First test for PNG deal after boat arrives

A new approach to boat arrivals could save lives, Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare says. Source: AAP

MORE than 80 boat people are facing transfer to Papua New Guinea under the government's tough new asylum seeker plan, after their vessel was intercepted off Christmas Island.

A boat with 81 passengers and two crew on board was stopped by HMAS Bathurst on Saturday morning, with the mostly Iranian asylum seekers transferred to Christmas Island for health checks.

Immigration Minister Tony Burke confirmed they would be the first processed under the government's hardline approach, which will see those seeking asylum sent to Manus Island with no chance of resettlement in Australia.

Mr Burke said the 81 on board Saturday's boat arrival were a mix of single-adult males and family groups, but he could not confirm if there were any unaccompanied children.

Families and kids would be spared immediate transfer to PNG, because of the inadequate state of facilities on Manus Island, he said.

"As soon as I believe we're able to have appropriate accommodation and services, then transfer to Papua New Guinea will occur," Mr Burke said.

Interception of the vessel came as the government launched a nation-wide newspaper, radio and television blitz with the message: "If you come here by boat without a visa you won't be settled in Australia".

Mr Burke dismissed claims from refugee advocates that the government's policy was inhumane, saying there is nothing compassionate about allowing people to die at sea.

He also said he was "shocked" at those who said the advertising campaign was waste of taxpayers money.

"I want the message to get out, and I want there to be fewer people drowning on the high seas," Mr Burke said.

"I make no apology for that, and if the advice comes back that more advertising will help get that message out further I'll be authorising more."

Outflanked by the government's tough stance on asylum seekers, announced by Kevin Rudd on Friday, the coalition continued to question the prime minister's ability to deliver on the PNG asylum seeker deal.

Addressing the Liberal National Party state conference in Brisbane, Tony Abbott praised PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill as a "good man", but said "I will never subcontract out to other countries the solution of problems in this country".

"If you want solutions for this country you can't rely on the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, you've got to be able to rely on the Prime Minister of Australia, and I am someone the Australian people can rely on," the opposition leader said.

Coalition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said: "The problem is not with the idea but with this government's inability to implement ideas".

Greens immigration spokeswoman Senator Sarah Hanson-Young labelled the agreement with PNG "a rush to cruelty as Kevin Rudd rushes to the polls".

Australian Lawyers for Human Rights said the plan would expose asylum seekers "to greater harm".

"Australia's obligations are not met by effectively engaging in the people trade itself: paying poor and needy countries to take asylum seekers and refugees who sought Australia's protection," president John Southalan said in a statement.

The United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, said it had not been involved in the agreement between Australia and the PNG, and that it was seeking more information about the deal.

The policy arrived on the same day that inmates at the Nauru immigration detention centre rioted over delays to their refugee claims, resulting in tens of millions of dollars worth of damage.

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G20 seeks to narrow differences on growth

FINANCE chiefs of G20 states have sought to narrow differences on how to keep budget deficits in check without harming fragile growth as the world economy emerges from slowdown.

The finance ministers and central bank chiefs of the top 20 advanced and emerging economies will seek in their final communique to show unity on the often divisive issue of how to promote growth without harming fiscal situations.

The meeting in Moscow in an exhibition centre outside the Kremlin walls aims to set up the G20 heads of state summit in Saint Petersburg in September, which will be the culmination of Russia's presidency of the group.

French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici told reporters that for the moment the negotiators had not managed to find a consensus on how to square stimulating growth with reducing deficits.

"We must keep to a balanced language on the balance between reducing deficits and (promoting) growth," he said.

He said that the final communique would not contain a specific numeric target for reducing public debt and deficits, as was the case at the summit in Toronto in 2010.

"The reduction of deficits is a medium term objective. But at the same time the short term priority is growth, growth, and growth," Moscovici added.

The United States made clear ahead of the meeting that the fight against unemployment should be at the centre of the agenda, with US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew calling on EU states to do more to improve demand and growth.

However, some states, in particular Germany, have repeatedly argued over the importance of fiscal prudence and not harming budgets for the sake of stimulus.

The meeting comes amid demands for clarity after the US Federal Reserve said it could begin cutting its quantitative easing program, which injects some $85 billion a month into the economy via bond purchases, later this year and end the program by mid-2014.

In testimony to Congress the week, the Fed chairman Ben Bernanke stressed that the central bank would only move to taper the program if the economy appeared strong enough to withstand less support.

Some key nations, fearing that if the US slows down or shuts down completely the flow of money could hurt their own struggling economies, called on US policymakers to be as transparent in their communication on the issue as possible.

All G20 governments are acutely aware of the fragility of their recoveries from the global slowdown.

The IMF earlier this month cut its forecast for global growth, projecting the world's economy would grow 3.1 per cent in 2013, down from its April estimate of 3.3 per cent.

China and other emerging economic powers now face new risks, it warned, "including the possibility of a longer growth slowdown."

The economic fragility appears to have helped unite the G20 in a fight against tax avoidance, technically legal schemes which allow multinationals to pay very low tax by registering abroad, as well as illegal tax evasion.

Companies in the spotlight in the last months for using legal, but controversial, methods of booking profits in low-tax countries include US giants Google, Amazon and Starbucks.

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Kremlin critic Navalny cheered in Moscow

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has received a hero's welcome after his release from jail. Source: AAP

HUNDREDS of supporters of Alexei Navalny have gathered at a Moscow rail station to cheer the Russian opposition leader as a national hero following his unexpected release from jail.

The 37-year-old lawyer was greeted with loud cheers, chants and bouquets on his arrival from the city of Kirov on Saturday.

"We are a strong people's movement. I did not think that we were so strong," said Navalny, who was accompanied by his wife Julia.

Navalny told the crowd he would contest the Moscow mayoral election on September 8.

"We will win in the election," he said.

Police had cordoned off the Yaroslavsky station in the centre of Moscow and anti-terrorism units were on guard. The security measures came after an anonymous caller earlier warned of a bomb in the station.

Navalny walked out of the regional court in Kirov on Friday after a judge ruled that his arrest the previous day, following sentencing on embezzlement charges by a district court, had no legal basis.

The ruling did not overturn the five-year prison sentence handed down on Thursday, but it left observers puzzled about whether it reflected infighting between different factions in the Russian leadership.

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Indonesia confirms visa clamp on Iranians

INDONESIA has confirmed it will stop issuing visas on arrival to Iranians after a growing number of them have been caught smuggling drugs or have used the country as a transit point before seeking asylum in Australia.

Amir Syamsuddin, justice and human rights minister, signed a decree on Thursday revoking the visa on arrival option for Iranians that has been in place since 2005, immigration office spokesman Maryoto Hadi said on Friday.

The new restrictions start August 20.

"Many Iranians are misusing such visa facilities," Hadi said.

"They did not come here for tourism purposes, but to smooth their way to seek asylum in Australia and for drugs smuggling."

Although the move could slow the growing flow of asylum seekers travelling to Australia by boat, he declined to say whether the decision was to fulfil a request from Prime Minister Kevin Rudd during a meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono earlier this month.

"It's clear their arrival made us overwhelmed, many came here for harmful activities," Hadi said, adding that Indonesia will continue to issue visas to Iranians who qualify for travel after applying at its overseas embassies.

Indonesia has granted visas on arrival to more than 60 countries, including Iran, in a bid to boost tourism by making it easier for foreigners from those nations to obtain visas for $US25 ($A27) at 15 airports and 21 seaports.

Indonesia has become a major transit point for people fleeing persecution or economic hardship in their home countries.

Many risk their lives on rickety boats en route to Australia's Christmas Island, 500km south of Indonesia's capital. Hundreds have died in sea accidents during the dangerous journey.

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Orica shares tumble as profit downgraded

SHARES in explosives and mining industry supplier Orica have tumbled after it said its profit is set to fall by about 10 per cent.

The company has blamed global economic conditions and higher than expected costs in its tunnelling business for a likely drop in net profit for fiscal 2013.

Orica shares fell by 13.4 per cent, or $2.81, to $18.19.

Orica made a net profit of $650.2 million in fiscal 2012, and it now expects its net fiscal 2013 profit will be about 10 per cent lower, or about $585 million.

The drop is blamed in weak market conditions in Europe and North America, plus high costs associated with Orica's ground support business, which provides products and services for tunnelling and underground mining.

This division is now expected to break even, compared with earlier guidance of profit of between $17 million to $25 million.

Orica's Indonesian business is also predicted to yield weaker earnings, because of unexpected production site issues and market conditions.

Weaker global demand for explosives and sodium cyanide are also affecting bulk explosives volumes.

But Orica was optimistic of a turnaround in 2014, as performance issues are addressed in the ground support business and European operations.

"A general review of productivity initiatives and cost reduction opportunities is ongoing across all areas of the Orica business," Orica said.

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Poisoned India pupils' parents rampage

Burials have begun for 23 children killed after eating a free school lunch in India. Source: AAP

GRIEVING parents have rampaged through a village in eastern India to protest the deaths of 23 pupils who ate a poisoned school lunch and the perceived slow police response to the tragedy.

Parents smashed up the home of the school's headmistress and attacked government offices in the village in impoverished Bihar state, where the children died after being served a meal, apparently laced with insecticide, on Tuesday.

"Why have the police not been able to arrest the headmistress who forced our children to eat poisonous food? She should be killed," said bereaved father Surendra Rai, who took part in the raid late on Thursday after most of the children were buried.

Many of the victims, aged four to 12, from Gandaman village, were laid to rest on a playing field adjacent to the primary school that served the free meal of rice, lentils and potatoes - the only meal of the day for many.

Some 30 children remain sick in hospitals, mainly in the state capital Patna, officials said.

Police said they are probing whether the food or the cooking oil was accidentally or deliberately poisoned, after initial tests showed traces of insecticide.

The parents of the dead children ransacked the home of headmistress Meena Kumari, who fled the village as pupils started to fall ill, smashing windows and attempting to set the property on fire, angry that she had not been arrested.

Anguished parents overnight also tried to break into two small government offices where food supplies, which are rationed for residents, are thought to be stored, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

Rai said his eight-year-old daughter had died within minutes of eating the lunch, echoing stories from other parents who said their children perished in their arms before they could get them to hospital.

India runs the world's largest school feeding programme involving 120 million children, and Bihar is one of India's most populated and poorest states.

Educators see the scheme as a way to increase school attendance, in a country where almost half of all young children are undernourished.

But children throughout the country often suffer from food poisoning due to poor hygiene in kitchens and occasionally sub-standard food.

Senior police officer Sujit Kumar said they had raided the home of Kumari, who fled with her husband and brother-in-law, when they saw children fainting in the school.

"We found bags of fertilisers and pesticides kept next to bags of potato and rice in the headmistress's house," Kumar told AFP.

"She was an educated woman, so why was she storing poison and food together?"

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NSW govt waters down its line on alcohol

THE NSW opposition and Greens have angrily declared the alcohol lobby the winner after the government released its new guidelines on alcohol promotion.

The guidelines ban the use of merchandise, interactive games or technology that appeals to minors.

They also provide for fines of $5500 for licensees who encourage drinking through free, heavily discounted or all-you-can-drink offers, as well as promotions that encourage irresponsible drinking.

However the government has dropped a planned ban on promoting advertising in places where minors frequent, on celebrities advertising alcohol to young people and on sex being used to sell alcohol.

A ban on promotions offering discounts on alcohol of more than 50 per cent has also disappeared from the draft compiled in August last year.

The opposition said lobbying from the alcohol industry resulted in a drastic watering down of what was supposed to have been a crackdown on irresponsible promotion of liquor.

The Greens claimed the Australian Hotels Association had been given "privileged access" by the NSW Government to rewrite the draft for the updated liquor promotion guidelines released on Thursday.

Acting Hospitality Minister Andrew Stoner said the guidelines would address the dramatic rise in the sale and promotion of alcohol online since the last guidelines were introduced in 2009.

"The new guidelines not only address the promotion of alcohol through supermarket vouchers and shopper dockets, but also the specific use of social media and interactive technology to promote alcohol consumption," Mr Stoner said.

Deputy opposition leader Linda Burney said the guidelines appeased the alcohol industry, including big retailers such as Coles and Woolworths.

"This set of guidelines has been watered down the point where it's actually a sop to the alcohol industry," Ms Burney told reporters.

Greens MP John Kaye said the AHA had been given "privileged access" to rewrite the draft guidelines.

Mr Kaye referenced a letter from the AHA to the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing which specifically asked for the removal of the ban on using celebrities and other youth role models from promoting alcohol.

Coles has previously said it had simply made representations regarding the guidelines as was appropriate in any robust debate on regulatory issues.

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European stocks dip at open

EUROPE'S main stock markets have slid at the start of trading, with London's benchmark FTSE 100 index losing 0.20 per cent to 6,558.80 points.

In Frankfurt, the DAX 30 retreated 0.19 per cent to 8,239.38 points and in Paris the CAC 40 shed 0.24 per cent to 3,862.63 compared with Wednesday's closing values.

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Taped phone call told of 'porn file': ICAC

A LABOR election candidate dumped amid corruption claims wanted to "go for" a rival who had been caught out watching porn, a secretly taped phone call reveals.

Jeffrey Salvestro-Martin was this week disendorsed as the ALP's candidate for John Howard's former Sydney seat of Bennelong as the ICAC began probing whether he and other members of Ryde council received undisclosed political donations in the form of advertising before the September 2012 local government elections.

The inquiry earlier heard claims that leaks and threats were used against a senior council manager, John Neish, by former mayor Ivan Petch and other councillors who were trying to delay a development proposal.

A phone tap played before the inquiry on Thursday revealed Mr Salvestro-Martin told Mr Petch he was "going for" Mr Neish because he believed the general manager had "offended my reputation in every respect".

Mr Petch had called Mr Salvestro-Martin after obtaining a log of pornographic sites accessed by Mr Neish using a council-owned computer.

"I got a CD, ah, mysteriously delivered to me today," Mr Petch can be heard telling Mr Salvestro-Martin in the January call.

"(It's) Neish's porn file."

An incredulous Mr Salvestro-Martin could be heard telling his friend that if the CD was genuine it should be sent to ICAC.

"Ivan, this guy's going for a big swim seriously," he said.

"I'm at the point now where there's no holds barred any more. Anyway, I'm going for the guy."

Testifying before the commission on Thursday, Mr Salvestro-Martin denied he was trying to punish Mr Neish.

"You were attempting to convey to Councillor Petch (that), your reputation having been damaged, you thought that now it would be appropriate to do something to damage Mr Neish's reputation?" counsel assisting the commission Jason Downing asked.

"No, no. My principal concern was if this was genuine that the ICAC needed to be advised," Mr Salvestro-Martin responded.

The inquiry continues before Assistant Commissioner Theresa Hamilton.

Mr Salvestro-Martin was also questioned about an advertisement that ran in a local newspaper, The Weekly Times, ahead of the September 2012 council elections.

"I haven't paid for it yet," he admitted.

The paper's editor, John Booth, is expected to give evidence this week.

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Stocks to watch at close on Wednesday

STOCKS to watch on the Australian stock exchange at close on Wednesday:

BBG - BILLABONG INTERNATIONAL - up 8.5 cents, or 34 per cent, at 33.5 cents

Investors have cheered a refinancing deal that will keep troubled retailer Billabong solvent, but the company faces a long road back to profitability.

BHP - BHP BILLITON - up 76 cents, or 2.3 per cent, at $34.19

BHP Billiton's shareholders could be in for a cash bonanza after it posted record production in a year in which it slashed billions of dollars in spending.

DOW - DOWNER EDI - up 7.0 cents, or 1.8 per cent, at $3.91

Engineering company Downer has had its blasting services contracts in the mining sector extended for $230 million.

IAG - INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP - up 10 cents, or 1.7 per cent, at $5.94

Insurance Australia Group says fewer than expected insurance claims in the 2012/13 financial year will improve its financial performance.

ILU - ILUKA RESOURCES - up 49 cents, or 4.7 per cent, at $10.91

Iluka Resources' revenue from its mineral and sands operations has dropped 42 per cent in the first half of 2013 after lower prices forced it to cut production.

WES - WESFARMERS - down 5.0 cents at $38.89

Wesfarmers says production at its coal mines rose sharply in the June quarter after recovering from the effects of wet weather over the summer.

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Bullying forum to push for legal reform

A SYMPOSIUM on bullying will push for a more unified approach to the issue, including cases of cyberbullying, under Australian law.

Former Family Court Chief Justice Alastair Nicholson, who will be speaking at the conference, said current laws provided little guidance about how bullying should be handled.

"The legal duty of schools, teachers, parents and guardians, as well as others in positions of authority, is not currently clear," he said.

"I hope this symposium will lead to recommendations for changes to the law in relation to bullying, cyberbullying and our young people."

Mr Nicholson will be one of several legal, educational and law enforcement experts included in the Bullying, Young People and the Law Symposium, which will be held in Melbourne on Thursday and Friday.

As well as discussing potential legal reform, the conference will also look at parental and school duty of care, and a New Zealand tribunal which has been set up to deal specifically with cyberbullying.

A report from the New Zealand Law Commission in 2012 recommended a tribunal to deal specifically with harmful cyber communication.

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1200 Qld power jobs gone

QUEENSLAND'S power companies slashed more than 1200 jobs last financial year.

The bosses of transmission provider Powerlink and distributors Ergon and Energex fronted a budget estimates hearing to explain that capital works have slowed as well as demand, especially from the mining industry.

They all said the job losses were of their own making and weren't pressured by the government, which is trying to bring down the cost of electricity.

Last financial year Ergon lost 690 staff, Powerlink 63 and Energex 460, parliament heard.

Energex said blue collar workers weren't targeted.

"The majority of those staff were in the white collar and support areas," Energex CEO Terry Effeney said.

Queensland's energy minister Mark McArdle said there is no bandaid solution to price rises, but pointed to ongoing reviews.

He admitted electricity in the state was expensive but was unapologetic for over promising.

The Liberal National Party told voters electricity would be cheaper under them, but average bills will increase by 22.6 per cent this financial year.

Mr McArdle said compared with other states, Queensland is not ranking well enough.

For example in Queensland, the median bill is $1451 a year, Melbourne CBD $1394, Sydney and the Hunter $1453 and Tasmania $1568.

"We are expensive, there is no question about that," Mr McArdle told the hearing.

"People out there are hurting day in and day out.

"If we hope that a bandaid solution solves the problem, we are deluding ourselves.

"There are deep-seated problems."

The government has flagged plans to merge Energex and Ergon to save hundreds of millions.

It's also planning to make reliability standards less restrictive, which has led to costly "gold-platted" infrastructure projects.

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Broome asylum seekers sent to Curtin

AN asylum seeker boat that was spotted sailing close to the West Australian coast had mainly Vietnamese people on board, the Department of Immigration confirmed.

The boat, carrying 84 people, was detected by a Customs and Border Protection surveillance aircraft then intercepted by HMAS Maitland some 28 nautical miles (about 50km) north north-west of Broome around 1615 (WST) on Sunday.

The boat was towed to the Kimberley pearling and tourist town, while the passengers were sent to the Curtin Detention Centre for initial security, health and identity checks.

Their reasons for travel will also be established, a Customs official said.

The group is understood to be a mix of single men and families.

The isolated Curtin Detention Centre was opened in 1999 by the Howard government, which closed it three years later following incidents of self-harm, riots and a mass escape.

It was re-opened for single men in 2010 but family groups began arriving in May.

The number of Vietnamese asylum seekers arriving on Australian shores has spiked in the past year.

The increase has been largely blamed on religious persecution.

Government critics, including bloggers, are also treated harshly in the one-party Communist state.

It's the second time in recent months that an asylum seeker vessel has come so close to the WA mainland.

In April, a rickety vessel carrying 60 people managed to sail into Geraldton port, gobsmacking onlookers.

On Sunday, three separate boats were spotted close to Christmas and Ashmore islands, carrying more than 330 people.

Australian authorities are in the process of arranging the burial of a baby boy who drowned in waters off Christmas Island on Friday, with eight more people on the boat missing, presumed dead.

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