Bruni takes revenge on 'penguin' president

Former first lady Carla Bruni has reportedly taken a swipe at French President Francois Hollande. Source: AAP

FORMER first lady Carla Bruni has reportedly taken a swipe at French President Francois Hollande, depicting him as a bumbling buffoon with no manners in a song that features on her new album.

The lyrics of The Penguin were released on Friday and immediately interpreted as an attack on the man who succeeded her husband, Nicolas Sarkozy, as France's leader.

The former supermodel sings: "He takes on the airs of a king/but I know, the penguin/doesn't have the manners of a lord.

"Hey penguin!/If one day you cross my path again/I will teach you, penguin/I will teach you to kiss my hand."

French media saw the lyrics as a reference to Hollande's frosty treatment of his outgoing predecessor on the day he took over as president, notably declining to accompany Sarkozy to the car that carried him away from the presidential Elysee palace.

In French, describing someone as a penguin implies they are both clumsy and a little ridiculous in the manner of a clown or a buffoon.

The Penguin is one of the tracks on Little French Songs, Bruni's fourth album, which is due to be released on April 1.

It also includes a song, Chez Keith et Anita (At Keith and Anita's place), in which Bruni, a former girlfriend of Mick Jagger, depicts the drug-fuelled lifestyle of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and his longtime girlfriend, Anita Pallenberg.

The new album is Bruni's first since 2008's Comme Si De Rien N'Etait (Simply). Her musical career was put on hold while Sarkozy was in office.

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Cameron at odds with Pope over Falklands

Britain's PM David Cameron says he disagrees with the new Pope over the Falkland Islands. Source: AAP

BRITAIN'S Prime Minister David Cameron says he disagrees with the new Pope over the future of the Falkland Islands.

Pope Francis, who is the first Argentinian pontiff and a former Archbishop of Buenos Aires, has previously described the disputed islands as "Argentinian soil" which was "usurped" by Britain.

But Mr Cameron on Friday urged all world leaders, including the Pope, to respect the overwhelming 99.8 per cent vote in this week's Falklands referendum in favour of remaining a British Overseas Territory.

In a reference to the method used by the Vatican to announce a decision on the identity of the new Pope, he said: "The white smoke over the Falklands was pretty clear."

Asked at a media conference in Brussels whether he agreed with Francis on the issue of the Falklands, Mr Cameron said: "I don't agree with him - respectfully, obviously.

"There was a pretty extraordinarily clear referendum in the Falkland Islands and I think that is a message to everyone in the world that the people of these islands have chosen very clearly the future they want and that choice should be respected by everyone."

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Google chairman Schmidt to visit Myanmar

GOOGLE chairman Eric Schmidt is planning to visit Myanmar (Burma) weeks after a trip to North Korea.

Schmidt will speak in Yangon (Rangoon) on March 22 as part of an Asian tour, the Internet giant said.

He is aiming to boost web access in a country long cut-off from the rest of the world by sanctions.

Internet penetration is poor and those with web access have slow connections.

Schmidt's visit aims "to connect with local partners and Googlers who are working to improve the lives of many millions of people across the region by helping them get online and access the world's information for the first time", Google said in a statement.

Schmidt made a private visit to North Korea in January.

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Sydney toddler drowns in backyard pool

A one-year-old boy has died after being pulled unconscious from a backyard pool in Sydney's west. Source: AAP

A TODDLER has drowned in a backyard pool in Sydney's west.

Police and paramedics were called to a house on The Northern Road at Luddenham after the one-year-old boy was pulled unconscious from a backyard pool on Saturday afternoon.

The boy was treated by paramedics and taken to Nepean Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

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Media laws won't got to vote: Oakeshott

THE federal government will drop its proposed media law changes rather than force them to a doomed vote next week, key Independent MP Rob Oakeshott predicts.

But the NSW MP says that doesn't mean Labor should give up on improving media standards in the medium-term if it retains government at the September election.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy wants a package of six bills passed by both houses of parliament by next Thursday - the final sitting day before the May budget sessions.

However, independent MPs, the Greens and the coalition have complained the tight timetable means there's not enough to scrutinise the legislation, which was only released on Thursday.

Labor needs the support of crossbench MPs in the lower house and the Australian Greens in the Senate to pass the legislation, which includes a new public interest media advocate to oversee press standards and provide a check on big media mergers and acquisitions.

But Mr Oakeshott, who won't be voting for the package as it stands and is aware of the views of crossbench colleagues, says it's clear there's not enough support to get it through.

"Frankly, I would be very surprised if the government puts this to a vote and that's where it is looking," he told AAP on Friday.

"The process looks to be a dog's breakfast."

The Greens are believed to be split on the issue, with some wanting bills dealing with the ABC, SBS and a community broadcasting channel to be passed, while others want a Senate communications inquiry - due to produce a final reports in June - to run its full course.

Senator Conroy said the issues had been debated for many months following two independent reviews and it was "too early to make pronouncements about whether or not people are voting for the bill".

"The vote is next week, and there will obviously be a lot of discussions going on between now and then," Senator Conroy told ABC radio on Friday.

But Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said her party was concerned about the process and deadline, and accused Labor of bullying parliament into "either taking it or leaving it".

"We will come back to our position on the overall package after we've had a good look at our concerns ... and we've participated in that Senate inquiry process," she told reporters in Canberra.

Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce told AAP the Greens would reveal themselves as "utter and unequivocal hypocrites" if they let the bills go through next week.

"The people of regional Australia need some input into what is going to happen," he said.

The Senate committee looking at the bills will take evidence from media companies, academics, peak industry bodies and the Australian Press Council in Canberra on Monday and Tuesday.

A separate joint select committee is looking at other possible media reforms, including the axing of the 75 per cent broadcasting audience reach rule, and will also take evidence in Canberra on Monday.

The reports of both inquires are due by June 17, but interim reports could be released on Wednesday.

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SA bikie admits gun and drug possession

AN Adelaide bikie's harsh time in solitary confinement - when he could not properly grieve for his "executed" son - was sufficient punishment for his crimes, a judge has been told.

Lawyer Heath Barclay urged the judge to impose a penalty on Vince Focarelli that would result in his being freed from jail at his sentencing hearing next Wednesday.

"He has served his time," Mr Barclay said on Friday in the South Australian District Court.

Focarelli, 38, pleaded guilty to possessing a revolver which was found on the body of 22-year-old Giovanni Focarelli, who was shot dead during an ambush at Dry Creek on January 29, 2012.

Focarelli, who was shot four times in the attack, also admitted possessing the liquid drug butanediol found in a hire care used by the pair.

Mr Barclay said Focarelli had been the subject of repeated attacks between 2009 and the day his son was executed.

They included his being shot and hospitalised, people allegedly trying to place a bomb near his home and an unknown assailant in a supermarket pointing a gun at his head and pulling the trigger.

The firing mechanism failed.

By January 2012, Focarelli was so concerned for his safety and that of his family that he took possession of a gun.

Focarelli had given the loaded revolver to his son to hold on January 29, Mr Barclay said.

"The purpose for the firearm was defensive, not offensive," he added.

While Focarelli knew the fantasy-like drug was in the car; it was not his and he'd had no intention of using it.

Mr Barclay said Focarelli had been in harsh conditions in solitary confinement since February last year when he was charged over the drug.

His bond with his son had been "extraordinarily strong", but he was not allowed to attend his funeral nor had he seen his grave.

"Your honour can accept that, as a result, those conditions have acted as a personal deterrent for him," the lawyer said.

"Mr Focarelli wants to get on with his life and put all of this behind him as best as he can."

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Queensland gets GST windfall, WA big loser

THE Queensland government has no more excuses to cut services after gaining a windfall $700 million in the annual carve-up of the GST revenue pie, the federal government says.

However, the Gillard government faces another row with newly re-elected Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett as his state is the biggest loser in the recommended 2013/14 GST distribution announced on Friday, losing more that half a billion dollars.

An angry Mr Barnett said it was a "flashpoint" in state/federal relations.

Senior government minister Craig Emerson said the independent Commonwealth Grants Commission's latest assessment was a "great boost" to Queensland.

He said the state's premier Campbell Newman had now run out of excuses for his savage cuts to jobs and services.

"Mr Newman has $700 million more coming Queensland's way as a result of the GST distribution ... stop sacking nurses and other frontline service providers," Dr Emerson told reporters in Canberra.

Treasurer Wayne Swan said Mr Newman owes Queenslanders an explanation as to what he will use this money for, given his recent savage cuts to jobs and services.

In its annual recommendations to the federal government, the Commonwealth Grants Commission estimated GST revenue will total $51 billion in 2013/14, up from $48.25 billion in 2012/13.

It said the main changes in its distribution recommendations were for Queensland and WA, mainly reflecting contrasting developments in the mining industries.

Commission chairman Alan Henderson said WA mining production had continued to grow to the point where by 2011/12 it had the capacity to raise near $2200 per person in mining royalties, compared with about $450 per person for all states.

"This sustained growth and the associated impact on employment and wages elsewhere in the state gives it an unprecedented fiscal capacity," Mr Henderson said.

"Compared to last year, we conclude they need $549 million less GST revenue."

Dr Emerson said this was an independent assessment, which by convention the federal government accepted, but noted the reduction was about $100 million less than the WA government had forecast.

But Mr Barnett said what was particularly galling was that for the first time, a state's share had fallen below 50 cents in a dollar.

"That is the flashpoint in commonwealth/state relations," he told reporters in Perth.

"This deal is akin to chopping two arms and a leg off, but saying 'you've got another leg'."

Mr Henderson said coal prices in 2011/12 were much lower than in 2008/09 and that Queensland coal production was also somewhat lower.

"This, combined with a sluggish property market, has resulted in Queensland's overall fiscal capacity falling below the average and therefore it becoming a net beneficiary under the equalisation arrangements for the first year since 2007/08," he said.

"We have assessed that Queensland needs $696 million GST (more) than we assessed them as needing last year."

The commissioner also said new 2011 census data on the distribution of Indigenous people showed a smaller share of the cost of delivering indigenous services falls to the Northern Territory.

As a result, the NT's GST share has been reduced by $107 million.

The commission said changes for other states are small.

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NSW man to be sentenced over Kiesha death

THE stepfather of Kiesha Weippart is to be sentenced in May over the killing of the six-year-old girl in western Sydney.

Kiesha was allegedly knocked unconscious by another person, who cannot be named, at her Mt Druitt home in July 2010.

Robert Smith, 33, has pleaded guilty to her manslaughter on the grounds of negligence and to being an accessory after the fact of murder.

During a brief appearance on Friday, the NSW Supreme Court was told that Smith, who was wearing a white shirt and had his short black hair slicked down, would not be putting forward further submissions on his sentencing.

Justice Megan Latham listed his sentencing for May 3.

Evidence was given to a court last month that after the little girl was injured, Smith left her in a "comatose" state when he went off to work, only to return home that night to find her dead.

After Kiesha died, the court heard Smith stuffed her body into a suitcase and left it in her room for about five days before he and his co-accused took it to a pre-prepared grave at nearby Shalvey on July 18, 2010.

"(Smith) then doused the deceased's body in petrol and set the deceased's body alight," crown prosecutor Keith Alder has previously told the court.

Kiesha was eventually reported missing from her home on August 1, sparking a large-scale police search and nationwide media interest.

Another person, who cannot be named for legal reasons, will stand trial for Kiesha's murder later this year.

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Lower rates helping building sector - RBA

LOWER interest rates have been helping the residential building market to recover, with prices in many markets rising, a Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) official says.

RBA assistant governor (economic) Dr Christopher Kent said dwelling construction was beginning to pick up and he expected further growth in the months ahead.

"In line with this, our expectation is that there will be a further gradual increase in dwelling construction activity over this year and the next," Dr Kent said in a speech to the Australian Institute of Building at the University of Technology, Sydney.

"This moderate growth in dwelling investment will play some role in helping to support a gradual pick-up in economic growth more broadly from what is expected to be a rate a little below trend this year."

The RBA has cut the cash rate six times since November 2011, the most recent reduction being a quarter of a percentage point to three per cent in December.

"Overall, the data over recent months suggest that demand in the established housing market is strengthening gradually," Dr Kent said on Thursday night.

"This general strengthening has been helped, no doubt, by 175 basis points worth of cuts to the cash rate since late 2011, and the decline in mortgage interest rates that has followed from these cuts."

However, he warned that trends in housing finance indicate that the next upturn in the housing sector would not be as strong as previous increases.

"Lower interest rates have given households more scope to make payments on their mortgages ahead of schedule," Dr Kent said.

"This means that for a given growth rate of new lending, credit growth will be a bit lower than otherwise.

"From early 2012, shortly after mortgage rates started to decline, owner-occupier housing credit has been growing at a slower pace than investor housing credit."

Dr Kent said there has been stronger growth in approvals for higher-density housing, such as apartment blocks, since early 2012.

He said there had been little sign of a rise in approvals for detached houses.

"This may be an early indication of a new trend in the housing market," he said.

"As the price of land has increased relative to incomes over the past few decades, it makes sense that there is an incentive to economise on the use of land, that is, by living in higher-density housing.

Dr Kent said there may have also been a shift in people's preferences towards living closer to the city in flats and townhouses to save on travel time and take advantage of the better infrastructure.

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'Darth Vader' wanted on West Coast

NEW Zealand police are on the hunt for Darth Vader over a stolen credit card.

The card was stolen from a house on the South Island on Saturday and has been used four times since then.

Security camera footage showed a person in a black Darth Vader costume had used the card, withdrawing a considerable amount of money at a supermarket ATM, the Greymouth Star reported.

Police suspect the culprit was among 12,000 people at the Wildfoods Festival and want to hear from anyone who can help unmask the Star Wars copycat.

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Labor presses on with media law changes

COMMUNICATIONS Minister Stephen Conroy insists the Labor government's media reforms are still on track, despite his deadline to pass the laws being snubbed by the Senate.

The federal government on Thursday introduced a package of six bills in the lower house to set up a public interest media advocate and give television networks a discount on their licence fees in exchange for more Australian content.

The advocate would ensure the press council receiving complaints against print and online publications meet a basic standard and run a public interest test over big media mergers and acquisitions.

Senator Conroy has threatened the changes won't proceed unless the bills are passed by parliament by the end of next week.

The Senate has voted not to meet the government's proposed March 20 final reporting date for an upper house communications committee inquiry into the bills and instead pushed the date out to June 17.

But it's understood there will be an interim report next Wednesday, after public hearings on Monday and Tuesday.

"The government is confident the media reforms can be dealt with by next week," a spokesman for Senator Conroy told AAP.

Labor needs the support of the Greens in the Senate and five of seven crossbench MPs in the lower house for the laws - which the coalition oppose and would scrap in government - to succeed.

Greens media policy spokesman Senator Scott Ludlam told AAP the minor party would next week be willing to pass bills dealing with the ABC, SBS and a community broadcasting channel.

But the Greens have some concerns about the public interest advocate measures.

"I think there will need to be amendments," Senator Ludlam said.

Independent MPs Craig Thomson and Rob Oakeshott have confirmed they would oppose the bills as they stand, but other crossbench members were reserving their positions.

Liberal senator Simon Birmingham said as it stands, Senator Conroy's deadline for the bills to pass had been "scuttled".

Opposition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull told parliament on Thursday the laws were "shambolic" and would undermine press freedom.

Mr Turnbull said diversity in the media had never been greater, adding the bills were Labor's way of getting back at media group News Limited over its political coverage of the minority government.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus accused the coalition of "hysterical rhetoric".

Mr Thomson said the fact Senator Conroy had earlier this week declined to negotiate on the bills meant they would fail.

"I think we need a much broader discussion to come up with proper reform in relation to this issue," Mr Thomson said.

Meanwhile, a second committee - comprising members on both houses - was also set up on Thursday to examine whether the 75 per cent rule - which limits the audience reach of television networks - should be dropped.

If it is, the decision will be included in the reform bills package.

The joint select committee on broadcasting plans to meet on Monday at a venue to be decided.

Committee members include Rob Oakeshott, Tony Zappia, John Murphy, Paul Neville, Malcolm Turnbull, Simon Birmingham, Doug Cameron, Barnaby Joyce and Matt Thistlethwaite.

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Banned documents thought 'not sensitive'

THE Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) information director who mistakenly lifted a ban on sensitive documents from the Fitzgerald Inquiry did so because he thought they were already publicly available.

A hearing is under way at Queensland parliament into how the 65-year ban was lifted for 741 documents in February 2012.

It had been imposed upon the inquiry's completion in 1989.

The documents contained information about targets and informants from the inquiry into police corruption, which led to the jailing of the state's police commissioner and politicians in the Joh Bjelke-Petersen-led government.

Another 4000 documents were shredded.

CMC director of information management Peter Duell said he had reduced the restricted access period on the documents to 20 years, meaning they went into the public domain.

He believed when the original 19,000 documents from the inquiry were transferred to State Archives, a process started years ago, it was widely understood the most sensitive information had a 100-year ban, and the remainder had a 65-year ban as a precautionary approach.

He was under the wrong impression that the latter were mostly public exhibits and were available anyway through transcripts and tabled documents from the inquiry.

He said he had been inundated with requests for documents, so he thought lifting the ban wouldn't be controversial.

"With a number of requests coming through I asked the acting records manager to review the restricted access period and make recommendations to make what was publicly available information, available to the public," he said.

He told the hearing the material was made public without an audit of its contents.

He didn't realise at the time that some of the documents he was reclassifying were sensitive.

"That's proved to be the case now," he said.

"In hindsight I can think of a lot of things that should have been done at that point in time."

The CMC was warned in May 2012 by the former head of police's Special Branch, Barry Krosch, that information had been made available which shouldn't have been.

Mr Krosch told the hearing on Wednesday he noticed 1988 surveillance logs from the branch were publicly available and named targets of operations.

"I just hope that targets from that era don't realise the reports are there for them to inspect," he warned the CMC in an email.

It took eight months for the CMC to reclassify the information as secret, but it only informed the parliamentary committee which oversees it last week.

Under questioning from the counsel assisting the inquiry, Peter Davis, Mr Duell admitted reclassifying the documents was a grave mistake.

"It was an error that's for sure, a very serious error," Mr Duell said.

"It was a huge mistake."

Mr Duell said he relied on a three-page librarian's memo to make the changes and consulted then-acting Crime and Misconduct Commission chair Warren Strange.

Mr Duell said he became aware of the problem in May 2012, when Mr Krosch informed the CMC, and he immediately changed 14 of the 17 files back to a 65-year ban.

He believed the others weren't sensitive but again in September, eight months later, Mr Krosch found files available which contained sensitive information.

CMC chair Ross Martin stood down last Friday for health reasons and Mr Strange is again acting in the position.

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Patel found not guilty of manslaughter

Jurors will continue deliberating on Wednesday in the manslaughter trial of ex-surgeon Jayant Patel. Source: AAP

A RELIEVED Jayant Patel has exchanged a bear hug with his barrister after learning of his acquittal over the death of a patient at Bundaberg Hospital.

At the end of a 23-day trial in the Supreme Court in Brisbane, a jury on Wednesday afternoon found the former surgeon's decision to operate on 75-year-old Mervyn Morris did not constitute criminal negligence amounting to manslaughter.

Patel had been accused of causing Mr Morris's death after he removed part of his colon in an attempt to address rectal bleeding in 2003.

However, his defence team successfully argued Patel had an "honest and reasonable belief" the operation was necessary, and that his actions were supported by a number of expert witnesses.

This is the second time Patel has stood trial for the manslaughter of Mr Morris.

He was convicted in June 2010 of killing Mr Morris and two other patients, and was also found guilty of the grievous bodily harm of Ian Vowles.

Patel was sentenced to seven years' jail.

However, his convictions were overturned by the High Court in August last year and separate retrials were ordered.

Patel walked from court on Wednesday with his head held high, but remains on bail for the other charges.

Prosecutor David Meredith said in court the crown would still proceed with "some matters" but would not indicate which ones.

Outside court, defence barrister Ken Fleming QC said there would be a submission to the crown in the near future that the charges be dropped.

Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie refused to comment on the verdict but said Director of Public Prosecutions Tony Moynihan was working on a "course of action" in relation to the other matters.

Mr Fleming, who did not allow Patel to speak, said his client was "very happy" with the verdict, and that he felt justice had been done.

"The evidence was there, and the jury acted responsibly as well," he said.

"I think it was a very intelligent jury and they worked very hard."

Patel will face court again on Friday for a mention.

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Gillard quizzed over big budget items

THE Gillard government is under pressure to explain how it can fund big budget items such as immigration detention and balance the demands of the domestic welfare sector.

The opposition on Wednesday turned its focus in parliament to the cost of offshore processing of asylum seekers, as Prime Minister Julia Gillard declined to speculate on the size of the budget deficit.

Labor also announced a new spending package - a national cultural policy with a $235 million price tag over four years - as it faced welfare sector calls backed by some Labor MPs for higher benefits payments for struggling job seekers and single mums.

As a Barclays analyst forecast the 2012/13 budget deficit could top $20 billion, Ms Gillard declined to reflect on the implications for next year's books.

"I don't want to disappoint you, but you will see the updated budget in two months' time," she told reporters in Canberra.

During question time, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott quizzed the prime minister over the cost of offshore processing, which budget papers suggest will fall over the next four years as arrivals slow down.

Labor's counting on the cost of one key element - offshore asylum seeker management - to drop from $1.7 billion in 2012/13 to $137 million in 2015/16.

Mr Abbott said the figures weren't credible because more people had arrived by boat in the past nine months than during the entire period of the Howard coalition government.

Ms Gillard said Mr Abbott's "reckless negativity" meant there would be more boat arrivals because he could have eased the pressure by backing the Houston expert panel's reforms last year.

Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor said the opposition had sensationalised the issue of boat arrivals, saying 98 per cent of people had come through "regular" migration pathways.

He said he was hopeful a meeting in April of nations involved in the Bali process - a regional scheme to tackle people-smuggling - would make progress.

The minister was also questioned on whether transfers to the Manus Island detention facility had been suspended.

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said there had been no transfers since February 9 and Papua New Guinea officials had advised him of an indefinite suspension.

Mr O'Connor said there had been no such suspension and the two governments were still committed to transfers.

Labor backbenchers are also getting behind the Australian Council of Social Service's push for the Newstart unemployment payment for singles to be raised by $50-a-week.

NSW senator Doug Cameron says it can be paid for with the expansion of the mining tax, a Medicare style levy and a crackdown on the tax treatment of trust funds.

"That's a debate that Labor people should be having," Senator Cameron said.

Arts Minister Simon Crean said a new national cultural policy would be paid for by savings in government departments.

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NSL strikes $12m Indian iron ore deal

EMERGING iron ore miner NSL Consolidated has struck a $12 million deal with a large Indian company to expand its mining projects on the sub-continent.

Under the joint-venture agreement, Vijay Group will inject $12.2 million to expand NSL Consolidated's three iron ore projects in the province of Andhra Pradesh in India.

A Vijay subsidiary will take an initial 40 per cent interest in NSL Mining Resources, a subsidiary of NSL.

NSL managing director Cedric Goode said the company was in a unique position, with substantial growth potential in a country with strong growth fundamentals.

"NSL and Vijay are targeting the joint venture to be operating at an estimated 1.5 million tonnes per annum of saleable iron ore within two years, with potential to increase this target further in the next four to five years," Mr Goode said.

The joint venture will focus on the development and expansion of existing mining assets and pursuing growth such as future mine acquisitions.

Perth-based NSL focuses on bulk commodity development opportunities through iron ore production in India and thermal coal in Queensland.

Mr Goode said Vijay Group's iron ore and coal mining contracting business had been operating at a 70 million tonne per annum rate in previous years.

During April to November 2012, the Indian steel industry achieved a growth rate of 5.36 per cent, the highest in the world.

Mr Goode is upbeat about the potential growth of the domestic Indian iron ore industry.

"The existing domestic production of approximately 74 million tonnes per annum is expected to grow to 200 million tonnes per annum by 2020," Mr Goode said.

NSL shares closed 0.4 cents, or 9.1 per cent, higher at 4.8 cents on Wednesday.

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Person who filmed NSW teen attack sought

THE attack of a 15-year-old girl by another teenager on the NSW central coast was filmed with a mobile phone, police say.

Officers arrested a 16-year-old girl on Tuesday after seizing the phone at Tuggerah train station.

Images on the phone showed a girl repeatedly punching the 15-year-old in the head, police said said.

The person who captured the incident made no attempt to stop the assault or help the teenager.

Police are alleging that the 15-year-old got off a bus in Berkeley Vale on February 18 when she was assaulted by the older girl.

They are appealing for anyone who may have witnessed the incident or who knows the person who filmed the assault to come forward.

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Labor plans to push through media reforms

LABOR hopes to ram through its proposed media reforms, including a public interest test and stronger industry self-regulation, within the next two sitting weeks.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy announced on Tuesday the federal government's long awaited response to the reports of two long-run independent media inquiries handed to it in early 2012.

But opposition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull says its reply was a "chaotic, half-baked" plan and took issue with the public interest test proposal.

Overall, the government's response avoided many of the wide-ranging recommendations that came out of the convergence review and the Finkelstein inquiry into press regulation.

Among the key reforms are changes to broadcast ownership rules, beefed-up oversight of print and online news media and cuts to television network licence fees.

"These reforms will ensure for the Australian public a media sector that is fair, diverse and able to tackle the challenges of the future," Senator Conroy told reporters in Canberra.

The minister said the government was addressing community concerns about media quality and how press complaints were handled.

A separate bill deals with a previously announced 50 per cent licence fee rebate for television stations, in return for increased local content.

The package of legislation is due to be introduced to parliament this week, with Senator Conroy warning it must go through or be dropped.

He said Labor won't be "held hostage" or barter on the content.

"The parliament either wants this bill or it does not," Senator Conroy said.

The bills require the support of crossbench MPs and the Australian Greens, and already appear to have the backing of most of the independents.

Meanwhile, a joint parliamentary committee would be set up to consider abolishing the "75 per cent reach rule" governing allowable audience share, on-air reporting of watchdog findings on broadcasting breaches and program supply agreements for news and current affairs.

If the one-day inquiry into the reach rule is resolved quickly it could be incorporated into the overall legislation.

Senator Conroy said the rule, which can stop any of the three major commercial networks from buying regional affiliates, wasn't relevant in today's media landscape.

And the public interest test, to be overseen by a public interest media advocate, would ensure diversity was not reduced by nationally significant media mergers and acquisitions.

The new advocate would also ensure the Australian Press Council and media outlets dealt properly with standards issues and complaints.

"Individual complaints are still dealt with in the same way (as now), but if there is a breakdown in the process the advocate is the judge of that," Senator Conroy said.

Mr Turnbull said a coalition government would repeal any public interest test on takeovers.

"I don't see why a bureaucrat should oversee the Australian news media," he said.

The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), representing journalists, said the government's plan also raised the prospect of bureaucratic interference in the self-regulation regime.

"The government has adopted a package that threatens a heavy hand without improving the handling of complaints," MEAA federal secretary Christopher Warren said in a statement.

The government will hold the spectrum for a sixth free-to-air channel to support community television.

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Bikie boss caught in massive police raid

Police have reportedly arrested high-ranking Hells Angels and Comancheros bikies in Sydney. Source: AAP

HELLS Angels boss Felix Lyle is one of a number of high-profile gangland figures nabbed by police in one of the biggest firearm and drug operations in NSW history.

Lyle was one of four people charged on Tuesday after police made 19 arrests as part of Strike Force Alistair - a joint operation between police and the NSW Crime Commission targeting organised crime in the state.

Lyle, 56, from Sydney, has been charged with a firearm offence as well as five counts of supplying drugs - two involving a commercial quantity.

He will remain behind bars after being formally refused bail in a Sydney court on Tuesday afternoon.

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell told parliament the operation was "one of the biggest firearm and drug operations in the history of this state".

He said around 30 people would be charged with a raft of serious offences, some of which carry sentences of life imprisonment.

The national president of the Hells Angels and vice presidents of the Rebels were among those charged, Mr O'Farrell said.

"This is the result of terrific work by the NSW police in targeting organised crime, drug supply and illegal weapons," the premier said during question time on Tuesday.

Police said drugs, firearms, a stun gun, a hand grenade, a ballistic vest and around $500,000 in counterfeit cash were seized in the raids carried out across Sydney.

The Crime Commission has also issued two restraining orders on assets.

As well as the senior Hells Angels bikie, three other men - aged 35, 33 and 25 - were charged with offences relating to the supply of a commercial quantity of prohibited drugs.

The older man was to appear at Bankstown Local Court on Tuesday afternoon, while the other two were to face Fairfield Local Court.

Speaking at Crime Commission headquarters, Detective Superintendent Mick Plotecki said 350 officers took part in the raids, executing 30 warrants across southwest Sydney, the northern metro area, the city, and the south coast.

The operation targeted senior members of the Hells Angels, Comancheros, and Rebels, as well as Asian and Balkan crime gangs, police said.

The arrests were the culmination of two years of work involving the Crime Commission and police, 95 surveillance warrants, 41 telephone intercept warrants and the monitoring of more than 500,000 phone calls.

Police said the raids came after a number of arrests three weeks ago over a conspiracy to import 400kg of amphetamines, also as a result of Strike Force Alistair.

Det Supt Plotecki said the charges would relate to commercial drugs supply, firearms offences, providing explosives, and counterfeiting cash.

He said a key component of the operation was "targeting those people that make these networks work".

"We're targeting particularly those people that go out and procure firearms and drugs, and also those that supply them," he said.

Police Minister Michael Gallacher has praised "the incredible efforts and success" of the police and the NSW Crime Commission.

He said everyone involved in the operation had "been relentless in smashing these criminal networks".

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Emergency alert downgraded for Vic fire

FIREFIGHTERS waterbombing a fast-moving grassfire burning around the Cashmore area in Victoria's southwest have succeeded in reducing the threat.

An emergency warning has been downgraded to a watch and act alert for the fire in the Cashmore area, which was expected to impact the areas of Portland West and Trewalla, the CFA said.

"The fire is still going however fire activity has reduced a bit because of suppression activities and the weather situation," a CFA spokeswoman said.

"Waterbombing has had significant success in protecting assets and against spot fires."

The spokeswoman said 130 firefighters and seven aircraft are still fighting the blaze.

Firefighters are also still working to protect 30 homes on Dougherties Road in Portland West.

Residents have been urged to follow their bushfire survival plans.

Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley said strong winds on Tuesday and Wednesday were the most important focus for fire authorities.

"The weather conditions will see very strong winds not only during the day but also during evening and night hours," Mr Lapsley said.

"The key factor is we have seen winds come back again that we haven't experienced for over a week or so."

A total fire ban is in force in the southwest and Wimmera fire districts for Tuesday.

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Bushfire still burning south of Adelaide

A BUSHFIRE continues to burn in a pine forest south of Adelaide but firefighters are hopeful of bringing it under control.

The Country Fire Service (CFS) said the blaze had destroyed about 25 hectares at Wattle Flat by Tuesday afternoon and was being attacked on both the ground and from the air.

It was sparked as temperatures across the state surged into the high 30s ahead of a cooler change moving in from the west.

The Bureau of Meteorology expected the change to reach Adelaide late on Tuesday, dropping maximum temperatures on Wednesday into the mid-20s.

The CFS said a shift in winds with the change could help push the fire front back on itself.

While there were some farms in the vicinity of the fire, no properties were under immediate threat.

The CFS said crews were also responding to a bushfire late on Tuesday in the Onkaparinga area of the Adelaide Hills.

Local residents were urged to follow their bushfire survival plans.

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Mothercare gift cards not redeemable

NSW Fair Trading says Mothercare customers should contact the store of purchase if they are worried about losing orders or being left with now-worthless gift cards.

The baby clothing and accessories company went into voluntary administration on January 29.

Administrators BRI Ferrier says trading will continue but unprofitable stores will close.

The closure has prompted concern about gift cards, deposits and orders from customers.

In a statement on Monday, Fair Trading said gift cards and credit notes could no longer be redeemed.

"Mothercare and Early Learning Centre gift cards and credit notes cannot currently be redeemed," it said.

However customers should keep gift cards and credit notes until a final decision "about this area of the business" is made.

Mothercare was also "working on obtaining stock for all existing orders and will contact customers once the situation is clearer".

Refunds will not be given on deposits made since January 30.

If customers can't resolve their issues they should contact NSW Fair Trading on 13 32 20.

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Climate change not all bad for fish: study

CORAL reef fisheries will be hurt by climate change in the tropical Pacific, but it could help tuna fishing and freshwater aquaculture thrive.

Pacific Island countries have an "extraordinary dependence" on fisheries and aquaculture, scientists say in a report on how changes to the atmosphere and ocean are likely to affect the food webs, habitats and stocks underpinning fisheries and aquaculture across the region.

"Maintaining the benefits from the sector is a difficult task, now made more complex by climate change," they say in Nature Climate Change on Monday.

"We found winners and losers.

"Tuna are expected to be more abundant in the east, and freshwater aquaculture and fisheries are likely to be more productive.

"Conversely, coral reef fisheries could decrease by 20 per cent by 2050 and coastal aquaculture may be less efficient."

The potential impact on invertebrates is "still poorly understood" but is expected to be more moderate.

The report from Australian and other scientists around the world says the potential benefits to the region from an eastward shift in skipjack tuna should exceed the threats.

They suggest that maintaining livelihoods in the region will require some income-earning activities to switch from coral reef fish to pelagic fish, particularly tuna.

Pelagic fish spend much of their lives in open water away from the bottom.

"Ironically in an archipelagic region, many of the extra jobs are likely to come from farming freshwater fish," the report says

But a potential increase in freshwater fisheries could be negated if industries such as mining, agriculture and logging continue to pollute waterways, raising temperatures.

The onus is on governments, communities and their development partners to implement a range of supporting policies, the scientists say.

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Baby echidnas looking sharp at Perth Zoo

THEY weighed less than a gram when they hatched, but Perth Zoo's two baby echidnas are growing into their spikes.

The baby short-beaked echidnas now tip the scales at more than a kilogram but they have plenty more growing to do and could reach up to 7kg, zoo keepers say.

Babbin and Nyingarn gained world attention late last year as the first young - or puggles - successfully bred from zoo-born echidnas. Their four-year-old mothers, Mila and Chindi, were also born at Perth Zoo.

The puggles spent their first two months in their mothers' pouches before nestling into their nursery burrows and are just starting to venture out to explore their surroundings.

The zoo has 15 echidnas, eight of them born at the facility.

Echidnas have no major predators in the wild due to their spines, but dingoes sometimes eat them.

Perth Zoo Australian fauna supervisor Belinda Turner said on Monday the zoo's successful echidna breeding program was helping experts learn more about echidna behaviour and breeding.

An international echidna workshop is currently being held at Perth Zoo to discuss their reproductive behaviour and increase their breeding success at other zoos.

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Afghan leader alleges US-Taliban collusion

President Hamid Karzai has accused the United States of colluding with the Taliban. Source: AAP

PRESIDENT Hamid Karzai has accused the United States of colluding with the Taliban to justify its presence in Afghanistan, dumbfounding US officials during a problematic visit by the new Pentagon chief.

A joint news conference by Karzai and US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel was cancelled on Sunday, as the Afghan leader's allegations compounded the troubled nature of the visit after a security scare from twin bomb attacks on Saturday.

"The bombs that were detonated in Kabul and Khost were not a show of force, they were serving America," Karzai said in a televised speech, referring to the two suicide blasts in which 19 people were killed.

The president said the United States was in "daily" talks with the Taliban and that insurgent suicide attacks enabled the international military force to vindicate its deployment in Afghanistan.

"It is their slogan for 2014, scaring us that if the US is not here our people will be eliminated," he said, as US-led combat troops begin a long withdrawal after more than a decade of war.

Karzai, who has frequently lashed out at perceived US slights through inflammatory language, was angered by a new delay to the planned transfer of the controversial Bagram jail from US to Afghan control.

He is also adamant that his government must be involved in any US-Taliban contacts, although the Islamist militia dismisses him as a US puppet and says no dialogue has taken place with the Americans since a year ago.

Karzai insisted that in "Europe as well as in Gulf countries, the Taliban and the Americans and foreigners are in talks on a daily basis".

The president's news conference with Hagel was scrapped just a few hours before it was due to be held at the presidential palace in Kabul, with US officials citing unspecified security concerns.

The Pentagon chief, on his first official visit to Afghanistan after he endured a difficult confirmation process by the US Senate, tried to downplay tensions with Karzai after they met in private.

"He has his ways," Hagel said. "There will be new challenges, there will be new issues. It shouldn't come as a surprise ... but I don't think any of these are challenges that we can't work (our) way through.

"I told the president that it was not true that the United States was unilaterally working with the Taliban," he added. "The fact is any prospect for peace or political settlements, that has to be led by the Afghans."

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Risky WA Nats strategy pays off in spades

BRENDON Grylls is realising his strategy of expanding the Nationals' footprint beyond agriculture into mining in Western Australia.

Almost 63 per cent of counting for the Pilbara seat has been completed, showing Mr Grylls comfortably ahead with 39.43 per cent of valid votes and Labor trailing behind at 30.05 per cent.

Leaving his safe Wheatbelt seat was considered a highly risky move for the man dubbed the "kingmaker" of the 2008 state election.

But his bravery has paid off.

Not only that, the Nationals are likely to retain the balance of power in the upper house.

Mr Grylls himself was not immediately available for comment after his champagne-popping victory on Saturday night, but Nationals WA president Colin Holt was full of praise for the 39-year-old.

"Obviously Brendon as a party leader has taken a large risk but it shows how good a politician and a member he is, and the strategy that he's rolled out, with a fairly comfortable win in a totally new area for the Nationals," Mr Holt told AAP.

"The important part here is for us to continue to deliver for our agricultural constituents. We as a party needed to expand and get into new territory and increase our footprint so we could remain relevant for all regions in WA.

"Brendon Grylls has led that from the front.

"It's been a remarkable strategy and it's paid off."

John Phillimore, executive director of the John Curtin Institute of Public Policy, agreed it was a remarkable effort and very successful strategy by Mr Grylls.

"Clearly, it was a very brave move and I can't think of another leader who has ever given up a seat with about a 20 per cent margin to go and fight a marginal seat where you start seven per cent behind," Professor Phillimore said.

It hadn't been a complete triumph for the Nationals, however, with the seat of Warren-Blackwood looking likely to be seized from agriculture and food minister Terry Redman by the Liberals.

A redistribution added the Greens stronghold of Margaret River, where Mr Redman's stance on genetically modified food trials probably upset voters, Prof Phillimore said.

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WA police name victim of shooting murder

POLICE have named the victim of a shooting murder, who was found dead in a Perth park with a gunshot wound to his head.

David Liam Johnson, 32, was found dead on Friday night after reports of a gunshot at Lime Kiln Field in the upmarket suburb of Swanbourne.

A witness said they had heard a gunshot shortly before the body was found.

Police said the victim predominantly used the name Liam Johnson.

The WA Police major crime squad said Mr Johnson was known in the Mandurah and Fremantle areas, but had no fixed address.

Police have called for anyone who drove along, or was in the area of Clement Street, Swanbourne on Friday night to contact Crime stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Callers to Crime Stoppers can remain anonymous.

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Helicopter crash pilot named

POLICE have named a 39-year-old helicopter pilot from Wairarapa, who died after crashing in the central North Island.

Searchers found Mark Duncan Didsbury's body about 50m from the wreckage of the Robinson R-66 helicopter in the Oamaru Valley, near Turangi, about 11.30am on Sunday.

His body was airlifted out later in the day.

The alarm was raised when Mr Didsbury failed to return from a trip to drop off hunters in the area on Saturday.

Searchers located the crash site about 7pm that night.

On Sunday, they returned to search for the pilot aided by a fixed wing aircraft and the Taupo Rescue Helicopter, which winched six police officers and a police dog into the area.

Transport Accident Investigation Commission, which is leading the investigation into the cause of the crash, spent the afternoon at the scene assisted by police.

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China to abolish rail ministry in shake-up

CHINA is to effectively abolish its scandal-plagued railways ministry as part of a sweep of government reforms aimed at tackling inefficiency and corruption, a top official has told parliament.

The changes include bolstering a maritime body as China engages in island disputes with its neighbours, and giving an economic development body more say over the one-child policy as the country faces a shrinking labour pool.

"The administrative system in effect still has many areas not suited to the demands of new circumstances and duties," Ma Kai, secretary general of the State Council, China's cabinet, told the National People's Congress parliament on Sunday at its annual gathering in Beijing, according to a copy of his speech.

Inadequate supervision had led to "work left undone or done messily, abuse of power and corruption," he said, adding that some areas were insufficiently managed while others had "too many cooks in the kitchen".

Analysts, though, expressed doubts about the effectiveness of the moves.

David Goodman, a China politics expert at the University of Sydney, pointed out that reorganisation alone could not stamp out corruption.

"They are very serious reforms," he said, "but they are not going to attack that question of making officials more accountable and more responsible."

Since taking office at the head of the ruling Communist Party in November, China's incoming leadership has issued a barrage of promises to adopt humble ways and fight corruption, while state media have highlighted individual scandals.

But any broad anti-graft measures would require taking on powerful vested interests, and the official news agency Xinhua said the State Council had restructured the government seven times in 30 years.

Beijing will switch control of the railway ministry's administrative functions to the transport ministry and hand its commercial functions to a new China Railway Corporation.

The rail system - which has cost hundreds of billions of dollars - has been one of China's flagship development projects in recent years and the country now boasts the world's largest high-speed network.

But the expansion has seen a series of scandals and widespread allegations of corruption, with former railways minister Liu Zhijun, who was sacked in 2011, now awaiting trial on graft charges.

In July 2011 a high-speed crash in the eastern city of Wenzhou killed at least 40 people, sparking a torrent of public criticism that authorities compromised safety in their rush to expand the network.

Meanwhile, the body that oversees China's one-child policy will be merged with the health ministry to form a new body, and nationwide population policy will now be handled by the National Development and Reform Commission, an economic planner.

The move comes after China saw the first drop in its labour pool in decades - a consequence of the restrictions imposed on families in the late 1970s that now threaten to impact the country's future growth.

But outgoing premier Wen Jiabao told parliament last week that the policy would be maintained this year.

China will also bring its maritime law enforcement bodies under a single organisation, allowing greater co-ordination as the country is embroiled in a bitter row with Japan over disputed islands in the East China Sea.

The State Oceanic Administration, which runs marine surveillance, will take over management of the coastguard from the public security ministry, fisheries patrols from the agriculture ministry, and customs' marine anti-smuggling functions.

Chinese marine surveillance vessels regularly patrol what Beijing says are its waters around the Diaoyu islands, prompting accusations of territorial incursions by Tokyo, which refers to the outcrops as the Senkakus.

Beijing is also at odds with several Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines, over islands in the South China Sea.

In other measures, the State Administration for Food and Drug will be elevated to a "general administration" amid a series of food safety scandals that have generated public concern.

Two censorship bodies, one for print media and the other for broadcast, will be merged.

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