Military on standby for Ita aftermath

Military helicopters are poised to join the clean-up in cyclone-ravaged far north Queensland. Source: AAP

MILITARY helicopters are on standby to help residents in Queensland's cyclone-ravaged far north.

But they are unable to fly because of the strong winds that have stranded Premier Campbell Newman in Cairns.

"The Australian Defence Force are there for us once we move in to try and start the clean-up," Mr Newman said on Saturday morning.

"Late last night I was talking to military people from the 5th Aviation Regiment in Townsville.

"They have a number of helicopters that they're ready to put onto the task.

"The big issue though will be flying conditions."

The 5th Aviation Regiment is an army division that operates Black Hawk, MRH90 multi-purpose and Chinook heavy-lift helicopters.

Mr Newman said the wind in Cairns on Saturday morning meant he couldn't fly.

"I'm not going anywhere this morning even though I want to get up to Hopevale and Cooktown to have a look at what's going on," he said.

"I'm not going anywhere because of these weather conditions."

Hopevale and Cooktown were among the hardest hit by Ita, which hit landfall about 9pm on Friday as a category four cyclone before easing in speed.

Mr Newman said he spoke with Prime Minister Tony Abbott, currently on a trade mission in China, on Friday afternoon.

"He may be in China but he's very much thinking of the needs of the people in the far north," Mr Newman said.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bike for George at cycling centre opening

PRINCE George has been given his first bike - but he'll have to learn how to walk first.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge officially opened New Zealand's National Cycling Centre on Saturday, receiving loud cheers from the 2000-strong crowd as they walked down the red carpet.

And though baby George wasn't there, he won't go home empty handed.

Avanti founder John Struthers presented the bike to the royal couple, and quipped: "I hope Air New Zealand doesn't charge extra baggage".

Mr Struthers said the prince will have to wait until he's two years old to give the bespoke balance bike a spin.

The crowd let out an audible sigh when Kate unwrapped a second present - a black and white lycra Avanti cycling shirt.

After the couple opened the venue, Prince William hesitantly fired a starting gun, beginning the velodrome's first race between world champion track cyclists.

Kate and William were then shown around the centre by Kiwi Olympic medallist Sarah Ulmer and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

No new signals in search for MH370

No new acoustic signals have been detected in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott is aiming to update China's president Xi Jinping on the latest developments in the hunt for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 before he departs Beijing on Saturday.

As a final gesture before heading back to Australia at the end of his trade mission, Mr Abbott says he will seek the latest details from the Australian search co-ordinator, retired defence chief Angus Houston.

If there's any material change since Friday, he said, he would pass it on.

"What I have tried to do is keep the principal foreign leaders updated whenever there's been significant change," Mr Abbott told reporters in Beijing.

Mr Abbott's efforts in selling a trade deal to China appear to have been significantly assisted by Australia's search for MH370.

He said there had been appreciation at every level of the Chinese government.

But he played down prospects of an imminent breakthrough.

"While we have a high degree of confidence that the transmissions that we have been picking up are from flight MH370's black box recorder, no one should underestimate the difficulties of the task still ahead of us," he told reporters in Beijing.

Mr Abbott said the search area had narrowed considerably.

But trying to locate anything 4.5 kilometres under the ocean thousands of kilometres from the Australian mainland remained a massive task.

"It is likely to continue for a long time to come," he said.

Mr Abbott said numerous signals had now been detected, giving a high degree of confidence these were coming from the aircraft's black boxes.

"Given that the signal from the black box is rapidly fading, what we are now doing is trying to get as many detections as we can so that we can narrow the search area down to as small an area as possible," he said.

Submersibles will then be used to conduct a sonar search of the seabed.

Mr Abbott couldn't say when that might be.

In the latest update on the search on Saturday morning, the Joint Agency Co-ordination Centre (JACC) said no new acoustic signals have been detected in the previous 24 hours.

But the search was continuing with nine military aircraft, one civil aircraft and 14 ships in the search area.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Rigged Vic soccer games were 'chaotic'

By Genevieve Gannon

MELBOURNE, April 11 AAP - English soccer players involved in an international match-fixing scam in Australia feared they'd be caught because the local ringleader would shout instructions during the matches, a court has heard.

Segaran "Gerry" Subramaniam, 46, would be told over the phone how many goals were to be conceded then try to "get the message" to players by yelling instructions from the sidelines, prosecutors said.

The Malaysian national acted as a facilitator between players at Victorian Premier League club the Southern Stars and overseas syndicate bosses.

"The boss was ringing constantly," Subramaniam said in a record of interview read in the Victorian County Court on Friday.

"He called saying: 'This better f***ing happen.'"

Prosecutor Peter Rose, SC, said about $64,000 passed through Subramaniam for the payment of players, and to arrange hotels and cars for them.

He said Subramaniam played an important local role in the syndicate which "had tentacles in other parts of the world".

"There has to be someone like him doing this," Mr Rose said.

"It's the leadership role of the system in Victoria."

Defence lawyer Ian Hayden said Subramaniam earned as little as $2000 a month from the scheme.

"The lack of sophistication was such that he was calling out from the sidelines," Mr Hayden said, describing it as absolutely chaotic.

He said players were worried about the way the instructions were given.

"They were saying 'does he want to be caught?'."

Two players convicted of fixing matches at the Southern Stars were given fines of $1200 and $2000, but Mr Rose said a custodial sentence was necessary in the case of Subramaniam.

Subramaniam has pleaded guilty to one match fixing charge, an offence that carries a prison term of up to 10 years.

Mr Hayden said Subramaniam is a man of good character with no prior convictions.

Judge Michael Bourke said it wasn't just those who lost money betting on the game who were the victims in the crime, but the honest players at the club.

"The supporters of this club must be very, very angry," Judge Bourke said.

Subramaniam will be sentenced at a date to be fixed.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Wang to leave mining company job

Dio Wang will resign as a mining company managing director if he is elected as a WA senator. Source: AAP

DIO Wang will resign as a mining company managing director before taking up his West Australian Senate seat for the Palmer United Party (PUP).

Mr Wang is expected to be declared one of six WA senators elected when the electoral commission completes its counting of last Saturday's election re-run.

The 33-year-old civil engineer is managing director of Australasian Resources, a company 70 per cent owned by Clive Palmer.

Mr Palmer is the founder of PUP and the member for the Queensland federal seat of Fairfax.

Mr Wang was appointed chief executive of the company in July 2010 and became managing director in January 2012.

A spokesman for PUP said Mr Wang had made the decision on his own and he would formally step down once the Australian Electoral Commission finalised the election results later this month.

When elected to Fairfax, Mr Palmer lodged a lengthy list of his directorships and shares on the parliamentary pecuniary interests register.

The Queensland billionaire also abstained from voting on the carbon tax repeal legislation, which if passed by the Senate will save his resource companies millions of dollars a year.

The Australian Greens have called on all three PUP senators-elect - Mr Wang, Queensland's Glenn Lazarus and Tasmania's Jacqui Lambie - to follow Mr Palmer's lead and abstain from voting on the carbon and mining tax repeals to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

The government will need the votes of at least six crossbench senators to get its legislation passed.

The WA Senate election result is likely to give the Liberals three seats and one each to Labor, the Greens and PUP.

Australasian Resources is developing the Balmoral South iron ore project in the WA Pilbara region and has some nickel interests in WA.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Treasurer defends SA economy

SOUTH Australian Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis has defended the state's economic performance after new data showed increasing unemployment.

Mr Koutsantonis conceded the state's 7.1 per cent jobless rate, the highest on the Australian mainland, was "not good".

But he said it would be worse had the government not invested in a major infrastructure program.

"We've done the prudent thing by investing in economic infrastructure," he said on Friday.

"We're not borrowing money to pay wages. We're borrowing money to build bridges, roads, productive infrastructure that's going to build our economy."

The treasurer said some sectors of the state's economy were performing well with exports, retail trade and building approvals all increasing.

He said the one area where the state was hurting was manufacturing which had been impacted by the high Australian dollar.

The impending loss of jobs when Holden closes in the coming years and if defence work is scaled back by the federal government will also affect the state's manufacturing sector.

In figures released on Thursday, SA's jobless rate in March hit a 12-year high.

It rose 0.4 percentage points at the same time as unemployment fell in other states.

The opposition said it was further evidence of a jobs crisis and called on the state government to provide tax relief to business.

"South Australia is in the midst of a dangerous jobs crisis," Opposition Leader Steven Marshall said.

"For 12 years, the government has failed to create an environment that encourages and supports business growth in South Australia.

"What South Australia needs is a government that will take its handbrake off the economy and back business to create jobs."

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tripodi questioned Obeid's motives: ICAC

Former NSW minister Tony Kelly has admitted a cabinet minute that didn't favour AWH was rewritten. Source: AAP

FORMER NSW powerbroker Joe Tripodi says Eddie Obeid's repeated questioning about Australian Water Holdings made him wonder if the Obeid family had a financial stake in the firm.

Mr Tripodi told the corruption watchdog that Obeid had asked him about the progress of AWH chief executive Nick Di Girolamo's "matter" - a lucrative deal with the NSW government - on a number of occasions.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is probing allegations the Obeid family had a secret $3 million stake in the company and stood to make up to $60 million if the proposed public-private partnership got up.

"There was (sic) a couple of times where he had asked me how his matter was progressing, Mr Di Girolamo's matter," Mr Tripodi said, including during his time as the state's infrastructure minister.

The "nature of the question" made him wonder if the Obeids had a stake in AWH, he said, but Obeid disclosed only that his son Edward Obeid Jr was working for the company.

"On one occasion, I said to him, Eddie, you and your family don't have any commercial interest in this? He said no, no, Junior's giving Australian Water a hand up in Queensland," Mr Tripodi told the commission.

Earlier on Thursday, the inquiry heard evidence from former NSW planning minister Tony Kelly, who said he spoke to Mr Tripodi about an AWH cabinet minute Mr Kelly had instructed be rewritten.

Mr Kelly said Mr Tripodi arrived unannounced at his property in Wellington - about a five-hour drive from Sydney - but that the visit took place before he was contacted by ICAC investigators.

"Mr Tripodi knocked on my door. He had a hamburger and a coffee," Mr Kelly said.

He said the pair chatted for up to half an hour about what their former parliamentary colleagues were up to.

Mr Tripodi then mentioned fellow former Labor minister Frank Sartor was writing a book "bagging out Labor", which was to include mention of the allegedly doctored minute.

"And then he finished his hamburger and said, OK, good to catch up with you," Mr Kelly said.

The inquiry continues.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hockey urges China action on currency

China should move quicker in regard to deregulating its currency, says Treasurer Joe Hockey. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIA wants China to move quicker to deregulate its currency.

Treasurer Joe Hockey is in Washington for a meeting of the Group of 20 nations' finance ministers, ahead of Brisbane hosting the leaders' summit in November.

US Treasury secretary Jack Lew said in an interview just before the meeting that China needed to get back on a path of a market-determined exchange rate.

Mr Hockey said all nations should be encouraging China to move to full deregulation and open trading of its currency.

"The Chinese government has come a very long way in a relatively short period of time in relation to the renminbi and importantly in opening up the Chinese economy," Mr Hockey told CNBC.

"We all want it to move quicker but when you reflect carefully on what has happened over the last decade, there has been a lot of movement."

Mr Hockey said he was more bullish about the future of the Chinese and European economies than some other finance ministers.

"There will be a recovery," he said.

"The question is how we can facilitate that without creating dislocations that continue to create further instability in capital markets."

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ten posts $8 million loss

Ten Network has posted an $8m first half loss, a substantial improvement compared to a year ago. Source: AAP

TEN Network Holdings has posted an $8 million first half loss, a vast improvement on the $243 million loss it suffered 12 months ago.

The TV network lifted its revenue to $331.6 million for the six months to February 28, up 7.8 per cent compared to its first half results last year.

Chief executive Hamish McLennan said the network had its best summer ratings period since 2008, thanks to its coverage of the T20 Big Bash League cricket and the Sochi Winter Olympics, which helped lift revenues.

But the higher revenues were offset by an 8.2 per cent increase in costs, linked to the coverage of the Big Bash and the launch of new morning television programs late in November.

Mr McLennan said the network would work to rein in costs but would spend money where necessary to boost Ten's performance.

"Strict cost control is part of Ten's DNA and we will continue to find new ways to work smarter and more efficiently. At the same time, we will make prudent and strategic investments in content to execute our turnaround strategy."

Mr McLennan also warned the network continued to face tough conditions in the advertising market.

"Advertising market conditions remain short, with many advertisers reluctant to commit to long-term campaigns," he said.

"As a result, the outlook for the television advertising market is uncertain at this stage."

The company will not pay an interim dividend.

Ten Network shares were up one cent at 27 cents at 1413 AEST.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Keith Urban leads trophy tally at ACMs

GEORGE Strait has won the top honour, entertainer of the year, at the Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas where Australian star Keith Urban picked up three awards.

Strait took the fan-voted award for the second time - 25 years after he first won it in 1989.

The win comes five months after the 61-year-old singer won the same award at the rival Country Music Association Awards, an industry-voted show. Strait is a few months from finishing his final tour in June, spurring a round of nostalgia that's come with a handful of trophies.

Fans showed their enduring love for Strait by giving him the award over arguably the genre's top four stars: Taylor Swift, Miranda Lambert and show co-hosts Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton.

Urban and Miranda Lambert were the night's top winners, taking three awards apiece. Lambert won her fifth straight female vocalist of the year award and the two teamed up to win vocal event of the year for We Were Us for which Urban won trophies as producer and performer.

Urban also picked up Music Video of the Year with Tim McGraw and Taylor Swift for Highway Don't Care.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

China reforms hold benefits for trade

CHINA'S economic growth will slow slightly in 2014 but the nation remains the key to the fortunes of the East Asia Pacific region, a new World Bank report says.

Developing East Asia has been a global growth engine since the 2008 global financial crisis and remains the fastest growing region in the world, the World Bank's East Asia Pacific Economic Update says, with 2014 growth expected to be 7.1 per cent.

China, the region's biggest economy, will suffer an easing in its growth rate to 7.6 per cent in 2014, down from 7.7 per cent a year earlier, but economic reforms begun by Chinese leaders in late 2013 are expected to deliver sustainable growth in the longer term.

While reforms in China's financial and services sectors, as well as social policy improvements are expected to cut growth further to 7.5 per cent in 2015, the World Bank has signalled potential benefits for Australia if efforts to move the economy to a more sustainable footing are successful.

"Successful reforms in China could bring considerable benefits to trade partners suppling it with agricultural products, consumption goods and modern services," the report, released on Monday, says.

"Conversely, spillovers from a disorderly rebalancing in China could hurt regional and global growth, especially in countries relying on natural resource exports."

The World Bank says that while South East Asian economies generally fared better than expected after the United States began to taper its fiscal stimulus program, structural reforms to maintain growth and boost investor confidence are needed.

The report also warns that adverse changes in the world's developed economies could affect the region.

"A slower-than-expected recovery in advanced economies, a rise in global interest rates and increased volatility in commodity prices on account of recent geo-political tensions in Eastern Europe serve as reminders that East Asia remains vulnerable to adverse global developments," World Bank chief economist for East Asia and the Pacific Bert Hofman said.

The report also notes that improving economic conditions in Australia are a positive for Pacific Island nations, which conduct one third of their total trade with Australia and New Zealand.

Australian and New Zealand tourists account for two-thirds of visitors to Fiji, Samoa and Vanuatu.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Melbourne Shrine reveals hidden plaques

A $45 million upgrade of Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance is three months ahead of schedule. Source: AAP

A DIGGER who helped build the Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance buried underneath it a plaque bearing his face and his name.

"Lewis" - no one knows if it was a first or last name - left the plaque with a rough sketch of his face on it under the Shrine.

Almost 100 years on from the Gallipoli campaign, a $45 million upgrade of the Shrine is three months ahead of schedule.

Alongside Lewis' plaque was another one in different handwriting, with a date - December 1928 - believed to be a progress marker of where construction was up to.

The Victorian government has trawled service records to find the "Lewis" who worked on the project, but have not been able to find him or his family.

The diggers' plaques were found when builders dug below the foundations to build the Galleries of Remembrance rooms.

Major Projects minister David Hodgett said the upgrade of the Shrine was three months ahead of schedule and would be open this year.

"One of the highlights of the exhibition space will be a lifeboat used during the Gallipoli landing from the troop and hospital ship SS Devanha, on long-term loan from the Australian War Memorial," Mr Hodgett told reporters on Sunday.

The original shrine was largely funded by public donation and built by returned servicemen during the Great Depression.

Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Talks on Japan trade deal difficult: PM

PM Tony Abbott says he's optimistic but not certain about finalising a free trade deal with Japan. Source: AAP

TONY Abbott's push to resolve free trade talks with Japan appears on shaky ground, with the prime minister admitting he's not certain of striking a deal during his visit to Tokyo.

Mr Abbott had hoped to finalise a free trade deal with Japan, Australia's second-largest trading partner, as a matter of priority on his first official visit to north Asia.

He ambitiously pledged at the September election to end years of stalemate and strike free trade agreements with Japan, South Korea and China within 12 months.

But a resolution from fierce last-minute talks in Tokyo has eluded negotiators, who have struggled all week to gain ground on several final issues.

Mr Abbott said on Sunday he was "optimistic" a deal could be struck during his stay in Tokyo, but conceded the talks had been difficult.

"This government is determined to bring them to a swift and satisfactory conclusion," he told reporters in Tokyo.

"I'm hopeful but not certain."

Trade Minister Andrew Robb arrived in Tokyo ahead of the prime minister to try and break the impasse, but after hours with Japan's agriculture minister could only say talks had entered an advanced but difficult stage.

Mr Abbott said negotiations had "meandered" under Labor after former prime minister John Howard initiated talks in 2007.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop also blamed the opposition for neglecting the task, saying the federal government had "six lost years" to regain.

She dismissed suggestions Australia's recent victory in the UN's top court over Japan's whaling program could have stalled talks, saying both nations would "move on".

"We are hopeful of signing, or at least getting an official confirmation about the state of the Japan Australia free trade agreement," she told ABC TV.

The deadlock could be on the agenda when Mr Abbott meets his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on Sunday evening for a private dinner.

Mr Abbott's visit will be formally acknowledged in a state ceremony on Monday, but the prime minister said he'd been "thrilled" at the welcome so far.

He said there was more than trade behind his visit to Japan, with an announcement on defence co-operation with the conservative Abe government expected in coming days.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Police shoot man in Brisbane

A man has been shot by police responding to a domestic disturbance on Brisbane's bayside. Source: AAP

A MAN is in a critical but stable condition after being shot by police during a domestic dispute on Brisbane's bayside.

Two police officers arrived at the Capalaba unit about 7.30pm (AEST) on Saturday.

When they tried to arrest the man, the male officer was allegedly thrown through a plate glass window and was severely cut.

It is understood a policewoman responded by shooting the offender twice in the stomach.

Police Union president Ian Leavers said the situation escalated quickly.

"She made an instant decision with the view of protecting her partner's life," Mr Leavers said.

"She is heroic. These are things where you don't get time to consider your decision, you have to make it immediately.

"We're very fortunate that we're not here at the murder of a police officer."

The injured officer is in a serious but stable condition and is expected to have surgery.

It is the second police shooting at the unit complex.

In March 2011, a policewoman shot a man in the groin who had threatened neighbours.

Mr Leavers said he was tired of violence against officers and renewed calls for mandatory sentencing for people who seriously assault police.

"If you threaten the life of a police officer you should go directly to jail," he said.

"There should be no other option."

The Ethical Standards Command is investigating.

11.25 | 0 komentar | Read More