Holden to cut more jobs

CAR maker Holden is moving to cut more jobs as it continues restructuring its Australian operations in a bid to ensure a long-term future.

The company said on Friday it had taken the difficult decision to axe some of its salaried staff.

Holden hasn't revealed how many jobs will go but says all staff affected will be offered support, including career transition and financial counselling.

"It is never easy to make changes like these but we have to take these steps to protect Holden's long-term future in Australia," the company said in a statement.

The latest losses follow the axing of 400 workers from its assembly operations in Adelaide earlier this year along with about 100 from its Melbourne operations.

The remaining assembly staff also agreed to a revised wages and conditions deal to help the company cut costs.

The new redundancies are expected to centre on Melbourne where Holden does most of its design and engineering work.

The company said it was doing all it could to ensure it continued to have a strong future as a design, engineering and manufacturing centre.

"Australia is arguably the most open and competitive automotive market in the world," it said.

"Staying nimble in such a competitive marketplace is an ongoing process that demands our continued attention.

"We have done some significant work in addressing the manufacturing side of our operations but must also work on the other areas of our business to be as efficient and effective as possible."

As the restructuring continues, Holden is also waiting to renew talks with the incoming coalition government on financial assistance.

The company negotiated a $275 million package with the former government in return for a commitment to build two new models in Australia from 2016.

But that deal stalled heading towards the election, prompting Holden to put a final decision on its future in Australia on hold until after the poll.

While Labor appeared committed to providing more funds, the coalition has so far held firm to its policy to cut $500 million from overall auto industry assistance.

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Three to be executed over Chinese attack

CHINA has sentenced three men to death over a June attack in the restive northwestern region of Xinjiang blamed on Islamic extremists in which 24 police and civilians were killed.

The official Xinhua News Agency said on Friday that another man was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in the June 26 violence, in which 13 militants were also killed.

All four were found guilty of murder and being members of a terrorist organisation and sentenced on Thursday by the intermediate court in the city of Turfan at the end of a one-day trial.

All were identified by names common among Xinjiang's indigenous Turkic Uighur (WEE'ger) minority group, some members of which have pursued a long-simmering insurgency against Chinese rule in the vast region bordering on Central Asia.

In the incident, assailants attacked police and government offices in the eastern Xinjiang town of Lukqun, in one of an unusually large number of bloody clashes over the summer. Independent reports put the Lukqun death toll at as high as 46.

Police said the attackers belonged to a 17-member extremist Islamic cell formed in January by a man identified by the Chinese pronunciation of his Uighur name, Aihemaitiniyazi Sidike.

Chinese officials typically say that such insurgents are orchestrated by Xinjiang independence groups based overseas, although there is little evidence of a direct link.

Overseas Uighur rights groups deny the accusation, saying they are working peacefully for Uighur civil rights. They also routinely criticise trials of Uighur suspects as being opaque, alleging that defendants are tortured and convictions and sentences determined on the basis of political considerations.

In the latest case, authorities said cell members began gathering as early as April 2010 to "pursue illegal religious activities and promote religious extremism" by watching, listening and reading materials promoting extremism and terrorism and carrying out "violent terroristic physical training," Xinhua said.

It said core cell members relocated to a private home in Lukqun at the start of this year and began selecting targets, raising funds, buying knives and preparing gasoline bombs.

However, shortly after preparations were completed, one of the members was arrested, and Sidike ordered the gang to attack before the plot was discovered. The 24 victims included 16 Uighurs and eight Han Chinese. Two were women.

Police wounded and captured four gang members and seized another suspect days later following a massive security operation.

"Their methods were extremely cruel and the nature of the incident was especially evil. Given the grave outcome, the case must be strictly punished by law, and by law the sentence was rendered," Xinhua said.

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Newman shakes up Qld's department heads

QUEENSLAND Premier Campbell Newman has announced a big shake-up of the state's department heads.

Mr Newman released a list of director-general changes on Monday as part of his plan to improve the public service.

Public Service Commissioner Ian Maynard will become the director-general of Queensland Health following the departure of Tony O'Connell.

Environment DG Andrew Chesterman has been shifted to fill Mr Maynard's previous job.

Energy and Water Supply DG Jon Black will now head the environment department while Natural Resources and Mines DG Dan Hunt will take on Mr Black's old role.

Dr Brett Heyward has been promoted from being on a health taskforce to becoming the Natural Resources and Mines DG.

Sue Rickerby has also been promoted from the Department of Premier and Cabinet to head the Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts department.

Former senior environment bureaucrat James Purtill, who left the public service in 2008, has returned to head the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs and Multicultural Affairs department.

Mr Newman said he's determined to make Queensland's public service the best in the country.

"These appointments will provide the leadership and expertise needed to achieve that goal," he said.

"They are all talented, highly qualified and committed to delivering the first-class public services Queenslanders deserve."

Annastacia Palaszczuk said it was also time for Mr Newman to shake up his ministry.

"There's a number of ministers who are underperforming and if you're doing such a massive shake-up of your bureaucracy, there's definitely going to be something happening in relation to ministers," she said.

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Coalition ahead in 86 seats: AEC

THE Liberal-National coalition is ahead in 86 seats as counting of votes from Saturday's federal election continues.

Labor is ahead in 57 seats, with the Greens' Adam Bandt holding Melbourne, Bob Katter retaining his seat of Kennedy, and independent Andrew Wilkie returning in Denison.

Preferences have yet to be posted on the Australian Electoral Commission website in four seats: Fairfax, Fisher, Indi and Mallee.

Among the seats listed as close is the NSW seat of Barton, with Labor candidate Steve McMahon 62 votes ahead of the Liberals' Nic Varvaris.

In Eden-Monaro, former minister Mike Kelly is 634 votes behind Liberal candidate Peter Hendy.

Labor MP John Murphy is trailing Liberal challenger Craig Laundy by 619 votes in the NSW seat of Reid.

In Victoria, Labor MP Rob Mitchell is 72 votes ahead of the Liberals' Donna Petrovich in McEwen.

Two Queensland seats are also close.

Labor candidate Peter Freeleagus is 141 votes ahead of the Liberal National Party's Michelle Landry in Capricornia.

Former parliamentary secretary Yvette D'Ath is 600 votes behind the LNP's Luke Howarth in Petrie.

Liberal frontbencher Sophie Mirabella is 359 votes in front of independent rival Cathy McGowan in results posted for the Victorian seat of Indi on the AEC website on Monday afternoon.

The Nationals' Andrew Broad is 301 votes ahead of Liberal Chris Crewther in the Victorian rural seat of Mallee.

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Finance data show housing market improving

The number of home loans approved rose for the seventh month in a row, official figures show. Source: AAP

HOME loans approvals have risen for the seventh month in a row, and the housing sector is expected to strengthen further in the coming months.

The number of home loans approved in July rose 2.4 per cent, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said, which was better than the market forecast of a 2.0 per cent rise.

CommSec chief economist Craig James said he expects the housing market to make more gains as consumer and business confidence improves now that the federal election is out of the way.

"What we would hope that, in a more settled environment, people will start spending, investing and hiring," he said.

"Of all the sectors in the economy, clearly one of the healthiest is housing.

"Housing is best placed to take over the leadership role from mining as the nation's key economic driver.

Loans made for the purchase of new dwellings rose 5.9 per cent in the month but loans for the construction of dwellings fell 2.1 per cent.

"While construction loans fell, it was only the first fall recorded in eight months," Mr James said.

"Low interest rates and the skewing of state government grants to new building should continue to support the outlook for building material stocks and developers.

"Certainly we should have construction rising at a faster rate than established dwellings, so we don't get caught with unsustainable growth."

Mr James said the data and continued signs of strength in the housing sector will ensure that the Reserve Bank will hold off on another interest rate cut until 2014.

Total housing finance by value rose 1.1 per cent in July, seasonally adjusted, to $24.180 billion.

JP Morgan economist Ben Jarman said that although the figures came in stronger than expected, the rise was being driven by investors rather than first-home buyers, who typically take out bigger loans.

"Average loan sizes are falling," Mr Jarman said.

"At the same time, what you're getting is activity that is tilted more towards the investor and less toward the first-home buyer, so you're not getting that uplift in overall credit growth that you get when first-home buyers come into the market.

"It seems like there's a lot of turnover happening in housing but not enough homes being built and not enough credit growth to make it genuinely stimulatory.

"Without that piece of the puzzle moving we don't think this will really change the path of the real economy."

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Mirabella fighting for political life

THE electoral plight of noted parliamentary pugilist Sophie Mirabella is promoting ghoulish intrigue among her political colleagues.

For her sworn opponents in the Labor Party with whom she has grappled so vigorously during her 12 years in parliament, the notion of Mrs Mirabella fighting for her political life draws undisguised pleasure.

From the National Party that directed its preferences to her independent opponent Cathy McGowan, there came thinly-veiled satisfaction.

And even from Liberal Party colleagues who didn't need her to secure their victory, it prompted treasonous mutterings.

The stoush between Mrs Mirabella and her independent rival for the electorate of Indi proved one of the most intriguing battles of the election.

In a seat she had occupied since 2001, Mrs Mirabella has seen the 61 per cent two-party preferred margin she inherited shrink to the point that she could become a rare commodity in this election - a Coalition casualty.

Mrs Mirabella accepts she has the capacity to polarise. She puts it down to a forthright and passionate parliamentary style.

Others prefer caustic, cutting or worse.

It was her parliamentary style that prompted the totally unacceptable slur from similarly strident Labor MP Belinda Neal to a pregnant Mrs Mirabella: "Your baby will be turned into a demon by evil thoughts."

The less-than-savoury incident was one of the few in her parliamentary career in which Mrs Mirabella has been beaten to the punch.

From a savaging of Malcolm Fraser in which she likened him to a "frothing-at-the-mouth leftie" to her expulsion from parliament on the eve of a crucial vote on the carbon tax, Mrs Mirabella has regularly been close to controversy.

The incident that probably alienated most, however, was her deliberate absence from the parliament in February 2008 when Kevin Rudd read his motion apologising to Aboriginal people for the removal of indigenous children.

Mrs Mirabella maintained there was no evidence that any children were "truly stolen" and no formal policy of removal ever existed in Victoria. On the second count at least, she was blatantly wrong.

A tempestuous period in her private life also resulted in the children of a one-time partner threatening court action over her handling of his affairs before his death and his estate afterwards.

But Mrs Mirabella is also one of the opposition's most energetic performers and her profile in her north-east Victorian electorate is undeniably high.

A staunch ally of incoming prime minister Tony Abbott and also a supporter, although less staunch, of Malcolm Turnbull before him, Mrs Mirabella's first political experience came as president of the Melbourne University Liberal Club.

After entering federal parliament in 2001 Mrs Mirabella got her first elevation in the Liberal Party following Mr Turnbull's ousting of Brendan Nelson as opposition leader in 2008, becoming opposition spokeswoman on early childhood education, childcare, women and youth.

She duly supported Tony Abbott in his move against Mr Turnbull and was rewarded with a place in the shadow cabinet as spokeswoman for innovation, industry, science and research.

It is a portfolio she will hold for at least another few days.

Mrs Mirabella went into the election with a notional nine per cent advantage over Ms McGowan who a week ago correctly tipped the result in Indi would take days to be decided.

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WikiLeaks Party will live on: Assange

JULIAN Assange says his WikiLeaks Party will live on despite its poor showing in the election.

With about two-thirds of Senate first preferences counted, the party picked up 0.62 per cent of the national vote.

Its best showing was in Victoria, where Assange was the lead candidate, where it garnered 1.18 per cent of the primary vote.

In NSW it picked up 0.8 per cent and in Western Australia 0.71 per cent.

But none of these numbers are good enough to get anyone elected.

"We are the second largest vote count for the new parties after Clive Palmer's party which had a billion bucks behind it," Assange told ABC TV on Sunday.

"I think that's a pretty good outcome."

He said it was "rather bizarre" the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party was being projected to win a Victorian Senate spot when it "has less than a third of the vote that we had".

Projections are made according to preference flows from the tickets lodged by all parties before the election.

Asked if he would try again for a Senate seat in three or six years' time, Assange said: "I think so."

"The WikiLeaks Party will continue for sure," he said.

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Australia again open for business: Robb

Liberal front bencher Andrew Robb believes the new government will "reboot" the mining boom. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIA'S new government has promised to "massively" grow jobs by restoring investment confidence through the ditching of two major imposts impacting business.

Business groups were quick to congratulate prime minister-elect Tony Abbott and welcome the ascension of his Liberal-National coalition government, which is traditionally seen as more pro-business.

Senior Liberal Andrew Robb, who was finance spokesman in opposition, said the last six years was marked by a dysfunctional government riddled with waste.

"We can get Australia open for business, we will restore an appetite for risk and investment (and) people's jobs will grow massively," Mr Robb told ABC television on Sunday.

Bill Shorten, who was a minister in the defeated Labor government, defended his party's economic credentials but conceded division within it ranks gave the coalition an advantage in the political debate.

"When I hear the Liberals say that somehow Australia has been in a never never land for the last number of years, the facts contradict that," he told ABC television.

Mr Shorten, who is seen as a contender to lead Labor in opposition, points to an economy that is still growing at 2.6 per cent, has low inflation and a stock market that is above 5000-mark that is helping to generate double-digit returns for superannuation accounts.

"We will not allow the conservatives to steal the last five years and pretend it didn't happen," Mr Shorten aid.

But Mr Robb says the coalition government will "reboot" the mining boom that was finished under Labor by scrapping the carbon tax and the minerals resource rent tax (MRRT).

Minerals Council of Australia CEO Mitch Hooke agreed ditching the impost taxes would be a positive first step for an industry where its international competitors face no such comparable imposts.

"The carbon tax has been a dead-weight on the economy that has failed to achieve its environmental objective while adding massive new costs on the minerals sector," he said.

"Repeal of the MRRT will make a material difference to industry confidence."

Mr Abbott is likely to face a hostile Senate trying to get his agenda through.

While the make-up of the upper house yet to be decided, Business Council of Australia (BCA) president Tony Shepherd says the new government has been given a clear mandate that should be respected by the parliament.

"It's time to stop politicking," Mr Shepherd said in a statement for the group that represents the nation's top 100 CEOs.

The Australian Institute of Company Directors CEO John Colvin said the new government should move decisively in its first term to reduce unnecessary regulation and red tape, which is "strangling business and stifling investment and job creation".

Australian Industry Group Chief Executive Innes Willox said the election outcome has the potential to deliver a much-needed period of political stability and certainty and lay the groundwork for strong gains in productivity and competitiveness.

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