Woman breaks arm in Segway clash

File picture. Segways will be legal to drive on Queensland paths and bikeways. Source: News Limited

A WOMAN has been taken to hospital after being hit by a Segway at a luxury Gold Coast resort.

The woman, 50, suffered a suspected fractured arm after being struck by the two-wheeled people mover at the RACV Royal Pines Resort.

The collision happened besides the resort's golf course about 12.30pm on Saturday.

Royal Pines immediately launched an investigation and is believed to have suspended Segway operations for guests.

The resort introduced Segway rides last year as part of a new 'adventure' activities program.

The company that operates the Segways rides also lobbied the Queensland Government to legalise the machines on the state's footpaths.

Controversial Segway laws were introduced earlier this year and will become official from next month when the stand-on vehicles will be given free rein on public walkways.

But accidents like that at Royal Pines could be ammunition for anti-Segway campaigners including Gold Coast councillor Lex Bell, who believes pedestrians and Segways do not mix.

Last week, Transport Minister Scott Emerson said he was satisfied with safety restrictions for Segways, including a speed limit of 12km/h, an age limit of 12 for users, mandatory helmets and lights and reflectors at night and in bad weather.

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NSW man charged with drug supply

BEAT police in Sydney's southwest have charged a man with supplying drugs after a street search revealed ice and possibly heroin.

Officers were patrolling Gladstone Street, Marrickville, when they stopped and spoke to a man and woman standing on the footpath about 11.20pm (AEST) on Friday.

They searched the pair and allegedly discovered an amount of methylamphetamine, cash and a substance believed to be heroin.

The man, 41, has been charged with supplying a prohibited drug, possessing a prohibited drug, holding goods in custody and dealing with property suspected to be proceeds of crime.

He was refused bail and will appear in Parramatta Local Court on Saturday.

The woman, 30, has been released pending further inquiries.

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Man glassed in NSW Snowy Mtns fight

A MAN has allegedly glassed a 22-year-old in the face during a fight in the NSW Snowy Mountains.

The two men aged 22 and 30, were at a function on Kosciuszko Road, Jindabyne, when a fight broke out about 12.10am (AEST) on Saturday.

The older man allegedly hit the 22-year-old on the face while holding a glass, police said.

He suffered multiple cuts to his face and was taken to hospital for treatment.

The other man was treated at the scene for lacerations to his fingers.

He's been charged with grievous bodily harm by a negligent act and was bailed to appear at Cooma Local Court on October 9.

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Cold snap ends balmy NSW winter weather

BUSHWALKERS are being warned to rug up but skiers can get their boots out as a cold snap sweeps NSW.

The chilly weather brings an abrupt end to the unseasonably mild winter temperatures enjoyed by most of the state over the last few days.

From midday on Friday the mercury will plummet, while strong and gusty northerly winds buffet much of the state and snow falls on the highlands.

There will also be widespread rain and possible thunderstorms, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

Weather services manager Andrew Treloar is warning locals in NSW and the ACT not to be caught out by the sudden change.

"We'll be going from the pleasantly warm and unseasonable conditions to biting cold in just a short time this weekend.

"Anyone planning to be out and about, particularly bushwalkers, snow sports enthusiasts, campers and boaties, need to keep a very close eye on weather forecasts and warnings."

He's urging people to plan for conditions that range from "pleasantly summer-like to winter extreme".

The cold snap is being created by a strong cold front that began moving into western NSW on Thursday.

It will bring snow to the lower levels of the Snowy Mountains and parts of the Southern and Central Tablelands, particularly overnight on Saturday and into Sunday morning.

Snow is expected down to 600-700 metres in the Southern Tablelands and the ACT and around 1000 metres in the Central Tablelands.

Up to 20mm of rain will fall over the inland and southern ranges on Friday, with some patches experiencing downfalls of up to 50mm.

Very windy conditions are forecast about the Snowy Mountains and higher parts of the tablelands, with the conditions hazardous for people undertaking outside activities.

The weather will slowly warm up next week, as south-westerly winds bringing cooler, more seasonal conditions, Mr Treloar said,

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Airlines urged to disable distress beacons

BRITISH authorities have recommended that distress beacons on board all Boeing Dreamliners be disabled, after identifying the devices as the likely cause of a fire on a 787 at London's Heathrow airport.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said on Thursday that detailed analysis of the Honeywell emergency location transmitter system on the new generation plane "has shown some indications of disruption to the battery cells".

"It is not clear, however, whether the combustion in the area of the ELT was initiated by a release of energy within the batteries or by an external mechanism such as an electrical short," it said.

Pending further investigations, it recommended all Honeywell transmitters be removed from the Dreamliners and urged aviation regulators to review lithium-powered devices installed in other types of aircraft.

In a statement, Boeing said it supported the recommendations, "which we think are reasonable precautionary measures to take as the investigation proceeds".

Nobody was hurt when the fire broke out on Friday on an empty Ethiopian Airlines plane parked at Heathrow airport.

Boeing was dealt another blow on Thursday when a Japan Airlines 787 that left Boston for Tokyo turned back because of a possible pump problem, the company said.

"As a standard precautionary measure due to a maintenance message (fuel pump) indicator, JL007 bound for Tokyo-Narita decided to return to Boston Logan for check and landed safely," Carol Anderson, a US-based JAL spokeswoman, told AFP in an email.

Boeing withdrew from service its entire fleet of Dreamliners earlier this year due to separate concerns that lithium-ion batteries on board could cause fires.

A total of 68 Dreamliners have so far been delivered, and the AAIB recommended to the US Federal Aviation Administration that the transmitter systems in all of them be disabled.

It also recommended that the FAA and other regulatory authorities "conduct a safety review of installations of lithium-powered emergency locator transmitter systems in other aircraft types and, where appropriate, initiate airworthiness action".

The AAIB's report does not mean the Dreamliner fleet need be grounded.

All planes carrying passengers in the United States are required to have a distress beacon, and the devices are widely used around the globe.

But under US rules, operators can fly with inoperative transmitters for up to 90 days while they await replacement or repairs. Similar regulations apply in Europe and other parts of the world.

Boeing said it was working "proactively" to respond to the recommendations, and the report did not appear to worry investors. Boeing's shares in New York gained 2.84 per cent to 107.7 dollars at 1605 GMT.

"We are confident the 787 is safe and we stand behind its overall integrity," the company said.

In another development, a United Airlines Boeing 777 bound for Amsterdam was forced to turn back and make an emergency landing in Houston after the plane's second engine shut down.

There were no injuries or further problems upon landing, United spokesman Luke Punzenberger said on Thursday.

"As a precautionary measure, Flight 58 from Houston to Amsterdam returned to IAH because the crew identified an issue with one of the engines.

"The Boeing 777 aircraft, which was carrying 223 passengers and 15 crew, landed safely and without incident in Houston at 5.13pm" local time (0813 AEST Friday), the statement said, adding that the aircraft was being reviewed by maintenance staff.

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Dumped ALP candidate blames naivety

DUMPED federal ALP candidate Jeffrey Salvestro-Martin says naivety and inexperience has landed him before the NSW corruption commission.

Mr Salvestro-Martin was disendorsed as Labor's candidate for the northwest Sydney seat of Bennelong after he was called before the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).

He and others at Ryde Council are accused of accepting undisclosed political donations in the form of free advertising ahead of local government elections last September.

Mr Salvestro-Martin on Friday produced a summary of account statements that he said showed he had paid for a number of ads in a local newspaper, The Weekly Times.

But Assistant Commissioner Theresa Hamilton told him the documents only showed that "someone" had paid for the ads.

Asked why he would have used his personal MasterCard or cheques rather than his campaign fund to pay for advertising, Mr Salvestro-Martin blamed his "naivety, my fault, my inexperience".

Mr Salvestro-Martin, who until this week had Labor's backing to run for John Howard's former seat of Bennelong, told the inquiry he had limited political experience.

The 2012 local government election was the first time he had run at the top of a political ticket, he said.

"As second on a ticket (at the previous election), I was always instructed as to what to do and how to do it," he said.

The inquiry has also heard Mr Salvestro-Martin was aware of "inducements" or "implied threats" directed to the council's acting general manager Danielle Dickson.

She'd been handed control over whether council would pay legal costs in a Supreme Court action relating to the ousting of former general manager John Neish.

But a phone call intercepted days before the costs decision was delegated to Ms Dickson reveals Mr Ivan Petch told Mr Salvestro-Martin he was planning to "give her a good firm talking to".

"(I'll) say 'Listen, a lot of people have been watching - the majority of council have been watching - how you handle the matter'," Mr Petch said.

"'And if you ever want to be the general manager of this place, I'd tread very carefully if I were you'."

Counsel assisting the commission Jason Downing said Mr Petch's plans to take Ms Dickson aside were "grossly improper".

"But at the time, you made no comment other than suggesting that you absolutely agree," he told Mr Salvestro-Martin.

The inquiry continues.

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Childhood crimes may count in Qld courts

QUEENSLAND'S children's court could be opened to the media and public in a bid to name and shame young offenders.

Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie says youth criminals are thumbing their noses at the justice system and results of a new crime survey show the public is tiring of the slap-on-the-wrist approach.

Results of the survey, published on Thursday, showed half of the 4184 respondents strongly agreed with naming and shaming young offenders.

About 58 per cent also wanted young offenders automatically transferred to adult prisons when they turn 17.

Mr Bleijie says the current system isn't working and the government needs to try new things.

"We are looking at the issue of opening our children's courts, so the media and the public can see what's happening," Mr Bleijie told a budget estimates hearing.

"And rather than young people coming out of our courts and thumbing their nose and sticking their finger up at the law, they can actually take some form of responsibility and Queensland will be able to identify these particular individuals.

"However, we've got to get the balance right and we've got to make sure that young people that want to be given a chance to change their life are given an opportunity."

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SA premier to talk with Carr on tax change

SOUTH Australian Premier Jay Weatherill will hold face-to-face talks with federal Industry Minister Kim Carr on Friday over proposed tax changes expected to impact on the car industry.

Car producers and other auto industry groups have warned that the changes to fringe benefits tax arrangements will lead to a fall in vehicle sales.

But South Australian Attorney-General John Rau said it remained unclear exactly what the impact might be.

He said the SA premier had already spoken by phone with Treasurer Chris Bowen and would meet Senator Carr on Friday to "flesh out" the issue and gauge how much concern it presented for local car producer Holden and the wider automotive sector in South Australia.

"When any of us read in the paper the suggestion that there is going to be a reduction in demand for Australian-produced motor vehicles, that's a matter that we pay attention to," Mr Rau told reporters on Thursday.

But Mr Rau said the government was exploring whether or not the forecasts in the media were actually representative of what might happen.

"We don't want to become panicked by a group of individuals who, perhaps for self-interested reasons, have an agitation about their business," he said.

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Prosecutors asked to probe Heiner affair

QUEENSLAND'S director of public prosecutions is expected to investigate whether charges should be laid over the shredding of documents relating to a child abuse inquiry during the Goss Labor government.

Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie announced on Thursday afternoon he would write to the DPP requesting the action.

Queensland's child protection inquiry recommended earlier this month that the so-called Heiner affair be referred to the DPP.

It found the Goss cabinet may have acted unlawfully when it ordered the documents and tapes of the Heiner investigation be shredded on March 5, 1990.

They related to the alleged 1988 rape of a girl in state care by two male teenage inmates from Brisbane's John Oxley Youth Detention Centre.

Mr Bleijie told parliament he would write to the DPP on Thursday to "consider whether a prosecution is warranted as a matter of law, and whether it is in the overall public interest".

"This results back to a cabinet decision in the Goss government of 1988 to 1990."

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Bad management means fewer NSW operations

NSW hospitals could perform an extra 20,000 operations a year if they were better managed, the auditor-general says.

Peter Achterstraat has called for a "tune up" of the state's public hospitals to ensure their annual $1.3 billion budget for elective surgery is maximised.

Releasing a report into NSW operating theatres on Wednesday, Mr Achterstraat said hospitals must ensure they carry out operations on schedule.

"Hospitals just need to start the first operations of the day on time, stay on time and reduce the numbers of cancellations," Mr Achterstraat said.

"Less than half the scheduled first operations started on time over the past three years.

"In some hospitals, less than 10 per cent of first operations start on time."

Mr Achterstraat said there was capacity to do more elective surgery using existing resources.

"If NSW Health met its own theatre utilisation targets for elective surgery, an estimated 20,000 more operations could be achieved each year," the Auditor-General said.

He also warned that waiting times for elective surgery would continue to increase unless NSW Health improved its management.

The problem in many hospitals is that it is not clear who is in charge, he said, adding many places would benefit from employing someone with "the same authority and skill as the matrons of the past".

"We just need to make sure someone is clearly in charge of each operating theatre and make sure operations start and stay on time.

Another problem was that over a quarter of theatre cases are non-surgical, such as endoscopies and colonoscopies, which "could be done in procedure rooms rather than using up valuable operating theatre time", he said.

On a positive side, Mr Achterstraat said NSW public hospitals are performing more elective surgery than in previous years and are treating patients substantially within national clinical time frames.

Health minister Jillian Skinner said the report showed the state was performing record numbers of elective surgery but acknowledged there was room for improvement.

"The Auditor-General also identifies areas where improvement is needed, including that local managers need to be able to use all available information to better manage operating theatre efficiency," she said in a statement.

"I have asked Dr Mary Foley, the Director-General of NSW Health, to consider and implement all recommendations made by the Auditor-General."

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