environment and Heritage says something similar happened after floods hit the state during 1974, causing green turtle breeding to drop off for four years.

"We expect one of the lowest green turtle seasons in the last four decades, since detailed monitoring started in Queensland, but we are not concerned," he said.

"This dip in turtle breeding is now a well-known natural consequence of weather."

Dr Limpus said the size of a green turtle breeding population was determined by climate events about 18 months before breeding season.

This December, researchers have observed just 200 to 300 turtles at Raine Island off Cape York Peninsula.

Usually, more than 6000 are spotted.

Dr Limpus says a loggerhead turtle has returned to lay her eggs at Mon Repos on the Bundaberg coast after almost dying on New Years Eve 2009.

The turtle became disoriented by lights after coming ashore and wandered inland.

She was found the next day by a farmer, overheated and near death in the middle of a paddock.

Researchers and volunteers rescued her and released her back into the ocean the next day.

"It is great to see this tough old girl back and successfully laying eggs," he said.

"She would be about 40 years old, and this year is her seventh recorded breeding season."


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Traditional TV still most popular

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 06 Desember 2012 | 15.02

A new report has found that traditional TV is still Australia's most popular screen activity. Source: AAP

TRADITIONAL television viewing remains Australians' favourite screen activity despite an increase in internet usage and the use of computers to watch videos.

According to the Australian Multi-Screen Report Q3 2012 by ratings companies OzTAM and Regional TAM and data company Nielsen, Australians watched 99 hours, 54 minutes of traditional television a month during July, August and September.

This compares to six hours, 46 minutes spent watching playback television, 48 hours using the internet on a personal computer and three hours, 54 minutes watching video on a computer.

While traditional television viewing easily remains the most common form of screen watching, it did fall slightly compared to the third quarter of 2011 when 101 hours and one minute were watched.

Playback television viewing increased slightly over the same period from the six hours, nine minutes a month watched in third quarter 2011 and internet usage on a PC increased from 42 hours, 27 minutes a month.

Video watching on a personal computer or laptop also slightly increased from three hours and three minutes a month in third quarter 2011.

Unsurprisingly younger viewers, especially teenagers aged 13 to 17, spend more of their overall screen usage time on non traditional television viewing than older age groups.

However, even teenagers spent the majority of their screen time watching traditional television.

"Even people 13-17, the heaviest other usage group, devote 60 per cent of their screen time to conventional live TV," the report said.

While the percentage of Australians viewing more than one screen device has hovered around 60 per cent for about five years, the report found that the frequency and time spent doing this has increased.

The report also found that households that owned smartphones or tablets were more likely to own other media devices.

Subscription television was 40 per cent higher in households with a tablet device than the general population.

"Whilst tablet ownership is still growing, estimated at 22 per cent of all homes, it is clearly a complementary asset to existing household technology," the report said.

Tablets and smartphones were also more prevalent in households in which children aged up to 17 lived.

Almost half (48 per cent) of homes with tablet devices had children aged 17 or under living there, compared to 26 per cent of non tablet homes.

Men were more likely to watch video on the internet (60 per cent) or mobile phones (62 per cent) than women.

But slightly more women watched traditional television (53 per cent) than men.


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Aust jobless rate 5.2% in Nov

Australia's unemployment rate fell to 5.2 per cent in November, the latest ABS figures show. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIA'S unemployment rate fell to a three-month low of 5.2 per cent in November from 5.4 per cent in October, official figures show.

Total employment rose 13,900 to 11.546 million in the month, according to the seasonally adjusted figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.

The forecast was for total employment to fall by 5,000 in November with the unemployment rate at 5.5 per cent, according to the median of 14 market economists surveyed by AAP.

Full-time employment fell by 4,200 to 8.132 million in November and part-time employment was up 18,100 to 3.414 million.

The November participation rate was 65.1 per cent, compared with 65.2 per cent in October.

The November participation rate was forecast to be 65.1 per cent.

Seasonally adjusted:

(millions) November October Year ago

Full-time employed 8.132 8.137 8.007

Part-time employed 3.414 3.396 3.418

Total employed 11.546 11.532 11.425

Unemployed 637,400 653,600 628,300

Unemployment rate 5.2 pct 5.4 pct 5.2 pct

Participation rate 65.1 pct 65.2 pct 65.5 pct

Seasonally adjusted unemployment rate state by state:

November

October

Year ago

NSW

5.1 pct

5.2 pct

5.2 pct

Vic

5.5 pct

5.4 pct

5.5 pct

Qld

6.0 pct

6.1 pct

5.7 pct

SA

5.3 pct

5.6 pct

5.2 pct

WA

4.1 pct

4.6 pct

4.3 pct

Tas

6.7 pct

6.7 pct

6.2 pct

The ABS report also showed aggregate hours worked by employed people in Australia rose by 0.1 per cent in November, seasonally adjusted, after a fall of 0.3 per cent in October.

Aggregate hours worked in November were 0.3 per cent higher than a year earlier in November 2011, after a rise of 1.3 per cent between November 2010 and November 2011, and an increase of 2.6 per cent in the 12 months before that.

The ABS figures also show the trend measure of hours worked rose by 0.1 per cent in November after being unchanged in the preceding two months and falling by 0.1 per cent in each of the three months before that.


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Tanks deployed near Egypt president palace

EGYPT'S army has deployed tanks outside the presidential palace after a night of deadly clashes between opponents and supporters of President Mohamed Morsi.

Three tanks and three armoured personnel carriers were stationed metres from the front gate of the palace in northern Cairo on Thursday as hundreds of Morsi's partisans chanted slogans in support of the president.


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Three workers killed in NZ tornado

A tornado in west Auckland has left at least three people dead and badly damaged around 150 houses. Source: AAP

A MASSIVE clean-up operation has begun in west Auckland where three people were killed, seven injured and hundreds displaced after one of three tornadoes in the area touched ground.

Two people working on a construction site were killed when a concrete slab landed on a truck on St Georges Road in Hobsonville after one of the tornadoes hit just after midday on Thursday.

Civil Defence says three people have been confirmed dead, but Superintendent Bill Searle told media two were killed and police held grave concerns for another construction worker at the site where a new high school is being built.

A large number of police, fire and ambulance staff remained at the scene on Thursday evening and debris was still being cleared.

"It's early on in the investigation and we need to make sure we get all the facts straight before we release any information (on the two deceased and missing person)," Supt Searle said.

St John Ambulance says seven people from the construction site were taken to hospital with minor to moderate injuries.

The death toll equals the previous worst tornado, which killed three people in Hamilton in 1948 and wrecked 150 houses.

A statement from Hawkins Construction, who subcontracted those killed and injured, said their thoughts are with the workers' families.

Supt Searle said the tornado trapped a small number of people in their homes, but they had since been evacuated.

Families from up to 150 damaged homes - most home to Defence Force personnel - were evacuated and most of them will be housed at the Whenuapai Air Base.

About 250 people have so far arrived at the air base.

"(It was) like a knife through butter for some of those trees," said Auckland mayor Len Brown. "A powerful tornado, devastating."

He said it was a "real disaster and tragedy for those families and for those that are in hospital and to the families who have been made homeless".

Power has been cut to around 1300 customers in the Hobsonville-Whenuapai area after trees fell on lines.

On Thursday evening families had begun clearing debris from yards and boarding up broken windows while contractors removed split and fallen trees.

Shaken construction worker Sam Nuthall, who was working at the school site, was forced to shelter between a block wall and a truck.

"You couldn't see it coming ... there was debris flying everywhere, steel getting thrown around," he told Radio New Zealand.

A Whenuapai resident Suzanne McFadden told 3News it was "five minutes of utter devastation".

"It ripped century-old pine trees out of the ground, it's taken roofs off houses, it's crushed cars and boats."

Some flights in and out of Auckland Airport were delayed or cancelled, but normal operations have since resumed.

The highest gust of wind recorded was 151km/h at Snapper Rock in Albany.

The weather front moved south to Bay of Plenty where another tornado touched down about 3.20pm at Hamurana injuring one person.

Trees and power lines were downed and roofs lifted in the town on the northern shore of Lake Rotorua about 17km from Rotorua.

Fire Service shift manager Colin Underdown said it also caused some children to be evacuated from Mokoia Intermediate, and an ambulance had to collect one person who was "thrown around by the tornado".

Meanwhile, more, possibly heavy, rain and gusts of up to 100km/h are expected in Auckland overnight. High winds will batter the city on Friday.


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Lessons of Redfern speech lost: elder

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 05 Desember 2012 | 15.02

ON the eve of the 20th anniversary of Paul Keating's famous Redfern speech, an Aboriginal elder from Central Australia says the country has learnt little.

In his stirring December 10, 1992 address on Aboriginal injustice, Mr Keating called on non-Aboriginal Australians to open their hearts and recognise they had dispossessed Aborigines and smashed their way of life.

On Thursday, Rosalie Kunoth-Monks, an Aboriginal elder from the Utopia homelands, will reflect on the former prime minister's words and the passage of time at a Sydney Human Rights forum.

Mrs Kunoth-Monks will tell the forum the Northern Territory Intervention is "a return to the colonial-style policies" Mr Keating spoke against, and that they have done enormous damage to her community.

"We have been traumatised by the NT Intervention," she says in statement ahead of the event.

"I feel such pain for our young people, like my granddaughter, who like calves branded with an iron have been singled out as second class citizens when are trying to find their place in the world and build a bright future."

Legislation passed federal parliament in June, under the banner "Stronger Futures", to extend the intervention program for another decade.

The Howard government launched the emergency intervention in 2007, sending in soldiers, police and doctors to remote communities to tackle suspected child sex abuse.

There have been zero prosecutions since the program began.

Mrs Kunoth-Monks will call for the 10 year extension of the program to be reversed and decision-making power be returned to local remote indigenous communities.

Ian Thorpe Fountain for Youth spokesman, Jeff McMullen, will also address the forum.

"The anniversary of that honest healing speech should compel all of us to examine our government's enormous hypocrisy and double standards in caging Aboriginal people as second class citizens," he says in the statement.

"The Stronger Futures laws mean an Aboriginal child born in 2007 will spend their first fifteen years officially being singled out for discrimination endured by no other group in Australia."

The forum is at Tom Mann Theatre, Sydney at 6.30pm.


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Genes, not people, cause Tas devil tumours

A study shows humans are unlikely to have caused the deadly Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease. Source: AAP

HUMANS are unlikely to have caused the deadly Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD), a new study has found.

Researchers at the University of Sydney have found the low immune gene diversity that enables the spread of the disease also existed in devils thousands of years ago.

The team examined DNA from four periods as long as 10,000 years ago, when devils also ran around on the Australian mainland.

"We found that the the immune gene diversity was actually low in Tasmania even before European arrival and also that mainland devils had low immune gene diversity," lead author Katrina Morris told AAP.

"So this wasn't caused by European settlers, it's a much longer historical trend in devils."

Devil fossils have been found in every Australian state and it is thought they became extinct on the mainland around 3000 years ago.

But it is unlikely an earlier outbreak of the facial tumour, which has wiped out more than 80 per cent of the Tasmanian population in recent years, was to blame.

"It's possible that it has occurred previously but it wouldn't really leave evidence so we can't really be sure," Ms Morris said.

"Nothing like DFTD has occurred in the last 200 years or we would have noticed that."

Ms Morris said diseases brought with the introduction of dingoes would have had a significant impact.

Devil populations have crashed several times in Tasmania in the past 200 years but DFTD did not first appear until 1996.

Dogs, this time brought by Europeans, are again thought to be the culprits.

"Since devils had this lack of immune gene diversity they were very susceptible to disease epidemics," Ms Morris said.

"So if the dogs brought anything like distemper with them they might have got into the devil population and then had quite a devastating impact and caused those population crashes."

The new study reinforces the importance of captive breeding programs which promote genetic diversity.

"They have a such a lack of immune gene diversity," Ms Morris said.

"They still do have some, though, so we need to maintain what they have left so that we don't make the problem any worse."


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Christmas crucial for retailers: SA govt

SA's premier says this Christmas season is crucial to the state's retail industry. Source: AAP

THE Christmas season will be crucial to South Australia's retail sector, which has been doing it "incredibly tough", Premier Jay Weatherill says.

This Christmas marks the first time Adelaide's inner-city shops will be allowed to trade on the Boxing Day and New Year's Day public holidays.

Retailers hope the change will provide a much-needed boost to the sector along with extended shopping hours in the lead-up to Christmas.

"Retail is doing it incredibly tough. This is one of the sectors of the economy that is performing much lower than many of the other sectors of the economy," Mr Weatherill said.

"We have done out bit to try to loosen things up, especially for city traders."

The premier said it was hoped the most recent interest rate cut would also help improve consumer confidence.

"We hope people get out there, enjoy a great Christmas and if they do have money they can afford to spend, they spend it in our stores," he said.


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Courtenay's hugs remembered at memorial

Bestselling author Bryce Courtenay has been fondly remembered at a memorial service in Sydney. Source: AAP

IT may have been his words that lured millions of adoring fans, but it was Bryce Courtenay's warm hugs and kisses that touched the hearts of his closest friends.

"You couldn't help yourself when he came towards you with his arms out wide, and his blue eyes shining and twinkling in welcome," publisher Robert Sessions told hundreds of mourners at a private memorial for the late Australian author in Sydney on Wednesday.

"Bryce embraced people as he embraced life.

"This physicality was a part of everything he did - he loved people and let them know it, hugging and shaking hands wherever he went.

"He had a great generosity of spirit."

The 79-year-old died at his Canberra home surrounded by family on November 22 after a battle with stomach cancer.

But the writer of 21 bestselling novels - including The Power of One, The Potato Factory, Jessica, and Tommo & Hawk - didn't let his illness get in the way of his final book Jack of Diamonds.

It was released by publisher Penguin just 11 days before his death.

Delivering the eulogy to mourners, who included Prime Minister Julia Gillard, at St Marks Church in Darling Point, Mr Sessions of Penguin said Courtenay was quite simply Australia's most popular novelist and a storyteller without peer.

He noted that his time as a "hard-drinking, heavy-smoking" advertising executive had put him in good stead when he decided to write The Power of One in 1986.

Mr Sessions said Courtenay's talent for storytelling stemmed from his days as a school student in South Africa, where he used stories to fend off bullies.

After discovering a beautifully bound book under a house at about the age of six, Bryce wanted to become a writer.

He wrote his first story about a year later with the help of his teacher who taught him to read and write English.

Despite decades of success in advertising and publishing, Mr Sessions said Courtenay always maintained fatherhood was his proudest achievement. He had three sons, Brett, Adam and Damon, the latter of whom died in 1991.

Be it through teaching would-be writers or supporting various charities, helping other people was always a part of Courtenay's life, Mr Sessions said.

His gratitude was described as "legendary" and particularly notable after each new book, when the much-loved writer would arrange for a pallet of beer and wine to be delivered to the printer and warehouse staff.

Mr Sessions said Courtenay had written his own epitaph before his death when he said: "If in the end, someone says: 'Here lies Bryce Courtenay, a storyteller', my life will have been worthwhile".


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Language an issue in bikie brawl case

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 04 Desember 2012 | 15.02

A MAN accused of attempting to mislead Western Australia's corruption watchdog about a bikie gang brawl only witnessed the aftermath and may have misunderstood questions put to him about it, a court has been told.

Mohammed Alamdar, of Mosman Park, provided evidence to the Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) at hearings in 2010 and 2011 following a showdown between the Coffin Cheaters and the Finks at the Kwinana Motorplex in Perth's south.

The fight in late 2010 left Finks members Stephen Wallace with three fingers missing, David Marrapodi with a gunshot wound and Troy Smith with serious head injuries.

On the second and final day of Alamdar's trial in Perth Magistrates Court on Tuesday, the prosecution argued he had lied when he told the CCC he had first become aware of the fight when he heard about it on the news the following day.

Later, he had admitted that was not true, saying he had been scared for himself and his family in giving evidence.

But his lawyer argued the Iranian may have misinterpreted what he was being asked.

The prosecution said it was "inconceivable" that Alamdar, who said he seen the crowd dispersing or "separating", along with some drops of blood on the ground, was not aware a fight had taken place.

But Alamdar's lawyer said he may have initially only suspected a brawl had occurred, suspicions that were confirmed when he watched the news the next day.

While the prosecution claimed English was Alamdar's second language, the defence said he sometimes struggled, citing various instances during the CCC hearings where he had sought clarification of a question or said he was unsure of the answer.

Magistrate Peter Malone told the court the case did not appear as straightforward as "a bold-faced lie" and there was potential for Alamdar's responses to the CCC to have been misinterpreted because of his at-times broken English.

It was also possible Alamdar had misunderstood questions put to him by the CCC, Mr Malone said.

The judgment was to be handed down at 3pm (WST) on Tuesday.

A guilty finding could result in a $100,000 fine or a five-year jail term, or both.


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Revenge encounter sparked police shooting

MOMENTS before a man was shot dead by plainclothed officers in a Sydney street, two brothers seeking revenge tipped off police he was armed, an inquest has heard.

Rodney Elkass, 37, was killed last year following a brief confrontation with police, who shot him in the head while he was stopped in his ute a block from Castle Hill police station on September 29.

The confrontation came less than half-an-hour after the painter and handyman waved a Glock 17 pistol at his former workmate - known as Witness A - and his brother, Witness B, when they sought to start a fight.

An inquest into Mr Elkass's death heard on Tuesday that his once friendly working relationship with Witness A turned sour in 2000, when the latter sent a text message saying, "Die Koran".

The pair got into a fight, leaving Witness A with two black eyes.

After spotting Mr Elkass at Castle Towers shopping centre in a chance meeting on September 29, Witness A told the inquest he wanted revenge.

"I was going to belt him like he belted me," he said.

"I have held this grudge for 12 years."

He and his brother drove after Mr Elkass's ute from the car park out into the street, before the pair confronted him at his driver door near a street corner.

"He was saying 'Get back or I will shoot' and I was telling him, 'Be a man and get out of the car'," Witness A said.

When it became clear the brothers were not going to have their way physically, Diana Yehia, SC - who is representing Mr Elkass's family - put to Witness A that they decided to get the police onto him.

That's correct, he said.

Witness B then called triple-zero, telling the operator a man had pulled a gun on them during a "road rage incident".

He told the inquest he had urged Witness A to pursue Mr Elkass through Castle Hill.

Earlier on Tuesday, the inquest heard that months before being shot, police should have seized his pistol after a routine police inspection discovered he was not storing his weapon in a safe.

Inspecting officer Sergeant Michael Tory said Mr Elkass had also lied, telling him that he was keeping it at the Condell Park Pistol Range.

Mr Elkass later said it was being kept in a plastic bag.

The inquest was told that, despite the Firearms Act stating that officers must seize a gun when not stored properly, Sgt Tory believed it was up to his discretion.

No further action was taken against Mr Elkass.

The inquest before Deputy State Coroner Hugh Dillon continues.


15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Faulkner calls for ALP integrity crackdown

LABOR veteran John Faulkner has received the backing of senior ALP figures for his push to ensure members found guilty of corruption are automatically expelled from the party.

Senator Faulkner on Tuesday warned community cynicism about a lack of integrity in politics was "corrosive of democracy".

He pointed to the recent Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) hearings in NSW which are hearing serious allegations against Labor figures.

"It is time to publicly acknowledge that there have been some in our party's ranks with neither political principles to defend nor moral convictions to uphold," Senator Faulkner said in a speech to the University of Melbourne Law School on Tuesday.

"They are a small minority in a very big majority of decent, ethical people. But the fact that they are few in number does not diminish the gravity of the accusations against them, or the seriousness of their acts."

The party has also been rocked by scandals involving the Health Services Union and the Australian Workers' Union.

NSW ALP secretary Sam Dastyari agreed the party could not go on with "politics as usual" and reform was needed.

"I get to talk to a lot of different party members, and quite frankly they are all appalled what they are hearing coming out of ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption) every day," Mr Dastyari told Sky News after the speech.

Senator Faulkner said the party should have a "one strike and you're out" policy for any Labor member found guilty of acting corruptly.

"A culture has developed in the NSW branch where, for some, being caught out at sharp practices is worn almost as a badge of honour. Our party would be immeasurably better off without such people," Senator Faulkner said.

Finance Minister Penny Wong said on Tuesday she supported the "one-strike" policy.

Senator Faulkner also called for an end to factions being able to "bind" MPs in caucus votes or ballots, something also supported by Mr Dastyari.

"There is ... a great deal wrong with a situation where a Russian doll of nested caucuses sees a tiny minority of MPs exercising a controlling interest over the majority," Senator Faulkner said.

The former minister said federal lower and upper house MPs needed to "get serious" about a code of conduct, which he suggested should be drafted by a joint select committee and accompanied by a parliamentary integrity commissioner.

A motion by independent MP Rob Oakeshott on a code of conduct passed the lower house last week, but it did not cover senators and failed to gain the approval of the coalition.

Senator Faulkner also said the government needed to finalise its national anti-corruption plan as well as public- and private-sector whistleblower protection schemes before the 2013 election.

Mr Dastyari said it was important to reform the party and government, but some changes would take longer than the next election.

"The big message out of this is ... reform or die," he said.


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No child sex abuse cover-up: Qld witnesses

CLAIMS there was a conspiracy to cover up child sex abuse at a Brisbane youth detention centre 20 years ago have been shot down by witnesses.

Queensland's child protection inquiry is examining the Heiner Affair, an inquiry into the management of the John Oxley Youth Detention Centre in the late 1980s.

That inquiry ended prematurely in March 1990 and on legal advice all evidence was destroyed, leading to claims there had been a cover-up of child sexual abuse at the centre.

But two inquiry assistants and two former John Oxley centre staff have told Tuesday's hearing that the investigation was never about child sexual abuse.

Barbara Flynn, who helped retired magistrate Noel Heiner interview staff, said the inquiries were about staff complaints of poor management and bullying.

When asked if staff had raised allegations of child sexual abuse, Ms Flynn said: "To my knowledge it wasn't mentioned."

Ten years after the inquiry, journalist Bruce Grundy approached Ms Flynn at her home, asking questions and accusing her of being involved in a cover-up of child sexual abuse at the centre.

"I was very upset about the allegation he made," she told the inquiry.

"It definitely wasn't true."

Another assistant, Jan Cosgrove, said she could not recall any allegations of sexual abuse and thought the inquiry went into concerns from security guards about the treatment of the child inmates.

A former youth worker at the centre, Sabina Konicanin, read out a written statement she made to the Heiner inquiry.

She claimed the style of management was unprofessional and staff were being victimised over minor misdemeanours.

"I also found some management techniques to be quite devious and calculating; heckling staff to gain information on other staff (and) bribing children to gain information," she said.

She said at no time was she asked, or did she talk about, child sexual abuse.

Former staffer Warren Christensen told the inquiry the same thing.

The current inquiry is the 11th into the Heiner Affair and resumes on Wednesday.


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Bushfire alert for most of Queensland

Written By Unknown on Senin, 03 Desember 2012 | 15.02

Parts of Queensland are on bushfire alert as temperatures are set to soar above 40C on Tuesday. Source: AAP

TWO-THIRDS of Queensland is expected to be on bushfire watch as temperatures in parts of the state soar above 40C for the fourth consecutive day.

Authorities say the fire threat will intensify from the NSW border to the edge of the Northern Territory.

Temperatures in Brisbane are forecast to hit 39C on Tuesday, making it the hottest December day in 11 years, and only marginally below a record of 41C reached in 1981.

The heat has been even more intense in the state's west, with temperatures in Mt Isa and Longreach forecast to reach 43C on Monday - the fourth successive day above 40C.

Controlled fires are presently burning at Beachmere, north of Brisbane and near Mount Isa, where a Brisbane-based fire crew was sent on Monday.

Queensland Fire and Rescue director of rural operations Peter Varley says severe fire conditions are expected in two-thirds of Queensland on Tuesday.

"Any fires that start will be extremely difficult to control," he told AAP.

"The farther west, the worse the conditions get."

Fire and Rescue Commissioner Lee Johnson says fire permits have already been suspended across Queensland.

"Residents who have obtained a permit to burn should defer any burning to a more suitable time as conditions are far too risky," he said in a statement.

The weather bureau's senior duty forecaster Michelle Berry said west to north-westerly winds of up to 50km/h in southeast Queensland would increase the threat of bushfire.

"We're looking at gusty winds, very dry conditions and very hot temperatures," Ms Berry told.

"This is the kind of temperature that is well and truly above average.

"We're looking at an increasing fire danger."

An enhanced fire danger for Brisbane is expected to continue on Wednesday, even as temperatures drop back to 32C.


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Qld and WA urged to support NDIS

THE political road to setting up a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) will be incomplete unless the two wealthiest Liberal states of Queensland and Western Australia come on board, Prime Minister Julia Gillard says.

Ms Gillard on Monday urged the disability sector to keep up the pressure on the states and territories to support the $15 billion-a-year scheme, ahead of a Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting in Canberra on Friday to thrash out some of the detail.

Addressing the conference of National Disability Services chief executives in Sydney on Monday, Ms Gillard hailed Victoria, NSW, Tasmania, the ACT and South Australia for agreeing to be part of the NDIS first stage, when they host five launch sites from mid-2013.

About 410,000 Australians living with a disability will be impacted by the scheme and will be closely watching the COAG meeting for signs of progress as the federal government tries to nail down key arrangements for stage one.

"So this Friday, on behalf of all Australians with disability, I will be holding those five premiers and chief ministers to their word, as they will be holding me to my word," Ms Gillard said.

"I want you to do the same. Talk to the premiers and chief ministers, the state and territory treasurers and disability ministers. Tell them that you want to see this done."

Ms Gillard stressed the importance of Queensland and WA getting on board.

"Remember that as we begin this journey, it is incomplete because our two wealthiest and most dynamic states haven't yet come on board," she said.

The prime minister also took aim at the federal coalition, saying anyone who described the NDIS as a "cruel hoax" because of budget constraints or concerns about the economy were negative "policy weaklings".

But Opposition Leader Tony Abbott rejected this, saying the coalition supported the scheme, even though the question of how it would be funded was still to be resolved.

"When it comes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, I am Doctor Yes," he said.

The head of the Every Australian Counts campaign, John Della Bosca, said there was an urgent need for both leaders to commit to funding the scheme's transition from the launch sites to full national rollout, which is estimated to cost about $4 billion to $5 billion over four years.

His message to the WA and Queensland premiers was "the N in the NDIS is the most important things about it."

"There's an expectation that all premiers will support the prime minister in endeavours to put the scheme together," he told AAP.

While Mr Abbott did not directly pledge coalition funding for the scheme, he nominated service delivery and the structure of the NDIS as key issues.

"Yes, there are important questions of funding that are yet to be resolved," he said.

"But this is a vital journey ... and a journey on which we are all agreed the destination."

Mr Abbott committed his annual Pollie Pedal charity ride to again raising money for Carers Australia in 2013.

Queensland Disability Minister Tracy Davis hit back at Ms Gillard's remarks, saying the sunshine state fully supported the scheme and was helping to design it.

"Unfortunately, due to the financial mess left behind by the former Labor government we are unable to participate in a trial unless it is funded by the commonwealth," she said.


15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sydney pools closed after bacteria scare

POOLS at the Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre have been temporarily closed after tests detected elevated levels of bacteria.

City of Sydney spokesman Garry Harding said filter cells in the 50 metre and program pools would be temporarily closed and treated with a powerful oxidising agent that acts as an accelerated sanitiser.

The bacteria, identified as pseudomonas aeruginosa, was usually controlled by chlorine, Mr Harding said.

"It appears that on this occasion our regular weekly super chlorination program did not prevent the bacteria and we have decided to close the pool as a precautionary measure," he said.

"We are not aware of anyone being affected, but have moved to close the infected pools immediately as public health is paramount."

The pools will be reopened once tests show the elevated bacteria levels have been eradicated, which could take seven days.


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Coal deal would have been scrapped: ICAC

A MINING company would have scrapped a proposed $500 million coal deal in the NSW upper Hunter if it had known the Obeid family was involved, a corruption inquiry has heard.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is examining former Labor minister Ian Macdonald's decision in 2008 to issue mining exploration licences in the Bylong Valley and how Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid gained from it.

It has been alleged the Obeids stood to make millions of dollars out of a mining deal between Cascade Coal and White Energy linked to the sale of a mining exploration licence in the coal-rich region.

The inquiry has been told White Energy agreed to buy the assets of Cascade for $500 million in November 2010 but the deal fell through.

Graham Cubbin, a non-executive director at White Energy at the time, told the ICAC on Monday that he would have been "very worried" if he had known the Obeids were involved.

"There would have been a lot of adverse publicity, and I think that would have meant the end of the transaction," Mr Cubbin said.

He said his reputation would have been "trashed" if he had gone ahead with the deal and the state government had not granted a mining lease over the critical Mt Penny tenement.

"There was too much downside risk for White Energy," he said.

The inquiry was also shown minutes from a March 2011 meeting involving Mr Cubbin and Cascade investor, Richard Poole, at which Mr Poole allegedly stated he was not aware of any payments being made to Eddie Obeid or entities associated with him.

Earlier, former Obeid family lawyer, Sevag Chalabian, said Mr Poole told him to disguise the Obeid's involvement in the Bylong Valley.

"He was the one who was telling you that the Obeids' interests had to be carefully disguised?" counsel assisting the commissioner, Geoffrey Watson SC, asked.

"Yes," Mr Chalabian replied.

Mr Watson suggested that the Obeids' interests had to be masked because otherwise the state government might set aside the exploration licence.

The inquiry heard that Mr Poole told Mr Chalabian that a complex installation of trusts and corporate entities was needed "so no one could find the Obeid name".

Mr Chalabian said that despite the involved corporate arrangements there was a deal for $60 million between Cascade and the Obeids.

He agreed with Mr Watson's suggestions that the Obeids currently held 717,000 shares in Cascade.


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Car park craze as HK property cools

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 02 Desember 2012 | 15.02

CURBS on buying property in Hong Kong have cooled a market pushed sky-high by mainland Chinese investors. But the steps have sparked a craze for an unlikely new investment - car parking space.

The Asian financial hub slapped new taxes on residential properties in late October to rein in prices, amid growing complaints from Hong Kong citizens that buying even a tiny apartment was now out of their reach.

Mainland Chinese buyers were largely blamed for the increase in prices, which have skyrocketed by 90 per cent since 2009 as they flocked to the city with their new wealth amid the country's economic boom.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying hoped the curbs would calm anger over the issue in the space-starved southern city of seven million people, after previous promises of making more land available did little to help the situation.

The curbs appear to be working but have also had unusual side-effects, with the city's imaginative investors now focusing on car parking spaces, which analysts say could hit an all-time high.

The issue grabbed the public's attention with a single sale of parking spaces for $HK1.3 million ($A160,510) last month, according to reports.

It was the most expensive sale when tycoon Li Ka-shing's flagship Cheung Kong Holdings offloaded 514 car park slots for a total of $HK600 million.

Some of the slots, located in the New Territories area of Hong Kong bordering mainland China, were reportedly quickly resold for profits of up to $HK300,000 each.

People who sell the spaces said they had seen a surge in activity, which they believed was because the slots are not affected by the new taxes, as well as being maintenance-free and relatively cheaper than buying a property.

They say car parking spaces were not previously a popular investment in a city which has only about half a million private cars and is well connected by a vast public transport system.


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Workers missing in Cambodian dam collapse

A CHINESE-BUILT dam under construction in western Cambodia has partially collapsed, seriously injuring four workers and leaving another four missing and presumed drowned.

Major Theang Leng, chief of police in the district where the hydroelectric dam is located on the Atay river, said on Sunday the collapse appeared to happen because the dam was holding too much water and started leaking.

He said a search was under way for the four missing after the accident on Saturday.

Theang Leng said construction work has been temporarily halted as experts survey the damage.

Although Cambodia has an electricity shortage, there has been criticism of building some dams because of environmental and social reasons.


15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sydney crane arm cleared almost a week on

A MAJOR inner Sydney traffic route is finally back in action, after a crane arm that caught fire and collapsed onto a major road last week was removed.

The Transport Management centre says a crane jib that collapsed on Tuesday was finally removed on Sunday afternoon after days of work by clean-up crews.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) construction site and surrounding buildings during the emergency, which closed Broadway and caused traffic chaos.

Traffic finally returned to normal on Broadway between Wattle Street and Jones Street in Ultimo, with three lanes available for traffic in each direction.

The speed limit has returned to 50km/h and Abercrombie Street has also reopened at Cleveland Street.

But Wattle Street will remain closed between Broadway and Thomas Street for the next few days while engineers continue to stabilise parts of the building site that were damaged when the crane fell.

Citybound drivers are still able to use the left turn lane from Broadway into Wattle Street.

WorkCover, emergency services and developer Lend Lease have launched investigations into the fire and the collapse of the 65-metre crane's boom.


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Polls open in Slovenia election

Slovenians are about to vote in a presidential run-off with polls favouring former PM Borut Pahor. Source: AAP

POLLS have opened in Slovenia for a presidential run-off amid increasing dissatisfaction with austerity measures aimed at bringing the ex-Yugoslav republic out of the crisis.

Polls favour former centre-left prime minister Borut Pahor, 49, who pulled off an upset on November 11 when he won the first round with 39.9 per cent of the vote ahead of the absolute favourite, incumbent President Danilo Turk, 60, with 35.9 per cent.

Eurozone member Slovenia, once seen as a star new member in the European Union, is suffering one of the deepest recessions in the eurozone, while problems with its banks have raised fears it may need a bailout.

The campaign ahead of the Sunday run-off was overshadowed by a series of protests against the government's austerity measures that culminated on Friday in Ljubljana when police detained over 30 protesters and used tear gas and water cannons to disperse a rally.


15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More
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