Schools funding momentum builds

Kevin Rudd (L) can't understand why the NT government is walking away from extra school funding. Source: AAP

MOMENTUM is building on education reform with independent schools the latest to agree to the federal government's funding plan ahead of the sign-up deadline.

While independent and Catholic schools are covered in the legislation for the new funding system, based on the Gonski recommendations, on Wednesday the Independent Schools Council of Australia (ISCA) and the Commonwealth reached formal agreement.

ISCA executive director Bill Daniels said considerable progress had been made over the past couple of weeks to address the sector's concerns.

"ISCA has always been concerned with the impact of the new funding model at the individual school level," Mr Daniels said on Wednesday.

"To its credit, the government has acknowledged these concerns and constructively worked with the sector to seek solutions."

Education Minister Bill Shorten said the deal meant independent schools would get about $625 million extra from the commonwealth over the next six years.

Another $190 million will flow from the NSW, ACT, South Australian and Tasmanian governments for independent schools in those states.

If all state and territory governments sign up, independent schools will gain more than $1 billion by 2019.

The government has given ISCA its latest funding calculator and modelling so individual schools can work out how much money they'll get in 2014.

"The independent schools have had a look at what this government's done ... and they have put up their hand and said we want to do a deal with you," Mr Shorten told reporters in Melbourne.

However opposition education spokesman Christopher Pyne said the announcement was pure farce because all private schools were effectively signed up to the new funding model when the legislation passed parliament in June.

"Far from being historic, what we saw on display was typical Rudd over-promising and under-delivering," he said.

The independent sector agreement comes a day after Tasmania became the fourth jurisdiction to sign on to the plan.

Negotiations continue with Victoria, Queensland, Northern Territory, Western Australia and the Catholic sector.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Wednesday accused the NT government of "stonewalling" on negotiations for their signing up.

"I don't know what's going on up here but in previous times if a prime minister of Australia came to Darwin and said 'I want to invest $300 million in your schools' they would take probably about 45 seconds to get an immediate and positive response," he told reporters in Darwin.

Victorian premier Denis Napthine said the federal government was "playing ducks and drakes" during negotiations, despite Mr Shorten insisting talks with that state continued to be constructive.

Dr Napthine said his state wouldn't back down from its demand of $7 billion in federal funding, almost triple what the Commonwealth has put on the table.

The Queensland government says it won't budge in its disagreements over the funding model despite the independent schools deal.

WA Premier Colin Barnett said Mr Rudd should push the deadline for a new funding model back by a year.

But Mr Shorten said he didn't want to "relinquish any deadlines".

The hold-out states have until Sunday to sign up.

15.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

WA faces wafer-thin surplus, premier hints

KEEPING Western Australia's budget in surplus is going to be a close call, Premier Colin Barnett warns.

The budget, to be delivered on August 8, is expected to show a sharp drop in revenue due to volatile iron ore royalties and lower payroll tax receipts.

On top of falling revenue, the state government is spending big on new hospitals, a stadium and the controversial Elizabeth Quay waterfront development.

Since a prediction in last year's budget of a $196 million surplus for 2012/13, the WA government has changed its forecast three times.

In the Mid Year Economic Review released in December, it was reduced to $140 million.

In February's Pre-election Financial Projections Statement, a $241 million surplus was forecast.

But in May, Treasurer Troy Buswell said the surplus wouldn't be that high.

On Wednesday, Mr Barnett said the state government was doing everything it could to keep the budget in the black for the 2012/13 and current financial years.

"That's tough and it's going to be a tight call, and it's going to impact on public services - not greatly - but there will be an impact," he told ABC radio.

He expected "debate" around the impact but defended his government's cuts - which have ranged from axing public service jobs to a pre-June 30 ban on stationery purchases - saying other states hadn't made tough decisions to balance its books and were simply selling off assets.

He also defended former Energy Minister Peter Collier over the botched Muja power plant refurbishment, which wasted $280 million.

"This was a bungled project in every respect and I'm terribly embarrassed because I think it's the first major financial problem we've had as a state government," Mr Barnett said.

Opposition treasury spokesman Ben Wyatt said the Liberal leader had conveniently ignored almost $1 billion worth of cost blowouts, in the energy portfolio alone, under his watch.

"Colin Barnett displays extremely selective memory when it comes to his government's financial mismanagement," Mr Wyatt said.

15.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Greek public TV signal back on air

GREECE'S public television signal is back on air, nearly a month after the government shut down the country's state broadcaster ERT to cut costs.

A backdrop reading 'Greek public television' (EDT) and featuring a globe and coloured waves was being broadcast on the main digital frequency formerly occupied by ERT.

"This is a transitional phase. Very soon the new public television program will be on air," Pantelis Kapsis, the deputy minister responsible for public TV, told private Mega channel.

The government intends to run a temporary program until it can hire staff for a new broadcaster by autumn.

The government turned off ERT on June 11, claiming the historic broadcaster was hopelessly inefficient and ate up 300 million euros ($A421.96 million) a year.

The shutdown caused over 2600 layoffs.

Greece's top administrative court later ruled that ERT's shutdown was within the state's rights, but it told the government it still needed to have public broadcasts in some form as soon as possible.

ERT's demise caused a major political crisis and nearly brought down the government, which was accused by international media groups of authoritarianism.

ERT staff refused to accept their dismissal. They took over the station's headquarters north of Athens and have maintained a rogue broadcast since June 11, with assistance from the European Broadcasting Union.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

One dead in Sydney fire

A PERSON has died in a house blaze in Sydney's north.

The body of the missing person, originally reported as a child but now believed to be an adult, was found following the Mount Colah fire, a Fire and Rescue spokeswoman said on Wednesday afternoon.

Police say a mother and son have been taken to Hornsby Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

The fire has been extinguished and investigators are on the scene.

Lancelot Street, where the fire broke out, has been closed.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Palmer announces Tasmanian candidates

Clive Palmer has named three candidates to stand for his Palmer United Party in Tasmania. Source: AAP

MINING magnate and prime ministerial hopeful Clive Palmer has named his first Tasmanian candidates for the federal election.

The announcement furthers his promise to stand candidates from his fledgling Palmer United Party in all 150 lower house seats and field a senate team in every state.

Festival organiser Marti Zucco, electoral officer Debra Thurley and security business owner Quinton von Steiglitz will vie for the lower house seats of Franklin, Denison and Lyons respectively.

The Tasmanian senate ticket will be led by former Australian soldier Jacquie Lambie.

She'll be joined by Waratah-Wynard councillor and former police officer Kevin Deakin.

"The Palmer United Party wants to make a difference for Tasmania, which is often forgotten by the major parties," Mr Palmer said in a statement on Sunday.

He said more than 120 candidates in other states had already been announced.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Both Koreas agree to reopen joint zone

North and South Korea have agreed in principle to reopen the Kaesong industrial complex. Source: AAP

NORTH and South Korea have made a crucial step forward by agreeing to reopen a joint industrial zone seen as the last remaining symbol of cross-border reconciliation.

The deal follows months of friction and threats of war by Pyongyang after its February nuclear test attracted tougher UN sanctions, further squeezing its struggling economy.

At the end of a gruelling 15-hour talk, the two sides said in a joint statement on Sunday they had agreed to let South Korean firms restart their shuttered plants at the Kaesong complex near the border when conditions are ripe.

"The South and the North will let business companies at Kaesong resume operation when (they are) ready to do so," said the joint statement.

The two sides will meet again on Wednesday at the Kaesong industrial zone to discuss details over reopening the zone, including a demand from Seoul that the North guarantees it will never again unilaterally shut down the estate.

The North, however, will likely find it hard to accept such a demand as it would amount to Pyongyang accepting full responsibility for the suspension.

The complex - built in 2004 about 10km north of the border as a rare symbol of inter-Korea cooperation - had previously remained largely resilient to turbulence in relations.

But the North, citing military tensions and Seoul's hostility, pulled out all its 53,000 workers from the 123 Seoul-owned factories in April, prompting the South to withdraw the managers of around 120 companies in early May.

After signing the agreement, Suh Ho, Seoul's chief delegate for the latest talks, said the North's officials had appeared "very enthusiastic" in negotiations to rescue the complex - a valuable source of hard currency for the impoverished communist state.

Neither side declared the complex officially closed, instead referring to a temporary shutdown, while blaming each other for its suspension.

"I've got an impression that the North was making very active efforts to solve the issue of the Kaesong complex," Suh told journalists.

Under the agreement Seoul businessmen will be allowed to cross the border to check on their facilities at Kaesong from Wednesday.

The news was warmly welcomed by the South Korean firms at Kaesong.

"I was overcome with emotions and shed tears for a while," Moon Chang-Seop, a top representative of the 123 companies said.

But other businessmen expressed concern that it would be difficult for them to solicit buyers who have left them during the past three months of suspension.

The zone had become the most high-profile casualty of recent elevated tensions on the peninsula.

Representatives of South Korean companies based there had repeatedly urged the two sides to open talks to revive the moribund industrial park.

Some firms have threatened to withdraw from Kaesong, complaining they have fallen victim to political bickering between the two rivals.

After repeatedly threatening Seoul and Washington with conventional and nuclear attack, Pyongyang has appeared in recent weeks to want to move towards dialogue.

Analysts say North Korea is mindful of a US demand that it improve ties with Seoul before there can be any direct talks with Washington.

The North made a surprise move last Wednesday by restoring a cross-border military hotline and promising to let South Korean businessmen visit the Kaesong complex.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bahrain bomb kills policeman

A BOMB attack has killed a Bahraini policeman and wounded two others in a Shi'ite Muslim village outside the capital, a police statement carried by the official BNA news agency says.

"Terrorist groups targeted a police station in Sitra" late on Saturday, public security chief General Tariq Hasan said on Sunday.

"As police attempted to secure the area ... the terrorists blew up an improvised bomb against security forces in an attack that killed policeman Yasser Dhaib and wounded two others."

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Deported cleric Abu Qatada lands in Jordan

Radical Islamic cleric Abu Qatada has been deported from Britain and is on his way to Jordan. Source: AAP

RADICAL Islamist cleric Abu Qatada has arrived in Amman after Britain deported him to face terrorism charges, ending a decade-long legal battle, a Jordanian government official said.

"Abu Qatada landed at Marka airport in east Amman," a Jordanian government official told AFP on condition of anonymity on Sunday.

"He was escorted by British and Jordanian guards, who handed him over to state security court prosecutors."

The military tribunal lies just outside the airport.

Abu Qatada's father, brothers and other family members stood outside the courthouse waiting for his arrival, an AFP photographer reported.

The Palestinian-born preacher, 53, was taken from prison in an armoured police van to a military airfield on the outskirts of London, from which he was flown out of Britain at 0146 GMT.

Abu Qatada was condemned to death in absentia by a Jordanian court in 1999 for conspiracy to carry out terror attacks including on the American school in Amman but the sentence was immediately reduced to life imprisonment with hard labour.

In 2000, again in his absence, he was sentenced to 15 years for plotting to carry out terror attacks on tourists in Jordan during millennium celebrations.

His deportation came after Jordan and Britain ratified a Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters aimed at removing any remaining concerns about the use of tainted evidence in Abu Qatada's retrial.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Man dies in Sydney motorcycle crash

A man has died after his motorcycle collided with a car and hit a power pole in Sydney's southwest. Source: AAP

A TEENAGE girl has died after the ute her P-plate boyfriend was driving rolled and hit a tree on the NSW far south coast.

The 19-year-old driver and his 17-year-old passenger were travelling in his Toyota Hilux about 9am (AEST) on Saturday at Wyndham, south of Bega, when the vehicle lost control.

It rolled a number of times before hitting a tree and coming to rest on its roof.

The girl died at the scene while the young man suffered minor injuries.

Police established a crime scene and conducted an examination of the crash site.

The driver was taken to Pambula District Hospital for mandatory blood tests.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

US warns against travel to southern Philip

THE United States has warned Americans against travelling to the southern Philippines just days after Australia and Canada issued similar advice.

A "security message" from the US embassy in Manila earlier this week said diplomatic staff had been restricted from travelling to three cities on the southern island of Mindanao.

It was followed by a US State Department travel warning dated July 5 advising Americans to exercise extreme caution when travelling to Mindanao, citing "criminal gangs ... (and) terrorist groups" in the area.

It also called on Americans to defer non-essential travel to the Sulu archipelago, a chain of islands off Mindanao where Al-Qaeda-linked militants are active.

"It (the travel warning) reflects continuing threats in the Sulu archipelago and the island of Mindanao due to terrorist and insurgent activities," the US embassy said in a statement.

Australia and Canada issued warnings on Wednesday about fresh threats of terrorism and kidnapping in the southern Philippines.

Canberra has barred its diplomats from travelling to Davao, Cotabato and Zamboanga - the same three Mindanao cities to which US embassy staff are not allowed to travel.

An embassy spokeswoman declined to comment on the nature of the threat against Americans.

The Philippine National Police also did not know of any specific threat against Americans in Mindanao, said spokesman Senior Superintendent Reuben Sindac.

Mindanao and surrounding islands are a hotbed of various armed groups including communist guerrillas, bandits, Muslim insurgents and the Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic extremist group blamed for the country's worst terror attacks.

Founded using seed money from Al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden in the 1990s, the Abu Sayyaf has often targeted foreigners for kidnappings for ransom.

In 2001, the group abducted three American tourists among a group of hostages from a Philippine resort, leading to the deaths of two of the Americans.

US troops have been based in the southern Philippines for more than a decade to help train local troops in hunting down members of the Abu Sayyaf, which is on the US government's list of so-called foreign terrorist organisations.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More