Jockey Nikolic toe-to-toe with cop

A SENIOR police officer says he sat frozen in shock as jockey Danny Nikolic stood toe-to-toe abusing one of his colleagues in a Melbourne police station.

Nikolic is charged with assaulting Detective Senior Constable Julio Salerno after an official interview at St Kilda police station in March 2011.

Sergeant Dave Eadie told the Melbourne Magistrates Court Nikolic had participated willingly in the interview but became agitated after having a short conversation with Det Sen Const Salerno after the recording devices were switched off.

"Nikolic said he wasn't happy with Julio Salerno being present," Sgt Eadie told the court.

"He told him 'get the f*** out of here, I'm not speaking with you'."

Sgt Eadie said the two men stood up and their foreheads were touching and Nikolic was red in the face.

Det Sen Const Salerno pushed Nikolic back into his chair but the jockey immediately bounced back to his feet and continued the confrontation.

The court heard they again stood with their foreheads touching with Nikolic goading the officer urging him to "have a go".

"I sat there and froze, it was behaviour that shocked me," Sgt Eadie said.

Nikolic had come to the police station to be questioned about other matters, including an alleged assault on fellow jockey Mark Pegus with which he was duly charged.

Both assault charges are being heard by Magistrate Angela Bolger.

Pegus claims Nikolic, who is banned from riding after making threats against Victoria's chief racing steward, assaulted him at the Caulfield stables of trainer Byron Cozamanis in January 2011.

But he says he only reported the incident after Nikolic allegedly assaulted his girlfriend two months later.

Pegus told the court an altercation between the two began with a phone call in which Nikolic accused him of spreading rumours about his brother. It continued the next morning when the two arrived at the stable to ride trackwork.

In the belief that they were going to discuss their differences, Pegus said he followed Nikolic into the stable office where things turned violent.

"As I walked in Danny flew at me and started throwing punches," he told the court.

Det Sen Const Salerno is due to give evidence in the contested hearing on Friday.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Qld cop living 'worst nightmare': Stewart

A QUEENSLAND cop who shot dead a man wielding a machete at the scene of a double murder was living "every police officers' worst nightmare".

The officer and another officer found the bodies of a man and a woman, both aged 43, after being called to a Coolum Beach property.

He shot the machete wielding man, 42, who later died in hospital.

It is believed the homicide victims are a local couple and the alleged assailant was the man's brother, but police would not confirm it.

Queensland Police Union President Ian Leavers said the officer who used deadly force did what he had to do to protect his own life.

"Things unfolded extremely quickly," Mr Leavers told AAP.

"The police officer had no other option and in instances like this, you would only use a firearm to defend your life and we support the police officers involved."

Mr Leavers described the officer as a well-respected family man who had more than 10 years experience in the service.

Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said as the man was armed it seemed the officer had acted appropriately, but he would still be tormented by his actions.

"This is every police officers' worst nightmare," Mr Stewart said.

"Every time they go to a call like this, they just don't know what they're going to confront.

"My heart goes out for them for what they had to face."

Mr Stewart said the man died on the 10th anniversary of slain Caboolture cop Senior Sergeant Perry Irwin's death.

It made the events overnight even more poignant, particularly given they began in similar circumstances, he said.

The Ethical Standards Command has interviewed both officers. The coroner would also investigate.

Yandina-Coolum Road, where the incident occurred, was closed for most of Thursday as police carried out their investigations.

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman said parliament's thoughts and prayers were with the family of the victims and the two officers involved.

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Fortescue to start paying back debt

FORTESCUE Metals Group has turned the corner, notching up a 12 per cent increase in annual profit as it prepares to make its first major debt repayment.

The heavily indebted iron ore miner has grown annual profit by $1.75 billion on the back of higher iron or prices and strong steel demand, prompting the board to declare a better than expected dividend.

But the improved cash position has led analysts to question why the company needs to push ahead with the partial sale of its port and rail assets before repaying some of its $10 billion debt.

Chief executive Nev Power said now was a good time to increase the dividend to 10 cents per share, up from four cents at the same time last year.

"We felt the dividend was right on the mark," Mr Power told analysts on Thursday.

"It reflects the strong performance that we've had."

It comes as Fortescue approaches the end of its major expansion while the iron price hovers around $US140 per tonne.

"It also reflects the fact that we didn't pay an interim dividend," Mr Power said.

Fortescue's cash balance of $US2.2 billion ($A2.46 billion) at June 30 reflected a rapid decrease in capital expenditure, and effectively commenced the company's debt reduction program, he said.

The company said it's likely to begin paying hundreds of millions of dollars off its debt this calendar year.

The 155 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) production run rate was expected to be achieved by the end of December 2013, following the commissioning of Kings mine, the company said.

Fortescue added that its proposed sale of a minority share in The Pilbara Infrastructure, its rail assets in the Pilbara, would only be undertaken at the right price and under the right terms.

"We haven't had anybody meet our expectations in terms of value and terms," Mr Power said. The company would continue with non-core assets sales, he said.

Morningstar resources analyst Mathew Hodge said the strong result was not a surprise given the favourable iron ore price in the second half and a seven per cent boost in first half Chinese steel production.

"I would argue those kind of growth rates are completely unsustainable," Mr Hodge said.

Mr Hodge expects the iron ore price to fall as demand slows and large amounts of iron ore come to market.

"If the iron ore price goes back to $US100 the complexion of this company changes completely," he said.

Fortescue shares were up 16 cents, or 3.9 per cent, at $4.25 at 1600 AEST.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Man found not guilty of Sydney teen murder

A MAN charged with murdering a teenage boy during a violent home invasion in Sydney's west has been found not guilty.

Guy Michael Carroll, 23, pleaded not guilty to four charges, including murdering 17-year-old Devril Leuthwaite, shooting his older brother Robert Leuthwaite and wounding their father, Robert Leuthwaite Senior, during a robbery of their western Sydney home in August 2010.

Following less than a day of deliberations, a jury found Carroll not guilty of all offences at the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday.

The crown alleged Carroll went to the Leuthwaite's home with Gavin Bell and Gary Markham to steal money and drugs.

As Markham waited outside, the crown alleged Carroll and Bell - armed with a rifle and shotgun - burst into the home wearing balaclavas.

Crown prosecutor Peter McGrath said the brothers managed to get Carroll and Bell out of the house and on to the front veranda.

It was here, the court heard, the teen was shot by Bell.

During the trial, which started last month, Robert Leuthwaite's girlfriend, Amy O'Neill told the court that she and her boyfriend were watching TV in their bedroom when two men wearing ski masks burst through the door.

A neighbour, Graham Thomas, told the trial he heard a number of bangs that night before he went outside to investigate.

"I could see one man with a gun in his hand pointing it at (Devril) and sparks coming out of the front of the gun."

He said he heard Devril crying, "Stop shooting me".

But Carroll's defence barrister Philip Strickland SC said there was no forensic evidence or positive identifications that could link Carroll to the scene.

He argued that the entire crown case rested on Markham, who initially lied about his involvement.

Markham was sentenced in 2012 for his part in the invasion after pleading guilty to manslaughter and two other charges.

In exchange for giving evidence against Carroll, he was handed a lesser sentence of six years.

Bell, who has pleaded guilty for his part in the invasion, will appear in court later this month.

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Chinese tourists more independent: survey

CHINESE tourists are more independent, with more choosing solo adventures over travelling in groups, a survey shows.

Results of the Chinese International Travel Monitor (CITM) survey, released on Wednesday, found nearly two thirds of the 3000 Chinese polled preferred to travel independently.

While 70 per cent of the 1500 hoteliers surveyed said they'd noticed a rise in the number of Chinese travelling on their own.

Chinese tourists were more confident and were able to understand and speak English better than five years ago, hotel owners said.

"Increasingly, we are seeing travellers from China looking to create their own tailor-made itineraries," Tourism Australia (TA) boss Andrew McEvoy said.

"China is the single most important market for Australian tourism to achieve its long-term plans for growth."

TA recently launched a Chinese version of its website tailored to that country's preferred Australian travel experiences.

The CITM survey also revealed Chinese tourists want more hotels to accept Chinese payment methods.

They also want translated TV shows, newspapers and magazines and would like hotel owners to hire more Madarin speaking staff.

Johan Svanstrom, boss of Hotels.com which carried out the survey, said growth in the Chinese market appeared to be outstripping the pace of change in the hotel industry.

About a quarter of hoteliers said they offered cultural awareness training to staff and just one in 10 had welcome signs and entertainment in Mandarin.

"Hoteliers are making positive steps towards catering to an increasingly mobile and savvy Chinese travel market," Mr Svanstrom said.

"But the global hotel industry needs to adapt facilities and services to cater to the world's largest market of travellers."

About one in 10 tourists to Australia now come from China.

The number of Chinese heading Down Under has almost tripled over the past decade, with more than 630,000 arriving in Australia last year.

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Tas forests cash to flow, deal or no deal

THE federal government is being accused of pulling the rug from under the Tasmanian forest peace deal by promising the cash regardless of the environmental gains.

Federal minister Julie Collins says $100 million which was to be paid once the agreement was finalised will now flow whether or not the state's upper house enables it.

In return for the cash, 500,000 hectares of forest was to be protected.

The money will go to around 30 job-creating projects in an attempt to diversify Tasmania's economy following the decline of the forestry industry.

It was to be the carrot used to ensure a reluctant Legislative Council rubber-stamped the historic deal between environmentalists and the timber industry that took nearly three years to negotiate.

The upper house passed legislation in April but with the proviso the agreement was shown to be workable by October.

But already one MLC has tabled a disallowance motion, adjourning the debate so the government can explain problems with the agreement's implementation, including a lack of wood supply.

Coalition leader Tony Abbott has signalled he will not stop the $100 million being spent, even though he and the state's Liberal opposition say they will tear up the agreement.

Greens leader Christine Milne reacted furiously to the apparent move by Labor to match Mr Abbott.

"Today we see federal Labor's final betrayal in their promise to ensure long-term forest conservation in Tasmania," Senator Milne said in a statement.

"As always the industry has had tens of millions poured into it while the state-based conservation outcomes hang in limbo."

The state Liberals described the ALP move as a back-down.

"Today's decision confirms that Labor has been trying to blackmail the community into accepting the forestry deal," spokesman Peter Gutwein said.

"Tasmania is entitled to its fair share of regional development funding and the funding should never have been made contingent on shutting down the forestry industry."

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Heineken profits fall

Dutch brewing company Heineken has reported a 17 per cent fall in first half profits. Source: AAP

HEINEKEN NV says first half earnings fell 17 per cent because of bad weather, weak 'consumer sentiment' in Europe and the United States, and slowing growth in developing countries.

Net profit at the world's third-largest brewer was $US639 million euros ($A709 million), from 766 million euros a year ago. Revenues rose 3 per cent to 10.4 billion euros, but that was due to Heineken's takeover of Asian Pacific Breweries, the maker of Tiger beer.

Heineken bought the 58 per cent stake in APB it didn't already own for 4.8 billion euros last year.

Otherwise, sales would have fallen by 1 per cent, with prices slightly higher but volumes down 3 per cent.

Chief executive Jean Francois van Boxmeer said Wednesday the outlook for the second half is similar. The company plans to keep cutting costs.

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McGurk killer planned to take rat poison

AFTER murdering debt collector Michael McGurk, hitman Haissam Safetli says he planned to confess to "everything" then take rat poison in a bathroom.

Safetli was sentenced to at least six-and-a-half years in jail earlier this month for the murder of Mr McGurk, who was shot outside his Cremorne home in Sydney's north on September 3, 2009.

During his first day of giving evidence at the committal hearing of his co-accused, property developer Ron Medich and alleged triggerman Christopher Estephan, Safetli said that in the weeks before his October 2010 arrest he planned to go to the NSW Crime Commission and take the rap.

"I was going to go down to the Crime Commission and take responsibility for everything and say I did everything and no one else was involved," he told Central Local Court on Wednesday.

"And then I would ask to go to the bathroom and take rat poison."

Estephan's barrister Gregory Farmer SC put to Safetli that he had in fact gone to police with the view of minimising his role in the murder.

"No not really," Safetli replied.

His response prompted an outburst from a member of the gallery, who shouted: "Yes you did, you shot him you piece of s***".

As the man was pulled from the court by a sheriff, he yelled, "you set up a 19-year-old boy for the murder".

Like his co-offenders Lucky Gattellari and Senad Kaminic, Safetli has received a heavy discount on his prison term for giving evidence against Medich and Estephan.

The crown alleges that Medich, embroiled in several legal disputes with Mr McGurk, conscripted Gattellari to kill him.

Safetli says he and Estephan, then 19, went to Mr McGurk's home and the teenager fired the fatal shot.

During the hearing, Safetli told the court that Estephan was one of four men he had approached to help carry out the hit on Mr McGurk.

As Gattellari continued to place pressure on him, Safetli said he felt "stuck" and "had no choice".

"You were walking around asking anyone you met if they could do the job," Mr Farmer put to him.

"Don't make it sound like I had an ad in the trading post," Safetli replied.

The hearing continues before Magistrate Jan Stevenson.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Labor, coalition launch in Brisbane

LABOR and the coalition will both launch their federal election campaigns in Brisbane.

The coalition launch is scheduled for this Sunday in the Queensland capital.

Labor's launch will follow on September 1, heading into the final week of the campaign.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's home city of Brisbane also hosted the two major party launches during the 2010 election campaign.

The coalition launch's program is still being finalised, but it is understood Queensland premier Campbell Newman has been invited.

Mr Newman has been the target of a Labor attack calling his public sector job cuts the "entree" to Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's "main course" of federal budget cuts.

Mr Abbott has promised a commission of audit similar to that run in Queensland after the Liberal National Party's landslide victory in 2012.

The Labor event will be the first time a major party leader has launched a national campaign in his own electorate.

Mr Rudd attended the low-key Labor launch in 2010, but did not play a role.

Former prime minister Bob Hawke introduced Julia Gillard to the party faithful, having ousted Mr Rudd less than two months earlier.

The coalition's 2010 launch was a set-piece event, marred only by a streaker protesting the treatment of refugees.

Queensland is the key to Labor's chances of retaining office.

It has 30 lower house seats, half of which are held with margins of five per cent or lower.

Labor holds only eight of these seats and must pick up a swag of others if it is to have any chance of winning on September 7.

15.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Aussie shares dip on US stimulus thoughts

AUSTRALIAN shares have slipped as speculation about a winding back of US stimulus weighed on resource stocks.

Materials stocks were among the worse performers on Tuesday, with the mining giants losing more than the overall market's 0.7 per cent decline.

BHP Billiton lost 50 cents, or 1.35 per cent, to $36.54 as Rio Tinto ditched 63 cents to $59.51.

After the local market closed, BHP announced a 29.5 per cent fall in full-year net profit to $US10.9 billion ($A12.03 billion).

Speculation about a tapering of US Federal Reserve stimulus measures also buffeted Asian equity markets, and caused the Indian rupee to hit an all-time low against the greenback.

"It's a story of emerging market weakness, basically," IG markets strategist Chris Weston said.

The big four banks had mixed fortunes, with National Australia Bank gaining 21 cents to $31.57 after posting a $1.7 billion net profit for the three months to June.

ANZ was also up, adding 12 cents at $29.56, but Commonwealth Bank was down 88 cents at $70.27, and Westpac shed 43 cents at $31.14.

Investors appeared to overlook minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) August meeting, where members agreed the possibility of closing off more rate cuts should be considered.

"These minutes were stale," Mr Weston said.

Meanwhile, QBE Insurance Group shares lost 93 cents, or 5.46 per cent, to $16.10 after posting a 37 per cent fall in half-year net profit to $US477 million ($A526.29 million), following a fall in demand for US mortgage insurance.

KEY FACTS

* At 1615 AEST on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 34.3 points, or 0.67 per cent, at 5,078.2 points.

* The broader All Ordinaries index was 33.5 points lower, or 0.66 per cent, at 5,068.8 points.

* The September share price index futures contract was down 30 points at 5058 points, with 24,195 contracts traded.

* The spot price of gold in Sydney finished at $US1358.85, down $US14.45 from $US1373.30 on Monday.

* National turnover was 1.7 billion securities worth $4.5 billion.

15.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Vic parly to fill vacant Senate post

THE Victorian parliament is expected to hold a joint sitting on Wednesday to fill the vacancy left by Senator David Feeney.

He formally resigned from the Senate last week to run in the safe Labor lower house seat of Batman, vacated by retiring former minister Martin Ferguson.

The Victorian parliament is expected to hold a joint sitting at 6.15pm (AEST) on Wednesday to replace Mr Feeney with Mehmet Tillem.

Mr Tillem will become the first Turkish-born Australian member of parliament.

He will fill the casual Senate vacancy until July 2014, when Mr Feeney's term of office was due to expire.

15.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Aust ferry owner faces mass charges in PNG

AAP Papua New Guinea Correspondent

PORT MORESBY, Aug 20 AAP - An Australian expat is facing as many as 162 charges of manslaughter following an investigation into last year's sinking of the Rabaul Queen.

Peter Sharp, who owned the ferry when it sank in rough weather off Lae in February 2012, was arrested on Tuesday afternoon in Rabaul, in PNG's East New Britain province.

PNG radio station Legend FM is quoting police as saying Mr Sharp was charged on Tuesday afternoon with 162 counts of manslaughter and one count of operating an unseaworthy vessel.

He is also being charged with negligence.

When contacted by AAP, police would only confirm Mr Sharp was being interviewed.

"He is facing charges," assistant commissioner Anton Billie told AAP.

"The men are interviewing him now."

The exact death toll from the disaster is unknown because Mr Sharp's company, Rabaul Shipping, did not have a complete passenger manifest.

There were as many as 350 people aboard the ferry when it sank.

An official inquiry found the ferry was unsafe, overloaded and should not have been at sea.

Mr Sharp is expected to appear in court on Wednesday.

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NSW cyclist dies after being hit by truck

A CYCLIST has died after he was hit by a truck and became trapped underneath it in Newcastle.

The truck collided with the 36-year-old man on Minmi Road at Wallsend just after 8am (AEST) on Sunday morning.

Emergency services were called but the man died at the scene.

The truck driver was not hurt.

Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.

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Our robot future on display in Brisbane

Robot farming is just one possibility that was on display at the robot convention in Queensland. Source: AAP

SWARMS of robots tend to crops in central Queensland.

A robotic clone hosts a lecture at a Brisbane university for his master, who is more than 7000km away in Japan.

A band plays while flying robots light up the sky around them.

This isn't the future. It's Robotronica - a futuristic event held at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane on Sunday.

QUT creative director Jonathan Parsons says the event doesn't just showcase future possibilities, but highlights how advanced robotics presently is.

"We tend to use the term robots when it's something a bit alien or strange, but in the '50s dishwashers were robots, but we don't refer to them as that anymore," he told AAP.

"Now their completely part of the fabric of our society and one day, all these things will be too."

Swarm Farm Robotics Director Andrew Bate says his project is the future of agriculture.

One his farm near Emerald in central Queensland, Mr Bates is developing small tractors that will operate unmanned with others in a swarm, to replace the bulky, expensive models currently used.

"We keep getting bigger and bigger, but now the focus is on being smaller and more efficient," Mr Bate said.

"It's better for the soil and it's far more cost effective."

The star of the show was Geminoid, a robotic "clone" of his creator, Japanese roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro.

Geminoid, who blinks and has other subconscious human traits, had his crowd entranced when he re-presented a lecture his creator did at QUT just days before.

Robotics workshops and a gig from Brisbane pop group 7-Bit Hero, who incorporate smart phone gaming with their live show, was also featured at the event.

15.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

PNG committed to boat deal: Rudd

Kevin Rudd insists Papua New Guinea is committed to his hardline asylum seeker resettlement plan. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIA and Papua New Guinea stand by their agreement that asylum seekers arriving by boat will be sent to PNG for processing and eventual settlement, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says.

Mr Rudd was queried on Sunday about the deal, signed on July 19, after PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill told Fairfax Media he had not agreed to settle all asylum seekers processed on Manus Island and found to be genuine refugees.

Mr O'Neill was reported as saying Australia would need to take back a share of them.

Mr Rudd said his PNG counterpart was simply reaffirming the conditions of their deal.

"These are all contained and outlined in absolute detail in the agreement that we reached with Papua New Guinea," he told reporters in Sydney.

"He stands by that, I stand by it and frankly, it's there in black and white."

On Saturday night, Mr O'Neill said PNG was "100 per cent committed" to the deal.

"People who are found to be refugees ... will be settled in Papua New Guinea and other participating countries in the region," he said in short statement.

"They will not be returned to Australia under the agreement."

Meanwhile, Immigration Minister Tony Burke says media reports that people smugglers are now offering to fly asylum seekers to Australia show Labor's hardline policies are discouraging people from taking dangerous boat journeys.

Some asylum seekers in Indonesia are apparently being told they can fly to Australia on fake tourist visas to sidestep the Rudd government's Pacific resettlement policy.

"This is just another desperate measure from people smugglers realising that the game's up," Mr Burke told reporters in Sydney.

Mr Burke denied flying was a loophole available to asylum seekers trying to reach Australia.

"If they could have gotten away with this they would have tried it years ago," he said.

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison also sought to downplay the report.

"We have very strong controls on who can get on planes and who can get into the country," he told ABC television.

"That's why people get on boats and pay people smugglers many times over what they would pay to get on an airplane to come to Australia."

15.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Fears for 3yo girl's missing NSW parents

SHE is a pre-schooler whose name is Monique or Nikki.

But that's all the little girl, who is aged about three, has been able to tell police after she was found wandering along a street at Springfield on the NSW Central Coast about 10am (AEST) on Sunday.

By Sunday evening, fears were growing for the welfare of her parents, who have not yet come forward to claim her.

Police officers spent the day canvassing the local area, but no one was able to shed light on the child's identity.

A photo of Monique went viral on the NSW Police Facebook page, garnering 167,000 views in just a few hours, a police spokesman told AAP.

The little girl is described as having shoulder-length blonde hair, green eyes and pierced ears.

She was wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt bearing the logo 'CUTE', pink three-quarter-length pants and pink slip-on shoes when she was found.

The Department of Family and Community Services (FACS) has been alerted.

15.03 | 0 komentar | Read More