Renault recalls over 6000 electric cars

French automaker Renault is recalling three quarters of its Twizy electric cars sold in Europe. Source: AAP

FRENCH automaker Renault is recalling three quarters of its Twizy electric cars sold in Europe to rectify potential problems with brake fluid leaks.

A Renault spokesman said earlier this week 6247 Twizy vehicles, made between January 27 and May 1 of this year, were affected by the recall. Most of the vehicles were sold in France and Germany, as well as in Switzerland.

"This is a pre-emptive recall," the spokesman said, adding that a single case of a brake fluid leak had been detected, without incident.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Dallas star Larry Hagman dies at 81

American actor Larry Hagman, known for his role on the TV show Dallas, has died at the age of 81. Source: AAP

US actor Larry Hagman, who for more than a decade played villainous patriarch JR Ewing in the TV soap Dallas, has died at the age of 81, his family says.

Hagman, who had suffered from cancer and liver disease, died in hospital in Dallas, Texas, the Dallas Morning News reported.

Linda Gray, a long-time friend who starred alongside him in the TV show, called him her "best friend for 35 years", her agent told the BBC.

Gray, who played Hagman's on-screen wife, Sue Ellen Ewing, was by his bedside when he died.

In a statement from her agent she said: "Larry Hagman was my best friend for 35 years.

"He was the Pied Piper of life and brought joy to everyone he knew. He was creative, generous, funny, loving and talented and I will miss him enormously.

"He was an original and lived life to the full."

Hagman was born in Fort Worth, Texas on September 21, 1931, the son of actress Mary Martin and lawyer Ben Hagman, a biography on his official website said.

While in England with the US Air Force he met and married his wife of almost 60 years, Swedish designer Maj Axelsson. The couple later had two children.

He became a star in 1965 in the TV comedy series I Dream of Jeannie, in which he played an astronaut haunted by the beautiful blonde genie, played by Barbara Eden.

But it was in 1977 when he landed the role of merciless oil magnate JR Ewing, the character at the centre of the show Dallas, that his worldwide fame was cemented.

The series ran for 13 seasons and on November 21, 1980 more than 350 million people tuned in to find out "who shot JR".

Hagman refused to be defined by his most enduring role, acting in films such as Nixon and Primary Colors.

But he also had health problems. In 1992 he was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver and three years later he had a liver transplant.

In October last year, he discovered a tumour on his tongue and was diagnosed with cancer, and underwent six weeks of chemotherapy and radiation before it went into remission in March.

Earlier this year, he appeared in a new 10-episode series of Dallas, with a second series in production and due to run next year.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Portugal pulls bulk of police from Timor

PORTUGAL has withdrawn the bulk of its police officers from East Timor as international forces wind up a 13-year mission in Asia's youngest nation, where thousands have died in political bloodshed.

Seventy-five of the officers boarded a Lisbon-bound plane in the former Portuguese colony, among the last of 1200 UN peacekeepers to return home before the official end of their mission on December 31.

Only around three dozen UN Police remain in the country, including several from Portugal, Australia, Malaysia and Pakistan. Most of them will leave next week and all will have to withdraw by December 31.

International forces began pulling out in earnest last month with Canberra this week saying it was sending home hundreds of troops from the Australian-led International Stabilisation Force (ISF), ending a six-year operation.

At the UN's terminal in Dili's Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport, officers in Portugal's black police uniforms and UN blue berets bade a tearful farewell to Portuguese expatriates who had come to see them off.

Captain Jorge Barradas, commander of the Portuguese police contingent, said he had mixed feelings about leaving a country where he has served on and off since 2001.

"It is kind of a sad feeling for us to leave East Timor. But on the other hand, leaving means that East Timor has developed and is secure so it's also a pleasure to leave," he said.

The UN entered the territory, officially known as Timor-Leste, after violence broke out in 1999 following the resounding "yes" vote for independence from neighbouring Indonesia.

The referendum was organised by the UN after Indonesia announced it would end a brutal, 24-year occupation in which about 183,000 people, or a quarter of the population, died from fighting, disease and starvation.

The nation conducted peaceful presidential and parliamentary elections this year, and UN peacekeepers last month handed full responsibility for policing back to the nation, which celebrated a decade of formal independence in May.

Portugal, which controlled East Timor for more than 300 years before Indonesia invaded, is among 44 nations that have served in the current UN Police mission dispatched after a second wave of violence hit in 2006.

It has made one of the biggest contributions to the force, sending 2,000 officers since 2006, when unrest ahead of elections left 37 dead and hundreds of thousands displaced.

The only major violence in the impoverished half-island nation of 1.1 million people since 2006 has been a failed assassination attempt against then-president Jose Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao in 2008.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Pell showed no empathy, Vic inquiry hears

An inquiry has heard Cardinal George Pell showed a "sociopathic lack of empathy" for rape victims. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIA'S most senior Catholic showed a "sociopathic lack of empathy" in dealing with victims who were raped by clergy, an inquiry has heard.

Cardinal George Pell, current Archbishop of Sydney, had tried to compel victims into silence when confronted with evidence of wrongdoing by parish priests, the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into child sexual abuse was told on Friday.

Anthony Foster recalled meeting Cardinal Pell to discuss a priest who had repeatedly raped two of his daughters when they were at primary school.

He told the inquiry that Cardinal Pell, then the Archbishop of Melbourne, had told him, "If you don't like what we're doing, take us to court," and did not appear to be distressed by the incidents.

"In our interactions with the now-Cardinal Archbishop Pell, we experienced a sociopathic lack of empathy, typifying the attitude and responses of the church hierarchy," Mr Foster said.

Mr Foster's daughters, Emma and Katie, were repeatedly raped by the late Father Kevin O'Donnell in the 1980s and 1990s when they were at Sacred Heart Primary School in Oakleigh.

But the church was already aware that O'Donnell had been abusing children in 1946, 1958 and 1984 and failed to take any action, he said.

"Here are glaring examples of crimes that should have been reported to the police ... If they had been, Emma and Katie and scores of other victims would not have been assaulted by O'Donnell," Mr Foster told the Family and Community Development Committee.

Fr O'Donnell, who is referred to by a lawyer as a "two-a-day-man" in the Fosters' written submission to the inquiry, was charged with sex offences occurring over a 30-year period, pleaded guilty, and later died.

Mr Foster said his daughter Emma had turned to drugs and took her own life while Katie had been hit by a car while binge drinking and still needs 24-hour care for permanent disabilities.

His third daughter, Aimee, told the inquiry that she still fantasises about what life would have been like if her two sisters hadn't been sexually abused.

The church later offered the Fosters $50,000, then claimed the assaults never occurred, and finally settled for a higher undisclosed sum, the inquiry heard.

Mr Foster called for the vast wealth of the church to be accessible to victims, since current payments for victims were far below those that would be achieved in civil proceedings.

His written submission also urged the committee to call Victorian Governor Alex Chernov to give evidence on why compensation payments were capped when he was head of a compensation panel.

"Was Mr Chernov happy with this treatment of church victims?" the submission said.

The Fosters were the first victims to give evidence at the inquiry after fighting for a hearing for years.

Other victims on Friday criticised the church's internal handling of abuse, including moving pedophile priests from parish to parish.

Mairead Ashcroft told the inquiry she was abused as a child by Brother Bernard Hartman and had even received a letter of apology from him, but the church later said there was no record of her complaint.

She has spent years suffering post-traumatic stress and fearing her experience as a sex abuse victim would change her.

"I believed that I would grow up to be an abuser," she said.

Hearings will resume on Monday.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Info sheets 'bullying' refugees: advocate

REFUGEE advocates say a government information sheet being given to asylum seekers on Nauru is a form of bullying designed to encourage people to return home voluntarily.

The information sheet makes clear it will take "several years" for asylum seekers to be potentially resettled and there's no guarantee even then they'll make it to Australia.

The sheet urges asylum seekers to "remember you can decide to leave Nauru voluntarily at any time".

"Overall you can expect it may take several years, from when you first arrived in Nauru, to being potentially resettled," it states.

"It is possible you could be resettled in a country as part of broader regional arrangements.

"You can also return with a package of assistance to help you re-establish yourself in your home country."

Detainees are told they are no longer entitled to bring immediate family to Australia using refugee or humanitarian visas even if eventually granted a protection visa.

Refugee advocate Pamela Curr says the letters are "all about pressing people to go home".

"They're telling them it's going to take years, they're never going to see their families again and they've got little chance of being resettled in Australia," Ms Curr told AAP on Friday.

"It is a form of bullying.

"These people are stuck out there in tents on the equator standing knee-deep in water and if that's not bad enough they're being told they have got Buckley's chance of ever getting out of it."

Ms Curr said in the past Australia offered refugees protection but now Canberra persecuted them.

She said the harsh treatment wouldn't stop the boats "because we can never be worse than the Taliban in Afghanistan or the Sri Lankan white vans".

Immigration department spokesman Sandi Logan on Friday defended the information sheets.

"It's rather disingenuous if people are criticising the department for keeping its clients fully informed," he told ABC radio.

"We'd be criticised if we didn't."

Mr Logan said the department was "duty-bound" to provide the information.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Gunmen kill 7 at private health clinic

Seven people were killed after gunmen opened fire at a private health clinic in Guatemala City. Source: AAP

A GROUP of gunmen armed with assault rifles have murdered seven men and wounded a woman at a private health clinic in Guatemala City.

A National Civil Police spokesman says the hit squad arrived at the clinic, in the capital's south, in an all-terrain vehicle and that six of the victims died at the scene.

The seventh, Trinidad Mendez Chacon, an employee of a private executive bodyguard company, is the only person identified by authorities so far. He died in the emergency room of the public hospital where he was taken after the massacre.

An official with the Interior Ministry says the attack, on Thursday, was directed against the woman who was wounded and who had been at the clinic for a medical appointment.

Her condition was not specified but the official said the dead were the woman's bodyguards and security guards at the building, without giving any further details.

"At the scene there are (projectiles) of different calibres but there are no weapons," the police spokesman said.

"Evidently, the attackers took them away."

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

NKorea threatens to attack SKorean island

NORTH Korea has threatened to attack a South Korean island over what it calls Seoul's provocative claim that it was victorious in a deadly artillery exchange there two years ago.

North Korea shelled the front-line island in November 2010, killing two marines and two civilians.

South Korea returned fire, but Pyongyang says it suffered no military casualties.

South Korean marines believe they won in the artillery exchange and plan to open a "victorious battle memorial hall" on Yeonpyeong Island this week to mark its second anniversary.

An unidentified spokesman at the North Korean military's southwestern front command said in remarks released on Thursday that South Korea's moves are aimed at sparking a war and will lead to "the second Yeonpyeong Island disaster".

North Korea has made similar threats without following through.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Duck hunt ban to stay in NSW: O'Farrell

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell says his government has no plans to overturn a long-held ban on recreational duck hunting in the state, after the coalition backed licensing changes introduced by the Shooters Party.

A Shooters Party bill to expand the state's duck hunting program passed through parliament on Thursday, making the Game Council the sole authority for granting licenses.

The changes strip the National Parks and Wildlife Service of its role in the licensing process, a move the opposition said gives the Game Council too much power.

Under current laws, hunting is only allowed on farms for pest mitigation.

Despite the government backing the bill - in return for the Shooters' support of ports privatisation - Mr O'Farrell said the government would not overturn a 1995 ban on recreational duck hunting.

"The 1995 ban on duck hunting is one of the great pieces of Carr (government) spin," Mr O'Farrell told reporters.

"In Labor's last year in office, 2010-2011, (it) set a quota of more than 100,000 ducks on private land - something like 52,000, 53,000 of those ducks were shot.

"Duck hunting on private land has existed since Bob Carr claimed that duck hunting had ended in NSW."

Mr O'Farrell took credit for restricting the Shooters Party bill with a series of government amendments, including the creation of a new Game Bird Management Committee to set quotas and determine what species of bird can be hunted and where.

Questioned about the deal with the Shooters Party over the government's leasing plans for Port Botany and Port Kembla, Mr O'Farrell said: "We're working with the upper house we have."

During the debate on the bill, the opposition's environment spokesman Luke Foley said Labor supported the current system of hunting by farmers for pest mitigation, but the shooters' bill was "a bridge too far".

"If recreational shooters play a part in a legitimate mitigation effort, we don't see a problem with that," Mr Foley told the upper house.

"We don't believe the regulatory arrangements contemplated by (the Shooters Party) are balanced."

Shooters Party MP Robert Brown said the bill simply removed the red tape involved with the licensing system.

"The current system is inefficient with two licensing systems running in parallel," he told parliament.

Greens MP John Kaye blasted the government for backing the duck hunting bill in return for the Shooters Party vote on its ports privatisation bill, which passed through parliament late on Wednesday night.

"(The government) is absolutely happy to trade off animal welfare in order to get its legislation through this chamber," he said.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Rinehart launches new book

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart has unveiled her new book and her vision for the nation in Sydney. Source: AAP

MINING magnate Gina Rinehart has gathered tributes from advertising millionaire John Singleton and Indian industrialist GVK Reddy for her new book, which she is launching in Sydney on Thursday.

The book, "Northern Australia and Then Some", has been held in relative secrecy ahead of a two-day publicity tour by Ms Rinehart, who is chairman of Hancock Prospecting, through Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

The preface describes the new tome as "a compendium of speeches, articles and images" and says Ms Rinehart "offers the reader a comprehensive insight into her thoughts about national prosperity" and an "intimate glimpse" of her life and times.

A series of photographs from the book, made available to media ahead of the launch in Sydney, show Ms Rinehart with her late father, Lang Hancock, in a number of situations including at her 21st birthday and on one of the family's iron ore tenements in the West Australian Pilbara.

Mr Hancock wrote his own book, Wake Up Australia, to outline his vision of the essential place of mining at the centre of the nation's economic and political future, in 1979.

Mr Singleton, in his tribute to Ms Hancock's book, writes that people need only read two books to understand "the future of Australia and its destruction by government".

"Read Lang's book and it will light up your mind. Read Gina's book and it puts our future under the brightest light I have ever seen," Mr Singleton wrote.

Dr Reddy is chairman and managing director of the giant industrial conglomerate GVK Power and Infrastructure which bought the majority share of Hancock Prospecting's Queensland Galilee Basin coal holdings under a joint development agreement.

Dr Reddy writes that Ms Hancock, who has been involved in a bitter court battle with her children over control of a multi-billion dollar family trust, is "a caring and loving individual ... who cares not only about the wellbeing of her family and those close to her but also about the nation".

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Melbourne Airport 'needs rail link'

Melbourne Airport will build a $50m third runway to cope with the huge growth in passenger traffic. Source: AAP

THE Victorian government needs to come to the party on a rail link to Melbourne Airport and improved road access, the airport's boss says.

The airport is planning a $500 million third runway, with construction likely to start in 2016.

The runway would take two to four years to complete and allow more aircraft movements, which are expected to jump from 200,000 to 281,000 by 2022-23.

But Melbourne Airport chief executive Chris Woodruff says the government needs to support the expansion with a greater commitment to improving access.

"What are we doing about the Tullamarine Freeway? What are we doing about the widening of that? What are we doing about giving Skybus, for example, a priority lane?" Mr Woodruff said on Wednesday.

The Skybus carried nearly 2.5 million passengers a year but was caught in traffic congestion on the Tullamarine Freeway, he said.

Mr Woodruff said he expected the government to give a solid commitment to a rail link to the airport when the airport released its master plan in February or March.

Melbourne Airport was spending $300 million on capital projects this year and planned to spend $500 million annually over the next 20 years, he said.

"I look to the state government to come to the party," Mr Woodruff said.

"On our own we are producing significant economic benefits for this state."

Mr Woodruff said while a rail link would take more than seven years to complete, widening of Tullamarine Freeway could be done within a year.

Premier Ted Baillieu said the government had committed $6.5 million to a study on a rail link to the airport.

"It's not a simple exercise to simply drop a rail link into an airport," he said.

Passenger numbers at Melbourne Airport are forecast to reach 40 million by 2020 and more than 60 million by 2033.

Suburbs such as Gladstone Park, Broadmeadows and Westmeadows would be under the path of aircraft using the new east-west runway.

Broadmeadows resident and Fight the Flight Path co-chair Jody Freestone said the frequency of planes was already disruptive.

"You can't sleep," Ms Freestone told AAP.

She said there should be a curfew review for Melbourne Airport and an environmental impact study before the airport's master plan goes to the federal government for approval.

Environment Victoria campaigns director Mark Wakeham said it was reckless to decide to build another runway without any examination of the likely emissions consequences.

Meanwhile, the government has launched plans for an aviation hub at Tullamarine, with a view to enticing different parts of the industry to work together, including components manufacturers and training providers.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Still plagued with bad taxes: Oakeshott

Independent MP Rob Oakeshott says the government has failed to negotiate with the states over taxes. Source: AAP

THE federal government has failed so far on a commitment to negotiate with the states to move away from inefficient taxes, Independent MP Rob Oakeshott says.

Following a meeting with Treasury officials in Sydney on Tuesday, Mr Oakeshott said he remained of the view state-based royalties were inefficient and a competent profit-based resource rent tax was needed.

"How we transition from one to the other remains unresolved," Mr Oakeshott said in a statement on Wednesday.

"For me, this is a particular concern because my vote for the MRRT (minerals resource rent tax) was conditional, in writing, on the commonwealth negotiating with the states to transition away from the inefficient royalties."

He said that hadn't happened and remained an undelivered commitment of the federal government.

However, Mr Oakeshott said the soon-to-be-released GST distribution review and the state tax reform plan should be seen as an historic opportunity for a commonwealth-state agreement on removing inefficient state taxes.

Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey said that under no circumstance would the coalition support changes to the mining tax.

"We want to get rid of it," he told reporters in Parramatta, in Sydney's west.

"It was a stupid tax in the first place. It hardly raises a dollar."

Mr Hockey also said Mr Oakeshott was "making it up" when he said senior MPs from both sides of politics privately agreed with him that there should be a review of the GST's rate and coverage.

"I am the guy who is in charge of coalition tax policy. I am saying emphatically - emphatically - that we are not going to change the GST," Mr Hockey said.

He said the fact that partners of the Labor Party coalition were raising an expansion of the GST or an increase in the GST said everything about the default position of the Labor Party, the Greens and the independents.

"That is to tax people more - whether it be the mining tax or the GST."

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Indigenous leader wins ACT's top award

FORMER race discrimination commissioner Tom Calma is the ACT's Australian of the Year for 2013.

The indigenous leader, who has also served as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner, was honoured for his work as an inspirational advocate for human rights and social justice.

His lifelong dedication to improving the lives of indigenous people included writing a landmark report calling for the life expectancy gap between indigenous and non-indigenous people to be closed.

That laid the groundwork for the Close the Gap campaign.

Dr Calma beat three other shortlisted finalists, including former treasury secretary Ken Henry, rural health advocate Gordon Gregory and human rights activist Libby Lloyd.

At the ACT awards ceremony on Wednesday evening, scientist Jim Peacock was named the ACT Senior Australian of the Year.

Dr Peacock was Australia's chief scientist from 2006 to 2008 and was a driving force behind the establishment of the Discovery Centre in Canberra that showcases CSIRO research.

He headed the CSIRO plant industry division for 26 years, where his work included helping develop insect-resistant cotton.

Women's advocate Julie McKay was named the ACT's Young Australian of the Year for her work as executive director of UN Women Australia.

The ACT Local Hero award was given to Francis Owusu in recognition of his work as a dance mentor with the Kulture Break group.

National Australia Day Council chief executive Graham West said the ACT award recipients were all extraordinary people doing vital work in the community.

"The ACT award recipients come from varied backgrounds and areas of expertise but they have all been awarded for their dedication to making the world a better place," Mr West said.

The award ceremony also honoured the life of Rhonda Obad, a finalist in the 2013 ACT Senior Australian of the Year category, who died on Tuesday aged 64.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Top Bandido arrested in Qld drug raids

Queensland police launched a series of raids agains the Bandidos motorcycle gang, making 28 arrests. Source: AAP

THE Bandidos national sergeant-at-arms is among 32 members and associates of the outlaw motor cycle gang who have been arrested during police raids in southeast Queensland.

Detectives concluded an 11-month long operation on Tuesday morning with multiple raids across the region, resulting in 173 charges being laid.

Police seized methylamphetamine, MDMA, cannabis, firearms, cash and three mobile phone stunning devices.

Detective Acting Superintendent Tony Duncan says Operation Kilo Subdue targeted the Bandidos Brisbane chapter, focusing specifically on drug distribution to the city's entertainment precincts.

Five people - two gang members and three close associates - were charged with trafficking and one other is expected to be charged late on Tuesday, he said.

Supt Duncan said six of those arrested were Bandido members, while the rest were linked to the gang.

The raft of charges related to not only trafficking, but serious assaults, firearm offences and lesser drug-related crimes, he said.

"The people arrested included the national sergeant-at-arms for the Bandidos," Supt Duncan told reporters in Brisbane.

He said the operation would make a significant impact in the drug supply chain in Brisbane.

"I think anything that can disrupt organised crime is always pleasing," he said.

"Any strategies that can be put in place to disrupt the distribution of drugs is always good."

One person was due to face Beenleigh Magistrates Court on Tuesday, while the rest are expected to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Fears indigenous job providers could close

THERE are fears some organisations helping indigenous people get jobs will have to close at the end of the year because of funding uncertainty.

During Senate question time on Tuesday, Liberal senator Marise Payne asked the federal government to justify changes to the indigenous employment program that could see some job service providers close.

Senator Payne warned the changes could result in the imminent closure of the Aboriginal Employment Strategy, which has placed 10,000 indigenous people into jobs, and of the Replay Group, which operates in Victoria, NSW, Queensland and the Northern Territory.

"Some organisations have indicated they will have to close their doors from December 1 this year because they have no certainty," Senator Payne said.

She asked whether providers under the current system would be able to survive.

The federal government is moving towards a jobs services agency model rather than an employer-driven model, the Senate was told.

There was confusion over which Labor frontbencher was responsible for the area.

Finance Minister Penny Wong told the chamber she had to check she was the representative for Indigenous Employment Minister Julie Collins in the Senate.

"I'm advised the government will continue to discuss these contracts, prior to expiry with existing providers," she said, reading off a brief.

She said last month the AES successfully tendered to provide traineeships under the $50.7 million indigenous youth career pathway program.

Senator Wong said an independent public tender process had taken place.

Aboriginal Employment Strategy chief executive Danny Lester told AAP the job providers weren't asking for additional money.

He said there had been a moratorium placed on contracts for the indigenous employment program.

Mr Lester said there was $9 million left out of a $24 million contract that had not yet been spent.

The 4000 job placements had nearly been achieved, but the leftover money could go towards additional placements, he said.

That money could tide his organisation over until June 2013, because from December 31 their funding would dry up.

The organisation wants to work with the government on a new model next year.

AES has been in talks with both the prime minister's and Minister Collins' offices and hopes to know its fate by the end of November, Mr Lester said.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Temporary hold on ground invasion: Israel

SENIOR Israeli ministers have decided to hold off from launching a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip to give Egyptian-led truce efforts a chance to work, a senior Israeli official says.

"A decision was taken that for the time being there is a temporary hold on the ground incursion to give diplomacy a chance to succeed," he told AFP on Tuesday.

The official spoke to AFP following a late-night session of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's inner circle, the Forum of Nine.

"They discussed both the state of the diplomacy and the military operation," he said on condition of anonymity.

As an Egyptian ceasefire proposal appears to be emerging from indirect negotiations in Cairo between Israel and a Hamas team, a stream of top-level diplomats were expected to arrive in the region to throw their weight behind efforts to end the violence which on Tuesday entered its seventh day.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon is to meet Israeli President Shimon Peres on Tuesday evening and US officials said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would break away from an Asia visit to visit Israel, Egypt and the West Bank.

Palestinian officials said she was expected to visit Ramallah on Wednesday morning for talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Macdonald rushed mining tender, ICAC told

FORMER NSW resources minister Ian Macdonald rushed to open up the Bylong Valley to coal mining despite advice from a top bureaucrat that the process should be more orderly, a corruption inquiry has heard.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) on Monday was told that from May 2008 Mr Macdonald was pushing his department for information on coal deposits in the Bylong Valley, in central NSW, in a scramble to put a number of exploration licences out to tender.

One of the disgraced minister's former staffers said Mr Macdonald even ignored the advice of Alan Coutts, the respected deputy director-general of the Department of Primary Industries, who was urging the minister to slow down the process.

The Labor MP's then deputy chief of staff, Jamie Gibson, said Mr Coutts and Mr Macdonald had clashed repeatedly over the headlong rush to open up 11 areas of the state, including the Mt Penny tenement in the Bylong Valley.

Mr Macdonald is accused of favouring his former colleague Eddie Obeid by granting an exploration licence at Mt Penny, where the Labor powerbroker and his family owned property.

Mr Gibson told the inquiry that from May 2008 Mr Macdonald had shown a particular interest in Mt Penny and had been the one to decide to open up the area to mining.

It was the speed at which he wanted the invitation-only expression of interest to go ahead that concerned Mr Coutts, who had wanted more exploration work done on the proposed mining areas, Mr Gibson said.

"Was he suggesting that it should proceed at a more orderly and slower opening up, rather than what appears to be the rather expedited time period that was put on these specific areas?" junior counsel assisting the inquiry, Nicholas Chen, asked.

"To my recollection he was," Mr Gibson replied.

"He was advocating as well as he could, as his position in his department allowed, to the minister."

"Was he suggesting that the pace at which these were being opened should be far slower?" Mr Chen asked.

"I do remember he was advocating a proper look at the process before it commenced," Mr Gibson replied.

Mr Gibson said the pair "certainly disagreed" often, before Mr Coutts was moved on to head the NSW Food Authority in November 2008.

"Ministerial officers and ministers and departmental heads from time to time have very robust debates," Mr Gibson said.

"And if you mean strongly, do I mean things like swearing and things like that, then yes, that is a natural part of executive government, unfortunately.

"From your observation from the dealings you had with Mr Coutts, did you form the view that something was going to give in the relationship between Mr Coutts and Mr Macdonald?" Mr Chen asked.

"Yes."

"And that was always going to be, I take it, Mr Coutts?"

"Yes," Mr Gibson replied.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

All options open for super trawler backers

The federal government is extending a ban on commercial fishing by the super trawler Abel Tasman. Source: AAP

JILTED super trawler operator Seafish Tasmania says all options are on the table, including possible legal action, in response to the federal government's two-year ban on the Abel Tasman.

Seafish director Gerry Geen has pleaded for "a fair go" after Environment Minister Tony Burke exercised new powers and stopped the giant factory ship trawling Australian waters while the potential impacts are assessed.

A legal challenge now looks likely once Seafish has consulted with Dutch joint venture partner Parlevliet & Van der Plas over the 142m vessel, formerly known as the Margiris, which is stranded at Port Lincoln and costing its backers tens of thousands of dollars a day.

"All options will be on the table," Mr Geen said in a statement.

"People reckon we have copped a raw deal.

"We followed all AFMA's (Australian Fisheries Management Authority's) rules and regulations and were given the green light ... but then at the last minute the Australian government pulled the rug."

Mr Burke conceded a court battle could result from his announcement, made 60 days after legislation was tabled to increase his ministerial powers.

"The company have made clear, (in) public and personally, that if they thought they needed to they would pursue all legal options available to them," Mr Burke told reporters in Canberra.

But he said the government was on "completely strong legal ground" to counter any compensation claims or legal challenges.

Seafish Tasmania had attempted to appease the government by offering to use less than half the factory ship's freezing capacity and to move on from fishing areas once a certain tonnage was caught.

Mr Burke said his department remained dissatisfied with the "genuine uncertainty" around the vessel.

Mr Geen said he had received little response to his company's offer of concessions.

"All we want is a fair go," he said.

"Both Minister Burke and the Australian government have told us what we can't do - we want them to tell us what we can do.

"We wrote to the ministers Burke and Joe Ludwig directly, seeking their assistance and direction as to alternative solutions.

"But we heard nothing back."

Mr Burke and Fisheries Minister Joe Ludwig will now establish an expert committee to study the environmental impact of super trawlers over the next two years.

Once the panel has assessed the science, the Abel Tasman could in theory begin fishing if given the all-clear.

The Greens and environmental groups, who mounted a massive campaign against the ship, welcomed the news.

"Australia should be setting international standards for fisheries management and sustainable industries, and today's announcement from Minister Burke is a step towards that," Greens senator Rachel Siewert said.

Greenpeace said overfishing of the world's oceans needed to be addressed.

"Monster boats like the Abel Tasman have no place in our waters," spokesman Ben Pearson said.

"Australia must make it clear that super trawlers have no place here, or anywhere."

The federal opposition's fisheries spokesman Richard Colebeck said Mr Burke had put politics before science.

"All of the credible science ... supported the sustainability of this fishery," he said.

"That Mr Burke constructed his own 'uncertainty' by not talking to any of these leading institutions is yet another indictment on the decision-making processes of this Gillard government."

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Search for missing Sydney diver suspended

SEARCH teams have failed to find any trace of a diver missing off Botany Bay in Sydney.

The 27-year-old had been diving with two mates near Bare Island at La Perouse early on Sunday morning.

The group decided to return about 8.45am but he failed to come ashore.

The other two men waited briefly before swimming back to where they had been diving.

They found their friend's equipment but there has been no sign of him since.

Emergency services and volunteers from Surf Life Saving Australia searched the area until 5pm on Sunday and resuming their efforts on Monday morning.

The search will recommence at first light on Tuesday.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Backyard pot grown for health: survey

ALMOST half of people growing small quantities of cannabis in Australia use if for medicinal purposes, a new study has found.

In the first study of its size in Australia, the National Drug Research Institute is conducting an anonymous online survey to find out more about people who grow small amounts of cannabis in their backyards, cupboards and sheds.

A research fellow at the institute, Monica Barratt, said about 250 people had taken part so far and it was hoped the responses would double in coming months before the information was collated and compared with similar studies in the US, Canada, the UK and across Europe.

"The majority grow for personal use and also to avoid contact with criminals," Dr Barratt told AAP on Sunday, ahead of her presentation at a major alcohol and drug conference in Melbourne this week.

Almost half of the survey respondents said they grew cannabis for medicinal purposes, including people hoping to improve their appetite while taking medication for cancer and HIV, Dr Barratt said.

Nearly all of the respondents were men with a median age of 34. More than half of respondents lived outside major cities and were generally well educated and employed, she said.

Some 85 per cent of growers said they did it for personal use and cultivation had sparked contact with police for about one-third.

Growers typically reported growing six juvenile (four mature) plants. The most common places to grow cannabis were the garden (45 per cent), inside a cupboard (26 per cent), in parks or bush (21 per cent) and inside a shed (19 per cent).

Dr Barratt said it was hoped the survey would give growers a say about policies concerning cannabis, which differ from state to state.

Almost all said tht even if cannabis was decriminalised there should be regulations in place for growers, such as how many plants and what types of people should be allowed to cultivate the drug.

The World Wide Weed team conducting international research into cannabis cultivation was looking for more respondents.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

ASEAN adopts rights pact despite criticism

SOUTH-EAST Asian leaders have endorsed a human rights declaration which they called a breakthrough for the region but critics said it fell well below global standards.

Leaders of the 10-member Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) adopted the joint declaration at their annual summit in Phnom Penh, saying it would enshrine human rightS protections for the bloc's 600 million people.

"It's a legacy for our children," Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario told reporters on Sunday after the signing ceremony.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay and more than 60 rights groups called this month for the pact to be postponed amid concerns it undermined universal human rights standards by allowing loopholes for governments.

ASEAN's members have a wide range of political systems, from authoritarian regimes in Vietnam and Laos at one end of the spectrum to the freewheeling democracy of the Philippines at the other.

Campaigners also slammed the lack of transparency and the absence of consultation with civil society groups during the drafting of the text.

ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said the bloc's foreign ministers had made an amendment to the text on Saturday aimed at addressing those complaints.

The amended text affirmed ASEAN nations would "implement the declaration in accordance to the international human rights declarations and standards".

But the deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, Phil Robertson, said it was not enough to fix the "flawed" pact, which he said would justify crackdowns based on "national context" or on grounds of "public morality".

"Our worst fears in this process have now come to pass," Robertson said in a statement on Sunday.

"Rather than meeting international standards, this declaration lowers them by creating new loopholes and justifications that ASEAN member states can use to justify abusing the rights of their people."

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa urged observers not to jump to conclusions.

"It's an important benchmark for ASEAN to be kept honest in terms of its human rights obligations," Natalegawa told reporters.

Human rights has been a sensitive issue for some ASEAN members, with the grouping's policy of non-interference in members' internal affairs often preventing the issue from being discussed more thoroughly at annual meetings.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Qld's southeast battens down again

A severe storm warning has been issued for Queensland's southeast. Source: AAP

DANGEROUS thunderstorms with large hailstones are moving into Queensland's southeast corner, with the weather bureau issuing warnings for the region.

The bureau says residents in Logan City and parts of the Brisbane City, Gympie, Ipswich City, Sunshine Coast, Scenic Rim and South Burnett can all expect a buffeting, with wind gusts reaching 110km/h.

It said dangerous thunderstorms were expected to hit Peak Crossing, Bundamba Lagoon, Greenbank and Redbank Plains accompanied by flash flooding.

Emergency Management Queensland advises people to move their cars under cover and away from trees, not to attempt to drive, walk or ride through flood waters and avoid using the phone during a thunderstorm.

The Department of Community Safety said about 60 calls had been received on Sunday, to help with minor flooding, leaking roofs and tarping.

Senior Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) forecaster Jonty Hall said weak storms throughout the day kept temperatures low.

"So we didn't see the heat which enhances the storms," Mr Hall told AAP.

On Saturday, Brisbanites only knew a ferocious storm was upon them when they were being pounded by almost cyclonic winds and hail.

The BoM was criticised for failing to issue a warning until five minutes after the storm began to hammer the inner city, with its Facebook page hit with negative messages.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More