Victorian police seek fatal hit-run driver

A man has been killed in a hit-and-run accident in Melbourne's east, police say. Source: AAP

POLICE say they will not rest until they identify the driver involved in a hit-and-run incident that killed a Melbourne man.

They are searching for a light coloured four-wheel drive that has a damaged front as a result of the impact.

A 54-year-old Blackburn man died after he was struck by the car in a residential street in Melbourne's east about 10pm (AEST) on Friday night.

Detective senior sergeant Brad Mcarthur said witnesses heard a loud noise and there was no way the driver was unaware he had hit the man.

"Some of the witnesses were about 50 metres away from this crash when they heard the impact," Det Sen Sgt Mcarthur said.

"It was enough for them to turn and take notice."

They rushed to help the man but he died at the scene.

Police were able to identify the car - a light coloured Toyota Kluger - from debris found at the scene.

They are analysing CCTV footage of the incident and have urged the driver to come forward.

"We treat these matters extremely seriously," Det Sen Sgt Mcarthur said.

"We will not rest until we identify the person involved."

It is believed the victim was returning from a shopping trip when he was struck.

Police are yet to track down any relatives.

"He lived a solitary existence," Det Sen Sgt Mcarthur said.

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Indigenous shakeup looms under Abbott

THE man set to head the new indigenous advisory council under a Tony Abbott government is flagging a radical shakeup of Aboriginal institutions, starting with abolition of a wide range of governance bodies.

Warren Mundine, former Labor national president and now executive chairman of the Indigenous Chamber, said indigenous people were the most highly governed in Australia.

At every level of government, there were additional structures for indigenous people, producing a system of mind boggling complexity, crippled by over-regulation, stultifying of economic development, not truly representative or transparent, inefficient, unwieldy and sometimes corrupt, he said.

Mr Mundine said there were numerous statutory bodies including land, regional and homeland councils, Aboriginal Corporations and indigenous shire councils.

"For this there should be one governance body representing each indigenous nation," he said in a landmark speech to the Garma indigenous festival in the Northern Territory.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott is on board, declaring the new advisory council headed by Mr Mundine would inform coalition government policy implementation.

"What we've got to do is develop new governance arrangements where things happen a lot more quickly than they seem to at the moment," he said.

Mr Abbott said this new advisory body would meet three times a year with himself and other ministers.

"If lasting change is to be achieved in this area it has to be broadly bipartisan and embraced by Aboriginal people rather than simply imposed by government," he said.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd agreed.

He said if he had one ambition in life, it was to ensure closing the gap with indigenous Australians was taken out of the political ruck.

"We are judged by the rest of the world on these questions and rightly so and we will be judged by our children as to whether we have got this right," he said.

But Greens Senator Rachel Siewert said Mr Abbott seemed intent on returning to the Howard government's ineffective approach to ending disadvantage.

"Mr Abbott has shown no commitment to a number of key issues, such as addressing the lingering problems with our system of native title or ending the failed and expensive regime of income management," she said in a statement.

Mr Mundine's vision goes much further than reforming governance.

He said indigenous people should be able to own their homes which they can't now in communities where land is communally held by traditional owners.

He said communities could never attract business and investment to create jobs if substance abuse was out of control, which was why alcohol management plans were so important for economic development.

As well, indigenous communities needed to be more open and do away with permit systems if they were serious about development and jobs.

"This requires that we make some hard decisions," he said.

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Rudd's day on the island state

Tasmanian's underwhelmed with Kevin Rudd's one off-job commitments to the troubled island state. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd's affection for Tasmania seems a lot stronger than Labor's spending commitment to the troubled island state.

There was great expectation ahead of the prime minister's visit on Saturday, following big spending coalition promises for the state amid rising unemployment and an ailing economy.

But in Hobart all that was on offer was a vague promise from a re-elected Labor government to spend $5 million on a showground redevelopment, leading to 140 jobs.

"We still have a big challenge here is Tasmania and jobs are number one and core here in the island state," Mr Rudd told reporters at Hobart Showground, in the seat of Denison.

To soften the blow, Mr Rudd championed his "love" for Tasmania and said Labor was committed to the state's future, citing the launch of the National Broadband Network as proof of its backing.

"When there's a jobs problem in Tasmania we are there to step in and help," Mr Rudd said.

Asked when the jobs would flow from the funding announcement, Mr Rudd said he didn't want to get into the "micro-planning" of the project.

The commitment follows a promise by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott in Tasmania earlier in the week to pay employers to they hire people who have been on the Newstart allowance for six months or more and continue to employ them full time for at least six months.

The pilot plan would cost $6.5 million over the forward estimates to create 2,000 jobs.

Denison is held by independent Andrew Wilkie who is expected to retain the seat at the September 7 poll.

Labor's candidate Jane Austin is contesting the seat.

"I have never been a critic of Mr Wilkie and I don't intend to be a critic now, but what I'm saying is that in an election everyone deserves to have a choice," Mr Rudd said, in a half-hearted endorsement for Ms Austin.

He also said a Labor government would pay $375,000 to help fund the $1.1 million redevelopment of Prospect Park in Launceston.

The prime minister used the opportunity to warn Tasmanians their state would get $600 million less from the GST under an Abbott government.

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Investigators probe Melb airport collision

A plane has been damaged after colliding with another while reversing at Melbourne airport. Source: AAP

SPECIALISTS from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau have arrived in Melbourne to investigate what caused two planes to collide at Tullamarine Airport.

The tail of a Jetstar plane and the wing of a Virgin plane were damaged when the two aircraft came into contact at the airport about 9.30am (AEST) on Saturday.

The Jetstar plane was empty and was taxiing to the international terminal to pick up passengers.

No-one aboard the Virgin flight to Maroochydore was injured, but they were delayed for four hours after the incident.

Passengers were supplied refreshments during the wait before being put on another plane.

A spokesman from the ATSB said investigators would be listening to all recorded information to try to determine how the accident occurred.

"Any sort of contact between planes is obviously not good," the spokesman said.

"There will have been errors made.

"You don't have accidents without errors. We'll look at why they occurred and how they occurred."

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Chinese data not enough to rally shares

AUSTRALIAN shares rallied late, but closed slightly lower on Friday after being dragged down by the banks.

Investors were restrained after strong gains on Thursday.

IG market strategist Stan Shamu said investors were moving out of dividend paying yield plays, including the banks and Telstra, and into the riskier miners.

"The market cap of the banks is phenomenal, they have been cooked for a while and a lot of investors feel there is no value at the moment," he told AAP.

The four major banks represent four out of the six largest stocks on the exchange, meaning if they all fall then the overall market is likely to follow.

The Commonwealth Bank was down 15 cents at $72.85, ANZ had shed 16 cents at $29.23, NAB had lost 17 cents at $30.57 and Westpac was 14 cents lower at $30.77.

Telstra's share price has also been trading at near record highs, but fell five cents, or nearly 1.0 per cent, to $5.08.

The miners benefited from strong Chinese import and demand for raw materials data.

Rio Tinto shares were up 77 cents, or 1.29 per cent, at $60.25, while BHP Billiton was up 63 cents at $35.94, both companies' highest level in five months.

KEY FACTS

* At the close on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 9.6 points, or 0.19 per cent, at 5,055.2, which was a 1.2 per cent fall for the week.

* The the broader All Ordinaries index was down 8.3 points, or 0.16 per cent, at 5,038.8.

* At 1645 AEST on the ASX 24, the September share price index futures contract was three points higher at 5004 with 27,881 contracts traded.

* The spot price of gold in Sydney finished at $US1308.35, up $US14.85 from $US1293.50 on Thursday.

* National turnover was 1.4 billion securities worth $3.6 billion.

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Cargo plane of arms crashes in Mogadishu

A CARGO plane full of weapons has crash-landed at Mogadishu's seaside airport, sending big plumes of dark smoke into the air, officials say.

The plane crashed as it was landing near the beginning of the runway on Friday, said Capt Ali Hussein, a police officer at the airport.

A second airport official said the plane involved was a cargo plane full of weapons from Ethiopia. The official insisted on anonymity because he is not an authorised spokesman. The extent of any casualties wasn't immediately known.

The weapons most likely would have been destined for African Union or Somali troops, who continue to battle al-Qaeda-linked militants from al-Shabab. The militants have shot at planes in the past but not in recent years.

Air traffic has increased significantly at the airport as Mogadishu continues on a slow recovery from decades of warfare. Two major international carriers - Turkish Airlines and Air Uganda - operate direct flights into Mogadishu.

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Lobster man nabbed in covert op

IT took a sting operation involving covert surveillance and secretly microchipped lobsters.

But NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) boss Glenn Tritton says justice has been done.

A 65-year-old Cronulla man was caught with illegally obtained loot - six eastern rock lobsters and an abalone - in Kurnell, in southeast Sydney, in June 2011.

Now he's been forced to pay $2000 in fines and court costs, following a sentencing at Sutherland Local Court last month, according to the DPI.

Mr Tritton said fisheries officers' suspicions were first aroused when they found several unmarked lobster traps off Cronulla.

"During the following days, fisheries officers began conducting covert surveillance operations surrounding these traps, identifying a man who was diving in vicinity of the unmarked traps over several days," he said in a statement.

"Using microchipping technology, fisheries officers were able to tag lobsters which were located in the traps to enable positive identification and chain of possession later in the investigation."

When the officers apprehended the 65-year-old, the seafood haul found in his possession included three lobsters which had been in the unmarked traps and microchipped earlier in the day.

Eastern rock lobsters are a priority species and the commercial quantity limit is five, Mr Tritton said.

The man pleaded guilty to charges of exceeding bag limits (possession of fish) in circumstances of aggravation, unlawful use of traps and provide false information, the DPI says.

He was fined $1600 and ordered to pay court costs of $300.

"This incident should serve as a warning to people thinking about breaking fishing rules with fisheries officers very active and effective in targeting offenders," Mr Tritton said.

"Fisheries Officers have access to a range of surveillance equipment available, including thermal imaging cameras and high powered spotting scopes."

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Balance rights and responsibility: Pearson

IT'S not up to governments to save blackfellas but to empower them to help themselves, says academic and activist Noel Pearson.

The chairman of the Cape York Institute was addressing the Garma Festival on Yolngu land in east Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.

"If our people are deserving of anything, it is the right to take charge of our lives, and it is a right that has been taken away from us," Mr Pearson said.

"We have been hesitant when the word responsibility is used in indigenous affairs - we have disowned it.

"We have been quite comfortable with the idea of rights, but we have to be able to balance the relationship to responsibility."

He called for the government to surrender power to allow indigenous people to lead in issues relating to them, echoing other Aboriginal leaders who gathered in Arnhem Land on Friday to call for welfare reform.

Ian Trust, chairman of the Wunan Foundation in East Kimberley, said people came to Kununurra to take advantage of the opportunities mining had created.

"Yet we have a huge number of my people on welfare and they've been on welfare for generations, while they're surrounded by mines," he said.

He said it was so sensitive an issue that no one even wanted to talk about beginning to address it.

"We have got to do something about people being caught in this passive welfare," Mr Trust said.

"It takes a lot of courage to stand up and say to people, 'you're 19 and strong as an ox, why are you on welfare'?"

Mr Pearson said it was about improving the lot of all Australians, no matter where they were from.

"This welfare reform thing is not a blackfella thing, it's a disadvantage thing," he said.

"The future is not some kind of abstraction. These people are concerned about real children and their destinies."

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Huge fire engulfed Nairobi airport

Kenya's main international airport has been closed as firefighters tackle a large blaze in the arrivals area.

A MASSIVE fire destroyed the arrivals hall at Kenya's main international airport, forcing the closure of East Africa's largest airport and the rerouting of all inbound flights.

The blaze which began at 5am local time (midday AEST) at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport resulted in large clouds of black smoke billowing from the scene at one of East Africa's most important transport hubs.

Instagram user mkaranja posted this image of damage inside the arrival hall: A photo from inside the arrival area of #JKIA courtesy of @angelkatusia. Source: Supplied

Passengers reported a slow response by the under-resourced fire brigade, and the blaze raged for four hours before being contained.

The Kenya National Disaster Operation Centre, in a recent update, said the airport "remains closed indefinitely'', but that the fire had been "contained''.

Kenya Airways have issued a statement insisting that all of its passengers escaped the blaze without injuries: "All incoming and outgoing passengers are safe."

"We reassure international and local travelers that arrangements are being put in place to restore normal operations. The airlines are working to assist stranded passengers and advise them on the measures being put in place to resume services at JKIA,'' said Stephen Gichuki, the director of the Kenyan Airports Authority.

No injuries were reported, said Michael Kamau, the cabinet secretary for transport and infrastructure.

The fire broke out on the 15th anniversary of the U.S. Embassy bombings in Nairobi and neighboring Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, but there were no immediate signs of terrorism.

A British passenger, Martyn Collbeck, said he was surprised that the airport wasn't shut down sooner so that emergency vehicles could respond.

"When I arrived there were one or two fire engines parked outside the international arrivals. It spread very fast,'' said Mr Collbeck, who had been scheduled to fly back to London on an early morning KLM flight. "There were a couple of explosions which I think were a couple of gas canisters.''

But, he added: "I would have expected more fire engines to respond faster.''

Associated Press reporters at the scene earlier today said it appeared the fire had gutted the international arrivals area, where passengers pass through immigration and retrieve their luggage.

The blaze comes two days after aircraft were delayed for several hours after the failure of a fuel hydrant needed for refuelling the planes.

President Uhuru Kenyatta arrived at the scene earlier today to get first-hand updates on the fire.

Stranded passengers stood on sidewalks outside the airport holding their luggage.

Inbound flights have been rerouted to other Kenyan airports.

Barry Fisher, a trade specialist who lives in Nairobi, described the scene as chaos.

"There was no one stopping any traffic going to the road to the airport,'' he said. "A number of fire trucks and ambulances were trying to negotiate their way through the lane. ... They were trying to weave their way through a solid two lanes of cars.''

Images broadcast earlier today on Kenyan media showed flames rising high in the sky and billowing clouds of black smoke out of the main arrivals and departures terminal, with dozens of police and fire trucks at the scene.

The airport serves as a regional hub for East Africa, with many long-distance international flights landing there to connect to countries across the region.

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Costing debate is Labor election strategy

THE federal government has entered the election campaign as the underdog but believes Labor's momentum is building now the coalition's policy costings are under the spotlight.

On the third day of the run-up to the September 7 poll, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott went to Adelaide to unveil a 1.5 percentage point corporate tax cut.

The reduction to 28.5 per cent will cost $5 billion over four years, but Mr Abbott's not yet ready to say how exactly it will be paid for bar pointing to a broad $17 billion in coalition savings.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd spent most of the day in the northwest of Sydney where he seized on media reports a coalition government could consider raising the 10 per cent GST to cover its budget "black hole".

Labor insiders told AAP the coalition was playing directly into its initial strategy of putting their opponents on the back foot over costings.

"We've got the coalition talking about what is going to become their number one problem in this campaign, which is their election costings," said Hawker Britton director Simon Banks, a former Rudd staffer.

"That's plenty of momentum."

Mr Abbott said his tax cut plan would reduce costs for 750,000 businesses, allowing them to expand and create more jobs.

"I want to make it absolutely crystal clear that the tax reductions that we have so far announced are more than funded by the sensible savings that were announced by us before the campaign commenced," he said.

The savings referred to include axing Labor's SchoolKids Bonus ($4 billion), cutting 12,000 public service jobs ($5 billion), a two-year delay in a superannuation contribution rise ($2.1 billion) and scrapping the low-income super contribution ($2.9 billion). These total $14 billion.

The coalition's $4.3 billion paid parental leave scheme, to be unveiled next week, will be paid for by a 1.5 per cent tax rise for Australia's 3000 biggest companies.

Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey said further savings would be announced during the campaign.

When compared to coalition policy announcements, the budget bottom line would be "better off".

Labor claims the coalition's starting point is a costings "black hole" of between $50 billion and $70 billion - which Mr Hockey denies.

Treasurer Chris Bowen said the coalition's approach to costings was "adding some fairy dust and saying something will turn up on the night".

"Australian families have every right to be very concerned that this will be paid for by reducing government funding to hospitals, schools and services," he said.

Labor also went on the offensive over the GST, after Mr Hockey said on Tuesday the GST would be "part of the equation" under a planned coalition tax system review.

"This is a big, big development in this election campaign," Mr Rudd said.

"What I would say loud and clear is that the Australian government I lead would not increase the GST, nor would it extend its scope."

Mr Abbott said if the GST came up during the review "we will consider what the consultations come up with".

"But the fact is we have no plans whatsoever to make any changes to the GST," he added, while visiting a drinks factory in the South Australian Labor-held seat of Makin.

Meanwhile, Labor and the coalition continue to discuss plans for a series of leader debates.

So far, they've agreed the first debate should be on Sunday.

The final decision on whether it will be Sydney or at the National Press Club in Canberra is still under discussion.

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