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Woman sexually assaulted in Vic

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 31 Desember 2013 | 11.25

A SOUTH American woman has been sexually assaulted by a man who gave her a lift on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula.

Police say a man approached the 28-year-old, who is working in Australia as a nanny, at McCrae on Sunday and offered her a lift to a train station.

He drove her to an isolated part of Shoreham, punched her in the face and grappled with her, before she got out of the car and tried to flee.

The man then allegedly ran her down and sexually assaulted her.

He fled the scene in his car, described as a gold-coloured Holden utility.

Detective Senior Sergeant Jason Walsh said the woman was extremely distressed and traumatised by the attack and had decided to leave Australia earlier than planned.

"She received minor facial injuries, however, emotionally will be scarred forever," he said on Tuesday.

Police say the man told the woman his name was Dane, and is described as Caucasian in appearance, of thin build, about 25 years old and about 165cm tall with short, light-brown or blond hair and light-brown eyes.

He was wearing a dark T-shirt, possibly black, light beige pants, possibly cargos and dark-coloured shoes.


11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Measles linked to Sydney dance event

DANCERS who participated in a Sydney competition recently have been warned to be on the lookout for measles symptoms.

NSW Health issued a health alert after being made aware of three measles cases in people who probably contracted the infection at the World Supremacy Battleground hip hop competition.

The competition was held at Sydney Olympic Park on December 7 and 8.

The first case came to NSW Health's attention on December 27, with a competitor from Adelaide coming down with measles.

On Monday night, further cases were reported by a New Zealand patient and a Sydney resident.

NSW Health communicable diseases director Dr Vicky Sheppeard advised anyone who attended the dance event to be alert for measles symptoms.

"Measles is highly infectious and is spread through coughing and sneezing," Dr Sheppeard said in a statement.

"Symptoms can include fever, tiredness, runny nose, cough and sore red eyes which usually last for several days before a red, blotchy rash appears."

The time from exposure to the onset of symptoms can be up to 18 days.

NSW Health believes that there may be other cases in the community now or secondary cases could be developing.

Anyone with measles symptoms is advised to contact their local public health unit or phone ahead to a GP to ensure that the waiting area is not shared with others.


11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Scooter company on track for first profit

SCOOTER maker Vmoto expects 2013 will be its first profitable year, thanks to growing sales in China.

The company makes electric and petrol scooters in China, and distributes them to more than 30 countries.

Vmoto also owns 10 retail outlets in China, with four of those stores having opened in the last two months.

On Monday, the company said November was another profitable month, and the company still expects to make its maiden annual profit, of between $300,000 and $600,000, in the 2013 calendar year.

Vmoto listed on the Australian share market in 2002.

It expects to have had made 42,000 scooters in the year, and had sold 3,197 of its own scooters in China by the end of November.

"The gradual buildup in sales month-on-month are testament to the Vmoto brand becoming increasingly recognised as a premium product for electric scooter riders in China," it said.

The company's shares gained 0.1 of a cent to 3.1 cents.


11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Perth gets ready for NYE parties

Written By Unknown on Senin, 30 Desember 2013 | 11.25

LIVE music, fancy-dress parties and fireworks are on offer in Perth for New Year's Eve, but police are warning revellers to act responsibly.

An extra 1000 police will be on the streets on New Year's Eve, to clamp down on rowdy or anti-social behaviour and drink-drivers.

Assistant Commissioner Gary Dreibergs said with so many people expected in Perth's entertainment precincts, people should look out for their mates and plan their trip home before they go out.

"To put it simply, respect yourself, and respect others," he said.

"All too often we see minor matters escalate into serious incidents because someone who has consumed too much alcohol isn't able to make the right decision to step away from a minor disagreement or other trivial occurrence, such as being bumped by someone else."

Police have also warned people not to hire drivers who are advertising their taxi services online illegally.

Family entertainment in Perth includes fireworks in Mandurah and Rockingham, and a party at Perth Zoo with live music.

On New Year's Day, about 35,000 people are expected to attend the Perth Cup at Ascot Racecourse.


11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Die-hard spectators snag NYE spots at 5am

FOR some New Year's Eve revellers, the distant sparkle of fireworks is enough to entertain.

But for others, the occasion is worth setting up a camping chair and waiting 20 hours to ensure a front-row seat for the show.

Every year a trickle of die-hard punters heads to Sydney's prime vantage points from early New Year's Eve morning to secure a spot for the fireworks spectacular.

"We have people turning up from 5-6am easily," Sydney New Year's Eve producer Aneurin Coffey told AAP.

"They are the really die-hard fans that get there early and then another group come about 8am."

Mr Coffey said it was often the same early risers who nabbed a piece of "prime real estate" year after year.

"Often it's the same groups of people, and our staff and security guards get to know the people who turn up early," he said.

While the Sydney Opera House and Dawes Point see the first trickle of spectators, Bradfield Park, Blues Point Reserve and Observatory Hill Park are also popular early.

Boats also turn out early, from about 10am Mr Coffey says, to secure an ideal spot in the harbour.

"Boats come early and snag a spot so guests can get water taxis out and join them in the day," he said.

In past years, there have been between 2000 and 8000 vessels in the harbour on New Year's Eve.

With 1.5 million people expected to flock to Sydney for the celebrations, organisers warn people to look out the vantage points outside the CBD.

Emergency services will be out in strength, with 2500 police in Sydney and 3000 across NSW.

Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch said every "toy we possess" would be in play.

"We will have our general duties police, police on public transport, on the water, on horseback, in motor cars but extensively on foot," he told reporters on Monday.

NSW Ambulance Deputy Commissioner Mike Willis said paramedic numbers will also be boosted, as the service prepares for alcohol-related injuries.

"We will see everything from people who have fallen down stairs or more tragically fallen over some of the cliffs that are in and around some of the foreshore," he told reporters on Monday.

Sydney will see three fireworks displays this year at 9pm, 10:30pm and midnight.

President of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) Dr Steve Hambleton also warned against over-indulging and said people shouldn't mix alcohol and energy drinks.

"It can lead people to consume excessive amounts of alcohol and excessive amounts of caffeine, both of which can be harmful on their own, but potentially lethal when consumed together," he said.


11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Palmer a tease over Muir deal: Xenophon

INDEPENDENT senator Nick Xenophon says Clive Palmer is teasing the public about his political alliance with motoring enthusiast Ricky Muir, comparing the billionaire to a burlesque dancer.

A one-page memorandum of understanding between the Palmer United Party (PUP) and senator-elect Muir's Australian Motoring Enthusiasts Party, says each intends to work together in the Senate "where it is practicable".

However, the October 6 agreement also frees up both parties to vote how they wish on matters of principle.

"This memorandum does not require any party to vote for legislation that is against his or her party's policies and principles, or against their conscience," the deal states.

Senator Xenophon had accused Mr Palmer of breaking his promise to release the memo by Christmas.

But having now seen the document, released on the PUP website at the weekend, he's wondering: "Is that all there is?"

"Why did he make such a song and dance?" Senator Xenophon told AAP on Monday.

"He's been teasing us with this document, turning it into a big deal.

"He is to politics what Dita Von Teese is to burlesque."

Senator Xenophon also questioned why the memo appeared to be missing information, with paragraphs skipping from B to D, and 2 to 4.

Mr Palmer has blamed a computer error for the anomaly, prompting an offer of a new computer from the South Australian senator.

"I'm trying to find an old [80s-era] Amstrad 64," Senator Xenophon joked.

"I think it would be more reliable than the computer that he's currently got."

The Greens' Lee Rhiannon said the memo did not clarify the relationship between the two parties, and called for reform of the Senate voting system.

"Australians should be able to feel confident that when they vote for a party in the Senate, if preferences are distributed they flow according to the voter's choice," Senator Rhiannon said in a statement.

Comment is being sought from Mr Palmer.

Mr Muir and the newly elected PUP senators will take their seats at the beginning of July.


11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Man enters embassy in Indonesia: report

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 29 Desember 2013 | 11.25

A man is being questioned by police after he scaled the Australian embassy wall in Indonesia. Source: AAP

POLICE have reportedly found two knives and a rope on a man who scaled the Australian embassy wall in Indonesia.

According to a report from Indonesian news agency Antara, the man climbed the side wall and entered the Australian embassy complex on Saturday night.

Embassy security officers caught the man, 43, and took him to Jakarta police headquarters.

The report states police found seven metres of rope, a kitchen knife and a folded knife on the man.

In his backpack he had paper, 11 cartoon writings and matches, according to the report.

Jakarta Police spokesman Rikwanto told Antara the man used the rope to climb the side perimeter.

They are questioning the man.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) confirmed a man gained unauthorised access to the Jakarta embassy on Saturday.

"Embassy guards responded immediately," a spokesman said in a statement.

"The individual was escorted from the premises by Indonesian police."


11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Government won't 'speculate' on GP fee

THE federal government has refused to "speculate" about a proposal to make patients pay a $5 fee for bulk-billed GP visits.

A national Commission of Audit has received a proposal for a co-payment scheme for GP consultations.

Doctor groups and political parties have criticised such a move, claiming it would destroy Medicare and limit access to GPs for some community groups.

Co-payments would see patients pay a fee for bulk-billed GP consultations.

News Corp Australia reports pensioners and concession card holders would be exempt from the fee.

Families would also be granted up to 12 bulk-billed visits annually.

Federal Health Minister Peter Dutton said he would not comment on "speculation around what the Commission of Audit may or may not recommend".

"The commission's work is still being compiled and will be provided to the government in 2014," he said in a statement.

"The government will be able to consider any recommendations and respond after that time."

Mr Dutton said the government had committed to making sure the health system was sustainable and accessible in the future.

The Abbott government has been ridiculed for its refusal to rule out a GP fee.

The Opposition has called on Mr Abbott to immediately strike out the idea while The Greens say it will cause many to think twice about a GP visit.

Acting Greens leader Senator Richard Di Natale said on Sunday it was a step towards a two-tiered US-style health system and away from universal healthcare.

Dr Con Costa, of the Doctors' Reform Society, believes a GP fee would make emergency departments busier.

"Introducing a $5 co-payment is false cost-savings," he said in a statement.

"People would stop seeing their GP, ending up sicker and going to hospital - which costs thousands of dollars a day versus the current $36 to see a GP bulk-billed."

It has been reported a co-payment plan aimed to help ease unnecessary trips to the doctor.

But Australian Medical Association (AMA) president Dr Steve Hambleton said the majority of visits to the GP were very "reasonable and helpful" with only a minority causing doctors to ask why they came.

A co-payment scheme was introduced under the Hawke government in the 1990s but was scrapped.


11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

WA's Taste Master reluctant to leave

JUMPING out of a plane was not as frightening as scaling the famously hair-raising Gloucester Tree in Western Australia's South West region, the man with one of the best jobs in the world says.

Rich Keam counts the 72-metre tree near Pemberton as the only challenge that's bested him in his enviable role as Tourism WA's "taste master" over the past four months.

The 35-year-old Englishman believes he scored the best of all seven gigs offered by Tourism Australia - including "chief funster" in NSW - as he's tasked with munching his way through WA's considerable culinary delights after beating more than 600,000 other applicants from around the world.

With about six weeks of his six-month contract remaining, he's yet to take in the temperate towns of Denmark, Albany and Esperance in the state's Great Southern region, and Geraldton in the Mid West.

But he's been dazzled by the Kimberley's rugged beauty, relished the South West - where he rubbed shoulders with top chefs such as Heston Blumenthal at the Margaret River Gourmet Escape - and taken the plunge from a tiny plane in the middle of Perth.

"I was absolutely terrified," Keam said of the tandem dive that landed him in the city's central Langley Park.

"I'm tall, so I had to stick my leg out onto the wheel and go head first down. That was surreal."

However, it wasn't as scary as trying to climbing 153 thin pegs to the top of the Gloucester Tree, a former fire lookout in the middle of Karri forest.

Keam twice made it about 15 metres up then declared: "I'm coming down!".

"My eyes were blurring, I got sweaty hands.

"I'd sooner jump out of a plane.

"If there was a harness, I'd do it, but that's the challenge, isn't it - to do it without a harness."

Keam said another top adventure was participating in the Kickstarters Gascoyne Dash, which starts in desert inland from Carnarvon.

The Brighton-based film costumer reached 220km in a souped-up buggy driven by WA's off-road racing champion Bradley Cooper, but it was the people he met in the fishing town that left the greatest impression.

"I just had a great time there," he said.

"There were really friendly people in Carnarvon - some real characters."

And after sampling boab tuber chutney, ants and pearl meat, Keam's gourmet highlight was at the Sal Salis luxury eco-camp on the Coral Coast at Ningaloo Reef, where he feasted on pork belly and mud crab salad.

"I was the only person there," Keam said.

"It was so peaceful and serene, looking out at the ocean, so I took two hours to eat it."

Keam says he'll miss WA - the ultimate self-drive holiday destination with its vast distances - and its family-friendly capital.

"I don't really want to leave.

"I'd like to stay here for a couple of years."


11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Man, girl found at north Qld campground

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 28 Desember 2013 | 11.25

A man and a girl are missing after leaving a Townsville home to look for a campsite, police say. Source: AAP

A MAN and a young girl who were missing for 24 hours near Townsville have been found.

Police say the man, 32, and the six-year-old girl left a home in Lansing St, Mount Louisa, to scout for a camping site about 1.30pm (AEST) on Friday.

The pair did not take their camping gear with them and had been expected to return, but they hadn't come back by 9pm and relatives raised the alarm.

After an extensive search involving a police helicopter, the pair were found safe and well at a camping-ground car park about 1pm on Saturday.

Police said the pair had decided to sleep the night in their ute after darkness made it difficult to find their way back.


11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Rescue setback for ice-stranded ship

A Chinese rescue icebreaker has been forced to turn back from rescuing a ship stranded in sea ice. Source: AAP

AN Antarctic rescue mission has suffered a setback after two icebreakers abandoned efforts to free a research ship stranded deep in sea ice.

A group of Australian scientists, explorers and tourists has been stuck on the Russian ship MV Akademik Shokalskiy since Christmas Day.

The ship, with 74 people on board, sent a distress call after becoming trapped in heavy sea ice, which has continued to expand around it over the past three days near Antarctica.

Three ice-breaking ships were sent to free the stranded vessel, located more than 1500 nautical miles south of Hobart.

China's Snow Dragon icebreaker was the first to arrive and rammed through much of the sea ice until it came within six-and-a-half nautical miles of the locked-in vessel.

But in a setback to the rescue mission, the icebreaker had to turn back on Saturday after it, too, encountered heavy sea ice that threatened the ship's own safety.

"It can't break through any further," said Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) spokeswoman Andrea Hayward-Maher.

"That vessel is now making its way back from the direction it came in."

A French icebreaker, L'Astrolabe, had also been heading to the remote area but was released by rescue authorities from having to continue with the mission around midday on Saturday.

That leaves Australia's Aurora Australis as the only remaining ship that can help, but it's not expected to reach the vessel until Sunday evening.

The wedged-in ship had been undertaking the Spirit of Mawson voyage, which is retracing Sir Douglas Mawson's Antarctic expedition.

Professor Chris Turney of the University of NSW is leading the expedition, consisting of both Australian and New Zealander scientists and explorers.

He's been keeping supporters updated via social media and a satellite connection, saying everyone onboard is in good spirits despite the ordeal.

Ms Hayward-Maher said authorities are still weighing up their options on how to free the ship come Sunday.

The Aurora is rated at a slightly-higher ice-breaking capability than both the Chinese and French ships that were sent away, she said.

But if the Aurora can't battle through the ice, a second option may be to consider ferrying trapped explorers with a helicopter onboard the Chinese vessel.

The Snow Dragon remains in the area in case its helicopter will be needed.


11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

NSW's 12km traffic queue spoils holidays

HOLIDAY makers in NSW are facing traffic jams up to 12 kilometres long, with queues growing throughout Saturday.

Southbound traffic at Macksville was backed up 12kms at 2pm, adding 60 minutes travel time.

In Woodburn, near Lismore, Northbound traffic is backed up 10km and causing delays of 75 minutes, the Transport Management Centre (TMC) said in a statement.

Traffic is also banked up 4.5km at Hexham, near Newcastle, and 5km at Ewingdale.

On the South Coast southbound traffic queues of 8km and 7km are causing hour-long delays at Gerringong and Bateman's Bay.

"Motorists are advised to plan their trip, allow plenty of additional travel time, expect delays and take regular breaks," the TMC said in a statement on Saturday.

In the Hunter and on the North Coast, traffic has eased northbound on the M1 Pacific Motorway (F3) approaching John Renshaw Drive.

Traffic has also eased at Urunga and Frederickton.


11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Kids to benefit from big federal programs

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 27 Desember 2013 | 11.25

KIDS with bad teeth are likely to be the biggest beneficiaries of two federal government programs focused on children starting in the new year.

A new schools funding system begins in 2014 and will pump hundreds of millions into schools and their more than three million students around the country.

The federal government has pledged an extra $2.8 billion in total over the next four years, although the individual state allocations are still being finalised.

From January 1, a $4.1 billion dental benefits scheme aims to improve the oral health of children aged two to 18 years and adults on low incomes. The scheme is to run for six years.

Parents will be able to access Medicare payments capped at $1000 over two years for a wider range of specific services, from basic dental check-ups and cleaning through to emergency care.

Previously, eligible persons could get money back from the government to help pay for only a single dental check-up each year.

The new package will cover 3.4 million children and one million adults.

Elsewhere, federal parliamentarians will face a crackdown on expenses rorting when a new system comes into force after a number were this year forced to pay back travel expenses.

From January 1, MPs and senators required to repay claims found to be ineligible will be hit with a "significant financial penalty" worth 25 per cent of their claim.

Repeat offenders and their offices will receive mandatory training on expenses rules.

In the workplace, victims of office bullying will be able to take their cases to the Fair Work Commission, which can hold mediations and has new powers to make orders to prevent bullying.

But it won't have the power to order compensation.

Some 2000 of Tasmania's unemployed are set to benefit from the federal coalition government's Apple Isle jobs program, after it was brought forward by six months to Wednesday.

Businesses in Tasmania, which suffers from high unemployement and little economic growth, will be in line for one-off payments of $3250 if they hire a job seeker for at least six months' full-time work.

There's also potential for lower grocery prices from January 1, after retailing giants Coles and Woolworths agreed to stop funding fuel discounts through their supermarket divisions.

Future fuel discounts will be covered by their fuel retailing businesses, after an agreement was reached this year with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

There would have been more federal changes from January 1, but these have been held up in the Senate where the legislation is still being examined.

These include plans to halt tax benefits for families whose teenage children have finished school, tighten pension eligibility criteria for Australians living overseas and replace student tertiary "start-up" scholarships with loans.


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Firms not liable on apartheid: US judge

TWO German companies, carmaker Daimler AG and defence group Rheinmetall AG, cannot be held responsible for atrocities committed by the apartheid government in South Africa, a US judge ruled Thursday.

New York District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin said the companies could not be sued for compensation under a US law, called the Alien Tort Statute, which dates from 1789.

Victims of racial segregation and violence in South Africa claimed the two companies had supported the apartheid regime because of business dealings with the government there in the 1970s and 1980s, including the sale of cars and munitions.

"We hope that this decision will finally bring to an end more than 10 years of legal dispute," a spokesman for Daimler said.

The judge did not dismiss similar claims made against the US companies Ford Motor Corp and IBM Corp.


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WA govt's shark kill plan proceeds

THE West Australian government has revealed the beaches where up to 72 baited hooks will be used to catch and kill sharks this summer under its controversial new "mitigation" policy.

The Liberal state government has come under fire for recently stepping up the measures after a spate of fatal attacks in WA waters, with plans to set baited hooks one kilometre offshore from January.

This has prompted outrage from conservation groups, with some even threatening to remove bait from the drum line hooks to prevent shark deaths.

On Friday, Premier Colin Barnett revealed the metropolitan Perth beaches where the devices will be set: Ocean Reef/Mullaloo, Trigg/Scarborough, Floreat/City Beach, Cottesloe/North Cottesloe and Port Leighton.

The areas will be patrolled until April.

In the South West region, drum lines will be set at Old Dunsborough, Meelup/Castle Rock and Gracetown - where the most recent fatality occurred - up until the end of school holidays in February.

Thereafter, surfing hotspots south of Cape Naturaliste will be the focus.

Mr Barnett said there had been a significant number of shark sightings at the locations, which were frequented by a large number of water users.

Despite substantial opposition to the plan, he reiterated that the new measures were necessary after a surge in shark activity in the state's waters in recent years.

"We have had 20 fatal shark attacks in WA in the past 100 years - seven of them in the past three years," he said.

On Tuesday, the WA government called for professional shark fishermen to apply to patrol the state's waters and kill any shark bigger than three metres spotted in the designated zones.

After the death of surfer Chris Boyd in Gracetown last month, Mr Barnett said the WA government "had to intervene more directly".


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Cops to speak to men injured in NSW crash

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 26 Desember 2013 | 11.25

A single-vehicle crash on the M1 motorway on the NSW Central Coast has claimed the lives of two men. Source: AAP

POLICE are waiting to speak to three men injured in a horror crash on the NSW Central Coast that claimed the lives of two friends.

Police said the crash happened just before 5am (AEDT) on Thursday when a south-bound vehicle hit the embankment north of Jolls Bridge.

One man, 31, was thrown from the vehicle and died at the scene. A second man, 22, was trapped in the wreckage and died before he could be released.

Three other men, aged 29, 22 and 27, were treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics then taken to hospital in a stable condition with non life-threatening injures.

Police said they hoped to speak to the injured men, all of whom were from the Sydney suburb of Auburn.

Traffic in the area was disrupted for five hours after the crash.

The national road toll period runs from midnight December 23, 2013 until midnight January 3, 2014, local times, in line with the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Board.


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Vic journo appeals to Thai governor

AN Australian journalist, increasingly anxious over law suits brought against his Thai-based website by the Royal Thai Navy, has lodged an appeal with a provincial governor to try to persuade the navy to drop the charges.

Alan Morison, formerly of Melbourne and editor of online news website Phuketwan, based in southern Thai resort island of Phuket, and journalist, Chutima Sidasathiam, face up to seven years jail if convicted on charges of criminal defamation and breaches of the Computer Crimes Act.

The charges followed publication in July of a news story by the Reuters news agency of an investigation into allegations of Royal Thai Navy personal involvement in the trafficking of Myanmar (Burma) Rohingya refugees whose vessels sail into Thai waters on their way to Malaysia.

Morison says the Royal Thai Navy immediately pressed charges against Phuketwan in July but only recently made them aware of the charges. Earlier this week the two were summoned for questioning by Thai Police for three hours then allowed home.

On Wednesday Morison lodged a letter of appeal with the Phuket Governor Maitree Intrusud as the governor was preparing to meet with senior Thai Navy and Army personnel to discuss security.

"It's impossible for us to know with absolute certainty what might happen." Morison told AAP.

"This whole action was brought to defend the reputation of the navy and in fact, if anything, the action itself has been extremely damaging for the navy and will continue to be damaging for the navy as long as (the action) exists," he said.

Burma's Rohingya, especially from Western Arakine State, are largely stateless, with hundreds fleeing each year by boat to try to reach the Muslim states of Malaysia and Indonesia.

But many craft fall short of their destination and are sighted in Thai waters north of Malaysia.

Thailand's official policy has been to assist boats by providing water and food, but there have ben allegations about human rights abuses and links between naval personnel and human trafficking gangs.

Morison says it appears to be the first time the Thai military has used the Computer Crimes Act against a media outlet.

"In principle we think these two laws are onerous. The principle of criminal defamation in itself is quite wrong and the use of the Computer Crimes Act is very contentious in every possible way, and for the military to sue the media anywhere in a democracy is an extreme measure," he said.

Morison, who launched the website five years ago, says he has been planning to sell or close the website as it is largely funded from personal savings from working as a journalist in Australia.

But the navy's action has changed the outlook.

"Now that the navy has acted against us we have no intention of shutting it down unless we're forced to."

Morison says freedom of the media in this case is "so obviously at risk that we'd be prepared to go to jail if necessary to prove this point."

Morison and Chutima were told by Thai police this week to appear in court in early January.


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WA woman charged over $1.5m drug stash

A 47-YEAR-OLD woman has been charged over a drug stash, estimated to be valued at more than $1.5 million.

Police raided a home in Morley in suburban Perth on Tuesday, uncovering about three kilograms of drugs believed to be methylamphetamine.

They also found more than $17,000 in cash.

A Morley woman, 47, was charged with possession a prohibited drug with intent to sell/supply.

She appeared in Perth Magistrates Court on Tuesday and will re-appear on January 7.

Police conducted the search warrant as part of a joint investigation with Australian Customers and Border Protection Services into illegal tobacco trade.

They estimate the drugs found are valued at more than $1.5 million.


11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Two men arrested over SA police chase

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 25 Desember 2013 | 11.25

Two men have been arrested after a police pursuit in Adelaide's southern suburbs. Source: AAP

TWO young men have been arrested on Christmas Day after a police pursuit through the southern suburban streets of Adelaide.

While responding to reports just after 2.30am of a suspicious car at Elizabeth Road at Christie Downs, south of Adelaide, police spotted one of the men allegedly marking graffiti on a building.

The man then drove off in a Nissen sedan, police said.

Officers pursued the car through several backstreets before calling off the chase.

The car was found a short time later in Christine Street, Morphett Vale.

The driver ran off but was quickly caught by police.

An 18-year-old Flagstaff Hill man has been charged with marking graffiti, engaging in a police pursuit and hindering police.

An 18-year-old man from Morphett Vale was arrested for breach of bail.


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Man charged after NSW church-goer stabbed

A man has been charged after a woman was allegedly stabbed while walking to church in Sydney. Source: AAP

A MAN has been charged after a woman was allegedly stabbed while walking to church in Elizabeth Bay.

The 44-year-old woman was walking along Roslyn Street on her way to midnight mass on Tuesday night when she was approached by a man who allegedly stabbed her in the abdomen.

The woman was treated by NSW ambulance paramedics before being taken to St Vincent's Hospital, where she is reported to be in stable condition.

Witnesses alerted police and followed the man to a block of units in Ward Avenue at Potts Point where he was arrested.

A 38-year-old Potts Point man was taken to Kings Cross Police Station where he charged with one count of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

He was refused bail and will appear in Parramatta Bail Court on Wednesday via video link.


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Thousands turn out for community lunches

THOUSANDS of Sydney-siders who would otherwise be alone for Christmas will spend the festive season celebrating with their communities.

More than 600 people - including a few famous faces - turned out for the Wayside Chapel Christmas lunch in King's Cross.

Blaxland resident Stephen South has attended the lunch and church service for four years.

"I don't have any family and this is my family," Mr South told AAP.

"On a day like today, if you don't have family it's really hard."

The Wayside Chapel's 200 volunteers provided 80 turkeys, 40 hams, 700 mince pies and 140 bags of potatoes for the day.

Actress Claudia Karvan made her third visit to the street party this year, and actor David Wenham attended.

"I can't stay away - it just puts a smile on my face that stays there for the whole day," Karvan said.

"It totally encapsulates the spirit of Christmas, I think.

"The open-heartedness, the generosity of the day, the inclusiveness - everyone from all different walks of the community, whether you're sleeping rough or wealthy and isolated, it doesn't matter, you can come down here."

Between Christmas singing, Wayside chief executive Pastor Graham Long said the day was about people not being alone.

"Don't be alone and miserable," he said.

"Come and be miserable with us."

In Ashfield, more than 3000 people were expected at the Exodus Foundation's free Christmas lunch on Liverpool Road.

Volunteers prepared 65 hams, 50 turkeys, 400 kilograms of potatoes, 200 kilograms of green veggies, 400 kilograms of pumpkins, 1300 litres of gravy, 2500 mini puddings and 330 litres of custard.

"You can imagine, we've been preparing for this for months," Reverend Bill Crews said.

Santa Claus will give presents to needy children and adults.

"All these presents have been donated, which is another example of how generous Sydney-siders are," Rev Crews said.

At Redfern's Australian Technology Park, the Salvation Army hoped to feed 1200 of Sydney's less fortunate and disadvantaged.

"Every year we're humbled by the generosity of the over 150 volunteers who give up part of their Christmas Day to bring joy, hope and happiness to those who would otherwise go without," Salvation Army spokeswoman Robyn Evans said.


11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

PaperlinX to axe jobs in Europe

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 24 Desember 2013 | 11.25

PAPER merchant and packaging supplier PaperlinX will cut 75 jobs in Germany and 65 in the United Kingdom as it continues to restructure its operations.

The redundancies will take effect in the second half of the current financial year.

PaperlinX said jobs would go in Germany as it consolidates a number of warehouses and sales offices into a central warehouse in Biebesheim.

In the UK, PaperlinX will close sites in Nottingham, Sheffield and Leeds, and move to a central information technology platform.

The changes are the latest in the company's restructuring over the past six months, which in total have resulted in the loss of 340 full time employees, or 8.4 per cent of its workforce.

A pre-tax restructuring charge of about $9.5 million will be included in PaperlinX's accounts for the six months to December 31.

Further charges are expected in the second half of the 2013/14 financial year as the company seeks further cost cuts.

PaperlinX also confirmed its previous guidance of marginally profitable underlying earnings for the 2013/14 financial year.

It expects to realise an underlying earnings loss in the six months to December 31 of about $10 million to $11 million, which would compare to a loss of $13.7 million in the prior corresponding period.

Shares in PaperlinX gained 0.1 of a cent to 4.4 cents.


11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Welby posts Christmas video message

THE Archbishop of Canterbury has posted a Christmas video message on Instagram.

The Most Rev Justin Welby appears in the short clip on the photo-sharing website as part of the Church of England's social media campaign called Christmasmeans.

Mr Welby, who has more than 48,000 followers on Twitter, joined Instagram in October in his drive to spread the Christian message to the app's 150 million users worldwide.

In his Christmas message, the Archbishop says: "Christmas means that, through Jesus, God shows unconditionally that he loves us. I pray that he gives you a very blessed Christmas."

The video, posted on Lambeth Palace's Instagram account, is also being tweeted by the Archbishop and through the Lambeth Palace Twitter page, lambethpalace.

Mr Welby is joining the Archbishop of York John Sentamu in promoting the Christmasmeans hashtag on Twitter this year.

The campaign is urging the 77 million Anglicans across the globe to get out their mobile devices on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and complete the sentence: Christmas means...

"The purpose of the 2013 Christmas Twitter campaign is to let as many people as is possible know the joy and meaning of Christmas," a Lambeth Palace spokesman said.


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Man stabbed, woman left unconscious

A MAN has been found with stab wounds to his neck and a woman has been found unconscious in Sydney's west.

Police were called to a house on Woodville Road, Guildford, just after midday on Tuesday after reports of a man and woman fighting in the yard of the premises.

The man was found with stab wounds to his neck while a woman, aged in her mid-20s, was found unconscious.

The man's age is not known.

Both were treated at the scene by NSW Ambulance Paramedics and taken to Westmead Hospital.

Their condition is not yet known, police say.

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident, while a crime scene has been established on Woodville Road with two southbound lanes closed.

They will be examined by specialist forensic officers.


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Thiess wins $230m coal contract

Written By Unknown on Senin, 23 Desember 2013 | 11.25

LEIGHTON Holdings-owned Thiess has won a $230 million, one-year contract extension at Glencore Xstrata's Mt Owen Coal Mine in the NSW Hunter Valley.

Engineering services group Thiess will provide full services operating the mine until December 2016, the company said in a statement, and has an option for another year.

Thiess has operated the mine for 17 years.


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Batts royal commission gets underway

Commissioner Ian Hangar outlines his priorities for Royal Commission into the Home insulation program

A royal commission into the Rudd government's home insulation scheme is set to begin in Brisbane. Source: AAP

A ROYAL commission will investigate whether the former Labor government was warned about its bungled home insulation scheme that's been blamed for the deaths of four young men.

The commission has been given wide ranging terms of reference to establish "what really went wrong".

It will "fill the gaps" of other administrative reviews and coronial inquests, Commissioner Ian Hangar QC, says.

Matthew Fuller, Rueben Barnes, Mitchell Sweeney and Marcus Wilson all lost their lives while working on the "pink batts" program established by the former Kevin Rudd led government in early 2009.

The program has also been blamed for at least one serious injury, fire and damage to scores of homes as well as serious financial losses to both businesses and individuals.

When opening the first public hearing into the bungled program on Monday, Mr Hangar said he would probe the actions of the government and the public servants involved.

The commission would also investigate whether the government sought or received advice or warnings about the program and how it responded, he said.

Counsel Assisting Keith Wilson said the inquiry would place a particular emphasis on workplace health and safety.

Those affected by the bungled scheme will be called to appear.

Mr Wilson said 76 summons and notices to produce are being served on those with information relevant to the inquiry.

Public sittings are expected to be held in March and April next year, with the commission to deliver its findings mid-year.

The commission has been adjourned to a date yet to be fixed.

After the hearing, Kevin Fuller said the life of his son, Matthew, was ultimately lost due to a combination of "arrogance, stupidity and assumptions".

Mr Fuller said previous inquires had established that employers "did things wrong" but were limited in their scope.

He said public servants, both state and federal, have a lot to answer for and hopes the royal commission will get to the bottom of the debacle.

"I'm pleased that the terms of references are extremely broad so they can get to the truth," he told reporters.

Mr Fuller said four lives had been lost, and others risked, to save the economy.

"We don't talk about the huge number that got almost killed or got seriously injured ... so it's the whole impact not just the four deaths," he said.


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Anti-govt protests in Bangkok

THOUSANDS of anti-government protesters have surrounded a Bangkok electoral office to block political parties from registering for the February 2 national polls, but failed to stop 35 parties from being declared eligible.

Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban had urged tens of thousands of his followers to march on a sports complex in northern Bangkok to disrupt the registration process.

But the demonstrators did not reach the site early enough on Monday to prevent nine parties, including the ruling Pheu Thai Party of caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, according to Election Commission deputy secretary general Somsak Suriyamongkol, the Bangkok Post online reported.

The commission advised the 26 parties that had been blocked from the site to complain at a nearby police station and effectively register there.

Somsak said 35 parties are considered eligible to contest the polls as they registered their complaints before the deadline, the Bangkok Post reported.

An estimated 600 protesters had gathered outside the police station, witnesses said.

On Sunday, more than 150,000 protesters spread throughout Bangkok in an effort to force Yingluck and her cabinet to resign, and allow an appointed "people's council" to set up an interim government and legislate reforms prior to new elections.

Tens of thousands of protesters occupied key intersections in the capital, paralysing traffic.

The opposition Democrat Party, of which Suthep was an executive member and parliamentarian before he began leading the street protests, is boycotting the election.


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Spacesuit flaw postpones ISS repairs

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 22 Desember 2013 | 11.25

A NEW flaw has emerged with a US-made spacesuit, forcing NASA to delay until Christmas Eve the next outing to repair the International Space Station.

The problem came up in a system that handles water condensation in veteran astronaut Rick Mastracchio's spacesuit after he re-entered the space station airlock following a spacewalk that lasted more than five hours, NASA said.

It was not believed to be the same type of issue that caused a dangerous water leak in the helmet of Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano in July.

An investigation into that situation is ongoing.

Faced with unexpected repairs due to an equipment cooling breakdown at the orbiting lab on December 11, NASA arranged makeshift snorkels inside the 35-year-old spacesuits and absorbent pads in the helmets for these spacewalks in case such a leak happened again.

"During repressuristion of the station's airlock following the spacewalk, a spacesuit configuration issue put the suit Mastracchio was wearing in question for the next excursion - specifically whether water entered into the suit's sublimator inside the airlock," the space agency said in a statement.

"This issue is not related to the spacesuit water leak that was seen during a July spacewalk."

Now, astronauts are resizing a spare spacesuit aboard the ISS for Mastracchio, 53, to wear on the next spacewalk to complete the pump replacement.

The outing was planned for Monday, but will now take place Tuesday, beginning at 7:10am (2310 AEDT).

NASA released the news late on Saturday, after the spacewalk by the two American astronauts ended with the successful disconnection and removal of the old pump.

NASA mission control in Houston checked in with them frequently to see if they were experiencing any wetness in their helmets, and each time the spacewalkers reported no problems.

Space agency officials told reporters this week that Hopkins, 44, would be wearing the suit Parmitano had worn when he experienced the leak that nearly drowned him, noting its water pump system had been replaced.

The spacewalks were called for after a faulty valve forced a partial shutdown in the system that regulates equipment temperature at the space station.


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Man critical after CBD assault

POLICE are searching for a man who intervened in a couple's fight, seriously injuring a 38-year-old man in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The couple were arguing on the footpath of Queen Street near the intersection with Wharf Street around 4am when an unidentified man stepped in, seriously injuring the 38-year-old.

Brisbane region detective inspector Ian Park said the partner of the injured Arana Hills man was by his bedside in hospital.

"She's very upset obviously by what's happened," he said.

He said the man today remained in Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital in a critical condition with serious injuries after being resuscitated at the scene.

Insp Park said alcohol may have been a factor.

"I guess it's a fair assumption that at 4 o'clock there is going to be alcohol involved, so we would appeal to people to just be careful with alcohol and look after themselves and each other and not to drink to excessive levels, which is always a deadly cocktail."

There were reports that people performed CPR on the man before paramedics arrived.

Alessandro Vosolo, who is staying on the 44th floor of the building, said the fight sounded violent and lasted less than four minutes.

"Fighting, screaming, arguing like guys getting thrown around, that sort of thing," he said.

One witness said he was on the 20th floor of the hotel and heard the fight.

"A dude got beat up... We heard it but then police rocked up."

Police insp Park said a number of witnesses had already been interviewed but appealed for more people to step forward, particularly the man, understood to be Caucasian and in his 30s, who was involved in the fight.

The injured man was taken to the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital in a critical condition.

"Initial information suggests that a man and a woman were seen arguing on the footpath of Queen Street near the intersection with Wharf Street when another man intervened just before 4am," police said in a statement.

Police said the two men were then involved in a fight in which a 38-year-old Arana Hills man sustained a serious head injury.

-----

Detective inspector Ian Park said police were also investigating the assault of a man who got into a fight with a hotel staff member at the Orient about 4.30am.

A 37-year-old man fell down the stairs and suffered serious head injuries when his head hit the concrete pavement.

"I believe the may have been a disagreement between this person and a staff member but as to what actually took place is subject to investigation," Insp Park said.

The man was taken to the Princess Alexandra Hospital where he is in a serious condition.

-----

In a third incident, a man was allegedly glassed in the face at the Family Nightclub on McLachlan St in the Fortitude Valley about 3am Sunday.

Police said a 19-year-old was struck in the face with a glass, receiving cuts to his cheek area. Police said the man did not have life-threatening injuries.

A spokesman said security staff and patrons stopped the alleged attacker and held him until police arrived.

A 20-year-old Calamvale man has been charged with assault occasioning bodily harm. He is due to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday morning.


11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Two men killed in gyrocopter crash

A PILOT and his passenger were checking fire damaged bushland when their gyrocopter crashed northeast of Melbourne, killing both.

The bodies of the 51-year-old pilot from Melbourne, and a second unidentified man, were found in rugged terrain in Victoria's Kinglake National Park about 7am on Sunday (AEDT).

A police plane spotted the wreckage in dense bushland that has regenerated after bushfires.

Searchers had been scouring the park for the men, who failed to return from what was to be a 15-minute flight from the Yarra Valley conference centre on the Melba Highway at Dixons Creek about 7.20pm on Saturday.

Benalla Acting Senior Sergeant Colin Anderson said the pair were flying over a remote area of the ranges to view bushfire damage.

Emergency services were notified when the men failed to return as planned.

An extensive search on Saturday evening failed to find the pair and was called off when it got dark, resuming early Sunday.

Acting Sen Sgt Anderson said next of kin were yet to be notified and he was unable to confirm reports the second man was from overseas.

The bodies are expected to be retrieved from the wreckage on Sunday afternoon, with the help of the SES, he said.

Police are investigating the cause of the crash and will prepare a brief for the coroner.

"There's experts coming to view the wreckage and from that, that report will be prepared for the coroner," he said.

Acting Sen Sgt Anderson said it was a tragedy.

"It's devastating to all concerned - people involved that have to retrieve people from the situation and those directly involved with the people that have been killed," he said.


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Fears for missing Qld teenager

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 21 Desember 2013 | 11.25

Police fear for a 14-year-old Gold Coast girl missing for four days. Source: AAP

POLICE fear for a 14-year-old Gold Coast girl missing for four days.

Shaylin Cole has not contacted family or friends since she was last seen at Mudgeeraba, in the Gold Coast hinterland, on Tuesday night.

It is believed she may be with a female friend and possibly on her way to Sydney.

Police urge anyone who might have seen Shaylin, who is about 155 centimetres tall with a pink/red tinge to her hair and hazel eyes, to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.


11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Abseiler dies in the Blue Mountains

AN abseiler has fallen to his death in the Blue Mountains, while a woman has been rescued.

Both are believed to be aged in their 20s.

The female abseiler was lifted to safety about 1.30pm (AEDT) on Saturday at Katoomba.

The woman was found 20 metres down the cliff at Melatia Point, a well-known abseiling spot.

She was stranded for four hours, with paramedics first receiving reports of someone crying for help at 9.30am.

A ropes system was used to haul the woman to the top of the cliff during a rescue operation involving ambulance and police helicopters.

The woman wasn't injured and was walked to safety, NSW Ambulance duty operations manager Murray Traynor said.

Police are yet to recover the man's body.


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Winds ease fire threat, but blow out power

STRONG winds have blown away much of South Australia's fire risk, but also torn down trees and left thousands without power.

A cool southerly change, which came after temperatures soared past 40 degrees, rolled in on Friday and brought wild wind gusts that remained until Saturday afternoon.

"The winds are over but we're still dealing with a number of tasks," State Emergency Service (SES) State Duty Officer Bob Stevenson said on Saturday.

The city's eastern and southern suburbs were worst hit, he said, with many powerlines down and crews having to respond to more than 650 calls for help.

One downed tree took seven people around four hours to cut up and remove from the street.

Around 8000 homes have lost power, many in the Adelaide area.

Police said the weather conditions were extreme with multiple intersections losing power and debris striking cars, pedestrians and cyclists.

The winds had also stirred up a serious bushfire, which threatened Tintinara homes and lives in the state's southeast.

But CFS firefighters managed to contain the blaze by late evening after it burned through about 1000 hectares.

Only the Flinders region was listed as a extreme bushfire risk on Saturday with the rest of the state rated high to severe.

Elsewhere in the country, conditions have cooled in Sydney and Melbourne after scorching temperatures baked both cities.

The fire danger is rated as low across much of Victoria and there are no fire bans in place.

In NSW, fire bans are listed in four central districts.

Hot and dry northerly winds have resulted in a severe fire danger to Queensland's Channel Country while severe conditions are also forecast along WA's northerly coast.

A bushfire that had been burning for four days in the Pilbara near the North West Coastal Highway is now under control.

The fire is deemed suspicious.


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WA stolen generation test case fails

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 20 Desember 2013 | 11.26

AN Aboriginal family split up by the West Australian government's past policy of forcibly removing indigenous children has lost a Supreme Court bid for compensation.

Donald and Sylvia Collard, from the wheatbelt town of Kondinin, and their seven children were seeking redress from the WA government after the youngsters were removed without consent by state officials and placed in state care between March 1958 and December 1961.

The action was considered by the Aboriginal Legal Service of WA to be a test case for thousands of other indigenous West Australians.

But on Friday, WA Supreme Court Justice Janine Pritchard dismissed the case.

The reasons for the decision are expected to be published soon.


11.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

New sheriff in town, Qld bikies told

TWO more alleged outlaw bikie gang associates have been refused bail over a pub meeting, with a magistrate warning there's a "new sheriff in town".

Accused Rebels associates Steven Smith and Joshua Carew were remanded in custody in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday.

The pair and three others were arrested and locked up this month after meeting at a Sunshine Coast hinterland hotel.

They were arrested under laws that ban associates of declared criminal organisations from gathering in public.

Paul Lansdowne was refused bail on Thursday. Bail rulings for Scott Conley and Dan Whale are yet to be made.

In refusing Smith bail on Friday, Magistrate Tim Carmody said the argument he was "going to jail just for having a beer with mates" clearly misunderstood the aim of the Newman government's new anti-association laws.

He said the laws were to protect the community, whose members were entitled to go about their business "unintimidated by aggressive criminal gang members who have become too big for their boots".

"The government's tough stance ... is intended to keep the peace and tackle crime by making Queensland a hostile environment for socially destructive drug traffickers like the Rebels," he said.

"There is, it seems, a new sheriff in town with low or zero tolerance for criminals and their activities."

The court was told Smith and Carew were on bail on drug trafficking charges when they were arrested over the pub gathering.

Police had strong evidence Smith had a longstanding association with the Rebels, while Carew had been spotted at their local headquarters and with patched gang members, the court was told.

Mr Carmody cited their apparent gang ties, past criminal histories and breaches of bail conditions as reasons to refuse bail.

However, he indicated he would grant bail to Conley and Whale if they could convince him they would disassociate themselves from the Rebels.

He said the case against Conley was not strong, while Whale had a nine-month-old child at home and was the family's sole breadwinner.

Their cases have been adjourned until later on Friday.


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Leighton wins $100m rail contract

CONSTRUCTION giant Leighton has won a $100 million contract to build a train support facility in the NSW Hunter Valley.

The facility will support rail operator Aurizon's coal haulage fleet and will involve the construction of a train provisioning facility, a combined maintenance building, signalling and power infrastructure, 26 turnouts and 11km of plain line track works.

Leighton Contractors managing director Craig Laslett said the project would benefit the Hunter Valley's coal industry.

"This project will improve operations and supply chain efficiency for our client and deliver wider benefits across the Hunter Valley coal freight network," he said.

Work on the facility is expected to be completed in late 2014, with associated track work expected to be completed by March 2015.


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Grave found in search for Korean man

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 19 Desember 2013 | 11.25

BRISBANE police are reportedly preparing to dig up a shallow grave as they search for missing South Korean man Min Tae Allen Kim.

Mr Kim, 28, was last seen by his housemates at their Cannon Hill home about 2.45pm (AEST) on Monday.

He'd had gone out to exchange $15,000 cash into South Korean won with an unknown person he got into contact with on the website Gumtree, but never returned home.

Police are preparing to dig up a body in southwest Brisbane on Thursday afternoon, the Seven Network reports.

Police are due to hold a press conference this afternoon about Mr Kim's disappearance.

A police spokeswoman told AAP officers were conducting an operation at a property on Peel St, Algester.


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Santos to buy gas from Origin for GLNG

SANTOS has struck a deal with Origin Energy to buy gas to supply the Gladstone liquefied natural gas (GLNG) project in Queensland.

Origin will supply 100 petajoules (PJ) of gas over five years from January 2016, and could supply additional volumes of up to 94 PJ of gas during the same period.

The agreement adds to existing agreements for the supply of 750 PJ of Santos portfolio gas to GLNG over 15 years, and 365 PJ of Origin gas over 10 years.

Santos has a 30 per cent interest in GLNG, alongside joint venture partners Petronas, Total and KOGAS.

Santos shares were up 35 cents at $14.08 at 1508 AEDT, and Origin shares were up 22 cents at $13.58.


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Qld medics on alert as bacteria kills boy

A SIGNIFICANT jump in the number of deaths caused by a common bacterial infection in Queensland has sparked a state-wide alert to all doctors and hospitals.

The alert comes after a child became the seventh person to die from group A streptococcus infection this year.

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young says there have been 265 cases of the infection this year, 1.6 times the five-year average.

"Normally we'd see two to four deaths in a year and see around 200 cases," Dr Young said.

"So there is something going on which is why I think it's important to alert general practitioners and emergency departments to be aware and to consider the patient might have this infection."

It is impossible to give a reason for the spike, she said.

"We see disease profiles go up and down."

Flu can be much worse one year than the next.

"It's true with bacteria in general, it's very hard to know why but we've seen the data," she said.

"It may not mean anything for whatever reason we've got these cases but maybe there is something there."

A four-year-old boy from Caboolture died earlier this week at the Mater Hospital.

The hospital said he had "overwhelming septic shock".

Two men in their 90s who died at Greenslopes Private Hospital's rehabilitation centre last week also had the bacteria in their system.

The other four deaths occurred earlier in the year at various locations, Dr Young said.

Acting director of the Metro North Public Health Unit Dr Madhumati Chatterji said officials were in contact with the four-year-old boy's family and the childcare centre he attended.

"Appropriate preventive measures are being undertaken," Dr Chatterji said, adding the risk of infection from casual contact was small.

The bacteria is often found in the throat and on the skin and can cause minor symptoms such as a sore throat.

But in rare cases it invades the bloodstream or the lungs and causes life-threatening illnesses, typically in people with already poor health.


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Hockey highly dishonest on budget: Swan

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 18 Desember 2013 | 11.25

FORMER treasurer Wayne Swan has lashed out at his successor for "dishonesty of the highest magnitude" and fiddling the budget figures, after Joe Hockey forecast four years of deficits amounting to $123 billion.

Mr Swan, now a Labor backbencher, has joined colleagues in accusing Mr Hockey of padding out the economic forecasts to paint a bleak picture of the budget.

The mid-year budget outlook forecast deficits to 2016-17 of $123 billion, $68 billion more than the pre-election outlook in August.

Underpinning the deteriorating figures are growth forecasts well below the long-run average, which Mr Swan said were being used to "make the numbers look as bad as possible".

"Out of his $68 billion in additional accumulated deficits over the next four years, $54 billion comes from his forecasting fiddle and the rest is spending decisions he's taken since being elected just over three months ago," Mr Swan wrote on his Facebook page.

"He's trying to put these large write downs all at the feet of the previous Labor government.

"This is dishonesty of the highest magnitude."


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Browse would have cost $80b; Woodside

ENERGY giant Woodside Petroleum has revealed the cost of its controversial Browse onshore gas project would have exceeded $80 billion, almost double the previous estimate.

Woodside and its joint venture partners spent $2 billion studying the viability of using James Price Point near Broome as an onshore gas processing hub.

But the company shelved the project with an original $45 billion price tag in April and announced plans to process gas offshore using up to three massive floating LNG (FLNG) vessels.

Vice president of corporate affairs Roger Martin said Woodside would have lost about $1 billion on the onshore project, and Woodside's share would have been about $25 billion of the $80 billion development cost.

"Effectively, we would have spent almost the entire value of our company on an uneconomic project," Mr Martin said in a statement.

"The challenge would have been limiting our losses in an environment in which almost all major resources projects in Australia have increased significantly in cost."

Woodside has a market capitalisation of $30.7 billion.

The release of the Browse figures comes a day after a group of large industrial gas users, including Fortescue Metals Group, Alcoa and Newmont, urged West Australian Premier Colin Barnett to stand firm in insisting the Woodside-led Browse gas project is developed onshore.

But Woodside said that arguing about the benefits of a land-based development versus a floating development was a pointless exercise.

"There is no commercially viable land-based development," Mr Martin said.

"If James Price Point or another land-based option was commercially viable, we would now be undertaking site preparation works for this project."

He said the company was "deeply disappointed" it was not undertaking an onshore project, but it hopes FLNG will allow it to develop the resource.

The James Price Point project option attracted widespread community opposition due to environmental concerns.

However, in October, a WA Parliamentary inquiry into floating LNG heard the difference in the return on investment between an onshore or floating Browse project was about one per cent.

Last week, Prime Minister Tony Abbott called on Mr Barnett to embrace floating LNG technology, saying it was better to have a floating project than no project at all.

Mr Barnett has rejected a floating development for Browse, saying an onshore processing plant in the Kimberley would bring more benefits to the state including jobs. He also fears the massive purpose-built vessels may not be able to withstand severe cyclones.


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RBA's Stevens won't rule out selling $A

The central bank governor says he is willing to intervene in currency markets to lower the dollar. Source: AAP

THE Reserve Bank governor has not ruled out intervening to lower the value of the Australian dollar, and says he has considered doing so more than once.

RBA governor Glenn Stevens has recently described the exchange rate as "uncomfortably high", says it needs to fall to help the non-mining sectors of the economy.

The Australian dollar is currently trading near 89 US cents.

He told a parliamentary committee on Wednesday that the Aussie shouldn't be above 90 US cents at the moment, and he's not ruling out intervening by selling the local currency and buying foreign currencies.

"If it seems to be appropriate ... taking into account the fundamentals as best that we can judge, then we'd do so," Mr Stevens said.

"I don't really want to set out in advance specific triggers which might induce intervention."

Mr Stevens said he had recently considered intervening to bring down the Australian dollar, but the mining boom was always going to end and that would lower the exchange rate.

"On occasion, intervention can be quite useful. It still is. It's just that we've just been through a very unusual episode," he said.

"That's why when I've thought about intervention, more than once over the past several years, we've, by and large, eschewed it to date."

Mr Stevens said he still favoured the Australian dollar staying as a floating currency.

"I think there's been many such frustrations in both directions over the years. But, by and large, it's worked very well and I expect it still will," he said.

"Two or three years ago with the currency rising strongly, with the terms of trade rising, it was always likely the Aussie dollar was going to go quite high for a period and I think that was quite a powerful fundamental.

"So, you can't get anywhere fighting a fundamental trend."


11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Budget update a wake-up call: business

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 17 Desember 2013 | 11.25

BUSINESS groups hope the mid-year budget update will be a wake-up call to the Abbott government to deal with the challenges it now faces.

The mid-year economic and fiscal outlook (MYEFO) released on Tuesday forecasts the 2013/14 budget deficit ballooning to $47 billion, rather than the $30.1 billion predicted in August, and there will be further deficits over the next 10 years if no action is taken.

Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott said the government faces a decade of committed reform to put the budget on a more sustainable footing.

"MYEFO shows Australia faces a decade of deficits if the federal government does not begin to correct the excessive spending that has left the fiscal position weaker than it should be and exposed to future global economic volatility," she said in a statement.

She said a disciplined 2014/15 budget that included structural measures to contain government expenditures over time needs to be matched by greater efforts to boost economic growth and productive capacity to greatly assist the budget repair job.

"The ongoing weakness of revenues also highlights the critical role that tax reform will need to play both in shoring up the strength of the revenue base and increasing efficiency to drive economic growth," she said.

Welfare groups believe the government must align social and economic goals.

UnitingCare Australia national director Lin Hatfield Dodds says the political debate has become locked into rhetoric about debt and deficit, rather than having "smart, evidence-based" debates about effective public policy and improving the quality of life of all Australians.

"Current policy debt is thin, impoverishing us all," she said in a statement.

"Achieving a better balance will require collecting more tax, and could be achieved by winding back inefficient and unfair tax concessions."

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Peter Anderson said MYEFO showed there were no pain-free options to build a stronger economy over the next decade.

"This budget deterioration makes the work of the Commission of Audit a national priority, especially if it undertakes a root and branch review of government spending, duplication of services and idle or underperforming assets."

He said that with industrialised governments mired in debt and deficit, only private sector growth and prosperity can retain living standards so reform that gives private sector incentive to invest and grow is needed.

Ratings agency Moody's said the projections were worse than they expected in terms of the fiscal and debt positions.

"However, as Moody's have always said, the Australian government has very low debt levels as a starting point, and the larger deficit in the current fiscal year, while leading to a rise in debt, is not likely to change Moody's thinking about the Aaa rating of Australia," it said in a statement.

Accountancy group CPA Australia said the government should lead a community conversation about the country's future.

Unhelpful and distracting rhetoric about debt and deficit should end, chief executive Alex Malley said.

"The announcement by the treasurer today is sobering but it shouldn't be a trigger for wholesale cuts or a knee-jerk reaction that places the importance of a return to surplus above all else," he said.

The Distilled Spirit Industry Council of Australia suggested the government could take another look at alcohol taxes to raise more revenue.

It estimated moving to a single volumetric tax system for all types of alcohol could net $1.8 billion a year for federal coffers.

The Community and Public Sector Union criticised the lack of detail on public servant job cuts, saying the MYEFO statement would only heighten fears among bureaucrats.


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Armed hold-up at Sydney service station

THREE men armed with a rifle, a baseball bat and a length of wood have held up a service station in Sydney's west and fled with cash and cigarettes.

Police say the men entered the service station on Joseph Street in Lidcombe at about 3.35am (AEDT) on Tuesday and threatened the male attendant, demanding money and cigarettes.

Cigarettes were taken and cash was stolen from the register before the men fled the scene.


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Sydney taxi fare freeze recommended

A PROPOSED freeze on Sydney taxi fares will mean a pay cut for drivers and ignores soaring prices for LPG, the NSW Taxi Council says.

The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) proposed a freeze on Sydney taxi fares for 2014/15 in a draft report released on Tuesday.

It also recommended issuing 190 new annual taxi licences.

IPART says cost is the main reason people don't catch taxis, and the recommendations, if adopted, would make cabs more affordable and easier to find.

But NSW Taxi Council chief executive Roy Wakelin-King said IPART had ignored market realities, such as the 20 per cent hike in LPG.

At the same time, the council released research that shows the industry contributes $1.15 billion each year to the NSW economy, and provides 17,500 full-time equivalent jobs.

Mr Wakelin-King said IPART had dudded the taxi industry, recommending drivers get 3.5 per cent lower wages next year, and "flooding the market" with new licences.

"There is a significant oversupply of taxis for most of the year and those involved in the industry are battling to earn reasonable incomes," he said.

He said IPART's recommendations would force people away from the industry, which would be bad for customers.

The report prepared for the taxi council by Deloitte Access Economics found the industry delivered up to $20 million in annual revenue to the NSW government.

IPART had considered lowering fares from July 2014, but decided freezing fares struck a better balance for drivers and the public.

IPART recommends that maximum fares for urban areas including Newcastle, Wollongong, the Blue Mountains and the Central Coast continue to be the same as fares in Sydney.

Submissions on the draft report close on January 31.

IPART provides its final report in February 2014, with Transport for NSW to decide on the number of licences to be released by the end of March.


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Pressure grows for NSW pub lockouts

Written By Unknown on Senin, 16 Desember 2013 | 11.25

EMERGENCY service workers and doctors are demanding NSW government action to stop the carnage caused by alcohol-fuelled violence.

NSW confirmed it was the capital of drunken violence at the weekend, with 540 arrests during a trans-Tasman operation meant to curb the problem.

The NSW opposition is renewing its calls for a trial of reduced trading hours and lockouts in the state's licensed venues after the success of those measures in Newcastle.

The Last Drinks coalition, a group representing concerned emergency department staff, police and paramedics, has joined the chorus.

Its spokesperson, Australian Salaried Medical Officers' Federation president Dr Tony Sara, says the pressure is firmly on the government.

Dr Sara says a trial in select trouble spots would show positive results in a short time.

He said measures in Newcastle cut alcohol violence by 37 per cent and emergency department admissions by 26 per cent, so were worth a try in Sydney.

He challenged NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell to explain what harm a trial could do, believing the government was under the thumb of the powerful liquor lobby.

"How could it hurt?" Dr Sara told AAP.

"It might reduce profits a bit, but either they lose some money or we continue to have people hurt and maimed.

"I think the community comes before profits."

But Mr O'Farrell rejected calls for tougher laws, arguing authorities had done their part.

"Police and government agencies are doing their bit and the hotel industry, by and large, is responsibly getting on with their task," he told reporters on Monday.

"What we now need is for the community to come to the party."

NSW Opposition Leader John Robertson says police tell him privately they support tougher measures such as pub lockouts.

Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione agreed that cultural shift was crucial.

"Police will never arrest our way out of this problem," he said.

"If we don't start today we will lose a generation of young people to this love affair with alcohol."

Mr Scipione said a 23-year-old man who was punched and stomped on in front of dozens of revellers at Bondi Beach at the weekend was no longer in a critical condition.

The Australian Hotels Association NSW would not comment.


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AWE rejects oil and gas suitor Senex

SENEX Energy has withdrawn its $752 million takeover offer for fellow Australian oil and gas producer AWE.

Senex made a non-binding takeover proposal last Wednesday, which AWE rejected on Sunday.

A successful takeover would have merged Senex's onshore oil and gas assets in central Australia's Cooper Basin and coal seam gas assets in Queensland with AWE's mostly offshore assets in Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia.

AWE said the offer was not in the best interests of its shareholders, who would have received only 47 per cent of the merged group's equity.

It significantly undervalued AWE shares without an appropriate premium for control, it said in a statement.

AWE said it would contribute a far greater share to the deal including: 70 per cent of proven reserves, 90 per cent of production and 67 per cent of sales revenue and earnings.

Senex's offer implied a price for AWE shares of $1.44.

AWE shares came out of a trading halt on Monday and had climbed 10 cents to $1.285 at 1500 AEDT while Senex shares had slumped 6.3 cents to 70.75 cents.

However AWE's shares are valued by analysts at above $2, with the company's strong balance sheet an attraction for Senex to offset its higher cost onshore shale and coal seam assets.


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Aurizon to cut rail fleet, cancel project

FREIGHT and coal haulage operator Aurizon will take a hit of almost $200 million as it cuts the size of its rail fleet and cancels a major Queensland project.

The company, previously known as QR National, is reducing its locomotive fleet by 28 per cent and cutting the number of wagons by 12 per cent in a bid to bring down fuel and maintenance costs.

Aurizon's downsizing will appear as an asset impairment expense of $130 million to $150 million in its accounts for the first half of the 2013/14 financial year.

The company will also incur a $47 million impairment on recent changes to several projects, including Glencore Xstrata's decision to stop the Wandoan project because of weakening thermal coal prices.

Aurizon had proposed a 210 kilometre Surat Basin rail corridor from the Wandoan mine in a joint venture with the Swiss multinational.

"There's not any job losses that are related to that," chief executive Lance Hockridge told reporters on Monday.

In July, Aurizon launched a second voluntary redundancy program in a bid to save $230 million by 2015.

Some 248 voluntary redundancies have since been accepted.

"I think the bulk of it is done," Mr Hockridge said.

More than 2,000 employees have left the company since it was privatised by the former Queensland Labor government in 2010.

Mr Hockridge said he was "cautious but confident" about the thermal coal sector, as well as the future of projects in Queensland's Galilee Basin, where Aurizon has agreed to develop a rail project for the GVK-Hancock joint venture involving billionaire Gina Rinehart.

Aurizon shares were down one cent at $4.69 at 1504 AEDT.


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Police assaulted at NSW soccer game

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 15 Desember 2013 | 18.28

A POLICEMAN had to use "defensive strikes" to force a man to release his grip on his groin during a brawl at a Newcastle A-League soccer match.

Another police officer was punched in the head by another man in the melee, which saw a spectator punched in the face three times on Saturday night.

Police from the Public Order and Riot Squad and local officers were patrolling the match between the Newcastle Jets and Western Sydney Wanderers at the Hunter Stadium when a fight broke out and objects were thrown at 9.40pm.

They say the crowd turned hostile towards them when they intervened.

During a scuffle, a 21-year-old man allegedly grabbed the policeman's groin and refused to let go.

The man, police say, had been hindering police when he was pushed out of the way and fell on the ground.

He was arrested and charged with assault police.

He will appear in Newcastle Local Court on January 16.

At the same match police spoke to three spectators who were allegedly causing trouble.

One man refused to follow a police direction to return his seat.

Police allege he punched another spectator in the face three times before turning on the officers who tried to arrest him.

The 41-year-old is accused of punching one officer in the side of the head.

He was charged with assault police and behave in an offensive manner.

He will also appear in Newcastle Local Court on Monday.


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Missing Qld man found after four days

A MAN who went missing for four days in southwest Queensland, sparking a massive air and land search, has been found.

Two aircraft, police and State Emergency Service volunteers helped search a property south of Quilpie after the man, in his 50s, was reported missing on Saturday morning.

But he had not been since Thursday, December 12, police said.

The man had been working on his property and went to check bores but did not return.

His bogged vehicle was found on a neighbouring property on Saturday.

Police said the man was found at 5.20pm on Sunday on a property near Eulo, in the area they'd been searching.

He was airlifted to Roma Hospital for treatment.


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Fawcett auction items sell for $200,000

PERSONAL items belonging to late actress Farrah Fawcett have fetched $US200,000 ($A224,997.19) at auction.

Items including the iconic red swimsuit she wore for an Esquire magazine shoot, her passport, a script from her 1984 TV film The Burning Bed, and a People's Choice Award went under the hammer at Heritage Auctions in Dallas in Texas on Thursday.

Margaret Barrett, the director of entertainment and music auctions for Heritage, said: "The intense competition for Farrah's items in this auction speaks to how popular she continues to be with collectors."

In addition to Fawcett's belongings, the suit Gene Kelly got wet in 1952 movie Singin' in the Rain sold for just over $US106,000.


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Woman hit by garbage truck in Melbourne

A young woman is in a critical condition after she was hit by a garbage truck in Melbourne CBD. Source: AAP

A YOUNG woman is in a critical condition in hospital after she was hit by a garbage truck during a night out in Melbourne.

The woman in her 20s was struck by the truck, which allegedly failed to stop, at the corner of Elizabeth and Lonsdale Streets after 4.30am (AEDT), police say.

A 40-year-old Wallan man has been arrested and is speaking to police.

The woman's condition is critical, a Royal Melbourne Hospital spokeswoman said.

Police are reviewing CCTV footage in the area.

Anyone who may have witnessed the incident should come forward, especially two women who were at the scene, police said.


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Bali punch victim on the mend

THE family of an Australian surfing teacher who suffered major head injuries when he was punched in Bali hope he will be able to speak and swallow soon.

Matt Scarff, 41, was allegedly punched by a stranger outside the Townhouse Club in Seminyak on November 15 while going to the aid of a woman in danger.

A Facebook page was set up by family members to raise money for Mr Scarff's travel expenses and rehabilitation.

After two operations, Mr Scarff awoke from an induced coma at Royal Perth Hospital almost two weeks ago and smiled, winked and nodded at his family.

Tony Maguire, who runs the Facebook page, posted on Sunday morning that his cousin was continuing to progress slowly after a small setback with another bout of pneumonia.

"He is comprehending conversations and is mouthing words and writing things down," Mr Maguire said.

"Hopefully his tracheostomy tube and feeding tube will be removed soon, allowing him to talk and swallow.

"Yesterday we were allowed to wheel him outside for a few minutes of sunshine and fresh air, which he enjoyed."

Mr Maguire said Mr Scarff's progress was encouraging but he had a long road ahead.

Mr Scarff runs Bali Learn to Surf - a surf school that mainly teaches Southeast Asians, including orphans, and includes surf trips to Java and up the Southeast Asian coast.


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Bushfire threatens lives, homes in WA town

High temperatures in Western Australia have prompted bushfire warnings for much of the state. Source: AAP

FIREFIGHTERS are battling an out-of-control bushfire that is threatening lives and homes northeast of Perth.

An emergency warning has been issued for people four kilometres east of Toodyay.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) says the fire is burning on both sides of Goomalling Toodyay Road, and homes in the Wicklow and Dumbarton Estates are under direct threat.

"You are in danger and need to act immediately to survive," the DFES said.

"The bushfire is out of control and unpredictable."

About 150 career and volunteer firefighters from the Fire and Rescue Service and Bush Fire Service are fighting the fire, which was reported at 9.18am on Sunday and has so far burned about 100 hectares.

Two helitacs and two fixed-wing water bombers have been sent to assist ground crews.

The DFES says the bushfire is moving fast in a south-southeastern direction.

Residents in Toodyay, about 86km northeast of Perth, told AAP there was smoke in the township but they were pleased with the quick response from firefighters.

Shire president David Dow said the blaze was burning in a semi-rural and rural area but there were still hundreds of people living there.

"The fire is obviously very serious," he told AAP.

"Everyone is just getting out at the moment."

The DFES has warned that if the way is clear, residents should leave now.

"Do not wait and see. Leaving at the last minute is deadly," it said.

Residents who plan to stay and actively defend their properties are warned not to rely on mains water pressure because it may be affected.

People have been told to leave in a western direction towards the Toodyay township.

Goomalling-Toodyay Road has been closed and motorists have been warned to avoid the area.

The cause of the fire is unknown.

In December 2009, a bushfire caused by a fallen power pole destroyed 38 homes and damaged about 137 properties in Toodyay.


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Vic motorcyclist critical after collision

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 14 Desember 2013 | 11.25

A 50-YEAR-OLD motorcyclist has life threatening injuries following a collision with a car in Melbourne's north east.

Police believe the motorcycle was struck by a car in Warrandyte South about 11.20am on Saturday morning.

The motorcyclist, who's believed to be from Scoresby, has been taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a critical condition.

The 28-year-old driver of the car is assisting police.


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Calls for crackdown on 'scourge of Sydney'

IT'S been described as "the scourge of Sydney".

And police officers, doctors and nurses say they've had enough.

As yet another young man fought for his life in hospital after a horrific night of brutality on Sydney streets, front-line workers came out to deplore the escalation in alcohol-fuelled violence.

Standing outside St Vincent's Hospital, where a 23-year-old man remained in a coma with devastating injuries from an attack overnight, public affairs manager David Faktor told reporters: "It's a zoo in there."

"You would be mocking the anguish of any of our front-line nurses or doctors if you were to talk about significant reductions in alcohol-related assaults," he said.

"We're more concerned than we have ever been before."

A total of 213 people were arrested in NSW overnight on the first day of Operation Unite - a two-day police blitz on alcohol misuse, crime, violence and anti-social behaviour in Australia and New Zealand.

The Bondi Beach man, whose head was stomped on in front of dozens of onlookers, was one of many victims.

Another young man had his head stomped on after he was set upon by four people outside a Sydney city nightclub, while a 48-year-old victim was punched in the head from behind at Rozelle.

A young man was punched in the face in Kings Cross in a brazen attack in front of police officers.

One man's ear was almost severed off in a glassing attack at a hotel near Wollongong, while a 25-year-old man was knocked unconscious after falling two storeys from a hotel balcony at Neutral Bay.

Mr Faktor said the common factor was alcohol.

"We have a massive problem on our hands," he said.

"Alcohol is too readily available and we're too lax in terms of our laws in inhibiting that availability."

NSW police Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldas said he was extremely concerned that while the numbers of arrests was marginally down from last year's operation, the level of violence had escalated.

"It is of great concern that people simply don't think further than the next five seconds," Mr Kaldas told reporters.

"People still continue to do these things despite the massive publicity that each of these incidents get and despite it being clear that this has a huge impact not only on the offender's family but on the victim's family and society generally."

NSW Opposition Leader John Robertson called on the government to introduce Labor's plan to tackle alcohol-related harm, which includes 1am lockouts in the Sydney CBD and Kings Cross.

Mr Robertson said a similar plan trialled in Newcastle had seen a 26 per cent reduction in alcohol-related attacks.

"Alcohol-fuelled violence is now becoming the scourge of Sydney," Mr Robertson said.

"What we need is a comprehensive, detailed proposal ... that actually confronts and deals with the problem."

Mr Kaldas warned would-be offenders of increased police patrols on Saturday night.


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Dutch poll says 21% 'back more euthanasia'

MORE than one in five Dutch people believe that euthanasia should be allowed for elderly people who are "tired of living", new research suggests.

Of 2000 Dutch people polled, 21 per cent said euthanasia should be allowed for people who no longer wish to live - even if they do not have a serious disease.

Dutch euthanasia law allows doctors to assist suicide for patients who are suffering unbearably from a medical condition with no prospect of improvement.

Hundreds of terminally ill Britons have travelled to receive assisted dying in countries where euthanasia is permitted, reports suggest.

There has been much debate in the Netherlands as to whether euthanasia laws should be extended so doctors can help elderly people who are not seriously ill, but who are simply tired of living, to die.

Researchers decided to examine the level of public support for the matter.

While one in five agreed with the prospect, just over half disagreed and a quarter neither agreed nor disagreed.

Those who supported euthanasia for older people tired of living were more likely to be highly educated and non-religious, researchers said.

Publishing their findings in the Journal of Medical Ethics, they wrote: "Although it is lower than the level of support for assistance in dying for patients whose suffering is rooted in a serious medical condition, our finding that a substantial minority of the general public supports physician assistance in dying for older people who are tired of living implies that this topic may need to be taken seriously in the debate about end-of-life decision-making.


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NSW man jailed for beheading murder

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 13 Desember 2013 | 11.25

A MAN who shot and decapitated his neighbour after an argument about a tree has been sentenced to at least 19 years in jail.

Jonathon Andrew Stenberg, 47, killed Edward "Ned" Kelly, 54, at his Broadwater home on the NSW north coast in June last year.

In sentencing him at the Supreme Court on Friday, Justice Monika Schmidt described Stenberg's actions as "brutal and unnecessary".

She said Stenberg was not remorseful, as he had failed to reveal what he had done with Mr Kelly's head, which had never been found.

"I am not convinced ... the offender has accepted necessary responsibility for his actions, which resulted in the brutal and unprovoked death of Mr Kelly, or that he has taken the step available to him to make reparation for what he has done," she said.

Mr Kelly's headless body was found on his kitchen floor with two blood-stained knives next to his neck.

The court heard the pair had a history of bad blood, dating back to 2008 when Stenberg bought a block of land neighbouring Mr Kelly.

On the morning of Sunday, June 17, 2012, Stenberg was cutting down a tree on his property when a row between the two erupted.

Around 3am the next morning, Stenberg stumbled home from the pub, telling his wife: "I got pissed off and shot our neighbour."

Stenberg fled and was found in July, hiding out in thick scrub just south of Darwin armed with a Glock pistol.

Justice Schmidt said Stenberg, who had served in the military for two years, had been "high-functioning and successful".

While he had a history of anxiety and depression, there was no evidence it was severe or debilitating, she said.

The court heard the global financial crisis had hit Stenberg hard and he was now bankrupt.

She sentenced him to a maximum of 25 years and five months.

His earliest date for release is in June 2031.

Outside court, Mr Kelly's sister, Margaret Simmons, said the murder had hurt the entire family, particularly his girlfriend Barbara Mikkelsen.

"An atomic bomb has been dropped on our lives ... his girlfriend is devastated ... She has nothing now, nothing."


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NSW 'expedited' mine extension application

MINING giant Rio Tinto and the NSW government have flatly denied claims they are abusing the planning process to expedite a coal mine expansion approval.

While the NSW Planning and Infrastructure Department conceded it did "expedite" its assessment of Rio Tinto's application to extend a Hunter Valley mine, it said all community rights were retained.

The Lock the Gate Alliance and Bulga Milbrodale Progress Association (BMPA) wrote to Planning Minister Brad Hazzard on Thursday, accusing the state government of colluding with Rio Tinto to bypass due process.

Rio Tinto has applied to extend its Warkworth Mine operation and the planning department has recommended it be approved.

The department says the modification sought would increase the mining footprint by one per cent.

But Lock The Gate Alliance's Steve Phillips questioned the level of scrutiny given to Rio Tinto.

He said it took 21 days from the time the miner submitted its application until the department recommended the approval.

"It is patently impossible that the mining giant gave any consideration to community attitudes or expert advice in that time," he said.

In a statement on Friday, the department said it was acutely aware of the concerns raised about the mine.

"We are also conscious that the mine employs some 1300 people and the constraints on the existing operations put these jobs at risk," the statement read.

The department said in "consideration of the important local factors at play" it decided to expedite the assessment.

"However, all existing legal and community rights have been retained throughout, including the right for the community to have its say," the statement read.

Rio Tinto gained approval from the NSW government for a larger extension of the same mine this year.

But the Land and Environment Court overturned the approval following a challenge from BMPA.

Rio Tinto and the O'Farrell government have launched action in the Court of Appeal to appeal the Land and Environment Court ruling.

Lock the Gate and BPMA argue Rio's most recent application is in the same area the Land and Environment Court ruled mining should not take place.

A Rio Tinto spokesperson said the Warkworth application was for a minor modification that would help protect 1300 jobs for the next two years.

He said, after four years of consultation around the mine, it was "disingenuous" to claim the current application needed to be further delayed.

"Rio Tinto has a dedicated and highly experienced team who worked around the clock to assess and respond appropriately to all objections once the public exhibition period closed," he said in a statement.

"The implications of the minor modification now being sought are extremely well understood, thereby allowing the company to respond to submissions in a timely manner."

Premier Barry O'Farrell told ABC Radio he was confident the planning department operated with openness and transparency.

Rio Tinto's application now rests with the Planning Assessment Commission.


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