Australia raises piracy case with Russia

FOREIGN Minister Julie Bishop has called on Russia to treat Australian Greenpeace activist Colin Russell, who is facing piracy charges, with fairness.

Ms Bishop has met with Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Bali.

"I registered our concern about the charges and also our desire to ensure that he's afforded full due legal process and consular assistance," she told reporters in Bali's Nusa Dua.

Worldwide protests are being held on Saturday for the so-called "Arctic 30", who were detained in the port city of Murmansk after their ship the Arctic Sunrise was boarded at gunpoint by Russian authorities.

Mr Russell, from Tasmania, could face up to 15 years in prison if Russian authorities persist with the piracy charge.

He was among 30 Greenpeace activists charged with the offence for their roles in a protest against oil drilling in the Arctic Circle last month.

Mr Russell's wife Christine addressed a rally in Hobart on Saturday, calling on the Australian government to support the Dutch government's legal efforts to initiate arbitration in the United Nations to secure the crew members freedom.

"I urge Minister Bishop and Prime Minister Abbott to support Colin, with a letter of guarantee to help secure his release," Mrs Russell told the protest.

His daughter Madeleine said his irrepressible sense of humour would keep his spirits up in the jail cell.

Ms Bishop said she is taking a keen interest in the case, which is shaping up as her first major consular challenge since taking over as foreign minister.

She says Australian officials have met with Mr Russell in recent days and plan to do so again soon.

"I understand he is well, his conditions of detention are adequate," she said.

Asked if she believed the piracy charge was too extreme, Ms Bishop said: "We're seeking advice as to whether this charge is appropriate.

"I do note that (Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin said in one press conference that they were clearly not pirates," she said.

"It's a very serious charge."

At a Melbourne protest, around 100 people chanted "Free the Arctic 30" on the steps of Flinders Street Station.

Others circulated a petition to put more pressure on the federal government to take serious action.

Organiser Julien Vincent said the piracy charge was ridiculous and Greenpeace never expected a protest involving ropes and banners could balloon into such a serious incident.

"They are being detained on a charge that is completely unjustified," he said.

"You can understand why there is such an outpouring of support."

Similar rallies were also held in Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane.

A British-born Australian resident and a New Zealand man who lives in South Australia have also been charged.

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US man sets himself on fire in capital

A man has set himself on fire near the US congress, a fire official says. Source: AAP

A US man has been flown to hospital after setting himself on fire on the National Mall, a fire official says.

Fire crews responded on Friday afternoon to a report of a man on fire.

A witness said she saw a man dump a red canister of petrol on his head and then set himself on fire.

Fire Department spokesman Tim Wilson said the man has life-threatening injuries.

His name and age were not immediately known.

* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467.

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Valentine wins big at the AWGIE Awards

Playwright Anna Valentine has won three gongs at the AWGIE Awards in Melbourne. Source: AAP

PLAYWRIGHT Alana Valentine, who likes to gives audiences a kick up the arse in a witty way, has swept the Australian Writers' Guild Awards (AWGIEs).

Valentine picked up three gongs, including script of the year, at the awards ceremony on Friday night.

The AWGIEs are judged solely by writers on the basis of the script.

Valentine scooped the Major AWGIE, for Most Outstanding Script of 2013, and took out the community and youth theatre category for her play Grounded.

Set in Newcastle, Grounded is a coming-of-age tale about teenager Farrah, who wants to be a marine pilot.

Valentine began her winning streak by picking up the inaugural $25,000 David Williamson Prize for quality new Australian works for the stage.

"I'm very proud to be part of a guild which actually encourages and celebrates writers who want to look at what's happening in our culture right now, on our watch," Valentine told the audience at Melbourne's Plaza Ballroom.

"I'm really proud of all the writers in the guild who chose to, as cleverly and wittily as they do, give our audiences a kick up the arse and rub their noses in what we think is not working about this country."

In television writing, Robert Connolly picked up the best Telemovie Adaption award for Underground: The Julian Assange Story.

The Underbelly: Badness team - Niki Aken, Peter Gawler, Felicity Packard and Jeffrey Truman - were honoured for writing the stand-out original television mini-series.

Andrew Knight won the best television series AWGIE for the Rake series 2 episode R v. Floyd. The Good News Week writers received their ninth AWGIE for the final season of the comedy/light entertainment series.

The $25,000 Foxtel Fellowship, awarded in recognition of an impressive body of television work, went to Jacquelin Perske for a career including TV dramas The Secret Life of Us and Love My Way.

In the movie arena, Kim Mordaunt won the AWGIE for best original feature film script for The Rocket.

That film, about a 10-year-old boy trying to help his family in Laos' war-torn north, is Australia's selection for the best foreign-language film at next year's Oscars.

The Rocket also took out the audience awards at both the Sydney and Melbourne film festivals.

Best short film script went to husband and wife team, Matthew Moore and Genevieve Hegney, for The Amber Amulet, based on Craig Silvey's novella.

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Search for asylum seekers off Java ends

A search operation for a sunken asylum-seeker boat has been called off by Indonesian authorities. Source: AAP

AUTHORITIES in Indonesia have officially called off a search and rescue operation prompted last week when an asylum-seeker boat sank after attempting to reach Australia, leaving more than 50 people dead or missing.

The operation was brought to a halt on Wednesday evening, less than a week after the boat, which was believed to be carrying 81 passengers, broke apart in heavy seas off the coast of West Java.

A spokesman for the Indonesian search and rescue agency, BASARNAS, on Thursday said authorities had recovered 42 bodies, many of them children, but that another 10 people remained missing and were also believed to have drowned.

Just 28 asylum seekers were found alive after the boat - which was carrying people from Lebanon, Iran and Iraq - broke apart near a beach in the district of Agrabinta in West Java at about 10.30am local time last Friday.

The tragedy - the first known fatal attempted crossing since the Abbott government came to power - led to accusations on the part of asylum seekers that Australian authorities had been slow to respond to calls for help.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has rejected claims from survivors that Australian authorities delayed their response to the unfolding tragedy for more than 24 hours.

"Suggestions Australian authorities did not respond to this incident appropriately are absolutely and totally wrong," Mr Morrison said earlier this week.

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Church sex abuse process fails victims

LACK of oversight and accountability by the Catholic Church in handling child sex abuse complaints has led to mixed outcomes for victims, a church spokesman says.

Francis Sullivan, chief executive of the church's Truth Justice and Healing Council has announced proposals to reform the approach to clerical sexual abuse.

The reforms would include a separation of the pastoral and compensation elements of the Towards Healing process, which deals with victims of Catholic Church abuse.

"There has been a contamination of the pastoral approaches by legal approaches," Mr Sullivan told AAP on Thursday.

This was contrary to the whole design of Towards Healing, he said.

He also said the church had not properly managed how the process actually happened on the ground.

"There has not been enough oversight, transparency and accountability back to some type of authority".

This resulted in "variable outcomes for victims on all sorts of levels".

Towards Healing has been operating in the Catholic Church for 17 years and has undergone several reforms.

The council, which Mr Sullivan heads, was set up to engage with the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and has been looking closely at the process.

The council's recommendation for an independent church board to develop national child protection standards came on the same day the commission published submissions on the efficacy of the Towards Healing process.

The process came under heavy fire in those submissions, especially from organisations representing people who had been through it.

The submissions can be viewed on www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au under issues papers in the Our Work hyperlink.

Mr Sullivan said he had not yet read the submissions to the commission but the council was aware of the many complaints. This was why they were recommending a significant overhaul.

"It is a whole governance change that was not there in the beginning and has not been there since Towards Healing started," Mr Sullivan told AAP.

"In our proposals we are talking about a national board that would have reporting, oversight and monitoring powers over the various components of the Catholic Church in this whole area - including how they conduct Towards Healing."

He said the motivation was to ease the process for victims, who if they go through the courts, face the rigours of the legal system.

There was also the fact that royal commission recommendations could take many years to establish and might face significant constitutional hurdles, whereas the church proposals could be put in place as soon as late next year, he said.

He stressed though that they were only at concept level and had to be put to the church leadership.

Mr Sullivan said if the commission did recommended a national system of redress the church system could morph into it.

There has been criticism from lawyers that the recommended reforms by the Catholic Church are a bid to avoid making its trustees liable for the conduct of its priests and therefore able to be sued.

The Catholic Church is one of the institutions in Australia which is set up as a property trust and cannot be sued over crimes like child abuse.

The Australian Lawyers Alliance welcomed the church council's concession on the failure of the Towards Healing process.

It said however it remained concerned at the independent body recommendation.

"The bitter experience of victims suggests no body appointed by the church is truly independent," Australian Lawyers Alliance spokesman Dr Andrew Morrison SC said in a statement.

"There already exists a truly independent body to deal with compensation - it is called the court system," he said.

"All the Church needs to do is concede that its trustees (who hold its immense wealth) are its secular arm and are liable for the conduct of its priests and therefore able to be sued. That is the law in the rest of the common law world. Why not here?

"These are the reforms the Church should accept forthwith or the Royal Commission should urgently recommend be imposed by law."

Mr Sullivan said the council was not trying to stave off such challenges.

"The trust arrangement applies to all churches.

"This question may well and truly come up during the commission and we need to see how that goes," he said.

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Ludlam to appeal Senate recount knockback

The Australian Electoral Commission is set to decide whether to allow a recount of WA Senate votes. Source: AAP

GREENS Senator Scott Ludlam says he'll appeal the Australian Electoral Commission's decision not to conduct a recount of votes for Western Australia's Senate seats.

Senator Ludlam asked for a partial recount after a 14-vote difference between two of the micro-parties - the Shooters and Fishers Party, and Australian Christians - sent preferences against him and into the hands of the Palmer United Party's Zhenya "Dio" Wang.

The Australian Sports Party's Wayne Dropulich, who was on track for a shock Senate seat win, requested a full recount.

But the AEC said on Thursday the requests did not identify any specific issues that would have warranted a recount.

"As a result, the requests have been denied," the AEC said in a statement.

Within moments of the decision being announced, Senator Ludlam said he would appeal to the AEC Electoral Commissioner on Thursday afternoon, before the declaration of the poll at 11.30am (WST) on Friday.

"There have been Senate vote recounts both in this state and other jurisdictions when the margin has been far greater, and on more than one occasion those recounts have led to a different result," Senator Ludlam said in a statement.

"In such a marginal decision, with such important consequences for two Senate seats, only a recount can ensure that the votes receive the scrutiny needed to exclude human error.

"As none of the elected senators will be required to take their seats in the Senate before 1 July 2014, there is time to ensure the result is correct."

Given the way the preferences flowed, Senator Ludlam needed only eight more votes to keep his seat.

Mr Dropulich was being sought for comment as to whether he would appeal.

It's understood a recount would have cost the AEC about $1 million.

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NSW minister accused over jobs for boys

NSW Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian has been accused of awarding work to an alleged mate. Source: AAP

NSW Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian has been accused of giving jobs to the boys and misleading parliament, after nearly $500,000 worth of work was awarded to a former colleague.

Labor MP Luke Foley wants an investigation into the awarding of a government contract to the consultancy firm Conrad Capital last year.

Jack Simos, who worked alongside Ms Berejiklian as a staffer for the then NSW Treasurer Peter Collins, is CEO and managing director of the firm.

In a budget estimates committee meeting last month, Mr Foley said he had quizzed Ms Berejiklian about the "fat contract" but she had denied any involvement, saying everything was handled by her department.

However, Mr Foley said documents reveal Mr Simos's appointment was actually instigated by her office, and before the firm was even registered for GST.

In March last year Owen Johnstone-Donnet, chief of staff from the minister's office, emailed the Department of Premier and Cabinet requesting their help to engage Conrad Capital to "undertake special tasks in relation to transport reform".

He said the two principals of Conrad Capital - Richard McKinnon and Mr Simos - "would report to and be accountable" to him.

"I think it's not only a question of jobs for the boys but also a question of ministerial responsibility to the parliament," Mr Foley told reporters on Tuesday.

In failing to reveal her office's role in the appointment, he said it appeared the minister misled the parliamentary committee.

Mr Simos's firm was initially engaged for three months work at $10,000 per month, which meant it did not have to go out to the market and seek quotes.

A further $290,000 worth of work his firm was then awarded was based on the three-months of previous experience.

All up, Mr Foley said the firm had been awarded $485,000 in payments.

"I'm calling today on Premier (Barry) O'Farrell to investigate this highly irregular contract driven not by the public service but by a minister's own private office," he said.

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Another whale gets caught in Qld nets

A WHALE has been freed from shark nets off the Gold Coast, in Queensland's fifth entanglement this migration season.

The five-metre male calf became entangled off Tallebudgera Beach on Tuesday afternoon.

Shark Control Program acting manager Mark Saul, from the Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol, said the whale's mother waited nearby as rescuers released the calf.

"Throughout the release the whale was relatively calm," Mr Saul said.

"While the sea conditions were a bit rough, the release team was able to quickly and safely release the animal."

He said the pair were last seen swimming east at a fast pace.

This is the fifth whale this migration season to be caught in shark nets off Queensland.

Of these entanglements, all the whales have been successfully freed.

More than 18,000 whales are making their way south for the end of the migration season.

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RBA holds steady but eye on US

GROWING signs that low interest rates are finally having a positive impact on the economy could be short-lived if the political stalemate in the US drags on and the Australian dollar continues to strengthen.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) left the cash rate at an all-time low of 2.5 per cent at Tuesday's monthly board meeting, saying policy "remained appropriate".

But just 30 minutes before the widely expected decision, the US government began shutting down all non-essential federal agencies after failing to get its budget passed by Congress.

This will see over 800,000 US workers sent home unpaid.

Macquarie Research senior economist Brian Redican called it a potential "game changer" for the outlook if a reasonable outcome is not reached soon.

"It's got be a major issue for them (the RBA)," he told AAP.

The US budget stand-off is a precursor to even more fraught negotiations to lift the $US16.7 trillion ($A18.04 trillion) US debt ceiling.

If no deal is reached, the US may begin defaulting on its debts by the middle of October.

"It doesn't really matter too much if the US government shutdown lasts a couple of days. It's whether we can take this as a sign of how those debt ceiling negotiations are going to go," Mr Redican said.

US President Barack Obama said the shutdown will have an immediate economic impact.

"It will throw a wrench into the gears of our economy at a time when those gears have gained some traction."

Of concern to the RBA in the short-term will be a renewed strengthening in the Australian dollar on the back of the US's fiscal problems.

RBA governor Glenn Stevens noted the dollar has risen in the past month, but was still about 10 per cent below its level in April.

"A lower level of the currency than seen at present would assist in rebalancing growth in the economy," Mr Stevens said in a statement.

There are positive signs in the economy - a modest strengthening in retail sales, house prices rising and the manufacturing sector growing for the first time in over two years.

Commonwealth Securities chief economist Craig James believes the economy has turned the corner.

"Provided the political wrangling in the US doesn't drag on, the outlook is encouraging," Mr James said in a note to clients.

Retail sales grew by a stronger than expected 0.4 per cent in August - to a near record $21.92 billion - led by a 6.4 per cent surge in spending in department stores.

Australian National Retailers Association chief Margy Osmond said the rise came despite the federal election campaign, which is traditionally a period where consumers are cautious.

"This is a result of the cash rate cut in early August, a more buoyant share market and consumers responding to the prospect of a new government with a clear mandate coming into power," she said.

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New rules for SA pubs and clubs

NEW lock-out laws to cut alcohol-fuelled violence around pubs and clubs in Adelaide will take effect from Tuesday.

The new provisions prevent patrons from entering venues after 3am (CST) and anyone who leaves a pub or club after that time will be prevented from re-entering.

The new provisions allow for greater use of metal detectors and video cameras, provide for an early morning ban on drink promotions such as free drinks, shooters and doubles and restrict the use of glass for serving drinks.

Liquor and Gambling Commissioner Paul White said the new code aimed to curb alcohol-related incidents of abuse and violence through a range of management practices and the prevention of early-morning bar hopping.

There will be a four-week educational period for pubs and clubs, when breaches of the code will be met with warnings, and to allow for staff training, the installation of closed-circuit cameras and the purchase of plastic drink containers.

The changes have been opposed by some venues with a group unsuccessfully taking their case against the measures to the South Australian Supreme Court last week.

Also coming into force in October are new rules over the sale of alcohol in Coober Pedy in SA's mid-north.

Takeaway sales of cask wine will be banned while sales of wine and spirits will be limited to one bottle per person, per day.

Takeaway sales of all alcohol will also be banned to anyone from defined prescribed lands, including the Umoona Community, Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands and other Aboriginal lands in SA, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

Police say the new regulations have been introduced in a bid to curb alcohol-related violence and anti-social behaviour in the area.

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UK cancer images banned In New Zealand

IMAGES from a ground-breaking television advertising campaign designed to raise awareness of breast cancer have been banned from screens in New Zealand.

The hard-hitting advert, featuring actress and comedienne Elaine C. Smith, was the first in Britain to show real pictures of women's breasts affected by cancer.

The campaign resulted in a 50 per cent rise in the number of women contacting their GP about the disease.

The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation had wanted to show the images of breasts from the Scottish advert as part of a television campaign there.

But the country's Commercial Approval Bureau (CAB) advised the health campaigners that nipples were not permitted in TV adverts in New Zealand.

As a result, the foundation was forced to use strategically placed pot plants, balloons and cupcakes in its Naked Truth campaign.

Van Henderson, the foundation's chief executive, said they had wanted to use the images from the Scottish adverts so women could know more about the signs of breast cancer.

Henderson said: "Around half of the breast cancers in New Zealand are first detected through a symptom that the woman notices, yet only 5 per cent of women are aware that puckering or dimpling of the skin can be a symptom, and only 2 per cent know an inverted nipple may mean breast cancer."

She added: "We believe the importance of knowing all the signs and symptoms far outweighs the CAB's concern, and we wanted women to know exactly what those signs look like."

The advert, first screened in Scotland last September, showed Smith holding a series of placards with images of breasts affected by cancer.

In the three months between September and November, 21,000 women contacted their GP about breast cancer symptoms - 50 per cent more than the 13,900 who did so in the same period of 2011.

The advert stressed that lumps are not the only sign that someone may be suffering from breast cancer, with women being urged to check for signs such as a change in breast shape or size, an unusual pain in their breast, a change in the skin such as dimpling, puckering or reddening, and any changes to their nipples.

Edinburgh woman Janet Brodie went to her doctor after seeing the advert as she realised she had some of the signs of breast cancer.

Five tumours were found and the 54-year-old is now in recovery after having two operations, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

"That advert saved my life," Brodie said.

She praised the campaign for its "different" approach, saying it was "so straight to the point, you were in no doubt what you were looking for".

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Australia did all it could: Commander

THE acting head of Australia's border protection operation has praised the nation's professional and timely response to the fatal sinking of an asylum-seeker boat off Indonesia that's claimed up to 36 lives.

As Prime Minister Tony Abbott was in Indonesia for talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his government was facing questions about its handling of the sinking off Java on Friday.

But Operation Sovereign Borders Acting Commander, Air Marshal Mark Binskin, says Australian authorities took "every step available to them" in responding to the tragedy.

Air Marshal Binskin denied reports of a 26-hour delay in responding to the unfolding crisis, after some survivors said they contacted Australian authorities on Thursday.

He said Australian authorities first learned the vessel was in distress at 7.57am (AEST) on Friday, and conducted extensive work to try to find the vessel with highly capable search aircraft and diverting four merchant ships.

"Our response was professional and timely," he said.

"Despite these efforts no searching ships or aircraft ever sighted the vessel."

Indonesian authorities say the death toll has risen to 36 and concede the ongoing search operation is now about recovering the dead rather than finding anyone else alive.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison called the disaster a "chilling reminder of what can occur when you put your life in the hands of criminals".

He dismissed claims by some survivors that passengers were taken to the boat in trucks driven by Indonesian soldiers.

"I won't give substance to a claim that's speculative," the minister said.

Air Marshal Binskin said three boatloads of asylum seekers had been intercepted in the past week.

The first was found on Tuesday carrying 18 people from India. They are in Darwin and expected to be sent home.

Seven West Papuans who were dropped off on at an Australian island in the Torres Strait on Wednesday were returned to PNG the next day.

On Thursday, 70 people from the third boat were transferred to detention on Christmas Island.

Another vessel carrying 78 people was intercepted overnight Sunday, but doesn't count as a fourth boat because it was detected outside the weekly reporting period.

Under the government's policy, asylum seekers are moved from Christmas Island to offshore detention facilities within 48 hours of their arrival.

In the past week 128 have been sent for offshore processing - 68 to Manus Island and another 60 to Nauru.

Mr Morrison said the 48 hour target was "working well" and health checks were being undertaken.

But opposition immigration spokesman Tony Burke said when he was minister he was advised it would take up to 12 days for the health checks.

"Some people didn't require the full level of scans ... but the 48 hour figure I just find extraordinary," Mr Burke told reporters in Sydney.

"If they're taking a risk with people's health, and that's a judgment call they've made, then he should be honest with the Australian people that that is what they are doing."

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