Hunger can be eradicated in Africa: UN

The UN says hunger in Africa can be eradicated by 2025 if countries take the right steps. Source: AAP

ERADICATING hunger in Africa by 2025 is achievable - if Africa's leaders champion it and promote improved crop production and healthy eating, the head of the UN food and agriculture agency says.

Jose Graziano da Silva said the Food and Agriculture Organisation believes hunger can be eradicated around the globe "in a generation - in our lifetime" if there is a political commitment by world leaders to ensure that all their citizens get access to nutritious food.

"We are not talking about sending a man to the moon or something that complicated," he said. "We have the technology. We have the expertise. We have the things that we need to do it."

Graziano said the World Food Program looked at how the 62 countries that have achieved the first UN Millennium Development Goal - reducing extreme poverty by half - did it before the target date of the end of 2015, and it found three key factors.

First, he said, was "political will" and leadership, because improving food security involves improvements not only in agriculture but in nutrition, health, water supplies and storage facilities, to name a few.

"If the president doesn't take the lead, or the prime minister ... it doesn't work," he said.

Second, Graziano said, is improving agricultural performance and access to food.

"According to FAO, we have more than enough food produced nowadays to avoid hunger," he said. "People are hungry today because they don't have access to food ... because they cannot pay for the food or they cannot produce it any more as we did in the past."

One problem is that one-third to one-half of the food produced today is lost or wasted for a variety of reasons including bad storage, poor transportation and cultural issues, including the move from traditional cuisine to fast food, he said. A lot of food that could be consumed is thrown out, often because of huge portions.

Third, Graziano said, is improving the nutritional value of the food people eat.

"We are seeing more and more malnutrition rise in developed countries ... because of the quality of what (people) are eating," he said.

When children are listed by income, for example, "you see in families with the lowest income a proportion of obese and malnourished (youngsters) similar to the families that have high level income," he said.

Graziano said the FAO is promoting the best practices collected from around the world to eradicate hunger, especially in Africa, "where we have the worst situation at the moment." He expressed hope that an African Union summit in January will set a target to eradicate hunger in Africa by 2025.

"All countries in Africa can do it ... with the proper assistance FAO is giving them," he said.

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Thunderstorms moving east across state

Top of Bunya Mountains looking west out over the Darling Downs. Things are really brewing up out here today! Picture courtesy: Jeff Higgins / Higgins Storm Chasing Source: Supplied

THE severe thunderstorms threatening southern Queensland are moving towards the coast, with the weather bureau issuing a warning for Toowoomba and the greater Darling Downs region.

4.45pm: The Bureau of Meteorology said storm cells have been detected on the radar northeast of Inglewood.

Forecasters are predicting damaging wind and large hail stones will hit Allora and Clifton by 5.45pm.

A more general severe thunderstorm warning remains current for the Darling Downs and Granite Belt and parts of the Central Highlands and Coalfields, Capricornia, Wide Bay and Burnett, Maranoa and Warrego and Southeast Coast districts.

The Bureau of Meteorology will next issue an update at 5.45pm. For more details and latest information see www.bom.gov.au.

Bowen certainly has copped some rain!! Thankfully tide was out bit still water is still through some houses and cars. Picture: Tash Edwards

1.55pm: Another severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for damaging wind and large hailstones.

Areas expected to be affected are Roma, St George, Taroom, Tambo, Rolleston, Baralaba, Springsure, Goondiwindi and Carnarvon National Park.

11.45am: Southern Queensland has been put on alert for severe thunderstorms.

The weather bureau is predicting storms will roll over Roma, Emerald, St George, Biloela, Blackwater, Baralaba, Springsure, Goondiwindi and Carnarvon National Park in the coming hours.

Bowen certainly has copped some rain!! Thankfully tide was out bit still water is still through some houses and cars. Picture: Tash Edwards

The earlier warning for the Herbert, Lower Burdekin, Central Coast and Whitsunday districts has been cancelled.

A Department of Community Safety spokeswoman said the State Emergency Service received about six calls for help after the rain event that hit the Bowen Basin overnight.

Emergency services were also called out to three swift water rescues, but passengers in the vehicles were able to pull themselves to safety.

No injuries were reported to paramedics.
 

Bowen certainly has copped some rain!! Thankfully tide was out bit still water is still through some houses and cars. Picture: Tash Edwards

10.30am: The Bureau of Meteorology has issued another warning for severe thunderstorms with heavy rain and flash flooding during the next couple of hours.

North Queensland's Bowen copped a heavenly dumping last night – with up to 274mm of rainfall in just over an hour.

The tropical downpour caused some flash flooding on roads but Bowen councillor Dave Clark said it was welcome relief after an extended dry spell.

The weather bureau said the rainfall was "significant" and very localised over Bowen, 274mm, and Hamilton Island, 236mm.

There were no damaging winds, and flash flooding was confined to the coastal areas.

Meteorologist Michael Knepp said the rainfall totals were not unusual for that tropical part of the state at this time of year.

"We are heading into that time of year when you can get rainfall totals like this," said Mr Knepp.

"It's not rare, you can get totals like this overnight."

Most of the rain over Hamilton Island fell between 11.30pm and 2am.

Cr Clark said the area had missed out on the usual winter rains and had been very dry.

"It's been really, really dry; quite depressing really," said Cr Clark.

"Everyone was happy with the rain. It was probably too much too quick but you can't have everything."

Jade Meredith, of Bowen, said she emptied about 300mL out of her rain gauge at 6am.

"It's already half full again," she said.

Rebecca Edwards described an overnight thunderstorm as "awesome".

"First lot of rain thunder and lightning I (have) seen since moving to Cannonvale," she said.

"I've been here seven months."

The Bruce Highway is cut in parts due to flash flooding.

Local police have also advised Argyle Rd, Park Rd and Queens Rd are shut.

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Two die in separate SA road crashes

TWO people have died in separate crashes in South Australia.

A male motorcyclist died after crashing on Waterloo Road near Manoora in the state's mid-north just after 2pm (CDT).

Earlier, a 60-year-old man from Tanunda died after losing control of their car in a fiery crash at Nuriootpa in the Barossa Valley, north of Adelaide.

The car veered off the Sturt Highway, crashed through a fence and caught on fire about 11.40am (CDT).

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Patel nurse worried he'll operate again

FORMER doctor Jayant Patel's past patients are angry he has walked free from court and a former colleague is concerned he may seek work as a surgeon again.

The 63-year-old was handed a two-year suspended sentence on Thursday for fraudulently registering and working as a medical practitioner in Queensland.

Outside court in Brisbane the Indian-born US resident said he was pleased proceedings were over and would go "back to my life and my work".

The former Bundaberg Base Hospital nurse who blew the whistle on Patel said the reference to returning to work was alarming.

"I hope not," Toni Hoffman told AAP.

"I still don't think he understands or accepts the gravity of what's happened."

Former patients said they were disappointed and angry Patel walked free from court, and upset he had shown no remorse for his actions.

"He has no remorse because he thinks he's done nothing wrong," former patient Beryl Crosby said.

"He got a two-year sentence; those who lost loved ones got a life sentence."

Ian Vowles, another patient who accused Patel of causing him grievous bodily harm in an operation, said the sentence didn't reflect the crime.

And the wife of one of Patel's patients who later died said she was "very disappointed".

"I'd love to have seen something done about it, but for the people that have passed on it's too late for them," said Vilma Blight, wife of Darcy Blight.

The Medical Board of Australia and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency announced they were taking legal action to prevent the disgraced former surgeon registering as a medical practitioner in the country again.

Patel is expected to return to the US where his wife and family live.

He showed little emotion as the sentence was handed down but told reporters outside court he was glad the "long and difficult journey" had ended.

"I'm pleased that it's over and I'll being going back to my life and my work," he said.

Judge Terry Martin told the sentencing hearing the seriousness of Patel's offending couldn't be overstated but took into account the two and a half years Patel had served in prison.

He said there was little doubt Patel's career was "forever ruined".

The court heard Patel lied about professional disciplinary action in the US to Queensland medical authorities so as to gain employment as head surgeon at Bundaberg Base Hospital in 2003.

He returned to the US under a cloud in 2005 before being extradited to Queensland in 2008 to face allegations of killing and maiming patients.

In 2010 Patel was convicted of three charges of manslaughter and one of grievous bodily harm and sentenced to seven years' prison, but the convictions were quashed on appeal.

Criminal negligence charges against him were finally dropped last week after two retrials failed to secure a conviction.

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Newman 'has found sympathiser in CMC'

THE Newman government is standing by embattled crime and corruption head Ken Levy because they've finally found a sympathiser, a political analyst says.

The acting chairman of the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) will be investigated by a specially-tailored Ethics Committee to determine whether he deliberately hid contact with the government before penning an opinion piece supporting its anti-bike crackdown.

Despite claims about Dr Levy's impartiality emerging more than a fortnight ago, the government has extended his acting chairmanship until May next year.

Political analyst Paul Williams says it was an unwise decision, but made in the best interests of their long-term political strategy.

Relations between the CMC and the conservatives have often been strained.

"One would suspect they have found a man in Dr Levy with whom they can work comfortably," Dr Williams told AAP.

"I don't want to say friend or ally, but making sure there is not an unsympathetic person."

Dr Levy insisted the article was his own idea and he had no contact with the government, but previously secret documents reveal a different story.

The head of the government's media unit, Lee Anderson, "prepped" Dr Levy during a one-to-one meeting, documents tabled in parliament late on Wednesday night show.

The Newman government on Thursday used its majority to block the release of further documents.

The opposition has questioned Dr Levy's independence and want him to resign for compromising the impartiality of the commission.

Labor's Jackie Trad said staff in the premier's office must have known Dr Levy's account of events wasn't accurate.

Premier Campbell Newman has refused to sack Dr Levy or hold an independent judicial review.

He refused to say, despite multiple questions in parliament, if he knew about the meeting between Dr Levy and Mr Anderson.

"The clear point here is that the government had no sort of contact with Dr Levy in terms of getting him to do an opinion piece, or writing the opinion piece, or telling him about what should be in the opinion piece," he told MPs.

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Accused cleaver attacker stays in custody

A man accused of attacking his brother and mother with a cleaver in Sydney will remain in custody. Source: AAP

A MAN accused of inflicting life-threatening injuries on his brother and elderly mother when he attacked them with a meat cleaver in Sydney's west has longstanding mental health issues.

Ung Thai, 49, has been charged with two counts of wounding or causing grievous bodily harm to a person with intent to murder after allegedly attacking the pair near the family's Auburn home.

Thai, who was arrested at the scene, didn't enter an application for bail when he appeared in prison greens before Burwood Local Court on Thursday.

The court heard Thai has significant long-term mental health issues.

The mother, 70, and her 43-year-old son were found with life threatening injuries on the street on Wednesday.

They were taken to Westmead Hospital where they underwent surgery. Both remain in a critical condition.

Thai's lawyer asked for the matter to be adjourned so he could seek instructions from his client.

Magistrate Christopher Longley granted the request and Thai is due to appear before the same court on Monday.

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Jury to decide how much Samsung owes Apple

A US jury is deciding how much Samsung should pay Apple for copying features of the iPhone and iPad. Source: AAP

A SILICON Valley jury asked a judge for calculators to help it determine how much Samsung Electronics owes Apple for copying key features of the iPhone and iPad.

The federal judge presiding over the patent trial granted the jury's request on Tuesday before the smartphone rivals' lawyers delivered their closing arguments. The one-week trial is being held to determine damages for 13 of the 26 devices an earlier jury said Samsung infringed Apple's patents in making.

Apple Inc is demanding $US380 million ($A404.10 million). Samsung counters that it only owes $US52 million for using features such as "pinch-to-zoom" in the 13 older-generation products.

The jurors deliberated for about four hours on Tuesday and were scheduled to resume on Wednesday morning.

An earlier jury found Samsung had infringed Apple's patents in making and selling 26 products and awarded Apple $US1.05 billion. But US District Judge Lucy Koh ruled that the jury miscalculated damages for 13 products. The two companies have each won and lost legal skirmishes over the past couple of years, and analysts predict continued litigation for months to come.

The current proceedings are somewhat of a warm-up for a much larger trial scheduled for March. That's when Apple's claims that Samsung's newer and current products are also copying the iPhone and iPad will be considered by a jury.

Apple's attempts to ban Samsung from selling some of the devices in question got a leg up Monday. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, DC, ordered Koh to reconsider Apple's demands that some of the products a jury found infringed Apple's patents be barred for sale in the United States. Koh in December turned down Apple, ruling that the company didn't prove that consumers bought Samsung devices instead of Apple devices because of the infringement.

The two companies are locked in legal battles around the globe for supremacy in the more than $US300 billion smartphone market.

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Watch used to time JFK's death for sale

A WRISTWATCH that's believed to have been used to declare the time of US President John F Kennedy's death is going on the auction block in New York City.

The 18-carat Patek Philippe timepiece worn by a Texas neurosurgeon is estimated to bring up to $150,000 at Christie's on December 17.

The watch used by Dr Kemp Clark was made in 1948.

His mother bought it for him a year later for $US750.

A portion of the auction proceeds will be donated to the Red Cross.

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George W Bush shows off his paintings

FORMER US president George W Bush has showed off his painting and poked fun of his post-White House years on the The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

The 43rd president told Leno on Wednesday that he was inspired to take up painting after reading a Winston Churchill essay.

When he hired an instructor for weekly lessons, he said he told her "There's a Rembrandt trapped in this body. Your job is to find it."

Bush shared paintings of his dog Barney and a stray cat that he adopted, and said painting has changed his life.

When asked what caused a blocked artery that led to his hospitalisation in August, Bush joked that it was because he "didn't behave that well when I was younger and I might have smoked some."

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Probe into cow hide quarantine breakdown

QUARANTINE officials have been asked how they allowed a shipment of cow hides from Colombia into the country, when several tonnes of cocaine hidden in similar skins had been smuggled into Spain earlier this year.

Department of Agriculture officials told a senate hearing on Tuesday that an internal review was underway into how untanned cow hides, which had been imported from the South American nation since May, were cleared for entry.

The alleged quarantine breakdown has been described by senators as one of the most serious they've seen.

Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan asked why "alarm bells" hadn't gone off when the freight arrived, given 4.5 tonnes of cocaine was brought into Spain this year hidden in cow hides.

"Even I know that the freight on the cow hides is more than the worth of the cow hides," he told a Senate estimates committee.

"It's as plain as the nose on your face that something is going on."

He said it was a serious biosecurity breach involving "many, many containers", and he wanted to know why the man who received them was told by officials he could dispose of the "rotting" hides.

Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry deputy secretary Rona Mellor said the interim inspector-general of biosecurity would report to the minister responsible once the investigation was complete in February.

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New MP hits out at bossy government

A NEW Liberal MP has called for government to stay out of business and stick to "fundamental" matters like national security.

David Coleman, the first Liberal to hold the southern Sydney seat of Banks, used his first parliamentary speech to demand fewer constraints on business.

Mr Coleman, who has run internet companies, said governments didn't help companies make better products, or sell them more effectively.

He said business generally didn't think much about government - until it imposed unworkable constraints or forms to be filled in.

Business didn't expect government to fix everything, but didn't expect it to make things worse either.

Mr Coleman criticised high taxation, saying many projects would have gone ahead if it hadn't been for tax.

"Less tax means more investment," he said.

He also warned against the "dead hand" of debt which governments often found alluring.

Mr Coleman briefly left his main theme to call for an Australian head of state.

And despite his dislike of governments, he did call for government help in his electorate to clean up the river and make the streets safer.

His speech ended to a standing ovation from an army of supporters who almost filled one side gallery.

If Mr Coleman was ending a Labor tradition in one electorate, Sharon Claydon was extending one in Newcastle, which she said was the only federation seat to have been continuously held by one political party.

Claydon is a fifth generation Novacastrian who worked for nearly 10 years in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia - as a domestic, gardener, stock-camp cook and jillaroo.

Most of her first speech was a hymn of praise for Newcastle - its university and other research institutes, its arts scene, its innovation and its sporting teams.

And she ripped into the NSW government's plans to sell the profitable Port of Newcastle, "hawking it off to the highest bidder".

"It's envisaged that the sell-off, the 99-year lease of the world's busiest coal terminal, will bring in upwards of $700 million," Ms Claydon said.

"Of which the state government plans to generously invest less than half, just $340 million, in the Newcastle area, regardless of actual sale price.

"Our assets are being stripped, our revenue streams being removed."

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Telstra copper network 'robust': NBN chief

TELSTRA'S decades-old copper network continues to "perform robustly", new NBN chairman Ziggy Switkowski says.

Dr Switkowski, who was Telstra chief executive for five years from 1999, says the copper network - the oldest part of which is 50 years old - is still working well.

"Here I default back to my own history ... It's constantly being maintained, remediated, upgraded," he told a Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday.

However, he said he was relying on anecdotal information as he hadn't received any official information from Telstra recently.

"My feeling is that in 2013, the copper network fault rate may be higher than it was in the time I was at Telstra, but perhaps not materially higher," he said.

"As best as I can tell, the copper network continues to perform robustly."

Dr Switkowski said the percentage of copper in Telstra's network that would not be suitable for fibre to the node (FTTN) remained "a question in front of us" that would be looked at in the current strategic reviews.

"It may well reveal whether there are unanticipated issues with the network," he said.

He said Telstra had millions of broadband customers using ADSL on copper, delivering speeds of up to 10 megabits a second.

"That suggests to me that the network is robust still and the concerns that are expressed that the network may not be the basis for the next generation of broadband platform, I think, are misinformed," he said.

Senator Kate Lundy said Mr Switkowski's comments mirrored those of Telstra in recent days.

"They're talking up their copper network like never before, given that they are currently in negotiations with NBN Co about accessing it," she said.

"I guess we would expect that from Telstra. I must say, I didn't expect it from you."

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PM's office vetting govt staff: Abetz

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott's office is vetting applications for all 420 new government staff appointments.

Some of his ministers are understood to be frustrated about their staff being knocked back by a committee deciding every new government appointment down to the electorate staff of new MPs.

Mr Abbott's chief of staff, Peta Credlin, reportedly sits on the internal committee with her husband, Liberal party director Brian Loughnane, and ministers Michael Ronaldson and Kevin Andrews.

Senator Penny Wong grilled Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service Eric Abetz about the staffing process during a Senate estimates hearing on Monday.

He confirmed the committee was vetting applications for all 420 jobs.

"At the end of the end of the day, all they do is recommend, they do not decide," Senator Abetz told the committee in Canberra.

"At the end of the day, it is the prime minister's decision."

Senator Abetz was referred to a newspaper article describing the committee as a "star chamber" and saying it was knocking back experienced coalition staffers, including the senator's long-time chief of staff, Chris Fryar.

Senator Abetz said Mr Fryar was now employed as a senior adviser.

"All you need to know is that at the end of the day it was decided by the prime minister as to who would be appointed to my ministerial staff and to the staff of my ministerial colleagues," he said when asked who told him about appointment decisions.

Senator Wong appeared angered by the response.

"All I need to know? That's the standard of transparency under this government, is it? All I need to know," she said.

When asked who signed the letter about his staff appointments, Senator Abetz thought it might have been Ms Credlin.

"I think. I think, and I stand corrected, but I think all of the correspondence was signed off by the chief of staff for the prime minister," he said.

"That is the best of my recollection, but I am happy to come back to you if I am not correct."

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Warrnambool shares up on new takeover bid

Canadian dairy giant Saputo has increased its bid for Warrnambool Cheese and dropped all conditions. Source: AAP

SHARES in Warrnambool Cheese and Butter have hit another record high after the company recommended the latest, higher takeover offer from Canadian dairy giant Saputo.

Saputo offered $9 a share on Friday night and Warrnambool's board immediately recommended acceptance.

Trade of Warrnambool shares resumed on Monday, and they gained 19 cents, or 2.1 per cent, to $9.29.

Saputo will also make its revised offer unconditional on November 28, removing a 50.1 per cent minimum acceptance target.

Warrnambool chairman Terry Richardson said the board of the Victorian dairy company unanimously recommended acceptance of the revised Saputo offer, in the absence of a higher bid.

"The board's recommendation reflects the increased cash consideration offered by Saputo and the compelling timing and execution certainty that it provides, particularly compared to the highly conditional Murray Goulburn proposal," Mr Richardson said in a statement released on Friday night.

Murray Goulburn has also offered $9 a share, but its bid still needs regulatory approval from the Australian Competition Tribunal.

"We are currently reviewing our options and will respond in due course," a company spokesman said.

Bega Cheese is also bidding for Warrnambool Cheese and Butter with an offer of $2 cash and 1.5 Bega shares per Warrnambool share - worth $9.17 at present.

The Warrnambool board has rejected the offer as uncertain, saying the current value of Bega's shares do not reflect the true value of the suitor and are fuelled by speculation and the increased value of Bega's 18 per cent stake in Warrnambool.

Bega Cheese is holding meetings with Warrnambool shareholders in Victoria and South Australia on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Saputo CEO Lino Saputo jnr said his revised offer underscored the Canadian company's commitment to Australia.

"Saputo's offer will be freed from all conditions, giving certainty to Warrnambool shareholders that they will receive this substantial cash offer on shortened payment terms if they accept," Mr Saputo jnr said in a statement.

Bega shares gained three cents to $4.78.

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Brutal assaults at a NSW orphanage

CHILDREN were beaten until they were bloodied and forced into sex with older residents at a NSW orphanage run by the Anglican church, the royal commission has heard.

On an emotional day at the commission, one former resident of the North Coast Children's Home in Lismore described himself and other abuse victims as the "walking dead", while those who took their own lives are the lucky ones.

Other children, some as young as five, were allegedly forced to have oral sex with older residents.

The national royal commission into institutional responses to child sex is hearing from people who were residents at the Lismore home in the Anglican diocese of Grafton between 1944 and 1985.

In a tearful voice, a witness called CK, who was placed in the home aged three with his six-year-old brother in 1949, told how his older sibling used to protect him until he was moved to another home when CK was eight.

Traumatised by the separation, CK was physically, sexually and psychological abused until he left the North Coast Children's Home in 1958.

In the 1980s, CK was diagnosed with depression and attempted suicide several times.

He told of returning to St Andrews Church, where he had been an altar boy, adjacent to the Lismore home.

He wandered the grounds and went to a service celebrating the re-opening of the bell tower - and the memories came flooding back.

"This bell tower is where continual sexual depravity occurred," he told the commission.

He told of being brought there after services and being fondled, while a priest masturbated.

"We had no words for it then. Now it would be known as a pedophile ring," CK said.

"The priests seemed kind, but I did not know what sex was, the affection they showed was of a sexual nature."

CK also told of a "cleansing process" where he had to lie naked on the floor of the rectory while the minister put what appeared to be a cross on him and licked it down to his groin.

CK said he thought it was a religious thing and used to take younger kids out of bed and do it to them.

"Forgive me," he said.

"The ones who suicided are the lucky ones, we are the walking dead who remain."

He told the hearing he has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but was hoping for death to stop the pain of his life.

He told of beatings that left him scarred and being left at a table for 10 hours because he could not eat the food.

"If you threw up they made you eat the vomit and I was not going to do that."

CK, who was in the home because his mother had died and his father was violent, witnessed three children beaten in a shower by a matron until blood ran into the drain.

He cannot bear the colour red.

In his opening statement, counsel assisting the commission Simeon Beckett said there would be evidence of oral and anal sex with very young children.

CK joined a group claim started by Tommy Campion, also a victim of abuse at the home.

In evidence on Monday, Mr Campion told of his growing anger as the Anglican church tried to distance themselves from the home and liability for what happened.

He and his sister did not accept the final group settlement in March 2007, which saw $825,000 split among a group of 40 claimants. They each received about $10,000 after legal costs.

Mr Campion said when he continued his action for a care package he was written to by then Bishop Keith Slater saying his claim "would actually be a betrayal of all those whom you encouraged to make a claim with you through your lawyer".

This made him even angrier.

The commission, which is continuing, will explore why Bishop Slater, who has just retired, took that approach.

Rev Dr Phillip Aspinall, Primate of the Anglican Church in Australia and Archbishop of the Diocese of Brisbane, will also give evidence.

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Glasson throws hat in ring for Griffith

Bill Glasson is to run again for the Liberal National Party in the Brisbane seat of Griffith. Source: AAP

FORMER Australian Medical Association president Bill Glasson hopes his direct line to good friend Tony Abbott will win over enough voters to finally clinch the seat held by Kevin Rudd for 15 years.

The ophthalmologist will have a second crack at Griffith, after narrowly losing to Mr Rudd in September and will stand for preselection for the Liberal National Party in the upcoming by by-election.

Reducing the cost of living and financial burdens on small business are key election pledges and his close friendship with Mr Abbott will be a major asset.

The two spoke on Thursday, when Mr Abbott offered his full support.

"I will go down there with a strong voice and as I know Mr Abbott, the prime minister, very well, obviously I think I can influence policy to make life and the cost of living in Brisbane easier and make the cost of doing business easier as well," he said.

The prime minister shot out a statement supporting Dr Glasson just 40 minutes after the announcement.

He urged the LNP in Queensland to finalise the preselection process as soon as possible.

"Bill Glasson will be a strong local voice for the people of Griffith in Canberra," Mr Abbott said.

"He has dedicated himself to representing the people of Griffith with the same enthusiasm, zeal and commitment that he has brought to his distinguished medical career."

Mr Rudd announced on Wednesday he'd resign from politics, less than 100 days after the federal election.

The first possible date for a by-election is December 21 but it is most likely to be held early next year.

Dr Glasson says Mr Rudd broke a promise to serve a full term and has treated voters with a degree of contempt.

"My suggestion is that the people of Griffith have had enough and they want the by-election out of the road as quickly as possible," he said.

Griffith has long been one of Labor's safer seats but Dr Glasson's grassroots campaigning before September saw him beat Mr Rudd before preferences were dished out.

He attracted a 5.5 per cent swing, reducing Mr Rudd's winning margin to three per cent.

The by-election will be a revealing snapshot of the mood of Queensland voters after several months of the Abbott government.

The odds however are again stacked against Dr Glasson.

Only once has a federal government gained a seat from an opposition at a by-election and that was the Kalgoorlie by-election in 1920.

"This is going to be tough, history will tell you that," he said.

Labor is yet to announce who their candidate will be. However employment and IR lawyer Terri Butler has emerged as the front runner.

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NT doctors in Tacloban as Aussies dig deep

The NT's Filipino community has been touched by Australia's generosity following Typhoon Haiyan. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIANS have no prejudice when it comes to dealing with disaster, says the Filipino consul-general to the Northern Territory.

The NT government handed the Red Cross a cheque for $10,000 on Sunday to help with relief efforts in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, which struck the Philippines just over a week ago, while a national trauma response team deployed on Wednesday with a fully-portable hospital.

Consul-General John Rivas says the 8000-strong Filipino community in the Territory has been touched by the generosity shown by the rest of the country.

"It's the inherent nature of Australians to be very responsive to the cause, and they will bend backwards and forwards to help," he told AAP.

"Australians are unique because there's no racial barrier in terms of assistance - we are as one."

A community event held by the Filipino Association of the NT (FAANT) on Saturday night saw 2000 people raise $20,000 with more pledges rolling in, and so many bands and entertainers wanted to perform that a second event will be held next month.

One nine-year-old boy donated his entire week's pocket money.

"It breaks my heart," said Judith Ventic, the association's vice president.

The National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre (NCCTRC) on Wednesday sent a team of 37 to the hardest-hit city of Tacloban, which Mr Rivas said was being referred to as the "city of stench".

The team there is running a full 60-bed hospital, with two operating theatres, said centre director Len Notaras.

Yesterday they saw 55 people, performed five operations, and will see more than 3500 patients over the next two weeks before a second team rotates in to replace them.

"This is a first for Australia, coming out of the Northern Territory," Dr Notaras told reporters in Darwin.

He said the significance of the damage couldn't be underestimated.

"It's up there with the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami - the death, destruction and tragedy that has occurred, and the next few weeks are going to be critical in rebuilding Tacloban and the areas around it," he said.

"The first of the support is there and working very, very well. We will make a difference and there will be lives saved."

The primary concern over the coming days and weeks would be public and environmental health issues, with contagious disease outbreaks possible if infrastructure isn't repaired.

He said local authorities were responding well, with the first sanitation facilities put in place on Sunday morning.

The centre was ensuring the Australian doctors don't become overwrought in appalling conditions, Dr Notaras said.

"The huge tragedy they've seen, bodies upon bodies, the trauma and the work - almost 24 hours a day in some circumstances - we don't want to exhaust a resource so it becomes less than safe and adequate," he said.

"We're bringing first-world medicine to a circumstance we saw in Haiti and other places, where third-world responses were being conducted. We're endeavouring to bring the very best of the best."

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Sydney foreign workers back-paid

FOREIGN construction workers allegedly mistreated by their boss have been given $216,000 back pay and had their wages lifted closer to the rate they were initially promised.

In August 18 Hungarian men had been promised $30 an hour to move to Australia on temporary working visas and build an automated warehouse at Eastern Creek in Sydney, CFMEU NSW assistant state secretary Rebel Hanlon said in a statement.

"Instead of the $30 an hour they were promised the men were paid about $15 an hour, worked six days a week and claim they were verbally abused on the job," Mr Hanlon said.

Three workers were sent home after complaining about conditions, he added.

Members of the Hungarian community at Blacktown raised concerns with the CFMEU who then met with the Austrian construction company, Assmont, to investigate the men's situation.

"Assmont (has) now agreed to back pay all the workers including three men who were sent home by the company after they complained about conditions," Mr Hanlon said.

"The men will also all now be paid proper rates and all other conditions they are entitled to."

Under the agreement between the CFMEU and Assmont, the men will be back-paid a total of $216,000 and their hourly wage will rise to $29.10.

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