Victorian public service faces overhaul

A VICTORIAN public service shake-up has been sold as a sign the state is open for business but critics argue it may jeopardise the environment and lead to job cuts.

From July, one department will be responsible for both the environment and agriculture, while planning and transport will also merge.

Coal allocations, small business, aviation and major projects will all be run out of the new Department of State Development, Business and Innovation.

Premier Denis Napthine said no jobs would go under the changes.

"These changes are important changes for Victorians; they're about creating a new emphasis on jobs (and) investment opportunities for Victoria," he said.

"This is about me putting my leadership, my direction, on where the public sector should go to better deliver services in Victoria to make sure we get that strong message that Victoria is open for business."

He could not put a price tag on the restructure, which the Community and Public Sector Union warned would cost thousands.

"It's a scandalous waste of public money with thousands of workplaces across the state having to be re-badged while ministers and senior executives are protected," union Victorian secretary Karen Batt said.

Dr Napthine said merging the departments of environment and primary industries would deliver enormous benefits.

"This old-style debate between brown and green is a thing of the past," he said.

"I would have thought any sensible environmentalist would see this as a positive move."

Environment Victoria chief executive Kelly O'Shanassy said she agreed with Dr Napthine that it was possible to simultaneously grow jobs and protect the environment but that process had to be handled carefully.

"If it's done wrong, it's kind of like putting the fox in the hen house," she said.

Opposition frontbencher Jacinta Allan said she didn't believe Dr Napthine's assurance that no jobs would go as a result of the restructure.

"Victorians know they just can't trust a Liberal premier when it comes to protecting public service jobs," Ms Allan said.

She said the restructure was a demotion for Planning Minister Matthew Guy, who would be under Transport Minister Terry Mulder's supervision.

"(It's) purely to keep tabs on the movements of a key leadership rival for the premier," she said.

Aboriginal and veterans affairs will now come under the Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Department of Planning and Community Development will be abolished.

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Anger grows over Holden's job cuts

Holden's decision to cut 500 jobs has two state governments considering pulling out funding deals. Source: AAP

TWO state governments are threatening to withhold tens of millions of dollars in assistance and unions are describing Holden as a "shocking corporate citizen" after the car giant announced plans to axe 500 Australian jobs.

Component makers have also warned that Holden's decision to build fewer cars means jobs will go among suppliers.

Victorian Premier Denis Napthine is warning that Holden won't see a dollar from his government if it breaks a taxpayer-funded investment deal struck just last year.

"We haven't paid any money to Holden and we won't pay money to Holden if they don't adhere to the principles agreed to," Mr Napthine said on Tuesday.

South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill also set the stage for his government to walk away from a promise to provide $50 million from 2016, part of a $275 million federal-state funding package.

He rejected suggestions from the company that no deal had been finalised, saying it was "manifest" in the exchange of letters.

Unions said every South Australian would be shocked by the company's behaviour.

"Holden took money from South Australian taxpayers and then just tore up the agreement," SA Unions secretary Janet Giles said.

She branded Holden a "shocking corporate citizen" and said if it refused to live up to its part, SA should withhold its investment and use the cash to help workers about to lose jobs.

Mr Weatherill plans to have another meeting with Holden chairman Mike Devereux later this week to thrash out a new arrangement.

He insists employment levels in SA, where 400 assembly line jobs will go, were an essential part of the agreement and he will now consider the state's options.

"I have to weigh up their commitment to investing $1 billion and the long-term security of the plant," he told reporters on Tuesday.

"I have to weigh up the present needs of these 400 workers and I also have to protect the taxpayers."

But Mr Devereux said he was mystified as to how he could be in breach of a deal that was still to be signed.

"As I sit here today we don't have a contract," Mr Devereux told Adelaide radio 5AA.

The Holden boss said the parties were six to eight months into the formal contract process that would hopefully be finalised later this year.

Under the terms of the assistance package, Holden will get $275 million from 2016 in joint federal-state funding to ensure the future of the company's local assembly operations until at least 2022.

That is on top of the near $2 billion the company has been paid by taxpayers over the past decade.

The federal government continues to defend the assistance paid to the car industry as the best way to leverage investment.

"That is, we put money in, they put more money in," Finance Minister Penny Wong said.

"We think that's the best way to ensure a viable, ongoing car industry."

Component suppliers have also backed the investment program at the same time warning Holden's move to build fewer cars will flow through to the component sector, where jobs will also go.

"The less cars that are being produced means the less components that are being made," Federation of Automotive Products Manufacturers (FAPM) chief executive Richard Reilly said.

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Asylum seekers arrive in Geraldton Harbour

A boat carrying 66 suspected asylum seekers has turned up in the West Australian city of Geraldton. Source: AAP

A RAMSHACKLE fishing boat carrying suspected asylum seekers from Sri Lanka has made an astonishing arrival at the busy West Australian port of Geraldton, just 400km north of Perth.

Stunned locals enjoying a lunchtime coffee at a harbourside eatery spotted the blue and white fishing vessel floating near the shore around 12 noon on Tuesday.

Despite Geraldton Port being one of Australia's busiest regional ports, the boat with 66 people aboard made it to within metres of the mainland - and was intercepted first by two local men in a dinghy.

Those on board told the men they had been at sea for at least six weeks, having travelled more than 5000km to reach Geraldton, a port more used to dealing with iron ore, grains, talc, garnet and fertilisers.

The arrivals, who included children and pregnant women, said they had been intending to travel to New Zealand and held up a flag pleading for assistance.

Instead, customs officials towed the vessel to shore and set up a temporary screening centre on the portside, with a spokesman for home affairs minister Jason Clare confirming the 66 had arrived from Sri Lanka.

Scott Ranch, manager of the Dome cafe where patrons sat and watched in amazement, said at first he thought the boat was a prank.

"People weren't sure what was going on," Mr Ranch told AAP.

"We thought it was a hoax or a publicity stunt, but then we saw the customs towing it away."

As the passengers were being screened, debate reignited over how a boat from Sri Lanka could get so far south, and so close to the mainland, without being spotted.

WA Premier Colin Barnett said the arrival was shocking and unprecedented.

"The state government is working co-operatively with the commonwealth on this issue and will ensure people's welfare is being looked after," the premier said.

"Nevertheless, this is a serious, unprecedented and unacceptable breach of Australia's border security.

"That a boat, laden with people, can sail into a busy regional port in broad daylight is shocking."

Federal opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said Australia's border control situation had gone "from the bizarre to the ridiculous".

"(They) would be rightly shaking their heads at just where border protection in this country has come to," he told reporters.

"Just how bad does it have to get?"

The Bureau of Meteorology said gale-force winds were recorded blowing in a southwesterly direction between Cocos Island and Christmas Island on Monday and Tuesday.

Authorities are deciding where to house the asylum seekers on Tuesday night, with some suggesting a wing of nearby Greenough prison might be utilised.

"They have picked a really nice part of the coast to come ashore, and you do have to wonder how they get this far down the coast without being detected," Geraldton mayor Ian Carpenter said.

"It will be an issue to find accommodation for that many people."

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Tas Greens move to let 16-year-olds vote

TASMANIA'S Greens are moving to get 16-year-olds the vote in time for the state's next election.

Greens leader Nick McKim will table a motion in parliament this week that would allow those aged 16 and 17 to volunteer to vote.

Mr McKim, a cabinet minister whose party shares power with Labor in Tasmania, is hopeful the reform will be in place in time for the state election due in March next year.

"Currently 16-year-olds can work, pay taxes, use a firearm, get arrested, join the army, have children, get behind the wheel of a car and live on their own, but they are prevented from voting in an election," Mr McKim said in a statement.

"It makes no sense that young Tasmanians can work a job and be taxed like anyone else, but then have no say in how those taxes are spent.

"It sends the wrong message to young people that their input into democracy is not valued, and that their views on public policies that affect them cannot be trusted."

Under the proposal, youths who chose to enrol would then be subject to compulsory voting rules.

Mr McKim said Austria, Argentina and Brazil had already granted 16-year-olds the vote, and similar moves were underway in the UK.

He said his motion had been timed to take place during National Youth Week.

"This is about strengthening our democracy by enfranchising thousands of smart, politically-aware young Tasmanian adults ...," Mr McKim said.

Tasmania's Liberal opposition called the move a "stunt", saying Mr McKim should be focused on his portfolios of education, transport and corrections.

"Instead of lowering the voting age, Minister McKim should be directing his efforts to ensure 16-year-olds can read and write, they have a bus service that can get them to school and that there is a well-run prison to keep them safe from criminals," deputy opposition leader Jeremy Rockliff said.

The Greens leader has been under pressure in two of his portfolios, with ongoing bus strikes and the departure of a high-profile prison reformer.

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Lack of rain hurts Ruralco profit

Agribusiness Ruralco has issued a profit warning in the wake of low rainfall across Australia. Source: AAP

LOW rainfall across most of Australia will probably slash agribusiness Ruralco's profit in the first four months of its financial year by up to 70 per cent.

Ruralco managing director John Maher says a lack of rain across most of Australia's key agricultural regions has reduced demand for agricultural chemicals.

Lower demand for restocking livestock has also affected livestock prices.

Ruralco warned on Monday that underlying earnings for between last October and January would be 40 to 50 per cent lower than the same four months a year earlier.

Underlying profit - before non-recurring items - was expected fall 60 to 70 per cent from $11 million previously.

Reported net profit for the half year to March 31 was also anticipated to be break even.

"Profit lost over the first four months of the year will be difficult to recoup," Mr Maher said in a statement."

"However, a normal autumn seasonal break leading to solid winter crop plantings, mildly strengthening livestock prices, flow-through benefit of structural savings and part-year contributions from recent acquisitions is expected to lead to a significantly improved trading performance in the second half of the financial year."

Shares in Ruralco slumped 23 per cent, or 6.9 per cent, to close at $3.08.

Ruralco said a re-evaluation of the company's 12.04 per cent stake in agribusiness Elders, and higher interest costs would also affect the half-year result.

Mr Maher said average sheep prices had fallen by about 30 per cent and cattle prices were down about 11 per cent.

Sales of rural supplies had fallen about five per cent as hot and dry conditions had reduced the need for weed, pest and disease management products.

Ruralco will report its half-year results on May 21.

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WA man charged after woman shot dead

A MAN has been charged with murder after a woman was shot dead in northern Western Australia.

Major crime detectives flew to Port Hedland when the woman suffered gunshot wounds and later died at the Hedland Health Campus.

Several calls were made to police around 6.30pm (WST) on Saturday, regarding a disturbance in Bayman Street.

Members of the public reported a man was armed with a firearm. They said shots had been fired and a woman had been injured.

Local officers found the 43-year-old woman with a gunshot wound. She was given emergency medical treatment but was later pronounced dead.

Police could not immediately find the suspect who was known to the victim.

A 62-year-old man later handed himself into police at the South Hedland Police Station.

The man from Port Hedland was later charged with one count of murder. He will appear in court on Monday.

Officers also found and seized a firearm.

Police have requested that witnesses call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, .

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Ukraine president pardons Tymoshenko ally

UKRAINIAN President Viktor Yanukovych has pardoned a close ally of jailed former premier Yulia Tymoshenko, former interior minister Yuriy Lutsenko, his office says.

"Yanukovych signed a decree on pardoning six convicted people, including Ukraine's former interior minister Yuriy Lutsenko and Ukraine's former environment minister Georgy Filipchuk," his office said in a statement on Sunday.

The statement said the decree was in line with ongoing reforms of the country's criminal legislation "aimed at humanising legal norms and reducing the number of people held in custody."

The presidential decree comes after Ukraine's high court earlier this week rejected an appeal by Lutsenko against his four-year jail term for abuse of office and embezzlement.

He was arrested in December 2010 and was set to remain in prison until the end of 2014.

Yanukovych made the decision to pardon Lutsenko after repeated requests from Western officials, most notably special envoys of the European Parliament monitoring mission to Ukraine, former Polish president Aleksander Kwasniewski and former president of the European Parliament Pat Cox.

The imprisonment of Tymoshenko and Lutsenko has led to a crisis in ties between Kiev and the European Union, which has complained Ukrainian authorities are selectively prosecuting opponents of the president.

The statement made no mention of Yanukovych's top nemesis, jailed former prime minister Tymoshenko who analysts say is unlikely to walk out of prison any time soon.

Tymoshenko, who lost a heated presidential election to Yanukovych in 2010, was jailed for seven years in 2011 for overstepping her authority while prime minister by agreeing a gas deal with Russia.

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Obama's gun dilemma 'too little, too late'

A YOUNG child in Alabama finds a gun and kills himself with a shot to the chest.

A father accidentally kills his 10-year-old son as he cleans his gun in North Carolina - the child was watching TV and the bullet hit him in the back of the head.

A 22-year-old from Florida kills her ex-boyfriend when he runs into her at a post office.

These incidents in recent weeks are just some of the 3300 deaths from gunshot in the US that happened since the Newtown massacre on December 14, according to the online magazine Slate. Most of the shootings only made the local news, if that.

The New York Times is putting such reports into a blog to highlight the country's gun problem. The daily account horrifies many readers, if comments are anything to go by.

Yet barely four months after the Newtown school killings claimed the lives of 20 children and six adult educators, US President Barack Obama is fighting a losing battle in his push for tougher gun legislation.

Next week, the US president will launch a last minute push to convince congress to ban assault weapons and large magazine clips of the type used to slaughter the Connecticut children.

On Monday, he will be in Connecticut to visit with families affected by the Newtown shooting. On Tuesday, he will stand at the White House alongside law enforcement officials who want to clamp down. On Wednesday, First Lady Michelle Obama will hammer home the theme in Chicago. And on Thursday, Vice-President Joe Biden will appear on a morning talk show for a roundtable discussion.

Yet the call to ban military-type assault weapons and large clips appears to be dead in the water, despite the power of the White House, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and groups like Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Congress is poised to consider a much-watered-down version of a law that only addresses background checks for gun purchases. And Obama has become the target of mockery among conservatives and gun-right advocates.

Obama, who has been criticised for remaining silent since January on the issue, in late March kicked into action again, lashing out at "powerful voices" who are "drowning out the majority" who want stricter controls.

"Shame on us if we've forgotten," an angry Obama said. "Tears aren't enough, expressions of sympathy aren't enough."

There has been some progress on the state level.

Connecticut legislators passed what experts say is one of the strictest gun laws in the country, banning future sale of 100 types of assault weapons and gun clips with more than 10 bullets.

Other states are moving along the same path, including New York, Colorado and Maryland, which will now require fingerprinting of gun buyers.

But at the same time, states like Arkansas, South Dakota, Tennessee and Kentucky have rushed to loosen state laws since the Newtown massacre. The powerful National Rifle Association (NRA) even wrote some of the laws, according to media reports, capitalising on fears of an anti-gun backlash after the killings.

Similarly, the NRA has managed to reverse the tide for gun control at the federal level, using its large lobbying organisation and political campaign fund and deploying its internet-connected membership to put pressure on federal legislators.

What remains in the proposed bill is mostly of little substance.

"The gun lobby appears to have prevailed," wrote Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank.

Obama's main problem is that even legislators from his Democratic Party are sceptical about tough gun laws. Gun-owning voters in their home states feel strong enough on the issue that a "yes" vote for gun control could prove costly in the 2014 congressional election.

According to a poll by the TV network CBS, the percentage of people favouring tougher gun laws has fallen from 57 per cent right after the shooting to only 47 per cent.

Even Obama is starting to acknowledge the country's tradition of gun ownership, saying recently he could understand why people might want to have some weapons for self-defence. Observers saw this as a sign he would sign a weak gun bill: the main thing is to have some relevant legislation.

Obama's standing has suffered, with gun control advocates feeling disappointed that he waited until late March to go into action amid reports that he has contributed little to writing the legislation.

"Too little, too late," The Washington Post wrote.

Even if the Democratic majority in the Senate could push through an ambitious gun control bill, there are few chances that such a bill could pass the Republican-dominated House of Representatives.

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Work keeps confined Assange sane: dad

Julian Assange is enduring harsh conditions in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, says his father. Source: AAP

JULIAN Assange cannot even look out of the windows of the Ecuadorean embassy in London, but his confinement has not dampened his work ethic, his father says.

"The conditions are physically harsh," Assange's biological father John Shipton says.

"He's not allowed to look out the windows for fear of admirers throwing food, you don't know if it's contaminated or not."

But a constant stream of visitors is keeping his intellect alive and the demands of the WikiLeaks organisation - and now its political party - are keeping him busy, according to Mr Shipton.

Assange entered the embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden more than nine months ago.

Speaking at the launch of the WikiLeaks Party in Melbourne on Saturday, Mr Shipton described his son as "well".

"Emotionally he's steady and has tremendous support."

The Ecuadoreans are looking after him, he said.

He also has a lot to do.

On January 30, WikiLeaks announced Assange would run for a seat in the Victorian senate at the federal election on September 14.

Mr Shipton, who is the chairman of the WikiLeaks Party, says the decision to enter politics is a result of the "transparency movement" maturing.

"This is the political manifestation of an event that's been unfolding for 10 years," Mr Shipton said.

"In this way, transparency can have the arm of accountability with some political authority and power behind it."

He said Assange had first broached the possibility of running for government late in 2011 and was was "very firm" in his commitment to politics.

"If the people of Victoria elect him to represent them that's his job; to represent the people of Victoria in the senate," Mr Shipton said.

The WikiLeaks Party's newly-appointed campaign director Greg Barns on Saturday announced the party would field senate candidates in Victoria, NSW and Western Australia.

If Assange is elected in Victoria but unable to return to the country, a running mate will take-up his seat.

Mr Barns said Assange's ability to take up his seat would be up to the Australian government.

"It would be internationally embarrassing for the voters of Victoria not to be able to have in the senate the person for whom they voted on September 14," he said.

But he was unsure if a successful senate run would increase the likelihood of the WikiLeaks founder returning to Australia.

The senate bid, he said, was not a legal strategy.

"If that were the case he would simply put his name down for the Senate, run in the ungrouped category and hope to get elected."

Mr Shipton said WikiLeaks will release a million pages of documents this year.

"Julian and staff are very very busy," he said.

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Aust firms need to learn China's rules: PM

Prime Minister Julia Gillard's starts her first full day of talks at the Boao Forum for Asia. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIANS doing business in China will be offered training in how to play by its rules and avoid jail under a new program.

At least four Australian business executives working in China have been jailed in recent times for questionable reasons, but little action has been taken to address the issue.

Attending the Boao Forum for Asia on the Chinese resort island of Hainan, which has trade and investment talks at its core, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said there were huge opportunities for Australians doing business in China and her trip would help build these.

"But there are also risks ... and we believe it's very necessary for people to understand that degree of risk," Ms Gillard told reporters on the sidelines of the forum.

Trade Minister Craig Emerson, who is travelling with the prime minister and Foreign Minister Bob Carr, said a training program would be launched later in the week to take potential investors through the processes they need to follow to do business in China and how to mitigate risk.

However Dr Emerson was at pains to emphasise China was not being singled out as a risky place to do business.

"In any country there are risks in doing business," he said.

Ms Gillard's first full day of talks on her second visit to China in two years included a meeting with International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde and a business forum with Chinese and Australian executives.

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop, who is also at the Boao Forum, said Australia had neglected its relations with China and policies such as the mining and carbon taxes and Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) decisions were putting investment at risk.

She was backed up by another forum participant, former federal treasurer Peter Costello, who told AAP the greatest risk was the government "changing the rules" and creating uncertainty for investors.

"None of this gives Australia a good reputation overseas and I think the best thing the Australian government could do is return some certainty to the rules ... announce them and keep them," Mr Costello said.

Ms Gillard said the FIRB had not knocked back one of the 380 Chinese investment proposals in 10 years, but had put conditions on six of them.

"We have a foreign investment review system which is appropriate," she said.

The prime minister said the federal coalition would put the eight-year-old Australia-China Free Trade Agreement talks at risk if they changed the FIRB's investment-checking thresholds.

Later on Saturday, the prime minister was due to meet with former PM Bob Hawke, New Zealand leader John Key and Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto.

Ms Gillard will address the Boao Forum on Sunday, and meet with China's new president Xi Jinping before heading to Shanghai on the next leg of her trip.

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