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Abbott commits to NSW tunnel

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 09 Mei 2013 | 11.25

OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott has committed to funding a tunnel linking NSW's F3 and M2 motorways, saying it's time to end the frustration of the state's Central Coast drivers.

The NSW government is close to striking a deal with federal Labor on funding for the eight-kilometre project, Roads Minister Duncan Gay has confirmed.

Discussions between the various parties had been "friendly and we're close but we're not there yet", Mr Gay said.

Under the plan, both levels of government would invest up to $400 million, with the tunnel to be built from as early as next year.

The rest of the money would be provided by a private company that would recoup funds through a toll.

Mr Abbott weighed into the matter on Thursday, saying his government was committed to the four-year project, which involves a tunnel from the F3 near Hornsby under Pennant Hills Road to the M2.

"We will get this link built," he said, describing it as a vital piece of economic infrastructure that would boost the productive capacity of the NSW economy.

"The link will mean shorter travel times, reduced congestion and safer roads for the residents of the Central Coast.

"It also means reduced freight costs for all trucks that use this important national road corridor."

Mr Abbott will release the full details of the funding commitment prior to the next election.

NSW Treasurer Mike Baird said it was important not to overcommit the state.

"When we are looking at an infrastructure proposition it needs to be affordable," he told reporters in Sydney.

He said the state government was interested in any project recommended as a priority by Infrastructure NSW.

"We certainly do have some capacity ... but we need to make sure that any project we announce is fully funded and that's why we are in discussion with the federal government."


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Jobs still short of Swan's promise: Hockey

EMPLOYMENT growth is still well short of what the federal government promised two years ago, shadow treasurer Joe Hockey says.

Data on Thursday showed the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 5.5 per cent from 5.6 per cent as the number of people in employment jumped by 50,100 in April.

But Mr Hockey said since June 2011 employment had increased by 263,000, well short of the 500,000 Treasurer Wayne Swan committed to two years ago.

"Wayne Swan ... will need to create 237,000 jobs in two months to keep his solemn word," Mr Hockey said in a statement.

He said the treasurer has already abandoned his guarantee to deliver a surplus this year, to keep gross debt below $250 billion by year's end, to increase Family Tax Benefit A and to deliver legislated tax changes under the carbon tax house assistance package.

"Labor simply can't be trusted on jobs and they can't be trusted on the budget," Mr Hockey said.

Mr Swan will hand down his sixth budget next Tuesday.


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Barnaby Joyce backs referendum

SENATOR Barnaby Joyce says he will vote in a referendum to recognise local governments in the constitution and allow federal funds to flow directly to them.

But he has slammed the federal government's timing of the announcement and its failure to say what the exact wording of the referendum will be.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard launched the "yes" campaign for the referendum on Thursday

At the federal election on September 14 voters will be asked to decide whether local councils and shires should be recognised in the Constitution.

Mr Joyce told reporters in Sydney on Thursday he would vote "yes" but questioned why the government had announced the referendum now.

"They've announced a dopey wedge that's actually going to compromise our capacity to get up financial recognition of local government," he said.

"They're trying to create a distraction and this is why people don't like politicians and get so cynical."

Senator Joyce expressed concern that the government did not announce what the exact wording of the referendum would be and said he did not want the movement to fail.

"Referendums are absolutely so technically important you have to try and collect the trust of the Australian people."

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore described the referendum as "necessary" but about a "non-contentious" change.

"This referendum is essential to ensure that the Commonwealth parliament has the power to provide direct financial assistance to local government," Ms Moore said in a statement.

"I call on all Australians to vote in support of their local communities and say 'yes' on 14 September 2013."

The Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) welcomed the government's commitment to recognise local councils in the constitution.

"As we have argued for many years, the only way to protect direct federal funding for community services and infrastructure is to have local government recognised in the Australian Constitution," President Felicity-ann Lewis said in a statement.

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell said a yes vote in the referendum would change the relationship between local and state government.

"I don't support the referendum on local government, we've made clear to the federal government that we supported recognition of local government," Mr O'Farrell told reporters.

"Local government across Australia is set up by state parliaments, this ... recognition essentially changes the relationship."

He said Australia had a "history of referenda going down".

"I don't know that people are that excited about the recognition of local government," he said.


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NSW girl grabbed during cross country run

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 08 Mei 2013 | 11.25

A MAN dressed in black has attempted to abduct a teenage girl who became separated from other competitors during a school cross country run in Sydney.

The man tried to grab the 14-year-old during the event organised by Woolooware High School, police said.

The man had a black cloth covering his face when he got out of a black van and tried to snatch her in Sturt Road, Woolooware, about 12.30pm (AEST) on Tuesday.

The distraught girl managed to fight him off before she ran to her school and raised the alarm.

"She is obviously upset," Superintendent Greg Antonjuk told reporters on Wednesday.

"This is a most unpleasant incident especially for a girl of her tender years."

A NSW Education spokesman said the school has arranged counselling for the girl.

"The stranger danger message has been reinforced at the school and parents will be asked to reinforce it at home," he said in a statement.

The man has been described as Caucasian, about 30 years old, 180cm tall and having a medium build.

He had tanned skin, shaggy dark blond hair and was wearing a black hooded jumper and black track pants.

The black van had a sliding door on the driver's side and a scratch on the driver's door. It may have displayed black and yellow registration plates that start with the letters BA.

Anyone with information about the incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.


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Qld cops probe case of headless croc

Police are searching for those responsible for hacking off a crocodile's head in north Queensland. Source: AAP

POLICE are examining a decapitated crocodile in far north Queensland to try and figure out who hacked its head off.

Charter boat fisherman Jim Millar says he was shocked and disgusted when he found the headless croc in a Cairns waterway last weekend.

"It was disbelief at first," he told AAP.

"I thought its mouth was open because it was just white, but actually there was no mouth there at all."

Mr Millar said tourists on his fishing boat had excitedly pointed out the croc before realising its head was missing.

"They were disgusted," he said.

"These people have come to our beautiful city and one of their memories is going to be this horrible act that someone has committed."

He said the croc attack has left him feeling sick and also sad that he won't see his "mate" in the waterway anymore.

He had seen the croc most weeks since he began operating Gone Fishing Cairns about 11 years ago.

"It's not aggressive at all. It would come up to the side of the boat," he said.

"It was a big draw card (for tourists)."

A group of locals are likely responsible for the attack, Mr Millar said.

"They're probably trophy hunters and probably don't like crocodiles," he said.

"They rot the meat off it and put the skull on their mantelpiece or bar at home and say: 'Look at me, I'm a great white hunter'."

Queensland Environment Minister Andrew Powell says his department is investigating the matter.

He has also sought advice from the newly-formed far north Queensland crocodile squad, which helps in the removal of dangerous crocs in the region.

"It is not safe or appropriate for anyone to take part in this sort of behaviour," he said.

Queensland police have removed the croc's remains and are examining it.

The maximum penalty for deliberately killing or injuring a protected crocodile is $24,750.

* Anyone concerned about dangerous crocodiles should call 1300 130 372.


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Pakistan peacekeeper killed in DR Congo

A Pakistani peacekeeper has been killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN says. Source: AAP

ATTACKERS have killed a Pakistani peacekeeper in an ambush in strife-torn eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations says.

UN leader Ban Ki-moon was "appalled" by the latest attack on UN peacekeepers and an investigation has been started, said spokesman Martin Nesirky.

The attack was staged on Tuesday in South Kivu province on a UN mission military convoy "by unidentified assailants," Nesirky said.

Various armed groups operate in South Kivu but it is not a stronghold of the M23 group, which launched an offensive against DR Congo government forces and UN peacekeepers in North Kivu province late last year.

Ban "condemns in the strongest terms the killing of a Pakistani peacekeeper in this attack.

He recalls that the killing of peacekeepers is a war crime that falls under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court," said his spokesman.

The UN leader "offers his sincerest condolences and sympathy to the family of the victim, and to the government of Pakistan."

Ban called on the DR Congo government to "bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice," Nesirky added.

Pakistan is a key contributor to the UN force in DR Congo, officially known as MONUSCO, which is one of the biggest in the world with more than 17,750 troops and military observers and 1400 police.

The UN security council voted in March to create an additional intervention brigade of more than 2500 troops in eastern DR Congo to take on armed groups such as M23.

The special force, the first to be given an offensive mandate, is expected to start deploying in coming weeks and will be made up of troops from South Africa, Malawi and Tanzania.


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Govt axes 'rock solid' commitment: Abbott

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 07 Mei 2013 | 11.25

OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott says the federal government's ditching of a planned family benefits increase is another example of Labor rewriting a "cast-in-stone" commitment.

Finance Minister Penny Wong has blamed a decline in revenue for the decision to scrap a plan to increase the rate of the Family Tax Benefit Part A.

"This is a difficult decision, but a responsible decision given what's happened to revenue," she told Sky News on Tuesday.

The rise worth a total of $1.8 billion would have delivered as much as $300 a year for families with one child and $600 for those with two or more children.

It was meant to be paid from the government's mining tax revenue, but that income is lagging well behind expectations and is likely to miss annual targets over the forward estimates.

The independent Parliamentary Budget Office estimates the 30 per cent tax on the super profits of coal and iron ore producers will raise just $800 million in 2012/13, less than half the $2 billion Treasury expected.

But Senator Wong said the decision to ditch the family tax benefit rise was not a cut in family payments because no one had received the extra money, which wasn't due until 2013/14. As well, the planned increase hadn't been legislated.

Mr Abbott said the "rock solid" commitment made in last year's budget had been used as stick to "beat the opposition mercilessly" over family welfare.

"So it didn't survive from one budget to the next, even though it was supposed to be the absolute product of the mining boom, which no longer exists in the same form, thanks in part to the policies of this government," he told reporters in Melbourne.

The family payment boost was promoted by Labor as "spreading the benefits of the mining boom".

"If the benefits of the boom are lower than otherwise would have been expected through ... declining commodity prices and a stubbornly high Australian dollar, then you need to adjust," Trade Minister Craig Emerson said.

With just six days to go until Treasurer Wayne Swan hands down his sixth budget on May 14, Senator Wong confirmed the revenue drop for this financial year "looks to be in the order of $17 billion", from the forecast in last year's budget.

Last week, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the revenue shortfall from the mid-year budget review forecast last October was $12 billion.

Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey used Twitter to highlight Labor's "budget chaos".

"Wong says revenue write downs now $17bn. Last week Gillard said $12bn. Week before Swan said $7bn. Budget in complete chaos!!" he tweeted.

Dr Emerson said playing politics on Twitter ignored the reality of the budget dilemma, which was being driven by the impact of the high Australian dollar and lower commodity prices on corporate tax receipts.


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Hockey says budget 'cupboard is bare'

SHADOW treasurer Joe Hockey says the federal election won't be a battle involving big spending promises by the major parties because the "cupboard is bare".

Mr Hockey made the comment in a speech outlining the coalition's fiscal strategy ahead of next week's budget and the September election.

"I want to say this emphatically - we will not be engaging in an spending auction with the Labor party," he told a Master Builders Association function in Sydney on Tuesday.

"The cupboard is bare, there is no money left in the till.

"The coalition is focused on saving money, cutting unnecessary programs, cutting waste and ending mismanagement."


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3 brothers held over kidnapped US women

THREE US women who had been missing for years - two of whom disappeared as teenagers - have been found alive in a house in Cleveland.

A neighbour spotted one of the women - Amanda Berry - screaming and trying to get out of the house.

"I heard screaming ... and I see this girl going nuts trying to get outside of the house," Charles Ramsey, a neighbour who found the women, told the local ABC affiliate on Monday.

"I go on the porch and she said: 'Help me get out. I've been here a long time'."

Ramsey said he tried to get her out through the door but could not pull it open, so he kicked out the bottom and she crawled through "carrying a little girl".

Police arrived a few minutes later and discovered the two other women.

"All three women, Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michele Knight, seem to be in good health," Cleveland police said in a statement.

"A 52-year-old Hispanic male has been placed under arrest regarding this incident."

Berry was last seen at approximately 7.40pm on April 21, 2003, after leaving work at a fast food restaurant that was just a few blocks from her home. She was 16 when she disappeared.

DeJesus was 14 when she disappeared while walking home from school on April 2, 2004.

She was last seen at a pay telephone booth, sometime between 2:45pm and 3pm that day.

The story of Knight's disappearance was not immediately known.


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Replica gun burglar loses bid to appeal

Written By Unknown on Senin, 06 Mei 2013 | 11.25

A BURGLAR who was shot by a policeman after pointing a replica gun at him has failed in his bid to appeal one of his convictions.

Cameron Francis Kelly was sentenced to 18 months' jail in October for assaulting a public officer, in addition to the three-and-a-half years he was already serving for burgling a home in the Perth suburb of Canning Vale in February 2011.

Kelly sought leave to appeal the assault conviction on the ground that the primary judge at his trial wrongly excluded evidence of an exculpatory statement that he had made while being arrested.

Police had been called by the home owner who had returned to see Kelly burgling his home.

The altercation that ensued was filmed for the television program The Force, which was following the officers that day.

At trial, the court heard Kelly pointed a replica pistol at one of the officers when confronted and threatened to shoot him.

Kelly moved in a way that alarmed the officer, who believed his life was in imminent danger and fired three shots at him, striking him once in the arm and once in the stomach.

It was later discovered the pistol was a replica.

Kelly claimed he had not pointed the gun at the officer, but was instead bending down very slowly to put it down as he had been told to do.

The footage showed Kelly saying, "I don't know", when asked why he pointed the gun at the officer.

Asked a second time a little later, he said: "I didn't point the gun, I was putting it down."

But Supreme Court judges Carmel McLure, Robert Mazza and David Newnes dismissed his application to appeal.

"The appellant had been lying on the ground having his wounds attended to by police officers for some four and a half minutes when the statement was made, and it was not in any sense a spontaneous utterance," they said.


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'Naive' SA woman given bond for fraud

A "NAIVE and foolish" woman whose grandiose business plans included building a hospital in Africa and the construction of major Australian railway lines has been given a suspended jail term for fraud.

Heidi Marie Litkowitch, 65, admitted forging the signature of her former defacto partner, now 86, to obtain three bank loans totalling $290,000, using their Adelaide home as security.

She pleaded guilty in the South Australian Supreme Court to three counts of dishonestly dealing with documents between June 2007 and August 2008.

Justice Tim Stanley on Monday jailed her for two years and three months with a non-parole period of 18 months, but suspended the term and placed Litkowitch on a three-year good behaviour bond.

She used the loan money on speculative property investments that failed.

Litkowitch and her partner were together for 30 years and after they broke up, she entered a relationship with another man with whom she went into business.

Describing this as her "downfall", the judge said the business projects were partly or wholly "illusionary" and its plans "grandiose and delusional".

They included plans for involvement in infrastructure in Vietnam; railway projects between Alice Springs and Darwin, between Kalgoorlie and Esperance, and in northern NSW; a light railway in the Philippines and a hospital in Ghana.

"It appears you have been naive and foolish," the judge said.

He accepted that Litkowitch would do her best to co-operate to make restitution to the bank.


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Raise Sydney weekend taxi fares: IPART

HAILING a Sydney taxi on a Friday or Saturday night will cost $6.50 before passengers have gone anywhere under a recommendation by the pricing regulator.

The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) has recommended increasing the flag fall, or cost of hailing a cab, but reducing the amount of money paid for waiting times and distance travelled.

The current flag fall is $3.50.

But this should jump to $4 to encourage drivers to accept short fares, IPART's draft report says.

It also recommends adding a surcharge of $2.50 for all fares between 5pm and 5am on Friday and Saturday nights to encourage more taxis to be on the road when they are most needed.

However IPART chairman Peter Boxall says overall fares should fall by an average of one per cent depending on when and how far passengers travel.

"These proposed changes are all about making it easier and cheaper for passengers to catch a taxi, and more profitable for operators and drivers to provide the service when it's needed," Dr Boxall says.

The report says passengers travelling more than 4km outside weekend peak hours would pay less.

IPART will make its final recommendations to the NSW government in June.

Opposition transport spokeswoman Penny Sharpe said it would be better to provide improved public transport so people could get home safely on a Friday and Saturday night.

But she said passengers would welcome cheaper taxi fares as cabs "filled the gap" in public transport.

NSW Taxi Council CEO Roy Wakelin-King said the recommendations were bad news for cab drivers and operators who needed to make a decent return on fares.

"The problem with this report is that by putting downward pressure on the fares you are creating disincentives which offset any incentives which have been created," Mr Wakelin-King told AAP.

Mr Wakelin-King also rejected the idea that Sydney cabs were too expensive.

"There have been independent surveys which have put us, out of 75 countries, about 32nd," he said.

"We have got competitive fares relative to the cost of living here in Sydney."


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Parliament House marks 25th anniversary

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 05 Mei 2013 | 11.25

A WEEK is a long time in politics and for Australia's "new" Parliament House, it's been a very long 1300 weeks.

This Thursday, May 9, marks the 25th anniversary of the new parliament's opening by the Queen.

In 1988 there was some trepidation about moving up Capital Hill from the old parliament into the labyrinthine complex.

"There was an element of dread, that you thought oh-oh, we're going to this huge space, do you leave a trail of cut paper to know where you've been," former speaker Harry Jenkins told AAP.

But space had its advantages, particularly for MPs like Liberal Bronwyn Bishop whose new digs compared favourably with her old "broom cupboard".

Minister Warren Snowdon said the building's size caused - and still causes - problems for MPs trying to negotiate its 10km of corridors to get to the chambers for votes.

"I missed a division once," he told AAP.

"We ran down and the doors had just shut - whack - and we're standing outside feeling such idiots."

Newcomers like Senator Anne Ruston, who took up her post in September, still experiences building disorientation once or twice a sitting week.

Another issue, 25 years later, is the sense of social isolation many house dwellers experience.

Some MPs think another in-house bar could partially resolve the problem - after three bars included in the original design were subsequently closed.

But for many new hands like Liberal backbencher Wyatt Roy, the youngest MP elected to federal parliament and who, at 23, is younger than the house itself, it's as inspiring as its predecessor.

Parliament House was designed with a shelf-life of at least 200 years in mind, and if its first 25 years are anything to go by it will continue to evolve over the next quarter century.

Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) secretary Carol Mills says the ongoing challenge is keeping up with digital technology and security risks.

It only got in-house wi-fi in late 2012 and today is surrounded by anti-vehicle barriers.

Last year, DPS was under immense pressure after a man managed to breach security and join a prime ministerial press conference in the inner sanctum of the ministerial wing.

In 1988, more than 25,000 people turned out to see Her Majesty "unlock" the front doors.

Next week some of the 10,000 construction workers will hold a reunion along with architects Romaldo Giurgola and Ric Thorp.

A book on parliament's art collection will be launched on May 15 and the Mint has released a commemorative coin.


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'New' Parliament House wins over pollies

THOUSANDS of tourists see Parliament House as a temple of democracy, but for Australia's politicians the 25-year-old building is simply an office. A very big office.

For those who worked in the old parliament, the sheer size of the new building is something that still awes.

"There was an element of dread, that you thought oh-oh, we're going to this huge space, do you leave a trail of cut paper to know where you've been," former speaker Harry Jenkins told AAP about the move up Capital Hill 25 years ago.

ACT Liberal senator Gary Humphries recalled showing a lost Nick Bolkus, then a junior Labor minister, to his office shortly after the move.

Getting lost still poses problems for newcomers to the building.

"All the floors look the same; you're on one floor and all of a sudden you actually think you're on the other floor so you're looking for something that's not there," said South Australian senator Anne Ruston, who began her term in September.

"That happens usually once or twice a week."

Minister Warren Snowdon said the new parliament's size initially caused some problems, with MPs not realising how long it would take them to get across the building for votes.

"I missed a division once with (then-minister) Clyde Holding," he told AAP.

"We were in a committee room and the bells rang and we didn't hear the bells initially. We ran down and the doors had just shut - whack - and we're standing outside feeling such idiots.

"Thankfully we had the numbers ... but we did get castigated by the whip."

The backbench offices provided a great contrast to MPs' old accommodation, with senior Liberal Bronwyn Bishop describing her office of 1987 as "a sort of a large broom cupboard".

"It had a window but if a third person came into the room we all had to stand up," she told AAP.

"Corridor parties were the order of the day."

But although the veterans reminisce fondly about the "cosy" old parliament, none of them would want to go back.

They admire the vision of architect Romaldo Giurgola and the symbolism of the new parliament.

This is shared by newer MPs.

"It's a beautiful and functional building," independent senator Nick Xenophon told AAP.

"Too bad that so much of what happens within it is so ugly and dysfunctional."

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young singled out the way it is built into the hillside so people can walk on top of parliament.

"We're not interested in Australia of having our MPs and our parliament up high in an ivory tower," she said.

Liberal backbencher Wyatt Roy - the first elected representative younger than the building - said parliament was still a place to inspire people.

He celebrated his 21st birthday during a sitting week in 2001 - "We put the party in the party room," he joked - and said it was a great privilege to work there.

But at the same time, "as a workplace it can be very long days, locked in a room with very long white walls".

He'd like to see backbencher office allocations separated according to party instead of being all jumbled up as they are now.

"That way we would have more interaction with colleagues from your own party and you wouldn't have to worry about what's being said," he told AAP.

"When I go to state parliament all the office doors are open, people come in and out of their offices because they don't have to worry about what's being said.

"I think because of that mixing we spend more times in our offices than out."

However the loss of the bar - the non-members bar was transformed into a child care centre after some years of disuse - or a similar place to socialise was lamented by Mr Roy and several other MPs.

"People don't have an opportunity to interact just casually as they would have in the old parliament," Mr Snowdon said.

"I think it's important that we interact as a community as well as individual workers.

"Whatever our jobs are, we should feel free to talk to one another, react with one another."

But one area where there possibly isn't enough space is the executive wing.

Both Mr Snowdon and former attorney-general Philip Ruddock say the increasing number of ministerial staff that have to be squeezed into offices has potential to cause occupational health and safety problems down the track.

The sense of isolation that accompanies the size of the building haunts many of its occupants.

Senator Humphries said independent senators or those on the outer with their party can feel very lonely indeed.

"You see people who appear to be pretty much adrift and that's a rather sad feature of life in the building for some people," he told AAP.

Nevertheless, he says it's the "bees knees of Australian parliaments".

Mr Jenkins thought that isolation wasn't just between people who work at parliament but also between MPs and the public.

"One great feature of the old place was that on the access between the Senate chamber and the Reps chamber, that was the meeting place, it was where the public came," he said.

"Here you can spend a day if you want to just staying behind the scenes."

This extended to the chamber too, which he compared to the 1970s redevelopment of the Waverley Park AFL ground, which put the spectators further away from the action.

"Members sort of occupy a space that's much bigger than we actually really require and then because of the set back, the public and other observers are further away," he said.

Mr Ruddock, the Father of the House, agreed the modern chamber was a much less reactive environment that didn't encourage much engagement or repartee in debate.

"But from the point of view of somebody who sat on the committee that helped supervise the building, I think it's served our purpose well," he told AAP.

"I certainly wouldn't go back to working in the old parliament if the offer was there that I could stay here."


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Italian quake-hit town of Onna rebuilds

Reconstruction has started on an Italian medieval town destroyed by an earthquake four years ago. Source: AAP

RECONSTRUCTION work funded by the German government has started on a 13th century church in Onna, a village in the central Italian region of Abruzzo that was destroyed by an earthquake four years ago.

The 6.3-magnitude quake that hit the medieval town of L'Aquila and its surroundings on April 6, 2009, killed 309 people and left nearly 70,000 homeless. In Onna, 41 of 280 inhabitants were killed.

Italy's new culture minister, Massimo Bray, and Germany's public works minister, Peter Ramsauer, travelled to the village for the inauguration of the rebuilding works.

The German embassy in Rome said on Saturday that Berlin pledged 3.5 million euros ($A4.4 million) for Onna's church, where occupying German troops shot dead 17 civilians as a reprisal for partisan activities during World War II.

"On June 11, 1944, Germans inflicted on Onna unspeakable sufferings. With the sustainable reconstruction of the Church of Saint Peter Apostle we want to offer a proof of reconciliation and friendship between our two countries," Ramsauer said.

Il Centro, a local newspaper, wrote: "Everything that has been done in Onna in the last four years is due to the solidarity from the German Federal Republic," noting that reconstruction work should have started in 2010 but was blocked by "Italian bureaucracy".

Locals have repeatedly complained about slow progress on rebuilding. Work on the historic centre of L'Aquila started in recent weeks, and Italy's former regional aid minister, Fabrizio Barca, has told the DPA news agency that it would take "10-12 years" to be completed.

Barca quit office last week, as a new government was appointed. In his last report to parliament, he said that there were still more than 22,000 displaced people in the L'Aquila region and that 10 billion euros ($A12.8 billion) would be needed to fund the reconstruction.


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