Sea ice trip reopens Mawson's Huts route

TWO Australian explorers have made it over dangerous sea ice to Mawson's Huts in Antarctica, which have been inaccessible for several years.

Conservator Ian Godfrey and heritage carpenter Jon Tucker navigated 70km of sea ice on an amphibious vehicle to reach the huts.

Their visit was part of a privately funded expedition of nearly 30 scientists and others to commemorate the centenary of Douglas Mawson's exploration of the Cape Denison area.

The Mawson's Huts Foundation says this is the first time it has attempted such an ambitious and potentially hazardous crossing of the ice.

It was a joint operation between the foundation and the Australian Antarctic Division.

The huts on Cape Denison have been inaccessible for many years because an iceberg about the size of the ACT blocked the entrance to the bay.

Dr Godfrey said the trip across the sea ice was the journey of a lifetime.

"Mawson's Huts seem to be in good condition but we may only have a day here so we're doing all the essentials such as changing data loggers and assessing the condition of the building structure," he said.

He was hopeful the success of this mission meant the Mawson's Huts Foundation could resume annual visits.

Expedition manager Rob Easther said several of the scientists had planned to also make the full journey to the huts to conduct many of the experiments carried out there by Mawson's 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic expedition.

However, weather conditions mean it's likely the modern expedition team will have to leave the area sooner than hoped.

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Boy critical after 'horror' Sydney crash

A young boy is in a critical condition after a crash involving a cement truck in Sydney's southwest. Source: AAP

A SIX-YEAR-OLD boy is in a critical condition after being thrown from a van in a "horror crash" involving a cement truck in Sydney's southwest.

Police said the Toyota Tarago was stopped in a breakdown lane on the Hume Highway just before noon (AEDT) on Thursday when the cement truck crashed into its rear.

The boy, who was sitting in a rear booster seat, was thrown some 10 metres from the van by the force of the crash and suffered head, chest and pelvic injuries and leg fractures, CareFlight said.

The green van was left a mangled and crushed wreck.

Describing it as a horror crash, CareFlight said one of its trauma doctors performed emergency roadside surgery on the boy.

The six-year-old was then placed in an induced coma before being flown by helicopter to Westmead Children's Hospital in a critical condition.

His 13-year-old sister, who was sitting in the front passenger seat of the van, sustained minor injuries including cuts and abrasions and was also taken to Westmead.

Their mother, standing outside the van at the time of the crash, suffered suspected pelvic injuries and was taken to Westmead Hospital for treatment, police said.

The driver of the cement truck and his passenger were trapped in their vehicle before being freed by emergency services and taken to hospital.

The truck driver, believed to be in his 30s, is undergoing mandatory blood and urine tests.

Southbound lanes of the motorway have been re-opened.

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Korean man's body believed to be in grave

Police will dig up a shallow grave in Brisbane as they search for a missing South Korean man. Source: AAP

MIN Tae Kim went to exchange his hard-earned Australian savings for South Korean money for his return home but he may never get there.

Police have found a shallow grave on a vacant property in southwest Brisbane they believe could contain the 28-year-old South Korean man's body.

Detective Inspector Kemp says two men and a woman are being held over his disappearance.

Blood was found around the grave site, in Algester, and forensics officers are preparing to exhume the contents.

They hope to know by Friday if it is Mr Kim's remains.

"We're not sure what is in that grave at this time," Det Insp Kemp told reporters.

"It could be a dog, we do have fears that is human though and it could be the missing person."

Det Insp Kemp said Mr Kim had been working hard at a local abattoir to build up his savings before his planned return to South Korea next month.

But he needed to change $15,000 cash into South Korean won and put an ad on the Gumtree website to get a cheaper exchange rate.

Mr Kim left his Cannon Hill share house with his cash to do a deal with an unknown person about 2pm Monday.

It was the last time he was seen alive.

"We feel that he may have met with foul play, we don't know," Det Insp Kemp said.

Mr Kim's disappearance comes after 22-year-old South Korean woman Eunji Ban was allegedly bashed to death while walking to work in Brisbane's CBD last month.

The Council of International Students Australia president Thomson Ch'ng said the incidents would rock people's confidence in Brisbane being a safe place to study.

"Two incidents within three weeks is not good for Brisbane and Australia," he told AAP.

"The fact is, international students are important bridges between Australia and the international community and whatever happens here (in Australia), the world is watching."

Det Insp Kemp said it would be a very unfortunate if Mr Kim became the second South Korean murdered in Brisbane in less than a month.

"If it is and if he has been brutally murdered, it's a shocking thing for us and a concern for us, most certainly," he said.

Police expect to find out the results of forensic testing on the gravesite on Friday.

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US 'regrets' Indian diplomat's treatment

THE US has voiced regret to India over the treatment of a diplomat whose account of being stripped and cavity-searched triggered outrage as the prosecutor in charge of the case defended the arrest.

With New Delhi vowing to "restore the dignity" of diplomat Devyani Khobragade, Indian media reported that the 39-year-old was being moved from her post as deputy consul general in New York to the UN mission in a bid to thwart her prosecution.

In a strongly worded statement, Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara said the diplomat had "clearly tried to evade US law designed to protect from exploitation the domestic employees of diplomats and consular officers".

Khobragade is free on bail after her December 12 arrest in New York for allegedly paying a domestic worker a fraction of the minimum wage and for lying about the employee's salary in a visa application.

Bharara, who was born in India, stressed that the employee allegedly worked "far more" than the 40 hours a week in her contract and visa application.

The worker is said to have been paid just $US3.31 an hour - well below New York's required $US7.25 - despite signing a contract to pay her three times that amount for childcare and other services.

"Is it for US prosecutors to look the other way, ignore the law and the civil rights of victims (again, here an Indian national), or is it the responsibility of the diplomats and consular officers and their government to make sure the law is observed?" Bharara asked.

While India retaliated against American diplomats in the usually US-friendly country, Secretary of State John Kerry tried to end the row in a telephone call to India's national security adviser, Shivshankar Menon.

Kerry "expressed his regret, as well as his concern that we not allow this unfortunate public issue to hurt our close and vital relationship with India", in a call to Menon, the State Department said.

State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said it was "particularly important to Secretary Kerry that foreign diplomats serving in the United States are accorded respect and dignity just as we expect our own diplomats should receive overseas".

The fury in India grew after an email from Khobragade in which the diplomat said she had been repeatedly stripped and cavity-searched by the US authorities after her detention.

"I must admit that I broke down many times as the indignities of repeated handcuffing, stripping and cavity searches, swabbing, in a hold-up with common criminals and drug addicts were all being imposed upon me despite my incessant assertions of immunity," she said in the email.

But Bharara, the US attorney, insisted that Khobragade was arrested in the "most discreet" way possible, was never handcuffed or restrained and was searched by a female deputy marshal in a "private setting".

"One wonders why there is so much outrage about the alleged treatment of the Indian national accused of perpetrating these acts, but precious little outrage about the alleged treatment of the Indian victim and her spouse?" he asked.

But the diplomat's allegations of harsh treatment at the hands of the US has caused huge offence in a country that sees itself as an emerging world power.

In an address to parliament, Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said it was his "duty to bring the lady back.

"We have to restore her dignity and I will do it at any cost," he said. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh termed the diplomat's arrest "deplorable".

Bulldozers dragged away concrete barricades that had been set up outside the US Embassy.

And US consular officials have been told to return identity cards that speed up travel into and through India, with their import clearances for duty free alcohol and other goods suspended.

State Department No.3 Wendy Sherman spoke to Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh and voiced hope that Indian authorities "will continue to fulfil their host government obligations regarding the safety and security of our personnel and mission premises", Harf said.

Harf said the State Department had not received any notice that India wanted to change Khobragade's credentials to the UN mission.

Such a move "would have to be approved by all appropriate authorities" at the UN and State Department, she said.

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No mechanical issues in Walker crash

INVESTIGATORS have found no evidence that the Porsche carrying Fast & Furious actor Paul Walker had mechanical problems before it crashed.

A US law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation tells The Associated Press the car lost control due to "speed, and speed alone."

The official requested anonymity because the official was not authorised to speak publicly.

The investigation also ruled out debris in the roadway as causing the car in which Walker was a passenger to smash into a light pole and tree.

The November 30 crash killed Walker and the driver, his friend and financial adviser Roger Rodas.

Investigators won't set a firm speed at which they think the car was travelling until Porsche engineers come to California next month to extract information from on-board data collectors.

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US 'regrets' Indian diplomat treatment

THE United States has voiced regret to India over the treatment of a diplomat whose account of being stripped and cavity-searched triggered outrage.

With New Delhi vowing to "restore the dignity" of diplomat Devyani Khobragade, Indian media reported that the 39-year-old was being moved from her post as deputy consul general in New York to the UN mission in a bid to thwart her prosecution.

As India retaliated against American diplomats in the usually US-friendly country, Secretary of State John Kerry tried to end the row in a telephone call to India's national security adviser Shivshankar Menon.

"As a father of two daughters about the same age as Devyani Khobragade, the secretary empathises with the sensitivities we are hearing from India about the events that unfolded after Ms Khobragade's arrest," a State Department statement said.

Speaking to Menon, Kerry "expressed his regret, as well as his concern that we not allow this unfortunate public issue to hurt our close and vital relationship with India," it said.

State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said it was "particularly important to Secretary Kerry that foreign diplomats serving in the United States are accorded respect and dignity just as we expect our own diplomats should receive overseas."

The White House also tried to quell the rift, with spokesman Jay Carney saying that "this isolated episode is not indicative of the close and mutually respectful ties that we share."

Khobragade was arrested on December 12 in New York for allegedly paying a domestic worker a fraction of the minimum wage and for lying about the employee's salary in a visa application.

She is free on bail.

The fury in India grew on Wednesday after an email from Khobragade in which the diplomat said she had been repeatedly stripped and cavity-searched by the US authorities after her detention.

"I must admit that I broke down many times as the indignities of repeated handcuffing, stripping and cavity searches, swabbing, in a hold-up with common criminals and drug addicts were all being imposed upon me despite my incessant assertions of immunity," she said in the email.

"I got the strength to regain composure and remain dignified, thinking that I must represent all of my colleagues and my country with confidence and pride."

The revelation that a diplomat could be subjected to such treatment at the hands of the United States has caused huge offence in a country that sees itself as an emerging world power.

In an address to parliament, Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said it was his "duty to bring the lady back."

"We have to restore her dignity and I will do it at any cost," he added.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh termed the diplomat's arrest "deplorable" as newspapers hailed his government for a series of reprisal measures.

"India takes on Uncle Sam," read the front-page headline of The Hindustan Times, while the Mail Today splashed with "Bulldozer Diplomacy" on top of a picture of a digger dragging away concrete barricades outside the US embassy on Tuesday.

US consular officials have also been told to return identity cards that speed up travel into and through India. Import clearances for duty free alcohol and other goods have been suspended.

Khobragade is alleged to have paid her worker just $US3.31 ($A3.75) an hour - well below New York's required $US7.25 - despite signing a contract to pay her three times that amount.

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LNP pins hopes on nurse to keep Qld seat

THE Liberal National Party (LNP) in Queensland is pinning its hopes on a former Family First candidate to retain the seat vacated by disgraced state MP Scott Driscoll.

Kerri-Anne Dooley has been pre-selected by the LNP to run in next year's Redcliffe by-election.

The nurse educator ran against Mr Driscoll at the last Queensland election as a candidate for the Family First party.

An LNP spokesman said the lifelong Redcliffe resident would be a great advocate for the electorate that had been let down by Mr Driscoll.

"Like everyone in Redcliffe, Kerri-Anne Dooley feels let down and disappointed by the events of the past year by the previous member," he said.

"The LNP believes Kerri-Ann provides the best chance for a fresh start for Redcliffe.

"She's lived her whole life there, raised her family there and is passionate about the local community."

Ms Dooley will be up against former federal MP Yvette D'Ath, who is Labor's candidate.

Ms D'Ath lost the federal seat of Petrie, which takes in parts of Redcliffe, to the Liberal National Party's Luke Howarth in a tight contest at the September election.

A date is yet to be set for the by-election to replace Mr Driscoll, who resigned from state parliament last month before he could be expelled.

The former LNP member turned independent was subsequently fined $90,000 for contempt of parliament for being dishonest about his business dealings and income.

His wife Emma Driscoll is facing 10 counts of fraud.

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Victorian Labor reshuffles front bench

THE Victorian opposition has reshuffled its front bench ahead of the 2014 state election.

Labor leader Daniel Andrews announced the new line-up on Thursday, saying it was strong and balanced with a good mix of people.

"We're going to continue to scrutinise the government and provide a strong offering so that when Victorians vote in November they will have a real choice," Mr Andrew told reporters.

Labor has created the new ambulance and family violence portfolios.

The family violence portfolio will be the responsibility of Danielle Green, who is the party's spokeswoman on health promotion and women.

"Family violence is a crime, it's a scourge. It's something we need to do much more about," Mr Andrews said.

If elected, he would put family violence portfolio in the department of premier and cabinet so it had a government focus.

Gavin Jennings will add the ambulance portfolio to his health and mental health portfolios.

Albert Park MP Martin Foley has been promoted to spokesman for water, arts and youth affairs and Williamstown's Wade Noonan will take up the police portfolio.

Altona MP Jill Hennessy will take over the public transport portfolio from Fiona Richardson, who will be responsible for innovation and small business when she returns in 2014 after treatment for cancer.

Martin Pakula will take over the corrections portfolio from Jill Hennessy to better link corrections in prison beds to sentencing laws, Mr Andrews said.

Several Labor MPs have announced they won't contest the election.

These include high-profile former government ministers Justin Madden and John Lenders, who will remain as the opposition's leader in the Legislative Council until the poll.

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Group of friends claim $70m lottery ticket

THE hunt for Australia's biggest single lottery winner is over after a group of female friends produced the winning ticket purchased on the Gold Coast.

The women won $70 million in Tuesday's Oz Lotto draw and have vowed to split it equally.

The syndicate leader said she checked the unregistered ticket on Wednesday morning and was shocked to discover that they had won.

"When I realised we'd won, I just sat there shaking like a leaf," she said.

The women regularly meet up for lunch and decided to use their loose change to buy a ticket.

"I told everyone on the last occasion to throw in some loose change and I'll buy a lotto ticket in a big draw before Christmas," she said.

"I saw Oz Lotto had jackpotted to $70 million so purchased a QuickPick entry."

She's not sure what she'll do with her share.

"My husband told me he wanted to buy a racehorse but I said 'It's not your prize'," she laughed.

The winning 12-game ticket was bought from a Runaway Bay news agency.

Lotto players still have an opportunity to win big this week with a $40 million Powerball jackpot on Thursday.

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Unions still in the dark over Qantas cuts

UNIONS say they are still in the dark as to where the latest rounds of Qantas job cuts will come from.

Qantas boss Alan Joyce and other senior executives met with several unions at is Sydney headquarters on Wednesday.

Following the talks, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) Secretary Dave Oliver said he couldn't get any clarification as to who would be affected by the airline's plan to axe at least 1000 jobs.

But he said the ACTU was pleased Qantas had given a commitment to consult on the cuts.

"We'll be holding Qantas to that commitment and ensuring that every reasonable option is explored to reduce any job losses across the whole Qantas group," he said in a statement after the meet.

Transport Workers Union National Secretary Tony Sheldon said the lack of information as to where the cuts would come from would hurt employees over the holiday break.

"Without information on the cuts, all 30,000 Qantas Group staff would spend Christmas in fear that their jobs might be the ones to go," Mr Sheldon said in a statement.

"That's not the way to treat any workforce, particularly as they and their families enter the Christmas period."

But Mr Joyce said while it was "understandable" unions sought commitments on jobs, the business was looking at all options.

"With an all-options structural review of the business underway, it would be disingenuous for us to rule anything in or out," he said in a statement.

"We can say that that Qantas will always have the bulk of its operations here in Australia, and that any actions we take are ultimately about protecting as many Australian jobs as we can by making Qantas stronger."

The airline used the meet to highlight the "extreme challenges" it faces, Mr Joyce said.

It comes after Qantas announced earlier this month that it would be undergoing a three-year $2 billion cost reduction program including a reduction of at least 1000 jobs and a company-wide structural review.

Mr Joyce said he made it clear in the meet that the changes as a result of the cost reduction program were "non-negotiables".

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