Zombies storm Qld art exhibition

About 20 protesters dressed as zombie farmers have stormed the opening of an art gallery in Qld. Source: AAP

THE curators of Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art were probably expecting critics wanting to pick their brains about a new exhibition, instead, they got a zombie invasion.

About 20 protesters dressed as zombie farmers stormed the official opening of the 7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art on Saturday.

The undead farmers were protesting against a sponsorship deal between the gallery and the coal seam gas giant Santos.

Groaning and drooling fake blood as they shuffled into the building, the scabbed flesh-eaters shocked the crowd of weekend art buffs and gallery staff.

One elderly lady, however, thought they were part of the exhibition.

Two police officers managed to push back the onslaught before reinforcements were called in.

But by the time it arrived, the protest had died down with the zombies mingling on a nearby lawn.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Obama approval rises post-election: poll

US President Barack Obama's approval has risen since the killing of Osama bin Laden, a poll shows. Source: AAP

A MONTH after the bitterly fought election, US President Barack Obama has his highest approval ratings since the killing of Osama bin Laden, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll, and more Americans say the nation is heading in the right direction now than at any time since the start of his first term.

Obama's approval rating stands at 57 per cent, the highest since May 2011, when US Navy SEALs killed the terror leader, and up 5 percentage points from before the election. And 42 per cent say the country is on the right track, up from 35 per cent in January 2009.

A majority think it's likely that the president will be able to improve the economy in his second term.

Still, four years of partisan conflict in Washington have taken a toll on the president's image.

Americans are divided on what kind of president Obama has been, with 37 per cent saying he's been above average or outstanding and 36 per cent describing his tenure as below average or poor. Another quarter say he's been just average.

Obama held much stronger numbers on this measure at the start of his first term, with two-thirds expecting an above-average presidency. And the public's take on Obama's relative performance has bounced back and forth over his four years in office, moving higher following the death of bin Laden, after declining in the northern summer of 2010, a few months before the Republican Party took back control of the House.

Looking ahead to Obama's final four years, most Americans doubt he can reduce the federal budget deficit. But almost seven in 10 say he will be able to implement the health care law passed in March 2010 and remove most troops from Afghanistan. And most think he'll be able to improve the economy and boost race relations in his final term.

About a quarter say the economy is in good shape in the new poll, similar to pre-election poll results, but optimism about the economy has dipped since before the election. In October, 52 per cent of Americans said they expected the economy to get better in the next year; now, that stands at 40 per cent. Among Republicans, the share saying the economy will improve in the coming year has dropped sharply since before the election, from 42 per cent in October to 16 per cent now.

The Associated Press-GfK Poll was conducted between November 29 and December 3 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and mobilephone interviews with 1002 adults nationwide.

AP

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Six more countries free of landmines

Another six countries are free of landmines, organisers of a conference on deadly weapons say. Source: AAP

SIX more countries have been added to the list of nations that have eliminated "the scourge of landmines", organisers of a conference on the deadly weapons say.

Congo, Denmark, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Jordan and Uganda have declared all mined areas in their territories cleared, organisers said on Friday at the end of a five-day meeting to evaluate progress since the signing of the 1997 Ottawa Convention.

Gambia was added to the list as late as Friday, after a country representative unexpectedly announced its mine-free status to the gathering, Laila Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the Geneva event, told AFP.

As for perhaps the most surprising name on the list of countries not considered landmine-free until this year, Denmark in July finished clearing minefields left over from World War II, when Nazis put about 1.4 million landmines along the Jutland peninsula to ward off an allied invasion.

Following the new additions, 36 signatory countries to the Mine Ban Treaty are still clearing mines, organisers said.

"Fifteen years after the opening of the Mine Ban treaty, we still see a high level of commitment. . . aimed at ending for all time the scourge of landmines," said Stephen Goose, chair of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), which oversees the implementation of the 1997 treaty.

Poland's announcement during the conference of its imminent ratification of the treaty was also grounds for celebration, ICBL said, pointing out Polish participation as the 161st signatory country will mean all EU member states will be part of the pact.

That will leave the United States as the sole NATO member yet to ratify the treaty.

A US delegation nonetheless took part in the Geneva conference and said a domestic landmine policy review launched in 2009 would "soon" be complete, which could potentially open the way for a US ratification.

The Palestinians, who attended the conference for the first time, had meanwhile told the gathering they wanted to take advantage of the upgraded UN status they gained late last month to join the Mine Ban Treaty.

Conference organisers lamented that three signatory countries - Belarus, Greece and Ukraine - were still in violation of the treaty since they had missed deadlines for destroying their stockpiles.

The ICBL says almost 4300 people were killed by landmines worldwide last year - or nearly 12 deaths a day, compared with 32 in 2001.

It says the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad was the only government in the world to lay new landmines this year.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Man arrested after Vic stabbing

POLICE have caught up with a man who fled during the 10 minutes it took officers to cordon off a Melbourne home following a stabbing.

Police were preparing to storm a house in St Albans where another man, 52, was believed to have been stabbed in the neck.

Inspector Mick Grainger said police had been negotiating with the man, but he was gone when they entered the house in Grant Street.

Insp Grainger said the man may have given police the slip during the 10-minute period in which they cordoned off the scene.

"I believe there's a chance he may have left before we managed to put our cordon in place," he told reporters.

"If he did leave in that time, it was in that 10 minutes prior to having that full cordon established."

A 34-year-old Murrumbeena man was arrested in Sunshine at 4.30pm (AEDT) and was being interviewed in relation to intentionally causing serious injury, police said.

Police were called to the house about 7.30am on Friday.

The injured man was taken to Sunshine Hospital in a serious but non-life threatening condition.

Police say the suspect and the victim are known to each other.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

62-year-old woman dead after fight

A 62-YEAR-OLD woman has died after a fight in a northern suburb of Perth.

The woman received fatal injuries during the altercation at a house in Melliodora Circle, Mirrabooka, on Thursday afternoon.

She was taken to the Royal Perth Hospital and died from her injuries the following morning.

A 42-year-old man, who was a friend of the woman, has been taken into custody and is helping police with inquiries.

Detectives from the major crime squad are leading the investigation.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Forum warned of trial by Twitter

THE social media campaign against shock jock Alan Jones shows the power of online movements to regulate the mainstream media in ways traditional bodies have failed to do, Malcolm Turnbull says.

But others argue that a lack of regulation online could lead to "trial by Twitter" and "unending punishment".

Speaking at a forum on privacy in the 21st century in Sydney on Friday, the opposition spokesman for communications rejected any moves that could impede the media's freedom, saying the industry should be regulated by itself rather than the government.

While he noted the Australian Communications and Media Authority's (ACMA) long history, he questioned its effectiveness.

Although ACMA had been "complaining" against Jones for a long time, he said it had been unable to stop his "mistaken commentary".

In contrast, the online social media campaign which called on advertisers to boycott Jones after he said Prime Minister Julia Gillard's father "died of shame", had "a very significant impact".

"Thousands of people ... no longer had to go to a mainstream media gatekeeper to get their views amplified. It was that freedom that held Mr Jones to account," Mr Turnbull said.

But Justice Brian Leveson, who headed the UK's recent privacy and media inquiry, warned the forum there was "an element of mob rule" in the defamatory publication of details of citizens' private lives online.

"To name and shame people by broadcasting their behaviour (online), there is a danger of real harm being done, and in some cases harm which is both permanent and disproportionate," he said.

"There is not only danger of trial by Twitter, but also of an unending punishment, and no prospect of rehabilitation, via Google," he said.

Chair of the Australian Press Council, Professor Julian Disney, said we needed to "get real" about freedom of speech.

"Some of the loudest voices of freedom of speech are sometimes the greatest intimidators of others freedom of speech," Prof Disney said.

He said journalists were now closing online comment streams on stories due to vitriol, and criticised the promotion of uninformed opinions online and on talkback radio.

"The total law of the jungle does not create total freedom for everyone," he said.

Chris Warren, federal secretary of the Media Arts and Entertainment Alliance, said media should "catch and kill its own".

"The good thing about the media is its ability to learn from its mistakes," he said.

But Howard Brown, a spokesman for the Victims of Crime Assistance League, said journalists were often victims' best allies, and any regulatory framework developed should not fetter their work.

"We can give you our views without you intruding upon us and being a burden on us," he said.

Mary-Ellen Field, an English victim of News of the World phone hacking said: "The only people that ever helped me were journalists, and not one of us victims asked for any sort of restrictions (on their reporting)".

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Aust jobless rate 5.2% in Nov

Australia's unemployment rate fell to 5.2 per cent in November, the latest ABS figures show. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIA'S unemployment rate fell to a three-month low of 5.2 per cent in November from 5.4 per cent in October, official figures show.

Total employment rose 13,900 to 11.546 million in the month, according to the seasonally adjusted figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.

The forecast was for total employment to fall by 5,000 in November with the unemployment rate at 5.5 per cent, according to the median of 14 market economists surveyed by AAP.

Full-time employment fell by 4,200 to 8.132 million in November and part-time employment was up 18,100 to 3.414 million.

The November participation rate was 65.1 per cent, compared with 65.2 per cent in October.

The November participation rate was forecast to be 65.1 per cent.

Seasonally adjusted:

(millions) November October Year ago

Full-time employed 8.132 8.137 8.007

Part-time employed 3.414 3.396 3.418

Total employed 11.546 11.532 11.425

Unemployed 637,400 653,600 628,300

Unemployment rate 5.2 pct 5.4 pct 5.2 pct

Participation rate 65.1 pct 65.2 pct 65.5 pct

Seasonally adjusted unemployment rate state by state:

November

October

Year ago

NSW

5.1 pct

5.2 pct

5.2 pct

Vic

5.5 pct

5.4 pct

5.5 pct

Qld

6.0 pct

6.1 pct

5.7 pct

SA

5.3 pct

5.6 pct

5.2 pct

WA

4.1 pct

4.6 pct

4.3 pct

Tas

6.7 pct

6.7 pct

6.2 pct

The ABS report also showed aggregate hours worked by employed people in Australia rose by 0.1 per cent in November, seasonally adjusted, after a fall of 0.3 per cent in October.

Aggregate hours worked in November were 0.3 per cent higher than a year earlier in November 2011, after a rise of 1.3 per cent between November 2010 and November 2011, and an increase of 2.6 per cent in the 12 months before that.

The ABS figures also show the trend measure of hours worked rose by 0.1 per cent in November after being unchanged in the preceding two months and falling by 0.1 per cent in each of the three months before that.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tanks deployed near Egypt president palace

EGYPT'S army has deployed tanks outside the presidential palace after a night of deadly clashes between opponents and supporters of President Mohamed Morsi.

Three tanks and three armoured personnel carriers were stationed metres from the front gate of the palace in northern Cairo on Thursday as hundreds of Morsi's partisans chanted slogans in support of the president.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Three workers killed in NZ tornado

A tornado in west Auckland has left at least three people dead and badly damaged around 150 houses. Source: AAP

A MASSIVE clean-up operation has begun in west Auckland where three people were killed, seven injured and hundreds displaced after one of three tornadoes in the area touched ground.

Two people working on a construction site were killed when a concrete slab landed on a truck on St Georges Road in Hobsonville after one of the tornadoes hit just after midday on Thursday.

Civil Defence says three people have been confirmed dead, but Superintendent Bill Searle told media two were killed and police held grave concerns for another construction worker at the site where a new high school is being built.

A large number of police, fire and ambulance staff remained at the scene on Thursday evening and debris was still being cleared.

"It's early on in the investigation and we need to make sure we get all the facts straight before we release any information (on the two deceased and missing person)," Supt Searle said.

St John Ambulance says seven people from the construction site were taken to hospital with minor to moderate injuries.

The death toll equals the previous worst tornado, which killed three people in Hamilton in 1948 and wrecked 150 houses.

A statement from Hawkins Construction, who subcontracted those killed and injured, said their thoughts are with the workers' families.

Supt Searle said the tornado trapped a small number of people in their homes, but they had since been evacuated.

Families from up to 150 damaged homes - most home to Defence Force personnel - were evacuated and most of them will be housed at the Whenuapai Air Base.

About 250 people have so far arrived at the air base.

"(It was) like a knife through butter for some of those trees," said Auckland mayor Len Brown. "A powerful tornado, devastating."

He said it was a "real disaster and tragedy for those families and for those that are in hospital and to the families who have been made homeless".

Power has been cut to around 1300 customers in the Hobsonville-Whenuapai area after trees fell on lines.

On Thursday evening families had begun clearing debris from yards and boarding up broken windows while contractors removed split and fallen trees.

Shaken construction worker Sam Nuthall, who was working at the school site, was forced to shelter between a block wall and a truck.

"You couldn't see it coming ... there was debris flying everywhere, steel getting thrown around," he told Radio New Zealand.

A Whenuapai resident Suzanne McFadden told 3News it was "five minutes of utter devastation".

"It ripped century-old pine trees out of the ground, it's taken roofs off houses, it's crushed cars and boats."

Some flights in and out of Auckland Airport were delayed or cancelled, but normal operations have since resumed.

The highest gust of wind recorded was 151km/h at Snapper Rock in Albany.

The weather front moved south to Bay of Plenty where another tornado touched down about 3.20pm at Hamurana injuring one person.

Trees and power lines were downed and roofs lifted in the town on the northern shore of Lake Rotorua about 17km from Rotorua.

Fire Service shift manager Colin Underdown said it also caused some children to be evacuated from Mokoia Intermediate, and an ambulance had to collect one person who was "thrown around by the tornado".

Meanwhile, more, possibly heavy, rain and gusts of up to 100km/h are expected in Auckland overnight. High winds will batter the city on Friday.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Aust shares firmer as traders chase yields

AUSTRALIAN shares finished firmer as investors sought high-yielding bank stocks following this week's official interest rate cut.

At the close on Wednesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 16.8 points, or 0.37 per cent, higher at 4,520.4, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 16.2 points, or 0.36 per cent, at 4,528.0.

On the ASX 24, the December share price index futures contract was 24 points higher at 4,529, with 19,199 contracts traded.

RBS Morgans private client adviser Bruce Smith said the local market improved thanks to the banking sector, which closed around one per cent higher.

"Our market was dragged up by the banks, Suncorp and (also) the likes of Rio Tinto," Mr Smith said.

"It follows yesterday's (Reserve Bank of Australia cash) rate cut, as people look to high-yielding banking stocks."

Traders paid little attention to official national accounts data showing Australia's economy grew by 0.5 per cent in the September quarter, which was slightly below expectations.

Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and NAB on Wednesday passed on only 20 basis points of the full 25-basis point RBA cut to the cash rate.

ANZ will announce its interest rate decision on December 14.

Commonwealth climbed 58 cents to $61.08, Westpac was up 16 cents to $25.58, National Australia Bank put on six cents to $24.31 and ANZ added 18 cents to $24.77.

Suncorp finished 23 cents higher at $9.97.

Mining giant BHP Billiton added three cents to $34.29 and Rio Tinto rose 94 cents to 59.35.

The good news for Rio came after freight rail operator Aurizon, formerly known as QR National, extended a Queensland coal haulage contract.

Aurizon, which was up six cents at $3.63, will transport up to 12 million tonnes of coal per annum from Rio Tinto's Clermont mine to the Dalrymple Bay coal terminal for 10 years from July 2013.

Meanwhile, Ten Network Holdings shares have gone into a trading halt - having last traded at 32.5 cents - as the struggling free-to-air television broadcaster prepared to raise new funds.

Sundance Resources shares fell 11.5 per cent, or 4.5 cents, to 34.5 cents after suitor Hanlong Mining delayed a takeover deal this week.

The spot price of gold in Sydney was $US1702.15 per fine ounce, up 53 cents from Tuesday's local close of $US1,701.62 per ounce.

National turnover was 1.89 billion securities worth $3.60 billion, with 461 stocks up, 459 down and 332 unchanged.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Orica denies not giving 'a damn'

AN Orica executive has denied a suggestion he "didn't give a damn", after a court was told the chemical giant was slow to report a toxic chemical leak last year.

A lack of vigilance, proper processes and supervision were among the problems facing the chemical giant in the cases of seven leaks between October 2010 and December 2011, the NSW Land and Environment court heard on Wednesday.

One incident occurred at its Botany site in Sydney's southeast in September last year, while the six occurred at the chemical giant's Kooragang Island manufacturing plant north of Newcastle.

Stephen Rushton, SC, representing the Environment Protection Authority (EPA), said Orica, which has pleaded guilty to nine charges and faces up to $9 million in fines, had repeatedly breached its licence and the public's trust.

One leak in particular had caused "real fear and stress" and caused residents, the media and the government to "freak out", he said.

At 6.30pm on August 8 last year, one kilogram of the toxic substance chromium 6 - or hexavalent chromium - leaked from the Kooragang plant, the court was told.

"If they (the residents) had seen the film Erin Brokovich, they would have freaked out knowing this was coming down on their suburb," Mr Rushton said.

Orica is also charged with failing to report the matter "as soon as practicable" to the EPA.

Despite workers reporting "yellow spotting" on August 8, the chemical giant didn't refer the matter to the EPA until 10.30am the next day.

Mr Rushton said Orica's report came after a local resident complained.

"If there is a complaint concerning the incident off-site, Orica will report it," Mr Rushton said.

He suggested to Orica's global executive of manufacturing, Sean Winstone, that if there was no complaint, no report would be made.

"I don't accept that assertion," Mr Winstone said.

Following the leak, Mr Winstone said Orica was working "very hard" to put in place better notification procedures.

Mr Rushton suggested he hadn't done enough.

"This has nothing to do with the efficiency of notification procedures ... I suggest you didn't go back and do anything because you didn't give a damn," Mr Rushton said.

"I reject that completely," Mr Winstone said.

Three months later, more than 280kg of ammonia was released into the atmosphere in six separate incidents on November 9.

But Orica was unaware of what was happening as alarms weren't working and no one was monitoring the plant's control system, the court was told.

The hearing before Justice Rachel Pepper continues.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Finks fight bid to declare them outlaws

Lawyers for the Finks are fighting Queensland laws designed to crack down on criminal organisations. Source: AAP

LAWYERS for the commonwealth and the Queensland government say using secret information to declare a chapter of the Finks bikie club a criminal organisation will not undermine the authority of the legal system.

Pompano Pty Ltd, a company linked to the Gold Coast chapter of the Finks, is challenging Queensland's Criminal Organisation Act in the High Court in Canberra.

Queensland police want the chapter and the company declared criminal organisations on the basis that their members associate for the purposes of engaging in, or conspiring to engage in, serious criminal activity.

But lawyers for the Finks say these allegations against the club are based on secret criminal intelligence, which cannot be made public or challenged in court.

They claim the Queensland legislation is unconstitutional, stripping courts of their independence and denying procedural fairness.

Walter Sofronoff QC, for the Queensland government, defended the use of criminal intelligence - which can be gathered from sources like police informants or undercover agents.

He said the authority of judges would not be diminished in any way in cases where such powers were used.

"The act confers a discretion on the judge to make the extreme order (to use criminal intelligence) if it sees fit," he told the High Court on Wednesday.

"The judge has not lost his or her authority to make a decision."

But Mr Sofronoff conceded it would be a challenge for the prosecution to refer to secret intelligence in an open court, particularly if the information contradicted evidence given in sworn testimonies.

This would be a "problem" for the police commissioner to contend with, he said.

"The commissioner has, at least, the advantage of using the intelligence ... but there is a price to be paid," Mr Sofronoff told the court.

The commonwealth's acting solicitor-general, Justin Gleeson SC, said the power of the courts would not be undermined by the use of criminal intelligence.

Courts would still have "ample powers" in deciding whether the criminal intelligence should be admitted in the first place or in deciding whether it should be given any real weight.

The act also allowed declarations for the use of such secret intelligence to be appealed, Mr Gleeson added.

"The appeal rights are expressly noted for the substantive applications," he told the court.

"An appeals court would have access to the criminal intelligence."

Finks lawyer Bret Walker SC told the court on Tuesday police should use criminal law, rather than relying on secret intelligence, if they have evidence to lay charges.

"This is another scheme enacted by a state parliament which seeks to address the suppression of crime in ways other than by criminal trial," Mr Walker said.

The High Court has reserved its decision.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

No child sex abuse cover-up: Qld witnesses

CLAIMS there was a conspiracy to cover up child sex abuse at a Brisbane youth detention centre 20 years ago have been shot down by witnesses.

Queensland's child protection inquiry is examining the Heiner Affair, an inquiry into the management of the John Oxley Youth Detention Centre in the late 1980s.

That inquiry ended prematurely in March 1990 and on legal advice all evidence was destroyed, leading to claims there had been a cover-up of child sexual abuse at the centre.

But two inquiry assistants and two former John Oxley centre staff have told Tuesday's hearing that the investigation was never about child sexual abuse.

Barbara Flynn, who helped retired magistrate Noel Heiner interview staff, said the inquiries were about staff complaints of poor management and bullying.

When asked if staff had raised allegations of child sexual abuse, Ms Flynn said: "To my knowledge it wasn't mentioned."

Ten years after the inquiry, journalist Bruce Grundy approached Ms Flynn at her home, asking questions and accusing her of being involved in a cover-up of child sexual abuse at the centre.

"I was very upset about the allegation he made," she told the inquiry.

"It definitely wasn't true."

Another assistant, Jan Cosgrove, said she could not recall any allegations of sexual abuse and thought the inquiry went into concerns from security guards about the treatment of the child inmates.

A former youth worker at the centre, Sabina Konicanin, read out a written statement she made to the Heiner inquiry.

She claimed the style of management was unprofessional and staff were being victimised over minor misdemeanours.

"I also found some management techniques to be quite devious and calculating; heckling staff to gain information on other staff (and) bribing children to gain information," she said.

She said at no time was she asked, or did she talk about, child sexual abuse.

Former staffer Warren Christensen told the inquiry the same thing.

The current inquiry is the 11th into the Heiner Affair and resumes on Wednesday.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Scooters could help ease city congestion

AUSTRALIANS are being encouraged to jump on a motorbike or scooter as a way of tackling congestion within our major cities.

Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese made the call on Tuesday when launching a report examining the state of the country's cities.

Mr Albanese acknowledged only trains could really carry large numbers of people from the urban fringes into increasingly concentrated city centres quickly.

But he insisted the often-forgotten two-wheelers also had a role to play.

"Many of the world's cities are thronged with motorbikes and scooters as people take advantage of this low-cost, low-energy and space-efficient form of transport," Mr Albanese said in Melbourne.

"However, in the Australian policy context they tend only to be mentioned in discussions about safety.

"This can obscure the fact that they are an important and growing component of the urban transport mix at a time when congestion drags like an anchor on our time and productivity."

The State of Australian Cities 2012 report notes urban sprawl was historically driven by manufacturing plants being built on city fringes, but current job-rich knowledge industries are concentrated in the heart of cities.

This trend means more and more white-collar workers are commuting into the CBD.

While better public transport is part of the solution, Mr Albanese said narrowing the distance between where people live and work was also necessary to improve productivity, sustainability and liveability.

That change would require "appropriate density" in city centres and particularly along transport corridors, the minister said.

It could also lead to "second CBDs" springing up with high levels of economic activity.

"It's very attractive to people to live in areas where they can just walk to the train station (and) ensure that they can get to work without needing to drive in their car," he said.

The report finds so-called fare recovery from public transport continues to decline, raising questions about the financial sustainability of current systems.

The gap between population increase and housing supply in Australia cities is now "the largest and most sustained in a century".

The report highlights a decline in the number of new housing lots being produced - particularly in Sydney.

In 1996, some 60 per cent of home owners owned their house outright compared with just 46 per cent in 2011.

In Sydney and Melbourne a dwelling 50km from the city centre has doubled in value since 1986. Properties close to the CBD have increased five-fold.

Nevertheless, the report argues new houses in Australia are possibly the largest in the world, eclipsing even the United States.

It notes that Melbourne is ranked first on the Economist Intelligence Unit's liveability index, but when it comes to residents ranking their own satisfaction, Adelaide wins for overall liveability on the My City Survey.

The cost of living in Australia's capital cities has remained relatively stable for more than two decades.

Sydney is the most expensive with the highest average costs for electricity, mortgage interest, transport and recreational activities.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Aust stocks finish lower after rate cut

THE Australian share market closed more than half a per cent lower after the Reserve Bank of Australia cut the cash rate to three per cent amid a weak global growth outlook.

At the close on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 27.9 points, or 0.62 per cent, lower at 4,503.6, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 28.2 points, or 0.62 per cent, at 4,511.8.

On the ASX 24, the December share price index futures contract was 42 points lower at 4,508, with 22,952 contracts traded.

The Reserve Bank on Tuesday cut the cash rate by 25 basis points to three per cent, a level not seen since the global financial crisis, and said global growth is expected to be below average because of the European debt crisis and the looming US fiscal cliff.

Options Xpress analyst Ben Le Brun said overall it had been a disappointing day.

"When perception gets ahead of reality we start to see some wild fluctuations or some wild price movements, and that's certainly what we saw today," Mr Le Brun said.

All sectors of the market, with the exception of health care turned negative after the interest rate cut and the release of the accompanying statement.

Investors had now priced in some softness ahead of the offshore session.

Making news on Tuesday, the chairman of Premier Investments Solomon Lew told the company's annual general meeting the macroeconomic environment remained challenging.

Premier Investments was down seven cents, or 1.08 per cent, at $6.40.

Gold stocks were weaker, with Newcrest Mining down 46 cents at $24.80.

BHP Billiton was down 28 cents at $34.26, while Rio Tinto was 13 cents lower at $58.67.

In the banking sector, ANZ shares were 10 cents lower at $24.59 while Westpac shares were down 14 cents to $25.42.

National Australia Bank shares fell four cents to $24.25 and Commonwealth Bank shares sank 31 cents to $60.50.

The spot price of gold in Sydney was $US1,701.62 per fine ounce, down $US17.63 from Monday's local close of $US1,719.25 per ounce.

National turnover was 1.2 billion securities worth $3 billion, with 343 stocks up, 614 down and 353 unchanged.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Coal deal would have been scrapped: ICAC

A MINING company would have scrapped a proposed $500 million coal deal in the NSW upper Hunter if it had known the Obeid family was involved, a corruption inquiry has heard.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is examining former Labor minister Ian Macdonald's decision in 2008 to issue mining exploration licences in the Bylong Valley and how Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid gained from it.

It has been alleged the Obeids stood to make millions of dollars out of a mining deal between Cascade Coal and White Energy linked to the sale of a mining exploration licence in the coal-rich region.

The inquiry has been told White Energy agreed to buy the assets of Cascade for $500 million in November 2010 but the deal fell through.

Graham Cubbin, a non-executive director at White Energy at the time, told the ICAC on Monday that he would have been "very worried" if he had known the Obeids were involved.

"There would have been a lot of adverse publicity, and I think that would have meant the end of the transaction," Mr Cubbin said.

He said his reputation would have been "trashed" if he had gone ahead with the deal and the state government had not granted a mining lease over the critical Mt Penny tenement.

"There was too much downside risk for White Energy," he said.

The inquiry was also shown minutes from a March 2011 meeting involving Mr Cubbin and Cascade investor, Richard Poole, at which Mr Poole allegedly stated he was not aware of any payments being made to Eddie Obeid or entities associated with him.

Earlier, former Obeid family lawyer, Sevag Chalabian, said Mr Poole told him to disguise the Obeid's involvement in the Bylong Valley.

"He was the one who was telling you that the Obeids' interests had to be carefully disguised?" counsel assisting the commissioner, Geoffrey Watson SC, asked.

"Yes," Mr Chalabian replied.

Mr Watson suggested that the Obeids' interests had to be masked because otherwise the state government might set aside the exploration licence.

The inquiry heard that Mr Poole told Mr Chalabian that a complex installation of trusts and corporate entities was needed "so no one could find the Obeid name".

Mr Chalabian said that despite the involved corporate arrangements there was a deal for $60 million between Cascade and the Obeids.

He agreed with Mr Watson's suggestions that the Obeids currently held 717,000 shares in Cascade.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Qld and WA urged to support NDIS

PM Julia Gillard urged the disability sector to keep up pressure on the states to support the NDIS. Source: AAP

THE political road to setting up a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) will be incomplete unless the two wealthiest Liberal states of Queensland and Western Australia come on board, Prime Minister Julia Gillard says.

Ms Gillard on Monday urged the disability sector to keep up the pressure on the states and territories to support the $15 billion-a-year scheme, ahead of a Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting in Canberra on Friday to thrash out some of the detail.

Addressing the conference of National Disability Services chief executives in Sydney on Monday, Ms Gillard hailed Victoria, NSW, Tasmania, the ACT and South Australia for agreeing to be part of the NDIS first stage, when they host five launch sites from mid-2013.

About 410,000 Australians living with a disability will be impacted by the scheme and will be closely watching the COAG meeting for signs of progress as the federal government tries to nail down key arrangements for stage one.

"So this Friday, on behalf of all Australians with disability, I will be holding those five premiers and chief ministers to their word, as they will be holding me to my word," Ms Gillard said.

"I want you to do the same. Talk to the premiers and chief ministers, the state and territory treasurers and disability ministers. Tell them that you want to see this done."

Ms Gillard stressed the importance of Queensland and WA getting on board.

"Remember that as we begin this journey, it is incomplete because our two wealthiest and most dynamic states haven't yet come on board," she said.

The prime minister also took aim at the federal coalition, saying anyone who described the NDIS as a "cruel hoax" because of budget constraints or concerns about the economy were negative "policy weaklings".

But Opposition Leader Tony Abbott rejected this, saying the coalition supported the scheme, even though the question of how it would be funded was still to be resolved.

"When it comes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, I am Doctor Yes," he said.

The head of the Every Australian Counts campaign, John Della Bosca, said there was an urgent need for both leaders to commit to funding the scheme's transition from the launch sites to full national rollout, which is estimated to cost about $4 billion to $5 billion over four years.

His message to the WA and Queensland premiers was "the N in the NDIS is the most important things about it."

"There's an expectation that all premiers will support the prime minister in endeavours to put the scheme together," he told AAP.

While Mr Abbott did not directly pledge coalition funding for the scheme, he nominated service delivery and the structure of the NDIS as key issues.

"Yes, there are important questions of funding that are yet to be resolved," he said.

"But this is a vital journey ... and a journey on which we are all agreed the destination."

Mr Abbott committed his annual Pollie Pedal charity ride to again raising money for Carers Australia in 2013.

Queensland Disability Minister Tracy Davis hit back at Ms Gillard's remarks, saying the sunshine state fully supported the scheme and was helping to design it.

"Unfortunately, due to the financial mess left behind by the former Labor government we are unable to participate in a trial unless it is funded by the commonwealth," she said.

Meanwhile, WA Premier Colin Barnett said his state had offered to run a launch site.

"But the federal government declined," Mr Barnett said, adding that in WA 70 per cent of the funding for disability services already came from the state government.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tokyo stocks close up

TOKYO stocks ended 0.13 per cent higher as a softer yen and positive Chinese manufacturing data helped lift sentiment.

The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange added 12.17 points to 9,458.18, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares was flat, adding 0.03 per cent, or 0.27 points, to 781.73.

An uptick in capital spending by Japanese firms helped buoy the market with investors eyeing further easing by the Bank of Japan as the nation heads to the polls on December 16.

Shinzo Abe, Japan's main opposition leader and the frontrunner to become prime minister after the polls, has repeatedly said he would heap pressure on the central bank for aggressive easing to boost the limp economy.

"Stocks rose for the same reasons again: hopes for a new government and a weaker yen," Takashi Ito, equity market strategist at Nomura Securities, told Kyodo news agency.

"This downtrend for the yen and uptrend for stocks is unlikely to be reversed until the election unless something very negative happens.

"We'll closely watch a series of US economic data this week, most importantly Friday's jobs report," he added.

Tokyo was also supported Monday by weekend data that showed China's manufacturing activity grew in November for the second month in a row, another sign of strength in the world's second-biggest economy after a marked slowdown.

"The Chinese data reassured us that China's economy is returning to a recovery track," an equity trader at a domestic brokerage told Dow Jones Newswires.

Nissan Motor rose 1.00 per cent 807 yen, Canon was up 2.7 per cent to 2,961 yen, while Sony slipped 0.49 per cent to 797 yen and Toyota lost 0.57 per cent to 3,515 yen.

Uniqlo cheap chic clothing operator Fast Retailing added 1.55 per cent to 19,010 yen after saying Friday it would acquire an 80.1 per cent stake in US apparel maker J Brand Holdings LLC for about $300 million.

In currency trading, the euro fetched $US1.3032 and 107.24 yen in afternoon Asian trade, up from $US1.2982 and 107.07 yen in New York late Friday.

The US dollar slipped to 82.29 yen from 82.48 yen.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sydney crane arm cleared almost a week on

A MAJOR inner Sydney traffic route is finally back in action, after a crane arm that caught fire and collapsed onto a major road last week was removed.

The Transport Management centre says a crane jib that collapsed on Tuesday was finally removed on Sunday afternoon after days of work by clean-up crews.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) construction site and surrounding buildings during the emergency, which closed Broadway and caused traffic chaos.

Traffic finally returned to normal on Broadway between Wattle Street and Jones Street in Ultimo, with three lanes available for traffic in each direction.

The speed limit has returned to 50km/h and Abercrombie Street has also reopened at Cleveland Street.

But Wattle Street will remain closed between Broadway and Thomas Street for the next few days while engineers continue to stabilise parts of the building site that were damaged when the crane fell.

Citybound drivers are still able to use the left turn lane from Broadway into Wattle Street.

WorkCover, emergency services and developer Lend Lease have launched investigations into the fire and the collapse of the 65-metre crane's boom.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Polls open in Slovenia election

Slovenians are about to vote in a presidential run-off with polls favouring former PM Borut Pahor. Source: AAP

POLLS have opened in Slovenia for a presidential run-off amid increasing dissatisfaction with austerity measures aimed at bringing the ex-Yugoslav republic out of the crisis.

Polls favour former centre-left prime minister Borut Pahor, 49, who pulled off an upset on November 11 when he won the first round with 39.9 per cent of the vote ahead of the absolute favourite, incumbent President Danilo Turk, 60, with 35.9 per cent.

Eurozone member Slovenia, once seen as a star new member in the European Union, is suffering one of the deepest recessions in the eurozone, while problems with its banks have raised fears it may need a bailout.

The campaign ahead of the Sunday run-off was overshadowed by a series of protests against the government's austerity measures that culminated on Friday in Ljubljana when police detained over 30 protesters and used tear gas and water cannons to disperse a rally.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Suspect croc 'well known' to NT locals

THE crocodile believed responsible for snatching a nine-year-old boy from a remote Northern Territory swimming spot was "well known" to the local community, according to police.

A police spokesman said the suspect crocodile was old and had lived side by side with the Nhulunbuy community "for years".

"It was virtually to the point there was interaction between the croc and the community," the spokesman said.

The child was swimming with a group of people in Port Bradshaw estuary when he was grabbed by the crocodile at about 12.30pm (CST) on Saturday.

Adults threw spears at the animal but it responded by dragging the boy into deeper water and possibly out to the nearby open ocean.

A massive search is underway and four members of the NT water police flew east from Darwin on Sunday morning.

They join officers from the Nhulunbuy police station, about 80 kilometres north of the attack site, as well as local sea rangers.

A police spokesman said the search would continue on Monday but grave fears were held for the boy.

"Not too many people come away from a crocodile attack, I'm afraid," he said.

The latest attack comes after a seven-year-old girl was taken by a crocodile while she was swimming at a local waterhole in the NT last month.

The girl was at the Gumarrirnbang outstation, 100km west of the remote community of Maningrida, when she was taken on November 17.

A three-metre crocodile was shot dead in the billabong the next day and human remains were found inside.

15.21 | 0 komentar | Read More