Qld govt 'not suppressing information'

THE Queensland government says Australia's media union is ill-informed and self-serving in accusing it of developing a tendency to suppress information.

The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance raised its concerns after the government rushed through new laws at 3.30am (AEST) on Friday to protect the identities of people named in files from the Fitzgerald Inquiry into police corruption, which were accidentally released.

MEAA president Christopher Warren had already slammed a decision last week to withhold the full Commission of Audit into the state's finances - chaired by former federal treasurer Peter Costello - and only release an executive summary.

"Rolling out morsels of information and drip-feeding them to the media isn't worthy of any government elected to serve the people," Mr Warren said in a statement on Friday.

"It would be quite wrong to use such the tactic for other issues it wants to keep hidden from the public.

"The government should be subject to proper, rigorous scrutiny by the fourth estate - that's the function of the media in a healthy democracy."

But the government said it was clearly committed to openness and accountability, and its recent actions on the matter involving the Fitzgerald inquiry had been taken reluctantly and only at the urging of the state's Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC).

"The MEAA also ignores the fact that the legislation imposes only temporary restrictions subject to the outcome of an open and public investigation into the release of the documents," a spokesman for Premier Campbell Newman told AAP.

He said the government would release the full Costello report after it has had time to consider the recommendations.

The spokesman pointed to the government's public release of the diaries of all cabinet ministers each month, the changes it has made to the information laws and its open data reforms.

"The Newman government is leading the way with its commitment to open and accountable government," he said.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Chavez political heir takes over

VENEZUELA'S Nicolas Maduro has taken over as acting president in a ceremony rejected by the opposition after a tearful farewell to Hugo Chavez during a rousing state funeral for the firebrand leftist.

More than 30 heads of state paid tribute to Chavez as his body lay in state in a flag-covered coffin at a military academy on Friday, bringing the curtain down on a 14-year reign that divided his oil-rich nation.

"There you are, undefeated, pure, transparent, unique, true, alive forever," Maduro said as his voice rose and cracked in a eulogy that both praised his mentor and railed against his opponents.

"Mission accomplished comandante! The struggle goes on," he exclaimed as the guests, ranging from Cuban leader Raul Castro to Hollywood star Sean Penn, applauded in a raucous ceremony filled with music, cheers and chants for Chavez.

Maduro was later sworn in as acting president at the National Assembly and named Chavez's son-in-law Jorge Arreaza vice president before urging election authorities to "immediately" convene elections.

Maduro donned the presidential sash, his voice breaking as he declared: "Sorry for these tears but this presidency belongs to our comandante."

The assembly burst into chants of "Chavez I swear, my vote is for Maduro!"

The main opposition coalition boycotted the inauguration, saying that it was unconstitutional.

The ceremony set the stage for a bitter election campaign that must be called within 30 days, five months after Chavez beat a stronger challenger than he had been used to - Henrique Capriles, who will now likely face his former vice president.

"Nicolas, nobody elected you president. The people didn't vote for you, kid," Capriles said.

The opposition has argued that the constitution calls for the National Assembly speaker to take over as interim leader.

Before the political battle began, the state funeral opened with Venezuelan conductor and Los Angeles Philharmonic maestro Gustavo Dudamel leading an orchestral rendition of the national anthem.

Maduro placed a replica of the golden sword of South American independence hero Simon Bolivar on his mentor's wooden casket and then handed it to his family at the end of the funeral.

Presidents Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus sat next to each other, wiping away tears as a band played one of Chavez's favourite sentimental songs.

"We have lost a great leader, a great man," Ahmadinejad said after the ceremony. "Hugo came from the people and he served the people."

Several Latin American leaders, including Cuba's Castro, were invited to stand in an honour guard around the coffin, which was closed and covered in the yellow, blue and red colours of Venezuela.

Chavez's body will lie in state for seven more days and officials said it will be embalmed and preserved "like Lenin" to rest in a glass casket in the military barracks where he plotted a failed coup in 1992.

Venezuela is giving Chavez a long farewell, with hundreds of thousands of people filing past his open casket nonstop since Wednesday, one day after Chavez lost his two-year battle with cancer at age 58.

Some fainted from the heat, many spent the night outside to see the man who became a hero of the poor and villain of the rich with social programs funded by Venezuela's vast oil wealth.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

ACT police seek help for Grosvenor murder

ACT police are seeking help for the murder of Kathryn Grosvenor, whose body was found 11 years ago. Source: AAP

CANBERRA police have again appealed for public help to solve the murder of Kathryn Grosvenor whose body was found in Lake Burley Griffin 11 years ago on Saturday.

Detective Senior Constable Sarah Casey said there was a $500,000 reward for information leading to the killer and that was a powerful incentive for potential witnesses to come forward.

Ms Grosvenor, 23, was last seen at her home in the northern Canberra suburb of Nicholls on March 3, 2002.

There were two unconfirmed sightings in the Gold Creek area that night, including at the George Harcourt Inn where she was thought to have purchased cigarettes between 9.05pm and 9.15pm.

Around 9am on Saturday March 9, 2002 a canoeist found her body in Yarralumla Bay in Lake Burley Griffin, weighed down by a concrete bollard.

Sen Const Carey said a witness came forward in March last year, describing two men loading concrete into a black utility vehicle on Anthony Rolfe Drive.

"I would like to appeal to those two men or the people who know them, to seriously consider this reward and contact Crime Stoppers, this amount of money could be life changing," she said in a statement.

The $500,000 reward is for information which leads to the apprehension and subsequent conviction of the person or persons responsible for Ms Grosvenor's murder.

Police will consider an appropriate indemnity from prosecution for any accomplice who first gives information.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Malaysia detains 79 'Borneo intruders'

MALAYSIAN police say they've detained 79 suspects linked to Filipino intruders in Borneo as they intensify an operation to flush out members of a Filipino Muslim clan who took over a village last month.

The armed clansmen have caused political havoc for Malaysia and the neighbouring Philippines by trying to stake a claim to Malaysia's state of Sabah in Borneo.

National police chief Ismail Omar said 79 men and women, held without trial under a security law, were being investigated for their links to the gunmen.

He said they were detained outside the conflict zone but didn't give further details. The detainees are believed to be informants or food suppliers to the gunmen but it's unclear if they were Malaysians or Filipino nationals.

Ismail said a Filipino gunman was killed early Saturday after he tried to escape a police cordon, raising the death toll to 61.

The clansmen are led by a brother of Jamalul Kiram III, who claims to be the sultan, or hereditary ruler, of the southern, predominantly Muslim province of Sulu in the Philippines. Malaysia's government has rejected a call by Kiram for a ceasefire and urged the gunmen to surrender unconditionally.

International rights group Human Rights Watch on Saturday echoed a call by the UN's chief to ensure protection of civilians and for humanitarian access to help those affected by the violence.

"The situation on the ground in the conflict zone in Sabah is still quite murky and the government of Malaysia should provide clear and accurate information on what has occurred," said its Asia deputy-director Phil Robertson.

The New York-based group said it was concerned over the use of a new security law to detain dozens of suspects and urged the government to charge or release them.

Fifty-three gunmen and eight Malaysian policemen have died, mainly in shootouts between security forces and the Filipino group and their suspected allies.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Eye-opening entertainment at ICAC inquiry

EVIDENCE heard at the NSW ICAC's inquiry into the granting of mining exploration licences in the state has in turn been shocking, entertaining, eye-opening and disturbing.

It was certainly never boring, as members of the public who lined up daily for a seat in the inquiry attested.

On Thursday, the corruption inquiry into former Labor minister Ian Macdonald and ALP kingmaker Eddie Obeid and their involvement in the granting of NSW coal exploration licences in the Bylong Valley finally finished hearing from witnesses.

For more than three months the Independent Commission Against Corruption has probed whether Mr Macdonald rigged a 2008 tender process for a licence in the upper Hunter.

Mr Obeid and his family stood to gain as much as $100 million from the then mine minister's actions, the ICAC heard.

The inquiry has been one of the hottest tickets in town.

Each day, spectators packed ICAC's public gallery as members of the state's political and business elite, including the perennially grinning Mr Macdonald and a somewhat more crotchety Mr Obeid, were grilled on the witness stand by the commission's lead lawyer, Geoffrey Watson, SC.

So long was the queue outside the commission on some days that court officers issued dockets so spectators could visit the bathroom without losing their spot.

Some were so concerned they would miss out on a seat inside they brought their own deckchairs.

Those who did get seats rarely went home disappointed.

They heard spectacular claims that the Obeids had benefited from corruption in the Bylong Valley at a level not seen since the days of the Rum Corps.

They also heard evidence from former NSW premiers Nathan Rees and Morris Iemma as well as Mr Macdonald, Mr Obeid, his wife Judith, and a number of their sons and associates.

Mr Macdonald told the inquiry it was "fantasy" to claim that he rorted a coal bid for the financial benefit of the Obeids.

Eddie Obeid, meanwhile, denied any involvement in "shonky" business dealings, insisting he had little or no knowledge of millions of dollars flowing through his family trust's loan accounts.

"I don't believe my family does anything shonky," he told the inquiry.

Prominent businessmen including mining magnate Travers Duncan and RAMS home loans founder John Kinghorn, original investors in Cascade Coal, also gave evidence.

In exchange for their stake in Cascade Coal, the Obeids have received $30 million.

Mr Duncan said Obeid "was a name I didn't like and I didn't want to do business with them".

Mr Kinghorn poetically likened the Obeids to a "dead cat" that had a "smell" even after they had been removed from the deal.

For the public gallery, some of the lesser known players were the best value.

Rocco Triulcio, an Obeid family associate, denied being part of a sham purchase of a farm in the coal rich area for the Obeids, but said he'd only visited it once in four years and didn't know what it had been used for.

He did know "there was a lot of grass" on it.

"That's for sure," he told the inquiry.

His brother Rosario also didn't know much about the farm.

"You wouldn't have known whether they ran goats or rats or cows there, would you?" Mr Watson, asked him.

"I'm assuming they didn't run rats," Mr Triulcio replied, to which Commissioner David Ipp quipped, "Not four-legged ones."

Phone taps always provided explosive moments at the inquiry.

In one secretly intercepted call played at the ICAC, Greg Jones, a Cascade investor and friend of Mr Macdonald, described the Obeids as "paranoid idiots" and "off with the f***ing pixies".

In another taped call, Cascade investor Richard Poole was heard to say he'd "made some wild assumptions, but we want money fast and we don't give a f*** how we get there."

For regular ICAC attendees one of the star attractions became the commission's counsel, Mr Watson.

The ginger-haired lawyer was indefatigable, arriving hours before the day's proceedings and working through lunch with his junior counsel, Nicholas Chen, in a small alcove at the back of the court.

Mr Watson questioned witnesses doggedly, even if, in the case of Mr Macdonald, it meant keeping him on the stand for four gruelling days.

In one of his most memorable moments, Mr Watson produced a copy of an atlas that Mr Macdonald said he used to decide where the controversial Mt Penny tenement would be located.

After revealing the atlas to the room, Mr Watson labelled Mr Macdonald's claim of finding Mt Penny in it as "a load of hooey".

Another exploration licence issued by Mr Macdonald, at Doyles Creek, is due to be examined by ICAC in an inquiry codenamed Operation Acacia, to begin on March 18.

It will be run by Peter Braham, SC.

On Thursday, Mr Watson closed his thick file of notes on the inquiry for the final time.

"That's all there is, there ain't no more, commissioner," he said to Commissioner Ipp.

But with the commission set to hand down findings at the end of July, things could be far from over for some of the main players.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Portrait win saves artist from job queue

MELBOURNE photographer Janelle Low was just weeks away from joining the queues at Centrelink when she received a call telling her she had won the $25,000 National Photographic Portrait Prize.

"I was thinking of writing my resume, thinking I might have to put photography aside for a little while, but I won't have to now," the 22-year-old told AAP in Canberra.

"I'll be able to live and get by, have dinner every night, and take photos. That's the dream for me, to shoot all the time."

Ms Low's portrait Yhonnie and Indiana beat 52 others shortlisted for the prize, awarded by the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra on Friday.

Her small portrait of artist friend Yhonnie Scarce and her cat Indiana was described by gallery curator and judge Joanna Gilmour as "a tiny photograph that punches above its weight".

The picture, taken of a sick 18-year-old Indiana just days before she was put down, is a "very resonant little photograph about love and death and loss and attachment, and all those sorts of things we can relate to", Ms Gilmour said.

Ms Low said the shot was organised quickly after Scarce arrived late to one of her own art openings, having had to take Indiana to the vet.

"She just said, 'Would you mind if you took a portrait of us together really soon because I don't think she has long left,'" Ms Low said.

"I think a day or two later we took the shot, and a day or two after that she had to put Indiana down.

"It was very quick, very sudden thing."

The shoot was equally brief, Ms Low said.

"It was the middle of winter in Melbourne so it was grey, and the light just came out for a few minutes," she said.

"I knew I had it when I saw it in the back of the camera."

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Media law changes move closer

COMMUNICATIONS Minister Stephen Conroy admits the government will need to convince independent MPs if it wants to change media laws before the September election.

The government is running out of time to have parliament approve a package of measures cabinet is yet to consider.

Senator Conroy on Friday was coy about when cabinet and the Labor caucus would discuss his planned measures.

He described as "wild speculation" media reports about the detail of the package.

"Once cabinet and caucus have seen it, we will release it," he told ABC radio.

Parliament returns on Tuesday for a fortnight of sittings before breaking until budget day on May 14.

After that week, the House of Representatives will sit for four weeks and the Senate for two weeks.

"We will be bringing forward a package, but we clearly have to get the support of the independents," Senator Conroy said.

To have any legislation pass the lower house, Labor will need the support of five crossbenchers.

Support from the regional independent MPs could depend on possible mergers of television broadcasters.

The government has indicated it wants to remove a restriction that prevents the three metropolitan networks buying regional television affiliates.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Dancer paid for Bolshoi acid attack: cops

MOSCOW police say a star dancer accused of masterminding the acid attack on the Bolshoi ballet chief paid 50,000 rubles (about $A1,568) to two men suspected of carrying it out.

Police spokesman Maxim Kolosvetov also said on Thursday that the dancer is believed not only to have ordered the January attack on artistic director Sergei Filin but also to have organised it.

Filin, 42, was left battling to save his eyesight and prevent permanent facial disfigurement from the attack.

He is undergoing a long rehabilitation in Germany.

Police have said the crime was motivated by Pavel Dmitrichenko's hostile personal relationship with Filin, which Russian press reports have suggested was caused by the Bolshoi chief's refusal to give his ballerina girlfriend Anzhelina Vorontsova top roles.

In a tale of bitterness reminiscent of the hit ballet film Black Swan, Dmitrichenko is reported to have been particularly riled that Vorontsova was not allowed to dance the main Odette-Odile role in Swan Lake, the dream of any ballerina.

Bolshoi soloist Dmitrichenko and his two co-defendants are due to appear later Thursday in a Moscow court, where a judge is to decide whether they should remain in custody pending trial.

Dmitrichenko was shown in video provided by police confessing to masterminding the attack.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

WA public sector union strike threat 'off'

WEST Australian Premier Colin Barnett can breathe easy now - the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) says it will hold off on potential industrial action until after the state election.

Since buckling to pressure from the nurses union for a 14 per cent wage rise over three years, the Premier has faced a 24-hour snap strike by prison officers as well as a mass rally of union members, including construction workers, outside his office.

While the WA Prison Officers Union has this week been deep in talks with the Industrial Relations Commission since a strike action on Friday, the CPSU has rallied members to discuss gripes including job cuts and privatisation of services.

But the threat of the CPSU taking industrial action has passed for the moment, branch secretary Toni Walkington told AAP.

The purpose of the meeting was to alert the voting public to the union's message before polling booths opened on Saturday, she said.

After the election, members would assess whether they needed to take action, Ms Walkington said.

She feared the incumbent Liberal/National coalition, if re-elected, would continue cutting the public service in a bid to continue its "efficiency dividend" savings measures.

Ms Walkington said it was a case of death by a thousand cuts.

"The savings measures have been going on for some years now," she said.

"There's nothing left to give."

While the government had said frontline services would not be affected, "clearly they are", Ms Walkington said.

She welcomed Labor's pledge to ban privatisation of public services, but was sceptical about whether the party would fulfil that promise if it won the March 9 poll.

Meanwhile, all has gone quiet in the wage war between the WA Prison Officers Union (WAPOU) and the state government.

WAPOU was being sought for comment.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

NZ man killed in Qld mining accident

A 25-YEAR-OLD New Zealand man has been killed in a mining accident in northern Queensland.

Police say the man was struck by a pole while working near a Mount Isa copper smelter owned by Xstrata on Wednesday morning.

Media are reporting that his name is Jordan Taurima of Cambridge in the North Island.

He was working as a contractor for Incitec Pivot at the time.

A joint statement from the Xstrata and Incitec Pivot says counselling has been arranged for those who witnessed the accident.

Police and other agencies are investigating.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Husband of murdered Qld woman to surrender

A MAN accused of shooting dead his wife and her best friend in far north Queensland more than 20 years ago will hand himself in to police, his lawyer says.

Alan Leahy was committed last week to stand trial over the deaths of his wife Julia-Anne Leahy and her friend Vicki Arnold.

Their bodies were found in a four-wheel drive in remote bush on the Atherton Tablelands near Cairns on August 9, 1991.

For more than two decades it was thought the women died in a murder-suicide pact.

But in a sensational finding on Friday after a third inquest, State Coroner Michael Barnes committed Alan Leahy to stand trial for unlawfully killing both women and ordered a warrant be issued for his arrest.

Mr Leahy's Atherton solicitor Malcolm Liston says his client will voluntarily surrender himself into the custody of the Queensland Police "in due course".

Mr Leahy, who is currently in Western Australia, has until March 15 to hand himself in.

In a brief statement, Mr Liston said his client denied any involvement in the deaths and was disappointed in the findings of the latest coroner's inquest.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Air traffic controller 'poorly trained'

A PASSENGER jet was told to fly through the holding pattern of another aircraft because a Brisbane air traffic controller hadn't been given enough training, a report has found.

An Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) report into the incident says the Qantas and Virgin 737s were both headed for Brisbane airport on July 29, 2011.

The air traffic controller on duty told the pilots to enter similar holding patterns at a point 93km southwest of Brisbane Airport.

When directing one of the planes to land, the controller gave priority to the wrong aircraft.

The controller twice directed one 737 to descend through the holding pattern of the second.

But the crew of the plane queried those directions.

Realising the mistake, the flight controller was able to quickly direct the planes to recover separation - the minimum distance required between the planes to avoid risking a collision.

That distance is normally 9.3km, but the aircraft had came within 7.2km of each other.

The ATSB report found while there was no risk of an imminent collision the controller had received a reduced amount of on-the-job training, only four rather the usual six weeks, and didn't have enough experience in high workload situations.

In response to the incident Airservices Australia says it will change its controller training program.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Visas blocking Aussie workers: Swan

FEDERAL Treasurer Wayne Swan says some Australians have trouble finding work because of business rorting of the 457 visa system, but industry fears the debate demonises companies and should be toned down.

The federal government is clamping down on the temporary foreign worker visa program saying it has to address abuses and ensure Australians get first preference for jobs.

However, it's been under pressure to provide evidence of rorts, with government advisors on skilled migration criticising the intervention and the opposition saying its argument is based on union rhetoric.

In Western Australia, Premier Colin Barnett said the foreign labour was essential to his state's $237 billion economy.

Earlier, Mr Swan had told reporters he had "personal evidence" the visa scheme was preventing local workers finding jobs.

"I'm frequently approached in my electorate by people who I know to be quite well qualified, hard working Australians, who are looking to get jobs in certain sectors," he said.

"My summation of this is that there is a bit of a problem in parts of mining sector, where Australians are not necessarily getting a look in first as they should, where they are appropriately qualified and willing and able to work.

"(But) it's not only the mining sector where this is an issue."

Multicultural affairs minister Kate Lundy says under the existing system, the government could not move against companies, such as one in Parramatta that brought in temporary workers described as program and project administrators and put them to work as security guards.

"These are examples of why we need to tighten guidelines," Senator Lundy said in Melbourne.

Liberal backbencher Josh Frydenberg said the government was responding to its trade union paymasters.

"The reality is that the nurses, the engineers, the doctors and the accountants who come to Australia under 457s are doing a lot to strengthen our economy," he told Sky News.

"There has been only one successful prosecution about 457s where they were abused."

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said the debate should be paused.

"The debate over Australia's 457 visa system risks running completely off the rails and becoming an exercise in unfairly demonising companies that are compelled to use short term skilled foreign labour," he said in a statement.

"Only three companies have been prosecuted for misusing the system since 2009."

Australian National University demographer Peter McDonald, who sits on a ministerial advisory council on skilled migration, said rorting is "not of control".

"On the fringes maybe the system is being rorted and some of those jobs could be filled by Australians," he told The Australian Financial Review.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Vic backbencher Shaw quits Liberals

INDEPENDENT MP Geoff Shaw says his decision to dump the Liberals reflects a loss of confidence all Victorians have in the state government.

The Member for Frankston holds the deciding vote in the Victorian parliament after his shock resignation from the Liberal Party on Wednesday.

"Labor left Victoria in a mess and Victorians elected a coalition government to fix the problems and build for the future," Mr Shaw said in a statement.

"While the government has made significant progress in that direction, I believe my actions reflect the general loss of confidence Victorians are feeling in the leadership of the government."

Mr Shaw did not say whether he would support the government on matters of supply.

"As always my focus is on how I can best represent the people of Frankston and at the moment I believe that is from the cross bench."

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Patel insists his surgery was appropriate

FORMER Queensland surgeon Jayant Patel has insisted his decision to operate on a patient who died three weeks later was appropriate.

Patel finished giving evidence in his manslaughter trial in the Supreme Court in Brisbane on Wednesday.

He has pleaded not guilty to causing the death of a 75-year-old patient in Bundaberg in 2003.

Under at times intense cross-examination, Patel defended his decision to perform bowel surgery on Mervyn Morris to address his rectal bleeding.

Mr Morris later died of complications in the Bundaberg Base Hospital.

In court, Patel's barrister Ken Fleming QC asked his client whether he thought it was a rash decision to operate on Mr Morris.

"I think it was an appropriate decision at the appropriate time," Patel said.

"I don't think it was a rash decision at all."

Earlier he denied the assertion by crown prosecutor Peter Davis SC that the reason he didn't consult with other doctors before the operation was because he didn't like asking for advice.

"No, that's not true.

"I didn't think it was necessary at that stage," Patel told the court.

"I thought his life was in danger if he had another severe episode of bleeding."

The former surgeon agreed he knew of Mr Morris's frailty and his other medical conditions but said in this case they weren't relevant.

"It could not be treated otherwise," he said.

Mr Davis suggested a second "wound dehiscence" operation performed by Patel to fix complications from the first operation killed Mr Morris.

He suggested Patel acknowledged in Mr Morris's death certificate that his operation was the cause of death.

"I didn't," Patel replied.

"You'd accept though, wouldn't you, that the wound dehiscence operation would not have been necessary without the operation on the 23rd (of May)?"

"Yes," the former surgeon replied.

Patel has blamed his patient's death on respiratory failure caused by aspiration - the contents of his stomach being sucked into his lungs.

"That only occurred because of the presence of the naso-gastric tube, and that was only necessary because of the operation, do you agree with that?" Mr Davis asked.

"No, I don't agree with that," the former surgeon replied.

The trial continues.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Saudis urged not to execute young men

HUMAN Rights Watch and Amnesty International have urged Saudi authorities not to go ahead with scheduled executions of seven young men condemned for crimes they committed when they were minors.

The two rights groups said in separate statements that the men were convicted of armed robbery, a crime punishable by death in the kingdom which applies a strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.

"All seven men were between 16 and 20 when authorities arrested them in 2006 for allegedly committing a robbery in 2005," Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.

"There is strong evidence suggesting that the trials of all seven men violated basic principles of the right to a fair trial."

HRW's Deputy Middle East Director, Eric Goldstein, said in a statement that "it will be outrageous if the Saudi authorities go ahead with these executions" planned for Tuesday.

He said: "It is high time for the Saudis to stop executing child offenders and start observing their obligations under international human rights law."

Amnesty International said the seven men were "tortured to make them confess" and sentenced to death following a "summary trial that was grossly unfair".

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

End the 'birthplace war', Abbott says

MIGRANT advocates and business groups have urged Labor and the coalition to stop politicking over foreign workers and asylum seekers.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has sparked a debate over the rorting of the temporary skilled work program - known as 457 visas - by seeking to tighten guidelines for employers.

It's become a key issue as Ms Gillard and her ministers, as well as opposition frontbenchers, conduct a mini-campaign in western Sydney marginal seats.

The federal government was responding to economic evidence as well as "community concern", Ms Gillard said in Sydney on Tuesday.

"We've worked to get those rorts out of the system, and we'll continue to work to make sure that this program does what it should do, address real skills shortages ... (not) substitute temporary foreign workers for Aussies who are ready, willing and able to do the job," she said.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said people on the visas were making a contribution to the nation "from day one" and Labor was trying to demonise them.

"First of all we had the false class war, then we had the false gender war, now we have got the false birthplace war," he told reporters in Melbourne.

However, the prime minister said Mr Abbott's words were hollow, given that he had once claimed asylum-seeker boat arrivals were mounting a "peaceful invasion" of Australia's borders.

She also cited opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison's call for asylum seekers on bridging visas to be monitored in the community.

Migration Institute chief Maurene Horder, a former Labor politician, called for calm in the debate.

"I just think we need a steady mind and calm conversation going on around it, and not pitting Australian workers against some of these overseas people," she said.

"That's the thing I'm a little bit alarmed about - that we don't develop a political bunfight for the purposes of an election."

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief Peter Anderson said while a "handful" of abuses were occurring, the program was working.

"We don't ask our politicians to avoid discussing the issue, but we do ask that it not be brought into the highly inflated debate about refugee policy," Mr Anderson said.

But Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor said a system that allowed a Parramatta-based business to bring in temporary workers as security guards, described in immigration paperwork as "Project and Program Administrators", was not working properly.

Labor and the coalition also exchanged blows over tax cuts and family payments.

Campaigning in the western Sydney suburb of Parramatta, shadow treasurer Joe Hockey said a coalition government would be able to deliver tax cuts and welfare increases without the carbon tax.

But the details wouldn't be released until the pre-election budget position was revealed 10 days into the federal election campaign, which will begin on August 12.

Liberal candidate for Parramatta Martin Zaiter said in any case Labor was delivering only a $3 a week tax cut to people earning more than $80,000 a year.

Treasurer Wayne Swan seized on the comment, saying two-thirds of taxpayers earned less than that figure and had received a $300 tax cut.

Independent MP Tony Windsor said the wooing of city voters by Ms Gillard and Mr Abbott proved the need for country voters to reject "city-dominated parties" and support independents.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ex-policewoman is a liar: NSW judge

A JUDGE says disgraced former NSW policewoman Jenna-Lee Hughes lied about accessing the details of a rival of Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim at the request of his bodyguard.

The 24-year-old ex-cop and aspiring bikini model is now facing a possible jail sentence after Judge Mark Marien determined she gave false information in court and to the police watchdog.

"She's lied before the Police Integrity Commission, she's lied before me," Judge Marien said during sentencing proceedings in the District Court on Tuesday.

Hughes began to sob in the dock and denied any wrongdoing.

"You're all missing the point," she said.

"I didn't f***ing lie."

Hughes received a text message in April 2010 from her then boyfriend Neil Cummins - a bodyguard of Ibrahim - containing the registration number of a vehicle owned by Alex Macris.

She testified that Mr Cummins had provided her with only a registration number and she had been shocked to find it belonged to Mr Macris.

But Sergeant Herbert Hobbs from the NSW Police Business Technology Services disputed that account on Tuesday.

"My belief is that in this instance 'Macris, Alexander' is actually typed in (during her search)", Sgt Hobbs told the court.

"The (subsequent) vehicle inquiry has come from that person inquiry?" prosecutor Karl Prince asked.

"That's correct," Sgt Hobbs replied.

Upon hearing that evidence, Judge Marien branded Hughes a liar and recalled her previous evidence that she knew about a murder conspiracy court action involving members of the Macris and Ibrahim families at the time she illegally accessed the COPS database.

"I just cannot conceive that she wasn't aware that some harm might befall one of the Macrises if she provided this information," he said.

Court documents state the Ibrahim family believed the Macris family had been involved in the attempted murder of John Ibrahim's brother, Fadi, in June 2009.

Fadi, his brother Michael Ibrahim and Rodney "Goldie" Atkinson were later charged with conspiring to murder Alex Macris' brother, John Macris.

After a lengthy prosecution, Atkinson and Michael Ibrahim were acquitted in December last year.

The charges against Fadi Ibrahim were dropped in February.

Judge Marien said he would consider an alternative to jail for Hughes, such as home detention, but noted that "nothing less than a full-time custodial sentence would be appropriate".

The court has also previously heard that Hughes accessed the police system in 2009 on behalf of another former boyfriend, Jack Sweeney (aka Jack Moran).

He and co-offender Gavin Rogers had stolen a vehicle and wanted to know if they were suspects.

Hughes has also previously pleaded guilty to two charges of misconduct as a police officer and two charges of lying to the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) when giving evidence about corruptly using the COPS database.

She admitted to the PIC that she had lied about accessing the information, but Judge Marien concluded she might have lied further by telling the PIC she had used only Mr Macris' vehicle registration number in her search.

Judge Marien will sentence her on March 28.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Qld councillor not scared by arson attack

A BRISBANE City councillor says he doesn't fear for his safety despite a man trying to burn his office to the ground using a flaming truck tyre.

The intruder broke into the Cannon Hill office of Councillor Ryan Murphy at 2.30am (AEST) on Tuesday.

Mr Murphy says the attacker then rolled a truck tyre into the office, poured petrol on it and set it alight.

He then ran away, but was seen by police officers who were training dogs in a park across the street.

A dog was unleashed and chased the man, biting him on the calf and buttocks.

The 41-year-old was treated in hospital before being charged with arson, wilful damage, entering premises with intent, stealing and obstructing police.

The fire caused minor damage but Mr Murphy says it could have been a lot worse if police hadn't been nearby.

"We could have lost the entire building with the accelerant he used," Mr Murphy told AAP.

"I don't fear for my personal safety, no.

"But my staff are pretty shaken up."

He can't think of any motive behind the attack.

"Councillors deal with tough issues in the community at times but nothing we would do would warrant this kind of response," he said.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

NT vows to appeal drink can deposit ruling

THE Northern Territory government intends to appeal a court decision that found its cash-for-containers recycling scheme was invalid.

Northern Territory Chief Minister Terry Mills says his government won't give up fighting to continue the recycling scheme.

"We are intending to appeal but of course we haven't seen the judgment in detail, but it is our intention to fight this," Mr Mills said after the court decision on Monday.

"We will explore every option to see whether we can keep this scheme going in the Northern Territory," he said.

In the Federal Court in Sydney, Justice John Griffiths found in favour of three major beverage companies which had applied for the NT scheme to be declared invalid so they wouldn't have to comply with it.

Coca-Cola Amatil, Schweppes Australia and Lion Pty Ltd brought the case against the NT government.

The NT's cash-for-containers scheme was similar to a long-running one in South Australia in which consumers pay a 10-cent deposit on drink purchases, refundable when the container is returned to a recycling agent.

Mr Mills called on beverage companies to continue the scheme on a voluntary basis for two months to allow people who had collected containers to have them redeemed.

Coca-Cola increased its drink prices in NT when the scheme was introduced a year ago, and on Monday said it expected wholesale prices in the NT should drop 12 to 15 cents per bottle within the week.

Coke's director of corporate affairs, Alec Wagstaff, said Mr Mills' call for the company to continue the scheme voluntarily raised complex legal issues and would be no simple matter.

He said Coke would, however, give time for people in the NT to get back the deposits they had already paid.

Greenpeace, which had campaigned vigorously against the challenge, said the court decision was a major blow for recycling in Australia and "an outrageous win for Coke's corporate self-interest".

"For a proven and effective recycling system to be ruled invalid is unacceptable and will only galvanise public support for a national recycling scheme," Greenpeace campaigner Reece Turner said in a statement.

It was now up to other states to "stand up to Coke's bullying".

With a COAG meeting on April 11 set to decide on a national recycling refund scheme, it was vital for NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell and his Victorian counterpart Ted Baillieu to back the scheme, he said.

It is understood the federal government supports the NT's efforts to be given an exemption under the Mutual Recognition Act, the act which the successful challengers relied on.

Mr Mills said all other members of COAG also backed the move.

National convenor of the Boomerang Alliance of environmental groups, Jeff Angel, said outside court that Coca-Cola had had a "pyrrhic victory" that was only temporary.

"They took to court the Northern Territory cash-for-containers scheme against the wishes of the community, against the wishes of the government and in fact, the majority of Australians," Mr Angel told reporters.

"Coke have proven themselves to be a bully," he said.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

No proposals to roll back US spending cuts

US political leaders have failed to offer any tangible proposals for rolling back an automatic $US85 billion ($A83.7 billion) worth of spending cuts.

The White House and Republican congressional heads cast blame on each other on Sunday for the across-the-board cuts that took effect on Friday but gave little guidance on what to expect in the coming weeks.

Republicans and Democrats pledged to retroactively undo the massive reductions but signalled no hints as to how the process would start to take shape.

Republicans insisted there would be no new taxes and Democrats refused to talk about any bargain without them.

President Barack Obama and the Republicans have been fighting over federal spending since the opposition party regained control of the House of Representatives in the 2010 midterm elections.

The sequester - the term used in Washington for the automatic spending cuts - was designed in 2011 to be so ruthless both sides would be forced to find a better deal but they haven't despite having two years to find a compromise.

The $US85 billion in savings apply to the remainder of the 2013 fiscal year, which ends on September 30. But without a deal government spending will continue to be slashed by about $US1 trillion more over a 10-year period.

The public posturing by both sides in interviews aired on Sunday's television news shows indicated the spending cuts are here to stay for the near future.

The Senate's Republican leader Mitch McConnell called them modest. Republican House Speaker John Boehner isn't sure they will hurt the economy. The White House's top economic adviser, Gene Sperling, says the pain isn't that bad right now.

McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader, said on Sunday the first phase of the sequester that had just started to kick in was a step toward curing Washington of its "spending addiction".

"This modest reduction of 2.4 per cent in spending over the next six months is a little more than the average American experienced just two months ago, when their own pay went down when the payroll tax holiday expired," he said.

The payroll tax reduction was a temporary measure intended to stimulate the economy.

Boehner downplayed the dire warnings issued by Obama and Cabinet members about the impact of the spending cuts.

"I don't know whether it's going to hurt the economy or not," he said.

"I don't think anyone quite understands how the sequester is really going to work."

The latest bickering comes ahead of the US's next major budget hurdle, with less than a month to negotiate a funding plan to avert a government shutdown after March 27.

If the parties can manage to, though, yet another fiscal fight looms. In May, Congress will confront a renewed standoff on increasing the government's borrowing limit - the same debt-ceiling issue that, two years ago, spawned the law forcing the current spending cuts in the first place.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Skull, bones found in Botany Bay mangroves

A KAYAKER has found a human skull in mangroves in Sydney's south, leading to the discovery of a number of other bones.

Police launched an investigation after the man saw the skull in shallow mangrove water while kayaking new Towra Point Nature Reserve in Botany Bay on February 28.

Marine Area Command officers searched the area on Monday and retrieved the skull and a number of other bones which were found in a remote section of the reserve.

Police from Miranda Local Area Command are investigating and the homicide squad and missing persons unit have been notified.

"As the bones were recovered today, it is too early to make any assumptions as to the cause of death or any confirmation of the identity of the person," Miranda Local Area Commander, Superintendent Greg Antonjuk, said.

"Investigators have, however, contacted the relatives of persons who have been reported missing in the local area over recent years."

A post mortem will be conducted and the bones will be forensically examined.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Abbott will cost you, PM tells west Sydney

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has traded blows with the NSW government and the federal opposition on transport and taxes as she continues her campaign to reconnect with western Sydney voters.

Ms Gillard began the second day of her five-day tour of the region with a series of radio and television interviews to reassure its more than two million residents the government had not forgotten them.

Also on Monday, Treasurer Wayne Swan released government analysis arguing western Sydney families would be worse off under the policies of a Tony Abbott-led coalition government.

In his own round of interviews, Mr Abbott accused Ms Gillard of ignoring the area and rejected claims he would increase taxes and cut family support.

Ms Gillard, whose government faces the prospect of losing a handful of marginal seats in western Sydney to the Liberals, then picked a fight with the NSW government over funding for a major road project.

Trailed by six Labor MPs, Ms Gillard called on the state to resubmit its plans for the $13 billion 33km WestConnex road project and meet three conditions for federal funding.

She wants to ensure motorists on the M4 can travel into the Sydney CBD, that trucks with freight travelling on the M5 can get directly to and from Port Botany, and that there will be no new tolls on roads currently toll-free.

But NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell, while saying Labor's extra funding of at least $1 billion would be welcome, noted Mr Abbott had already committed $1.5 billion to the project.

"Coming in at five minutes to midnight on the eve of a federal election, when it hasn't been delivered in the past five years, does make people a bit sceptical," Mr O'Farrell told reporters.

Ms Gillard used the government analysis to accuse Mr Abbott of planning to take up to $2300 a year off the average family by scrapping some tax cuts and family payments.

Mr Abbott said it could not be assumed a coalition government would ditch Labor's decision in the last budget to triple the income tax-free threshold from $6000 to $18,200.

"We'll fund them out of savings to unnecessary and wasteful government spending, and we won't do it with a carbon tax," he said.

Ms Gillard insisted her Sydney visit was about "governing", but Mr Abbott said when the prime minister announced the September 14 election in January she had moved "from governing to campaigning".

"A prime minister who didn't have a problem wouldn't be acting in this way," he said.

The Queensland government asked why Labor had turned its back on the state in favour of must-win electorates in western Sydney.

"Ms Gillard needs to commit to the safety of Queensland motorists, not just look after her own political fortunes," Queensland Transport Minister Scott Emerson said.

Queensland wants Canberra to bring forward $4 billion worth of funding to fix the Bruce Highway, which stretches almost the length of the state.

Meanwhile, an Essential poll published on Monday found the coalition holds 56 per cent of the two-party vote and would win an election held now.

But 54 per cent of voters are still to make a "firm" decision on who to vote for, the poll found.

Ms Gillard will interrupt her Sydney visit on Tuesday, when she travels to Melbourne to attend the funeral of former Labor parliamentary Speaker Joan Child.

A 7News-ReachTEL poll of 11 western Sydney electorates found Mr Abbott was the favoured prime minister, with 39 per cent, followed by Kevin Rudd at 26 per cent, Malcolm Turnbull at 22 per cent and Ms Gillard at just 13 per cent.

Respondents overwhelmingly preferred Mr Rudd (75 per cent) over Ms Gillard (25 per cent).

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Rebels capture prison in northern Syria

JIHADIST rebels seized control of a prison in the northern Raqa province and freed "hundreds" of detainees overnight, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Sunday.

"Government forces pulled out of Raqa's central prison located in the northern part of the provincial capital after clashes that lasted days," the watchdog said.

Jihadist rebels from Al-Nusra Front and other insurgents took over the prison late on Saturday "and liberated hundreds of prisoners," it said, adding some detainees were transferred to nearby Tal Abiad to appear before a local Islamist court.

The prison takeover came as battles raged Saturday on the outskirts of the city of Raqa between rebels and Syrian troops, the Britain-based Observatory said.

Sixteen rebels and 14 government soldiers were killed in the fighting, which the Observatory said was "the most violent in the region" since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad erupted nearly two years ago.

The rebels, who control most of the countryside of Raqa, have been attacking army checkpoint on the outskirts of the provincial capital.

Elsewhere, rebel fighters and government forces fought for control of a sprawling police academy at Khan al-Assal in the northern province of Aleppo, the watchdog said.

On Saturday, rebels stormed the main building of the police academy.

In the oil-rich province of Hassakeh in northeast Syria, Kurdish militants opposed to the Assad regime captured the towns of Ramilan and Qahtaniyeh from government forces, the Observatory said.

At least 156 people were killed in violence across Syria on Saturday, including two Palestinians hanged at the Yarmuk refugee camp in Damascus on suspicion of aiding the regime, it said.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists and medics on the ground to collect information, circulated a picture of the hangings.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Media slammed over Bulgaria murder case

A LONG-SERVING former public prosecutor says the story of a young Sydney man jailed for murder in eastern Europe shows the havoc Australian media can wreak on tourists who get into legal trouble abroad.

Nicholas Cowdery on Sunday told a packed bookshop that the case of Jock Palfreeman, found guilty in December 2009 of the murder of Bulgarian Andrei Monov, raised "very serious concerns" about that country's criminal justice system.

Mr Cowdery, who was NSW Director of Public Prosecutions from 1994 to 2011, was launching a book by ABC journalist Belinda Hawkins about the young man and his father's attempts to secure justice for him.

The 25-year-old claims he pulled a knife in self-defence after going to the aid of a Roma boy who was being attacked by Mr Monov and others.

Hawkins' book, Every Parent's Nightmare, contends vital CCTV evidence was kept out of court and crucial witnesses never called.

"In systems like Bulgaria's, everything seems to happen piecemeal and over a long period of time," Mr Cowdery said.

"You wonder what kind of picture can possibly build in the mind of the judge, who is the decider of the facts in their system as well as the law."

He lashed out at journalists, saying a "ham-fisted" report in News Ltd tabloid the Daily Telegraph, which included claims Palfreeman had been involved years earlier in a stabbing in northern Sydney, had been read as fact by the Bulgarian trial judge in the young man's case.

Mr Cowdery said it was a chilling reminder to parents that many countries, including Indonesia, where thousands of young school-leavers flock each year, had different standards from those of Australian courts.

"There's a warning there," he said.

"We have to be careful about how we report matters. We have to be careful about where those reports go.

"We have to understand that not all systems are like ours, and we have to understand that when our kids and grandkids go travelling in foreign countries that are not familiar, there are all sorts of dangers that perhaps unwittingly can be contributed to by them in their own conduct, and it can lead to the appalling consequences that Jock Palfreeman and the Palfreeman family have now experienced."

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Body found after Melbourne siege

A stand-off between police and fugitive rapist Antonio Loguancio has entered its second full day. Source: AAP

A THE body of convicted rapist Antonio Loguancio has been found in a bungalow after a two-day siege in Melbourne came to a fiery end.

Police say the siege escalated about 1pm on Sunday when a number of shots were fired from the bungalow at the rear of a property in Glenroy.

The bungalow caught fire around 2pm and fire fighters found Loguancio's body when they extinguished the blaze.

Loguancio had been holed up in the Justin Avenue property since Friday night but the stand off came to an end after loud bangs heard coming from the property were followed by billowing smoke.

Deputy police commissioner Tim Cartwright said police had attempted to talk Loguancio out of the bungalow throughout the siege.

"His behaviour continued to escalate. At about two o'clock this afternoon the bungalow was seen to be on fire," he said.

"This is a tragedy. Our aim is always to resolve these situations with the minimum of injury and loss of life."

The homicide squad will investigate the death and present its findings to the coroner.

Police had described Loguancio as a significant risk to the community after he breached a supervision order and allegedly assaulted his partner before going into hiding.

He had been released on a supervision order after being jailed for 12 years for multiple counts of rape, assault and other offences.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bernanke defends Fed's rate policies

Chairman Ben Bernanke has sought to calm fears that super-low rates risk igniting inflation. Source: AAP

CHAIRMAN Ben Bernanke is standing by the Federal Reserve's low-interest-rate policies, cautioning that any move to raise rates prematurely could derail a still-modest economic recovery.

Bernanke also sought to calm fears that super-low rates risk igniting inflation or rattling investors, during a speech late on Friday in San Francisco to an economic conference sponsored by the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank.

The central bank's low-rate policies are intended to encourage borrowing and spending to boost the economy. Higher rates would make borrowing more expensive.

Bernanke said the Fed's policies mirror what other central banks around the world are doing.

"Long-term interest rates in the major industrial countries are low for a good reason: Inflation is low and stable and, given expectations of weak growth, expected real short rates are low," he said.

"Premature rate increases would carry a high risk of short-circuiting the recovery, possibly leading - ironically enough - to an even longer period of low long-term rates," he said.

His comments amplified testimony he gave to Congress this week.

Critics, including some Fed regional bank presidents, have expressed concerns that the Fed may be raising the risk of inflation through its purchases of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities.

As he did in his appearance before House and Senate committees this week, Bernanke sought to provide reassurance that the central bank is closely monitoring developments in financial markets to guard against such risks.

He said 2010 financial regulatory overhaul has forced banks to boost the required capital on hand to cushion against losses. The Fed also conducts annual stress tests to make sure that the nation's largest financial institutions have sufficient resources to survive adverse economic conditions, he said.

"We pay special attention to developments at the largest, most complex financial firms, making use of information gathered in our supervision of the institutions," Bernanke said.

In December, the Fed set a goal of keeping its key short-term interest rate near zero until unemployment has fallen below 6.5 per cent. Unemployment in January stood at 7.9 per cent and many economists believe it will not drop below 6.5 per cent until late 2015 at the earliest.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More