One dead, one hurt in SA speed boat crash

ONE person is dead and another has been rushed to hospital after a speedboat crashed on the Murray River in South Australia.

SA Police say Saturday afternoon's accident occurred during a competitive event.

"There were two victims, one is sadly deceased," an SA police spokesman said.

"The other has got some serious burns and has been flown to the Royal Adelaide Hospital."

The Adelaide Advertiser reported the victims were both male, but SA Police were unable to provide further details.

"It was a sad tragic way of ending the day's competition there," the police spokesman said.

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PM wants Monash to be household name

THE efforts of Australian General John Monash on the Western Front in World War I should be as widely recognised as the story of Simpson and his donkey at Gallipoli, Prime Minister Tony Abbott says.

Mr Abbott revealed on Saturday a new memorial centre to be built in France would be named in honour of the Australian military leader, who is regarded as one of the great tacticians of World War I.

After joining world leaders at D-Day commemorations in Normandy on Friday, Mr Abbott turned his attention to the First World War as he visited the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux for the first time.

While not as famous as the Gallipoli campaign, the efforts of Australian diggers to stop German forces on the Western Front were critical to the outcome of the war.

Of the 295,000 Australians who fought there between 1916 and 1918, 46,000 never made it home and the prime minister is leading a push he believes will help improve a sense of national identity.

"No place on earth has been more densely sown with Australian sacrifice than these fields in France," Mr Abbott said.

"Australians should be as familiar with the story of the Western Front as we are with Gallipoli.

"Australians should be at least as familiar with the achievements of Monash as we are with the heroism of John Simpson Kirkpatrick (in Gallipoli)."

Sir John Monash was involved in the failed Gallipoli campaign but used his experiences to lead several significant battlefield victories, including the decisive Battle of Amiens.

Mr Abbott said he brought organisation and technology to the battlefield to "break the stalemate of trench warfare".

Attendances at the annual Anzac Day dawn service at Villers-Bretonneux have grown steadily in recent years, with the crowd this year surpassing that at Gallipoli.

Some predict it will become the nation's clear focal point of Anzac Day commemorations beyond next year's centenary in Gallipoli.

"Australians should congregate here, every April 25th, no less than at Anzac Cove," Mr Abbott said.

"And on Anzac Day four years hence, the centenary of the Battle of Villers-Bretonneux, I'm sure they will."

Mr Abbott said it was expected the new "interpretive centre", to be built behind the Australian memorial, would open in 2018 to coincide with 100th anniversary commemorations.

The "Sir John Monash" centre will help to better explain Australia's role in the final victories of World War I and the government will put up $6.9 million for the initial planning.

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Alleged Sydney card skimmer charged

A man has been caught allegedly skimming money out of ATMs in Sydney's west using stolen card data. Source: AAP

A MAN has been caught allegedly skimming money out of ATMs in Sydney's west using stolen card data.

Police were contacted after the 27-year-old was seen acting suspiciously in Parramatta on Friday morning, walking from one ATM to another, allegedly making transactions with several cards.

Officers later detained and searched the man, finding 15 store cards, which are believed to have been encoded with stolen card data. He also had more than $4000 in cash on him.

The Fairfield man was charged with dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception and two other related charges.

He was granted conditional bail and is due to appear at Parramatta Local Court on July 16.

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Uproar over O'Neill plan

PAPUA New Guinea's opposition has lashed out at a plan by Prime Minister Peter O'Neill to restrict nominees for the top job to members of his own party in the event of a motion of no-confidence.

The government is planning to introduce legislation on June 24 restricting candidates to the office of prime minister to members of the largest parliamentary party, according to the Port Moresby-based Post Courier Newspaper.

Deputy opposition leader Sam Basil on Thursday attacked the plan, saying the move shows Mr O'Neill wants to ensure his party, the People's National Congress (PNC), can continue to protect him and his interests.

"What the Prime Minister Peter O'Neill is doing is just simply using the numerical strength that he amassed through political intimidation and (district fund) controlled support to pass yet another controversial law to protect his interests," Mr Basil said on Facebook on Thursday.

"After every general elections the Governor General calls for a political party that has the highest number of MP-elect to form the new government. That doesn't mean that this political party has the golden ticket to the Prime Minister's post."

Mr O'Neill, whose PNC is the largest party in the coalition government, is currently on his way back to Port Moresby from a bilateral visit to Japan.

Thursday's newspaper article, which appeared under the headline O'Neill-ocracy, cites a May 28 circular to MPs from the office of the clerk of PNG's national parliament.

It also quotes Mr O'Neill as saying that under the legislation if a party fails to secure the numbers to rule, Parliament can elect any MP from the floor to be PM.

He has recently come to loggerheads with the country's Ombudsman Commission over a controversial $A1.3 billion loan from Swiss investment bank UBS to buy back shares in Oil Search Limited.

After the watchdog announced it was investigating and ordered a freeze on the deal, Mr O'Neill publicly urged the ombudsman to back down on the grounds it would trigger a loan default - a move criticised on Thursday by former treasurer Don Polye.

Mr O'Neill has also been accused of authorising illegal payments to a controversial PNG law firm, Paul Paraka lawyers - a claim Mr O'Neill has strenuously, and repeatedly, denied.

The executive director of PNG's National Research Institute, Paul Barker, told AAP parliament should retain the right to remove an incompetent government with another that is more suitable.

"Although political stability is valuable, and frivolous votes of no-confidence should not be entertained, it remains a constitutional responsibility of the legislature to act as check and balance on the government of the day," he said.

He said there were two ways to look at Mr O'Neill's latest move.

On the one hand, Mr O'Neill may be trying to protect his party programs and legacy.

"More negative observers might suggest that there is much more at stake in terms of vested interests over retaining power," Mr Barker said.

"He's clearly afraid of something."

A spokesman for Mr O'Neill on Thursday night said the constitutional amendments were proposed by PNG's constitutional law reform commission and the registrar of political parties, and not by Prime Minister O'Neill or the PNC.

"The (news) story is not PO's (Peter O'Neill) or the PNC's initiative," he said.

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Talking walls, robo-docs way of the future

GET ready for talking wallpaper, robo-doctors, cars that drive themselves and human body shops where organs are made to order.

These are set to become part of our lives soon, says renowned American theoretical physicist Dr Michio Kaku, who is visiting Australia to discuss how technology will revolutionise the planet.

At the centre of our lives will be the computer, although you probably won't be able to see it.

Dr Kaku, who has interviewed 300 of the world's top scientists, predicts computers will physically disappear in 15 years but says we'll be able to use them telepathically.

"You will simply think through the cloud and turn on the lights, call for your car, program your car, write a book, make articles," Dr Kaku told reporters at the Queensland University of Technology.

"Computers will be everywhere and nowhere, and this is going to revolutionise every aspect of our life."

As for the internet, Dr Kaku says we'll access it through contact lenses at the blink of an eye.

And talking to a wall won't be so pointless, with artificial intelligence embedded inside.

"You will go to the wall and say, 'Mirror, mirror on the wall, I want to talk to a doctor right now' (and), boom, robo-doc appears.

"And if you are in a car accident, you will talk to robo-lawyer."

But if you're seriously injured, you needn't worry.

"In 10 to 20 years, we will have a human body shop at which we will simply order organs on demand," Dr Kaku said.

Scientists are already growing skin, cartilage and bladders, and Dr Kaku predicts the first liver will be grown in a matter of years.

But perhaps the biggest change we'll see first is in the way we get around.

Dr Kaku says commercially available cars that drive themselves are only three years away and will be commonplace by 2020.

The jobs our cars drive us to are likely to be different, but Dr Kaku says you'll always be able to get a job as a gardener, cleaner or police officer.

Repetitive jobs, such as factory work, are on the way out and middlemen, including tellers, agents and brokers, are also in the firing line.

However, blue-collar jobs were likely to survive in the near future because robot technology was still primitive, Dr Kaku said.

But will advancements in technology make us happier?

"The answer is no because we are genetically hard-wired to ... bellyache at every single inconvenience," Dr Kaku said.

"But it will make life easier, more productive, we will be able to unleash the potential in all of us because technology will make it possible to take the human mind's creations and create industries out of these."

The TV personality and best-selling author believes science is the engine of prosperity and is touring Australia to drive his message home.

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Tas forest peace deal repeal's first step

TASMANIA'S new government has taken a step towards dismantling the state's forestry peace deal with legislation passing the lower house.

Will Hodgman's Liberals vowed to tear up the agreement between environmentalists and the timber industry, and moved immediately to repeal laws supporting it on taking government.

If passed by the upper house, the new legislation will remove protection from 400,000 hectares of forest in six years' time.

Resources Minister Paul Harriss said the passage of the bill heralded a new direction for the state.

"The Liberals are committed to rebuilding our forestry industry and creating jobs," he said.

"Labor still haven't learned the lesson of their election defeat."

The Tasmanian Forests Agreement took more than three years to negotiate after decades of conflict in the state.

It swapped support for the industry by environmentalists, who had previously campaigned against Tasmanian wood products in overseas markets, with the protection of contentious forests.

An ALP post-election report identified it as one of the reasons for the party's crushing election defeat in March after four years governing with the Greens.

Both parties opposed the repeal bill.

"We have legitimate questions about how this bill will create jobs when it removes market certainty and doesn't provide a single additional log to the forest industry for at least six years," Opposition Leader Brian Green said.

Greens leader Kim Booth hit out at the government capping debate on the bill.

"In Tasmania today, World Environment Day is a day of mourning, when the parliament is denied the opportunity to properly and fully examine critical legislation," Mr Booth said.

The legislation faces an uncertain path through the Legislative Council, which is dominated by independents.

Minister Harriss said he expected the upper house to consider the bill thoroughly, but also to respect the mandate delivered by the Hodgman landslide.

But environmental groups who were signatories to the peace deal warned of more conflict if it passes.

"Today's decision risks plunging Tasmania back into the dark days," Environment Tasmania's Phill Pullinger said.

"Timber markets won't want to buy timber products from Tassie's native forests because they'll be too controversial."

The bill passed as the state government also announced plans to abolish the Tasmanian Climate Action Council, part of a pledge to cut boards and committees.

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Abbott, SBY upbeat before crucial reunion

Tony Abbott says he will stress his respect for Indonesia when he meets the country's president. Source: AAP

THE leaders of Australia and Indonesia have expressed their strong wishes to reconnect on the eve of a reunion meeting that could be sealed with a code of conduct within weeks.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will meet in Batam, Indonesia, on Wednesday, for their first face-to-face exchange since November's revelations Australia had eavesdropped on the phone calls of the president's wife and others.

A meeting scheduled for last month fell through at the last minute when it was widely understood Mr Abbott cancelled as Australia was engaged in the diplomatically sensitive task of turning back an asylum-seeker boat.

But President Yudhoyono's desire to overcome both these issues are made pressing by the fact he leaves office in October.

His office says a code of conduct, a document on which Indonesia has insisted to guide the future relationship, is a high priority.

But whether the leaders discuss this on Wednesday is unclear, as Indonesia is setting a relaxed tone for the discussion and dinner.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa says the code is a one-page document with a basic commitment not to spy on Indonesia.

However, he says, the leaders will discuss whatever issues they feel most important.

"This is an informal meeting in nature and will certainly be about what both heads of state desire," he told reporters in Jakarta.

But Indonesia's ambassador to Australia, Nadjib Riphat Kesoema, acknowledged the gravity of the meeting.

Given his return just last week to his Canberra post as part of the reconciliation process, he told Indonesia's Kompas newspaper: "The Indonesia-Australia relationship is at a turning point".

Meanwhile, Mr Abbott told parliament the relationship with Indonesia was in some respects Australia's most important.

He said the code of conduct had taken some time to draft, but should be ready to finalise when the foreign ministers and defence ministers meet for "2+2" talks, within weeks.

"I am determined to do everything I can to improve the relationship," Mr Abbott said.

"I am particularly keen to ensure that the relationship improves while President Yudhoyono is in office because not only has he been a great president of his country, he has also been a very good friend to Australia."

Mr Abbott shrugged off reports an Indonesian reporter was present when he called Dr Yudhoyono last month to apologise for not going to Bali.

The reporter published parts of their conversation.

The president's office has called it a "mistake" that occurred when staff overlooked the reporter in a crowded room.

Mr Abbott was keen to downplay the matter, saying what mattered most was the content of the call.

After the visit Mr Abbott will join other world leaders for the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in France before heading to Canada and the United States on a trade and investment tour.

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Call for radical Vic police overhaul

Victoria's police chief is considering using volunteers as he warns the force is struggling to cope. Source: AAP

VICTORIAN police officers should work alongside volunteers, use high-tech communication gear and be based at fewer but bigger stations.

These radical changes are needed within the next decade or Victoria will fall further behind other jurisdictions in fighting crime, a landmark blue paper says.

The report says officers are already being hamstrung by obsolete technology and misdirected resources, with the state's real crime level far exceeding what is registered in official statistics.

Chief Commissioner Ken Lay said planning for 2025 had to begin now.

"Victoria Police must modernise in all aspects of its operation," he told reporters on Tuesday.

"At the moment we are falling behind the pack in a number of areas - this paper actually shapes up what the future may look like."

The report says volunteers will be needed to allow sworn officers to focus on fighting crime and managing emergencies.

Mr Lay said some police roles, such as managing prisoners in custody, could be outsourced to private companies.

He admitted the idea of using volunteers could be enormously challenging for some of the workforce.

"But it is a legitimate model of policing in other parts of the world," he said.

Police Association secretary Ron Iddles said putting on volunteers could cause more problems than it would solve.

"What I'm concerned about is the diminishing of the police profession," he said.

The report says demand for urgent police responses is outpacing population growth, and serious and organised crime is growing rapidly.

It identifies an under-reporting of offences, especially of family violence, sexual assaults and organised crime.

Mr Lay said the problems were not fixed by simply recruiting more officers or building more police stations.

In fact, Mr Lay said it would be better to create super sites at which more police would be based, rather than having a greater number of small stations.

Senior Sergeant Iddles said the state was not ready for more station closures.

Mr Lay said smarter resourcing would mean no reduction in police response times, but admitted he would be loath to close stations in small towns.

He said the force was being held back by outmoded technology, especially for communication.

"Those failings have put us some way behind," Mr Lay said.

"Clearly we need to make some investment in this space."

Mr Lay said technology was already being used in other jurisdictions to give police on the beat information about crimes and suspects.

The report says police should be expected to meet fitness and health standards before promotions and progression payments are confirmed.

Mr Lay said it was reasonable to ask officers to stay in shape.

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Westfield in court before restructure vote

WESTFIELD Retail Trust (WRT) shareholders are eagerly waiting for the outcome of a Supreme Court application over merger plans by the shopping centre giant.

Westfield is seeking approval to conclude an investor vote on a controversial proposed merger with the Australasian business of Westfield Group.

The planned merger hit a brick wall last week when the shareholder vote was postponed at the last minute amid heated debate about its merits.

WRT is in the Supreme Court in Sydney on Tuesday afternoon, seeking approval to send documents to securityholders ahead of a rescheduled vote.

Details of the date and venue for the conclusion of the meeting are included in the documents, which are likely to be made public soon after court approval is granted.

But a spokeswoman on Tuesday night said no date had been yet set for a fresh vote.

"I can confirm that we have not confirmed a date," the spokeswoman said. "When a date has been confirmed, we will send out a (media) release."

The spokeswoman's comments come despite a media report (eds: The Australian Financial Review) that June 20 had been set for fresh meeting and vote.

Under the restructure plan, Westfield's Australian and New Zealand businesses would merge with WRT to create a new entity, to be called Scentre.

Westfield Group's international business, which includes malls in Great Britain and at Westfield World Trade Center being built in New York, would become Westfield Corporation.

A significant number of WRT securityholders believe the proposed restructure favours Westfield Group to the detriment of WRT, and a number of proxy votes lodged last week by WRT securityholders in favour of the proposed merger fell just short of what was needed to push the restructure over the line.

Shortly before WRT investors were due to vote, Mr Lowy said Westfield Group would still seek to split its Australasian arm from its international business even if WRT securityholders did not approve the planned merger.

Proxies lodged before the original meeting will remain valid, but securityholders will be allowed to lodge new proxy votes if they have changed their view on the proposal, the company has said.

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PM Abbott laughs off leadership talk

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has moved to head off leadership ripples in the Liberal Party triggered by unrest over the federal budget.

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, a former Liberal leader, set off a fresh round of speculation after a private dinner with Senate powerbroker Clive Palmer and his comments across other portfolio areas.

The government needs the support of the three Palmer United Party senators plus three other crossbenchers to pass some of its budget measures.

Conservative commentator Andrew Bolt added fuel to the fire by suggesting to Mr Abbott in a television interview on Sunday: "It looks like he's got his eye on your job."

Mr Turnbull told reporters in Canberra on Monday that Mr Bolt's suggestion was "unhinged", attracting the response from Mr Bolt that: "If only Malcolm Turnbull spent half his charm fighting for Tony Abbott's budget."

Labor frontbencher Jason Clare used question time in parliament to jibe Mr Abbott about whom he preferred - his friend Mr Bolt or his "frenemy" Mr Turnbull.

The prime minister said he had attended a media event on Saturday with Mr Turnbull.

"In any dispute between a member of my frontbench and a member of the fourth estate, I am firmly on the side of my frontbencher," Mr Abbott said.

The first polling on the Liberal leadership is expected to be released on Tuesday.

The last Essential poll to take the temperature on the issue, published in July 2013, showed Mr Turnbull was the preferred leader with 37 per cent of voters compared with the 12 per cent who opted for Mr Abbott.

The most recent polls show the coalition trailing Labor by an average 10 points in two-party terms, with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten leading as preferred prime minister.

Mr Abbott accused Mr Shorten of trying to verbal ministers as they defended the budget.

"The truth is that there is no easy way to sort out the debt and deficit disaster that members opposite left us," he said.

"This a good budget, an honest budget, it's the right budget for this time."

Labor turned its budget spotlight on Mr Abbott's election promise to index superannuation payments to veterans at the highest cost-of-living measure.

The budget papers showed that from 2017/18 the government plans to index all Centrelink pensions, including service pensions paid to more than 140,000 ex-service personnel, in line with the consumer price index only.

CPI is generally lower than other indexation rates, creating savings of $65 million from veteran's pensions, the budget papers say.

Mr Abbott said the government had honoured its specific commitment, which was to raise the rate of indexation of payments made to former defence personnel through two old defence superannuation schemes.

"No military pensioner will receive an inferior rate of indexation to a civilian one," he told parliament.

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Catholic diocese to face abuse realities

A CATHOLIC diocese whose response to child sexual abuse was criticised by a special commission of inquiry will now work through "the realities" of its history, its bishop says.

Bishop Bill Wright says the Maitland-Newcastle diocese will have feelings of disgust, anger and betrayal after reading Commissioner Margaret Cunneen's report looking at how the church handled complaints about former priests Denis McAlinden and Jim Fletcher, both now dead.

"Commissioner Cunneen's report is wholly independent and I believe it will detail a forensic investigation of the actions and failures of diocesan leadership to protect children and, in relation to McAlinden, stop a known predatory pedophile from causing further harm," he said.

"Whilst we must judge a person's actions by the standards of their time, that does not alter my feelings of deep and abiding shame for the actions and inactions of my predecessors."

He said the three volume report (the fourth volume is still confidential) will evoke feelings of anger, disgust, sadness, frustration and betrayal by members of the church.

The inquiry also made adverse findings against Father William Burston and Monsignor Allan Hart, and found senior church officials did have information relating to child sex abuse that would have assisted the police.

"We were not the only church to have had abusive priests and we were not the only institution to have failed to protect children," Bishop Wright said.

"However, none of that relieves us of the historic realities that we as a diocese are now working through to address in a just and faithful manner. I believe that Commissioner Cunneen's report is a significant step in that process."

The inquiry also found Detective Inspector Peter Fox - who alleged there had be a cover up - was not a credible witness and also said it was appropriate for police to instruct him to stop his own investigations.

The findings were welcomed on Monday by police commissioner Andrew Scipione.

"The commission found there was 'no credible evidence' of any wrongdoing by those officers undertaking their investigations or their commanders. The commission probed forensically into the role police played," he said in a statement.

"Those officers can hold their heads up high. We are proud of them. Their motivation was to seek justice for victims - they had no other motivation.

He said the officers can now get on with their lives

However, survivor advocates have challenged the findings.

Abuse survivor's advocate Carol Clarke said there were flaws in the way Mr Fox's evidence was treated and the royal commission needed to examine that.

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Qld mayor referred to corruption watchdog

IPSWICH Mayor Paul Pisasale has been referred to Queensland's corruption watchdog over revelations he received up to $150,000 in undeclared donations.

The state government has been investigating Mr Pisasale, but on Monday a local government department spokesperson said the matter had been referred to the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC).

Councillors don't need to declare donations to the Queensland Electoral Commission, but are legally required to update their register of interests.

Mr Pisasale's election campaign fund, Forward Ipswich, has reportedly received more than 30 separate donations worth $150,000 since the 2012 council poll.

None of those donations had been entered in his register.

Local Government Minister David Crisafulli last week said Mr Pisasale's register and the fund were being investigated.

Under state laws a councillor who fails to complete or update a register of interest can be fined up to $9350.

Those who intentionally fail to complete or update a register of interests can be fined up to $11,000 and be disqualified for holding office for four years.

Comment has been sought from Mr Pisasale.

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