Hawaii gives OK to 30 Meter Telescope

A PLAN by California and Canadian universities to build the world's largest telescope at the summit of Hawaii's Mauna Kea volcano received approval from the state on Friday.

The decision by the Board of Land and Natural Resources clears the way for the group managing the Thirty Meter Telescope project to negotiate a sublease for land with the University of Hawaii.

The telescope would be able to observe planets that orbit stars other than the sun and enable astronomers to watch new planets and stars being formed. It should also help scientists see some 13 billion light years away for a glimpse into the early years of the universe.

The telescope's segmented primary mirror, which is nearly 100 feet (30 meters) long, will give it nine times the collecting area of the largest optical telescopes in use today. Its images will also be three times sharper.

But the telescope may not hold the world's largest title for long. A group of European countries plans to build the European Extremely Large Telescope, which will have a 138-foot (42-meter)-long mirror.

Some Native Hawaiian groups had petitioned against the project, arguing it would defile the mountain's sacred summit.

Native Hawaiian tradition holds that high altitudes are sacred and are a gateway to heaven. In the past, only high chiefs and priests were allowed at Mauna Kea's summit. The mountain is home to one confirmed burial site and perhaps four more.

Environmentalists also petitioned to stop the telescope on the grounds it would harm habitat for the rare wekiu bug.

The board approved the project anyway, but imposed two dozen conditions including a requirement that employees be trained in culture and natural resources.

The University of California system, the California Institute of Technology and the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy are spearheading the telescope. China, India and Japan have signed on to be partners.

The University of Hawaii is involved because it leases the summit land from the state of Hawaii.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ex-NZ PM Clark gets second term at UNDP

Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark has been re-appointed as administrator of the UNDP. Source: AAP

FORMER New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark has been re-appointed as administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Her second four-year term at the helm of the UN development agency was confirmed at the 67th session of the UN General Assembly on Friday.

Ms Clark, who served three successive terms as prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008 in Labour Party-led governments, became the UNDP administrator in April 2009.

She is the first woman to lead the organisation.

Last year Foreign Policy magazine declared Ms Clark to be "the most powerful woman you've never heard of".

She oversees more then 8000 employees, working in 177 countries.

She is also the chair of the United Nations Development Group, a committee consisting of the heads of the 32 UN funds.

Ms Clark's second term begins on April 20, 2013.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Joyce to challenge Windsor in New England

SENATOR Barnaby Joyce is the Nationals' choice to take on federal independent MP Tony Windsor for the NSW seat of New England.

Senator Joyce was the favourite to win the preselection race against 34-year-old software entrepreneur David Gregory.

NSW Nationals MP Niall Blair, who was chairing the preselection in Tamworth, said on Twitter that the ballot closed about 1pm (AEST).

Mr Blair then announced Senator Joyce as the victor.

Earlier on Saturday the senator told the ABC he was confident of a win at the party level but that his tilt against Mr Windsor, who holds his regional NSW seat with a margin of 21 per cent, would be a "momentous struggle".

Senator Joyce will now have to resign from the Senate by the time writs are issued for the September 14 election, and the Queensland Liberal Nationals will have to find a replacement for the Senate vacancy.

In a statement, the Nationals said their local rank and file had "overwhelmingly" endorsed Senator Joyce.

Mr Blair said the senator's willingness to leave his Queensland senate seat demonstrated his commitment to the New England region.

"Barnaby is leaving a safe seat in the Senate to represent the area in which he grew up, against a four-term MP who has the full support of the Labor government," he said.

"They don't come much more committed than that."

He said Senator Joyce, who grew up and went to university in the New England region, had strong networks across the electorate and was "relishing" the opportunity to get back to his roots.

Nationals leader Warren Truss said the seat would play a crucial role in the coalition's bid to depose the federal government in September.

"Despite his so-called independent label, Tony Windsor has been in lock-step with Julia Gillard since forming their unholy alliance three long years ago," Mr Truss said.

"He shares responsibility for all of Labor's bungles, scandals and waste over that time, including the carbon and mining tax fiascos which he wholeheartedly supported."

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Cocaine smuggler wishes he'd taken beating

A BRITISH cruise ship passenger caught entering Australia wearing a wet suit under his clothes stuffed with cocaine, now says he should have taken "the beating" from the loan shark who put him up to it.

Ronald Fletcher, 60, told the Downing Centre District Court on Friday he met up with a couple called "Pete and Sheila" while onboard the P&O cruise Aurora in Auckland, New Zealand.

From them, the UK national said, he picked up a number of packages in order to pay off a 35,000 pound debt to a loan shark back home.

But upon disembarking in Sydney in February last year his plans fell apart when a police sniffer dog found him out.

It was quickly discovered he was hiding about 19 kilograms of pure cocaine in carefully moulded packages inside the wetsuit.

"I'm dreadfully sorry and remorseful that I ever got involved in something as ridiculous as this," Fletcher said during his sentencing hearing on Friday.

"I wish I had just taken the beating."

Fletcher told the court he borrowed the money in mid-2010 to pay off some home renovations but the loan shark, "George", began threatening him and his daughter after he failed to cough up.

However, the court also heard that in September, while supposedly still needing to find the money he owed, Fletcher holidayed for two weeks in America.

Fletcher said he had a "reasonable" time on the cruise, spent money at the ship's bar and spa and toured sights in various stopovers along the way.

"I went to Alcatraz which I probably shouldn't have done."

The hearing before Judge Leonie Flannery continues.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Budget surplus unlikely in coming years

TREASURER Wayne Swan continues to talk down the prospects of Australia returning to a budget surplus anytime soon.

The flow-on effects of the global financial crisis have taken a sledgehammer to taxation revenues, as has the high Australia dollar and falling commodity prices.

"As a result, we're seeing further hits to revenues and it's clear this will be felt right across the forwards," Mr Swan told a business luncheon in Sydney this week.

The treasurer could reveal deficits for each of the four years in the government's forward estimates when Mr Swan delivers his sixth budget on May 14.

If so, Labor could be setting the scene for the longest run of budget deficits - a total of nine - since 1970/71.

Up until late last year, Mr Swan was confident a $1 billion-plus surplus for 2012/13 was on the cards.

But he's since dropped that forecast and now economists are tipping a budget black hole of up to $20 billion for this financial year.

The latest government monthly financial statement released in March seems to back up that expectation.

It revealed an underlying cash deficit of $26.8 billion for the seven months to January 31 - around $5 billion worse than the predictions contained in Treasury's mid-year budget update.

Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey said Labor was walking away from any commitment to a budget surplus in future years.

"They have no commitment at all to living within your means and ultimately Australian taxpayers are going to pay the price," he said.

If it wins government in September, the coalition has committed to delivering sustainable budget surpluses by cutting government debt and spending.

But Mr Hockey can't say when that might be.

Over the rest of this decade, the Australian dollar is likely to remain around parity with the US currency and continue to hurt export earnings.

This outlook was underlined this week when the local dollar hit a 28-year high on the trade weighted index - an economic indicator that measures the strength of a country's exchange rate against its peers.

Since reaching parity in November 2010, the currency has averaged $US1.03 - well up on the average of 81.3 US cents between 2003 and the onset of the GFC in September 2008.

And to top it off, the Australia dollar has appreciated 30 per cent against the Japanese yen in the past six months.

Global mining giant BHP Billiton estimates every one US cent appreciation in the Australia dollar cuts its earnings by $120 million - so cent-movements mean big dollars in potential company tax revenues.

The strong dollar was a factor in General Motors Holden axing 500 local jobs this week.

And a looming worry for Mr Swan is forecasts for a fall in the prices of Australia's main mineral exports, which are priced in US dollars.

It's no wonder confidence in the economy fell in April, according the consumer survey published by Westpac this week.

When respondents considered economic conditions over the next 12 months, their confidence fell 4.5 per cent. Over five years, it fell 8.3 per cent.

Business is also struggling, with sector activity hitting its weakest level in nearly four years, according to a National Australia Bank survey.

So when official labour force data on Thursday showed the unemployment rate rose to 5.6 per cent - its worst reading since November 2009 - Mr Hockey wasn't surprised.

"This reflects what we've been hearing on the ground ... for the last few months," he said.

The unemployment rate also overshot Treasury's forecast for a rate of 5.5 per cent by June 2013.

One way to boost confidence - and economic growth - is for the Reserve Bank of Australia to cut interest rates.

The central bank last cut its cash interest rate in December, to three per cent.

This week, RBA assistant governor Christopher Kent said economic growth was expected to be a bit below the trend rate of about 3.25 per cent this year, before improving gradually next year.

The likelihood of no bumper growth in Australia for the foreseeable future makes the budget task much harder, and whoever is treasurer after September 15 will have their job cut out for them.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Airlines cut ticket prices in April

AUSTRALIA'S domestic airlines cut the price of their cheapest economy tickets in April.

Discount ticket prices for domestic travel fell by as much as 20 per cent compared with March, according to the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics.

Business class ticket prices were little changed in April although remain about 25 per cent cheaper than in 2011 when Virgin Australia gradually introduced business class into its fleet in a bid to lure more corporate travellers from Qantas.

In December, the price of a business class ticket fell to the lowest level since the bureau began collecting records in 1992.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Labor dishonest on jobs promise: Hockey

THE federal government won't meet its promise to create 500,000 new jobs in the two years to mid-2013, Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey claims.

His prediction follows a weaker than expected jobs report for March released on Thursday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

It showed total employment fell by 36,100 and the unemployment rate ticking up to 5.6 per cent, from 5.4 per cent in February.

Mr Hockey said it was the highest jobless rate since November 2009, when Australia was beginning to emerge from the global financial crisis (GFC).

"During the GFC the unemployment rate peaked at 5.9 per cent in June 2009 - we are now only 0.3 per cent from this level," he said in a statement.

Mr Hockey said Treasurer Wayne Swan wouldn't meet his commitment announced on budget night 2011 to create 500,000 new jobs over the next two years.

"Since June 2011, employment has increased by 197,000," he said.

"Wayne Swan is still well short of the target and will need to create 303,000 jobs in just three months just to keep his promise."

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Residents in China 'ordered to cull birds'

RESIDENTS of a Chinese city have been ordered to cull all their poultry as authorities step up attempts to halt the spread of the deadly H7N9 bird flu, state media reports.

Thousands of birds and livestock were slaughtered by the Tuesday midnight deadline in Nanjing, in the eastern province of Jiangsu, the China Daily said on Thursday.

The number of cases of the H7N9 strain of avian influenza rose to 33 on Wednesday, with nine deaths since China announced over a week ago that it had been found in humans for the first time.

Residents who did not comply with the regulation in Nanjing would be fined up to 50 yuan ($A8), the China Daily said, adding that local officials offered help to kill birds and animals.

More than 2000 were dispatched by the authorities.

The newspaper also indirectly quoted an agricultural official in Beijing saying the measure "goes too far and could cause panic".

Shanghai has culled more than 111,000 birds, banned trading in live poultry and shut markets in a bid to curb the outbreak.

Nanjing and the city of Suzhou followed suit with bans on live poultry trade, while Hangzhou culled poultry after discovering infected quail.

In China poultry is often bought live from markets and taken home before being slaughtered, cooked and eaten.

Meanwhile, the state-run Global Times reported on Thursday that anti-bird nets were being erected in poultry farms in Beijing to prevent possible avian flu infection from migrant birds.

"With the weather getting warmer, migrant birds are back now but there is still not enough food for them in Beijing," the newspaper quoted a spokesman for Beijing Infectious Animal Plague Prevention Office as saying.

"It is possible that they will seek food in open poultry farms with free range poultry. If there are H7N9 carriers, other birds might get infected and that is why we made this decision," the official added.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Vic premier pushes Abbott on rail funding

Victorian Treasurer Michael O'Brien says the state cannot afford two transport projects at once. Source: AAP

VICTORIAN Premier Denis Napthine is pressing Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to change his mind on funding the Melbourne Metro rail project.

Last week, Mr Abbott maintained that the coalition would not fund urban passenger rail projects like the Melbourne Metro if it wins government in September.

Dr Napthine says he has now spoken directly with Mr Abbott and made his case about why the Commonwealth should help fund the project.

"I emphasised to Tony Abbott, as I do to the prime minister, that our priority for infrastructure is the East-West Link, the Melbourne Metro rail tunnel and the Port of Hastings," he told reporters in Geelong on Thursday.

"We'll be banging on the door of whoever is the prime minister and Infrastructure Australia for federal funding.

"I believe that we can put up a very good case for why those projects are really important for Melbourne and the whole of Victoria, and indeed will benefit Australia."

The rail link would require a nine-kilometre rail tunnel to be built, including five new stops, with the state government already set to spend almost $50 million for planning and preparatory work.

The East-West Link road would connect the Western Ring Road to the Eastern Freeway and likely cost billions of dollars more than the rail link.

State Treasurer Michael O'Brien said Victoria can't afford to build both the road and rail projects simultaneously.

"You probably couldn't afford to have both projects going at exactly the same time on the state balance sheet," he told ABC radio on Thursday.

"The costs of these projects is just enormous."

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Cuba to return Florida couple and children

CUBA says it will turn over to the US a Florida couple who allegedly kidnapped their own children from the mother's parents and fled by boat to Havana, ending days of drama that evoked memories of the Elian Gonzalez custody battle of more than a decade ago.

Foreign ministry official Johana Tablada told The Associated Press in a written statement on Tuesday that Cuba had informed US authorities of the country's decision to turn over Joshua Michael Hakken, his wife Sharyn, and their two young boys.

Tablada said the foreign ministry had informed US diplomats on the island "of the Cuban government's willingness to turn over ... US citizens Joshua Michael Hakken, his wife Sharyn Patricia and their two minor sons".

She said Cuba tipped the State Department off to the Hakkens' presence on Sunday and that from that moment "diplomatic contact has been exchanged and a professional and constant communication has been maintained".

US authorities say Hakken kidnapped his sons, four-year-old Cole and two-year-old Chase, from his mother-in-law's house north of Tampa. The boys' maternal grandparents had been granted permanent custody of the boys last week.

Hakken lost custody of his sons last year after a drug possession arrest in Louisiana and later tried to take the children from a foster home at gunpoint, authorities said.

According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, Hakken entered his mother-in-law's Florida house last Wednesday, tied her up and fled with his sons. Federal, state and local authorities searched by air and sea for a boat Hakken had recently bought. The truck Hakken, his wife and the boys had been travelling in was found on Thursday, abandoned in Madeira Beach, Florida.

The family's flight to Cuba harkened back to the 1999 child custody case involving Elian Gonzalez, though unlike Gonzalez, the Hakkens had no apparent ties to the island.

In 1999, five-year-old Gonzalez was found clinging to an inner tube off Florida after his mother and others drowned while fleeing Cuba. The boy was taken to Miami to live with relatives, but his father in Cuba demanded the boy be sent back.

US courts ultimately ruled Gonzalez should be sent back, though his Miami relatives refused to return him. In April 2000, US federal agents raided the family's home and he was returned to Cuba soon after.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

GPG agrees to sell stake in CIC Australia

GUINNESS Peat Group, the investment company liquidating its holdings, has agreed to sell 19.9 per cent of ASX-listed property developer CIC Australia to Peet for $A15.1 million ($NZ18.6m).

Peet on Wednesday announced a cash takeover for all the shares in CIC for 60 Australian cents apiece or $A76 million, it said in a statement to the ASX.

CIC has seven active projects in Australian Capital Territories, New South Wales, South Australia and the North Territories worth $A148 million.

"GPG intends to accept the bid for its entire shareholding in CIC on or before 7 May 2013, subject to there being no superior proposal at that time," it said in a separate statement.

Shares of CIC last traded at 63 Australian cents on the ASX, valuing the company at $A78.6 million.

Peet, a land development and fund management firm, last traded at $A1.40 for a market value of $A443 million.

GPG shares last traded at 60 cents on the NZX.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

War memorial launches WWI gallery makeover

THE $32 million makeover of the World War I galleries at the Australian War Memorial has begun, with Director Brendan Nelson promising the end result will be truly stunning.

The redevelopment, regarded as one of the most significant modernisations of any gallery in the memorial in recent decades, will coincide with The Great War's centenary when it opens late in 2014.

The Sinai and Palestine galleries have now closed to visitors, with the Gallipoli galleries set to close mid-year.

A temporary WWI exhibition will open later in the year.

Dr Nelson said like any major renovation, there would be some inconvenience, but in the end it would be worth it, with the memorial's architects, historians, archivists and curators putting together what would be a stunning exhibit.

Modern lighting would be installed and new exhibition material, some of which had never been on display, would be on show.

One item to be displayed would be the battledress of Private George Giles, still featuring mud from the battle of Morlancourt, which was collected by historian Charles Bean in 1918 and was one of the initial exhibits when the memorial opened in 1941.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Organ donation should be 'normal': experts

ACCESS to donated organs should be a human right and donation should become a normal practice in Australia, a Sydney forum has heard.

Organ donation expert Holly Northam says organ and tissue donation should be "normalised" so more donor families are willing to consent.

She says there is a critical need for advocates in hospitals to support donor families through the donation process.

"We need to ... make it easier for Australians, so that it is a normal thing to become organ and tissue donors and we all feel good about it," the Canberra University academic told a panel in Sydney's Town Hall on Tuesday.

She said organ and tissue donation was was 'normal' in Spain, where the system was widely lauded, but not a standard part of end-of-life care in Australia.

"It is something that should be a human right. We should all be able to have that right."

The panel, organised by organ donation societies, heard Australia had failed to meet a target to make it the world leader in organ donation transplantation, despite the government chipping in $150 million towards that goal in 2008.

Organ recipient and ShareLife founder Brian Myerson said the system would need "total reform" to meet that target.

"We need leadership right from the top to ensure that we have a national program that runs the system consistently," he said.

"We are now 22nd in the world (on organ donation transplantation). There are very few things that Australia is 22nd at."

Transplant surgeon Allan Glanville said families needed to discuss their wishes regarding organ donation.

"Everybody will be touched by or involved in organ donation in some way," he said.

On Sunday, the government announced funding of $1.3 million for a trial to subsidise paid leave for living donors taking time off work.

Prof Glanville said while the funding was welcomed, more needed to be done to support donor families.

"You would not have transplants without the donor families."

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Genital mutilation survivor speaks out

FOR Khadija Gbla going on "a holiday" was the euphemism her mother used before she was taken away and subjected to female genital mutilation.

She has vivid memories of the traditional practice performed on her, as a nine-year-old, in a rural village in her home country Sierra Leone.

"My mum was holding me down. I struggled for my life, thinking this is not what I was promised," she told AAP.

An old woman came at her with a rusty old blunt knife.

"I was thinking, this is not going to end well."

No anaesthetic was used.

"I remember being cut, inch, by inch, by inch and bleeding for weeks."

The practice, which removes the clitoris and inner labia, was done to Khadija's grandmother and her mother.

But in her family at least, it will definitely stop at her generation.

Khadija's family moved to Australia when she was 13 and it was only then that she came to terms with what had been done without her consent.

Now 24, the Adelaide law student has started a support group for other young girls who are living with the consequences of female circumcision.

"I did not feel like a complete woman," she said.

Khadija experiences stomach pain that leaves her crying on the floor. She also worries about how it will affect future intimate relationships.

She joined health experts at Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday for a summit on efforts to stamp out the practice in Australia and globally.

Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek told the summit it was a "difficult and confronting topic".

"All mothers, all parents, want the best for their children," she said.

"Mothers and grandmothers have agreed or arranged female genital mutilation because they believed their daughters would not be marriageable without it."

A review of state laws found that penalties needed to be consistent across the country, Ms Plibersek said.

UK specialist midwife Comfort Momoh told the summit she helped 400 girls a year at her London clinic and performed one or two reversal procedures each week.

Many of her patients need ongoing support and counselling.

"If a child dies from excessive bleeding, (the mindset is) it was meant to be because she's a witch," Dr Momoh said, adding that societal change must happen at community level.

James Cook University academic Ajay Rane has seen the ugly consequences of the practice, including "an axe in the vagina put there by the Taliban in a nine-year-old" and fistulas - abnormal connections between the bowel or bladder and the vagina.

These caused the women to leak and led to ostracism in their society, he said.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

It's time for Tiwi recognition, elder says

IT'S time for Tiwi Islanders to take control of their own destiny, an elder says.

Elders on the islands, 80km north of Darwin, formed a land council in 1979 with the goal of taking control of their own affairs.

In the meantime they've watched the establishment of the Torres Strait Regional Authority.

But despite Tiwi aspirations for a similar authority, a local council still controls housing, healthcare, schooling, infrastructure and planning.

Elder Marius Puruntatameri says the idea has been discussed on the Tiwi Islands for 30 years.

"We were thinking about it then, we're still talking about it now," the softly spoken elder told AAP.

For Mr Puruntatameri, the duplication and wasted money is most frustrating.

"Everyone's just doing their own thing, there's no unity," he said.

"A lot of people out here are working for themselves instead of our people."

The elders have renewed their push for a regional authority as the Northern Territory reviews local governments.

"We've never stopped believing Tiwi people should be responsible, should be trusted," Mr Puruntatameri said.

"We'll never stop talking about it.

"Sure we'll have our problems, there will be ups and downs.

"But we can learn and we will learn."

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Crackdown on racism 'to hurt free speech'

STRENGTHENING laws to make it easier to convict people for serious racism could restrict the democratic right to free speech, a NSW parliamentary inquiry has heard.

Current anti-discrimination laws have failed to result in any successful prosecutions since they were introduced in 1989, despite more than 27 public complaints about alleged breaches.

Premier Barry O'Farrell last year launched an inquiry to examine whether the laws are too restrictive and should be broadened beyond the current focus on physical harm.

Speaking before the inquiry on Monday, Simon Breheny from the Institute of Public Affairs denied the current laws had failed.

"The law is a success because it is being obeyed," he said.

"The law as it stands is appropriate. However it must not be expanded to catch any form of conduct less than specific threats of physical violence.

"To do so risks undermining one of our most important Liberal democratic rights - freedom of speech."

Mr Breheny said people should not be able to be fined or imprisoned for "merely expressing their opinion".

Mr Breheny also questioned why race would be singled out for inclusion in the criminal law and not other sensitive areas such as religion and sexism.

Under the current system, complaints about racial vilification are first brought to the Anti-Discrimination Board.

If conciliation fails the matter can be referred to the Administrative Decisions Tribunal or in serious cases, to the DPP.

NSW Council for Civil Liberties secretary Stephen Blanks said a case could be made for the matter going straight to police.

"It should be seen as a serious criminal offence," Mr Blanks said.

He said the current law had not been effective.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

New Target chief appointed

WESFARMERS has parachuted in the head of operations at its Coles supermarkets chain, Stuart Machin, to run discount department store Target following the shock resignation of Dene Rogers.

Mr Rogers had been running Target for 18 months before his resignation was announced by Wesfarmers on Monday.

Wesfarmers said Mr Rogers resigned for personal reasons so he could pursue other opportunities.

He will be replaced later this week by Mr Machin, who before joining Coles worked at British supermarket giants Sainsbury and Tesco.

"It is a privilege to lead such an iconic Australian brand and I look forward to getting started," Mr Rogers said.

Mr Machin has been Coles' stores and development operations director since 2008, when Wesfarmers bought the supermarket chain and began a transformation program.

Wesfarmers managing director Richard Goyder said Mr Machin was instrumental in the development and roll out of new stores during Coles's five year turnaround plan.

"He has impressed everyone with his capacity to develop a successful, enthusiastic team with a strong focus on outstanding execution in stores, he said.

Mr Goyder thanked Mr Rogers for initiating important changes at Target, particularly its online business and supply chain.

Options XPress analyst Ben Le Brun said while the market was initially surprised at the resignation of Mr Rogers, it had quickly rallied at the news of his replacement.

"Even though this would have come as a bit of a surprise - and the market doesn't like surprises - it will be very glad that Wesfarmers has been able to fill the gap relatively quickly," he said.

Mr Le Brun said the fact that Wesfarmers had chosen the new Target chief from within its own ranks was also a positive.

"He's well versed with the ways of Wesfarmers and would be very familiar with their targets and goals for the years ahead," he said.

Target is currently implementing a turnaround strategy to improve customer service and strengthen its mid-tier position.

The department store's sales for the six months to December 31 increased by 1.2 per cent to $2.1 billion.

Mr Le Brun said he would not expect any change in the direction of Target under Mr Machin's rule.

Consumer confidence was also expected to pick up during the year which should boost Target's sales figures, Mr Le Brun said.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Wide boardwalk plan for Sydney Fish Market

THE Sydney Fish Market could get a wider boardwalk and an outdoor eating area to cater for more visitors.

The market will on Monday lodge a development application for a $3.8 million boardwalk upgrade to start in August and be finished before Christmas.

The market's general manager, Bryan Skepper, said the plan would open up access to the harbour where Sydney's fishing fleet is moored and create a new harbourside area for diners to enjoy seafood.

A new 12-metre wide boardwalk would increase seating capacity and overhead sails would enable all-weather trading.

Meanwhile the City of Sydney has raised the possibility of relocating part of Darling Harbour's exhibition centre to the fish market when the centre is dismantled next year.

Mr Skepper said he was yet to talk to the City of Sydney about its proposal to relocate parts of the white steel superstructure to the market.

He said Infrastructure NSW had indicated it was technically feasible "but the economic viability of it is questionable".

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sandy Hook families drive gun debate

Families of those killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School will campaign for stricter US gun laws. Source: AAP

FAMILIES of those killed in the Connecticut school shooting are becoming an emotional advocacy group in the campaign for stricter US gun laws.

A group of Sandy Hook Elementary School families can take credit for shaping legislation that Connecticut's governor signed into law on Thursday.

Now they're trying to do the same in Washington.

With gun legislation in jeopardy as Congress returns from its spring break, families from Newtown, Connecticut, plan to spend the coming week on Capitol Hill.

Their goal is to speak to every senator who has yet to express support for the gun legislation, and they want to put a human face on the gun debate.

The White House has invited the families to attend President Barack Obama's speech on Monday in Hartford, Connecticut.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Police fire tear gas at Cairo protesters

Witnesses say police have fired tear gas at anti-Morsi protesters outside a Cairo court. Source: AAP

POLICE have fired tear gas at protesters outside a Cairo court, with several thousand people rallying in Egyptian cities to mark the founding of a key group opposed to President Mohamed Morsi.

Witnesses said police on Saturday fired tear gas at protesters outside the Superior Court building, which also houses the offices of the state prosecutor who has opened several investigations into opposition figures.

Live television showed clouds of tear gas rising from the court in central Cairo.

Supporters of the April 6 group also held rallies in the Nile Delta industrial town of Mahalla, where a labour strike turned into deadly clashes with police five years ago.

The Mahalla clashes on April 6, 2008 marked an escalation in the burgeoning protest movement against long-time strongman Hosni Mubarak, eventually overthrown in an early 2011 popular uprising.

Activists with the group also rallied in the coastal city of Alexandria.

Hailed as heroes in the aftermath of Mubarak's overthrow, the youth-led group, which splintered into two factions, clashed with the military that ruled Egypt between Mubarak's ouster and Morsi's election in June.

The group is now part of a coalition of secular-leaning movements that have organised sometimes violent protests against the Islamist Morsi, whom they accuse of mimicking Mubarak's practices.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Live donors to get financial support

AUSTRALIA will never adopt a cash-for-organs scheme, but will follow other countries in paying donors who take leave off work, Health Minister Tanya Plibersek says.

Workers who want to donate a kidney will be offered up to six weeks' paid leave on minimum wage up to $3600 under a federal government plan to reduce the waiting list for life-saving organs.

Ms Plibersek said the government will put up a "relatively modest contribution" of $1.3 million from the federal health budget in a two-year trial period that will be reviewed in 2015.

"We know that there are a number of people who just cannot afford to take six weeks off work," she told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.

"This reduces the financial burden on someone who is making the greatest gift that they can to a family member, or even to a stranger."

As well as those working full-time, part-time and self employed workers will receive payment, while the unemployed will get sickness benefits.

"You won't be financially better off, we just want to reduce the financial burden of taking time off," Ms Plibersek said.

The scheme brings Australia in line with other countries that have adopted similar schemes.

But Ms Plibersek said a system where people would be paid to sell organs would never be acceptable here.

"I do not think it is right to pay for organ donations.

"I think that is crossing a moral and ethical bridge that I would not be able to cross."

Kidney Health Australia chief executive Anne Wilson said the announcement was a "big win" for those suffering from kidney disease.

Recent figures from the Australian & New Zealand Organ Donation Registry show there were 1080 people on the kidney transplant waiting list in Australia in 2012, but only 237 live kidney donors.

Ms Wilson said it was a step toward reducing the gap between donors and recipients.

"People have come to us saying that this is a barrier and that's why it's an initiative that we applaud.

"We get calls one or twice a week from people talking about problems associated with being an organ donor.

"It's very heart-breaking. If you can't (donate organs) because of financial barriers, you can imagine that must build lot resentment (between families) and make them feel dreadful."

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More