Early voting to open for WA senate poll

EARLY voting centres for Western Australia's re-run Senate election are about to open across the state.

Voters unable to attend a polling place on election day April 5 can vote early either in person, or by post in a range of city and regional locations from Saturday.

Early voting centres will also be open next week, up until April 4.

WA voters who are not near an early voting centre can apply online for a postal vote at the AEC website, or pick up an application from any AEC office or Australia Post outlet.

More than 123,000 postal vote applications have been processed by the AEC since the election was called on February 28.

Over 60,000 postal votes have been completed and returned to the AEC by WA voters.

A further 40,000 pre-poll votes have also been cast since early voting commenced on March 18.

WA voters are urged to apply as soon as possible to allow enough time for the AEC to process their application and post out their ballot paper.

Postal vote applications can be accepted up until 6pm (WST) on April 2.

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Greste's family hail PM's intervention

THE parents of jailed Australian journalist Peter Greste say Prime Minister Tony Abbott's direct appeal for his release will undoubtably help the case.

Mr Abbott rang interim Egyptian President Adly Mansour on Thursday night, three months after the Al Jazeera journalist and two colleagues were detained for allegedly spreading false news and supporting the black-listed Muslim Brotherhood.

Greste's parents didn't realise Mr Abbott was going to intervene, but thanked him.

"We're thrilled, delighted," his father Juris said.

"I have high hopes but modest expectations.

"We don't expect to be greeting Peter next week. It would be nice."

The Grestes held back from any criticism of how long it took Mr Abbott to reach out.

"We have come to realise that timing is important, and we respect other people's over the appropriate timing in these things," Juris said.

The prime minister raised the detention with Mr Mansour, noting that Greste had only been doing his job as a journalist and had no intention of damaging Egypt's interests.

He sought the president's assistance in securing Greste's release and having his case resolved as soon as possible.

In response the president noted that he had written to Greste's parents promising he would be subject to a fair and just legal process.

The president assured them that Greste would receive all necessary support and legal assistance and said he hoped the case would be resolved as soon as possible.

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Search for MH370 shifts focus

The search for a missing Malaysia Airlines flight has resumed with weather conditions improving. Source: AAP

THE hunt for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has shifted more than a thousand kilometres from where teams had been scouring the Indian Ocean, but Australian authorities insist their previous efforts have not been a waste of time.

New radar data analysis has prompted authorities to re-focus the six-nation search 1100km to the northeast of its original location, and some 1850km west of Perth, following updated advice from the international investigation team in Malaysia.

Taking into account radar data before contact was lost, the likely performance of the aircraft, its speed and fuel consumption, and 21 days of drift, authorities are now searching an area about 319,000 square kilometres in size - almost as large as Malaysia itself.

The previous focus was in an area 2500km southwest of the West Australian capital.

"Continuing analysis indicates that the plane was travelling faster than was previously estimated, resulting in increased fuel usage, reducing the possible distance it travelled south into the Indian Ocean," Australian Transport Safety Bureau chief commissioner Martin Dolan said on Friday.

"This is our best estimate of the area in which the aircraft is likely to have crashed into the ocean."

He said the search area could change again as new information emerged.

Australian Maritime Safety Authority emergency response manager John Young said all search planes and ships had been moved to the new zone, which was "now our best place to go".

"We have moved on from those search areas to the newest credible lead," Mr Young said, adding however, that the decision to shift focus was not based on a new theory but a refining of the original analysis used to plot the location of the aircraft's possible resting place.

"The analysis is in fact the same form as we started with," he said.

"I don't count the original work a waste of time."

Mr Young also stressed, however, that he would not use the term "debris field" in relation to various objects spotted by satellite.

The new location will also allow search planes to spend more time on the scene. Previously, they only had one to two hours before having to return to RAAF Base Pearce.

Mr Young said weather conditions in the new search area were also more favourable.

"We will see what that does in terms of satellite imagery as the re-tasking of satellites starts to produce new material."

The new area is shallower, with water depths ranging from 2000 to 4000 metres.

Any wreckage found would be handed over to Malaysian authorities.

The new "credible lead" on a possible crash site, almost three weeks to the day since the plane carrying 239 people disappeared on March 8, also came with a warning from Malaysia Airlines of the effect on the families of rumours and speculation about the flight's fate.

"Whilst we understand that there will inevitably be speculation during this period, we do ask people to bear in mind the effect this has on the families of all those on board," the airline's group chief executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said.

"Their anguish and distress increases with each passing day, with each fresh rumour, and with each false or misleading report."

Mr Yahya said preparations were underway for family members of passengers and crew to be taken to Perth, should physical wreckage be found.

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Investors set to flock to Medibank float

Investor interest in the float of Medibank Private is likely to be strong, analysts say. Source: AAP

THE Abbott government's sale of Medibank Private is likely to be a good opportunity for investors, but bad news for the health insurer's staff.

Analysts say there will be plenty of market interest in the company when it is publicly floated in the 2014/15 financial year.

The government is likely to offer a relatively cheap price to ensure the initial public offering (IPO) is well received, Invast chief market strategist Peter Esho said.

"The government is mindful of the fact it needs to set a good precedent so it can offload the other assets that are sitting there, like Australia Post," he said.

"I think it will be a successful IPO."

IG market strategist Evan Lucas said the healthcare sector was a strong performer in recent times, which would add to investor interest.

Medibank rival NIB has seen its share price rise by more than 30 per cent each year for the past three years.

"There is certainly an appetite for Medibank private," he said.

Another attraction for investors was the tendency for privatisation of government enterprises to produce greater efficiency, mainly through cost cutting.

"You tend to see staff costs coming off quite heavily and a lot of bureaucracy coming out of the businesses as well," he said.

"Inside 18 months a business that was maybe struggling under a government arm is all of a sudden very profitable because of those changes that private enterprise can enact," he said.

Within a few years of its float, Telstra announced plans to sack 16,000 staff, while rail operator Aurizon has axed at least 1,600 jobs since it was sold by the Queensland government in 2010.

Australian investors have traditionally done very well out of government sell-offs in the long-term.

Commonwealth Bank was floated at $5.40 per share in 1991, and is today trading at around $76 a share, having paid out a considerable amount in dividends along the way.

Vaccine maker CSL, which was floated at $2.30 per share in 1994, now trades above $70 per share.

An obvious exception is the second offering of shares in Telstra at $7.40 each, which then fell sharply.

Fifteen years on, the shares are still worth less than investors paid for them, though Mr Lucas said those who bought into the first and third Telstra offerings fared much better.

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Canning of safaris a croc: NT govt

THE federal government's decision not to allow crocodile hunting safaris in the Northern Territory has been derided as "a croc" by the NT government.

Two NT ministers have accused federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt of being shortsighted and ill-informed.

"Canberra needs to take its foot off the Territory's throat," Minister for Land Resource Management, Willem Westra van Holthe said in a statement on Thursday.

"Crocodile safari hunting has the potential to create real employment for indigenous people in remote parts of the Territory."

Mr Westra van Holthe said the NT government had extensively consulted with traditional owners and lodged an application for a one-year crocodile safari trial, under a scientifically researched plan that demonstrated the economic benefits to the Territory.

Under the existing crocodile management plan, the NT government is able to harvest up to 500 crocodiles from the wild each year, while the safari proposal sought to harvest 50 crocodiles from within the existing quota on a one-year trial basis.

It was suggested that crocodile safari packages could cost between $20,000 to $50,000, appealing to high-end hunters from around the world seeking to bag themselves a croc.

Mr Westra van Holthe said the proposal was humane, with animal welfare standards maintained by having a conservation officer and traditional owner attend every safari.

"We are severely disappointed with Greg Hunt's short sighted and ill-informed decision," he said.

It was taking away work opportunities for indigenous people who needed it the most, said Bess Price, Minister for Parks and Wildlife.

"Greg Hunt has made a decision which will do nothing to improve the lives of indigenous Territorians living in remote communities," she said.

The decision was at odds with the Commonwealth government's priorities of developing the north and ending welfare dependency, she said, as well as boosting tourism.

The NT government is now exploring alternative pathways to make crocodile safari hunting a reality.

It may be able to legislate to permit the safaris but could face an obstacle with foreign hunters being unable to take crocodile carcasses out of Australia without a federal permit.

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Art Gallery of NSW to give back sculpture

AUSTRALIA is returning a stolen statue worth more than $300,000 to India.

The 1000-year-old Ardhanariswara idol, depicting Hindu god Shiva and his consort Parvati, was on display at Sydney's Art Gallery of NSW after being purchased during the tenure of former director, Edmund Capon.

However, it later emerged that the valuable stone sculpture was stolen from a temple in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

It was sold, along with five other items to the Art Gallery of NSW by New York dealer Subhash Kapoor.

Kapoor is now facing trial in India for allegedly trafficking stolen antiquities from two Indian temples, with museums around the world also said to be examining items bought from him.

The Australian Attorney-General's department received a formal request from the Indian government to return the Ardhanariswara this month.

The statue depicts a hermaphrodite human form and is said to represent the 'synergy of man and woman'.

The Attorney-General's department said India's request to return the idol was being acted upon under Australia's international obligations.

Delhi's request stated that the statue was exported from India illegally.

The National Gallery of Australia in Canberra has already agreed to return a dancing Shiva statue, which it bought in 2007 for $5.6 million from Kapoor.

It is understood that Mr Capon's successor, Dr Michael Brand, is in favour of returning all six works that the Art Gallery of NSW bought from Kapoor.

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Blind woman's bid to sue Qld GP fails

A QUEENSLAND woman left blind and deaf by a rare disease has failed in a bid to sue her doctor.

Nancy Leanne Mules from Cairns in far north Queensland tried to sue her GP for almost $8 million in damages after the deadly fungal infection cryptococcal meningitis left her unable to see or hear.

In 2008 the then 43-year-old hotel manager complained to GP Kaylene Ferguson of headaches, neck pain, dizziness and facial flushing.

Ms Mules was prescribed pain medication and physiotherapy but her health declined dramatically and within a week she was admitted to hospital for lifesaving treatment.

She was diagnosed with the extremely rare disease cryptococcal meningitis which attacks the central nervous system and can be fatal if untreated.

Ms Mules claimed Dr Ferguson breached her duty by failing to refer her to a specialist until it was too late.

A trial in the Supreme Court in Cairns last year heard the patient would likely have been spared irreversible neurological damage if she had been diagnosed earlier.

However Justice James Henry found Ms Mules' early symptoms should not have caused the doctor, acting with reasonable care and skill, to refer her patient to a specialist.

"The tragic outcome which befell the plaintiff as a result of this insidious disease was not the result of any breach on the part of the defendant," he said in a recently published decision, which was delivered on Tuesday.

Ms Mules also tried to sue Queensland Health alleging negligence by Cairns Base Hospital, whose staff also failed to diagnose her.

The claim was later dropped.

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NSW MPs deadlocked over anti-violence plan

PARLIAMENT has again rejected the NSW government's tough anti-violence measures targeting drunk and drug-affected offenders.

The coalition wants stern sentencing laws to apply to two reckless grievous bodily harm offences, two reckless wounding offences and two assault police charges if they are committed under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

But the opposition believes the proposed laws are too harsh and could target people involved in minor scuffles.

Labor, with the support of cross-bench MPs, passed amendments in the upper house last week that would apply mandatory minimum sentences to just one "gross violence" offence.

Coalition MPs in the lower house later rejected those changes, with Premier Barry O'Farrell urging the upper house to listen to the victims of violence and support his original measures.

But Labor MP Adam Searle said on Wednesday the opposition wasn't budging and accused the government of "bullying" the upper house.

Police Minister Michael Gallacher said Labor was trying to water down the measures to a point where they are "completely unworkable".

The amended bill now returns to the lower house for debate.

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UK teachers walk off the job

THOUSANDS of schools across England and Wales will face disruption and closures as teachers stage a one-day national walkout in an ongoing bitter row over pay and conditions.

The strike, called by the National Union of Teachers, could force some schools to close on Wednesday to some or all pupils.

The action has been condemned by the Department for Education which says it will disrupt parents' lives and damage children's education.

NUT members are expected to join picket lines across both nations, with the union also holding a number of rallies.

The NUT's ongoing industrial action focuses on three issues - changes to pay, pensions and workload.

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Vic $128m plan for vulnerable children

The Victorian government has unveiled a plan to reduce the number of children living in state care. Source: AAP

AN overhaul of Victoria's child protection system will focus on protecting vulnerable children who are specifically targeted for sexual abuse.

The Victorian government will pump $128 million into out-of-home care services to help children and young people living in state care.

The government says additional support is needed to reduce the sexual exploitation of children.

"Young people in out-of-home care are highly vulnerable to sexual exploitation - both as a result of their own histories of trauma, but also because they are often specifically targeted and groomed by abusers," a government report released on Tuesday says.

Community Services Minister Mary Wooldridge said the government was working through issues of children being targeted for exploitation.

"We've got a pro-active program with Victoria Police to identify where this is occurring," she told reporters.

"There have been arrests and we're pursuing those issues, of course, very vigorously."

Victoria's child care commissioner is investigating claims that organised gangs of pedophiles are grooming and sexually exploiting children in out-of-home care.

The government's five-year plan includes providing additional beds in residential care facilities, where children are cared for by rostered staff.

Ms Wooldridge said more than 500 troubled and highly traumatised children live in residential care and the government wants to cut that number by increasing support for alternatives such as foster care and kinship care.

She said the reforms will boost staff resources, provide a new IT system for monitoring incidents and ensure that at-risk children are given a voice on support services.

"It increases our staff significantly and it also increases their skills and capacity to both identify issues and to work with young people effectively to address those issues early."

Opposition community services spokesperson Jenny Mikakos said the plan didn't do enough to address the understaffing of residential care units which has enabled pedophile rings to operate.

"This announcement has come far too late and it won't do enough to protect vulnerable children in state care," Ms Mikakos said.

The Victorian Council of Social Service said the plan, while welcome, would require significant investment and the government package contained less than $40 million in new money.

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Parcel bomb seriously injures Qld man

A MAN has been seriously injured after he opened a suspected parcel bomb in southeastern Queensland.

Police say the parcel exploded in the man's arms, seriously injuring his upper body, at his home on Owen St, Dalby, about 2.45pm (AEST) on Tuesday.

Police have set up a 50 metre exclusion zone around the man's house and nearby streets have been closed.

Officers are investigating.

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Good and bad news in jobs survey

MORE Australian employers are planning to retrench staff in the next three months.

A survey of 2,887 Australian employers found 12.1 per cent are planning to swing the axe in the three months to the end of June, compared to 11.2 per cent in the previous quarterly forecast.

The survey, carried out by global recruitment firm Hudson, showed the industry most likely to shed jobs is resources, with 20.9 per cent of respondents planning to reduce staff numbers, an increase of 9.5 percentage points from three months earlier.

The numbers illustrate the Australian economy's shift away from being dominated by mining, executive general manager of Hudson Australia Dean Davidson said.

But sentiment is still cautious in the labour market, he said.

"The move to a more balanced economy isn't painless, and we've seen some organisations hurt while they go through the business transformation process to equip themselves for success in today's tougher operational environment," Mr Davidson said.

The survey also showed 23.3 per cent of employers intend to hire new staff, while the majority have no plans to change employee numbers.

NSW has the nation's strongest employment outlook, with 27.9 per cent saying they'll employ new staff.

The next best states were South Australia (24.7 per cent), Queensland (22.5 per cent) and Victoria (21.7 per cent).

Mr Davidson said an improved hiring outlook in NSW was a good sign for the rest of the country, because the state is not reliant on mining.

The information technology, financial and professional services sectors were driving NSW's hiring expectations, he said.

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Female hiker found in Vic park

A HIKER missing for days in the Victorian wilderness has been winched to safety.

A police helicopter spotted the woman and winched her from the Alpine National Park, northeast of Melbourne, just after 10am on Sunday.

The woman, from the rural NSW city of Dubbo, sent a text message to her husband late on Thursday to say she was lost and out of water as she trekked through the remote park.

She lit a campfire at Howitt Plains to attract the attention of the helicopter.

A police spokeswoman said the woman was in reasonable health and was being attended to by paramedics.

Victoria Police and SES and CFA crews were involved in the search.

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One-punch killers to face life in Qld

One-punch killers will face life imprisonment under proposed changes to Queensland laws. Source: AAP

ONE-PUNCH killers would face life imprisonment under proposed changes to Queensland laws.

The Newman government's draft plan to tackle alcohol-related and drug-related violence, released on Sunday, would create an offence - unlawful striking causing death - to deal with one-punch killers.

If convicted, defendants would be required to serve at least 80 per cent of their life sentence behind bars before being eligible for parole.

"We have all seen the devastating and often tragic effects of coward punches not just in our state but across the nation," Premier Campbell Newman said in a statement.

"The Queensland government is determined to counter this dangerous trend and make Queensland the safest place in Australia for people to go out and enjoy themselves."

Under the plan, the maximum penalty for aggravated serious assaults on ambulance officers would rise from seven to 14 years' imprisonment.

Drunkenness would no longer be a viable excuse to mitigate an offender's sentence and courts would have the power to ban people from licensed premises for life.

ID would be installed in all licensed venues trading after midnight to keep out problem patrons and banned people.

The government would also set up 15 "safe night precincts" across the state where there would be late-night lockouts and more police on the beat.

Police would be given the power to detain people for their own safety if they were unduly intoxicated and at risk of serious harm, or behaving in a potentially violent or antisocial manner.

The government would also introduce a compulsory drinking awareness plan for all students between years 7-12 as part of the school curriculum.

The public has been asked to comment on the draft policy before April 21.

The opposition called on the Newman government to introduce a blanket 1am lockout across the state.

"If you don't tackle trading hours you don't tackle alcohol-fuelled violence. It's that simple," Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk said in a statement.

"Unfortunately we have a premier too scared to act and showing no leadership."

Opposition police spokesman Bill Byrne questioned whether the government had failed to introduce a lockout because it was beholden to vested interests.

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NSW urged to get flu-ready

Pregnant women and the elderly are being urged to prepare for winter and get a flu shot. Source: AAP

PREGNANT women and the elderly are being urged to prepare for winter and get a flu shot following an "unusually high" level of influenza in NSW this summer.

The Director of Health Protection NSW, Dr Jeremy McAnulty, said the northern hemisphere had experienced widespread influenza over the past months, with influenza A(H1N1) pandemic strain, A(H3N2) and influenza B circulating to different extents in different countries.

An unusually high level of influenza had also been seen in NSW over summer, he said.

He and other health professionals are now urging people, especially the elderly and pregnant women, to prepare for winter.

"The Australian flu vaccine has been updated to more closely match the influenza strains likely to circulate in NSW this year.

"So get a shot in preparation for this season," Dr McAnulty said on Sunday.

He said the seasonal flu shot continues to be the best defence for pregnant women and has the added advantage of protecting babies during their first six months when they are too young to have the vaccine.

NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner said the government's Be Winter Wise campaign, launched on Sunday, was focusing on pregnant women, the elderly and people with chronic medical conditions.

"Although we are still experiencing warm weather, people should not be complacent when it comes to the dangers of the flu," she said in a statement.

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