Libs govern in national interest: Abbott

OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott says the federal election will be the clearest choice in a generation.

Mr Abbott told the Liberal Party's Victorian campaign launch the choice was not just between different teams and policies, or between unity and dysfunction.

"It is a choice about fundamental values, it's a choice about what we believe in as a people and a nation," he said.

Mr Abbott said he would not be bribing Australians to vote Liberal.

"We will be saying vote for us because we will govern in the national interest," he said.

There were about 2000 people at the presidential-style campaign launch at the Melbourne Showgrounds, with supporters dressed in blue T-shirts waving flags and posters.

Mr Abbott was introduced by former prime minister John Howard, who praised the opposition leader for almost defeating a first-term government and spooking the Labor party into changing leaders.

Mr Abbott his promised to scrap the carbon and mining taxes, cut spending, review industrial relations laws and stop illegal boat arrivals.

"The beginning of tax reform is to scrap the carbon tax and scrap the mining tax, it's not the end but it is the beginning," he said.

"We will get the budget back into the black."

Mr Abbott said Mr Rudd had "rolled out the Rudd carpet" to people smugglers and a coalition government would put it away.

He spoke of the Liberal Party's unity over the past three years and the experience of the coalition's shadow cabinet as former Howard government ministers.

But there were no new policies.

He simply promised to give Australians a better future.

"It's not about Kevin, it's not about me, it's not even about us," he said.

"It is about the Australian people, and I say to the Australian people, you deserve better ... And you deserve better than three more years of this, and we will give you three of the best years you've had."

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I stand by boats 'conflict' comments: Rudd

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd says he stands by comments questioning whether Tony Abbott was "trying to risk conflict" with Indonesia over his "turn back the boats" plan.

During his first press conference on Friday Mr Rudd said the coalition's boats policy would set Australia on course for "policy collision" with Indonesia, a statement the opposition labelled as reckless and irresponsible.

Asked on Saturday if he regretted his comments, Mr Rudd said, "I stand by everything I said".

"Including the fact that my responsibility as prime minister is to ensure we have a first-class relationship with 250 million people in Indonesia, a country which constitutes our most important neighbour," he told reporters while campaigning in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.

Mr Abbott wants to resurrect the former Howard government's policy of instructing the navy to turn back flagged and crewed boats to Indonesia, which reduced annual boat arrivals.

However, Mr Rudd claims it can't be done because Indonesia has said it won't co-operate with the coalition's proposal.

Mr Rudd said the opposition leader had two questions to answer about his policy to "turn back the boats".

"Number one, what happens when a boat sinks?" he said.

"And number two, what happens if the Indonesians push the boat back?.

"He hasn't answered either of those things. So either it is a fair dinkum policy or it's simply codswallop to try and win some votes."

Indonesian foreign affairs spokesman Teuku Faizasyah has reportedly poured cold water on the issue, describing it as an internal Australian political matter.

Mr Rudd will hold talks with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta next week, his first overseas trip since reclaiming the prime ministership.

Addressing a Liberal campaign rally in Melbourne, former prime minister John Howard took aim at Mr Rudd for his failure on border protection, comparing him to an arsonist.

"Kevin Rudd is like the arsonist claiming respectability as the fire fighter in imagining he's got the solution to the problem of border protection," Mr Howard said.

"Mr Rudd will go down in Australian history as the great architect not of economic reform, not of a better defence policy or a better foreign policy or a better education policy, but he will go down as the great architect of the destruction of a safe border protection policy."

Mr Abbott told the rally that by scrapping the Howard-era policies Mr Rudd had made himself "the best friend the people smugglers have ever had".

"You know what he did? He rolled out the Rudd carpet," Mr Abbott said.

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Moors murderer 'killed four more'

A newly published letter from Moors murderer Ian Brady claims he killed four more people. Source: AAP

A LETTER in which Britain's infamous Moors Murderer Ian Brady claims to have killed four more people has been published for the first time.

In the seven-page letter, written by Brady in 1989, he said he killed two men in his native Glasgow and then killed a man and a woman in Manchester, where he and his partner Myra Hindley abducted and murdered five children in the 1960s.

But Greater Manchester Police said the claims have been thoroughly investigated and found to be "completely unsubstantiated".

The letter was part of a series of correspondence between the notorious child killer and former local journalist Brendan Pittaway and published on the Daily Telegraph website on Friday night.

In it, he also claims that the body of his 12-year-old victim Keith Bennett, which has never been found, is buried in Yorkshire.

It comes after Brady earlier lost his legal bid to be transferred to a jail and was told he will instead remain a patient at maximum security hospital Ashworth on Merseyside for the foreseeable future on the grounds that he is mentally insane.

Victims' families have criticised giving Brady, 75, the opportunity to "grandstand" at the mental health tribunal, while others described the hearing as a "circus" and a "complete waste of taxpayers' money".

The tribunal was the first time Brady has been seen in public since the 1980s, when he was taken back to Saddleworth Moor in the search for the bodies of two of his victims, and the first time he had spoken in public since being jailed for life at Chester Assizes in 1966.

In his letter Brady describes the four additional murders as "happenings" and says that he killed a man "on the waste ground behind the station" and a "woman in the canal".

Brady goes on to say he also killed a man in Glasgow and another man "above Loch Long", a 30-kilometre-long sea loch at the mouth of the Clyde.

The details of his claims had previously been included in the autobiography of Detective Chief Superintendent Peter Topping, the officer who led the search for Keith when Brady confessed to killing him in 1985, The Telegraph reported. But he raised serious doubts over whether Brady was telling the truth.

It is unclear if the killer's claim that Keith's body is buried in "Yorkshire, not Lancashire" is in reference to his disagreement with boundary changes, and does not mean Greater Manchester Police, who he has a grudge against, have been searching in the wrong area.

He wrote: "As for Keith Bennett. The area of the site is in Yorkshire, not (double underlined) Lancashire, and should have been dealt with by the Yorkshire Police.

"I have already stated my readiness to questioning under Sodium Penthatol (sic) so-called 'truth drug', but not (double underlined) by the Manchester Police."

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New team to handle economic transition

JULIA Gillard kicked off the week telling business how proud she was of the economic achievements of her government over the past three years, while scolding those who dared to talk the economy down.

On her third anniversary as prime minister on Monday, she said anyone bandied about the "R-word" - she couldn't bring herself to say recession - was "irresponsible and silly".

"As prime minister, I am concerned that left unchecked, this kind of distorted coverage could continue to spread," she told the Committee for Economic Development of Australia conference in Canberra.

Twenty-four hours later Wayne Swan followed up with a list of government's economic achievements - low unemployment, contained inflation, sustained output growth and rising living standards.

But his proudest achievement was Labor's response to the 2008-2009 global financial crisis (GFC).

"We got through it with very little injury compared to the vast bulk of the developed world," Swan said.

"I don't claim that the fiscal response was the only reason for out good performance, but I do claim that it was critical in keeping Australia out of recession."

Come Wednesday, Gillard was ousted as prime minister while Swan stepped down as treasurer after nearly six years.

Kevin Rudd was returned as Labor leader and quickly installed as treasurer Chris Bowen, who was assistant treasurer when Labor came to power in 2007.

Of course, discussions about Labor's response to the GFC don't exclude Rudd.

While Swan was voted 'finance minster of the year' for captaining the economy through the worst of the crisis, it was Rudd who was commander-in-chief.

He was alongside Swan when the government announced billions of dollars in stimulus measures.

"Working in the trenches, day in, day out, night in, night out, here in Canberra, working together to prevent this country from rolling into global economic recession and avoiding mass unemployment," Rudd said this week.

"So, Wayne, whatever our differences have been, I acknowledge your contribution here as part of that team which kept us out of a global catastrophe."

Now it will be left to the Rudd-Bowen economic team to steer Australia's major transition from a fading mining investment boom to broader economic growth.

Both Rudd and Bowen have emphasised the importance of reconnecting with business to support this change.

In just a few short days, Rudd has repeatedly called the Chinese resources boom as over, much to the annoyance of some in the mining community, while says there is still a big future for manufacturing under his government.

What this means for policy in the coming weeks remains to be seen, although there is already speculation this will result in the carbon price moving earlier to a lower, floating international price to take pressure off business.

A bigger question mark hangs over the timing of the election, and whether Rudd will move earlier or later than the September 14 date set by Gillard.

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Peter Anderson believes an early election would be better with business tolerance at a breaking point over the instability caused by uncertainty over government leadership.

TD Securities head of Asia-Pacific research Annette Beacher says any Rudd euphoria for the embattled Labor Party needs to be captured quickly.

But with Labor Party substantially behind in the polls, a pro-business coalition victory remains the most likely outcome, she said in an analysis.

"A strong majority government, after years of a fragile hung parliament, we believe could substantially boost soggy investment plans and employment as policy certainty and leadership are restored," she said.

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Vic hikers spend night in freezing bush

VICTORIAN police have winched two hikers to safety after they spent a freezing night lost in bush near Mount Buller.

The men contacted authorities as darkness approached on Thursday when they realised they had become lost on their way from Ritchies Hut to The Bluff.

They told police they were well-provisioned and prepared to camp for the night.

The men, aged in their 20s were unharmed when they were winched into a police helicopter about 10.30am on Friday and taken to nearby Merrijig.

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No concerns about sex offenders in NSW

THERE are no "significant concerns" about high risk sex offenders currently on parole in NSW, a review has found.

It was carried out after a convicted murderer on parole allegedly tried to rape and kill a Sydney woman last week.

Attorney-General Greg Smith on Friday released the findings of a review into the management of sex offenders on parole.

"The findings give me some comfort that recent events represent an isolated case," he said in a statement.

But the review, which won't be released for security reasons, identified the need to increase the verification of information provided by parolees.

It also called for case plans to be updated in a timely manner.

Mr Smith said the Corrective Services commissioner had assured him these issues were being addressed "as a matter of urgency".

He conceded there was no fail-safe way of predicting the behaviour of human beings.

"(But) those high risk violent and sexual offenders who have shown no sign of rehabilitation, can be detained in custody, or kept under strict supervision orders."

In the last year, 3.4 per cent of sex offenders on parole were charged with further sexual offences, according to the review.

It found all of the offenders on parole had their risk assessments completed and had appropriate case management plans.

The frequency of contact with parolees had increased by an average of 16 per cent for sex offenders and 22 per cent for high risk offenders over the past three months.

This means 92 per cent of the offenders met their required contact frequency.

The remaining eight per cent of cases were within a few days of meeting the required frequency.

Mr Smith said the government was still awaiting a broader review of the parole system, and a separate review into last week's attack.

"I want to be absolutely sure that community safety is paramount in decisions regarding the granting of parole," he said.

"I also want to be certain that the processes for deciding who is ready to be released, and under what conditions, are sound."

Last week, 46-year-old Terrence Leary allegedly grabbed a woman and forced her to the ground as he tried to undress and rape her.

The woman screamed for help and tried to fight him off but was stabbed in the shoulder with a pocket knife.

The attack happened at a Hunters Hills bus stop 10 months after Leary was released on parole for the 1991 for the murder of 17-year-old Vanessa Hoson.

He has now been charged with eight offences including grievous bodily harm with intent to murder, inflicting actual bodily harm with intent to have sex and assaulting police.

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West Sydney voters keen on Rudd

VOTERS in key western Sydney seats say they're pleased Kevin Rudd's back as prime minister, but are split on whether he can lead Labor to an election victory.

In Penrith, in the federal seat of Lindsay, golf club manager Jeanette said she backed Mr Rudd to prevail over Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.

"I don't think while they've got Abbott as leader it's going to win them any votes," Jeanette said.

"People would be more inclined to go with Rudd (than Abbott).

"Tony Abbott doesn't appeal to people, and he's not a strong enough character."

Labor's David Bradbury has a tenuous 1.1 per cent hold on the seat of Lindsay which takes in traditional blue-collar suburbs like Penrith, Cambridge Park, Werrington, Mt Pleasant, Kingswood and Emu Plains.

Werrington hotel employee Lynn said Mr Rudd and Ms Gillard "were as bad as each other".

"I think it's really unstable," she said from the Colonial Hotel.

However, she said she would "wait and see" what Mr Rudd did before the election.

In the neighbouring seat of McMahon, the Fairfield City Business Chamber welcomed Mr Rudd's return.

"I don't know that it's enough but it will close the gap," chamber president Vince Morizio told AAP.

He said local MP, Labor's new treasurer Chris Bowen, was liked in the area, but Labor had "hurt him in the last couple of years".

McMahon takes in suburbs including Fairfield, Greystanes, Smithfield and Wetherill Park and is held by Mr Bowen on a healthier 7.8 per cent margin.

Local baker Tony said Labor's chances would be boosted with Mr Rudd.

"I'm a Rudd supporter and I think it will help," he said from Smithfield.

"Rudd comes across as very personable."

Mr Rudd was sworn in again as prime minister on Thursday after beating Julia Gillard in a leadership ballot on Wednesday night.

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Dead people still "own" guns in WA

DEAD men aren't supposed to have guns.

Except in Western Australia, where almost 1000 firearms belonging to people who've died are unaccounted for.

An audit of the state's weapons has uncovered serious flaws in gun control, with police having no way of knowing exactly how many legal and illegal guns there are.

"We have no confidence in the accuracy of basic information on the number of people licensed to possess firearms or the number of licensed or unlicensed firearms," said WA Auditor General Colin Murphy.

"And in the absence of reliable information, the police are unable to effectively manage firearms licensing and regulation in WA."

The state government was reportedly preparing to announce a gun amnesty.

Before the audit more than 300 people were listed as owning a firearm despite being classified as unfit to do so because of a criminal conviction or being the subject of a violence restraining order.

Police say they have checked only half of those people to see if they still owned a gun and found none.

A loophole uncovered by the report revealed one property owner willing to take money in order to provide a reference letter to someone applying for a recreational firearm licence.

Another property owner provided letters to more than 270 applicants in just 17 months - a practice that's entirely legal.

Mr Murphy recommended changes to gun laws ownership law in the state, as well as making sure firearms were recovered promptly when people died.

"WA Police still have a long way to go to ensure the firearms register is operating effectively," Mr Murphy said.

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Shorten spent weeks pondering Rudd return

Gillard stalwart Bill Shorten says he's been thinking about the leadership change for a few weeks. Source: AAP

FORMER Gillard backer Bill Shorten says he had been thinking of switching his vote to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd for "the last couple of weeks".

Mr Shorten's support for Mr Rudd in Wednesday's caucus ballot was one of the key factors to drive the former leader's return to the role after three years.

The Victorian Right powerbroker said he had spoken with Mr Rudd earlier in the week and believed he had "changed" his leadership approach and would be more consultative.

However, Mr Shorten made up his mind to back Mr Rudd only after former prime minister Julia Gillard called a leadership spill on Wednesday afternoon.

"The Australian people want to see in our democracy Labor be as competitive as possible," Mr Shorten told Fairfax Radio on Thursday.

"I don't believe it's in the nation's interests for a landslide outcome to the conservatives."

Mr Shorten said it had been "incredibly difficult" to change his mind about Ms Gillard.

"But I also know the cause which I serve ... is more than just about individuals," he said.

Mr Shorten did not believe he had been dishonest in telling the media over the past two weeks he was still supporting Ms Gillard.

"As I was going through the process of thinking what to do, do you think it is my job to be a public worry-wart? That just destabilises the situation," he said.

"Up until the spill ... I was going to support the prime minister."

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Woman's death blamed on Indonesian smog

SMOG from slash-and-burn agricultural fires in Indonesia has been blamed for killing an asthmatic woman in Malaysia, the first reported death attributed to the crisis.

The Sun newspaper says Li Cai Ling, from the southern town of Muar, which experienced intense air pollution at the weekend, died on Sunday. A medical report blamed the death on the polluted air.

Singapore initially bore the brunt of southeast Asia's worst smog crisis for years with pollution reaching record levels last week.

Favourable winds have since cleared the air over the city state but southern Malaysia remains choked by smoke.

Pollution spiked to hazardous levels in some parts of the country in recent days, with southern Malaysia seeing its worst air quality in 16 years last weekend.

The smog has eased but continues to hang over some areas including the capital Kuala Lumpur.

The pollution has forced the cancellation of sporting events in Malaysia including a marathon in KL and a national-level competition for disabled athletes.

Newly-promoted English Premier League side Cardiff City also cancelled a visit that was set to begin this week, citing "current poor air quality in the region".

Haze is an annual problem during drier summer months, when westerly monsoon winds blow smoke from forest fires and land-clearing on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, which lies across the Malacca Strait.

But this summer's recurrence has been the worst in years.

Malaysia's environment minister travelled to Indonesia on Wednesday to meet his counterpart in the hopes of resolving the problem, which earlier sparked a testy exchange between Indonesia and Singapore.

In 1997-1998, severe haze cost southeast Asia an estimated $US9 billion ($A9.7 billion) from disruptions to air travel and other business activities.

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Bureau improves online weather info

HAVE you ever wanted to check the weather for exactly where you are?

Or plan for a surfing weekend, with information on temperature, rainfall and sea conditions, over a seven-day period?

MetEye allows users to select a wide range of data on one platform via the Bureau of Meteorology website.

It includes forecast data anywhere in Australia, with the exception of Queensland and the Northern Territory, although these are expected to come online in early 2014.

Bureau director of meteorology Rob Vertessy said MetEye would be as useful to suburban holiday makers as it would to farmers wanting to check regional conditions from the one site.

"People often comment that it's frustrating to find things on our website, so MetEye is our response to the community, bringing that information together in an easy to use map-based interface," he said.

Emergency services workers should also benefit from the resource, which will include data on river levels and extreme weather forecasts.

MetEye was trialled in various communities in Australia, allowing users to provide feedback ahead of its launch on Wednesday.

Dr Vertessy said it compared favourably with similar technologies overseas.

"It's pretty flash by international standards, and we've also got one of the best numerical weather prediction models underpinning this," he said.

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Education Bill passes the Senate

LABOR'S multi-billion dollar schools funding plan has passed the Senate, but not without sparking widespread objections from the opposition.

The Senate debate on the Australian Education Bill was limited to 165 minutes, drawing repeated complaints from coalition and independent speakers, who said the government was rushing through the reform.

"This is an insult to the Senate and it is an insult to taxpayers who the government wants to saddle with a (multi) billion bill for its reforms," Liberal Brett Mason told the upper house on Wednesday.

Schools Minister Peter Garrett observed from the Senate's public gallery as the bill passed without amendment.

However, it wasn't all smooth sailing for the government legislation.

"I'm not convinced, sadly, that this bill has figured out how to do it but I hope this legislation can be used as a building block to achieve the reforms every Australian child deserves," independent Senator Nick Xenophon said.

Liberal Chris Back asked how a reformed funding model that hands greater power to the commonwealth could benefit regional schools.

"Where would decisions be best made for the Turkey Creek School in the Kimberley? ... Not here from Canberra," he said.

Labor senator Louise Pratt championed the funding reforms and said they were urgently needed to reverse "rampant inequity" in the standing system.

"We cannot let this current broken system continue," she told the chamber.

"It is doing a great disservice to the nation's students ... and leaves hundreds of thousands of young Australians behind."

NSW, South Australia and the ACT are the only jurisdictions to have signed up to the plan, which offers public and private schools $14.5 billion in commonwealth and state funding over six years from 2014.

Mr Garrett said he was confident more states would sign up to the funding plan ahead of the the June 30 deadline.

The Australian Education Bill 2013 and associated Australian Education (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2013 now progress for royal assent.

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Stabbing for 'supremacy', NSW court hears

WHEN Mosa Julius Mbele stabbed a 16-year-old boy at Sydney's Bankstown railway station he was trying to show he "owned" the suburb, his murder trial has heard.

Mosa Julius Mbele has been charged with murdering the 16-year-old, who can't be named for legal reasons, at the western Sydney train station on May 25, 2011.

He has pleaded not guilty on the grounds of self defence.

In closing submissions at the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday, Crown Prosecutor Nanette Williams told the jury they should have no doubt that Mbele was the aggressor as he had armed himself with a knife.

"This (the stabbing) was a willed act, filled with planning, anger and wanting to let (the teenager) know who ran Bankstown," she said.

The court has previously heard that Mbele, then 22, and the dead youth traded a number of physical and verbal blows in and around the station in the hours prior to the stabbing.

In one of the altercations Mbele allegedly told the 16-year-old, "I run Bankstown, I own Bankstown".

Ms Williams said on Tuesday that Mbele was trying to ignite a fight with the teenager, whom he did not like, and "assert his supremacy".

"(The teenager) was a threat to the accused's claim and supremacy at Bankstown railway station," she said.

The 16-year-old's cousin, who also can't be named, previously told the court that before his death the teenager had told her Mbele was part of a new gang called ISK, whose members wore all black.

In the moments before the fatal stabbing, Ms Williams said the 16-year-old boy's friend allegedly heard Mbele saying "ISK, don't mess around with ISK".

The trial before Justice Megan Latham continues.

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SA cops back down on 'cha-cha' charge

ADELAIDE sometimes has a reputation of being a big country town but pedestrians beware - you can be booked for crossing the road too slowly.

A Perth man last week faced court accused of staying on an Adelaide CBD road longer than necessary to cross it in March 2012.

But after robust criticism by the magistrate, police prosecutors withdrew the charge, which attracts a maximum penalty of a $42 fine.

"We didn't get it right," Acting Assistant Commissioner Michael Cornish admitted on ABC radio on Tuesday.

According to The Advertiser, when the case came before Magistrate Sue O'Connor she asked why police were pursuing the charge.

"What is this heinous crime?" she said.

"Was he doing the cha cha? Cha cha cha-ing? One foot in, one foot out? Now that's an offence.

"No conga lines allowed in Adelaide?"

Mr Cornish denied a suggestion that revenue raising was a consideration for police issuing traffic infringements.

"Police are in the business of road safety," he said.

"There's lots of discretion and judgment used every day and common-sense used every day."

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Bob Hawke arrives at Hazel memorial

FORMER prime minister Bob Hawke is at the Sydney Opera House where a memorial service for his former wife Hazel Hawke is about to get underway.

As the rain cleared and the sun came out, a procession of political figures past and present alighted from cars at the entrance of the Opera House, including John Howard and his wife Janette and Paul Keating and his former wife Annita.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her predecessor Kevin Rudd have also arrived for the event, with Mr Rudd on his way in hailing Mrs Hawke as "a great Australian".

Others present include deputy opposition leader Julie Bishop, feminist Anne Summers, NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell and former Queensland premier Anna Bligh.

Thousands of members of the public have come to pay tribute to Mrs Hawke, who was Australia's popular first lady while Mr Hawke was in power from 1983 to 1991.

Mrs Hawke's close friend Wendy McCarthy said the turnout was "a measure of the woman whose life we are celebrating".

"She redefined the role of prime minister's wife but I think her legacy ... is her capacity for friendship, and that is very special," she told reporters.

Mrs Hawke died on May 23 aged 83 after succumbing to dementia.

A selection of Australian artists will join the SSO in a musical tribute to her patronage of the arts and work as a dementia advocate.

Journalist Margaret Throsby remembered Mrs Hawke as a champion of many causes and endeavours and a lover of music as well as an accomplished musician herself.

"The arts generally and music in particular were her passions," Ms Throsby told the service.

"She not only loved music, she was a fine musician in her own right.

"She studied piano from an early age, she continued playing through her adult life until the 'big A' (Alzheimer's disease) got her."

Ms Throsby's tribute was followed by Mozart's piano concerto which Mrs Hawke had herself performed in the Opera House in 1990.

Tuesday's performance featured the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and pianists on three grand pianos including Simon Tedeschi.

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Tropical storm Barry kills three in Mexico

AN eight-year-old child and his mother were killed in southern Mexico after being swept away in a river during tropical storm Barry, bringing the death toll from the storm to three, authorities say.

"After more than 24 hours, we were able to rescue the bodies of a woman and her child," Oaxaca Civil Protection director Manuel Maza Sanchez told AFP on Sunday.

The pair were among a group travelling in a van that was swept away by the swollen river in a town in Oaxaca state, 660 kilometres from Mexico City, the official said.

The third fatality occurred in the eastern state of Veracruz, where the storm made landfall on Thursday.

A man died while trying to cross a river on horseback and was dragged by the force of the current, state authorities said.

Three more people were injured and about 1200 were evacuated preventively in the state.

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Man charged over Sydney vehicle shooting

ONE of two men who allegedly shot at a man and a woman in a car in Sydney's west and then led police on a pursuit that ended in a crash has been charged.

The other man remains in hospital under police guard after suffering a bite wound from a police dog.

Police say the woman, 20, and the man, 25, were driving along Mulgoa Road, Penrith, when they saw a white Mitsubishi following them about 12.15am (AEST) on Monday.

Two shots were allegedly fired at their vehicle before they drove immediately to Penrith police station.

Sometime later, police located a white Mitsubishi and initiated a pursuit before the vehicle collided with the police car.

The 33-year-old driver was arrested and later charged with discharging a firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, causing a police pursuit (Skye's Law) and breach of bail.

He was refused bail to appear in Penrith Local Court on Monday.

The passenger ran from the car and suffered a bite from a police dog when he was arrested about 90 minutes later.

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Daredevil walks Grand Canyon on tightrope

US daredevil Nik Wallenda has became the first man to cross the Grand Canyon on a tightrope, completing his latest record-breaking feat in just under 23 minutes.

The 34-year-old, who walked across the Niagara Falls last year, prayed repeatedly as he crossed a tributary gorge of the US landmark on a high wire some 457 metres above the Little Colorado River on Sunday (Monday AEST).

Wind gusts were higher than expected, and he twice crouched down on the wire. "Those winds (were) so unpredictable ... just out of the blue there would be a 35 miles (56km) an hour gust," he said.

"My arms are aching like you couldn't believe," he added, hugging his wife and children after the nerve-wracking walk over the stunning gorge in eastern Arizona, broadcast live around the world.

Organisers said he took 22 minutes and 54 seconds to cross the 426 metres - faster than anticipated - giving a thumbs up and half-running the last several yards to reach the other side.

Wallenda has been planning the walk for about four years, homing in on a remote location at the eastern end of the mighty geological chasm, on land operated by Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation.

Wallenda had planned to be able to take questions from journalists live while on the high wire, but it became clear within a few minutes of the start that winds were too high.

"That's a view there buddy. Praise God, this is awesome," he said, as he stepped out into the void.

"Praise you Jesus, how I love you," he said repeatedly, adding that there was "a lot of wind."

"Winds are way worse than I expected," he said about six minutes into the walk, in comments broadcast live by the Discovery Channel in 219 countries around the world.

His father was in constant live radio link with him, although for the first five minutes the conversation consisted largely of Wallenda asking Jesus and God to help him, and to calm the winds.

"Thank you for calming that cable, Lord," he said at one point.

He first crouched down before the half-way point, explaining afterwards he needed to stabilise the cable, and himself. "The winds were getting really gusty right then," he said.

"It was just getting really, really uncomfortable," he added.

Wallenda was rigged up with a microphone and live cameras, including one on his chest looking straight downwards to the canyon floor below.

Asked what his next stunt would be, he said: "My dream for my next stunt is to walk between two skyscrapers in New York City."

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Two dead in crash in northern Victoria

POLICE have reported a second death from a car crash in northern Victoria.

A Holden Commodore sedan was reportedly travelling westwards along the Toolamba-Rushworth Road, near Winter Road, Tatura when it veered off and crashed into a tree.

The driver died at the scene, while the other passenger - a 16-year-old youth - died of his injuries after being taken to hospital.

A witness said he drove past the car at 3am (AEST), but did not check for any occupants until he saw it again at 5am.

Police are preparing a report for the coroner.

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Soldier death a 'terrible blow': Smith

THE death of a soldier in Afghanistan is a terrible reminder for the families of Australia's fallen soldiers, Defence Minister Stephen Smith says.

It was confirmed on Sunday that a special forces soldier from the Sydney-based 2nd Commando Regiment had been killed during a firefight with insurgents in Oruzgan province.

"This will be a terrible blow to the family concerned, but also a terrible reminder to the other 39 families (who have lost loved ones)," he told reporters in Perth.

Another special forces soldier was shot and seriously wounded, while an airman received minor injuries in the firefight.

Mr Smith said the objective of preventing Afghanistan from again becoming a terrorist hotbed remains, despite the commando being killed in action.

"Our objective in Afghanistan has always been to prevent the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area from again becoming a breeding ground for international terrorists," he said.

"That is our mission. We believe we have made very good grounds on that front."

However, Mr Smith said to make sure their impact endured after the forces left the country, the Afghans themselves would have to take responsibility for their own security and the area would need to strive for peace and reconciliation.

"It's in our national interest to continue," he said.

"By finishing the job, we'll transition in Oruzgan by the end of this year.

"We'll then need to see what arrangements are entered into between the United States and Afghanistan before making a judgement about what additional contribution, if any, we could make after all of Afghanistan transitions at the end of 2014."

Afghanistan is now in its so-called "fighting season" but most Australian soldiers are not in the highest risk areas anymore, Mr Smith said.

However, there was always a high risk for special forces personnel, he said.

"The risk profile has changed, but Afghanistan continues to be a difficult and dangerous place," he said.

The special forces soldier is the 40th digger to have died in Afghanistan since Australia became involved in the conflict.

He was on his fifth tour of Afghanistan, and had previously served in Iraq and East Timor.

His next of kin had been informed, and asked that he not be named.

Arrangements will be made for his body to be returned to Australia next week.

The decorated soldier is the first Australian digger to die in Afghanistan since Corporal Scott Smith was killed by an improvised explosive device last October.

The Australian troops were on a joint operation with their Afghan counterparts when they clashed with insurgents at around 3pm (AEST) on Saturday.

They were trying to disrupt a known insurgent network operating in southern Afghanistan's Khod Valley, where they were influencing insurgent activity across the region.

The seriously wounded special forces soldier underwent surgery, but was expected to make a full recovery.

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