Abbott says coalition ready for poll

Speculation is growing that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is looking to approve a September 7 election. Source: AAP

OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott has described the looming federal election as a choice between the stability of the coalition and "dysfunction" of Labor, and declared his team ready for the likely September 7 poll.

Speculation is increasing that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is planning to visit the governor-general on Sunday or Monday seeking approval for a September 7 election, shooting the starting gun on the keenly anticipated political contest.

"We've been ready for a long time," Mr Abbott said on Saturday when asked about the predicted poll date.

"I think the Australian people are eager to seize the chance to control the government once more.

"The Australian people want their chance to choose, and the sooner they get that the better for us, the better for our country."

Speaking at the opening of a Melbourne campaign office at Beaconsfield, Mr Abbott talked up the stability within coalition ranks, and the fact it had maintained the same parliamentary team over the past three years.

"I want assure the people of Australia that I will be a builder," Mr Abbott said in his pre-campaign pitch.

"I want to build the infrastructure of the future.

"I want to build a strong economy so that everyone can get ahead.

"Most of all I want to build a better society that every Australian knows he or she is capable of."

The upcoming election was the "clearest choice in a generation", Mr Abbott added

Australians were sick of minority government and the hung parliament, he said.

They were also sick of "faceless men deciding who the prime minister of our country should be", in reference to the leadership coups which saw Mr Rudd dumped and then returned as Labor leader.

"That's why this election is a choice between strength and stability under the coalition, or more chaos, division and dysfunction under the Labor party," Mr Abbott said.

The September 7 rumours come a day after Labor's economic update predicted weaker economic growth, growing unemployment and more government debt, as well as a $33.3 billion writedown in revenues.

With release of the economic statement, and after introducing Labor party reforms and new policies on carbon pricing and asylum seekers, Mr Rudd is seen to have cleared the decks for the poll.

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Rudd, Barroso talk refugees and G20

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd and European Union President Jose Manuel Barroso have agreed talk further on the issue of refugees, after a phone call between the pair.

A spokesperson for Mr Rudd's office said the two spoke on August 2, where the issue of international co-operation on the management of refugees was canvassed.

The pair "agreed to further exchanges on the issue", she said in a statement.

It was revealed on Friday the government's hardline policy to send boat people to Papua New Guinea for processing would cost $1.1 billion over four years.

Under the plan to combat people smuggling, asylum seekers who arrive by boat would have no chance of resettlement in Australia.

The prime minister and Mr Barroso also agreed on the importance of the G20 as "the world's premier international economic forum".

Whether Mr Rudd will attend the upcoming G20 leaders summit has been a source of speculation with the St Petersburg meeting being held just days before the predicted September 7 election.

Australia will host the summit in 2014, in Mr Rudd's home town of Brisbane.

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Man arrested after Sydney stabbing death

A MAN has been arrested in connection to the fatal stabbing of a young Sydney woman, police say.

Media reports say the woman was five months pregnant.

The 23-year-old woman was found in a Maroubra unit with a stab wound to her chest by emergency services in the early hours of Saturday and died at the scene.

Shortly after midday (AEST), a 38-year-old man attended Maroubra Police Station, where he was arrested by detectives and is assisting them with their inquiries.

AAP understands the man was on bail for a grevious bodily harm matter and the woman had an apprehended violence order.

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Govt forecasts large budget deficits

The federal government's 2013/14 budget deficit forecasted weaker growth and higher unemployment. Source: AAP

THE federal government's 2013/14 budget deficit has ballooned to more than $30 billion.

The unemployment rate is expected to jump above six per cent as the government grapples with a $33 billion revenue writedown.

Treasurer Chris Bowen and Finance Minister Penny Wong on Friday released an update to the May budget which warned of tough global conditions.

A further $33.3 billion has been wiped off revenues over the next four years, forcing Labor into $17.4 billion of "responsible savings".

"The government considers that these savings can be managed while maintaining growth in jobs and the broader economy," the ministers said in a statement.

The budget deficit is now expected to be $30.1 billion in 2013/14 rather than the $18 billion estimated in the May budget.

Bigger deficits are also forecast in the next two years before returning to a budget surplus of $4 billion in 2016/17, which is smaller than the $6.6 billion project two months ago.

"The outlook for world growth has weakened, including in China, and the world price of key commodities has fallen leading to lower forecast terms of trade," the government's statement said.

Economic growth has been cut to 2.5 per cent in 2013/14 from 2.75 per cent, while unemployment is expected to be 6.25 per cent in 2013/14 and 2014/15 rather than 5.75 per cent.

Nominal gross domestic product, which has a major impact on expected tax receipts, is below a 20-year average.

"With the economy currently facing a period of transition and falling terms of trade, cuts in the near term to offset the lower than expected tax receipts and other variations in the budget would put jobs and growth at risk," the statement said.

"The government has made $17.4 billion of responsible savings decisions to provide a pathway to expected surplus in 2016/17."

Savings include a previously announced increase in tobacco excise over the next four years, raising more than $5 billion, and changes to fringe benefit tax arrangements on cars, bringing in $1.8 billion.

The government is providing an extra $99 million in funding to the tax office over four years to address unpaid tax and superannuation, which is expected to improve the budget bottom line by $827 million.

The government is also setting up an insurance fund to gradually build over time to a target size of 0.5 per cent of total banks deposits.

This will add $733 million to the budget over forward estimates.

Additional costs to the budget include $3.8 billion from moving to a emissions trading scheme one year earlier than planned and $1.3 billion in addition asylum seeker management costs.

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Coalition's parental policy in doubt: ALP

Federal Labor says the coalition's plan for a generous paid parental leave scheme is at risk. Source: AAP

THE Rudd government has accused shadow treasurer Joe Hockey of casting fresh doubt on the coalition's plan for a generous paid parental leave scheme.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has said the "signature policy" will be paid for by a 1.5 per cent levy on 3000 big companies.

But asked about the policy during a debate with Treasurer Chris Bowen on morning television on Friday, Mr Hockey said: "Well how do you know we're going to increase company tax?"

When Mr Bowen asked him to clarify whether the coalition will increase company tax, Mr Hockey said "Well, you watch. You watch what we do."

The government quickly issued a statement pointing to Mr Hockey's lack of commitment.

"Time after time, Joe Hockey and his colleagues have refused to back Tony Abbott's 'signature policy' and have suggested it will be dumped," Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury said.

"With the internal division in coalition ranks on this unfair and unaffordable policy, it's no wonder Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey can't say when and if it will be delivered."

The coalition plan would see women paid for 26 weeks at their full annual salary of up to $150,000 per year.

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Floods to blame for sick Gladstone fish

A final report on sick fish in Gladstone Harbour says flooding was the main cause of the problem. Source: AAP

A REPORT that blames flooding and not dredging for an outbreak of sick marine animals in Gladstone Harbour is a ridiculous lie, a scientist says.

Fish, turtles and stingrays were discovered dead or dying in the waters of the harbour in 2011 and 2012. Symptoms included skin lesions and cloudy eyes.

Gladstone fishermen said increased dredging to build export facilities for the coal seam gas industry was behind the outbreak of disease.

But a final report by an independent panel of scientists appointed by the Queensland government begs to differ.

It says flooding, combined with large numbers of fish being washed over the Awoonga dam, stressed the ecosystem in the central Queensland city's harbour and adjacent waterways.

"This study cannot rule out the possibility that the activity of dredging and associated turbidity provided additional stress to the ecosystem, but it was not the primary stressor," it says.

Marine animal expert Dr Matt Landos, who has been studying sick fish and crabs in the harbour and produced reports that have found heavy concentrations of metals in the animals, says the government's report is a joke.

"It's disappointing to see the government perpetuate a lie," Dr Landos said.

"We all know the flood was bigger north of Gladstone and didn't cause any health issues for fish.

"We know in January this year Gladstone had a flood that was double the size and it didn't cause the problem we saw in 2011."

He said dirty and rushed dredging was behind the outbreak and the government knows it's liable for damage to the local fishing industry.

"They've created a lie that rainfall is somehow so toxic that it causes everything to get sick and die," Dr Landos said.

"It's hilarious. It's the most unscientific finding."

Gladstone Fish Market spokesman Ted Whittington also believed the report was flawed.

"The floods happened in December and January. The sick fish began to show up in July," he said.

"Why did it take six months to have an effect?

"In May 2011, dredging was heightened and then two months later we have numerous sick fish and turtles."

But the report said fish health had improved markedly since 2011, during a period when the dredging work continued.

Fish health was now comparable to other locations, including Bundaberg, it said.

"All industrial activities in Gladstone that were operating in Gladstone in 2011 have continued to operate, including dredging," it said.

"The only factor different in 2011 compared to previous years was the significant rainfall, the subsequent flooding and the introduction of a significant biomass of fish from Lake Awoonga."

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Extra water for the Murray in SA

THE Murray is to benefit from 300 gigalitres in extra water flows.

The extra allowance over the next seven months was announced by the federal government on Thursday and will benefit areas of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

South Australian River Murray Minister Ian Hunter said much of the water would flow through to the lower reaches of the river and the lower lakes near the Murray mouth.

"The water will be of great benefit to the river and its wetlands, which are continuing to recover from the severe impacts of the recent drought across the Murray-Darling Basin," Mr Hunter said in a statement.

"This water will help the spawning of native fish such as the Murray Cod, will freshen wetlands and encourage the growth of vegetation in areas where native frogs breed and thrive."

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Govt expects to spend $30m on boat ads

THE Rudd government expects to spend up to $30 million on its local advertising campaign to spruik its hardline policy to banish asylum seekers to Papua New Guinea.

The Commonwealth Auditor-General Ian McPhee confirmed the figure in a letter written to independent senator Nick Xenophon in response to a complaint he made about the campaign.

While not criticising the ads directly, Mr McPhee acknowledged there was a "tendency for campaign media expenditure to increase in the lead-up to federal elections".

He said the absence of third party scrutiny of the ads would "inevitably raise reasonable questions as to the targeting, scale and cost-effectiveness of the campaign".

The auditor-general added that the campaign's $30 million price tag puts it at the high cost end of the advertising spectrum.

The advertisement blitz began the day after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced Labor's tough new policy to resettle boat people in PNG.

The government says it's important to advertise the plan in Australia because recent migrants from countries such as Iran, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan will communicate it back to their home countries.

The ads were exempted from scrutiny by the Independent Communications Committee after being declared a matter of "extreme urgency" by the Special Minister of State Mark Dreyfus.

Senator Xenophon said Mr McPhee's letter raised serious concerns about the government's handling of the ad campaign.

"There is no extreme urgency in saturating Australian households with these ads," he said in a statement on Thursday.

"It's a politically expedient ploy."

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Head rolls over NZ journo's phone records

THE unauthorised release of a New Zealand journalist's phone records has claimed the head of the Parliamentary Service.

General manager Geoff Thorn resigned on Thursday morning, two days after Speaker David Carter admitted Fairfax reporter Andrea Vance's phone records were given to the inquiry into who leaked her a report into illegal spying by the NZ spy agency GCSB.

He had earlier said the phone records were not released, despite being requested by the inquiry.

In a statement on Tuesday, the inquiry's head, David Henry, said he did not ask for the phone records, and they were not looked at by his inquiry.

Mr Carter issued a statement on Thursday afternoon saying he has accepted Mr Thorn's resignation "with regret", and Friday will be his final day in the role.

Mr Carter said Mr Thorn had overseen a significant improvement in the Parliamentary Service's operations.

"However, both he and I acknowledge that the confidence in Parliamentary Service has been undermined by events in recent weeks, and as general manager he accepts responsibility for this."

Vance's phone records were released to the inquiry following an email to the Parliamentary Service from Prime Minister John Key's chief of staff Wayne Eagleson, sparking accusations of Mr Key's interference.

The inquiry previously prompted independent MP Peter Dunne's resignation as a minister after he refused to hand over his emails with Vance, a former News of the World reporter.

Mr Dunne denies being behind the leak of the GCSB report.

It has previously been revealed that the Parliamentary Service gave the inquiry Mr Dunne's email logs without his permission, and Vance's security swipe card data without her permission.

Mr Dunne on Thursday said he believes logs of his parliamentary cellphone were also given to the inquiry.

He says he gave permission for his landline phone logs to be released, but not his mobile phone records.

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Not guilty plea over WA body-in-bush

A KALGOORLIE man has pleaded not guilty to murdering a 32-year-old man whose body was found by prospectors in bushland in Western Australia's Goldfields region.

Codie William Davidson, who was 25 when he was arrested in early September last year, appeared briefly in Perth's Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court via videolink from Hakea Prison on Wednesday.

Davidson pleaded not guilty to one count of murder in relation to the death of Ryan Penglase, who was found in bushland, about 25km north-east of Kalgoorlie off Yarri Road, with head injuries.

Police said the men knew each other.

No date has been set yet for the trial, which is expected to last two weeks.

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X Factor shines for second night

THE X Factor marked the most-watched spot for a second night, albeit luring fewer viewers from its debut.

The Seven Network singing contest won the Tuesday night ratings battle with 1.510 million viewers tuning in - 100,000 fewer than its Monday night season premiere.

Its winning formula may be in continuing to focus on pulling viewers' heartstrings. Contestant Rohan Herring's audition brought judge Ronan Keating to tears with his story about his cancer battle.

Meanwhile viewers tuned out in greater numbers for the Nine Network's rival reality show, Big Brother.

The show dropped to No.7 in the OzTAM rankings from Monday's night's No.4 placing, shedding almost 300,000 viewers on its second night, with just over a million viewers.

That's despite the reality show debuting two new contestants and dropping its second twist - a fake marriage scenario for its newest house mates.

Only a thousand viewers stand between Nine and Seven's battle for the top news spot, with Nine just holding on to its winning position with 1.302 million tuning in taking the No.2 spot.

However Seven's Today Tonight beat Nine's A Current Affair in the 6.30pm timeslot.

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ICAC exposed rotten Labor: Abbott

FEDERAL Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says the NSW corruption watchdog has exposed the rottenness at the heart of Labor.

He's also called on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to "come clean" about all the dealings he or his MPs have had with former Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid and former state mining minister Ian Macdonald.

The two former MPs have been found to have acted corruptly and have been referred by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) for possible criminal prosecution.

"Today is a black day in the history of the Labor party," Mr Abbott told reporters in Sydney.

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Seatbelts for students in country NSW

The NSW government is rolling out seatbelts for school buses in rural and regional areas. Source: AAP

SCHOOL students in country NSW will have to buckle up, with seat belts to be installed on school buses for the first time in the state's history.

The belts will be available on fleets covering school runs in rural and regional NSW.

They will be progressively installed and standing will be phased out on almost 1700 dedicated school services over 10 years, starting this financial year, Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian announced on Tuesday.

The rollout of seatbelts is estimated to cost around $208 million over the period.

Schools will be encouraged to use the buses fitted with seatbelts for excursions and other charters.

"The NSW government is making a substantial financial commitment to addressing an issue which is so important to communities in regional and rural areas," Ms Berejiklian said.

NRMA president Wendy Machin said it was a big step forward in ensuring the safety of children as they travelled to and from school each day.

"We know that students travelling to school in rural and regional areas are exposed to twice the risk of injury than those in the Sydney metropolitan area," she said.

More than 60,000 students across regional and rural NSW travel on the effected school buses each day.

But their trips are more dangerous as the buses they travel on drive at higher speeds than their city counterparts.

Roads Minister Duncan Gay said it was a significant step in addressing school bus safety.

Buses which run not only school routes, but also regular bus services during the day, will not be included in the program, Mr Gay said.

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Critics slam sale of NSW power plants

Critics have slammed the NSW government's decision to sell off two state-owned power plants. Source: AAP

THE sale of NSW's largest state-owned electricity generator is bad for the economy, bad for the environment and bad for the hip pockets of consumers, critics say.

NSW Treasurer Mike Baird on Tuesday called for expressions of interest for Macquarie Generation's two big power stations: Liddell and Bayswater.

They are the latest plants to be offloaded to the private sector after the Tamberlin report found selling the state-owned assets was consistent with a competitive energy market.

Electrical Trades Union (ETU) NSW secretary Steve Butler said the privatisation followed the sell-off of Newcastle Port, Port Botany, Port Kembla, the Sydney desalination plant and Sydney Ferries.

"NSW is becoming a poorer state thanks to the long list of asset sales that NSW Treasurer Mike Baird continues to preside over," Mr Butler said in a statement.

He said that last year Macquarie Generation delivered taxpayers a $124 million dividend.

"Once these assets and income streams are sold to the private sector it generally results in higher charges for the general public, a loss of income for future governments and a smaller assets base to borrow against," he said.

"Quite simply, the sale of Macquarie Generation doesn't make economic sense."

The assets were likely to be flogged off to foreign investors in China, Singapore or Korea, he said.

The opposition said the announcement was further evidence the O'Farrell government was moving towards full-scale electricity privatisation, which would leave consumers footing higher bills.

"This is just the latest step in the O'Farrell government's plan to privatise the state's electricity assets, which will send bills soaring for households and businesses," Labor leader John Robertson said.

Greens MP John Kaye said the sale of the Bayswater and Liddell power stations would make the move to clean energy much more expensive and disruptive.

"The sale is a greenhouse and economic disaster," he said.

Macquarie Generation is the largest single participant in the national electricity market, representing about 26 per cent of the state's generation capacity.

EnergyAustralia last week snapped up state-owned Delta Electricity's Mount Piper and Wallerawang power stations for $160 million.

Delta Electricity's power stations at Vales Point and Colongra aren't expected to be sold off until next year.

Mr Baird says the sell-off is part of the government's strategy to raise money for critical infrastructure projects.

The AMWU accused the state government of short-changing future generations.

"These assets should be generating long-term income for people of NSW, while also providing secure and affordable power," AMWU NSW secretary Tim Ayres said.

"Instead, the profits will most likely be heading overseas, and responsibility for our energy security will be handed over to unelected and unaccountable private interests."

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Night owls linked to anti-social behaviour

STUDENTS who stay up late at night are more likely to display anti-social personality traits, according to new research.

The University of Western Sydney study shows students who stay awake into the early hours of the morning display greater anti-social tendencies than those who go to bed earlier.

Dr Peter Jonason, from the university's school of social sciences and psychology, assessed more than 250 people to find out whether being a night owl is linked to narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathic tendencies, often described as the dark triad of personality traits.

"Those who score highly on the dark triad traits are, like many other predators, creatures of the night," he says.

There may be an evolutionary basis for the link.

"There is likely to be a co-evolutionary arms race between cheaters and those who wish to detect and punish them, and the dark triad traits may represent specialised adaptations to avoid detection," he says.

The features of the night - a low-light environment where others are sleeping - may facilitate the casual sex, mate-poaching and risk-taking to which the dark triad traits are linked.

Dr Jonason says more work is needed, but the results represent an important advance in the study of the darker aspects of human nature and personality.

His study, The Creatures of the night: Chronotypes and the Dark Triad, is published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences.

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Bid to mine ironsands off Taranaki coast

OFFSHORE mining of ironsands in the Taranaki Bight has come a step closer with a mining permit application by TransTasman Resources, an Australian-led venture with plans for a multi-billion dollar export industry.

TTR's application is for a 65.76 square kilometre area between 22 and 35km offshore from Patea in an area where it already holds a prospecting licence, outside the territorial waters of the 12 nautical zone and in New Zealand's vast Exclusive Economic Zone.

It plans to lodge a resource consent application for mining in October, using new environmental consenting regulations governing the EEZ.

TTR plans to use unconventional mining techniques, similar to those in development to mine offshore phosphate deposits on the Chatham Rise by New Zealand company Chatham Rock Phosphate.

In both cases, suction systems would remove ironsands and phosphate nodules along with seafloor sediment, extract the valuable elements and return the remainder to the seafloor.

Extensive environmental studies have been under way for some years to try to prove the areas support relatively sparse marine life.

TTR says "prospecting work to date suggests there is a vast world-class mineral resource which could supply Asian markets with a reliable supply of low-cost iron ore".

The TTR process targets titanomagnetite in sands deposited far into the Taranaki Bight by volcanoes over millennia.

Australian mining giant Fortescue and the Chinese government's SinoMetals also hold prospecting licences for ironsands further north off the North Island west coast and ironsands have been mined for years at Taharoa Beach, near Port Waikato, for export.

While less commonly used than conventionally mined onshore iron ore in making steel, TTR believes its technology will be far cheaper than onshore mining and will make its product more resilient to the gyrations in global metal prices that have impacted aluminium, steel and coking coal markets in the last few years.

An environmental lobby group, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining (KASM), has been established to oppose the extraction, fearing environmental impacts not only far out at sea but also on inshore fisheries, ecology and surf breaks.

The mining permit application will be assessed by New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals for technical data on the proposed resource, geology, the proposed work programme as well as TTR's ability to manage the project, and health and safety.

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No car handouts from us, Hockey hints

HOLDEN wouldn't need a $200 million lifeline from the commonwealth if a coalition government were calling the shots, Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey says.

Some 400 people worked their last shift at the car company's Elizabeth factory in South Australia on Friday, leaving a workforce of 1700.

Holden was last year promised a $275 million handout in return for a commitment to stay in Australia till at least 2022.

Now the car maker is trying to secure a new deal for a further $200 million, News Limited reports, before the federal government's pre-election caretaker period begins.

The details of Holden's latest rescue package were reportedly discussed at the federal government's expenditure review committee last Friday.

Mr Hockey said the government's changes to fringe benefits tax arrangements had done more damage to the Australian auto industry than could be undone with another injection of taxpayer funds.

"This FBT change announced by Kevin Rudd is like a baseball to the back of the head of the car industry, and now they're offering the car industry a Panadol to try to get over the pain," he told reporters in Sydney on Monday.

He indicated a coalition government would avoid any major new handouts for car companies like Holden.

"We shouldn't have to spend any more money because we didn't do the damage to the car industry that Labor is doing," he said.

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Oil spill in Thailand's sea

AN oil spill has reached a popular tourist island in Thailand's eastern sea despite continuous attempts to clean it up over the weekend.

About 50 tonnes of crude oil spilled into the sea off Rayong province Saturday morning after a leak occurred in a pipeline operated by PTT Global Chemical Plc (PTTGC).

Rayong's deputy provincial governor Supeepat Chongpanish says streaks of crude oil about 300 metres wide have tainted the shore of Prao Bay on Samed Island.

He says authorities have closed down the bay as 300 workers are working to get rid of the oil from the white beach and from the waters.

Rayong is 140km southeast of Bangkok.

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Rudd ahead on boats: Galaxy poll

A new Galaxy poll shows PM Kevin Rudd is leading the opposition leader on the asylum seeker issue. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has refused to say when his hardline plan to banish asylum seekers arriving by boat to Papua New Guinea will work.

Sixteen boats with 1314 people on board have arrived since Mr Rudd's declaration on July 19 that new arrivals will be sent to PNG for processing and possible resettlement.

Repeatedly pressed on whether he expected the PNG deal would slow the boats before the federal election, Mr Rudd has refused to bite.

"It is the implementation of that policy direction over time, resolutely, which will yield results," he told Network Ten's Bolt Report.

"In the interim, people smugglers will test your resolve."

A Galaxy poll published by News Corp Australia on Sunday found people rated Mr Rudd better than Opposition Leader Tony Abbott at handling the asylum seeker issue, 40 to 38 per cent.

The poll was taken between July 23 and 25, within a week of Mr Rudd's PNG announcement.

Labor frontbencher Kim Carr said Australians had very strong views on asylum seekers.

"They've got a right to have those attitudes," Senator Carr told Network Ten.

"We are however concentrating on stopping people from drowning."

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said the real test for the PNG arrangement would be whether asylum seekers would be resettled in that country.

"I know people want to believe that this thing is the answer," he told ABC television.

"But the truth here is there is a long way to go both in the implementation and legal issues."

Mr Abbott said it had taken Mr Rudd five years and almost 50,000 people arriving by boat to support offshore processing.

"This government is all announcement and no delivery," he told reporters in Sydney.

"It's all talk and no action."

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Man charged over Sydney bedroom assault

A MAN who allegedly indecently assaulted a young woman while she was asleep in her eastern Sydney flat has been charged.

The 21-year-old woman awoke in the early hours of Saturday when she felt someone touch her and screamed when she realised there was a man in her room.

The spooked intruder then grabbed cash from her wallet and bolted from the Coogee unit.

Several items were taken for forensic examination and police on Sunday morning raided a Marrickville home.

A 37-year-old man was subsequently charged with four counts of indecent assault and aggravated break and enter.

Bail was refused and he's due before Parramatta Bail Court later on Sunday.

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Stevedore wants end to Vic rally

A STEVEDORING company has called for a stop to union protests blockading freight to and from the Spirit of Tasmania in Melbourne.

Dock workers and supporters have been blockading access to goods going on and off the vessel at Melbourne's Station Pier since Friday, in protest against staff sackings.

On Sunday, protesters again blocked the gates at the pier, delaying the offloading of freight and fresh food from Tasmania, Stevedore company Qube Ports & Bulk said.

The company is calling on the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) to stop the protests, which it says are illegal and damaging to Tasmanian producers.

"We have today again asked the local MUA official Kevin Bracken to call off these damaging protests," it said in a statement.

"Instead, Mr Bracken demanded the reinstatement of employees who were not involved in this issue."

The MUA wants Qube, which employed the workers, to negotiate their return to work, believing they were terminated unfairly.

The union believes the workers were sacked because they had raised safety concerns, but the company said they had refused to carry out duties for which they had been trained, and had previously performed.

It says six men may have an unfair dismissal case.

Qube says one of its employees was dismissed last week, after being suspended for refusing to follow the direction of management and perform duties for which he had been trained.

Another employee was given a warning and two more remain on paid leave while their cases are considered, the company says.

Comment was being sought from the MUA.

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