Ferguson wants state co-operation

ENERGY Minister Martin Ferguson says he's determined to work co-operatively with the states to reform the energy market, particularly on expanding the use of gas.

"I'm not going to pick a fight on this because this is too important," Mr Ferguson told reporters after launching the federal government's Energy White Paper in Melbourne on Thursday.

Gas, along with electricity reforms, will be high on the agenda at next month's Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting, Mr Ferguson said.

Unless the governments work together, win community support and attract gas investment, "we are all losers", he said.

"This is about supply and demand and potential impact on price," Mr Ferguson said.

Mr Ferguson, who's called for more privatisation in the energy sector, says Australia's energy sector remains a lucrative investment opportunity for overseas investors.

"The private sector sees Australia as a safe haven for investment," he said.

"We've got around $170 billion in LNG alone and about $270 billion across resources in energy."

The minister said his recent trip to an energy suppliers and users conference in Tokyo had affirmed his belief.

"There's still a lot of interest in Australia," he said.

Mr Ferguson also said while nuclear power was a proven form of clean energy, its high cost of production meant it would not be on the government's agenda any time soon.

"We've never had to think about nuclear, because how do you compete (with) opportunities for coal-fired power, and more recent opportunities for developing the gas industry and now the renewable sector," he said.

The minister released the federal government's energy white paper in Melbourne earlier on Thursday, calling it a roadmap for a transformation of the sector.

Mr Ferguson said competitive pricing, efficient resource allocation and innovation were key elements of Labor's commitments to open and transparent energy markets.

"This is what will drive Australia's economic and income growth, while ensuring we protect those who are most vulnerable in our society," he told a business lunch.

Among the white paper's recommendations are price signalling for peak demand and tools like smart meters to influence consumers' decisions about their power use.

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Cockatoo, contentious moth back from brink

A STOCKY white cockatoo that came very close to extinction and a controversial moth have been removed from Western Australia's threatened species list.

WA's Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) on Thursday said the Muir's corella had been taken off the list, which had been updated following recommendations by the Threatened Species Scientific Committee.

The species is confined to the extreme southwest of WA, concentrated around the Lake Muir region, and has been threatened by habitat loss, and shooting and poisoning as it is considered to be a crop pest.

Population numbers severely declined in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and had at one stage declined to about 100 birds.

Its recovery was a conservation success story, DEC's Gordon Wyre said.

"While Muir's corella can no longer be considered threatened, there remains a need for the department, in co-operation with landholders, to carefully manage the species and its impact on agricultural production across its southwestern distribution," he said.

"Conservation status reviews have also demonstrated that the gouldian finch and the graceful sun-moth are now adequately conserved in the wild, with the sun-moth being found to occur over a wider distribution and wider host plant range on the Swan Coastal Plain."

WA Premier Colin Barnett has previously told WA Mining Club and Urban Development Institute of Australia functions that the ubiquitous sun-moth had stymied more developments than any other species, suggesting the Biodiversity Act needed to be updated.

He joked that it was a particularly unfortunate creature, born blind, with no mouth and obviously no meals over its short life span of up to 10 days.

Overall, the number of threatened fauna species on the DEC list has increased from 233 to 240 species.

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Man in court on $20 million fraud charge

A MAN accused of stealing more than $20 million from one of Australia's largest construction and infrastructure companies has appeared in court.

Damian Victor O'Carrigan, 58, of Moggill in Brisbane's west, allegedly took the money from Leightons Contractors over a 12-year period beginning in May 2000.

He was employed in a finance role with the company at the time of the alleged offences.

O'Carrigan has been charged with one count of fraud and one count of fraudulently falsifying a document.

He applied for bail in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday, but the application was adjourned part-heard and will resume on Friday.

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Smith talks security with Indian governor

DEFENCE Minister Stephen Smith has met the governor of India's fourth most populous state to discuss an expansion of Australia's security ties with the south Asian nation.

During the talks in Sydney on Wednesday, Mr Smith and West Bengal governor MK Narayanan, a former Indian government national security adviser, discussed Australia's bilateral relations with India and defence and security ties.

There was also talk about shared strategic and security interests, including maritime security, co-operation in the Indian Ocean and regional security.

Mr Smith said Australia and India were each committed to promoting regional and global security and shared a common commitment to democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

"We are jointly leading efforts to further develop the regional security architecture of the Indian Ocean, with a particular focus on maritime security," he said in a statement.

Last year, Mr Smith and Indian Defence Minister AK Antony agreed to boost co-operation on maritime security through multilateral maritime and other exercises.

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Redundancies at Queensland's CMC

QUEENSLAND'S Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) says it has lost another 13 staff because of the state government's budget cuts.

The CMC had already announced that between July 1 and October 11 there were 44 separations, none of which were forced redundancies.

On Wednesday the CMC announced that 13 people had been made redundant.

CMC head Ross Martin told the budget estimates hearing in parliament last month that their budget had been reduced by less than one per cent, but it would lead to "losses of capacity".

He said the CMC had a "substantial" workload and there was queuing to deal with investigations.

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Romney concedes race in phone call

MITT Romney has called Barack Obama to concede the 2012 US election, an Obama aide says.

Romney then addressed his supporters in Boston early on Wednesday.

"I have just called President Obama to congratulate him on his victory," Romney confirmed.

The losing Republican nominee said Obama faced major challenges, adding: "I pray the president will be successful in guiding our nation."

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Network Ten to sack journalists

NETWORK Ten is expected to begin sacking journalists after failing to obtain sufficient voluntary redundancies, a union says.

The cuts are part of a plan by Ten to chop 100 journalist, camera and producer positions, or about one-third of its national news staff, the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) said on Tuesday.

The MEAA said it had been in talks with Ten about the cuts but decided to withdraw a Fair Work Australia application accusing the broadcaster of being secretive about the redundancies.

In a statement on Tuesday, the MEAA said Ten had failed to provide details including the likely final number of voluntary redundancies and the redundancy procedure.

Around 40 journalists are expected to be sacked, News Ltd reports.

On Friday, Ten confirmed it had fired 10 people in its Queensland newsroom.

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Pell asks priests to quit St Johns council

CARDINAL George Pell says he has lost confidence in the St Johns College council at the University of Sydney and has asked priest members to resign following continued bad behaviour by students.

He says he will be asking the NSW government to review governance arrangements at the Catholic college and the need to amend outdated laws covering the institution.

Reports of loutish behaviour at the 150-year-old college have continued despite an incident in March that resulted in a female student being hospitalised.

The college suspended 33 students over the incident, in which male residents surrounded a girl and encouraged her to drink a toxic concoction as part of an initiation process.

In a statement on Tuesday, Cardinal Pell said he no longer had confidence in the capacity of the college council to ensure reform, "despite their good will and the dedication of the chairman".

"I have therefore requested the priest fellows of the council to resign.

"I will also be contacting the New South Wales government to discuss a review of existing governance arrangements and the need to amend the nineteenth century Act of Parliament, which is no longer adequate" Cardinal Pell said.

It's understood the six priests on the council sent in their resignations on Tuesday.

Cardinal Pell's office said he had spoken to the university vice-chancellor and the college council chairman about the problems.

There have been ongoing reports of widespread vandalism at the college and first-year students being forced into initiation rituals involving toxic drinks.

Professor Roslyn Arnold, formerly one of the 18 fellows who governed the college through its council, on Monday called for police to be brought in to stamp out the bad behaviour.

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ACT airport hub still possible: NSW govt

THE NSW coalition government has accused the commonwealth of "political game-playing" over its attack on a decision to build homes near Canberra Airport.

NSW on Tuesday approved the rezoning of the Tralee Housing Development to allow 2000 new homes south of Queanbeyan in a $400 million venture.

But the federal Labor government says the development under the Canberra Airport flight path will stymie its use as a second airport for Sydney.

Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese says the move shows Premier Barry O'Farrell's plans for the Canberra hub to replace the need for a second Sydney airport were "farcical and completely contradictory".

But NSW Planning Minister Brad Hazzard disagrees, instead accusing the federal minister of being the one playing games.

"The only issue he's been particularly interested in was having a political mud-slinging fight today," Mr Hazzard said, adding that the move was supported by other ALP politicians such as local federal Labor MP Mike Kelly and NSW opposition planning spokesman Steve Whan.

Mr Hazzard said the development was "logical, sensible, and merit-based", striking a balance between allowing Canberra Airport to grow while delivering much-needed housing to the area.

The original proposal has been cut in size by 20 per cent. Houses will be required to have noise insulation installed and prospective buyers must be notified about the potential for aircraft noise.

But Canberra Airport manager Stephen Byron said he was stunned by the decision, especially after seven inquiries had recommended against the development.

Mr Byron said people at Jerrabomberra in Queanbeyan had been warned they were building near flight paths 14 years ago but to no avail.

"If you build houses under flight paths ... they complain," he told ABC radio.

"That's why Tralee cops it - it never used to - because the noise has been moved from Jerrabomberra because they complained about the noise and they're a highly effective lobby group."

Canberra Airport's expansion plans were now "very much in the air", he added.

Mr Albanese also refused to rule out court action over the issue, saying he had already appealed to the state government to review the decision.

The Australian Tourism Export Council said placing houses directly under the flight path constrained growth options for the airport.

"Building housing right under a known flight path, when there are alternative options available, seems short-sighted and completely disregards the economic benefits an airport - particularly an international airport - will bring to the local area," managing director Felicia Mariani said in a statement.

Passenger traffic at Canberra Airport is forecast to grow by 36 per cent in the next decade, with an average 97 flights a day over the Tralee area.

There was no curfew at Canberra Airport so residents under the flight path would be affected by aircraft noise around the clock, he said.

ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher hoped the federal government would do what it could to avoid such an outcome or the alternative of noise-sharing across established Canberra suburbs.

"But I think from the ACT government's point of view, there is very little we can do," she told reporters in Canberra.

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$A slightly lower ahead of key events

THE Australian dollar is lower as markets wait to see whether the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will cut interest rates on Tuesday.

At 1700 AEDT on Monday, the currency was trading at 103.68 US cents, down from 103.85 cents on Friday.

It traded as low as 103.33 US cents on Monday morning amid expectations the RBA will cut the cash rate a quarter per cent to three per cent at its monthly board meeting on Tuesday.

But ANZ currency strategist Andrew Salter said the Australian dollar lifted following the release of official retail sales data for September.

"The retail sales data was slightly better than expected and I think that squeezed out a few people looking to short sell the currency," Mr Salter said.

Retail spending rose 0.5 per cent in September, seasonally adjusted, figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed.

Mr Salter said futures markets were currently pricing in around a 50-50 likelihood of a rate cut on Tuesday.

He said the RBA meeting would be the primary driver of the Australian dollar on Tuesday, and the currency was likely to fall if the central bank decided to cut.

"It (the currency's movements) will be heavily dependent on the RBA meeting, but even if they were to cut, we don't see the sell-off in the currency being particularly long lasting."

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