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Australian police withdraw from East Timor

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 15 Desember 2012 | 13.23

Australian police officers have left East Timor as the UN prepares to end its peacekeeping mission. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIA has withdrawn its last remaining police officers from East Timor as international forces wind up a 13-year presence in Asia's youngest country.

The eight Australian officers serving with the UN Police boarded a Darwin-bound plane from the capital Dili on Saturday as the United Nations prepares to officially end its peacekeeping mission by December 31.

International forces began pulling out in earnest in October, when the UN handed policing responsibility back to the country which recently celebrated a decade of formal independence that ended Indonesia's 24-year brutal occupation.

Australian police commander for the mission Charmaine Quade expressed confidence East Timor could handle its own security after successful elections this year and the formation of a new government.

"Australian police have been there to contribute to the enhancement and professionalisation of the Timor-Leste police, and the competence the national police here have shown is testament to how far they've come," she said.

The move comes after the Australian-led International Stabilisation Force (ISF) ceased its security operations in November and began pulling out some of its 390 troops from the country.

Australia has stationed 50 police at a time in East Timor under the UN since 2006, with 33 deployed this year under a bilateral capacity-building program.

International peacekeepers first entered East Timor in 1999 as deadly violence erupted around the country's referendum for independence.

The vote ended Indonesia's occupation, under which an estimated 183,000 people - then a quarter of the population - died from fighting, disease and starvation.

The only major violence in the impoverished half-island state of 1.1 million people since has been a failed assassination attempt against then-president Jose Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao in 2008.

Quade said the last batch of Australian police to leave East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste, were "looking forward to being reunited with their loved ones".

"They've been able to fully focus on their roles and duties here with the UN because they've had that support and understanding at home," she said.


13.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

Routine morning, then unthinkable terror

FIRST, he killed his mother.

Nancy Lanza's body was found later at their home in Newtown - after the carnage at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Nobody knows why 20-year-old Adam Lanza killed his mother, why he then took her guns to the school and murdered 20 children and six adults.

But on Friday he drove his mother's car through this 300-year-old town and arrived at a local school. Somehow, he got past a security door to a place where children should have been safe from harm.

Theodore Varga and other fourth-grade teachers were meeting. The glow remained from the previous night's fourth-grade concert.

"It was a lovely day," Varga said. "Everybody was joyful and cheerful. We were ending the week on a high note."

And then, suddenly and unfathomably, gunshots rang out. "I can't even remember how many," he said.

The fourth-graders, the oldest kids in the school, were in specialty classes like gym and music. There was no lock on the meeting room door, so the teachers had to think about how to escape, knowing that their students were with other teachers.

Someone turned the loudspeaker on, so everyone could hear what was happening in the office.

"You could hear the hysteria that was going on," Varga said. "Whoever did that saved a lot of people. Everyone in the school was listening to the terror that was transpiring."

Gathered in another room for a meeting were principal Dawn Hochsprung and Diane Day, a school therapist, along with a school psychologist, other staff members and a parent. They were meeting to discuss a second-grader.

"We were there for about five minutes chatting, and we heard Pop! Pop!, Pop!" Day told The Wall Street Journal. "I went under the table."

But Hochsprung and the psychologist leaped out of their seats and ran out of the room, Day recalled. "They didn't think twice about confronting or seeing what was going on," she said. Hochsprung was killed, and the psychologist was believed to have been killed as well.

A custodian ran around, warning people there was a gunman, Varga said.

"He said, 'Guys! Get down! Hide!"' Varga said. "So he was actually a hero."

Did he survive? The teacher did not know.

Police radios crackled with first word of the shooting at 9:36, according to the New York Post.

"Sandy Hook School. Caller is indicating she thinks there's someone shooting in the building," a Newtown dispatcher radioed, according to a tape posted on the paper's website.

In a first-grade classroom, teacher Kaitlin Roig heard the shots. She immediately barricaded her 15 students into a tiny bathroom, sitting one of them on top of the toilet. She pulled a bookshelf across the door and locked it. She told the kids to be "absolutely quiet."

"I said, 'There are bad guys out there now. We need to wait for the good guys,"' she told ABC News.

"The kids were being so good," she said. "They asked, 'Can we go see if anyone is out there?' 'I just want Christmas. I don't want to die, I just want to have Christmas.' I said, 'You're going to have Christmas and Hanukkah."'

One student claimed to know karate. "It's OK. I'll lead the way out," the student said.

In the gym, crying fourth-graders huddled in a corner. One of them was 10-year-old Philip Makris.

"He said he heard a lot of loud noises and then screaming," said his mother, Melissa Makris. "Then the gym teachers immediately gathered the children in a corner and kept them safe."

Another girl who was in the gym recalled hearing "like, seven loud booms."

"The gym teacher told us to go in a corner, so we all huddled and I kept hearing these booming noises," the girl, who was not identified by name, told NBC News. "We all started - well, we didn't scream; we started crying, so all the gym teachers told us to go into the office where no one could find us."

An 8-year-old boy described how a teacher saved him.

"I saw some of the bullets going past the hall that I was right next to, and then a teacher pulled me into her classroom," said the boy, who was not identified by CBSNews.com.

Robert Licata said his 6-year-old son was in class when the gunman burst in and shot the teacher. "That's when my son grabbed a bunch of his friends and ran out the door," he said. "He was very brave. He waited for his friends."

He said the shooter didn't utter a word.

"The shooting appears to have stopped," the dispatcher radioed at 9:38 am, according to the Post. "There is silence at this time. The school is in lockdown."

And at 9:46 am, an anguished voice from the school: "I've got bodies here. Need ambulances."

Carefully, police searched room to room, removing children and staff from harm's way. They found Adam Lanza, dead by his own hand after shooting up two classrooms; no officer fired a gun.


13.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

Three dead on Queensland's roads

THREE men have died on Queensland roads in separate crashes on Saturday, including an 18-year-old who was thrown from the tray of a ute and a cyclist who hit a tree.

Police said the 18-year-old was travelling in the back of the ute in Cape Palmerston National Park, in the state's north, at about 6.40am (AEST) on Saturday when the vehicle rolled.

The man, from Bilinga on the Gold Coast, died at the scene.

The driver, also 18, was also thrown from the utility, but survived with injuries.

On the Gold Coast, a 57-year-old man was killed in the suburb of Nerang after his car crashed into a tree at about 3am.

Emergency services transported him to the Gold Coast Hospital but he died later in the morning.

In Townsville, in Queensland's north-east, a cyclist died after apparently colliding with a tree.

The 69-year-old's body was found at the side of the Mount Low Parkway at about 6am.

The Forensic Crash Unit is investigating each incident and police have urged anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.


13.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

Macmahon shares drop to eight-year lows

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 14 Desember 2012 | 13.23

SHARES in Macmahon Holdings slumped to an eight-year low after the mining contract launched a $80.7 million capital raising and sold its ailing construction business.

The stock dropped heavily after coming out of a trading halt on Friday, closing five cents lower at 21.5 cents after earlier sliding to 18 cents.

The stock had last traded at 26.5 cents before going into a trading halt on Monday.

Two days later it announced the capital raising, the sale of its construction arm to Leighton Holdings for $16.3 million, and downgraded its full year earnings guidance.

Chief executive Ross Carroll warned that Macmahon's net profit for 2012/13 would be between nil and $25 million as the company had been forced to make substantial writedowns on its construction business.

The earnings downgrade came three months after Macmahon shocked investors with news that its annual profit would be about half the $56.1 million reported in 2011/12.

Morningstar Equities Research senior analyst Ross MacMillan said he had cut his net profit forecasts for the group to $2.4 million for 2012/13 from $24.3 million.

He described the capital raising as highly dilutive and advised investors not to take up their entitlements.

"However, if the shares trade above the offer price there may be profitable opportunities for investors to take up their entitlements and sell shares on market," he said in a note to clients on Friday.

As its shares resumed trading, Macmahon said it had completed the bookbuild for the institutional component of its fully underwritten capital raising.

The company raised $42 million from institutions, who paid 16 cents a share.

Macmahon's existing institutional investors took up 86 per cent of the new shares on offer, which is being used to strengthen the its balance sheet and expand its mining business.

However smaller institutions did not take up all their entitlements to the new shares, which were sold to other institutional investors and major shareholder Leighton Holdings.

Retail investors will now be offered $38 million worth of shares under the offer, which opens to them on Wednesday.

"The successful completion of the institutional component of the offer demonstrates strong shareholder support for Macmahon's refocused strategy to build on the long term success of our mining business," chief executive Ross Carroll said.

Macmahon wants to become a dedicated full service mining contractor after offloading its construction business.

The moves come after a major review of Macmahon's businesses and costs, which has led to the axing of up to 50 jobs.

Macmahon expects to be hit by one-off costs of about $10 million as a result of its restructuring, and redundancy and closure costs.


13.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

Cronulla fisheries closure to go ahead

THE NSW government will ignore the recommendations of a parliamentary inquiry and push ahead with the closure of the Cronulla Fisheries Research Centre, saying it is 80 per cent complete.

In a scathing report, the upper house committee in October said the decision to close the centre in southern Sydney and move jobs to regional NSW was "an example of how not to undertake decentralisation".

The government put on hold the relocation program until it responded to the inquiry's recommendations, but on Friday Primary Industries Minister Katrina Hodgkinson confirmed the move would go ahead.

The closure, announced last year without any economic appraisal, triggered outrage among more than 100 Cronulla staff opposed to moving to new headquarters in Port Stephens, Nowra and Coffs Harbour.

"This is about sharing the economic benefits with our regional communities and the NSW Government cannot accept the recommendation to reverse the closure of the Cronulla Fisheries Research Centre," Ms Hodgkinson said in a statement.

"The relocation project, including transferring employees, equipment and establishing new office, laboratories and storage facilities began 13 months ago and is now 80 per cent complete."

In its response the government committed to keeping the prime waterfront fisheries site in public hands, after concerns were raised at the inquiry that it might be sold to developers.

"At the end of the day, decentralisation requires strong leadership from Government and that is what we were elected to do," Ms Hodgkinson said.

The Public Service Association (PSA) called the decision gutless and cowardly.

The government deliberately waited until the Industrial Relations Commission and parliament closed for business over the Christmas period, assistant NSW secretary Shane O'Brien said.

"They do it in the hope that the news will be buried in the busy-ness of the season, and they do it in the knowledge that legal areas of recourse for the workers are severely limited."

Mr O'Brien said the parliamentary inquiry found the government did not have a sound business case, an economic analysis, or evidence of improvement of service for making such an "arrogant decision".

"What we've got is a government that has ignored the workers, the fishing industry, the fishing communities, stakeholders, researchers, parliament, they've ignored everybody," Mr O'Brien said.

"They haven't once been prepared to sit down with the staff there and explain to them why their opposition to the plan is flawed. They've hidden from them for 16 months."


13.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

Stockwatch Week to December 14

A ROUND-UP of some of the key stock movements on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) in the trading week to Friday, December 14, 2012:

(Includes change on share price from previous Friday close)

APN - APN NEWS AND MEDIA - down two cents or seven per cent to 26.5 cents

APN News & Media shares fell to a record low and had $33 million wiped off its market value after its shares plunged to new lows following a profit warning.

ALZ - AUSTRALAND - up 29 cents, or 9.6 per cent, at $3.31

GPT - GPT GROUP - down four cents, or 1.1 per cent, at $3.56

Australand has rejected an offer from fellow property company GPT Group for its commercial and industrial and investment property portfolio.

BHP - BHP BILLITON LTD - up $1.33, or 3.8 per cent, at $36.07

BHP Billiton has rid itself of looming risks with the controversial $30 billion Browse gas project after deciding to sell its interest to oil and gas giant PetroChina.

MAH - MACMAHON HOLDINGS - down 0.8 cents or 3.6 per cent, at 21.5 cents

Shares in Macmahon Holdings slumped to an eight-year low after the mining contract launched a $80.7 million capital raising and sold its ailing construction business.

QAN - QANTAS AIRWAYS - up five cents or 3.6 per cent, at $1.395

The competition watchdog has approved plans by Qantas to more closely integrate its operations with that of its low-cost airline Jetstar.

SXL - SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA - down six cents, or 5.4 per cent, at $1.045

Southern Cross Media Group said it resume advertising on Sydney radio station 2DayFM but donate the profits following a backlash over a prank call to a London hospital.

WPL - WOODSIDE PETROLEUM - up 10 cents, or 0.3 per cent, at $34.32

Woodside Petroleum has warned that further cost blowouts in the oil and gas industry could jeopardise future long-term investment.


13.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

Schwarten happy to front payroll inquiry

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 13 Desember 2012 | 13.23

Queensland's premier announced an inquiry into the state's bungled health payroll system. Source: AAP

A FORMER Queensland Labor minister at the centre of the state's health payroll fiasco says he isn't worried about having to testify at an inquiry set up by the Newman government.

Premier Campbell Newman on Thursday announced a $5 million commission of inquiry into Queensland Health's bungled payroll system, to be headed by retired Court of Appeal judge Richard Chesterman QC.

Thousands of public servants were underpaid, overpaid or left unpaid after a flawed IBM computer system was introduced in March 2010 by the former Labor government.

The inquiry will look at who could be held responsible for the bungle, which has been estimated to cost the state $1.2 billion, and could potentially call on former Labor government ministers to give evidence.

But former IT minister Robert Schwarten, who was in charge of the system's rollout, says he's "a million per cent confident" he has nothing to worry about and will happily cooperate with the inquiry if required.

"I've got three things: a clear memory, a clear conscience and a clean pair of hands," he told AAP.

"This inquiry is just to create a sideshow to draw attention from his (Mr Newman's) abysmal performance over the past eight months."

However, Health Minister Lawrence Springborg said the inquiry was "absolutely necessary" and might open an avenue that isn't currently available for legal action to help recover funds.

"Our chance of success may very much depend on yet-to-be-discovered facts," Mr Springborg said.

Mr Newman said the all-encompassing inquiry would protect whistleblowers who wanted to speak out, but were too scared.

"There are people out there who are saying ... that they have something to say, but they're frightened about how they may end up being treated if they were to come forward," he said.

But the probe, which will commence in February next year, has copped criticism from unions, who have labelled it a waste of money.

"It was an administrative mess-up and we should just put it down to experience and get on with delivering health and aged care services to the people of Queensland," Queensland Nurses' Union secretary Des Elder said in a statement.

Acting Opposition Leader Tim Mulherin said the government needed to release its legal advice for the inquiry.

"If there is advice to the contrary, one would question why the need for an inquiry," he told reporters in Brisbane.

The government has said there has been $150 million in unfunded costs this year to fix the payroll system, and that has led to 1500 Queensland Health job losses.

Mr Chesterman is due to hand down his report by April 30.


13.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

No harm reassessing budget: Westpac

THE chairman of one of the nation's leading banks believes the federal government should be continually assessing budget policy, just as the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) does with monetary policy.

Treasury has reportedly advised the government to dump its commitment to a surplus, warning a slump in nominal economic growth poses a threat to revenue.

The government has repeatedly said it is sticking to its promised surplus, which was forecast to be $1.1 billion in 2012/13 in the mid-year budget update released in October.

Westpac chairman Lindsay Maxsted was quizzed on the surplus by reporters following the bank's AGM in Sydney on Thursday.

"I think it is good policy to be continually reassessing what fiscal policy should be in place, just as the RBA continues to consider what monetary policy is in place," Mr Maxsted said.

The RBA board meets 11 times a year to assess interest rate policy, while the government only reveals its budget forecasts twice a year.


13.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sydney light rail plan ignores bus advice

THE NSW government will push ahead with a light rail line from Sydney's CBD to the eastern suburbs, ignoring recommendations of its own infrastructure advisory body for an underground rapid bus system.

A $1.6 billion light rail line will be built between Circular Quay and Randwick to reduce congestion in the city, as part of the final 20-year transport masterplan announced by NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell on Thursday.

The 12km link will run along George Street, past the Moore Park precinct, Randwick Racecourse and the University of NSW, to the Prince of Wales Hospital.

The stretch of George Street between Bathurst and Hunter Streets - about 40 per cent of the major artery - will be closed to general traffic and opened to pedestrians.

Mr O'Farrell dubbed the light rail line a "once-in-a-generation project", which would "revitalise the centre of Sydney by reducing congestion and offering a fast, attractive public transport option to key locations".

The announcement ignores a recommendation in Infrastructure NSW's (INSW) 20-year strategy for an underground Bus Rapid Transit system in the CBD, instead of what it described as a disruptive light rail line through the city.

Mr O'Farrell dismissed suggestions the light rail announcement was a slap in the face for INSW chair Nick Greiner, saying legislation to set up the body "says we get advice from Infrastructure NSW and we respond".

"We're responding today," he said.

Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian said the light rail line, together with a redesigned bus network in the city, would reduce by more than 220 an hour the number of buses entering the CBD during the morning peak.

"Remember people from all over greater Sydney come to work in the city, this is going to make it much easier for all of them," Ms Berejiklian said.

"Within an hour each direction you can move 9000 people on light rail very reliably.

"At the moment, unfortunately, only about 19 to 30 per cent of buses actually run within two minutes of schedule because of the traffic problems."

The light rail line is the major new announcement in the masterplan, which restates previous commitments to the northwest and southwest rail links, Sydney's WestConnex road project, and the government's bridges for the bush program.

Sydney Lord Mayor and light rail advocate Clover Moore hailed the new tram line, to be completed by 2020, saying "Sydney really needs this network".

"It's the right thing to do for our city, and it's what other major cities are doing," she said.

Business groups were unanimous in their backing for the light rail link to Sydney's east, with Sydney Business Chamber boss Patricia Forsythe saying it would transform commuting in the CBD.

But opposition leader John Robertson dubbed the transport plan "a glossy brochure" with no details about how projects would be funded.

The government also released on Thursday its response to INSW's State Infrastructure Strategy, supporting 59 of the 70 recommendations it made in October.

However, it ignored INSW's push for a second Sydney airport at Badgerys Creek, instead saying it would call on the federal government to increase Kingsford Smith airport's flight cap from 80 to 85 an hour.

"This report makes clear that we believe that within the existing curfew arrangements, greater use, greater capacity can be made of Kingsford Smith, including increasing the capacity throughout the day," Mr O'Farrell said.


13.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

NSW firefighters baffled by eternal flame

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 12 Desember 2012 | 13.23

A MYSTERIOUS fire which has been burning for months under a dry lake in far-western NSW is seemingly thwarting attempts to put it out.

Drivers have reported seeing smoke along a lakebed outside Wilcannia and firefighters, who put the fire out on an almost-weekly basis, are fed up with the eternal flame.

"We thought we had it out about a month ago and just in the last couple of days with some wind, it's popped back up," incident controller Chris Favelle told AAP.

Mr Favelle says he suspects organic material is fuelling the fire.

"There's a little bit of water way out in the middle but it's basically dry, and along the edge, which would have once been the shore 1000 years ago, there's a build-up of organic matter, like sticks and leaves, a bit like peat."

The peat-like matter can burn for a long time but what's baffling the Rural Fire Service is the way the fire dodges all attempts at snuffing it out.

"They get called once a day to put this fire out and they get there and there's nothing," he said.

"We've tried all sorts of things. We've tried flooding the area, we've tried digging it up, we've tried putting trenches around it, all to no avail - it keeps sneaking around our attempts to stop it."

He said there is no threat to the community from the fire, which is in a bare area.

Firefighters estimate it might cover a hectare underground but say they have no real way of knowing the exact size of the fire.


13.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

Posthumous award for slain policeman

SLAIN policeman Bryson Anderson has been honoured with a posthumous valour award as the community he wholeheartedly embraced in life returned that embrace in death.

NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione presented the award to his widow Donna at the funeral service for the 45-year-old father of three, who was knifed last week while trying to calm a neighbourhood dispute over a bird cage.

Commissioner Scipione said the murdered policeman had shown exceptional bravery, going "without hesitation" to the aid of a fellow officer after being stabbed.

"He evinced the highest standards of the NSW police force," Commissioner Scipione told 2000 mourners, half of them uniformed police, at St Patrick's cathedral in Parramatta as the community turned out on Wednesday in a massive show of respect, gratitude and affection.

Commissioner Scipione also presented a second award, the National Police Service Medal, recognising the slain policeman's ethical and diligent service in protecting the community.

His widow Donna said her husband, whose father and brother were also policemen, embraced police life.

"He got the sense of family," she said.

"They say there will never be a day like this for another 1000 years, and I pray for the sake of my family and the police community there won't."

Commissioner Scipione said law and order came at a sometimes prohibitive price.

"As a society we need to rise up to repudiate violence, however and wherever we can, with all the energy we can muster," he said.

"We will continue to protect and serve the community as Bryson did. Of that he can be sure."

He said Bryson loved the Hawkesbury area, where he lived and worked most of his adult life, and innumerable local people loved him in return.

"His personnel file is full to overflowing with complimentary remarks and letters of appreciation, many from the community and victims of crime," he said.

He was a tenacious officer, driven to pursue offenders for the darkest and most serious of crimes, yet he retained extraordinary empathy and compassion.

"He lived for the community, died serving it and deserved much better," he said.


13.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

Retail struggling due to rising costs

THE Australian retail sector continues to struggle due to declining profit margins and skyrocketing costs, a report says.

Tax and advisory firm BDO Spend Trend Report examined 18 ASX listed retailers and found that while turnover and margins remained fairly flat, expenses were soaring as a percentage of sales.

This has resulted in a drop in net-profit margins of 70 per cent over the past three years.

BDO partner John Bresolin said retailers continued to have high fixed costs such as salaries and rent combined with asset write downs and an increasing amount spent on marketing.

"The major increase was as a result of marketing and selling expenses which, when expressed as a percentage of sales, increased by 70 per cent over the three year period," he said.

"So while looking to keep employee and rental costs under control, marketing spend has increased significantly as retailers compete for market share, which has significantly impacted retailers' profits, given the relatively flat revenue levels."

Supermarket giants Wesfarmers and Woolworths have withstood economic pressures better than speciality retailers as consumers needed to buy food and petrol.

"However, specialty retailers have suffered far more due to the discretionary nature of their business," Mr Bresolin said.

"While people will always need to buy groceries, alcohol and fuel, occasional high-value discretionary purchases like televisions, whitegoods and fashion items can either slip off their shopping list or can be more easily sourced through the multitude of overseas websites, invariably at a significant discount."

BDO's head of retail Simon Scalzo said Australian household spending was increasing despite the difficult economic environment which reinforced his view that consumers were spending their money overseas.

He said the high Australian dollar had also made shopping on overseas websites and international travel more attractive.

"In addition to the increasing ease and convenience of online shopping, the high Australian dollar has also played a critical role in the decline of Australian revenue levels," he said.


13.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

Parole breaker on revenge mission: police

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 11 Desember 2012 | 13.23

Police believe parolee on the run Jason Herbert is on a vengeance mission against two WA officers. Source: AAP

AFTER breaking his parole twice this year, armed robber Jason Robert Herbert is on the run and believed to be hunting two policemen he blames for the death of his brother.

Police fear Herbert, 40, is heading from NSW to Western Australia to seek revenge on the two officers.

In 2009, his brother Troy Matthew Herbert took a large dose of methamphetamine and was killed on his motorbike as he tried to outrun the officers in Perth.

The two are being offered protection, while Corrective Services NSW Commissioner Peter Severin has ordered an urgent inquiry into Herbert's disappearance.

He had previously been released in April but was returned to jail in July when he broke his parole conditions by failing to report to his parole officer, a corrective services spokeswoman told AAP.

Released for a second time on November 28, Herbert had served 11 years of a 15-year-sentence for grievous bodily harm and armed robbery.

He escaped from his Newcastle lodgings over the weekend and was last seen at 2am (AEDT) on Saturday near the Pacific Highway at Hexham.

He was wearing an electronic monitoring device on his leg and is understood to have simply cut it off.

His mother Ruth appeared on the Seven Network on Tuesday, tearfully appealing for him to contact her and give himself up.

"Do the right thing, don't do anything stupid, I beg you," she said.

The West Australian newspaper reported her saying her son would be coming home to pay his respects to Troy, with whom he was very close.

"I have read Jason is armed and dangerous. He would be dangerous to police. He would not be dangerous to me or his friends," she said.

Mrs Herbert said she feared for her son's safety.

"If Jason is cornered it might be shoot first, ask questions later," she said.

NSW Opposition Leader John Robertson said it was alarming someone could cut off their security bracelet, and noted there had been a number of failures of such devices.

"The O'Farrell government is failing to do the job properly and protect the community," he told ABC Radio.

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell said his anger was directed at the parole board for freeing Herbert.

"What I'm unhappy about today ... is why the hell this bloke was given parole," Mr O'Farrell told reporters in Sydney.

"What I want to look at first is why he was allowed to have access to this technology by a parole board whose parole he'd broken earlier this year.

"He's described today as a dangerous prisoner by the very same people who gave him parole, that's what I'm angry about."

Police say Herbert is of Caucasian appearance and between 185cm to 190cm tall, with a medium build, hazel eyes and short brown hair.

He is considered dangerous and should not be approached.


13.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

Adelaide Fringe 2013 program launched

AFTER 52 Fringe festivals, Adelaide still lets anyone and everyone perform anywhere from a big theatre to a pub, a derelict building and even a caravan.

"I have not curated it. It's still total open access, and anyone can be in the fringe at all," says third-time Adelaide Fringe director Greg Clarke of the 2013 offerings.

The program is packed with 930 events at 350 venues in shows including cabaret, circus and physical theatre, comedy and dance.

Clarke says one highlight for him is Circolombia, featuring performers from the Colombian national circus school in a street setting with a pounding reggaeton soundtrack.

Then there's Ireland's "really funny" Ponydance with its "disco-infused time warp", and Leo, a mind-bending, surreal physical theatre from Berlin where a man is left in a room with nothing but a small suitcase.

Speaking of small, Clarke says one of the more unusual acts is Life in Miniature, performed by a WA dance company inside a caravan to an audience of five people at a time.

It depicts the lives of two unknown travellers.

Another favourite for Clarke is Uta Uber Kool Ja which he says is set in a hotel room where the performer is in bed and thinks everyone is a celebrity.

He also raves about a UK rapper who asks everyone to empty the contents of their bags or pockets before he improvises about what he sees.

The Adelaide Fringe will run for four weeks from February 15, culminating in a closing-night concert that will feature Peter Murray, The Whitlams and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

"We have been doing this for 52 years and we have many regulars," he says.

Comedians will include Ruby Wax, Wil Anderson, Jimeoin, Judith Lucy and Paul McDermott, a Fringe ambassador who donned table tennis gear at last week's launch.

Ping Pong Madness will be run on two Saturday afternoons at a local pub, with at least six tables in operation and participants expected to dress as a table tennis pros.

Clarke says the organisers would never censor anything at the festival.

"A show would only get closed down if it broke the law," he adds.

The program can be viewed at adelaidefringe.com.au.


13.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

WA taxi driver's rape appeal thrown out

A Perth taxi driver has failed in an appeal against his conviction for raping a female passenger. Source: AAP

A TAXI driver who raped a drunken hen's night passenger has failed to have his conviction quashed.

Amrit Pal Singh, 32, was found guilty by a District Court jury in Perth in February of one count of sexual penetration without consent.

He maintained the sex he had with the 25-year-old woman in his cab a year earlier was consensual but was convicted and sentenced to six years jail.

Singh attempted to have the conviction quashed on the grounds Judge Gillian Braddock erred in her directions to the jury.

But in a unanimous decision on Tuesday, his appeal was thrown out by the WA Court of Appeal.

The jury in Singh's trial heard his passenger had been very drunk after attending a hen's party in the afternoon and was refused entry to a nightclub in the inner north suburb of Leederville.

She got into his taxi to go home but he left the freeway and took her to a car park near bushland where he had sex with her.

Singh then drove the woman home, where her husband helped her inside and paid the $60 fare.

The woman complained to police the next day after waking up and recalling part of what had happened.

In sentencing Singh, Judge Braddock said his actions were opportunistic and for his own sexual gratification. She said he had not worn a condom, meaning the woman had to be screened for sexual diseases.

"Your conduct may cause some women to fear taking a taxi home when they need to," she said.

The judge also said Singh's crime could tarnish the reputations of all honest taxi drivers in Western Australia.

She said Singh, who arrived in Australia from India in 2006, had failed to show remorse or understand the enormity of his crime.


13.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

Fire changes useless if budget cut: union

Written By Unknown on Senin, 10 Desember 2012 | 13.23

THE Victorian government's changes to disaster management will mean little if fire services have their budgets cut, the firefighters' union says.

United Firefighters Union spokesman Mick Tisbury says the state government's decision to strip $41 million from the Country Fire Authority (CFA) and $25 million from the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) is already affecting frontline services.

"Last Saturday, probably the first taste of the type of bushfire season we're going to have ... yet Greenvale fire station is shut down, Hallam fire station is shut down," he told reporters in Melbourne on Monday.

"You've got million dollar pieces of equipment sitting there rusting away."

Mr Tisbury said the state government's decision to create a new body, Emergency Management Victoria, was just "smoke and mirrors".

"This is just moving the deck chairs, trying to cover from the fact that the state government has ripped $66 million out of the budget - that's going to cost lives," he said.

Emergency Services Minister Peter Ryan described the union's claim as "alarmist and unnecessarily so".


13.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

Southern Cross shares fall 5.8%

Shares in Southern Cross Media Group have tumbled 5.8 per cent following the royal prank scandal. Source: AAP

SOUTHERN Cross Media Group shares have tumbled to a near five-week low amid a backlash over 2DayFM's Duchess of Cambridge prank hospital call.

The owner of the Sydney radio station suspended advertising on 2DayFM until Wednesday as it faced public anger over the apparent suicide of the London nurse who took the call from DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian.

Southern Cross shares sank as much as eight per cent in early trade before closing 6.5 cents, or 5.88 per cent, lower at $1.04.

It was the stock's lowest close since November 6 when it finished at $1.03.

The advertising suspension came after major retailer Coles and telco giant Telstra pulled their ads from 2DayFM at the weekend after news of the death of nurse Jacintha Saldanha.

While some market watchers estimated the decision to suspend advertising could cost Southern Cross at least $500,000, CMC Markets chief market analyst Michael McCarthy said the company's bottom line would be largely unaffected by the backlash over the incident.

"The overall impact on revenue for Southern Cross Austereo has been grossly exaggerated by today's selloff in the shares," Mr McCarthy said on Monday.

"As we saw earlier in the year with other notable radio stuff-ups, there was a short period of sponsors walking away before new sponsors and old sponsors came running back because they will still maintain audience."

The two 2DayFM DJs last week called the King Edward VII Hospital posing as the Queen and Prince Charles and obtained private information about Prince William's wife, Catherine.

Ms Saldanha, who apparently took her own life on Friday, took the initial call from the DJs and transferred them to another nurse.

Her colleague then unwittingly passed on details of Catherine's condition to the DJs.

Southern Cross held an emergency board meeting on Sunday and said it would cooperate with any investigations.

Southern Cross chief executive Rhys Holleran said the station tried at least five times to contact the hospital to discuss the pre-recorded prank before it went to air.

He said the company was deeply saddened by what had happened and was committed to helping any authorities wanting to investigate the matter.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said the media regulator ACMA was considering whether to initiate its own inquiry, beyond the usual process of giving broadcasters the opportunity to respond to complainants.

But Mr Holleran said he did not believe any ACMA codes governing radio broadcasts had been breached or that the station's licence was in jeopardy.

RBS Morgans Ipswich Tony Russell said he expected the impact of Ms Saldanha's death on 2DayFM would be short-lived.

"It won't be a long-term problem at all," Mr Russell said.

"After a bit of time things will resume back to where they were."

Southern Cross' metropolitan radio stations had revenue of $273.6 million in 2011/12.


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Swan chides Pyne, defends surplus target

Treasurer Wayne Swan has labelled the coalition "delusional" over their budget surplus claims. Source: AAP

THE federal government has hit out at a senior Liberal MP for suggesting the global financial crisis (GFC) would not have had a budget impact under a coalition government, describing the remarks as "delusional" and "lunacy".

Treasurer Wayne Swan again on Monday defended his commitment to a $1.1 billion surplus in 2012/13, after opposition front bencher Christopher Pyne suggested the coalition would have kept the budget in the black over the past five years if it had been in power.

"I think most people accept that we would have had continuing surpluses," Mr Pyne told Sky News.

Mr Pyne later backtracked, telling Fairfax Media not to take his remarks "too literally" because he only trying to make the point the coalition was better at economic management than Labor.

Even so, Mr Swan said the education spokesman was pretending the dramatic financial and economic fallout from 2008-2009 crisis never happened.

"These people are delusional," he told reporters in Brisbane.

Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury described it as a "staggeringly ridiculous" piece of commentary and "economic lunacy" from an opposition MP.

However, business groups continue to question whether the government should be so determined to return a surplus when the latest official figures show the economy has slowed after a robust start to the 2012 calendar year.

Of concern is that government fiscal measures, such as more spending cuts, could create further drag on national gross domestic product (GDP).

"Given an outlook of slowing GDP growth, the budget bottom line should be under pressure, and taking policy actions to counter that pressure makes no sense as it will make worse the deterioration in economic growth," chief economist at capital markets specialist Laminar Group Stephen Roberts told AAP.

He called on MPs to ditch the "political nonsense".

"Politicians on both sides are showing no understanding of the basics of budgetary policy 101," Mr Roberts said.

Instead, the so-called automatic stabilisers of easier budget policy should be allowed free rein.

He argued this would be unlikely to cause a negative reaction from investors or credit rating agencies because Australia's net debt level was one of the lowest in the world.

Mr Swan said returning a surplus now was the right thing to do, although he agreed it was now more of a challenge because falling commodity prices and consumer caution were denting government revenues.

He rejected suggestions the budget could remain in deficit.

"I don't deal with hypothetical situations," Mr Swan said.

Mr Abbott said the government was "crab walking away" from its commitment to surplus.

"A coalition government gets the budget into surplus, it pays down debt, it produces assets," Mr Abbott told reporters in Sydney.

"That is the kind of good economic management which provides the kind of social dividend which Australia came to enjoy under the Howard government."

Meanwhile, new Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released on Monday showed demand for home loans grew by a meagre 0.1 per cent in October - well below the three per cent growth expected.


13.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

Barnett backs Buswell amid more headlines

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 09 Desember 2012 | 13.23

WA Premier Colin Barnett has again been forced to defend senior minister Troy Buswell (Pic). Source: AAP

WEST Australian Premier Colin Barnett has again been forced to defend senior minister Troy Buswell, after more lurid headlines regarding alleged drunken behaviour from the state's treasurer.

Perth's Sunday Times has detailed claims that Mr Buswell "dry-humped" a prominent Perth businessman during a private function last year, in an incident confirmed by his former partner and Independent MP Adele Carles.

It's the latest embarrassment for Mr Buswell, who was forced to resign as treasurer in 2010, having previously stood down as WA Liberal leader in 2008 following the infamous "chair sniffing" scandal.

Mr Barnett said he was "disappointed" by the latest story and admitted Mr Buswell "lived life on the edge", but he would not consider sacking him.

"I am disappointed in the story that appeared this morning. It was a private event and it happened over a year ago," the premier said.

"The people who were there are disputing that account of what happened.

"Can I say to the media: give the guy a chance. How much scrutiny does there need to be on one individual's life in every respect? By all means judge them on what they say and do, but enough is enough."

The report in The Sunday Times says Mr Buswell was socialising at a party last December with a group of businessmen including Nicholas Kailis, managing director of Kailis Bros, one of Australia's largest seafood companies.

Ms Carles describes in the newspaper how Mr Buswell allegedly "dry-humped" Mr Kailis while moaning in mock sexual pleasure, with the businessman retaliating to force Mr Buswell to get off him.

Mr Buswell was said to have had his glasses bent in the tussle.

Contacted for comment on Sunday, Mr Buswell's spokesman said he denied Ms Carles' version of events.

And the premier said there should be a limit on what he called a "relentless" pursuit of Mr Buswell.

"Troy carries a heavy responsibility as treasurer and minister for transport. He works hard and I have great respect for the work he does," Mr Barnett said.

"Occasionally what happens in his private life detracts from that, and that is unfortunate from his point of view.

"But I believe the level of public and media scrutiny of Troy has now gone too far, and I would say to people back off a little bit and let him perform to his true capacity."

The opposition said the premier should sack Mr Buswell.

"If today's reports are anywhere near accurate, the premier has no choice but to sack Mr Buswell," said Sue Ellery, Labor's leader in the Legislative Council.

"The premier talks a lot about standards, but he seems to endorse the lowest of standards from his cabinet.

"A key question is did Premier Barnett know about this indiscretion prior to him promoting him back to treasurer?"


13.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

Victims beg for food after deadly typhoon

Typhoon Bopha has returned to the Philippines as a tropical storm, bringing heavy rain. Source: AAP

DESPERATE families begged for food Sunday, days after Typhoon Bopha brought death and destruction to parts of a southern Philippine island, as the storm returned to the north of the country.

Northern areas escaped with heavy rain after the storm weakened. But scenes of hardship were everywhere in southern areas that last week felt the full fury of the strongest typhoon to hit the country this year.

Officials said 548 people are confirmed dead, most of them in the southern island of Mindanao.

Civil defence chief Benito Ramos said the number of missing had shot up to 827 from previous figures of 500 unaccounted for, after reports of more missing fishermen came in.

In the Mindanao mountain town of New Bataan, which took the brunt of the typhoon, families lined the roads holding signs begging for food.

"Have mercy on us, please donate," read one sign held by a group of ragged kids.

"We need food," read another sign displayed by a group standing amid ruined banana plantations.

Farmer's wife Madeline Blanco, 36, said her family was trying to make do while sheltering in a tent on a basketball court.

"We were given rations but it was not enough. Just rice, bread and noodles. It is not enough for me and my four children," she told AFP.

"All we can do is wait for donations. There are cars passing by and sometimes drivers give us something," she said.

Another farmer's wife, Emma Toledo, 59, complained that the relief supplies from the national government had yet to arrive.

"We have not been given anything yet. Only the local government and the village officials gave us something, just some rice, noodles and dried fish," said the mother of three.

Drivers of private vehicles also handed out donations but the lack of coordination led to more confusion.

When a truck from a local power company arrived to distribute relief supplies, it was mobbed by hungry villagers and many children were almost trampled in the chaos.

"I've been here for a long time. I am hungry and my children need food," one angry woman yelled as she pushed her way to the front.

Regional civil defence operations officer Antonio Cloma said many relief agencies, both government and non-government, were entering the area with supplies for typhoon victims.

"The government is doing its best to support the requirements for these victims," he insisted.

In the northern Philippines, the once-deadly typhoon had weakened to a tropical storm and brought downpours. But there were no reports of any floods.

Bopha, which once packed 210-kilometre per hour winds and heavy rain, had weakened with gusts of only 120 kilometres per hour, the government weather station said.

It had been headed out to the South China Sea when it made a U-turn towards the north this weekend, initially raising fears of another disaster.


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Chavez admits cancer relapse

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says his cancer has returned and he will undergo further surgery. Source: AAP

LEFTIST Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has admitted a relapse of his cancer and designated Vice-President Nicolas Maduro as his heir apparent in case "something happened" to him.

Speaking on national television late on Saturday, an emotional Chavez said a return of cancer cells was detected during his most recent visit to Cuba for medical examination, and he would return to the communist-ruled island as early as Sunday for another round of surgery.

"During this thorough examination, they again detected some malignant cells in the same area as before," Chavez said.

He did not offer details, but his cancer was first detected in the pelvic area. Neither the Venezuelan leader, nor his Cuban doctors have ever disclosed what kind of cancer that was.

He admitted he was suffering "somewhat strong" pain and was taking tranquillisers as part of preparation for his upcoming surgery.

Chavez acknowledged his Cuban medical team had conveyed to him a sense of urgency about the operation, which he said was now "absolutely necessary."

"The doctor recommended that I undergo surgery yesterday (Friday) at the latest, or this weekend," he noted. "But I did not agree and came back home."

Chavez returned from Havana on Friday after a 10-day stay in Cuba. He had not been seen in public for three weeks.

The Venezuelan leader also said that in the event "something happened" and he were incapacitated, Maduro would step in and assume control of the government for the rest of the 2013-2019 term, as required by the constitution.

But in what appeared like a presentation of his final will, the president also indicated he would like Maduro to take over the reins of power in a post-Chavez period, urging Venezuelans to vote for him in the next presidential elections.

"You choose Maduro as president of the republic," said Chavez told the nation. "I am asking you this from all my heart."

Maduro, who has been serving as Venezuela's foreign minister for the past six years, was appointed vice-president in the wake of the October presidential elections. He has held both portfolios since.

Firebrand leader Chavez made his latest announcement despite frequent assurances on the campaign trail before his re-election in October that he had been cured of cancer.

Recurring bouts of the disease have dogged Chavez's presidency for the past couple of years, requiring him to spend weeks at a time being treated in Cuba.

He had a cancerous tumour removed from near his pelvic area last year.

The Venezuelan leader, 58, has repeatedly claimed to have beaten the cancer that was diagnosed in 2011 and shrugged off his illness to see off a unified opposition and secure another six-year term on October 7.

In Cuba last week, the official newspaper Grandma explained Chavez's treatment consisted of oxygenation.

The American Cancer Society says there is no evidence that this oxygen treatment - in which a patient gets inside a pressurised chamber and breathes pure oxygen for an hour - works against cancer.

But the society says it can serve as treatment for ailments stemming from radiation treatment.

Chavez, who has been in power since 1999 and gained global prominence as an anti-American firebrand, appeared weak and subdued during the presidential campaign, but still managed to win another term that extends to 2019.

Prior to Saturday's surprise announcement, he had last been seen in public on November 15, and two weeks later he went to Cuba for treatment.

Over the past year and a half, Chavez has missed practically every regional meeting he was to have attended, such as the Summit of the Americas in Colombia, the Mercosur summit in Brazil and last month's Ibero-American summit in Cadiz, Spain.


13.23 | 0 komentar | Read More
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