Queen's chaplain 'victim of racism'

A CHAPLAIN to Queen Elizabeth tipped as a possible contender to be one of the first women bishops claims she is a victim of racism within the Church of England.

The Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin, who became the first black female chaplain to the House of Commons, has also asked why there were not more people of minority ethnic backgrounds in leadership roles within the church, which she said was "still struggling with institutional racism".

In an interview with The Times on Friday, Ms Hudson-Wilkin, who was born and brought up in Montego Bay, Jamaica, said: "I've had people who did not want me to do a funeral. I can smile because it's their sheer ignorance - I feel sorry for them. I know that it's not about me, it's about them.

"We have been encouraging people to stand and people have been putting themselves forward and have not been elected. I think there is a level of racism around that."

Ms Hudson-Wilkin, who is vicar to two inner-city parishes in Hackney, east London, said she thought racism was a more pressing issue than homosexuality.

"The church has always been obsessed with sex, I really don't understand it," she told the paper.

"I have known some decent gay people who are in faithful monogamous relationships and who are hugely committed to each other.

"I'm deeply saddened that parts of the church continue to be obsessed by this whole business. There are so many more important things."

Ms Hudson-Wilkin was one of a number of prominent female clergy tipped as possible contenders should the Church of England's national assembly give final approval to legislation introducing the first women bishops.

The draft legislation was carried in a vote by the houses of bishops and clergy in the General Synod last month but failed by six votes to gain the necessary two-thirds majority among lay members.

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Senate approves $633b defence bill

The US Senate has approved a $A606.41 billion defence spending bill for next year. Source: AAP

THE US Senate has approved a $US633 billion ($A606.41 billion) defence spending bill for next year that tightens penalties on Iran, funds the war in Afghanistan and boosts security at US missions worldwide.

The legislation passed 81-14 on Friday despite furious opposition from Republican Senator Rand Paul, who criticised removal of an amendment that would have provided Americans with protection against indefinite military detention.

Despite a raging partisan row in Washington over how to resolve a year-end fiscal crisis, the compromise bill sailed through the House of Representatives on Thursday and now goes to President Barack Obama's desk.

In addition to covering standard national security expenses like shipbuilding, it provides a 1.7-per cent pay raise for men and women in uniform, authorises the Pentagon to pay for abortions in cases of rape and incest and lifts a ban on same-sex marriage ceremonies on military bases.

The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2013 was hammered out by House and Senate conferees this month after each chamber voted to approve separate versions of the bill.

The White House last month said Obama could veto the act out of concern for the restrictions on his handling of Guantanamo detainees, but Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Carl Levin said this week he did not expect a veto.

The bill extended for one year the restriction on use of US funds to transfer Guantanamo inmates to other countries, a limitation critics say marks a setback for Obama's efforts to close the detention centre.

Paul said it was a "travesty of justice" that an amendment designed to limit the president's power to indefinitely detain US citizens as terror suspects was stripped from the final bill.

"It's a shame to scrap the very rights that make us exceptional as a people," Paul said, referring to the rights to a trial for anyone held in the United States.

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Two men stabbed outside Xmas party

TWO men have suffered facial and neck wounds after being stabbed with scissors outside a Christmas party on NSW's far north coast.

They were talking outside a community hall in Upper Main Arm near Byron Bay about 11.30pm (AEDT) on Friday when approached by an unknown man.

Police said the man then attacked them with a pair of scissors, wounding them both in the face and neck before driving away.

The two men, aged 46 and 36, who had been at a Christmas party inside the hall, were taken to Tweed Heads Hospital where they remain in a stable condition.

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Ex-Beatle's widow lauds Ravi Shankar

FORMER Beatle George Harrison's widow Olivia has joined hundreds of fans and family of Ravi Shankar at an open-air memorial to the Indian sitar legend near his California home.

Anoushka Shankar, daughter of the late musician who died last week near San Diego, and her step-sister Grammy-winning singer Norah Jones also paid their last respects at the service in a palm tree-lined meditation centre.

Tributes were read out from fellow musicians and artists who had been inspired by Shankar, labelled "The Godfather of World Music" by the Beatles and compared to Mozart by violin maestro Yehudi Menuhin.

Harrison, whose late husband learned sitar from Shankar and collaborated with him notably on the ground-breaking Concert for Bangladesh in 1971, said the former Beatle had learned so much from their friendship.

"They were like father and son as well as brothers... they made each other laugh as if they shared a secret. And I'm sure they did," said the 64-year-old, whose husband died of cancer in 2001.

Shankar "laid the stepping stones from West to East, that led George to new concepts, alternative philosophies and completely transformed his musical sensibilities," she said.

"They exchanged ideas and melodies until their minds and hearts, East and West, were entwined, like a double helix," she added in Encinitas, where Shankar had a home.

Shankar's 31-year-old daughter Anoushka - also a sitar player, and just nominated for a Grammy - told the audience that her father would have approved of the memorial's venue, the Self-Realization Fellowship spiritual centre.

"My father loved spending time here so much, so it feels so right for us to be here celebrating his journey," she said, before tributes were read out from singer Peter Gabriel and film director Martin Scorsese.

Gabriel said: "Ravi Shankar opened the door to non-Western music for millions of people around the world."

"His music has such power, seeming ancient and immediate, impassioned and meditative, full of sorrow and joy. He was a true master," said Scorsese. "From the first time I met him ... his brilliant sitar playing has mesmerised me."

Shankar died last Tuesday at the age of 92, after failing to recover from surgery at a hospital in La Jolla, near San Diego. His family was at his bedside.

Private memorial services were announced both in the United States and India, where Shankar also had a home.

Soul singer Jones, Shankar's daughter from an affair with a US concert producer, was dressed in black and kept a low profile at Thursday's event in Encinitas, up the coast from San Diego.

His widow Sukanya was also at the California memorial, which started with prayers chanted by M.N. Nandakumara of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan institute for Indian art and culture in London.

Nandakumara said that Shankar's music "brought people of various countries, communities together to his soul-stirring music, which was matchless.

"I do not know another musician who has understood the Eastern and Western music the way (Shankar) understood it, and interpreted it in such a way that people around the world were mesmerised by it," he said.

As well as Indian family and friends, Thursday's event - at which speakers were flanked on stage by photos of Shankar at various stages of his life - was attended by locals and other fans and followers.

"He's local, he's part of the community here," said Eddy Jimenez, a musician and trumpet player from Encinitas, comparing Shankar's influence and music with that of Harrison's fellow Beatle John Lennon.

"He's a bridge between humanity, really, not just East and West. I'm just here to pay my respects," the 61-year-old said.

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Child abuse inquiry's terms of ref delayed

Settlement of the terms of reference for a Royal Commission into child sex abuse has been delayed. Source: AAP

A LEADING child protection advocate group isn't worried the federal government has delayed settlement of the terms of reference for a Royal Commission into child sexual abuse until next year.

The Labor government on Friday said while work was continuing to establish the commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse, the terms of reference now won't be available until January, instead of this month.

Bravehearts founder Hetty Johnston told AAP while it would have been nice to have the terms of reference finalised before Christmas, the delay wasn't an issue as long as the government got it right.

"There's so much resting on this, we shouldn't be rushing it," she said.

"If they're not happy, I'd rather it be delayed than to get it wrong.

"They're clearly canvassing a wide range of views and they don't want to get it wrong either."

Broken Rites Australia, another group that helps victims of church-related sexual abuse, agreed it was important for the government to get it right.

"It's important for the commission to be well organised," spokesman Dr Bernard Barrett said.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard originally wanted the inquiry, which is likely to take years and involve thousands of individuals, to be established by the end of this year so it could begin work in early 2013.

However, Attorney-General Nicola Roxon on Friday said more than 800 individuals and organisations had provided input into the terms of reference so far, including 600 comments by email and 200 formal written submissions.

"This Royal Commission must have a clear focus, the best people and the resources necessary to identify how we can prevent these terrible failures from happening again," Ms Roxon said.

Some of the suggestions revolved around designing the hearing process so victims feel supported in preparing and giving evidence.

Respondents called for the victims to be able to report abuse to police to seek justice, although it was recognised many people wouldn't seek criminal or civil redress.

There were calls to ensure the resulting recommendations of the commission were implemented in a timely manner and that the inquiry reported regularly.

Despite the delay, Ms Roxon said a number of significant decisions had already been made on how the commission would operate.

There will be between three and five commissions and the inquiry's initial report will be delivered within 18 months.

A shortlist of commissioners has been compiled and the appointments will be announced in the new year.

A taskforce has also been set up to evaluate the operational needs of the commission, such as identifying potential premises.

The commission into how child sex abuse allegations have been handled by religious, community and state institutions, was announced by Ms Gillard on November 12.

Submissions to the government about the commission closed on November 26.

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WikiLeaks to release a million files

WikiLeaks plans to release one million documents next year affecting every country in the world. Source: AAP

WIKILEAKS will release one million documents next year affecting every country in the world, founder Julian Assange has announced.

Assange made the announcement while delivering a Christmas message from the balcony of the Ecuadorean embassy in London to mark six months since he sought asylum there to avoid extradition to Sweden over claims of rape and sexual assault.

The Australian-born Assange said, to cheers from around 100 supporters, that despite spending half of 2012 holed up in the building it had been a "huge year" in which his anti-secrecy website had released documents about Syria and other topics.

"Next year will be equally busy. WikiLeaks has already over one million documents being prepared to be released, documents that affect every country in the world - every country in this world," he said.

It was Assange's first public appearance since he addressed a crowd from the same balcony on August 19, and Ecuadorean officials have since said he is suffering from health problems.

Britain has refused to grant him safe passage to either Ecuador or to hospital, saying it has a legal obligation to extradite him to Sweden after Assange lost his final battle in the British courts in June.

Assange claims that if he is extradited to Sweden he could eventually be sent to the United States for prosecution over WikiLeaks' controversial release of secret US military and diplomatic files.

He says he could face life in prison or even the death penalty in the US.

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N Ireland loyalists plan rush-hour protest

LOYALISTS could bring Northern Ireland to a standstill on one of the busiest days of the year, it has emerged .

Province-wide protests over flags are being planned to coincide with Friday's rush-hour when thousands of people will leave work for the Christmas holidays.

The United Protestant Voice, which has been organising many of the protests, has called for the demonstrations to be peaceful.

In a statement the group said: "We would encourage all members of the PUL (Protestant Ulster Loyalist) community taking part in Friday's nationwide protest to do so in a peaceful and dignified manner to ensure that we can portray the image of unionism/loyalism and gain support for the wider PUL community."

According to social media websites, protests will take place across Belfast including at Sandy Row in the south of the city where sporadic trouble broke out on Monday night.

Pickets are also being organised for Portadown, Co Armagh, Bangor and Co Down, Killyleagh, Co Down.

There has been widespread disorder across Northern Ireland since Belfast City councillors voted on December 3 to limit the number of days they fly the Union flag.

More than 40 police officers have been injured and more than 40 people arrested - some as young as 11 - in almost three weeks of disturbances.

The flag controversy has also sparked a wave of attacks against politicians with much of the violence directed at the cross-community Alliance Party.

Bullets were sent in the post today to five elected representatives from the Alliance Party and nationalist Sinn Fein - whose councillors backed the decision to remove the flag.

Roadblocks have blighted Belfast city centre trading in the run-up to Christmas.

Earlier on Wednesday unionist political leaders unveiled proposals they hoped would persuade loyalists to end their protests.

Stormont First Minister and Democratic Unionist leader Peter Robinson and Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt are to set up a Stormont forum to focus on the flag issue and other areas of concern within loyalism.

Representatives from within that community will be invited to attend and put their views across. The first meeting could be held before Christmas, but a more likely timetable would see proceedings convened early in the New Year.

The leaders of the main parties at Stormont are due to meet Thursday morning local time.

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UBS faces Hong Kong interest rate probe

THE Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is investigating Swiss bank UBS over possible misconduct related to the Asian financial centre's benchmark interest rate.

The city's de facto central bank announced the probe on Thursday. The news comes a day after UBS agreed to pay a huge fine for trying to manipulate a key interest rate affecting borrowers globally.

The HKMA said it has launched a probe to determine whether there was any wrongdoing by UBS when it submitted information used to set the Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate. It will also try to find out if the misconduct had any "material impact" on setting the rate, known as HIBOR.

The authority said it was tipped off by other regulatory authorities.

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Head-on crash driver avoids jail

A MAN who drove on the wrong side of the road has been spared jail for a head-on crash which seriously injured an Adelaide woman.

Judge Wayne Chivell jailed Udo Ikika Uduma for two years and six months but suspended the term and placed him on a $1000 three-year good behaviour bond and disqualified him from driving for 10 years.

The Nigerian-born 25-year-old was on the incorrect side on the road because of "inattention, or some other reason which is not apparent," the judge said on Thursday in the South Australian District Court.

At his trial, the prosecution had suggested the aged care worker may have thought he was in Nigeria where motorists drive on the right side.

In September, the judge found him guilty of dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm to Bettina Coscia.

She suffered numerous injuries including leg fractures in the collision, which occurred just before midnight on December 3, 2010, in the Adelaide Hills.

"She has ongoing pain, physical disability, psychological difficulty, and permanent scarring," the judge said.

He rejected a defence suggestion that Uduma suddenly drove onto the wrong side after being blinded by Ms Coscia's headlights.

Judge Chivell noted the offence had not involved drugs, alcohol, excessive speed or reckless driving.

Uduma, who came to Adelaide in 2009, supported his seven-year-old child in Nigeria, as well as his parents and three siblings.

He was well respected in the community and had shown great remorse, the judge said.

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Powercor settles Vic bushfire class action

A SETTLEMENT has been reached in a class action against electricity distributor Powercor over a Black Saturday bushfire that destroyed land and property in Victoria's southwest at Pomborneit.

The parties reached the settlement on the eve of a judgment being handed down in the Victorian Supreme Court on Wednesday, following a four-week trial before Justice Jack Forrest.

The settlement is estimated to be worth $10 million.

Under the settlement, Powercor will pay victims 100 per cent of the losses they incurred as a result of the bushfire on February 7, 2009.

They will be reimbursed the full value of the property damaged, based on what it was worth on the day the fire hit.

Powercor will maintain its denial of legal liability for the blaze.

The settlement is subject to approval by Justice David Beach on January 31 next year.

Brendan Pendergast, commercial litigation principal at Maddens Lawyers, described the settlement as a huge win, reflecting the inadequate maintenance of Powercor's powerlines.

"Although Powercor maintains denial of legal liability for the blaze, it is difficult not to conclude that the settlement reflects a concern by the power provider that the court would have found that the fire began when sparks from clashing Powercor-owned lines ignited dry grass," he said.

About 30 residents had joined the class action led by landowner Terry Place and more may join now that the settlement has been reached.

Comment is being sought from Powercor.

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UK Nissan plant to build luxury model

Carmaker Nissan will create 1000 jobs in the UK with the development of a new luxury model. Source: AAP

CAR giant Nissan is to build a new luxury model in the UK, creating 1,000 jobs with a STG250 million ($A388.02 million) investment.

The new global model will be manufactured at the Japanese firm's plant in Sunderland, which employs 6000 workers.

The car, built under Nissan's Infinity premium brand, is set to be produced from 2015.

It will be developed with help from Nissan's design centre in London and technical centre in Cranfield and then exported around the world, the firm said.

Around 280 of the new jobs will be in Sunderland, with the rest in other sites across the country.

Because of capacity limitations at Sunderland, securing the new Infiniti will mean that a C-segment hatchback previously announced for the plant in April will be manufactured elsewhere, said the company.

The North East plant will build more than half a million cars this year, the first UK manufacturer to achieve this milestone.

Colin Dodge, Nissan's executive vice-president and chief performance officer, said: "This milestone, our first premium product to be manufactured at Sunderland, reconfirms our commitment to UK manufacturing and the ongoing success of the plant which is moving up the value chain.

"Just as important, the new Infiniti, which will be exported around the world, is being developed with help from our London design centre and our European Technical Centre."

Business Secretary Vince Cable, who will attend a ceremony in Sunderland to mark the announcement, said Sunderland would be the only place in the world to make the new premium compact car.

"Nissan in the UK goes from strength to strength. Not only will the new car be made here and exported all over the world, the UK has already contributed to its design and development," Cable said.

"Today's news is a strong endorsement of the quality of Britain's car industry which is creating jobs, taking on apprentices and contributing to building a stronger economy.

"The auto sector is living up to being one of the great success stories of our industrial strategy and a testimony to government and private sector working together in close partnership."

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Assange marks six months in Ecuador space

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has marked six months holed up in Ecuador's embassy in London. Source: AAP

WIKILEAKS founder Julian Assange marks six months holed up in Ecuador's embassy in London on Wednesday, with no end in sight to a diplomatic stand-off that has even dragged in pop icon Lady Gaga.

The Australian is due on Thursday to give what the anti-secrecy website billed as a "Christmas speech" in front of the South American nation's diplomatic mission, next door to the famed Harrods department store.

It will be only his second public outing since he fled to the embassy on June 19 after losing his battle in the British courts against extradition to Sweden, where he faces questioning over allegations of rape and sexual assault.

Ecuador granted Assange asylum on August 16 but Britain has refused to allow him safe passage, despite Quito's claims that the 41-year-old needs urgent medical treatment for a lung problem.

For most of the last half year the former hacker has been stuck in a tiny room inside the embassy, which is itself just an apartment inside a Victorian red-brick building in the posh Knightsbridge district.

Assange has nothing but a laptop, a running machine, a sunlamp and a microwave for company, friends have said, while he has described the conditions as like living in a "space-station".

But he has had some celebrity support.

British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood visited him and said she would sell unisex t-shirts with the words "I'm Julian Assange", with profits going to WikiLeaks.

US pop star Lady Gaga meanwhile had a cosy dinner with the platinum-haired fugitive at the embassy in October -- although only after she had first launched her new perfume at Harrods.

Assange received a rock star welcome himself when he was last seen by the outside world, addressing dozens of cheering supporters from the embassy balcony on August 19.

Britain's Foreign Office told AFP this week that it was "committed to seeking a diplomatic solution" to the stand-off with Ecuador but insisted that it was legally obliged to hand over Assange to Sweden.

"Officials have been in regular dialogue with representatives of the Ecuadorean government, both in London and Quito, to seek a diplomatic solution to this situation. These efforts continue," it said.

Sweden has said that it will not interfere in another country's judicial process.

Ecuador, for its part, insists that it is "not asking for the impossible."

"Our objective is to reach a solution that is satisfactory for everybody, under European, Swedish and British law... but which excludes all possibility of extradition to the United States," an Ecuadorean government official told AFP.

Assange claims that if he is extradited to Sweden he could eventually be sent to the United States for prosecution over WikiLeaks' controversial release of secret US military and diplomatic files.

He says he could face life in prison or even the death penalty in the US.

Assange is believed to have sought sanctuary with Ecuador mainly because he had interviewed its leftist, US-baiting president Rafael Correa for a television programme.

British police arrested Assange on December 7, 2010 on a European Arrest Warrant issued by Sweden over allegations made by two women, which Assange denies.

The case went all the way to the Supreme Court of England and Wales which dismissed his final appeal in June this year.

Assange told Belgian radio on Monday that he did not expect any change in his situation until February, when presidential elections take place in Ecuador.

He has admitted the conditions are difficult but has said they compare favourably to those in which US authorities are keeping Bradley Manning, the soldier accused of leaking tens of thousands of documents to WikiLeaks.

He has also been keeping busy, saying that he was working 17 hours a day, seven days a week, while he recently brought out a book called "Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet."

And if he wins his freedom Assange has another plan: running for a Senate seat in the 2013 Australian federal election under the banner of a WikiLeaks political party.

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Asylum boats big election issue for Labor

ASYLUM seeker boats will continue to haunt the Gillard government as it runs for re-election in 2013.

Federal Labor this year embraced some tough new asylum seeker policies in a bid to stop the boats but so far, they haven't worked.

A series of asylum seeker boat disasters in the first half of the year prompted the new hardline stance.

The government commissioned an expert panel led by former defence chief Angus Houston to formulate a comprehensive plan to staunch the flow of boats and break a long-running political deadlock on the issue.

In August, the government adopted all 22 of the panel's recommendations, many of which called for a return to tough Howard government-era policies, including offshore processing on Nauru and Papua New Guinea's Manus Island.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard conceded it was not easy for Labor to return to the coalition policies it scrapped in 2008.

"But I tell you what is a harder thing - that is watching more people drown, and we are not going to do that," she said.

Nauru and Manus are now up and running but the boats keep coming.

That's despite the fact Labor's policy is in some ways tougher than Howard's because it introduces a 'no advantage' principle, meaning asylum seekers who get on boats to Australia won't be resettled any faster than those who go through regular channels and could spend five years on Nauru and Manus.

So far it's been a dismal failure, with more than 8000 people arriving on more than 140 boats since offshore processing was reintroduced in August. Of the 8000, about 450 have been sent to Nauru and Manus so far.

But in a weird way, the failure actually proves Labor right. It long argued the policies would not act as a real deterrent because many of those processed end up in Australia anyway.

To confuse matters further, the government announced in November it will continue to grant bridging visas to asylum seekers who are being processed onshore.

In an extension of the 'no advantage' principle, visas granted to those arriving after August will be denied work rights but will be paid a basic welfare payment.

No doubt the people smugglers will be trying to cash in on these policy anomalies, which have seen a small number of asylum seekers sent offshore, many more processed onshore and some even granted bridging visas.

The government was forced to embrace Nauru and Manus because its preferred option - the controversial Malaysian people swap deal - was ruled illegal by the High Court and it couldn't win the necessary parliamentary support to revive it.

The deal would have seen 800 asylum seekers arriving by boat being sent to Malaysia and joining the UN resettlement program in exchange for 4000 people from Malaysia who have already been deemed refugees.

Of all the short-term deterrent options, the Malaysia one seems to be the most likely to succeed given that it guarantees the first 800 arrivals will end up in Malaysia.

But despite changes to the Migration Act to permit offshore processing, the government would still need parliamentary approval to proceed with Malaysia.

That means it would need coalition or Greens support.

The chance of this happening, particularly in the lead-up to the hotly contested 2013 election, is slim to none.

In a further backflip, the Gillard government in 2012 agreed to excise the Australian mainland from the migration zone.

This effectively strips rights away from asylum seekers who arrive by boat, further reinforcing the road to offshore processing.

Labor opposed the measure when former prime minister Howard tried to get it through in 2006.

But immigration minister Chris Bowen argues it removes a "perverse incentive" that could endanger the safety of asylum seekers trying to reach the Australian mainland.

The coalition backed the move in parliament but seized on the opportunity to highlight Labor's "hypocrisy" in adopting a policy it so vehemently opposed in opposition.

And with every new boat, the opposition's immigration spokesman Scott Morrison has reminded voters of Labor's "failed" border protection policies.

This theme looks set to intensify in 2013, especially given the coalition's anti-carbon tax campaign appears to be losing steam as people get used to the changes.

Mr Bowen will continue to argue that more time is needed to implement the full suite of recommendations made by the Houston panel.

He'll also continue to speak of the challenge the government faces in winning the public relations battle against the people smugglers.

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Fed govt cuts forcing bed closures: Vic

THOUSANDS of patients will suffer, with every Victorian hospital copping the brunt of "unprecedented" federal funding cuts, the state government says.

Up to 700 Royal Melbourne Hospital patients will be forced to wait longer for elective surgery, while Health Minister David Davis has written to the state's 86 health bosses urging them to plan for the commonwealth's mid-financial-year cuts.

Mr Davis says the commonwealth's revised funding arrangement with the state, which will strip some $107 million from the state's hospitals, is unprecedented and based on false population figures.

The arrangement will cut $15 million from Victorian hospitals in December alone, Reserve Bank of Australia figures show.

In a letter to federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek, Mr Davis says bringing the cuts in halfway through the financial year makes it difficult for hospitals - which planned their annual budgets in May - to adjust.

"These cuts are unprecedented ... this is no way for the commonwealth to run healthcare in this country," he told reporters in Melbourne on Tuesday.

"We're obviously very angry with the commonwealth, hospitals are angry ... and the commonwealth could still reverse this very unfortunate cut."

"It will be hundreds of beds and it will indeed be thousands of patients that are impacted."

Mr Davis said the government had attempted to justify the cuts on "shonky" population figures, which claim Victoria's population fell by 11,000 last year, while Australian Bureau of Statistics in fact shows the state swelled by 75,000 people.

"Never before has this style of adjustment been made so harshly, and never before has such a spurious set of figures been used to justify what in my view is an attempt to prop up the commonwealth budget," Mr Davis said.

But Ms Plibersek says the state is trying to cover its mismanagement.

"This is a smokescreen for the Victorian government's own failures," she said.

"Before any of this was in discussion, there were record high numbers of people on Victorian elective surgery waiting lists."

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New species old threats to Mekong wildlife

FROM a devilish-looking bat to a frog that sings like a bird, scientists have identified 126 new species in the Greater Mekong area, the WWF says in a new report detailing discoveries in 2011.

But from forest loss to the construction of major hydropower projects on the Mekong River, existing threats to the region's biodiversity mean many of the new species are already struggling to survive, the conservation group warned on Tuesday.

"The good news is new discoveries. The bad news is that it is getting harder and harder in the world of conservation and environmental sustainability," Nick Cox, manager of WWF-Greater Mekong's Species Programme, told AFP.

Some 126 species were newly recorded last year in the Greater Mekong region, which consists of Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan.

Some, such as the Beelzebub tube-nosed bat discovered in Vietnam, depend on tropical forests for survival and so are especially vulnerable to deforestation.

In just four decades, 30 percent of the Greater Mekong's forests have disappeared, the report says.

Others, such as a short-tailed python species found in Myanmar are more at risk from illegal hunting for meat, skins, and the exotic pet trade, the report said.

"Poaching for the illegal wildlife trade poses one of the greatest threats to the existence of many species across Southeast Asia," Cox said in a statement accompanying the report.

The list, dominated by plants, included 21 reptiles and five amphibians, such as a frog that sings and another that has black and white eye patterns that look like yin and yang symbols.

The WWF said that while the number of new species discovered was testament to the region's astounding biodiversity, there had been some "worrying developments" that posed a threat to their future.

WWF singled out Laos' determination to construct the Xayaburi dam on the main stream of the Mekong River as a significant threat to the river's "extraordinary biodiversity" and the livelihoods of more than 60 million people.

"The Mekong River supports levels of aquatic biodiversity second only to the Amazon River," according to Cox.

"The Xayaburi dam would prove an impassable barrier for many fish species, signalling the demise for wildlife already known and as yet undiscovered," he added.

The Mekong River supports around 850 fish species and the world's most intensive inland fishery, the report said.

Last month, Laos said it had begun work on the controversial multi-billion dollar Xayaburi dam, defying objections from environmentalists in its bid to become a regional energy hub.

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Nelson starts role as war memorial chief

BRENDAN Nelson professes no encyclopaedic grounding in Australian military history.

But the former senior politician and diplomat believes that will be an asset in his new role as director of the Australian War Memorial.

"Most of the people working at the memorial have forgotten more about our military history than I will ever know," he told AAP on his first day in the job on Monday.

"The people here have skills and knowledge I will never have, but I have skills and knowledge that complement that."

Dr Nelson sees the role of director as much like that of a government minister.

"It's not to be an expert," the former Howard government minister said.

"It's to listen, to read, then seek out the views of the experts and then to apply intellectual rigour to the process of exercising judgement."

Of the many duties Dr Nelson undertook as NATO ambassador in Brussels, it was the commemorative events that he enjoyed the most.

"It wasn't work, it was a privilege," he said, adding he had attended the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate memorial 73 times.

"If it had been in Brussels I would have gone every night."

The memorial honours the missing from the World War I battle of Passchendaele, and the ceremony has been conducted every night since 1928 save for the years of German occupation in World War II.

"The Australian sacrifice there was horrendous," Dr Nelson said, noting the names of 6169 Australian names are listed at Menin Gate.

"There are 12,900 Australians buried in Flanders from World War I."

Dr Nelson believes the soul of the Australian nation is represented by the war memorial and the sacrifices of the men and women who stood behind its collection.

"This building has as much to do with our future as it does our past," he said.

"I will do everything I possibly can to see that we have a meaningful respect and understanding of our history and are able to apply that for the future horizons we face and the challenges."

Increasing numbers of young people were looking for a sense of what it meant to be an Australian, Dr Nelson said.

"A lot of those young Australians are finding and will find the values that will best shape their lives by what's represented here."

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Arson murder accused seeks trial delay

A MAN charged with attempted murder after he allegedly tied a woman to a bed before setting fire to her home has sought to defer his trial by more than half a year.

Anto Prawira Bintan, an Indonesian-born Australian citizen, has pleaded guilty to using violence to steal cash and credit cards from 29-year-old Cui Ling Tao in December last year, but pleaded not guilty to attempted murder.

The victim, an Australian citizen originally from China, was allegedly found at her Cannington home bound with cables and doused with accelerant, and had suffered burns to more than 60 per cent of her body.

On Monday in the Supreme Court of Western Australia, prosecutor James MacTaggart opposed Bintan's request to defer trial dates set for February to September or October.

Bintan, 33, was seeking more time to obtain fire and drug toxicity reports, and funds from his father.

But Mr MacTaggart said the victim was anxious to have the matter proceed as quickly as possible and wanted to go overseas to be with her parents.

Justice Lindy Jenkins told the court there was an obvious interest for the charges to be heard in a timely fashion, and it was likely the reports would be received before the February trial.

Bintan's lawyer Luka Margaretic has indicated that he expects to cease acting for his client because the accused won't accept his advice.

Justic Jenkins advised Bintan, who appeared from Hakea Prison via videolink, to discuss the matter with Mr Margaretic ahead of a status conference on Thursday.

Bintan was advised to seek new counsel via legal aid if Mr Margaretic ceased acting for him and was warned the trial would not be delayed if he sought to represent himself.

Bintan has also pleaded guilty to rendering Ms Tao incapable of resistance, criminal damage by fire and stealing her car.

He will be sentenced for these offences, as well as the aggravated robbery, after the trial.

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PMP retains Woolworths print contract

PRINTING and distribution business PMP has received some welcome good news after it retained the contract to print catalogues for Woolworths.

"PMP confirms Woolworths has indicated that, subject to the supply agreement being finalised, it has retained the printing of Woolworth national catalogues following Woolworths request for tender," PMP said in a statement on Monday.

PMP has held the the Woolworth's printing contract, believed to be one of the largest print contracts in Australia, for about 10 years.

The company said in November it would shut its Chullora printing plant in Sydney in June 2013, as part of a transformation plan to adapt to the new digital landscape.

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US returns Guantanamo prisoner's remains

The remains of a Guantanamo Bay prisoner who died in September have been returned to Yemen. Source: AAP

US authorities say the remains of a Guantanamo Bay prisoner who died in September have been returned to his native Yemen.

A spokesman for the military's Miami-based Southern Command said on Saturday that the medical examiner ruled Adnan Latif's September 8 death a suicide.

Colonel Greg Julian said Latif died of a self-induced overdose of prescription medication, adding that acute pneumonia also contributed to the 32-year-old's death.

Latif had been held at Guantanamo for more than a decade.

The US accused him of training with the Taliban to fight in Afghanistan. He was never charged but could not be returned to Yemen because of instability there. He challenged his confinement all the way to the US Supreme Court.

Officials said the Naval Criminal Investigative Service was still investigating Latif's death.

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

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Shot fired outside Gold Coast home

POLICE are trying to track down a group who fired a shot outside a Gold Coast home.

The four men and one woman tried to force their way into the Chevron Island home on Saturday evening, as a group of people were socialising on the front balcony.

The group couldn't bust through the door but became involved in a verbal fight with those on the balcony.

As they were leaving, one of the men fired a shot at the rear of the house.

No-one was injured.

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Push to overturn cage fighting ban

VICTORIA'S Labor party is pushing to overturn a state ban on cage fighting.

The party unveiled a policy on Sunday it says will make combat sports safer and boost sports tourism.

It is pushing for a national code on combat sports and the introduction of a safe alternative to a boxing ring for mixed martial arts (MMA) events.

Cage fighting was banned by the previous Brumby Labor government, with any promoter or organisation staging an event facing fines of up to $12,000 or 12 months' jail.

The Professional Boxing and Combat Sports Board has recommended to the Victorian government that MMA events be required to use an enclosure called an "octagon" to replace boxing rings.

Labor opposition sport spokesman John Eren said under current state rules, it is possible for a contestant to be thrown out of a boxing ring and potentially face serious injury.

"The octagon is an eight-sided enclosure that assists fighter safety and it is safety that should be a priority in regulating the sport," he said in a statement.

Mr Eren said MMA events are a multi-million dollar industry Victoria should be tapping into.

A Sydney event in 2011 drew more than 18,000 fans.

Many MMA events come under the jurisdiction of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), which is regulated in 46 US states as well as NSW, SA and WA.

"Holding a UFC event in Melbourne could be a tourism winner for Victoria, creating a number of direct and indirect jobs and adding to Victoria's status as Australia's sporting capital," Mr Eren said.

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