Planes leave Perth in MH370 search

Three planes have left Perth to continue the search for a missing Malaysia Airlines plane. Source: AAP

THREE planes have left Perth to continue the search for missing flight MH370 off the West Australian coast.

Fine weather is expected to help searchers on Saturday after rain and cloud hampered efforts to find the missing Malaysia Airlines plane in previous days.

An RAAF P-3 Orion left at 9am (AEDT), with two ultra-long-range commercial jets following it 15 minutes later.

The Orion will be able to search for two hours, while the commercial jets have five hours of search time.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority is leading the search and says it is still being treated as a rescue operation, two weeks after the jet disappeared.

Another RAAF Orion was due to leave at 11am, a New Zealand Orion is scheduled to leave at 1pm and another RAAF Orion at 3pm.

A 24-metre-long object was spotted by satellite in the Indian Ocean on March 16.

"The area will have pretty much light surface winds, generally less than about 10 knots. We're not expecting any significant weather," Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Luke Huntington told ABC radio.

"Visibility should be greatly improved."

Two merchant ships are assisting in the search area and the Royal Australian Navy's HMAS Success is due to arrive at the search area on Saturday afternoon.

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Polish jail takes Bosnian war criminal

A convicted Bosnian Serb war criminal has been transferred from a British jail to Poland. Source: AAP

A FORMER Bosnian Serb general who was the first person convicted of genocide by the UN Yugoslav war crimes tribunal has been transferred to Poland to serve out his sentence, prison officials say.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) convicted Radislav Krstic for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of Bosnian Muslims and in 2004 handed him a 35-year sentence and sent him to Britain.

But after he narrowly escaped a murder attempt by Muslim fellow-inmates at Britain's Wakefield prison in 2010, the ICTY decided to seek a new location for security reasons.

In 2012, it filed a request to Poland, which has few Muslim residents. A Warsaw court approved the request later that year.

The 66-year-old Krstic "was admitted to the detention centre in the central city of Piotrkow Trybunalski on Thursday," said Bartlomiej Turbiarz, a spokesman for regional prison officials.

"He will serve out his sentence in a one-person cell that will be video-monitored 24 hours a day."

Krstic is the first war criminal to serve time in Poland at the behest of the ICTY.

Poland is among 17 countries that have offered to handle convicts sentenced to prison by the tribunal, which is based in The Hague in the Netherlands.

Krstic's forces were responsible for the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the Bosnian city of Srebrenica in July 1995 when they overran UN peacekeepers in the supposed "safe area".

It was deemed the worst atrocity on European soil since World War II.

All told, Bosnia's 1992-95 war claimed 100,000 lives.

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Lufthansa pilots to strike

Lufthansa pilots have overwhelmingly voted to go on strike for better pay and conditions. Source: AAP

AN overwhelming 97 per cent of Lufthansa pilots have voted to go on strike for higher pay and better benefits, their union says, after counting ballots.

Major travel disruptions are expected in the coming weeks on Lufthansa flights and the company's budget airline, Germanwings, but no date for the stoppages has yet been set by the so-called Cockpit Union (VC).

The union will announce any stoppage 48 hours in advance, union spokeswoman Ilona Ritter said on Friday at Frankfurt international airport, where Lufthansa has its headquarters.

She said that VC would exempt the busy April 11-21 Easter vacation from strikes, provided Lufthansa was not "aggressive" towards the union.

The strikes will not affect Lufthansa's subsidiaries Swiss and Austrian Airlines, which have separate labour contracts.

The airline group, which is Europe's biggest, is in on a drive to cut labour costs so it can compete with Gulf-based long-haul carriers and a raft of cheap and cheerful carriers on European routes.

Lufthansa urged the union to resume negotiations, but said it had no concessions to make.

The group's 5400 pilots are demanding pay hikes and a revival of a deal that allowed them to retire at 55 with up to 60 per cent of their last pay. Currently, the average pilot's retirement age is 59.

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Mining tax debate focus in parliament

The mining tax repeal and Qantas will feature in parliamentary debates in the coming week. Source: AAP

THE federal government will try to pressure Labor over the repeal of the mining tax next week as the re-run of the West Australian Senate election looms.

The repeal bills have been listed as the first item of business in the upper house when parliament resumes on Monday.

The Senate election on April 5 is expected to be a focal point of debate in question time, as the Liberals aim to retain the three seats they won at the 2013 election and Labor aims to pick up two seats.

The government has already targeted Labor over its decision this week to vote with the Greens to block the repeal of the carbon tax, despite former prime minister Kevin Rudd pledging in 2013 to scrap the tax.

"We always said that our two first priorities in terms of legislation was to scrap the carbon tax and the mining tax," Finance Minister Mathias Cormann told AAP on Friday.

"We are continuing to work down our to-do list."

Prime Minister Tony Abbott will also seek Labor support for a package of bills on his "repeal day" on Wednesday.

The legislation aims to remove thousands of regulations and pieces of legislation that are redundant, outdated or impose a burden on business.

Mr Abbott says the repeal package - coupled with other measures - will take $700 million a year in compliance costs off business and community groups.

Another repeal day will be held later in the year.

The Senate on Monday will receive a report from its economics legislation committee on the Qantas Sale Act, which would allow majority foreign ownership of the airline.

Labor and the Greens say the airline should remain in Australian hands and be based here, but there might be room for a compromise: allowing foreign airlines to hold more than a 35 per cent stake in Qantas or a greater than 25 per cent stake for any single foreign shareholder.

Senate inquiry reports will be received on Wednesday relating to ticket scalping, the coalition's Direct Action climate plan and people living with dementia.

On Thursday, reports will be tabled from inquiries into Operation Sovereign Borders, Qantas jobs and overseas aid.

The lower house will continue to debate laws to extend road funding and re-establish the Green Army of environmental volunteers.

Labor wants an inquiry into the Green Army legislation, saying it has concerns about workplace protections, the interaction with other welfare payments and the obligation of employers to provide training.

The House of Representatives will also debate a Labor motion on Monday seeking assurances from the government that ABC funding won't be cut and that it will stop vilifying the broadcaster.

It will be the last sitting week before the May 13 budget.

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PNG-Australia in trade deal

AUSTRALIA and Papua New Guinea have signed a new economic co-operation treaty during Prime Minister Tony Abbott's first formal visit to Port Moresby.

PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill told reporters on Friday the agreement would be the "cornerstone" of business and trade relations between the two countries.

Mr Abbott said Australia and PNG were more than friends.

"They are family," he said.

As well, the relationship should be about trade as least as much as aid.

The agreement includes annual leader-level talks.

Papua New Guinea will host the APEC regional leaders summit in 2018, which Mr Abbott described as a "coming of age" for Australia's neighbour.

"It will demonstrate that PNG is not only a very big player in the Pacific but is increasingly a player in the wider world," Mr Abbott said.

The 16-page agreement recognises the "essential role" of private investment, both domestic and foreign, in fostering growth, creating jobs, expanding trade, improving technology and enhancing economic development.

"Each party shall, subject to its laws and regulations, accord nationals of the other party fair and transparent treatment with respect to matters in connection with their business, immigration and professional activities," the treaty says.

It also sets out new rules governing aid and development cooperation in PNG, including an exemption from income tax for Australian aid organisations.

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Labor donation in ICAC sights

Labor's Queensland branch received a donation from AWH during the 2010 federal election campaign. Source: AAP

LABOR'S Queensland branch received a $2200 donation from Australian Water Holdings during the 2010 federal election campaign.

The infrastructure company is at the centre of a NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry into alleged improper dealings involving former NSW state politicians and the state-owned Sydney Water.

The Liberal party has begun the process of paying back donations received from AWH dating back to 2009.

One of the Liberal bodies that has already refunded money is a fundraising group in Treasurer Joe Hockey's North Sydney electorate, which to date has paid back $33,000.

A search of Australian Electoral Commission records shows the ALP's Queensland branch received a donation from AWH of $2200 on July 15, 2010, during the federal election campaign.

ICAC heard on Monday the infrastructure company disguised political donations and other expenses as administration costs and charged them back to Sydney Water.

The inquiry heard that Sydney Water had "unwillingly, unknowingly been a principle donor to the Liberal Party".

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten told reporters in Melbourne on Friday there were clear laws for campaign funding in Australia.

"The laws have got to be adhered to. Full stop. No excuses. No exceptions," Mr Shorten said.

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Mass NSW poisoning bird survivors released

THE last surviving parrots of a mass pesticide poisoning have been released in central western NSW.

The birds were rescued by wildlife welfare group WIRES from among the bodies of about 700 mostly little corellas, galahs and sulphur-crested cockatoos poisoned near Dubbo earlier this month.

NSW Environment Protection Authority testing found the birds in the Troy Reserve Area had likely ingested Fenthion, a pesticide used to kill insects and small non-native birds.

On Thursday, WIRES released the last of the 28 surviving native parrots from Sandy Beach, Dubbo.

WIRES Dubbo chair Ann Mara told AAP many of the birds had been close to death.

Some of them had been partially eaten alive by predators, she said.

"They were in a lot of pain."

"There was horrible screaming noises coming out of them and some of them had been already partly preyed upon."

The source of the poison is unknown and investigations are ongoing.

No dead birds have been reported in the area for five days and the poison is no longer thought to be a threat.

"We can't take our wildlife for granted," Ms Mara said.

"Over the period of a few days we lost an enormous amount of birds.

"Just because they're plentiful now doesn't mean they'll always be."

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Investor concerned about Obeid link

AN investor who had done a deal with Eddie Obeid's son says he became worried when he heard about a NSW corruption inquiry into the Labor powerbroker.

Anthony Karam told the Independent Commission Against Corruption's (ICAC) he and schoolfriend Eddie Obeid Jr began discussions about investing in Australian Water Holdings (AWH) in 2008.

He eventually sank $500,000 into the private firm, having been told by Mr Obeid Jr and NSW Liberal fundraiser Nick Di Girolomo, that his money would double.

He made nothing on his investment.

Asked by junior counsel assisting the commission, Greg O'Mahoney, whether he was a savvy investor, Mr Karam replied: "Not if I'm here, am I?"

AWH stood to make significant cash contracting to the government authority Sydney Water.

Despite never receiving a return on his investment, it wasn't until early 2013 when Mr Karam became concerned.

"During the ICAC hearing. The coal deal," Mr Karam said, referring to previous ICAC hearings which implicated Eddie Obeid Sr in corrupt dealings over the granting of NSW mining licences.

"I wasn't aware of any share holding ... I knew Eddie Obeid was around but I wasn't aware that they actually had any equity or what was alleged equity in Australian Water Holdings.

"That sort of triggered Nick (Di Girolomo) to get on the phone and start talking and then we, for the first time, convened a meeting."

Mr Karam says he wasn't aware of the deal offered to Senator Arthur Sinodinos to chair AWH.

"The only time I became aware was when he relinquished his shares in the parliament," Mr Karam said.

"I then sent an email to the CFO (chief financial officer) asking where those shares came from."

ICAC has heard that Mr Sinodinos, who was allegedly taken on by AWH because of his Liberal connections, was offered an equity stake of five per cent, with a 2.5 per cent bonus.

"I don't think I've ever seen a remuneration package where a chairman gets given some sort of option or bonus for achieving an outcome," Mr Karam told ICAC.

Mr Karam is taking legal action against AWH, it directors, and another company in the Federal Court.

Senator Sinodinos on Wednesday stood down as federal assistant treasurer while the ICAC inquiry continues.

He has denied any wrongdoing and is due to appear as a witness.

ICAC has heard the former chief of staff to prime minister John Howard was appointed to a $200,000-a-year job with AWH in a bid to open communication channels with the Liberal Party.

During his time on the board, AWH provided secret donations to the NSW Liberals, which the party is paying back.

The hearing continues.

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Bin Laden son-in-law tells of chat on 9/11

OSAMA Bin Laden claimed responsibility for masterminding 9/11 on the night of the attacks, his son-in-law says, as he unexpectedly testified at his federal trial in New York on terror charges.

Suleiman Abu Ghaith, who married bin Laden's daughter Fatima, on Wednesday recounted a dramatic meeting with the jubilant al-Qaeda chief in an Afghanistan cave complex on the night of September 11, 2001.

"Did you learn what happened? We are the ones who did it," Bin Laden declared, according to Abu Ghaith.

The 48-year-old from Kuwait told the court he warned Bin Laden that he would feel the full force of America's wrath following the attacks on New York and Washington.

Bin Laden replied simply by telling him: "You're being too pessimistic."

Within months, the US-led invasion had ousted the Taliban from power in Afghanistan, and bin Laden was forced onto the run.

A 10-year manhunt ended when the al-Qaeda leader was shot dead by US Navy SEALs during a daring raid on his hideout in Pakistan in 2011.

Abu Ghaith had not been expected to testify during his trial, where he is charged with conspiracy to kill Americans and conspiracy to support terrorists.

He faces life imprisonment if convicted by a jury at the trial, which is expected to conclude within days.

Speaking in Arabic, translated into English by an interpreter, Abu Ghaith also denied trying to recruit people for al-Qaeda, as prosecutors have alleged.

"There is no one recruiting, but Osama Bin Laden. My intention was not recruiting anyone," he said.

And, asked by his lawyer if he ever wanted to kill Americans, he responded "No.

"My intention was to deliver a message I believed in," he said, denouncing the oppression of Muslims.

Presenting himself as an imam, he said he went to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in June 2001 because he had a "serious desire to get to know the new Islamic government".

His other aim was "teaching and preaching," he said, adding that was something he didn't accomplish.

Clad in a suit with an open-collared shirt, the balding suspect sporting a salt-and-pepper beard admitted having recorded several videos at the request of bin Laden, who, he said, summoned him after learning he was a Kuwaiti imam.

He said he had never met Richard Reid, a British man who tried to explode a bomb hidden in his shoes on a Paris-Miami flight in December 2001, three months after the 9/11 attacks.

He said he learned of the plot after the fact, through media reports, while he was in Iran.

Abu Ghaith is most famous for appearing in a video with bin Laden the day after the 9/11 attacks, which killed nearly 3000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

The US government said Abu Ghaith, in the video, warned the United States of a large army forming against it and that the attacks would be relentless.

This speech, Abu Ghaith testified, was based on "quotes and points" established by bin Laden.

US prosecutors say Abu Ghaith worked for Al-Qaeda until 2002, when he fled Afghanistan for Iran. He was captured in 2013 and brought from Jordan to the US.

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Aust imposes sanctions over Ukraine crisis

AUSTRALIA will impose financial sanctions and travel bans against a dozen Russian and Ukrainian individuals who have been instrumental in Russia's moves to annex Crimea.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin's move and said the referendum in Crimea could not form any legitimate basis to separate it from the rest of Ukraine.

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Fried food linked to obesity

A new study shows people at risk of obesity may be more likely to pile on weight from fried foods. Source: AAP

PEOPLE whose genes make them at risk of obesity could be more likely to pile on weight from fried foods than those with lower risk, a study suggests.

Eating fried food four times a week or more had twice as big an effect on weight for those with high genetic obesity scores compared to those with the lowest, Harvard researchers found.

Even eating the foods once or twice a week increased the risk of being overweight if people had a genetic predisposition to obesity.

It is the first time experts have looked at the interaction between obesity genetics, weight (measured as body mass index or BMI) and a certain food group.

The team analysed data from more than 37,000 men and women taking part in three US health trials.

Using questionnaires, they looked at food consumption at home and away and calculated a genetic risk score based on 32 known genetic variants associated with BMI and obesity.

Those in the highest third of genetic risk had twice the difference in BMI if they ate fried food four times a week or more compared to those with the lowest risk.

Meanwhile, those with the highest risk who ate the foods one to three times a week were also heavier than people with lower genetic risk.

Writing in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), the authors, including from the Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School in Boston in the US, said: "We found a significant interaction between fried food consumption and genetic predisposition to adiposity (obesity).

"These results for the first time suggest that individuals with a greater genetic predisposition to adiposity might be more susceptible to the adverse influence of overconsumption of fried food on adiposity; and overconsumption of fried foods might magnify genetic effects on adiposity."

Assistant professor Lu Qi, from the Harvard School of Public Health, added: "Our findings emphasise the importance of reducing fried food consumption in the prevention of obesity, particularly in individuals genetically predisposed to adiposity."

Professor Alexandra Blakemore and Dr Jessica Buxton, from Imperial College London, said in an accompanying editorial: "This work provides formal proof of interaction between a combined genetic risk score and environment in obesity.

However, they said the results "are unlikely to influence public health advice, since most of us should be eating fried food more sparingly anyway".

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Customers return as $A falls, says DJs

DAVID Jones says a lower Australian dollar has helped it to pinch customers back from international online rivals.

Earnings from the company's department store business grew by more than eight per cent to $91.6 million in the six months to January 25, thanks to a 3.8 per cent rise in sales.

But its net profit dropped by 4.6 per cent to just over $70 million, due to reduced earnings from its financial services division.

Chief executive Paul Zahra said a fall in the Australian dollar from around $1.04 a year ago to its current level of around 91 US cents had turned customers away from international websites.

"We've seen that as the $A has fallen below parity with the $US, shopping on an offshore website has become less interesting for our customers," he said.

"So we have seen a lot of customers return to shopping with us and of course now we've got our own online business that allows us to compete head to head."

David Jones relaunched its online store in 2013 and expects online sales to account for 10 per cent of total sales within four years.

Mr Zahra said a strong rise in Australian property prices during the past year also meant customers felt they had more to spend.

"Our core customer is feeling wealthier, not only in the price of their home but in the equity market as well," he said.

The company said its financial services division was hit by customers using their David Jones Store Cards less, though this was partly offset by increased demand for David Jones American Express cards.

The transfer of control of David Jones' electronics division to retail business Dick Smith had removed what had been a drag on earnings, Mr Zahra said.

Despite improving sales the company wants to reduce costs, and will close under-performing stores including Birkenhead Point in Sydney and Harbour Town on the Gold Coast once their current leases expired.

David Jones also said it had received positive feedback from Sydney City Council in relation to a proposal to develop the space above its flagship Market Street store.

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Malaysia jet hunt focuses on cockpit crew

Officials say the final words from the cockpit of a missing airliner gave no clue of anything wrong. Source: AAP

AN investigation into the pilots of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has intensified after officials confirmed that the last words spoken from the cockpit came after a key signalling system was manually disabled.

Australia has also committed to join the search which has now moved to take in the far southern Indian Ocean.

US intelligence efforts were also focusing on Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah and his first officer, Fariq Abdul Hamid, according to a senior US lawmaker.

"I think from all the information I've been briefed on from, you know, high levels within Homeland Security, national counterterrorism centre, intelligence community, that something was going on with the pilot," said Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House Homeland Security committee.

"I think this all leads towards the cockpit, with the pilot himself, and co-pilot," McCaul said on Fox News on Sunday.

Malaysia's transport minister confirmed on Sunday that an apparently relaxed final voice communication from the cockpit - "All right, good night" - came after the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) had been deliberately shut down.

The ACARS transmits to the ground key information on a plane's condition.

It has not been confirmed who gave that final voice message. But the assumption is the person would have known the ACARS system had been disabled.

The plane's transponder - which relays radar information on the plane's location - was switched off 14 minutes after the ACARS went down.

Shortly afterwards the plane disappeared from civilian radar, but Malaysia has since confirmed that the air force tracked it for hours on military radar - without taking action.

The plane went missing early in the morning of March 8 with 239 passengers and crew aboard, spawning a massive international search across Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean that has turned up no trace of wreckage.

Two-thirds of the passengers on board the flight were Chinese, and state media in China attacked Malaysia anew on Monday over its handling of the crisis.

"The contradictory and piecemeal information Malaysia Airlines and its government have provided has made search efforts difficult and the entire incident even more mysterious," the China Daily newspaper wrote in an editorial.

"What else is known that has not been shared with the world?" it asked.

For relatives of those on board, the indications that the plane was taken over in some way provides a slim hope that it might have landed undetected somewhere and that those on board are still alive.

"If they found the wreckage of the plane then that would be finalised because there's no hope," said Australian David Lawton, whose brother was on the plane.

"But while you've got hope, you've got worries too. Because if they're alive, are they being treated well, or what's happening?".

The number of countries involved in the physical search for the jet has nearly doubled to 25, after satellite and military radar data projected two dauntingly large and contrasting corridors the plane might have flown through, to the north and south.

"We are now looking at large tracts of land, crossing 11 countries, as well as deep and remote oceans," said Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysia's minister of both transport and defence.

The southern corridor extends deep into the southern Indian Ocean towards Australia, while the other stretches north in an arc over south and central Asia.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Monday said he had no information that the aircraft may have come anywhere close to Australia.

"But all of our agencies that could possibly help in this area are scouring their data to see if there's anything that they can add to the understanding of this mystery," Abbot told reporters.

The China Maritime Search and Rescue Centre has asked Chinese merchant ships in the Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal and the waters to the west of Australia to provide assistance.

The Malaysian authorities have stressed that the backgrounds of all the passengers and crew are being checked - as well as engineers who may have worked on the plane before take-off.

Police have searched both pilots' residences and are examining a flight simulator that Captain Zaharie had installed at his home.

Zaharie was a member of the party of Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

A day before the flight, a Malaysian court overturned Anwar's 2012 acquittal on charges he sodomised a male former aide and sentenced him to five years in jail.

Anwar calls the charges a sham cooked up by Malaysia's long-ruling government to drive him from politics.

There is, however, no indication yet that Zaharie's political affiliations have figured in the investigation.

First Officer Fariq's record was queried after a South African woman said he had allowed her and a friend to ride in the cockpit of a 2011 flight, in violation of security rules imposed after the 9/11 attacks in the US.

Hishammuddin noted that the two pilots "did not ask to fly together" on flight MH370.

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Macquarie Radio MD resigns

MACQUARIE Radio managing director Rob Loewenthal has resigned from the company.

Mr Loewenthal has worked as a senior executive at the broadcaster, which owns Sydney radio stations 2GB and 2CH, for seven years.

Executive chairman Russell Tate said he will take on the position of chairman and chief executive when Mr Loewenthal leaves on March 28.

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Chinese investors fuel retail spending

AFTER five years of chronic frugality, Australians are finally starting to loosen their purse strings and retailers may have Chinese property investors to thank for it.

Australian retail spending has lifted close to five per cent in the past six months, which is more than double the growth recorded for the whole of 2012.

A key reason for the improvement, according to real estate business Colliers International, is Chinese investment in the property market.

Chinese buyers purchased around $5.9 billion worth of property in the year to June 2013 according to Colliers, and are now buying up almost one fifth of new housing in Sydney.

Coupled with low interest rates, that added demand helped drive Australian capital city home prices up 9.5 per cent in 2013.

That's bad news for first home buyers but good news for retailers, according to Colliers International head of retail Michael Bale.

"Increasing residential property values impact on how wealthy consumers feel and in turn their propensity to spend," he said.

So homeowners are feeling richer as the value of their property rises and are spending more at the shops as a result.

Mr Bale said foreign investors are also having a more direct impact on retailers by taking advantage of the recent slide in the Australian dollar to buy up luxury goods while Down Under.

The slide in the dollar has also pushed up the relative cost of travelling overseas and made goods purchased through international websites more expensive, which means Australians are spending more of their money with local retailers.

The dollar is currently trading around 90 US cents, which is down from around $1.04 a year ago.

"This level is supportive of not only attracting more overseas visitors to Australia, but also acts as a disincentive for Australians to take offshore holidays, particularly to the US," Colliers director of research Nora Farren said.

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SA voted for change of government: Abbott

SOUTH Australian voters would feel cheated if Labor was returned to power despite the Liberals getting a majority of the vote, Tony Abbott said in a blunt message to two key independents.

The prime minister praised Liberal leader Steven Marshall and the state party for garnering almost 53 per cent of the two-party preferred vote in Saturday's election, saying in other states it would have given them a "thumping majority".

In a shock result, both major parties failed to win enough seats to form a majority government, with each now locked in negotiations with independents Bob Such and Geoff Brock.

It is the second election in a row in which the Liberals have won the majority vote but not secured enough seats after Labor scraped home in key marginal electorates.

Mr Abbott, who missed out in negotiations to form a minority government after the 2010 federal election, said the South Australian independents should take heed of the Liberals' two-party vote.

"I suspect that the people of South Australia will feel cheated if having voted quite substantially for a change of government, that's not what they get," Mr Abbott said.

"I think that's a message that won't be lost on the independent members of parliament."

Despite the Labor Party being in the box seat - it is likely to hold one more seat than the Liberals - Mr Abbott said he was optimistic the Liberals' position would improve as the large number of postal votes were counted next week.

The prime minister would not comment on suggestions his involvement in the campaign had a negative impact on the Liberals' result.

"I was very happy to be involved ... and I know that my involvement was welcomed by Liberal Steven Marshall," he said.

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Stolen BMW crashes into driver: police

POLICE in Perth are investigating a pursuit that ended with a 51-year-old man in a critical condition after his car was hit by a stolen BMW driven by a teenager.

Police say officers tried to stop the BMW on Albany Highway in East Victoria Park on Saturday night, but the 16-year-old driver sped off.

A brief chase by officers on the ground was taken over by the Police Air Wing, which continued to pursue the car.

Police said the BMW ran a red light at the intersection of McDowell Street and Orrong Road in Welshpool and struck another vehicle.

They said the young BMW driver ran off after the crash but Air Wing officers spotted him hiding in bushes and he was arrested a short time later.

He remains in custody.

The 51-year-old man is in Royal Perth Hospital in a critical but stable condition.

Investigators from WA's major crash unit have been called in to investigate the crash, which will also be probed by the WA police internal affairs unit.

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Newman told to sideline health minister

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman is being urged to sideline his health minister. Source: AAP

QUEENSLAND Premier Campbell Newman is being urged to sideline his health minister as doctors at public hospitals threaten to resign en masse over individual contracts.

Mr Newman returns to Queensland this weekend after a 10-day trade mission to the US.

But with senior medical officers continuing to resist plans for individual contracts, Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk says the premier needs to intervene.

"The premier today needs to sideline his health minister and take action, take control of the health crisis and fix it," she told reporters in Brisbane.

"This is a crisis that has been building for a period of months and the government has been failing to listen."

The Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation of Queensland is understood to be in the process of sending out mass resignation letters to its medical specialist members, working in public hospitals, from Monday.

The Australian Medical Association is also opposed to plans for local hospital boards to have more power in dismissing senior medical officers.

Health Minister Lawrence Springborg last week held talks with doctors' groups but the government is adamant it won't revisit legislation, which has removed the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission from disputes resolutions.

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