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Mandela's remains transferred to air base

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 14 Desember 2013 | 15.02

THE remains of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela have been transferred to Waterkloof air base for a farewell from the African National Congress.

The military handed over Mandela's flag-draped coffin to the African National Congress (ANC) at a solemn ceremony broadcast live on South African television.

The remains were to be returned to military control later on Saturday.

It will then be flown to the Eastern Cape in preparation for Mandela's funeral the following day.

Mandela's casket is expected to arrive on Saturday afternoon and to be greeted by a full military ceremony.

The late president died just over a week ago at age 95.

His body lay in state for three days this week, drawing huge crowds of South Africans who mourned his death and celebrated his successful struggle against apartheid.


15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Teen charged for assaulting police

A TEENAGE driver who allegedly assaulted a police officer after he was caught doing burnouts in Sydney's west has been charged.

The off-duty officer suffered torn ligaments and a fracture to his right foot after fighting with the 17-year-old boy, police say.

A scuffle had broken out when the officer saw the teenager and his mate laying rubber on a street in The Ponds on Wednesday.

He began recording details but the teenager and a friend confronted the officer.

The driver was then arrested and allegedly assaulted the officer before running.

On Friday night the boy was found, arrested and charged with assaulting police occasioning actual bodily harm and resisting arrest.

Bail was refused and he's due before Parramatta Children's Court on Saturday.


15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Severe storm warning for wind and hail

ANOTHER round of severe thunderstorms is set to pummel the southeast.

The weather bureau issued a severe thunderstorm warning after storms were detected over the Scenic Rim region near Mount Barney, Laravale and Kooralbyn.

The southeast Queensland warning said damaging winds and large hailstones are likely.

Forecasters from the Bureau of Meteorology said the thunderstorms were moving in a northerly direction, with Brisbane, Ipswich and the Gold Coast put on alert.

The storms are predicted to hit Beaudesert about 5.30pm.

More to come.
 

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services advises that people should:
* Move your car under cover or away from trees.
* Secure loose outdoor items.
* Seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees.
* Avoid using the telephone during a thunderstorm.
* Beware of fallen trees and powerlines.
* For emergency assistance contact the SES on 132 500.
 


15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sydney road and railway line reopen

A MAIN road and part of a railway line that were shut after a train malfunction on a level crossing in Sydney's northwest have reopened.

Garfield Road at Riverstone and the T1 western railway line between Mulgrave and Quakers Hill station are open but the Transport Management Centre says delays could still occur on trains in the area.

No delays are expected on local roads.

Supplementary buses are running and users of public transport are being asked to allow extra travel time.


15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Coleman keen to clinch an overseas deal

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 13 Desember 2013 | 15.03

WOODSIDE Petroleum boss Peter Coleman would love to pull off a big overseas deal and set his company up for years of strong growth.

But this week's announcement that the oil and gas giant will defer a $1.25 billion investment in Israel isn't going to get him to that point anytime soon.

The well-touted Leviathan LNG project in the Mediterranean Sea is getting increasingly complicated, as a series of regulatory delays and problems with its joint venture partners force the company to tread carefully.

Some believe Woodside should concentrate on what it knows best - delivering low cost LNG from offshore gas fields in Western Australia.

But Mr Coleman has larger growth aspirations.

This week he said Woodside would wait another two months before committing to a 30 per cent stake in the Leviathan project with US-based firm Noble Energy.

That's more than a year after he announced the project.

"We're not in it to do a deal for a deal," Mr Coleman told analysts.

"It needs to be a compelling value case given the amount of investment involved in the decision."

Some analysts have highlighted the geopolitical risks involved and questioned the viability of exporting gas from Israel which is grappling with its own gas reservation policy and tax regime.

Late last year Woodside said it planned to stump up $1.4 billion for Leviathan, a decision which was based entirely on a Tzemach advisory panel report.

The Tzemach report recommended Israel export just over half of its gas, but it sparked outrage among Israelis who want most of the gas reserved for domestic purposes.

Mr Coleman said the new Israeli government had given Woodside assurances around LNG export volumes.

Further legal challenges could create more uncertainty.

It comes as Woodside awaits the outcome of a review into Israeli tax law relating to LNG and pipeline exports which is due to be released in early February.

In addition, joint venture partners are reportedly talking about building a pipeline into Turkey.

For all of the "moving parts" involved in doing business in the Middle East, Mr Coleman remains upbeat but cautious ahead of committing shareholder funds.

"There's still an opportunity for Woodside to create significant value within the joint venture, but first and foremost we are focused on ensuring that we have a commercial outcome that delivers value to us," he says.

He has previously said the company would prefer to give money back to shareholders if a project doesn't stack up.

"We have other options that we're also pursuing and in this case we're ensuring that whatever we do, if we do enter into this joint venture, it's done in a way that's a commercially sensible outcome for all of us."

Woodside's overall estimated investment expenditure for 2013 has dropped to $US1.1 billion ($A1.21 billion) from the previous guidance of $US2.3 billion ($A2.53 billion) due to the deferral of expected expenditure on Leviathan.

Total investment expenditure in 2014 is expected to be between approximately $US2.0 billion ($A2.25 billion) and $US2.4 billion ($A2.70 billion).

It comes as Mr Coleman was this week quizzed about Woodside's stalled Sunrise project in the wake of the East Timor spy scandal, and a fortnight after Mr Coleman completed a trip to Japan where he began marketing gas from the proposed Browse floating LNG project in north Western Australia.

He would not reveal details of recent price negotiations, but indicated the company was in a strong position in Japan as the nation struggles to secure energy after the Fukushima nuclear accident.

Woodside spent more than $1 billion on the controversial Browse onshore proposal near Broome but abandoned it after widespread community opposition, citing higher costs.

The risks of outlaying a similar amount will be in the front of Mr Coleman's mind next year as Woodside crunches the numbers on Leviathan, factoring in a substantially weaker Australian dollar.

Around this time the company is due to open an office in Myanmar as it continues exploring in New Zealand, Ireland and WA.


15.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Asylum seeker baby seeks citizenship

Lawyers for an asylum-seeker family have lodged a citizenship application for their newborn baby. Source: AAP

LAWYERS for an asylum-seeker family have lodged a citizenship application for their sick baby, who was born in Australia.

Baby Ferouz was born in a Brisbane hospital in November after his mother, father and two siblings were transferred there from the Nauru detention centre.

The family, who come from Myanmar (Burma), have been fighting against being returned to Nauru because Ferouz, who was born early, and his mother, who has diabetes, are still weak.

Earlier this month, the law firm acting for the family applied for a protection visa for the newborn.

On Friday, the firm said it had lodged a citizenship application for the child.

"Ferouz was born in Brisbane. He has a Queensland birth certificate and there is no other country where he has a right to citizenship," Maurice Blackburn associate Murray Watt said in a statement.

He said Ferouz's family was from the persecuted Rohingya minority group in Myanmar, and the government there does not recognise them as citizens.

"Only last month, the government of Myanmar rejected a United Nations resolution urging it to grant citizenship to the Rohingya," Mr Watt said.

"In these circumstances, the law is clear that baby Ferouz is entitled to Australian citizenship, and therefore to remain in Australia permanently."

He again called on Immigration Minister Scott Morrison to show some compassion and allow the family to remain in Australia.

Mr Watt said the protection visa lodged for the baby last week was still being considered by the government.

Comment from Mr Morrison has been sought.


15.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ranger clean-up ignores traditional owners

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 12 Desember 2013 | 15.02

ABORIGINAL traditional owners have been left off a taskforce convened by the government to investigate a massive leak of uranium and acid at the Ranger mine in Kakadu National Park.

At 1am on Saturday a leach tank with a capacity of about 1.5 million litres collapsed, spilling out a mixture of uranium, sulphuric acid, and mud at the mine site, which has operated for 30 years inside the boundaries of one of Australia's largest protected areas.

The federal government suspended operations at the mine and has formed a taskforce with regulators and the mine operators to respond to the incident, but traditional owners have not been invited to participate, says David Vadiveloo, acting CEO of the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation (GAC), which advocates on the behalf of the Mirarr people.

He told AAP the lack of an invitation to play a role "goes to the heart of our calls for the desperate need for independent oversight of that mine".

"The regulatory procedures are just as archaic as the mine," he said.

"We're calling for a change in the way the business is run - in fact, we're demanding it, because there cannot be ongoing operations in that area that ignore the rightful participation and input of the traditional owners."

He said the Mirarr people are frustrated and tired with the lack of scrutiny of the mine's operations.

There have been more than 200 incidents and breaches at Ranger since it began operating, with three in the last month alone.

"Traditional owners have done everything they possibly can to talk to the miner to improve relations, yet this is how they get treated when an accident of this magnitude occurs on their land," Mr Vadiveloo said.

Mine operator Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) allowed regulators and GAC to inspect the site on Thursday, and has released a community information sheet advising that the slurry has been completely contained on site, with no impact on the surrounding environment.

But an on-site GAC representative says radiation testing is still being carried out, with a large volume of contaminated material sitting on the ground outside the contaminated area.

Mr Vadiveloo said he was "stunned" to see ERA reassuring the community before testing was complete.

"Through good fortune - clearly not good planning - it hasn't rained here since the accident, but what would ERA have done had the skies opened up and a huge dump of rain come in?"

Traditional owners did not feel safe on their own land, he said.

"Frankly, we are not reassured by anything they're saying at the moment, and we're certainly not reassured by testing results and data feedback from their officers and the officers of government regulators."

GAC is calling for a fully independent review of the leak, along with a full audit of operations at Ranger.


15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Vic ALP elects new shadow cabinet members

THE Victorian Labor party has elected two new members to its shadow cabinet.

Albert Park MP Martin Foley and Williamstown MP Wade Noonan were elected during a meeting of the state parliamentary Labor Party on Thursday afternoon.

"I look forward to both Martin and Wade playing an important role in the shadow cabinet as we prepare for the 2014 state election," Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews said in a statement.

The move follows resignations from several Labor MPs who have announced they won't contest the election, including high-profile former government ministers Justin Madden and John Lenders.

Portfolios will be announced in due course, Mr Andrews said.


15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

PM Abbott hosts his first COAG

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott will use his first meeting with state premiers and chief ministers to start the groundwork for delivering the coalition's paid parental leave scheme.

Mr Abbott will host his first Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting at Parliament House in Canberra on Friday.

The coalition promised at the election to roll out a scheme to pay mothers who give birth after July 2015 up to half their annual salary for 26 weeks, capped at a salary of $150,000 a year.

COAG will discuss how the plan, costing $5.5 billion a year, will fit in with existing state public sector parental leave schemes.

Mr Abbott said during the election campaign there would be no extra cost to state governments and the national scheme would be an improvement to existing state schemes.

However, he said he wanted to have an "adult discussion" with the premiers about its details.

The scheme is to be paid for by a levy on Australia's largest businesses.

COAG will also discuss ways to fast-track and fund major infrastructure and boost jobs in manufacturing.

The manufacturing talks had been scheduled well before the announcement of Holden ceasing car production from 2017, but is now expected to take greater prominence.

Mr Abbott will talk to the premiers about his plans for a white paper on reform of federal-state relations.

The prime minister said in a speech when he was opposition leader that COAG had become "a talk shop, not a decision-making process" and the roles of the federal, state and territory governments needed to be better defined.


15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Govt promises no cuts to Defence

DEFENCE Minister David Johnston is promising to stabilise the nation's defence budget, but refuses to say when the government will start lifting spending.

Senator Johnston said on Thursday he'd inherited a "shambolic state of finances" when he took over as minister following the coalition's September election victory over Labor.

He said a lack of funds made it difficult to provide an emergency response to Typhoon Haiyan, which devastated islands in the Philippines in early November, killing thousands.

"What I have been confronted with as a new minister has been an absolutely shambolic state of finances," Senator Johnston told parliament.

"It is almost a modern miracle that when Typhoon Haiyan went through the Philippines, we were able to field two C-17s, a C1-30 and turn HMAS Tobruk around to deal with it.

"These are the sorts of things we are finding almost impossible to do because the resourcing of this portfolio has been plundered by the Labor Party for the last six years."

Senator Johnston said Labor had cut defence funding by $16 billion over four years.

Opposition defence spokesman Stephen Conroy used question time to ask Senator Johnson if he would stand by his election promise to lift overall defence funding.

"First of all, there will be no further cuts, no further cuts to the defence budget," Senator Johnston said in reply.

"We will firstly thereafter steady the ship."

The coalition has promised to lift defence spending by 1.6 per cent of gross domestic product to two per cent over the budget estimates.


15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More
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