O'Farrell sacks NSW finance minister

NSW Finance Minister Greg Pearce has been sacked for breaching the ministerial code of conduct, Premier Barry O'Farrell says.

Mr O'Farrell says he told Mr Pearce of his decision over the phone at 1.45pm (AEST) on Thursday.

It follows months of allegations of wrongdoing and questionable conduct by Mr Pearce.

On Thursday, after previously standing by Mr Pearce, Mr O'Farrell said the finance minister had failed to declare a conflict of interest in appointing lawyer Richard Fisher to the board of Sydney Water.

Mr Pearce's wife reported to Mr Fisher in her area of work, Mr O'Farrell said.

"The ministerial code of conduct is very clear," Mr O'Farrell told reporters.

"I've repeatedly said I expect the highest standards from my government.

"Where codes are broken there will be consequences."

Mr Pearce will be replaced by Disabilities Services Minister Andrew Constance.

John Ajaka will join cabinet as Mr Constance's replacement.

Mr Pearce was disappointed and unhappy with the decision, Mr O'Farrell said.

The premier added that Mr Fisher was clearly "meritorious", having been appointed previously by both sides of politics to positions ranging from the Australian Law Reform Commission to the Library Council of NSW.

"But what's clear is where there are apparent or possible or actual conflicts of interest, those interests either have to be avoided or ... declared.

"That did not happen."

Mr Fisher was appointed to the Sydney Water board in 2011.

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Vic farmers on alert for activists, bikies

WHAT do animal activists and bikies have in common?

Both groups are on a Victoria Police watch list.

Police say animal rights groups and bikie gangs have been increasing their activities across rural communities.

Activists have been releasing animals and causing vandalism on several farms while bikie gangs are behind a surge in gun and machinery thefts.

"That's something that does worry us," says Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Graham Ashton.

The two crime trends have emerged as falling livestock prices helped drive a 54 per cent drop in the number of reported sheep and cattle thefts across the state so far this year.

Police set up a team of agricultural officers, who have monitored farm-related crime, intercepted trucks and raided properties.

In one recent raid, police found more than $1 million in stolen property linked to bikie gangs.

"This is all happening in rural areas," Mr Ashton said.

On the rise in activism, Mr Ashton said police support the right to protest, but not when it involves breaking into farms.

"We've got to make sure with this type of activism that a healthy demonstration doesn't become criminal activity," he said.

Farmers have been asked to be on alert, keep their fences in good condition and call police whenever something is stolen.

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Afghan blast exhibit for war memorial

IT must have been a heck of a big bang.

Testament to that is the blast-damaged locker from an Australian Army Bushmaster vehicle, blown up when it rode over an insurgent improvised explosive device (IED) in Afghanistan in November 2012.

The locker was handed to the Australian War Memorial on Thursday to go on display in the new "Afghanistan: The Australian Story" exhibition which opens next week.

Memorial director Brendan Nelson says this special item will enhance the visitor experience at what will be a powerful and moving exhibition.

The Bushmaster, a large armoured troop transport, is the iconic Australian implement of this conflict. The IED remains the signature weapon, claiming the lives of 16 of the 40 Australians killed in Afghanistan.

In the incident in November 2012, three Australians received minor wounds.

But the vehicle, manufactured in Bendigo by defence company Thales and only delivered in August 2012, needed to return to Australia for repairs. It had just 500km on the clock.

Many Bushmasters have been blown up by insurgent IEDs, some completely destroyed, but no soldier has ever been killed in one.

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Former Labor MPs face criminal charges

Two former Labor MPs could face possible criminal charges after the ICAC found they acted corruptly. Source: AAP

FORMER NSW Labor mining minister Ian Macdonald, party powerbroker Eddie Obeid and his son Moses have been found to have engaged in corrupt conduct, with the corruption watchdog referring them for possible criminal charges.

But former roads minister Eric Roozendaal is off the hook, with the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) finding there was insufficient evidence to show he knew of arrangements that led to him benefiting from a discounted car.

Following the largest corruption investigation in NSW history, ICAC on Wednesday handed down three reports.

Commissioner David Ipp was scathing of the conduct of Mr Obeid and Mr Macdonald.

He called Mr Macdonald an "unsatisfactory witness" who gave "deliberately untrue evidence".

Mr Obeid was "an aggressive witness and seemed to be more concerned with imposing his will on the proceedings than simply telling the truth," Mr Ipp said.

The commissioner also said that Moses Obeid was "willing to lie or mislead whenever it suited his purpose".

He was found to have given four counts of false testimony.

Mr Ipp has recommended the DPP consider prosecuting Mr Macdonald after it was found he rigged a 2008 tender process to grant a coal licence over land at Mount Penny owned by the Obeid family.

It enabled the Obeids to make $30 million, with the prospect of earning at least $70 million more.

ICAC recommended the DPP consider charging Mr Macdonald with conspiracy to defraud and misconduct in public office.

The Obeids were also recommended to each be considered for conspiracy to defraud.

In response the Obeids called the ICAC report superficial and biased.

"I reject the assertions by the commissioner that I acted in any way that could amount to corrupt conduct," Mr Obeid said in a statement, issued less than an hour after the ICAC findings.

Both he and his son have indicated they would fight the allegations through the courts.

A number of high-profile businessmen also face adverse findings over their inveiglement in Mount Penny.

They include one of the nation's richest men, Travers Duncan, merchant banker Richard Poole, John McGuigan, the former global head of law firm Baker & McKenzie and John Atkinson, a former partner at the firm.

The consortium of investors in Cascade Coal - in which the Obeids had disguised their 25 per cent stake - won the right to explore for coal at Mount Penny.

Each of them have also been recommended for possible prosecution for the offence of obtaining financial advantage by deception.

Mr Roozendaal said the ICAC had cleared him and restored his reputation.

"I am glad we can move on now," he said.

The ICAC said it had provided information about the mine deal to the NSW Crime Commission and to the ATO.

The inquiry also found evidence of possible breaches of the Corporations Act.

"The commission will disseminate relevant evidence to the Australian Securities and Investments commission for such action as it deems appropriate," ICAC said in a statement.

The Australian Stock Exchange will also be informed of attempts by some directors to evade an ASX request for information about Cascade's mining costs.

In addition, ICAC said there was evidence that a false announcement was made to ASX about terminating a proposed arrangement between White Energy and Cascade.

NSW Greens MP John Kaye called for the Crime Commission to go to the Supreme Court and ask for relevant assets held by Mr Obeid and Mr Macdonald to be seized.

"We urge them to do so to rescue at least some of the hundreds of millions of dollars that the state lost to corruption," he said.

He also called for approval to be withdrawn and the Mount Penny development abandoned.

Mr Kaye said the ICAC report was a tale of state government ministers and their get-rich-quick mates made arrogant by the protections of privacy and the lure of personal wealth.

"NSW will take decades to recover from the impacts of Macdonald, Obeid and their mates," he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Macdonald was also found to have used his ministerial influence on a number of occasions to benefit businessman Ron Medich, and was rewarded with the services of a prostitute called Tiffanie, arranged by ex-boxer Lucky Gattellari.

He has been recommended for possible prosecution for the offence of corruptly receiving a benefit as a reward for favours and for misconduct in public office.

Mr Ipp has also advised the DPP consider prosecuting Mr Medich for corruptly giving a benefit to the minister.

Mr Obeid and Mr Macdonald have already been expelled from the Labor Party and Mr Roozendaal has quit parliament.

Eddie Obeid's wife Judy said the Obeid's were a good Christian family who had done nothing wrong.

"What should we do, we'll just go to court," she told the Seven Network.

"We've done nothing wrong, we've definitely done nothing wrong.

"We're a good Christian family, we have all top values in life and that's how we've brought our children up."

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SA vows to keep Italian consulate open

SOUTH Australian Premier Jay Weatherill has vowed to keep Adelaide's Italian Consulate open, despite a decision by the Italian government to close the office next year.

Mr Weatherill said the state government had lobbied hard to win the consulate "stays of execution" in recent years and would not give up the fight.

He has written to the Italian prime minister and the Italian ambassador in Canberra, urging them to overturn the cost-cutting measure.

"We're going to continue to campaign and we're going to win," the premier told about 50 members of South Australia's strong Italian community outside the consulate on Wednesday.

"This couldn't be a more important issue for the local Italian community.

"We'll be on their side fighting every inch of the way."

The consulate is located in Adelaide's northeastern suburbs and has seven staff, three of whom are appointed from Rome.

They will be posted to other offices when the consulate closes as scheduled at the end of February, while the future of the four local staff members remains unclear.

One of those, Danilo Benvenuto, said the consulate in Adelaide had been operating for more than 40 years and would be a big loss to the Italian community.

"Especially the older generation, they are attached to the consulate," he said.

"Not having that support will be quite devastating to them."

Local Labor MP Grace Portolesi said it was impractical for elderly Italian residents in Adelaide to deal with consulate officials in Melbourne.

"It will cause very practical hardships for local communities, not to mention the very symbolic presence that the consulate offers," Ms Portolesi said.

Mr Weatherill said he understood the Italian government was under severe financial pressures and had taken the decision to close the consulate "with a heavy heart".

But he said he didn't think Italian officials understood the level of feeling in the local community or appreciated the distances between Adelaide and Melbourne.

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GPs fail to warn drinking mums, prof says

GPS have been too concerned about offending people to warn women of the dangers of drinking while pregnant, leaving their unborn children at risk of birth defects, a professor of pediatrics says.

Dr Elizabeth Elliott, professor of paediatrics and child health at the University of Sydney and a paediatrician at Westmead's Children's Hospital, works with the Fitzroy Valley community in Western Australia and deals with children who have foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) because their mothers drank while pregnant.

She says the next generation of Aboriginal children faces great health risks due to significant socio-economic disadvantage compounded by parental alcohol abuse.

"Children are harmed by their parents using alcohol. They're unsupervised, they have accidents, they may be subject to sexual or physical abuse and they suffer the consequences of their parents being drunk and in jail," Dr Elliott told AAP.

She said Aboriginal mothers often didn't know their drinking was having such a severe impact on their babies, due mainly to a lack of educational programs tackling the issue.

"They've got no concept that alcohol is toxic, crosses the placenta and can damage the developing brain and result in lifelong problems for their child and when people realise that they do feel guilty," Dr Elliott said.

She said health professionals aren't particularly well-versed in FASD and so don't ask about alcohol use during pregnancy.

"They're worried about upsetting people," she said.

Dr Elliott said half of pregnancies nation-wide are unplanned, so educators need to target young girls early about contraception and the danger of drinking while pregnant.

Surveys of Australian women suggest that anywhere between 20 to 80 per cent drink something during their pregnancy, while other studies show that about the same proportion of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women drink during pregnancy, she said.

"But the patterns of drinking are different," Dr Elliott said.

Although only half of women drink during pregnancy, the women who do drink drink at very high levels and babies are being born with facial deformities and mental and emotional disabilities.

"We know in remote Aboriginal communities there's a high risk of FASD ... there are a lot of vulnerable children," Dr Elliott said.

She stressed that the problem was not only an indigenous one but simply more visible in remote communities.

There have been increasing cases of babies in cities presenting with FASD.

Dr Elliott said the government needed to restrict alcohol sales.

"Our hospitals are full of people with alcohol-related cancer, brain disease, liver disease, let alone the secondary effects to children and others," she said.

"But everyone, regardless of what their health issues are, wants the best for their children."

This creates an opportunity to help them influence the development, well-being and long-term outcomes for their child, she said.

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NZ dollar waits on Fed Reserve decision

THE New Zealand dollar is little changed ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting this week which is expected to signal the outlook for monetary stimulus in the world's largest economy.

The kiwi recently traded at 80.75 US cents, from 80.84 cents at the close of New York trading and 80.79 cents at the 5pm market close in Wellington on Friday. The trade-weighted index weakened to 75.97 from 76.03 on Friday.

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke is expected to signal when the US central bank plans to start tapering its $US85 billion ($NZ105.4 billion) a month quantitative easing programme following a two-day meeting this week.

The monetary stimulus programme has debased the greenback, and increased the lure of currencies such as the New Zealand dollar.

"The market is going to be a bit volatile" ahead of the Fed comments, said Martin Rudings, senior advisor at OM Financial. "What he says about the tapering of QE is going to be very important in how global yields move."

Traders are speculating Mr Bernanke may lower his targeted unemployment rate necessary to trigger interest rate rises to 6 per cent from 6.5 per cent, Mr Rudings said.

"If he does pull that down to six, then it is going to take longer to achieve it which means rates will stay at these low levels for longer," Mr Rudings said.

He expects the Fed to start pulling back on its monetary stimulus in September.

The local currency weakened to 60.77 euro cents from 60.84 cents on Friday and dipped to 79.14 yen from 79.88 yen. The kiwi was unchanged at 87.21 Australian cents and 52.49 British pence.

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Aust shares flat at noon

THE Australian share market has edged higher, boosted by further gains in banking stocks.

At the close on Monday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 4.3 points, or 0.09 per cent, at 5,046.3, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 4.1 points, or 0.08 per cent, at 5,027.9.

On the ASX 24, the September share price index futures contract was two points lower at 5,006, with 15,725 contracts traded.

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Foxtel ditches 3D over lack of interest

THE section of 3D movies at the DVD store could soon go the way of Betamax, with Australian audiences showing a distinct lack of interest in the technology.

The low rate of take-up has already prompted international content producers to axe their 3D output and now Foxtel has followed suit locally.

In a statement on Monday, the pay-TV provider said the channel would be removed from the on-screen and online TV guides on August 27.

"In light of the recent moves by the BBC and ESPN and other 3D content producers around the world, as well as the lack of interest by Australian audiences of 3D television, it is no longer viable for Foxtel to maintain a dedicated 3D channel," a Foxtel spokesperson said in the statement.

Foxtel says it will continue to show 3D movies on its On Demand service from time to time.

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