Obama pledges overhaul on surveillance

President Barack Obama is pledging to overhaul US secret surveillance. Source: AAP

PRESIDENT Barack Obama is pledging to overhaul US secret surveillance, promising greater oversight and transparency and insisting he has no interest in snooping on ordinary citizens.

Weeks after former US contractor Edward Snowden leaked details of widespread snooping on private internet and telephone use, Obama stood firm on Friday in denying any abuse but acknowledged he needed to address growing concerns.

"All these steps are designed to ensure that the American people can trust that our efforts are in line with our interests and our values," Obama told a news conference.

"And to others around the world I want to make clear once again that America is not interested in spying on ordinary people," he said.

Obama said he would ask Congress to reform one of the most controversial sections of the Patriot Act passed in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks - Section 215, which gives the government access to telephone and other records of its citizens.

In a newly declassified memo, the Justice Department said the program recorded data - such as duration and numbers - of phone calls feared to involve "terrorists" but did not record the conversations.

Obama also called for the start of debate in the court that authorises surveillance, which now only receives requests from the government without hearing any counter-arguments as is customary in virtually all of the US judiciary.

Obama said the administration would make a greater effort at transparency, including by starting a website that describes intelligence activities.

And he said he would appoint a board of outside experts who will look more closely at surveillance programs and issue a report by the end of the year.

Controversy has grown since Snowden, a former US government contractor who fled to Russia, revealed some of the more sweeping aspects of US surveillance on citizens' internet searches and telephone records.

Obama, who cancelled a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in part over Russia's decision to grant asylum to the 30-year-old, insisted that he has always tried to prevent abuse of surveillance programs.

"I don't think Mr Snowden was a patriot," Obama said.

But Obama said of the Patriot Act: "Given the scale of this program, I understand the concerns of those who would worry that it could be subject to abuse."

On July 25 the House of Representatives rejected a bid to cut funding for some National Security Agency programs by a surprisingly narrow 205-217 vote, with an unlikely coalition of conservative Republicans and liberal members of Obama's Democratic Party voicing concern about citizens' privacy.

Representative Justin Amash, a libertarian Republican, said he hoped Obama was "serious" about reforms and vowed that dozens of lawmakers would press ahead.

But he wrote on Twitter that Obama's "claim that he was planning to reform these surveillance programs prior to the leaks is laughable".

A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican whose support will be critical to any reforms, criticised Obama.

"Much of any public concern about this critical program can be attributed to the president's reluctance to sufficiently explain and defend it," said the spokesman, Brendan Buck.

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Dastyari gets thumbs up from Carr

NSW Labor Party boss Sam Dastyari is an "outstanding talent" who will do a great job if elected to the Senate, Foreign Minister Bob Carr says.

The 30-year-old Labor powerbroker, who played a backroom role in Mr Rudd's leadership coup against Julia Gillard in June, has nominated to fill the vacancy left by former NSW ALP secretary Matt Thistlethwaite.

Mr Dastyari has been described as one of the ALP's "faceless men", and the party has been called upon to explain why it's supporting a one-time backer and friend of disgraced former NSW MP Eddie Obeid.

Speaking in Sydney, Mr Carr described Mr Dastyari as an "outstanding talent".

"I think he's a great Labor Party talent, I think he's outstandingly talented, I think it's a good decision to endorse him," Mr Carr told reporters at Maroubra beach.

"I think he'll represent the people of NSW very well."

Mr Carr said he thought the first week of the election campaign had been "very good" for Labor.

"I think as the choices clarify themselves over the next few weeks Labor will really be on the ascendancy," Mr Carr added.

"The choice is on education, the choice is on economic management."

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UK dogs fail to fetch world stay record

AN attempt to beat the world record to get the largest number of dogs to stay at one time has failed.

The UK's Kennel Club tried to break the current record, which saw 627 dogs "stay" successfully for two minutes, at Leicestershire's International Agility Festival on Friday.

A spokesman for the organisation, the country's largest dedicated to the health and welfare of dogs, said: "We narrowly missed the world record. We had 601 dogs that completed the stay but we needed 627.

"We did not beat the world record this time but there is always next year."

Competitors from all over the world took part in the challenge.

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Beattie won't win Forde: election analyst

THE parachuting of Peter Beattie into a marginal Brisbane seat will fail, a seasoned political expert says.

Labor is hoping to pick up seven seats in Queensland to offset likely losses in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania with the help of a star candidate.

But veteran election analyst Malcolm Mackerras says Beattie, who served as Queensland premier from 1998 to 2007, won't win the federal seat of Forde, which the Liberals hold by 1.6 per cent.

"The locals will see he has been parachuted in and they'll see him as being a premier who carries so much baggage," the visiting fellow with the Australian Catholic University told AAP.

Beattie, until recently a resident of California, has promised to sell his house more than 30km away from the electorate he is contesting, which covers the economically-poorer edge of Brisbane and Gold Coast hinterland.

Now based at his brother's house at Cornubia, the self-described media tart is hoping to join another former state premier, Foreign Minister Bob Carr from NSW, in a re-elected Rudd government cabinet.

But to even become a federal minister, assuming Beattie wins Forde, Labor will have to pick up seven seats in Queensland to counter probable losses in western Sydney, the NSW central coast, Melbourne's east, regional Victoria and Tasmania.

Even then, Labor has a mighty job minimising its unpopularity in NSW, following corruption findings against two former state ALP ministers.

Labor is also struggling in Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's home state of Queensland, with a ReachTEL poll, conducted for the Seven Network, showing the Liberal National Party's Bert Van Manen leading Mr Beattie 54 to 46 in Forde.

If that result is replicated across the Sunshine State, Labor could lose its marginal Brisbane seats of Moreton and Petrie, and fail to take Bonner, Brisbane and Longman from the coalition, not to mention the LNP's marginal regional seats of Herbert, Dawson, Flynn and Leichhardt.

But if Beattie succeeds, he will be the first former Queensland premier to sit in federal parliament since 1974, when Democratic Labor Party senator Vince Gair was controversially appointed the ambassador to Ireland.

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ANZ cuts loans rate by 25 basis points

ANZ has matched the Reserve Bank of Australia's quarter of a percentage point interest rate cut. Source: AAP

ANZ is the last of the big four banks to pass on the Reserve Bank of Australia's quarter of a percentage point interest rate cut.

ANZ's standard variable rate will fall to 5.88 per cent, from Friday August 16, which will see a borrower on an average $280,000 loan save $58 a month.

The announcement comes three days after the Commonwealth Bank and National Australia Bank said they would match the RBA's 25 basis point easing, taking their loan rates to 5.9 per cent and 5.88 per cent respectively.

Westpac went further, cutting its standard variable rate by 28 basis points, but to a higher level of 5.98 per cent.

ANZ chief executive Philip Chronican said economic circumstances warranted the latest cut to mortgage rates.

"In making our decision this month, we took into account our cost of funding, our competitive positioning and the impact of economic conditions on our customers," he said in a statement.

Westpac's cut does not come into effect until August 19, while NAB's is effective from August 12, while Commonwealth's starts on August 14.

The official cash rate has fallen to an all-time low of 2.5 per cent.

Other lenders to announce 25 basis point rate cuts included St George, which is owned by Westpac, Bank of Queensland and ING Direct.

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has also announced a 25 basis point cut, taking its variable home loan rate to 6.01 per cent, from August 26.

"When setting interest rates our bank needs to take into account a wide range of factors and carefully consider its key stakeholders including borrowers, depositors, staff, shareholders, partners and the wider community," managing director Mike Hirst said in a statement.

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Quarry put on hold by Qld govt

A PROPOSED stone quarry on the Gold Coast has been put on hold as the Queensland government seeks additional information on its possible environmental impact.

The quarry site at Reedy Creek in the Tallebudgera Valley has been mooted by building and construction firm Boral as a replacement for its existing site in West Burleigh.

But Boral has been asked by Queensland's Coordinator-General Barry Broe to provide additional environment impact statements after 258 submissions raising concerns over the project were received.

In a statement released on Friday, Mr Broe said the submissions discussed issues such as air and water quality concerns as well as fauna and transport impacts.

No date was given for when the new statements must be provided by Boral.

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Historic shipwreck off SA being damaged

AN historic shipwreck off the South Australian coast has been damaged by boat anchors, a cement mooring and other fishing debris as boaties flout a 550 metre exclusion zone.

An inspection of the 148-year-old Zanoni last week revealed broken timbers and a site strewn with fishing debris, maritime heritage officer Amer Khan said.

"All the frames along the elevated edge of the starboard side have been snapped off, probably by an anchor chain being dragged along it," he said.

Copper sheathing has been torn off and timbers pulled away by snagged rope and one boatie has even dropped a makeshift cement mooring onto the wreck, crushing part of the portside bow and decking.

The Zanoni is also zigzagged with old and new fishing line, which still has hooks, lures and sinkers attached.

Mr Khan said the state of the wreck, which sits in 18 metres of water off Ardrossan on Yorke Peninsula, suggested people were regularly anchoring and fishing on the Zanoni and had been for some time.

"The sad truth is that they're slowly destroying this beautiful old ship," he said.

"The middle section has already collapsed and its age and the fact that it is immersed in seawater and subject to wave action all make it extremely fragile."

All shipwrecks more than 75 years old are automatically protected in SA while the Zanoni has the extra protection of an exclusion zone because of its historic significance.

The 338 ton, three masted sailing ship was on a voyage from Port Wakefield to Port Adelaide and then to London with a cargo of wheat and bark when it sank in 1867 in a storm.

The protection zone around the wreck bans all water activities without a permit, even simply steering a boat through the area.

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Nudgee students lucky after NT crash

A QUEENSLAND teacher and seven students are lucky to have escaped serious injury after their four wheel drive rolled at least three times on a remote Northern Territory road.

The year 10 students from St Joseph's College, Nudgee were on a school excursion about 230km west of Alice Springs when the accident occurred on Wednesday afternoon.

Police say the teacher, who was driving, lost control of the 4WD and it rolled at least three times on the Mereenie Loop Rd.

Nudgee principal Daryl Hanaly says the teacher and students were treated for bruises and scratches in hospital, but the most serious injury is a suspected fractured ankle.

"We are indeed a very fortunate community to have this accident and not to have any significant injury or fatality," he told AAP.

"We've done all the things which you'd expect us to, we've contacted all parents at the school and started bringing the boys involved home."

When asked if the school would investigate the accident, the principal said they were obliged to do so.

"It's a workplace health and safety issue, we certainly met all the requirements prior to the trip, we went thought a risk assessment and so on," Mr Hanaly said.

"We currently are awaiting the police report."

"But we will conduct our own investigation, absolutely.

Police were investigating the cause of the crash, but said that alcohol and speed were not factors.

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'Cruelty' behind preference deals: Milne

THE major parties have moved closer together on "cruelty" and that will be reflected in their preference deals, Greens leader Christine Milne says.

The coalition is reportedly considering an agreement with the ALP that would put the Greens last in the minor party's most winnable lower house seats, Melbourne and Grayndler.

The move would mean Greens deputy leader Adam Bandt facing an uphill battle to hang onto his party's only House of Representatives seat.

The Greens are also given a chance in Anthony Albanese's Sydney seat of Grayndler, which the deputy prime minister holds by 4.2 per cent.

Senator Milne said the major parties were moving closer together on policy.

"They are close together on cruelty to refugees and their horrible solution of warehousing people on Manus Island and at Nauru," she told reporters in Hobart.

"They're very close together in terms of destroying the Tarkine (wilderness in Tasmania).

"They are close together in terms of refusing to lift Newstart, they're refusing to support single parents.

"They have moved together on all those things so it wouldn't be surprising if they preferenced each other ahead of a progressive alternative."

Senator Milne said voters should make their own decisions about who to give their preferences to on polling day.

"If you want to have an Australia that is respected internationally, which is a caring society and which looks after the environment, then the Greens are the obvious choice," she said.

The Greens are meanwhile urging independent Senator Nick Xenophon to do a preference swap in South Australia to head off a coalition bid to take control of the Senate.

SA Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young is fighting to retain her seat with the final SA spot likely to go to her or the third candidate on the Liberal ticket.

Former Greens leader and party heavyweight Bob Brown was in Adelaide on Thursday urging Senator Xenophon to do a preference deal to ensure both the "progressive" senators were returned.

"I'm calling on Nick Xenophon to make it clear that he will be giving preferences to Sarah ahead of the coalition," Dr Brown said.

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Fortescue thanks Abbott for MRRT stance

FORTESCUE Metals Group says it is disappointed to have lost its High Court challenge to what it calls an "unfair discriminatory and complex" Mineral Resources Rent Tax (MMRT).

High Court judges have unanimously dismissed the iron ore miner's challenge to the validity of the MRRT legislation, finding the treatment of state mining royalties under the MRRT Act did not discriminate between states.

Neither did the legislation give preference to one state over another, they ruled.

In the challenge, Fortescue and four subsidiaries argued the MRRT contravened constitutional requirements that taxes be levied uniformly across the nation, in that it differed in each state because of different state royalty rates.

The Fortescue challenge was backed by the big mining states Western Australia and Queensland.

Despite the legal defeat, Fortescue chief executive Nev Power remained defiant in a statement issued to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).

"Fortescue challenged the MRRT because it was an unreasonable intrusion into an area of state responsibility and that it was also an unfair, discriminatory and complex tax," he said.

"We're disappointed by today's decision."

Mr Power also thanked Opposition Leader Tony Abbott for promising to abolish the MRRT if the coalition wins the September 7 election.

He said the company's objection to the tad has been bourne out by the low revenue collected to date.

The MRRT, which came into effect in July 2012, imposes a 22.5 per cent tax on profits above $75 million derived from the extraction of iron ore, coal and coal seam gas (CSG).

Miners could offset MRRT liability against expenses, including state royalty payments.

Mr Power said the mining industry already paid more tax than any other sector when taking into account company tax and state royalties.

The company expected to pay $1.5 billion in tax and royalties in the current financial year, he said.

Treasurer Chris Bowen on Wednesday said he didn't plan to change the MRRT if Labor proved victorious at the September federal election, considering the process of implementing it was "torturous".

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China fines baby formula firms

CHINA has fined six mostly foreign baby formula companies a total of $US108 million ($A120.7 million) for price-fixing, the official Xinhua news agency reports.

The firms fined were Mead Johnson and Abbott from the US, Dumex, a subsidiary of France's Danone, Friesland of the Netherlands, New Zealand giant Fonterra - at the centre of a health scare this week - and China's Biostime, Xinhua said on Wednesday, citing the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

In a corporate statement, Mead Johnson said it had been handed a penalty of 204 million yuan ($A36.88 million).

Biostime said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange that it had been given a 163 million yuan ($A29.47 million) fine.

Fonterra, which has had to recall products in several countries this week over a botulism scare, was fined 4.5 million yuan ($A813,000), it said.

It cooperated fully with Chinese authorities and accepted their decision, it said.

"The investigation leaves us with a much clearer understanding of expectations around implementing pricing policies which is useful as we progress our future business plans," Fonterra's president for Greater China and India, Kelvin Wickham, said in a statement.

He added that Fonterra's fine was "in the lowest range" of the penalties handed out.

The NDRC, China's top economic planner, launched the investigation into high prices it said resulted from a monopoly-like situation, mostly targeting overseas firms. Several of them announced price cuts last month.

Xinhua said that three companies - Wyeth, which is owned by Swiss giant Nestle, Japan's Meiji, and Chinese firm Beingmate - had been exempted from punishment in the inquiry.

The NDRC said they provided important evidence and carried out active self-rectification, it added.

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Qld jail worker accused of raping inmates

A QUEENSLAND prison worker accused of raping female inmates has been granted bail.

Police allege the 51-year-old trade instructor forced himself on prisoners at the Brisbane Women's Correctional Centre.

He's been charged with three counts of rape and 12 counts each of sexual assault and abuse of office.

He also faces charges of attempted sexual assaults and attempting to procure a sexual act by intimidation.

The man was granted bail in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Wednesday and his case was adjourned until August 28.

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al-Qaeda sparked US embassy closures

INTERCEPTS between al-Qaeda chief Ayman Al-Zawahiri and the leader of the group's Yemen affiliate sparked Washington's closure of US missions overseas and a global travel alert.

The New York Times said in its online edition on Monday that the electronic communications last week revealed that Zawahiri had ordered Nasser al-Wuhayshi, the head of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, to carry out an attack as early as last Sunday.

CNN, meanwhile, reported that Zawahiri told Wuhayshi to "do something", causing officials in both Washington and Yemen to fear an attack was imminent.

As a result, roughly two dozen US diplomatic posts were closed across the Middle East on Sunday.

The State Department, acting "out of an abundance of caution" has extended some of the closures, saying 19 diplomatic outposts will remain shut until Saturday.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is seen by Washington as the most active branch of the jihadist network.

Several US allies, including Britain, France, Germany and Norway have also announced closures of some of their missions in the region.

The US closure list includes 15 embassies or consulates that were shut on Sunday - the fifteenth anniversary of Al-Qaeda's attacks on US embassies in East Africa - as well as four additional posts.

Lawmakers in Washington described the threat level as very serious.

Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee dubbed the intelligence "probably one of the most specific and credible threats I've seen, perhaps, since 9/11".

Saxby Chambliss, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that the level of chatter among alleged terrorists was "very reminiscent of what we saw pre-9/11".

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told ABC News the threats were "more specific" than previous threats, although the exact target was unknown.

ABC News cited an unnamed US official as saying there was concern Al-Qaeda might deploy suicide attackers with surgically implanted bombs to evade security.

The posts to be closed include Abu Dhabi, Amman, Cairo, Riyadh, Dhahran, Jeddah, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait, Manama, Muscat, Sanaa, Tripoli, Antananarivo, Bujumbura, Djibouti, Khartoum, Kigali and Port Louis.

New closures were announced in Madagascar, Burundi, Rwanda and Mauritius. The outposts that are reopening include those in Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Mauritania, Iraq and Israel.

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Cochlear looking for success in Nucleus 6

HEARING implant maker Cochlear says its "game-changing" Nucleus 6 device will be the big driver behind its 2014 financial results.

The company says rollout of the device, which it describes as the most advanced cochlear implant sound processor ever released, is underway in Europe after its sale in the region was recently approved.

Regulatory approvals in other jurisdictions, including the key United States market, are expected during the year.

"We do think that how we go with Nucleus 6 will be important in terms of how fiscal 2014 will look, both in terms of various regulatory approvals and our ability to execute on these launches," Cochlear chief executive Dr Chris Roberts told reporters on Tuesday.

"And then it's how well we get traction on these truly game-changing features in this product."

The Nucleus 6 system has five times the processing power of the Nucleus 5 and can automatically process sounds according to the sound environment of the patient, such as speech, noise, music, quiet or wind.

Dr Roberts said it was the most advanced cochlear implant sound processor ever released in terms of hearing performance and usability.

Cochlear on Tuesday posted a net profit of $132.6 million for the 2012/13 financial year, up from $56.8 million in the previous year.

Its 2011/12 result was pulled back by $101.3 million in after-tax expenses linked to a recall of the CI500 series implant in September 2011.

The latest result was in line with guidance provided in June, when the company flagged weakness in its key market in the United States.

Cochlear subsequently lost nearly a fifth of its market value as investors dumped shares.

Dr Roberts on Tuesday said a record number of patients globally had received a Cochlear implant over 2012/13 and the company had focused on bringing new products to market, especially Nucleus 6.

But over the year, sales in the Americas had fallen four per cent to $284.4 million.

Sales of sound processor upgrades to existing cochlear implant recipients in the Americas were down $17.0 million ahead of the release of the Nucleus 6.

Sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa dropped one per cent to $283.0 million and sound processor upgrade sales were also down ahead of the release of the Nucleus 6.

But the Asia Pacific region was the standout performer, with sales jumping 20 per cent to $147.6 million on the back of a large tender sale to China.

Shares in Cochlear were 41 cents higher at $59.56 at 1316 AEST on Tuesday.

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Job ads weak but trade still in surplus

THE employment outlook is getting bleaker, but continued strong net exports should keep the Australian economy from getting into too much trouble.

Australia posted its fifth consecutive monthly trade surplus in June, which also was the highest surplus in 18 months, Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows.

It was still small at $602 million, but better than the $507 million surplus in May.

During the month, exports fell one per cent and imports fell two per cent, the ABS said.

However, job advertisements have fallen for the fifth consecutive month, down 1.1 per cent in July, seasonally adjusted, the latest ANZ Job Ads Survey showed.

RBC senior economist Su-Lin Ong said the job ads data was disappointing for an economy that was moving away from one driven by mining investment

"The ANZ jobs data shows the unemployment rate will continue to rise for the remainder of the year," she said.

"We actually think the most important data was the ANZ job vacancies data; the trend is very much all in one direction," she said.

Ms Ong said the bright spot was the trade data, saying the fall in exports was a bit of a correction from the previous months.

"The data shows you're going to be relying on net exports for economic growth, the domestic demand is going to be weak and that is going to be further exacerbated by a deterioration in the labour market," she said.

JP Morgan economist Tom Kennedy said although the trade data came in lower than expected, it was still the best result since December 2011.

"It definitely does signal that Australia's external sector is healing to a certain extent, and making the required transition toward an improvement in net exports, which will add to growth as the peak in resource investment approaches later this year," Mr Kennedy said.

"That's going to help to plug some of the holes that will be left over from fading resource investments."

CommSec chief economist Craig James played down the disappointing job ads figures as a timely gauge of the current employment market.

"Job seekers are using social media and company websites more often to check for available work," he said.

"Businesses wont hire staff in a big way until the election is out of the road."

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LME, Goldman sued over aluminium storage

THE London Metal Exchange and Goldman Sachs are being sued in a US court over alleged "anti-competitive and monopolistic" behaviour in aluminium storage.

The LME's owner, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd, said in a statement late on Sunday that it would fight the class-action lawsuit, which it said was without merit.

Wall Street banks are facing increased scrutiny of their involvement in businesses that store and transport commodities such as oil and aluminium.

The lawsuit was filed on August 1 by lead plaintiff Superior Extrusion in US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Hong Kong Exchanges operates the southern Chinese city's stock exchange.

Last year it bought the LME, which approves and licenses a network of more than 700 metal storage facilities in 36 countries.

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Greens confident in Melbourne, ACT

THE Greens are confident they can hold their sole lower house seat of Melbourne and will gear their election campaign towards retaining the balance of power in the Senate.

Melbourne MP Adam Bandt said the latest Galaxy poll showed the party's primary vote in the seat of Melbourne was about 48 per cent.

Greens leader Christine Milne said Mr Bandt had done a great job as Melbourne MP.

"I have every confidence that the people of Melbourne will return Adam to the House of Representatives," Senator Milne told reporters in Melbourne on Monday.

Mr Bandt said from day one of his term the party had set out to hold the seat of Melbourne.

"People are switching their votes," Mr Bandt said.

"A poll that was released over the weekend suggests that our primary vote in Melbourne is of the order of 48 per cent.

""What that poll shows, if it's repeated on election day, is that it doesn't matter if Labor and Liberal collaborate on preferences with each other."

Senator Milne said the Greens party would fight hard to retain its strong Senate position.

In NSW, this fight would be against a range of "right-wing minor parties" of "shooters and fishers and the like", she said.

Public service and university cuts were paving the way for the Greens to be elected to one of the two ACT Senate seats, she said.

"In the ACT we have got a really good opportunity to pick up a Senate seat," Senator Milne said.

"The public service in Canberra knows that the only party who are their friends are the Greens.

"The same with the university. The Greens are again the only party who are saying they will not support the cuts to university."

The party will have to battle against the coalition in Western Australia and South Australia, she said.

The Greens currently hold nine Senate seats.

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Virgin Aust expects loss of up to $110m

Airline Virgin Australia expects to report an annual loss of $95 million and $110 million. Source: AAP

AIRLINE Virgin Australia expects to book an annual loss of $95 million to $110 million, blaming the difficult economy, competition, restructuring costs and the carbon tax.

Virgin Australia also took longer to finalise its revenue recognition during the second half of the 2013 financial year due to the introduction of a new ticketing system.

Shares in Virgin Australia were 1.75 cents, or 3.85 per cent, lower at 43.75 cents at 1345 AEST on Monday.

The company said on Monday that the carbon tax in the 2012/13 financial year was estimated to have cost it $45 million to $50 million.

Virgin Australia had been unable to pass on the cost through higher ticket prices because the local economy was weak and competition was tough.

"It (the cost of the carbon tax) is simply not recoverable," Virgin Australia chief executive John Borghetti told reporters.

"For anybody to suggest that this is recoverable in the current economic climate is just not a realist."

He said the carbon tax especially hurt Virgin Australia because it was a domestic tax and 80 per cent of Virgin Australia's revenue was domestic.

The tax would continue to have an adverse impact on Virgin Australia's financial results if the economy remained soft.

Mr Borghetti said even if economic conditions did improve, competition in the aviation sector was so tough that it was doubtful that the full amount of the carbon tax could be recovered through higher ticket prices.

Mr Borghetti said that although the earnings update was disappointing, Virgin Australia had made significant progress in its restructuring program and now had the right platform in the Australian market to generate sustainable earnings benefits.

Domestic operating statistics for June and July 2013 showed a positive trend compared to May, which suggested strength and momentum building into the 2014 financial year.

The airline said the full year cost of its restructuring and transformation program over the 2013 financial year was anticipated to be around $100 million.

The costs included the move to the new Sabre booking and check-in system, and transaction costs related to the acquisition of Skywest Airlines and 60 per cent of Tiger Airways Australia.

The recently-acquired Skywest business was estimated to have made a pre-tax operating loss of $5 million to $10 million, reflecting investment to rapidly grow the business.

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Fake pistol, drugs taken in Sydney blitz

A REPLICA pistol and drugs have been seized and about 150 people and 80 vehicles searched during the latest anti-bikie police blitz in Sydney.

Officers from across Sydney together with the dog squad and the police airwing were involved in the two day "proactive operation aimed at combating gun-related crime and public place shootings," police said.

A 22-year-old man was allegedly caught with 30 ecstasy tablets and cannabis during the raids over Friday and Saturday.

Another man, 19, will front Fairfield Local Court later in August after he was allegedly busted with a replica pistol and a 28-year-old man who was armed with a knife was given a criminal infringement notice.

Ten others were hit with a raft of charges including possessing a prohibited drug, possessing steroids, malicious damage and traffic offences.

Police also searched 23 licensed venues and 46 "targeted premises" during the blitz.

More than 200 drivers were breath tested but only one was charged with drink driving.

Over several similar operations, police have laid more than 600 charges against 320 people and seized 80 firearms.

Also caught during the raids was a senior member of the Comancheros bikie gang, named as Mark Buddle in media reports.

Buddle was arrested at Maroubra on Friday night and sent back to jail for breaching parole.

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Rudd boards flight from Brisbane

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has boarded a flight in Brisbane, fuelling speculation he may be bound for Canberra to name the election date.

Mr Rudd and wife Therese Rein boarded a plane after midday (AEST) at Brisbane airport.

The prime minister's destination is yet to be confirmed.

However he has a cabinet meeting scheduled for midday on Monday in Canberra.

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Great Train Robber defiant after 50 years

HALF a century after Britain's infamous Great Train Robbery, the most notorious member of the gang, Ronnie Biggs, is unrepentant and says he is proud of his role in the heist.

The gang stole the equivalent of STG45 million ($A76.63 million) in today's money from a mail train travelling from Glasgow to London 50 years ago on Thursday.

The crime itself was audacious enough, but it was Biggs' 36 years on the run and his high-profile new life in Brazil which propelled him to fame.

He escaped from prison in 1965 and was finally arrested and thrown back in jail in 2001 on his voluntary return to Britain.

Biggs, who will celebrate his 84th birthday on the anniversary of the robbery, was released from prison in 2009 after his lawyer claimed he was close to death following a series of strokes.

But he is still alive and although now confined to a wheelchair he showed he has lost none of his old defiance by making an obscene hand gesture to journalists at the funeral of the gang's mastermind Bruce Reynolds in March this year.

Biggs, who cannot speak and communicates through a spelling board, said ahead of the 50th anniversary: "If you want to ask me if I have any regrets about being one of the train robbers, my answer is 'no!'

"I will go further: I am proud to have been one of them. I am equally happy to be described as the 'tea-boy' or 'The Brain'.

"I was there that August night and that is what counts. I am one of the few witnesses - living or dead - to what was 'The Crime of the Century'."

Biggs admitted however that he does have some regrets.

"It is regrettable, as I have said many times, that the train driver was injured," the Londoner said. And he was not the only victim.

"The people who paid the heaviest price for the Great Train Robbery are the families, the families of everyone involved in the Great Train Robbery, and from both sides of the track.

"All have paid a price for our collective involvement in the robbery. A very heavy price, in the case of my family.

"For that, I do have some regrets."

While the train robbers' exploits have passed into folklore, many people deplore the almost forgotten fate of the driver, Jack Mills.

He was coshed over the head by another member of the gang, never recovered from his head injuries and died seven years later.

'Big Jim' Hussey is said to have claimed on his deathbed that he was the attacker, although other accounts say it was a man who has never been brought to justice.

The driver had stopped the train at a remote bridge at Ledburn in Buckinghamshire, northwest of London, after seeing a red signal - but it was fake, created using a glove and a battery-powered light.

Once Mills was incapacitated, the gang uncoupled the engine and the first two carriages and a human chain of robbers removed 120 sacks containing 2.5 tonnes of cash.

The crew left in the rest of the train did not realise anything had happened until it was too late.

But the plan unravelled when the gang members abandoned plans to lie low for several weeks and instead fled from the farmhouse they had rented. The police, tipped off by a neighbour, rounded up many of them.

Nine of the 16 involved went on trial in 1964 and each was given 30 years in jail, although most did not serve out the whole sentence.

Biggs escaped from London's Wandsworth prison in a furniture van 15 months later. He fled to continental Europe in a boat then underwent plastic surgery in Paris.

He spent four years on the run in Australia but fled again to Brazil in 1970. He was tracked down but could not be extradited as he had fathered a Brazilian child.

From his base in Rio de Janeiro he taunted the British police, aided by the British tabloids who lapped up his roguish tales.

When he voluntarily returned to Britain in May 2001, he was re-imprisoned before being released on compassionate grounds in 2009.

Biggs, who now lives in a nursing home, has contributed to a new book about the robbery to explain first-hand the complete story of the heist.

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