US tax deal seals oldest Swiss bank's fate

Wegelin & Co has pleaded guilty in a case involving US residents who hid funds in secret accounts. Source: AAP

THE oldest Swiss bank, Wegelin & Co, is wrapping up an existence that has spanned more than 270 years after pleading guilty in a US case involving Americans who hid funds in secret accounts abroad.

Wegelin, which was founded in 1741 and based in St Gallen, eastern Switzerland, unveiled late on Thursday an agreement with US federal prosecutors in New York that includes penalties worth a total of $US57.8 million ($A55.47 million) for helping wealthy individuals avoid at least $US20 million in taxes.

"Wegelin was aware that this conduct was wrong," said Otto Bruderer, one of the bank's managing partners, as he entered a guilty plea on behalf of the bank to one count of conspiracy.

"However, Wegelin believed that, as a practical matter, it would not be prosecuted in the United States for this conduct because it had no branches or offices in the United States and because of its understanding that it acted in accordance with, and not in violation of, Swiss law and that such conduct was common in the Swiss banking industry," he added.

The bank had carried out operations in the United States via an account with UBS, and the case marked the first time that US justice officials have charged a bank, rather than individuals, as part of a crackdown on overseas tax evasion, Dow Jones Newswires said.

US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara called the agreement a "watershed moment in our efforts to hold to account both the individuals and the banks - wherever they may be in the world - who are engaging in unlawful conduct that deprives the US treasury of billions of dollars of tax revenue".

According to the Wall Street Journal, the court could sentence the Swiss bank on March 4, formally endorsing the agreement and putting an end to further prosecution of Wegelin in the United States.

Wegelin had essentially stopped operating as a bank in late January 2012 to focus on the US case.

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Google maps New Year's resolutions

GOOGLE is letting people peg their New Year's resolutions to an online map and see what promises others around the world have set out to keep in 2013.

By Friday, a resolutions section at the California Internet giant's 2012 Zeitgeist website had logged half a million entries, more than a third of which involved desires to love or be loved.

Vows to improve personal health were rife in the United States, while Russia was at the head of the class when it came to education-focused resolutions, according to Google.

Pledges mapped at google.com/zeitgeist/2012/resolutions were divided into categories that included love, health, finance, career, education and family.

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Wikipedia losing editors, study says

Wikipedia, one of the world's biggest websites, is losing many of its English-language editors. Source: AAP

WIKIPEDIA, one of the world's biggest websites, is losing many of its English-language editors, crippling its ability to keep pace with its mission as a source of knowledge online, a study says.

The study led by Aaron Halfaker of the University of Minnesota found that the number of "collaborators" or volunteer editors has been on the decline from around 56,000 in 2007 to some 35,000 at the end of 2012.

The researchers said there were a number of reasons, including the rise of automated programs or "bots," but also noted that some potential contributors were being discouraged by Wikipedia's structure.

"Several changes the Wikipedia community made to manage quality and consistency in the face of a massive growth in participation have ironically crippled the very growth they were designed to manage," the researchers wrote in last week's American Behavioral Scientist.

"Specifically, the restrictiveness of the encyclopedia's primary quality control mechanism and the algorithmic tools used to reject contributions are implicated as key causes of decreased newcomer retention."

They said that while Wikipedia had sought to root out less competent editors, its rules had also discouraged "desirable newcomers" who get discouraged when their contributions get deleted.

Wikipedia has editions in 285 languages. Its founder Jimmy Wales has cited the need to make Wikipedia more open to newcomers, to keep up with the vast amount of information it is trying to process.

But the authors of the study said Wikipedia was being crimped by its rules trying to improve quality.

"Wikipedia has changed from 'the encyclopedia that anyone can edit' to 'the encyclopedia that anyone who understands the norms, socialises him or herself, dodges the impersonal wall of semi-automated rejection and still wants to voluntarily contribute his or her time and energy can edit,'" they wrote.

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Man charged with murder of Mildura woman

A MAN has been charged with the murder of a 58-year-old woman in Victoria's northwest.

Paramedics were called to a house in Mildura just before 8.30pm (AEDT) on Thursday where they found a woman with stab wounds to her upper body.

She died at the scene.

Homicide Squad detectives charged a 55-year-old man with murder on Friday.

He is expected to appear in Bendigo Magistrates Court on Friday via videolink from Mildura.

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Star Wars creator George Lucas engaged

Star Wars creator George Lucas (R) is engaged to investment firm president Mellody Hobson. Source: AAP

STAR Wars creator George Lucas is engaged.

A spokeswoman for Lucasfilm Ltd says the 68-year-old director is engaged to 43-year-old investment firm president Mellody Hobson. No other details were provided.

Hobson serves as chairman of DreamWorks Animation and is a financial contributor to US network ABC's Good Morning America.

Lucas helped to launch the modern blockbuster age with his Star Wars sagas and Indiana Jones adventures. The original Star Wars still stands as the No.2 film in terms of tickets sold domestically, behind only Gone with the Wind.

Lucas has three children: Amanda, Katie and Jett. He was previously married to film editor Marcia Lucas from 1969 to 1983.

Disney completed its acquisition of Lucasfilm and the Star Wars franchise from Lucas for $US4.06 billion in cash and stock last month.

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Aussies buy record number of cars

Australians bought a record 1.1 million new cars last year, a 10.3 per cent increase from 2011. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIANS bought a record number of new cars last year, with big jumps in purchases of sports-utilities and commercial vehicles.

There were 1.1 million new cars purchased in 2012, a 10.3 per cent increase from 2011, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) reported on Friday.

Passenger vehicles were the highest selling segment of the market, with 576,855 units traded, up 3.1 per cent from the previous year.

The biggest market movers were 4WDs, with sales up 25.3 per cent to 305,825, and commercial vehicles, which rose 12.2 per cent to 198,302.

FCAI chief executive Tony Weber says the result was an all-time high for the new car market.

"Australia avoided much of the global financial crisis aftermath and with production resuming in Thailand and Japan, the automotive industry was able to respond to the enthusiasm of the car buying public," Mr Weber told reporters in Sydney.

"The record 2012 is a combination of these factors."

He rejected suggestions the figure was a "false number" inflated by incentives and bonuses at dealerships.

"The number that we have here is a very valid number," he said.

Toyota was the highest selling brand in 2012 with 218,176 sales, followed by Holden and Mazda.

The Mazda3 was the best selling model of last year.

Mr Weber predicted there would be a slight fall in the number of cars sold in 2013, to just over one million.

He also defended the local car manufacturing industry, despite sales of the Holden Falcon and Commodore being at "historic lows".

"The reality is that three domestic producers are in the top five brand sales," he said.

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US gun-crime suspects arrested in Sydney

TWO men wanted for firearms and drugs offences in the United States have been arrested in Sydney.

The men, aged 31 and 44, were arrested by NSW police following requests from US authorities for their provisional arrest pending extradition.

The arrests follow an investigation into an alleged illegal gun supply route between Nashville in Tennessee, and Sydney.

NSW police and Australian Customs and Border Protection Service have been working with the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration since last year.

In October 2012, officers from the NSW police firearms and organised crime squad and Australian customs were present during raids by the ATF in Nashville which resulted in a number of arrests.

The multi-agency investigation is ongoing.

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Tasmania bushfire threatens township

A LARGE bushfire is out of control in Tasmania and will impact the township of Richmond, fire authorities say.

An emergency warning has been issued for Middle Tea Tree Road in Richmond, northeast of Hobart.

"Fire under these conditions will be uncontrollable, unpredictable and fast moving," says an alert sent from the Tasmania Fire Service on Thursday afternoon.

"The fire is expected to put the area of (the) Richmond township and surrounds at direct extreme risk from the fire front."

Firefighters are anticipating embers to also create spot fires that may threaten homes.

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Vic police target arsonists in heatwave

VICTORIAN police will target known and potential arsonists as the state braces for an extreme bushfire threat amid searing temperatures.

Assistant Commissioner Steve Fontana says there was a meeting of regional assistant commissioners and operational commanders on Wednesday to confirm strategies for the coming heatwave.

Temperatures are forecast to reach 40C across northern parts of the state on Thursday and will remain in the 40s until mid-next week.

Melbourne is expected to hit 41C on Friday.

Fire authorities are expecting extreme conditions where fires will quickly become uncontrollable and unpredictable.

Mr Fontana says police strategies include community awareness and preparedness and having a visible presence in high risk areas.

But it also involved "targeting high-risk individuals that we suspect are involved in activity, or potential arsonists", he said.

Mr Fontana defended the work of the newly-established Bushfire, Arson and Explosives Liaison Officers (BAILO), a group designed to investigate and prevent arson attacks.

He said the statewide network of 150 specialist officers, which began in November, was more effective than a task force.

Mr Fontana said the focus should not just be on known arsonists.

"We're really focused on identifying high-risk individuals within the community and ... not all of them are actually arsonists or have prior convictions for arson," he told reporters.

"We often get a lot of juveniles that are starting out to commit (crimes), set bushfires, or other people that have got no (police) background at all.

"I think it can be flawed to say that we just need to target people with convictions for arson because they're not always the ones that are involved in these incidents."

Mr Fontana said the officers had already made a number of arrests and were involved in investigations of a number of arson attacks.

"We've only rolled this program out in November and it's starting to grow and we're getting some really good results," he said.

Acting Premier and Police and Emergency Services Minister Peter Ryan said the officers had already achieved results.

"We now have 150-plus officers spread through 39 of the 54 police service areas who have received the additional training," Mr Ryan told reporters.

"It will mean that we bring that all-important local knowledge to bear for those who might be a threat in relation to arson."

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Single mums slam Macklin comments

SINGLE mothers have reacted angrily at "appalling" and "degrading" comments by Families Minister Jenny Macklin, who said she could survive on the $35 a day Newstart allowance.

Ms Macklin made the comment on Tuesday about the federal government's changes to Newstart, which welfare groups estimate will make some families between $60 to $100 a week worse off.

Corinna Taylor, a 43-year-old Brisbane mother of two, who expects to be moved on to the new system and lose $90 a week, said the comment was "appalling".

"I found it quite degrading," she told AAP on Wednesday.

Ms Taylor said the new arrangements will force her to seek charity help or family loans.

It will also force many single mothers to rort the system, she said.

"But I would challenge anybody to live on $35 a day and not in some way have to rort the system."

The government's changes will put those in different circumstances in the same basket, she said.

"I now will live on the same allowance as my 19-year-old nephew but he rents a room for $120 a week," Ms Taylor said.

Office manager Cate Flaherty, a single mother of two, agrees.

"As a single mother who has always worked part-time and raised polite, considerate children, I feel that I am now being treated as somebody who adds no more value to society than some junkie who sits on the couch all day," she told AAP.

Ms Flaherty says her budget will now be cut by $230 a fortnight, almost double that of a non-working single mother.

"We've actually copped a bigger hit than non-working single mothers, and what's really bothered me is that they're saying it encourages people back to work, but they wouldn't be punishing the ones doing the right thing all along," she said.

"It's made it harder for me to work."

Ms Flaherty said she felt "gutted" by Ms Macklin's comments.

"It makes you feel worthless to society when you're doing such an important job," she said.

"I should be a die-hard Labor voter but I've put a boycott on Labor for the rest of my life."

Terese Edwards, chief executive of the National Council of Single Mothers and Their Children, said Ms Macklin's comments had been greeted with "great dismay and distress" by single mums around the country.

"It has resonated as salt in the wound for these mums who are facing such an uphill battle," she told AAP.

Ms Edwards said she went to a supermarket on Wednesday to check prices and found it would be impossible to make ends meet on $35 a day.

She said if rent cost a single mum $28 a day, plus school bus tickets for two children, cereal for breakfast, cheese sandwiches for lunch, and sausages and vegetables for tea, it would total nearly $54.

That was without fruit, toiletries or cleaning products, not to mention electricity, healthcare, clothes and the rest, Ms Edwards said.

Parramatta single mother-of-two, Luana Barrett, 41, said she would like to see Ms Macklin survive on the Newstart allowance and take care of her eight-year-old daughter, Mikayla, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

"She's more than welcome to come to my home, look after my daughter, drive my bodgie car to work and try to make ends meet," Ms Barrett told AAP.

A casual shop assistant, Ms Barrett broke down in tears as she described how her family would try to cope with the cuts.

"I don't think I can afford to send Mikayla to dance class this year.

"It's only $20 a week.... I don't know how I'm going to find that money.

"We suffer mentally (worrying about our finances) but it's the kids who will suffer the most."

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Ivory Coast mourns for stampede victims

60 people have died in the Ivory Coast after crowds stampeded during New Year's Eve fireworks. Source: AAP

THE Ivory Coast has begun three days of national mourning after a stampede among crowds gathered for celebratory New Year's Eve fireworks in Abidjan left at least 60 dead and dozens injured.

An AFP journalist saw many injured children, while images broadcast by RTI television showed bodies stretched lifeless on the ground outside the city's main stadium.

Piles of abandoned shoes and clothing could also be seen at the stadium, where soldiers and police were deployed, along with UN peacekeepers.

"This is a real tragedy on this New Year's Day," President Alassane Ouattara said at the scene.

"We are all in shock," he added, announcing that three days of national mourning would be held starting on Wednesday.

The government said 60 people had died, with an average age of 18. Earlier, the head of military rescue workers, Lieutenant Colonel Issa Sako, told journalists that 61 had died.

"Forty-nine wounded were evacuated" by rescue workers, Sako said, adding that other injured victims had gone to hospital on their own. Another rescue official said at least 200 people had been wounded in all.

Sako said the flow of people at the stadium had caused a "very large crush" and that "in the crush, people were walked over and suffocated by the crowd".

Officials said around 50,000 people had gathered for the fireworks.

Witnesses said the stampede had broken out after the fireworks ended, though the cause remains unclear.

It erupted near the stadium's main entrance, where security had set up tree trunks as crowd control barriers.

According to a police source, the crush occurred when two streams of spectators going in opposite directions crossed paths.

A security source added that rescue services "took some time to arrive".

Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko said the "exact circumstances" of the tragedy are "under investigation by the security services".

Visibly shaken children were among the roughly 40 wounded taken to a hospital in the wealthy neighbourhood of Cocody, in the north of the economic capital.

A mother named Zeinab who had taken two of her children to the stadium found one of them in the hospital, a small boy who lay on a bed in a groggy state.

Zeinab said she "hurt all over" and showed a journalist the scratches on her body.

"I don't know what happened, but I found myself lying on the ground with people stepping on me, pulling my hair or tearing my clothes," she said.

She said she had been knocked unconscious and that a young man had pulled her from the crowd.

The New Year's fireworks, the city's second in two years, had been touted as a symbol of national renewal under Ouattara after a violent post-election crisis that tore the country apart from December 2010 to April 2011, killing about 3000 people.

The unrest began after Ouattara's long-time rival and former iron-fisted ruler Laurent Gbagbo refused to step down.

He was later arrested by forces loyal to Ouattara, with UN and French military backing, and transferred to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, where he is accused of crimes against humanity.

Though the troubled west African nation - the world's top cocoa producer - is still recovering from the political and military crisis, Ouattara had struck a note of optimism in a New Year's message on Monday evening.

He said the former French colony had "possibilities like seldom before" ahead of it, promising it would soon reap the rewards of economic growth and development.

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Two-year-old boy attacked by dog in Sydney

A Rottweiler will be destroyed after a two-year-old boy was attacked at a family home in Sydney. Source: AAP

A TWO-YEAR-OLD boy remains in hospital after he was attacked by a Rottweiler while visiting family in Sydney's west.

The boy and his parents were visiting a home in Fullerton Street, St Helens Park about 7.30pm (AEDT) on Monday, when he was attacked by the owner's five-year-old Rottweiler, police said.

The boy was playing with other children in the backyard of the premises and suffered serious facial injuries in the attack, while his father was also bitten several times on the leg as he tried to free his son.

The boy was taken to Campbelltown Hospital before being transferred to Westmead Children's Hospital in a stable condition, while his father also was treated at hospital.

The dog was surrendered to Campbelltown Council by the owner and will be destroyed.

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SA govt to sell off buildings

THE South Australian government is pushing ahead with plans to sell off a string of properties in a move the opposition says is a bandaid response to the cash-strapped budget.

The state government has released a tender for the sale of six properties including the Adelaide police station in Wakefield Street and a group of commercial buildings at suburban Netley.

Some are still used by government departments and will be leased back.

The sales follow the mid-year budget review in December, when Treasurer Jack Snelling revealed a blow-out in the forecast deficit for 2012/13 to $1.17 billion.

At the time Mr Snelling said the state economy was performing relatively well in the context of the current international economic conditions.

But he said government revenues had fallen, requiring continued spending restraint.

Deputy Opposition Leader Steven Marshall said issues with the state's finances had forced the government's hand on the sale of properties.

"It is disappointing that despite the continual sale of state assets, our state debt is getting larger and larger each year," Mr Marshall said in a statement on Tuesday.

"The sale of these assets may bring in some quick dollars for this cash-strapped treasurer, but it will ultimately significantly increase the costs of running our various state government departments through increased rental charges."

Mr Marshall said the government should stop looking for bandaid solutions to the state's dire economic circumstances.

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Australia wishes Hillary Clinton well

AUSTRALIA will wish the ailing US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton well as she approaches her final weeks in the top job.

Clinton was admitted to the New York-Presbyterian Hospital on Sunday following the discovery of a clot in a vein situated in the space between her brain and the skull behind her right ear.

She is being treated with blood thinners to dissolve the clot and will be released once the medication takes effect.

Doctors are confident she will make a full recovery.

Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr will wish her well as she is expected to step down from the top job in coming weeks in a decision made before her illness.

"I'm about to write a letter to her that I hope can reach her within the days," Senator Carr told reporters on Tuesday in Sydney.

"Saying how much we value our work with her and how sincerely we extend our best wishes for a speedy recovery.

"I'm amazed when I hear accounts of her travel, of countries visited that a US secretary of state has never been to before."

"She's been a perfect diplomatic partner for Australia."

Former presidential candidate Senator John Kerry is expected to replace Mrs Clinton once he is confirmed by the Senate.

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Missing autistic boy found alive in WA

A 14-YEAR-OLD boy with autism and cerebral palsy who was reported missing at the weekend has been found alive in Western Australia's Wheatbelt region.

Dennis Dear was riding his quad bike with his father in Flint, about 80km southeast of Perth, at 9.30am (WST) on Sunday when he disappeared.

Police had been concerned Dennis would be exposed to the 40 degree temperature and it was believed he didn't have any water with him.

His quad bike was found on Sunday night and he was found on Monday morning.

Police say a helicopter is taking Dennis to hospital for a check-up and they described him as being relatively well.

State Emergency Service volunteers, police, officers from the mounted section and the police helicopter were involved in the search.

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Aust stocks close 0.5% down

AUSTRALIAN shares closed almost half a per cent lower on the final trading day of 2013, as investors locked in profits following a negative lead from Wall Street.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed a shortened session down 22.4 points, or 0.48 per cent, at 4,648.9 points on Monday, while the broader All Ordinaries index fell 20.7 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 4,664.6 points.

On the ASX 24, the March 2013 share price index futures contract was 30 points lower at 4,616 points, on volume of 14,233 contracts traded.

The Australian stock market closed early on New Year's Eve and will resume trade on Wednesday, January 2, 2013.

The prospect of no deal being reached between US president Barack Obama and legislators in the US Congress over a looming budget deadline caused investors to offload stocks during Friday night's (AEDT) US session.

CommSec economist Craig James said local investors now appeared to be more optimistic about the US situation, and took heart from stronger-than-expected Chinese manufacturing figures released at 1230 AEDT.

"It was short-lived strength, but there was a degree of strength when the Chinese data came through," Mr James said.

"What we're seeing now is some of the late book squaring and profit-taking by a number of the professional investors and some retail-type investors."

Australia had again outperformed European and US markets, with most people optimistic that an agreement would be reached in the US.

Wall Street closed lower - the Dow slipped 1.21 per cent, the S&P500 eased 1.1 per cent and the NASDAQ tumbled 0.86 per cent.

In local news, Fairfax Media was up 7.4 per cent at 51 cents after it emerged advertising man John Singleton and investment banker Mark Carnegie had bought into the struggling publisher.

Sundance Resources shares were 15.6 per cent higher at 37 cents following reports that Hanlong Mining is finalising the $1.3 billion acquisition of the Australian miner.

Two of the best performing stocks over the year, DrillSearch and Breville, suffered losses on Monday.

Drillsearch shares were 3.5 cents lower at $1.52, while

Breville was the worst-performing stock on the S&P/ASX200, tumbling five per cent, or 35 cents, to $6.65, while DrillSearch slipped 2.25 per cent, or 3.5 cents, to $1.52.

The spot price of gold in Sydney was $US1,658.33 per fine ounce, down $US3.82 from Friday's local close of $US1,662.15 per ounce.

National turnover was 609 million securities worth $1.2 billion, with 338 stocks trading up, 405 down and 354 unchanged.

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Train kills five elephants in east India

A passenger train has hit a herd of elephants at a railway crossing in eastern India, killing five. Source: AAP

A PASSENGER train killed five elephants when it ploughed into a herd crossing railway tracks in eastern India.

R.N. Mohapatra, a railway spokesman, says the train struck the animals early on Sunday in the Rambha forest area, about 180km south of Bhubaneshwar, the capital of Orissa state.

J.D. Sharma, chief conservator of the state's wildlife department, accused the railway authorities of ignoring his department's warning that trains should slow down because a herd of elephants was moving in the area.

Mohapatra said the warning came too late.

Dozens of elephants have died in India in recent years after being struck while crossing railway tracks that often run through national parks and forests.

India's wild elephant population was recently estimated at about 26,000.

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GPS to track WA's worst sex predators

THE new year will bring new powers to allow West Australian authorities to electronically monitor the state's most dangerous sex offenders.

Among several pieces of controversial new legislation to come into force in the state on January 1 or just after, electronic monitoring will become a standard condition of supervision orders for dangerous sexual offenders released from custody.

Electronic monitoring via a GPS system will also apply to dangerous sexual offenders who have already been released and are currently on supervision orders, with the new powers due to come into effect from February.

The $6 million system will only be used in Perth initially, with a regional phase-in scheduled later in the year.

Meanwhile, changes to inheritance laws in WA will mean stepchildren will for the first time be able to challenge the wills of step-parents if they feel they have been inadequately provided.

Bringing the state in line with the rest of the country, a stepchild will now be able to challenge a will based on a claim there had been failure to provide adequate or proper provision in the estate of the dead step-parent.

And after rushing through the required legislation, WA will impose an R18+ classification on violent computer games - with $5000 fines for selling an R18+ games to a minor, a $2000 fine for demonstrating an R18+ game in a public place, and a $500 fine for shops who keep an R18+ game alongside other games.

Also in the new year, fines for cigarette butt littering will more than double from $75 to $200, while a new commercial tenancy bill will mean landlords having to disclose more information to small business owners, while preventing them from passing on certain legal charges to potential tenants.

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Firefighter dies on job in Gisborne

VICTORIANS have expressed condolences to family and colleagues of a CFA firefighter who died while battling a house fire northwest of Melbourne.

The 45-year-old married father of two was attending a house fire in Gisborne just before midnight (AEDT) when colleagues found him unconscious away from the house about 1.30am (AEDT) on Sunday.

Fellow brigade members found him lying beside a tanker and administered first aid and called an ambulance, but paramedics were unable to revive him.

The CFA extended its sympathies to the family and colleagues of the man, who was a volunteer with the Gisborne brigade.

"CFA is saddened by this loss and our deepest sympathies are with the firefighter's family, his friends and colleagues," CFA chief officer Euan Ferguson said in a statement.

"We also extend our deep sympathies to the members of the Gisborne fire brigade.

"We will be doing everything we can to support them during this difficult time."

The CFA is offering counselling to the man's family and colleagues.

Acting Premier Peter Ryan said it was a tragic loss.

The reason for the man's death will be subject to separate inquiries, he said.

"I do send though to his wife and his children the heartfelt sympathies of all Victorians," he told reporters in Melbourne.

"I do so on behalf of not only the government but the whole of the parliament of Victoria.

"This is a tragic day for the family."

Mr Ryan said it is also a time to reflect on the extraordinary contribution volunteers make in protecting people from the threat of fire.

About four brigades attended the fire in Brantome Street, which took about an hour to control.

One person was home at the time but they were uninjured.

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NDIS, education before election: Gillard

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard says her government has two major items to implement in 2013 before going to an election - introducing the National Disability Insurance Scheme and undertaking further major education reforms.

Ms Gillard took time off from her holidays to make an appearance at the Woodford Folk Festival on Sunday.

She says the government would continue to work to keep the economy strong and jobs rolling, but the other two issues were her "two big ambitions for 2013 before we get around to winning that election".

"I want to see us launch the National Disability Insurance Scheme on the first of July," she told the festival crowd.

"Then the other thing I've got a really big focus on is delivering on further education reforms.

"We had a fair old wake up call in international testing (recently). We can make sure our kids can get a world-class education."

She said the government had already made changes to a number of schools that had been struggling.

"What we've got to do now is take it and upscale and give it to every school and make a difference to every school.

"I'm absolutely determined that we're battling through on that."

A federal election is not due to until October next year, where Labor hopes to regain its majority.

Ms Gillard has led a minority government with the support of key independents Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott since 2010, but she said the situation had not dented her agenda.

She pointed to a number of achievements including introducing the carbon tax, putting healthcare on a sustainable footing, introducing the Queensland flood levy, education and aged care reforms. But did not mention asylum seeker policy.

"The really big decisions this government's taken would be effectively the same," she said.

"We would have done the same things as a majority government because they are the right thing to do.

She said the introduction of carbon pricing was in some ways made better by the negotiations needed in a minority government.

"It meant we could work across both houses - the house and the Senate - not just put something in the Senate and have it knocked over, which was the history of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, but actually work in a way which the proposition that went to the parliament was going to get carried."

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