Holden to cut more jobs

Holden has moved to cut more jobs as it continues to restructure its Australian operations. Source: AAP

CAR maker Holden is moving to cut more jobs as it continues restructuring its Australian operations in a bid to ensure a long-term future.

The company said on Friday it had taken the difficult decision to axe some of its salaried staff.

Holden hasn't revealed how many jobs will go but says all staff affected will be offered support, including career transition and financial counselling.

"It is never easy to make changes like these but we have to take these steps to protect Holden's long-term future in Australia," the company said in a statement.

The latest losses follow the axing of 400 workers from its assembly operations in Adelaide earlier this year along with about 100 from its Melbourne operations.

The remaining assembly staff also agreed to a revised wages and conditions deal to help the company cut costs.

The new redundancies are expected to centre on Melbourne where Holden does most of its design and engineering work.

The company said it was doing all it could to ensure it continued to have a strong future as a design, engineering and manufacturing centre.

"Australia is arguably the most open and competitive automotive market in the world," it said.

"Staying nimble in such a competitive marketplace is an ongoing process that demands our continued attention.

"We have done some significant work in addressing the manufacturing side of our operations but must also work on the other areas of our business to be as efficient and effective as possible."

As the restructuring continues, Holden is also waiting to renew talks with the incoming coalition government on financial assistance.

The company negotiated a $275 million package with the former government in return for a commitment to build two new models in Australia from 2016.

But that deal stalled heading towards the election, prompting Holden to put a final decision on its future in Australia on hold until after the poll.

While Labor appeared committed to providing more funds, the coalition has so far held firm to its policy to cut $500 million from overall auto industry assistance.

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William's mind on baby George

Kate and William have left baby George with his nanny for their first night out since his birth. Source: AAP

PRINCE William has joked about spending his first night away from baby son Prince George while he attended a black-tie awards ceremony in London.

William and wife Kate were guests of honour at the inaugural Tusk Trust awards, a UK-based African wildlife conservation charity of which he is patron.

William joked that he might be seen checking his mobile phone to make sure all was well back home with his son, who was in the care of William's former nanny, Jessie Webb.

It is believed Ms Webb, 71, is looking after the baby when the couple need her and is not working for them full-time.

William started his speech with a reference to seven-week-old Prince George.

"As you might have gathered, Catherine and I have recently become proud parents - of a baby who has a voice to match any lion's roar.

"This is actually our first evening out without him, so please excuse us if you see us nervously casting cheeky glances at our mobile phones to check all is well back home.

"Like any new parents, our thoughts inevitably turn to the world that our child will inherit. It is unfathomable to imagine a world in which children who have been born in the past couple of months may grow up in a world in which rhinoceros have ceased to exist in the wild."

Kate dazzled in a silver sequinned Jenny Packham dress and told Gabon President Ali Bongo Ondimba, who asked who George took after: "Like most babies, he's got a mix of both of us."

The Cambridges' night out came after William announced that he had given up his operational career in the military and was now considering options for future "public service".

This year will be a "transitional" one for William and he will be expanding his core charitable interests - including his passion for conservation - as he carries out his normal royal duties, which are not expected to increase.

In a sign of the direction his public life may take, it was also announced earlier that William had become president of a new umbrella conservation organisation he has formed called "United for Wildlife".

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Woman found unconscious in toilet critical

A 31-YEAR-OLD woman found unconscious with serious head injuries in a toilet remains in a critical condition in a Cairns hospital.

Investigators have spent the day combing the scene of her discovery around 8am (AEST) on Friday - an external toilet at a business on Draper Street in Cairns' CBD.

However, they are still piecing together what happened.

The injured woman's condition remained critical, a spokeswoman for Cairns Base Hospital said late on Friday afternoon.

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Gas explosion fire deliberate: WA police

AN explosion and fire at a house in Perth's northeast that burned a man was deliberately lit, police say.

The man, believed to be aged 46, was rushed to Royal Perth Hospital but police say his burns are not as serious as first thought.

Police, St John Ambulance and the Department of Fire and Emergency Services responded to calls about an explosion and an ensuing blaze at a house on Park Road, Hovea, at around 8.40am (WST) on Wednesday.

Arson Squad detectives have now confirmed initial reports that the explosion was caused by a gas cylinder.

The injured man will remain in hospital overnight and is assisting police with their investigation.

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Starpharma to develop improved cancer drug

BIOTECH Starpharma Holdings says it has improved a blockbuster drug that is mainly used to treat colon and colorectal cancer.

Starpharma has conducted a pre-clinical study of the effects of a dendrimer-enhanced nanoparticle version of the drug oxaliplatin on colon cancer.

The results showed that the enhanced drug was better at inhibiting tumours and reducing toxic side-effects than the non-enhanced drug.

Oxaliplatin is sold as Eloxatin by Sanofi and in 2012 generated sales of about $US2 billion (currently around $A2.16 billion).

"These positive results achieved with Starpharma's dendrimer-enhanced oxaliplatin nanoparticles are the subject of a new patent filing and given the obvious commercial potential, Starpharma now intends to advance dendrimer-enhanced oxaliplatin formulations into development," the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

Dendrimers are a type of synthetic nanoscale polymer that is highly regular in size and structure and suited to pharmaceutical uses.

Shares in Starpharma gained five cents, or five per cent, to $1.05.

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NSW authorities defend backburning

Easing conditions have helped firefighters control bushfires that raged through Sydney's west. Source: AAP

FIREFIGHTERS are battling bushfires still burning near Sydney with authorities and the NSW government acknowledging the risks of hazard reduction burns.

NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) said crews had contained fires at Castlereagh and Londonderry shortly after 3.30pm on Wednesday.

Across the state there were 63 fires, 21 of which were uncontrolled after destroying one property on Tuesday.

The RFS has issued a "watch and act" alert for one of the worst, a fire in Winmalee in the Blue Mountains, due to winds of up to 45km/h.

"It's nowhere as near as bad as (Tuesday), so we're not expecting problems," Deputy commissioner of the RFS, Rob Rogers, told Fairfax Radio.

"But we want people to be aware there is still a potential for that fire to get out."

Hundreds of Winmalee residents remain without power for a second night after the blaze burned through 21 power poles and four kilometres of power lines.

Meanwhile, the RFS and NSW Police have begun an investigation into the cause and origin of the bushfires.

Some Winmalee residents have raised concerns that recent hazard reduction burns in the area by National Parks may have got out of control on Tuesday.

Mr Rogers said hazard reduction was necessary but conceded they were risky.

"We're damned if we do and we're damned if we don't with hazard reductions," he said.

"But when you introduce fire to the landscape, there's always a level of unpredictability when it comes to the weather."

Mr O'Farrell also defended backburning operations across the state.

"When you don't undertake hazard reduction you leave the fuel load as it is and it grows and that's even more lethal," he said.

The lesson learnt from Tuesday's unprecedented start to bushfire season, he said, was that "too many home owners hadn't cleaned their gutters".

The Fire Brigade Employees Union (FBEU) used the fires to highlight what it said were staff shortages caused by state government funding cuts.

Off-duty firefighters had to be "rushed in" to battle the bushfire emergency because some fire stations were temporarily closed, the FBEU said.

"(Tuesday) was an example of a system under strain," FBEU secretary Jim Casey told AAP.

Mr O'Farrell said no resources were spared.

"In the height of the emergency Tuesday more than 1,200 firefighters and 350 trucks were working against the fires," he said.

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Indian rape accused found guilty

Four men have been found guilty of the rape and murder of a woman on a New Delhi bus in December. Source: AAP

AT least three of the four men convicted of gang raping and murdering a student on a New Delhi bus last December will appeal the guilty verdicts, lawyers say.

V.K. Anand, defence lawyer for Mukesh Singh, told reporters outside the courtroom after Tuesday's verdicts: "My client was simply driving the bus. He confessed fairly that he was driving the bus but he did not know what went on inside."

A.P. Singh, defence lawyer for Akshay Thakur and Vinay Sharma, called the convictions "political" and said he would appeal on behalf of both of them.

"We will now go to the High Court with our appeal," he told reporters. "This is a political conviction."

The lawyer for the fourth convict, Pawan Gupta, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Judge Yogesh Khanna issued the judgments against the men, accused of tricking the woman and a friend of hers into boarding the bus, then raping her and savaging her with a metal pole. She died two weeks later.

An 18-year-old, a juvenile during the attack, was already convicted. Another suspect hung himself in jail.

The rape set off waves of protest in India, galvanising anger over the treatment of women.

Judge Khanna announced: "I convict all of the accused. They have been found guilty of gang rape, unnatural offences, destruction of evidence ... and for committing the murder of the helpless victim."

Arguments for sentencing will begin on Wednesday morning, he announced.

The parents of one of the convicts, Mukesh Singh, left the crowded court in tears and his mother threw herself at the feet of one of the lawyers, sobbing.

The parents and brother of the victim were also inside the courtroom.

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NSW fires claim two houses

BUSHFIRES have destroyed at least two NSW houses and injured two fire fighters.

The NSW Rural Fire Service says one house has been lost at Hawkesbury Road at Winmalee, in the Blue Mountains, and two firefighters battling the blaze there suffered minor burns.

A second house has been confirmed lost in Marsden Park in the Blacktown area, in Sydney's west.

Five firefighters have been treated for smoke inhalation.

Briefing parliament on Tuesday, NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell said 59 bush and grassfires were burning across NSW with more than 500 firefighters and 200 appliances on the ground.

RFS Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers said having so many fires in such a concentrated area around Sydney's greater west was a challenge.

"As far as the crow flies they're all not that far apart," he told Fairfax Radio.

"Unfortunately I think we'll probably see some more

losses before the end of the day."

Winamalee High School was evacuated on Tuesday afternoon and was is being used as an evacuation centre for residents of the small Blue Mountains town of Hawkesbury Heights.

In Castlereagh around 300 students from St Paul's Grammar School were evacuated to Penrith's Whitewater Park after an emergency warning was issued for a fire threatening properties on nearby Devlin Street.

Sisters Melinda and Samantha Millard, from Horsley Park, rushed to Castlereagh to help their horse trainer only to be told it was too dangerous.

Melinda said her friends were at the heart of the fire zone trying to save their horse training facility.

"It's scary, it's not even my place, but knowing it could go any minute now is making me really emotional" she said.

"We want to help people and the animals."

More than 2000 people were evacuated from a University of Western Sydney (UWS) campus following a power outage affecting the entire Richmond area.

The RFS has issued emergency warnings for fires around the greater Sydney region including Marsden Park and Windsor.

The warm 50 klm/h winds fanning the fire are likely to ease on Tuesday evening, a Bureau of Meteorology spokesman told AAP.

"(Tuesday) was certainly the hottest and windiest (day) of the week," she said.

It hit 32 degrees in Sydney on Tuesday but temperatures on Wednesday will be about 10 degrees cooler and winds will calm to about 30 klm/h.

"It will be a significantly different day."

Police minister Mike Gallacher is being escorted by police under lights and sirens to a briefing with the RFS at Homebush.

Residents from Windsor in Sydney's northwest are confronting a bushfire just metres from their homes.

Smoke billowed over Windsor Downs Nature Reserve as water bombing helicopters and crews battled grass fires fanned by winds up to 80km/h on Tuesday.

Sanctuary Drive residents Michael and Sandra Bellamy left work to return home and protect their house when they realised there was actually a fire in the reserve bordering their property.

"I got a text message from my daughter saying that I should probably go home," Ms Bellamy told AAP.

However, police road closures prevented her from reaching the family home, where they have lived for 19 years.

"I wasn't allowed in. Then my neighbour came by in the car and said, 'quick, get in' and I jumped in," she said.

Her husband, Michael, is confident firefighters will be able to contain the bushfire, one of more than 50 burning across NSW driven by the winds and temperatures up to 32 degrees.

"These guys are here to stop it in its track if it does come this way," he said.

"The wind is a bit of a worry, it's swirling around a lot. We don't know where it will end up, and we're still not sure."

Many residents had fireproofed their properties ahead of bushfire season, he said.

"I have got a pretty good fire plan set up here and we're ready to protect the house. I just wanted to make sure I was here to protect the house."

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NSW fire claims house, injures fireys

A house in Sydney's Blue Mountains has been lost as firefighters battle 40 uncontained blazes. Source: AAP

A HOUSE in Sydney's Blue Mountains has been lost as firefighters battle 40 uncontained blazes which have caused mass evacuations.

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell said a house had been lost on Hawkesbury Road in Winmalee and there were unconfirmed reports two firefighters injured battling the blaze there.

"(There is) one confirmed report of a house lost in Hawkesbury Road, unconfirmed reports of two injured firefighters at the same location," he told parliament on Tuesday.

"This is an ongoing situation."

The RFS later confirmed five firefighters suffered smoke inhalation and two received minor burns fighting the Winmalee blaze.

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Newman shakes up Qld's department heads

QUEENSLAND Premier Campbell Newman has announced a big shake-up of the state's department heads.

Mr Newman released a list of director-general changes on Monday as part of his plan to improve the public service.

Public Service Commissioner Ian Maynard will become the director-general of Queensland Health following the departure of Tony O'Connell.

Environment DG Andrew Chesterman has been shifted to fill Mr Maynard's previous job.

Energy and Water Supply DG Jon Black will now head the environment department while Natural Resources and Mines DG Dan Hunt will take on Mr Black's old role.

Dr Brett Heyward has been promoted from being on a health taskforce to becoming the Natural Resources and Mines DG.

Sue Rickerby has also been promoted from the Department of Premier and Cabinet to head the Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts department.

Former senior environment bureaucrat James Purtill, who left the public service in 2008, has returned to head the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs and Multicultural Affairs department.

Mr Newman said he's determined to make Queensland's public service the best in the country.

"These appointments will provide the leadership and expertise needed to achieve that goal," he said.

"They are all talented, highly qualified and committed to delivering the first-class public services Queenslanders deserve."

Annastacia Palaszczuk said it was also time for Mr Newman to shake up his ministry.

"There's a number of ministers who are underperforming and if you're doing such a massive shake-up of your bureaucracy, there's definitely going to be something happening in relation to ministers," she said.

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Coalition ahead in 86 seats: AEC

BILLIONAIRE Clive Palmer is on track to enter federal parliament.

The latest round of vote counting shows the Liberal-National coalition ahead in 87 seats.

Labor is ahead in 57 seats, with the Greens' Adam Bandt holding Melbourne, Bob Katter retaining his seat of Kennedy, and independent Andrew Wilkie returning in Denison.

The Australian Electoral Commission on Monday afternoon posted two-candidate preferred counts on its website for the seats of Fisher, Fairfax, Indi and Mallee.

It shows Mr Palmer is ahead of his Liberal National Party rival Ted O'Brien by 1920 votes in the Queensland seat of Fairfax.

Liberal frontbencher Sophie Mirabella trails independent Cathy McGowan in the Victorian seat of Indi by 1754 votes.

Former Howard government minister Mal Brough is 1521 votes ahead of Palmer United Party's Bill Schoch in Fisher.

The Nationals' Andrew Broad looks set to take the Victorian seat of Mallee, leading his Liberal rival Chris Crewther by 785 votes.

Among the seats listed as "close" is the NSW seat of Barton, with Labor candidate Steve McMahon 79 votes ahead of the Liberals' Nic Varvaris.

In Eden-Monaro, former Labor minister Mike Kelly is 616 votes behind Liberal candidate Peter Hendy.

Labor MP John Murphy is trailing Liberal challenger Craig Laundy by 652 votes in the NSW seat of Reid.

In Victoria, Labor MP Rob Mitchell is 72 votes ahead of the Liberals' Donna Petrovich in McEwen.

Labor candidate Peter Freeleagus is 141 votes ahead of the Liberal National Party's Michelle Landry in the Queensland seat of Capricornia.

The seat of Petrie was moved out of the "close" category on Monday afternoon. Former parliamentary secretary Yvette D'Ath is 809 votes behind the LNP's Luke Howarth in the Brisbane-based seat.

The Liberals will pick up a Senate seat in the ACT.

Liberal candidate Zed Seselja achieved just over 33 per cent of the vote in counting on Monday afternoon, pushing him ahead of the Greens' Simon Sheikh.

Labor's Kate Lundy has already retained her seat.

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Finance data show housing market improving

The number of home loans approved rose for the seventh month in a row, official figures show. Source: AAP

HOME loans approvals have risen for the seventh month in a row, and the housing sector is expected to strengthen further in the coming months.

The number of home loans approved in July rose 2.4 per cent, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said, which was better than the market forecast of a 2.0 per cent rise.

CommSec chief economist Craig James said he expects the housing market to make more gains as consumer and business confidence improves now that the federal election is out of the way.

"What we would hope that, in a more settled environment, people will start spending, investing and hiring," he said.

"Of all the sectors in the economy, clearly one of the healthiest is housing.

"Housing is best placed to take over the leadership role from mining as the nation's key economic driver.

Loans made for the purchase of new dwellings rose 5.9 per cent in the month but loans for the construction of dwellings fell 2.1 per cent.

"While construction loans fell, it was only the first fall recorded in eight months," Mr James said.

"Low interest rates and the skewing of state government grants to new building should continue to support the outlook for building material stocks and developers.

"Certainly we should have construction rising at a faster rate than established dwellings, so we don't get caught with unsustainable growth."

Mr James said the data and continued signs of strength in the housing sector will ensure that the Reserve Bank will hold off on another interest rate cut until 2014.

Total housing finance by value rose 1.1 per cent in July, seasonally adjusted, to $24.180 billion.

JP Morgan economist Ben Jarman said that although the figures came in stronger than expected, the rise was being driven by investors rather than first-home buyers, who typically take out bigger loans.

"Average loan sizes are falling," Mr Jarman said.

"At the same time, what you're getting is activity that is tilted more towards the investor and less toward the first-home buyer, so you're not getting that uplift in overall credit growth that you get when first-home buyers come into the market.

"It seems like there's a lot of turnover happening in housing but not enough homes being built and not enough credit growth to make it genuinely stimulatory.

"Without that piece of the puzzle moving we don't think this will really change the path of the real economy."

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Coalition to fall short of Senate majority

THE coalition government appears likely to fall short of a Senate majority by five seats, but may not have to make deals with the Australian Greens to pass laws.

The coalition had 34 senators after the 2010 election and needed to gain five to hold a majority in the upper house from the half-Senate changeover on July 1, 2014.

On current projections, the coalition is expected to pick up three senators in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia, two in South Australia and Tasmania and one each in the ACT and NT, leaving it with a total of 34.

Labor is set to hold two seats in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia, with one each in the ACT, NT and South Australia, giving it a total of 26.

NT Labor senator-elect Nova Peris will be the first indigenous woman in parliament.

The conservative Palmer United Party's Glenn Lazarus is set to win a Queensland seat, with PUP's Jacqui Lambie on track to pick up a seat in Tasmania.

Independent Nick Xenophon will be returned in South Australia.

With the Australian Electoral Commission expected to count preferences on Sunday, the final NSW seat is a race between the Greens, One Nation founder Pauline Hanson, PUP and Labor.

In Victoria, the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party could pick up enough micro-party preferences to slip ahead of the Greens.

The Greens' Scott Ludlam is likely to hold his WA seat.

Labor senator Don Farrell says he needs a "minor miracle" to hold onto his SA seat.

The final two SA seats will come down to the Greens' Sarah Hanson-Young, Xenophon party candidate Stirling Griffin and Family First.

Senator Xenophon says the process of "harvesting preferences" by the new generation of micro-parties needs to be examined.

The Liberals' Sally Chandler appears in contention in Tasmania, up against Ms Lambie from PUP.

Until the Senate changeover in July, the Greens will continue to hold the balance of power, making it impossible for the Abbott government to pass legislation such as the carbon tax repeal and toughening up asylum seeker policies unless Labor offers its support.

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Swing steadies as count countinues

ELECTORAL officials around the country continue unfolding ballot papers and counting preferences but the final outcome for the 2013 poll is still some days away.

With almost three-quarters of the House of Representatives preferences distributed on Sunday afternoon, Labor has suffered a 3.5 percentage point swing against it to win 46.7 per cent of the vote.

The coalition is on track to hold at least 86 seats in the 150-seat parliament, the Australian Electoral Commission calculates, with Labor keeping 57 seats.

On the crossbench, Greens deputy leader Adam Bandt held on to his seat of Melbourne and Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie retained Denison, both with increased primary votes.

Independent Bob Katter kept the Queensland seat of Kennedy but suffered a 16 point swing.

Four seats are still too close to call, including Fairfax in Queensland which could be taken by businessman Clive Palmer and the Victorian seat of Indi where independent Cathy McGowan might still oust Liberal Sophie Mirabella.

Labor's best showings have been in Queensland and the Northern Territory, where the swing against it was contained to less than a point.

Former minister Warren Snowden, who's on track to retain the NT electorate of Lingiari, said Labor's vote appeared to have returned to trend among remote indigenous communities.

"The swing against us is well below the national trend," he said.

A predicted blowout in NSW never eventuated with voters turning toward the coalition by just three points.

In Tasmania, however, Labor's result has worsened as the count continues, with a massive 11.2 point backlash.

"Tasmania led the way with a coalition victory," Liberal senator Eric Abetz told reporters in Hobart on Sunday.

In the seat of Lyons, Liberal Eric Hutchinson won a 13 point swing from 20-year veteran Labor MP Dick Adams while former army brigadier Andrew Nikolic demolished Labor's Geoff Lyons in Bass.

The Labor vote also dropped significantly in Victoria and South Australia.

The Greens also suffered across the country.

Its primary vote was down by more than three points in the lower house and more than four points in the Senate.

In its traditional stronghold of Tasmania, the minor party's primary vote is less than half of the 2010 result.

Despite this, leader Christine Milne says her party is on track to hold the same number of seats.

"The Greens said we would be judged at this election by whether or not we could hold our seats in the course of a conservative tide coming in across the country - and we have," she told reporters in Melbourne on Sunday.

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WikiLeaks Party will live on: Assange

Julian Assange says his WikiLeaks Party will live on despite its poor showing in the election. Source: AAP

JULIAN Assange says his WikiLeaks Party will live on despite its poor showing in the election.

With about two-thirds of Senate first preferences counted, the party picked up 0.62 per cent of the national vote.

Its best showing was in Victoria, where Assange was the lead candidate, where it garnered 1.18 per cent of the primary vote.

In NSW it picked up 0.8 per cent and in Western Australia 0.71 per cent.

But none of these numbers are good enough to get anyone elected.

"We are the second largest vote count for the new parties after Clive Palmer's party which had a billion bucks behind it," Assange told ABC TV on Sunday.

"I think that's a pretty good outcome."

He said it was "rather bizarre" the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party was being projected to win a Victorian Senate spot when it "has less than a third of the vote that we had".

Projections are made according to preference flows from the tickets lodged by all parties before the election.

Asked if he would try again for a Senate seat in three or six years' time, Assange said: "I think so."

"The WikiLeaks Party will continue for sure," he said.

In the meantime, Assange will turn his attention to the work of his secret-leaking website, while remaining holed up in London's Ecuadorian embassy.

"It's now back to the real work, to publish," he said.

But he is buoyed by his political party's efforts amid tough circumstances.

"The party was registered in July, three months ago," Assange said.

"It's had a leader and primary candidate stuck in an overseas embassy for 400 days in a foreign country, nine hours time difference and an international banking blockade against it, which interfered with donations."

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