Bushfire threatens rural homes in NSW

AT least two sheds have been destroyed by an out-of-control bushfire threatening dozens of properties on NSW's mid north coast.

An emergency warning was issued to around 110 homes in Upper Lansdowne at 3pm (AEDT) on Saturday, half-an-hour after the blaze broke out.

More than 10 hectares of bush have already been burnt.

NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) spokeswoman Bridie O'Connor said the fire was heading towards 30 rural properties on Gungully Road.

"We have got more than 20 firefighters there and they're being assisted by water bombing aircraft," she told AAP.

"Hopefully they're making good progress on it and the fire won't actually reach those homes."

Temperatures reached 38 degrees Celsius in the area earlier on Saturday, with wind gusts of up to 35km/h.

Fire crews are hoping a cool change slowly moving up the NSW coast will bring with it more favourable conditions later in the evening.

A handful of properties are also under threat from a grassfire burning out of control about 10km south of Casino.

The blaze began about midday (AEDT) and has already covered about 15 hectares.

"Grassfires can start really quickly and move three times as fast as bushfires, that's why it's managed to get to these properties as quickly has it has," Ms O'Connor said.

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Six Afghan police poisoned, shot dead

SIX Afghan policemen have been shot dead after being poisoned by colleagues in southern Afghanistan, officials say.

The shooting, which is the latest in a series by Afghan security personnel targeting their local and foreign colleagues, occurred in the Gereshk district of volatile Helmand province on Thursday.

"A cook and a policeman first food-poisoned their colleagues in their post, and after they fell unconscious they were shot dead," provincial spokesman Ahmad Zeerak told AFP on Saturday.

He said the policeman involved in the shooting had been arrested but the cook was still at large.

Farid Ahmad Farhang, a provincial police spokesman, confirmed the incident.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, according to purported spokesman Yousif Ahmadi, who said eight policemen were killed and their weapons seized.

Afghan police are the key force in supporting US-led NATO forces in a war against Taliban militants.

Afghanistan has witnessed a surge in insider attacks, often by Taliban spies, in which more than 50 foreigners and dozens of local forces have been killed by their colleagues this year.

The unprecedented number of insider killings comes at a critical moment in the 11-year war, as US-led NATO forces plan to hand security responsibility to the Afghans ahead of a withdrawal of combat forces by the end of 2014.

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21 killed in Iranian bus crash

A BUS full of students has reportedly overturned, killing 21 people in southwestern Iran.

Senior local police official Colonel Mohammad Reza Mehmandar, was quoted on state radio on Saturday as saying the driver lost control because of high speed in rainy weather.

Mehmandar said 23 others were injured in the accident.

They were rushed to hospitals for treatment.

The accident happened on Friday evening on the Izeh-Lordegan road, about 500km southwest of the capital Tehran.

Iran has one of the world's worst traffic safety records, with more than 400,000 accidents and about 20,000 deaths on its roads every year.

The tolls are blamed on high speed, unsafe vehicles, widespread disregard of traffic laws and inadequate emergency services.

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Aust stocks at fresh 15-month high

THE Australian share market closed slightly stronger at a fresh 15-month high, ahead of a summit of EU leaders this weekend.

At the close of trade on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 11.7 points, or 0.26 per cent, at 4,571.1, while the broader All Ordinaries index had gained 12.6 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 4,593.5.

On the ASX 24, the December share price index futures contract was 17 points higher at 4,567 with 20,537 contracts traded.

IG Markets analyst Stan Shamu said the Australian share market was in a lull after a strong run this week, while some investors became cautious about the EU summit.

"Investors are looking for that next lead before another move higher," Mr Shamu said.

"Some market watchers were nervous while the market remained at elevated levels.

"They'd rather lock in gains than keep hoping that the rally would keep accelerating," he said.

It was the fourth consecutive day of gains for the Australian market.

But some investor caution took over on Friday after National Australia Bank (NAB) announced it would increase its collective provisions by $250 million to $320 million, warning of a slowing economy.

The flagging of a likely dent in its full-year earnings caused NAB shares to lose 73 cents to $26.22.

Commonwealth Bank shed 21 cents to $56.84, Westpac lost 39 cents to $25.56 while ANZ dropped 29 cents to $26.22.

Shares in Australian grains trader GrainCorp were been placed in a trading halt after a potential suitor, Archer Daniel Midlands, requested talks.

Two large parcels of GrainCorp shares changed hands before the start of trade at a price well above Thursday's closing price of $8.85.

Oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum was up 78 cents at $35.98 after striking agreement with Daewoo International Corporation for a production sharing contract in Burma.

National turnover was 2.02 billion securities worth $5.97 billion, with 528 stocks up, 414 down and 368 unchanged.

AAP krc/jmc

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Central Qld town saved from bushfire

THE township of Euleilah in central Queensland has been saved from a large bushfire that jumped containment lines.

But firefighters warn the danger has not passed, and the blaze could flare up again over the weekend.

Rural Operations manager Brian Smith says an evacuation alert has been cancelled but the fire is still unpredictable.

"We have had extra resources come up from Bundaberg this afternoon and we brought a strike team down from Rockhampton this morning so we have about 17 appliances on the scene at the moment," he told the ABC on Friday afternoon.

"But it's still proving quite difficult with the conditions".

The blaze, which began on Tuesday, jumped Tableland Road at 4.30pm (AEST) on Friday.

The Queensland Fire and Rescue Service says residents along Mitchell Road who evacuated their homes have been allowed to return, but have been warned to remain alert.

Fire crews will remain on the scene and conduct backburning operations through the night as work continues to strengthen containment lines.

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Police slam Catholic Church over abuse

THE Catholic Church has put its own reputation ahead of the welfare of victims by destroying evidence of sexual abuse and failing to report accusations against the clergy, Victoria Police says.

Victoria's deputy police commissioner Graham Ashton says the church has hindered justice and not reported any case of abuse in more than 50 years, while a legal expert claims cover-ups went to the "highest level".

In damning evidence to a parliamentary inquiry on Friday, Mr Ashton said that of the 620 cases of abuse the church has internally upheld in Victoria since 1956, none had been reported to police.

He said in those 56 years, police had investigated 2110 offences committed by clergy and church workers against 519 victims, of which 370 were committed by Catholic priests or brothers. He said 87 per cent of the victims were boys aged 11 or 12.

But rather than reporting the matters, he accused the church of wrapping a special process around clergy accused of sexual abuse.

"If a stranger were to enter the grounds of a church and rape a child, that would be reported to police," he told the first day of the inquiry into child abuse by religious and other organisations.

"But if that stranger happened to be a member of the clergy, such as a priest, then that would not be reported.

"A special process is wrapped around him which discourages a victim to complain to police, seeks to ensure the offending clergy member is not only not prosecuted and jailed, but never entered on the sex offenders register.

"The process is designed to put the reputation of the church first and victims second."

Vulnerable boys of single parents were the biggest targets, Mr Ashton said, and were often abused when seeking comfort.

The abuse occurred in various locations, including classrooms, camps and confessionals, while one boy was abused immediately following the funeral of a family member.

In its written submission, Victoria Police accused the church of intimidation and secrecy and Mr Ashton on Friday said the church has alerted alleged offenders to police investigations.

In one case, analysis revealed an offender's computer showed a number of suspicious files were destroyed.

He said the force wanted to work with the church on preventing and dealing with sexual abuse, but needed "honest dialogue first."

Law professor Patrick Parkinson, who has advised most churches on sexual abuse and was asked by the Catholic church to independently review its Towards Healing protocol, repeated Mr Ashton's call to make it a criminal offence for the church not to report accusations of abuse.

Prof Parkinson said he could not be certain that all offenders were no longer in positions of authority or near children and told the inquiry the church needed to declare a full account of where they were now.

"The church cannot recover from this crisis unless there is a clean slate," he told the inquiry.

He said the church's 148-page submission entitled Facing the Truth "has no information whatsoever about what happened to the offenders."

"The church must be asked to provide complete and full information ... no secrets, all files open."

Prof Parkinson says lies, cover-ups and violence were part of the process in which the Salesian order sent offending priests to Rome and Samoa.

"The cover-ups go to the highest level," he said.

Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart admitted in a written statement that parts of Mr Ashton's evidence "raise a number of very serious matters which have not been expressed to us previously, and which require careful scrutiny".

But he defended the church for not reporting cases of abuse, saying Facing the Truth indicates many victims requested confidentiality.

Archbishop Hart, however, said many victims took their accusations to police as "a result of the encouragement and assistance provided to them by the church".

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Hazaras fleeing Pakistan eye Australia

AS he knelt in prayer to mark one of Islam's holiest days, Ali Raza Qurban saw a childhood friend and dozens of others die in a suicide attack on their Shi'ite mosque.

Sunni militants were again targeting minority ethnic Hazaras in this city of narrow streets and wide-open hatreds.

Qurban decided it was time to leave. He found an agent who would hook him up with a smuggler in Indonesia and, for $US8,000 ($A7745), get him to Australia.

But he never made it to Australia.

He disappeared on December 17, 2011, aboard an overcrowded, rickety wooden boat that capsized within hours of leaving the Indonesian shore.

Four months had passed since the suicide bombing at the mosque in Quetta, where the violence has spawned a vibrant human smuggling business.

The smugglers operate out of small, unidentified shops.

Selling promises of a safe and better life in Australia, they largely capitalise on the fear and desperation of the Hazara, a largely Shi'ite community that is facing attacks not only here but in neighbouring Afghanistan.

In Quetta, Shi'ite leaders say many of the attacks against Hazaras are carried out by the Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Janghvi, which they contend is backed by elements within Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI.

Pakistan's Chief Justice Iftikar Chaudhry and a panel of three judges last month ordered authorities to investigate allegations that vehicles illegally imported by the ISI were used in suicide bombings targeting Shi'ites.

Most of the Afghans who cross into Pakistan with the intention of going on to Australia and elsewhere are thought to be Hazara.

"Every month hundreds of Hazaras leave Afghanistan for another country," said Waliullah Rahmani, executive director of the Kabul-based Centre for Strategic Studies, a privately funded think tank.

In the past two months, more than 20 Hazaras have died in targeted killings blamed on the Taliban, he said.

Hazaras, who were massacred by Afghanistan's ruling Taliban in the late 1990s, fear that the religious militia will return to power after NATO powers leave in 2014, according to Rahmani.

"With 2014 getting closer, most of the Hazaras think that the history will repeat again," he said.

"So that is why they risk their lives for illegal immigrations to Australia and other places."

Many choose Australia because it already has an established Hazara community.

The trip to Australia usually begins in Pakistan's port city of Karachi, stopping either in Thailand or Malaysia before arriving in Indonesia's East Java, according to testimony of survivors and Malaysian authorities.

"Asylum seekers from Pakistan often fly either from Karachi or Lahore to Kuala Lumpur and sometimes enter through Malaysia's northern border with Thailand," said a Malaysian home ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

He said laws had been tightened in the last two years, sea patrols increased and co-operation stepped up with Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"The people-smuggling groups that facilitate them are generally Pakistani, but Malaysians are sometimes hired for logistics to help in transportation," said the official.

Once in Indonesia's East Java, asylum seekers are packed into boats bound for Australia.

The booming business is confounding the governments of Indonesia, which has hunted down and arrested some smuggling kingpins, and Australia, which is being bombarded with more refugees than it is willing to accept.

Australia is trying to discourage prospective asylum seekers with offers to take more refugees who enter legally and by reopening offshore processing centres in Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

In 2011 four boats sank, killing 109 people. So far this year 23 boats have capsized with 200 people missing and 2225 rescued. Most of the passengers have been Afghans, Pakistanis and Iranians.

Afghans, mostly ethnic Hazaras, make up the largest number of so-called boat people, according to a report by Australia's Department of Immigration and Citizenship.

In the first three months of 2012, 797 Afghans sought asylum after arriving in Australia on smugglers' boats. Iranians were a distant second with 132.

For those who seek refugee status entering Australia mostly by air, the odds are long.

In the first three months of this year, Australia granted 215 primary protective visas and rejected 1126, according to the report.

The majority applying for the visas were from Pakistan and Iran.

And so many turn to smugglers.

Pakistan's Embassy in Jakarta conducted interviews with the 49 survivors of the boat that capsized on December 18.

Ali Qurban's father, Saeed Qurban, who went to East Java in search of his son, said more than a third of the passengers were ethnic Hazaras.

The elder Qurban cradled a framed photograph of Ali as he rifled through a small folder stuffed with newspaper clippings and documents.

Several Indonesian newspapers featured front-page photos of Saeed Qurban crying as he searched rows of coffins.

The Pakistan embassy interviewed more than 25 Pakistani Shi'ites languishing in immigration detention centres in Indonesia after failing to reach Australia, who all told of the terror that drove them to leave Pakistan.

None was willing to return to Pakistan, preferring to stay in jail in Indonesia in hopes of getting refugee status, said the document, which was given to the president and prime minister's office.

Yet the trade flourishes.

"Quetta is full of agents. Every day boys are trying to get to Australia," said Fauzia Qurban, Ali's older sister, as she struggled to tell her brother's story in an interview at her home.

She feared for her family's safety if she approached those who had helped her brother flee Pakistan.

But she had the name of the kingpin, Said Abbas, who she said orchestrated her brother's journey.

Abbas operated out of Indonesia, hiring a phalanx of agents to recruit asylum seekers in Quetta, and is currently serving a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence in Jakarta for people smuggling.

The Afghan national was initially arrested in Jakarta in May 2010 but released on bail.

His involvement in the December 17 tragedy was revealed by an Indonesian soldier, Ilmun Abdul Said, who went on trial in East Java for his part in arranging the smuggling expedition in which Ali Qurban died.

The boat that went down was 25 metres long and designed to hold 150 to 160 passengers. There were 249 on board when it sank. Ali Qurban was just 22 years old.

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Asylum boat intercepted

A BOAT carrying 64 asylum seekers has been picked up by Australian authorities near Christmas Island.

Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare says HMAS Bundaberg intercepted the vessel, crewed by two people, on Thursday morning after it was detected north of Christmas Island.

The passengers and crew were transferred to the nearby Australian territory for security, health and identity checks.

The federal government has warned people arriving by boat without a visa after August 13 risk being transferred to Nauru or Manus Island under its new offshore processing arrangements.

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Electricity report wins broad support

A PRODUCTIVITY Commission report on electricity networks has won broad support for its call for privatisation and reforms to reduce costs to consumers.

The draft report blamed surging electricity prices in the past five years on spiralling investment in wires and poles to "gold-plate" systems for peak summer periods, bumping up costs for consumers whether they use air-conditioning or not.

It recommended selling state-owned networks to reduce costs through the deferral of planned infrastructure spending in the next five years and an overhaul of regulations and pricing so people pay more at times of high demand.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), which manages the national electricity market, said the report highlighted the need for investment in the "right assets, in the right place, at the right time".

"The current regulatory arrangements have created an incentive to over-invest in network infrastructure," AEMO chief Matt Zema said in a statement.

AEMO has previously pushed for the power to make decisions across the national network, arguing a national planner could optimise investments across the market, rather than state by state.

Energy Supply Association of Australia (ESAA) CEO Matthew Warren said the report highlighted the impact of political interference on energy market efficiency.

Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said the report confirmed the carbon price was not to blame for rising electricity prices.

However, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said the carbon price was working as the government intended it to, in pushing prices up.

"Every time your power bill goes up the prime minister has a smile on her face because that's the carbon tax doing its job," he told reporters in Melbourne.

Mr Combet also seized on AEMO figures showing the emissions intensity of the power generation sector was declining.

The amount of carbon pollution released in the September quarter was 2.4 million tonnes lower than it would have been if emissions intensity had remained at the previous level of 0.92 tonnes per megawatt hour.

But Mr Abbott said that had nothing to do with the "toxic tax", pointing to a major flood that knocked out capacity at Victoria's Yallourn power station in early June.

Mr Combet said the opposition was contradicting the facts.

"The statistics show the emissions intensity of electricity generation has declined in New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania as well as Victoria where the Yallourn power station was impacted by flooding," he said.

He said the carbon price was a key driver in cutting the amount of pollution but it was not the only factor at work.

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell said prices wouldn't go down in NSW until the prime minister allowed a wage cap for electricity workers.

Electrical Trades Union NSW secretary Steve Butler said blaming wages was a "cheap shot" and the NSW government should reduce the dividend it took from electricity to bring prices down.

Climate change lobby groups said the proposed reforms would allow consumers to make better decisions on when and how they used power.

Business groups also supported the proposed privatising of state-owned networks, saying it would create further competition and efficiencies.

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European stocks open slightly higher

EUROPE'S main stock markets rose at the start of trading on Wednesday, with London's FTSE 100 index of leading companies adding a marginal 0.04 per cent to 5873.10 points.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 gained just 0.06 per cent to 7381.08 points and in Paris the CAC 40 grew by 0.11 per cent to 3504.84 points.

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Hopes rise as escapee Tassie Devil spotted

A TASMANIAN Devil has been spotted at the back of the zoo it broke out of in rural Western Australia, prompting hopes it and two fellow escapees will be recovered.

A large eucalypt tree fell on the devil's newly built enclosure at Peel Zoo, on the outskirts of Pinjarra south of Perth, allowing the three endangered marsupials to scarper early on Wednesday.

However, a member of the public phoned owner David Cobbold around 3.15pm (WST) to say he'd seen one of the devils in bushland at the rear of the zoo.

While they could travel up to 20km at night in the wild, Mr Cobbold said he didn't believe the runaways had travelled too far as the zoo gave off enough food smells to keep them in the area.

"It's extremely embarrassing for us even though there's not a lot you can do about a tree falling down," Mr Cobbold told AAP.

"On the other hand, (my partner) Narelle and I are really quite obsessive-compulsive so even with freaks of nature like this, you still think what could I have done.

"The most important thing is that the public are aware, not only for their own safety but also eyes on the street - let's get the power of the public on board.

"They're out there somewhere. I'm sure we'll find them."

Including the three escapees named Itchy, Scratchy and Genghis, the zoo has 19 Tasmanian Devils as well as other carnivores, ostriches and quolls.

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Fire prompts evacuations in central Qld

RESIDENTS of Euleilah in central Queensland are being warned to evacuate their homes if they have no bushfire plan in place.

A large bushfire is burning in the area south of Agnes Water, between Gladstone and Bundaberg.

The Department of Community Safety (DCS) has advised residents around Euleilah to put their bushfire plans into effect or leave their homes.

Firefighters lost control of the fire around 4pm (AEST) on Wednesday as it moved southwest from Tableland Road.

Emergency services say the blaze is unpredictable and despite 20 fire crews being on the scene there is no guarantee every property can be defended.

DCS says the fire could continue to threaten homes on both sides of Tableland Road and Mitchell Road to the west within the next hour.

Crews are currently backburning around properties on the eastern side of Tableland Road and assessing other properties on the road.

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Commercial planes help in NSW yacht rescue

A TRIP down the NSW coast turned out to be anything but plain sailing for a lone yachtsman at the centre of a rescue operation that enlisted two commercial airliners to swoop in to help.

A police vessel is heading out to the demasted yacht, which is running low on fuel and drifting further out to sea about 270 nautical miles east of Sydney.

The solo yachtsman left Pittwater, on Sydney's northern beaches, two weeks ago heading for Eden on the NSW south coast.

An emergency beacon was activated just after 8am (AEDT) on Tuesday with the man reporting that his boat had been drifting away from land since last week.

Because of the remote location, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) asked two commercial airlines whose flight paths passed over the man's GPS position to help confirm his whereabouts.

An Air Canada Boeing 777, en route to Sydney from Vancouver, and an Air New Zealand A320, heading to Sydney from Auckland, subsequently diverted from their courses to check on the distressed yacht.

They were able to confirm the boat's location to rescue vessels, which were scheduled to reach the man on Tuesday evening (AEDT).

An AMSA spokeswoman said it was unusual for commercial airlines to be enlisted in rescue operations.

"It's not common, but that's not because we try to avoid doing it," she told AAP.

"It's because the nature of the incidents that we have aren't necessarily so remote that we can only rely on the commercial airlines."

The spokeswoman said AMSA had now managed to speak to the man, who seemed to be in good spirits.

"The conditions aren't favourable but he's doing OK and he just needs some help."

Police will make a judgment call when they arrive as to whether the man needs to abandon ship, she said.

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Wounded Australian soldiers back on duty

TWO special forces soldiers have returned to duty after recovering from wounds incurred in operations in Kandahar province.

Defence said that for operational security reasons no information was released about the incidents when they occurred, one late last month and the other earlier this month.

Both soldiers from the Special Operations Task Group were participating in partnered operations with members of Afghan National Security Forces when they were hurt, a defence statement said.

The first man was wounded when an all-terrain vehicle overturned during the mission in September 2012.

He was treated at the scene before being airlifted to the medical facility at Kandahar Airfield.

The second soldier sustained a minor fragment wound to his right knee during a mission in early October. He was immediately treated but remained in the field until the mission was complete.

He later received further treatment at the medical facility at the main Australian base at Tarin Kowt.

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WA bikie denied appeal over shooting

A PERTH bikie sentenced to more than six years in prison over the shooting of a rival gang's boss has been rebuffed in his bid to appeal the conviction.

Rock Machine member Benjamin Sipkes was convicted in April after a trial in the WA Supreme Court of unlawful wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

However, he was found not guilty of attempting to murder WA Rebels gang president Nick Martin.

Mr Martin was shot in the arm as he arrived at his home in suburban Balcatta on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle in March last year.

Sipkes was sentenced to six years and four months in prison.

Justice Carmel McLure said in the Court of Appeal on Tuesday that it was suggested in the closing arguments of the trial that Sipkes had intentionally lied to his partner to lay a false trail.

Justice McLure said the trial judge had directed the jury that any hypothesis on the evidence must be supported by evidence in the case.

"There was nothing in the conduct of the defence case that even hinted at the suggestion made in closing that the appellant had deliberately laid a false trail," she said.

Justice McLure said the defence case was "fully and fairly" put to the jury by the trial judge.

"The appellant has no reasonable prospect of establishing that the deliberate false trail explanation is a reasonable hypothesis on the evidence," he said.

"I would refuse leave to appeal and dismiss the appeal."

Justices Michael Buss and Robert Mazza agreed.

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Philippines govt, rebels sign peace deal

MUSLIM rebels and the Philippine government have overcome decades of bitter hostilities and taken their first tentative step toward ending one of Asia's longest-running insurgencies with the ceremonial signing of a preliminary peace pact.

The framework agreement, also called a roadmap to a final peace settlement that is expected by 2016, grants minority Muslims in the southern Philippines broad autonomy.

It comes in exchange for ending more than 40 years of violence that has killed tens of thousands of people and crippled development.

It was signed in Manila's Malacanang presidential palace by government negotiator Marvic Leonen and his counterpart from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Mohagher Iqbal.

Also on hand to witness the historic moment were President Benigno Aquino, rebel chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim - who set foot in the palace for the first time - and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, whose country helped broker the deal.

"We are men and leaders who want to make a difference and we have decided that the time has come for us to choose the moral high ground," Najib said.

He said the deal "will protect the rights of the Bangsamoro people and preserve the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Philippines."

He cautioned it "does not solve all the problems, rather it sets the parameters in which peace can be found.

"After four decades, peace is within reach," he said.

The 13-page document outlines general agreements on major issues, including the extent of power, revenues and territory granted for a new Muslim autonomous region to be called Bangsamoro in this predominantly Roman Catholic nation.

It calls for the establishment of a 15-member Transition Commission to draft a law creating the new Muslim-administered region.

The 11,000-strong rebel army will be deactivated gradually "beyond use," the agreement says, without specifying a timetable.

Aquino also said much work remained to be done and "the devil is in the details," but his government is committed to the country's south.

Murad said the agreement, on the heels of "almost 16 years of hard negotiations interspersed with armed confrontations ... (is) the most important document in the chapter of our history, a landmark document that restores to our people their Bangsamoro identity and their homeland, their right to govern themselves and the power to forge their destiny and future with their very hands."

The agreement says the new Muslim-administered region will replace an existing autonomous territory made of five of the country's poorest and most violent provinces.

That territory was created by a 1996 peace agreement the government signed with the Moro National Liberation Front, but it was considered a failure because it did not end the conflict, the rebels did not disarm and it did not improve the lives of Muslims.

Corruption, political violence and crimes such as kidnappings and extortion persisted, and the current Moro group continued to fight for self-rule.

Another preliminary accord in 2008 was struck down as unconstitutional because the Supreme Court ruled it would create a separate state.

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No forced redundancies at prison: WA govt

THE West Australian government has confirmed it will close Broome Regional Prison earlier than expected, but says there will be no forced redundancies.

Corrective Services Minister Murray Cowper in August pledged to keep the ageing facility fully operational until 2015 to allow for a smooth transition to the new 150-bed West Kimberley Regional Prison in Derby.

The Derby prison will become the Kimberley region's main jail when it opens in November.

In the meantime, Broome Prison will mainly house Indonesian people smugglers and also provide a short-term remand capacity to service the local court.

That remains the plan for the period from mid-2013 to the end of next year, but from 2014, the prison will operate only a remand section and house just six prisoners who will maintain the grounds, Mr Cowper says.

The plan had been revised because "projected numbers of Indonesian prisoners will be lower than originally anticipated".

"Therefore the facility will now be managed to coincide with the fill plan for West Kimberley Regional Prison," Mr Cowper said.

About 50 per cent of staff would be cut, he said, but there would be no forced redundancies.

"All staff will be consulted and provided with redeployment or other suitable options," he said.

WA Prison Officers' Union acting secretary John Walker said the news was a massive blow.

"Understandably, the workers are angry to hear the state government has reneged on the promise to keep the facility open for the next three years," Mr Walker said.

"Some of these workers have recently been transferred to Broome to deal with the current overcrowding at the facility only to now be facing the chop or to be sent back despite moving their family and lives to the region."

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Chinese shoppers power global luxury sales

CHINESE shoppers both at home and abroad are pushing personal luxury sales to new heights.

A new study by Bain & Company released on Monday forecasts the global luxury goods market for apparel, accessories, jewellery, cosmetics and art will grow 10 per cent this year to 212 billion euros ($A270.13 billion), from 192 billion euros ($A244.65 billion) in 2011.

That would be the third straight year of double-digit growth.

Bain expects spending for the holidays to increase by 7 per cent in 2012 over last year.

But the real boost is from Chinese consumers, who this year became the top luxury buyers responsible for 25 per cent of global purchases.

Europeans contributed 24 per cent to global sales, US buyers 20 per cent and those in Japan 14 per cent.

Fondazione Altagamma, Italy's luxury trade association, commissioned the study.

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5.9-magnitude earthquake hits Solomons

A 5.9-MAGNITUDE earthquake has rattled the Pacific's Solomon Islands, but there are no reports of damage and no tsunami alert has been issued, seismologists say.

The quake struck 86km southwest of remote Chirovanga, on the island of Choiseul at 1558 (AEDT) at a depth of 60km, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

The epicentre was about 500 kilometres from the Solomons capital Honiara.

Geoscience Australia, which put the quake's magnitude at 6.0, said there was no tsunami generated, and there were no immediate reports of damage in the sparsely populated area.

The Solomon Islands form part of the Ring of Fire, a zone of tectonic activity around the Pacific Ocean subject to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

In 2007, a tsunami following an 8.1-magnitude earthquake killed at least 52 people in the Solomons and left thousands homeless.

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Three soldiers killed in Philippine ambush

THREE soldiers have been killed in an attack by al-Qaeda-linked Islamic militants in the southern Philippines.

The three were members of the army's intelligence unit on the southern island of Basilan and had left their barracks to buy food when they were attacked by Abu Sayyaf gunmen on Saturday, Captain Alberto Caber said.

"They were aboard a motorcycle when attacked from behind by men also riding motorcycles," Caber told reporters.

The soldiers sustained multiple gunshot wounds and were pronounced dead upon arrival at a local hospital, he said.

Caber blamed Abu Sayyaf for the attack, saying it could be trying to goad the military into attacks on the eve of the expected signing of a peace agreement with another Muslim group.

"This is the work of the Abu Sayyaf to spoil the signing" of the peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Manila on Monday, he said.

The 12,000-strong MILF is to sign a "framework agreement" with the government laying down the blueprint for the creation of an autonomous region by 2016.

Caber said the Abu Sayyaf apparently feared that once the pact is signed, the MILF would actively help the military hunt them down in the jungles of Basilan.

The Abu Sayyaf is blamed for the country's worst terrorist attacks, including a 2004 ferry bombing that killed more than 100 in Manila Bay, as well as kidnappings of foreign tourists and missionaries over the past decade.

The group is on the US government's list of active foreign terrorist organisations, and 600 American soldiers rotate in the south yearly to help local counterparts combat it.

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Abbott urges business to target Indonesia

OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott says Australian businesses should focus more on the economic opportunities in Indonesia instead of considering it an exotic tourist spot.

Mr Abbott is in Jakarta on the second day of a three-day trip to meet business leaders and politicians.

All Australian business leaders he met on Saturday were "very enthusiastic" about the economic prospects in the South-East Asian nation, Mr Abbott said.

"All of them were very keen to let me know Australia shouldn't be so fixated on its now long-standing economic relationship with Japan, and more recent but very, very important relationship with China, and that we've neglected the vast potential of Indonesia," h told reporters in Jakarta on Sunday.

"One of the things that should disappoint Australia is we actually have larger two-way trade with New Zealand, with four million people, than we do with Indonesia with 250 million people."

Indonesia was Australia's 11th largest export market in the year to June 30, 2012, official data show.

Mr Abbott said there was much work to do to build the economic relationship with Indonesia.

"For too long we have thought of Indonesia as an exotic tourist destination rather than as a potential and growing economic partner," he said.

"As Indonesia continues to develop very strongly, as it has over the last decade, there are a lot more opportunities for Australia."

Mr Abbott said business bosses were full of praise for the work done by Australian diplomatic and trade staff in Indonesia.

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop said an coalition government would broaden, deepen and diversify the relationship with Jakarta.

"The coalition believes our relationship with Indonesia should be one of our highest foreign policy priorities," she said.

Ms Bishop, opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison and agriculture spokesman John Cobb joined Mr Abbott in Jakarta after he left Bali, where on Friday he attended the ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the terrorist bombings on the island.

The opposition delegation is to hold meetings on Monday with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa and government MPs.

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