Uni students admit to cheating

TWELVE medical students at the University of Adelaide have admitted to taking photos of a computer-delivered exam paper and passing it on to other students.

The university is conducting an investigation into the incident which involved fifth-year students studying a human reproductive course this year.

Medical school dean Alastair Burt said the 12 students had come forward and indicated they took "screen grabs" of the exam which was presented on an iPad.

They then passed those grabs onto other students who were to take the exam later.

This was the first year the medical school had used iPads in exams.

Professor Burt said the university would investigate the incident but intended to take a "firm line" in responding to those involved.

"We have a zero tolerance to cheating," he told ABC radio on Tuesday.

"Academic integrity is central to the whole philosophy of our institution.

"There is also a whole issue about the professionalism of our future doctors."

Senior lecturer in obstetrics and gynaecology, Paul Duggan, said the incident had irretrievably damaged the integrity of the human reproductive health exams.

He said it had also put an end to the use of iPads in exams.

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Swisse to create 120 new jobs in Victoria

Swisse Wellness will expand its offices in Melbourne, creating 120 office and construction jobs. Source: AAP

MORE than 120 office and construction jobs will be created in Victoria with the expansion of a Melbourne supplements and vitamins company.

Swisse Wellness is extending its Melbourne operation and is expected to increase its workforce from 90 to about 220 as part of the five-year project.

The company has just signed a licence deal with global healthcare company PGT Healthcare, allowing it to break into the US market.

Victorian Premier Denis Napthine said the deal would create jobs and have an economic benefit for the state.

"This will have an immediate result for creating more jobs in Melbourne and Victoria," Dr Napthine said on Tuesday.

Swisse Wellness chief executive officer Radek Sali said the government had helped to engage overseas partners and grow the company's export market.

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Transport the key in lead up to Vic poll

Victoria's opposition says its transport plan will create 10,000 construction jobs. Source: AAP

TRANSPORT is shaping as the key battleground for Victorian voters as Labor vows to rip up 50 of Melbourne's worst level crossings and the coalition attacks the plans as a con job.

Labor plans to sell the long-term lease on the Port of Melbourne to fund its $6 billion project to get rid of the most dangerous and congested level crossings.

If elected, it will also pledge $300 million in its first budget to begin work on the $9 billion Metro Rail tunnel, as part of a transport vision it says will remove the worst bottlenecks and create at least 10,000 jobs.

Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews says the project is an alternative to the government's East West Link but Labor will not tear up contracts if the coalition signs them before the November 2014 election, meaning the toll road plans remain if Labor wins.

Premier Denis Napthine attacked Labor's project as a con job on Victorians which will condemn the state to decades of congestion.

"Labor has failed to commit to one new tram, one new train, or a single new bus. Labor will condemn us to decades of gridlock and frustration on the roads," he said.

The $9 billion Metro Rail tunnel is to be built with a third of funding from Labor, a third from the private sector and a third from the Commonwealth.

Before winning government, Prime Minister Tony Abbott denied being open to funding urban rail, instead promising $1.5 billion for the coalition's East West Link.

Labor's plan relegates any new railway lines to Doncaster and Melbourne airports until after the Metro rail link is built.

Dr Napthine says Labor is over-optimistic in its hope for $6 billion for the sale of the Port of Melbourne.

"It is a second-rate con job. They have made the western suburbs suffer ... congestion, overcrowding and grid-lock on the West Gate Freeway and bridge. It is totally unworkable and unacceptable.

"Mr Andrews suggest he can do it (remove level crossings) for $120 million (each), he's dreaming."

The Victorian Trades Hall Council backed the plans, but the Greens say Labor put roads ahead of public transport, killed off Doncaster rail and backed the East West toll road.

Public Transport Users Association president Tony Morton said the level crossing removal is overdue but Labor's position on the East West Link is weak.

He said Labor needed to tell contract bidders it was doing all it can to prevent the contracts proceeding and the "mad" waste of money from going ahead.

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Council 'ignorance' criticised: NSW judge

A NORTHERN NSW council has escaped paying $800,000 in damages to a cyclist who catapulted into a ravine while crossing a wooden bridge because of its "ignorance" of the risk and because it couldn't afford to repair the structure.

Dr Ann Collins lost her Supreme Court case against Clarence Valley Council after Justice Robert Beech-Jones found she should have been aware of the dangers involved in crossing the wooden bridge during a charity cycle in April 2008.

But the council came in for scathing criticism from the judge, who conceded its success in defending the case would probably seem "counter-intuitive" to some.

"The council is able to avoid liability primarily because of its own ignorance of the risk posed by the structure whose responsibility it was to maintain and the limits on its own resources," he said in a judgment handed down last Friday.

The court heard Dr Collins was badly injured after her bike got stuck in a gap between planks on the bridge, causing her to fall over the low rail and onto a rocky ravine below.

She sued the council on several grounds, including that the bridge was in bad repair and steps should have been taken to minimise the risk to cyclists.

The council denied it was negligent and argued it could not carry out improvements, such as resurfacing the bridge, because it would then have to carry out similar improvements on all 146 wooden bridges in the area.

The court heard the council's budget was in deficit in 2008 and repairing the bridges would have meant it had to defer other work on its road network or borrow funds.

Justice Beech-Jones agreed the council could not have repaired the bridge principally because "It could not afford to bear the burden imposed by those steps, bearing in mind that this would impose a responsibility on it to take steps to avoid similar risks of harm on other bridges".

However, he said it should have put up a warning sign.

"(The bridge) was overall in a poor state," he said.

"It represented a danger to cyclists.

"The council ought to have been aware that it was used by cyclists and was such a danger."

The council's ignorance of the risk "does not reflect well upon its own practices", Justice Beech-Jones added.

"(But) whether the limits on its resources exist because of its own inefficiencies or because of factors beyond its control cannot be inquired into."

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MacTiernan husband fined by magistrate

THE husband of federal MP Alannah MacTiernan has avoided a criminal record despite pleading guilty to mishandling more than $1400 of client's money at his former law practice.

Derek Schapper, 62, was fined $2000 and granted a spent conviction after pleading guilty to the amended charges at Perth Magistrates Court on Monday.

The charge related to funds which had been accrued over several years in a trust fund managed by Schapper that was intended to pay stamp duty.

When WA's laws changed in 2008, Schapper was left with about $4200 in the fund which he could not account for.

Unsure what to do with the money, Schapper moved it first to two clients' accounts, and then into his own bank account.

Chief Magistrate Steven Heath was told it had since been concluded that just over $1400 of the money was illegally transferred by Schapper - and if not for his confession, authorities would never have been aware of the offence.

Schapper's lawyer Hylton Quail said since the offence came to light, Schapper had been suspended from practising law, and had effectively retired from practice.

But he did want to continue to volunteer his legal services in the future.

"This has been a very public and self-inflicted fall from grace," Mr Quail said.

And Magistrate Heath agreed the offence had arisen from the annoyance of attempting to reconcile the trust account, rather than for personal gain.

"It is unfortunate a practitioner of your standing and experience should have made such a foolish mistake over such an annoying and trivial matter," he said.

Outside court, Schapper said he was glad with the outcome, while also managing to have a swipe at his wife's long-time political rival Don Randall, who was recently embroiled in controversy surrounding MP's expenses claims.

"I would like to think I was setting an example (by admitting wrongdoing) and that perhaps Don Randall should follow, but that is up to him," Schapper said.

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Shops damaged in Sydney's north

A NUMBER of people have been injured at a shopping centre in Hornsby in Sydney's north after stormy weather smashed glass panes, toppled trees and reportedly collapsed a ceiling.

Firefighters and ambulance paramedics responded quickly on Monday afternoon to what is being described as a mini-tornado that hit the Westfield shopping centre near the Pacific Highway.

Police told AAP there had been black-outs in the shopping centre and reports of roof damage.

There were reports a cinema ceiling had collapsed and the centre was being evacuated.

Callers told Macquarie Radio they heard loud bangs in the shopping centre, saw debris flying and large trees down and there were reports of cars tipped over in car parks.

A NSW Fire and Rescue spokesman told AAP that firefighters were using handsaws to go through the debris to see if anyone was trapped.

"A roof has collapsed in one of the cinemas," he told AAP.

The spokesman said the shopping centre had been evacuated.

Paramedics have also been deployed to a library in Hornsby and a demountable building near the railway station.

The spokesman said the demountable had been blown off its foundations.

An Ambulance Service of NSW spokesman said while there was certainly damage, there was no information yet on patient numbers.

A witness, James, who lives near the shopping centre told ABC radio he heard a big roaring sound just before 3pm (AEDT).

"I wasn't really sure what it was, it sounded like a cyclone or something," he said.

"So I ran to my back window and I could see all this debris spiralling up in the air like rubbish and stuff.

"It went over pretty quickly but shortly after I just heard nothing but sirens."

Another witness, Angela, told ABC radio she saw debris going up into what looked like a mini-tornado.

"That went over across the shopping centre and I could see some roofing material, looked like long bits of guttering going up into the sky over the shopping centre," she said.

"So I think it was mini-tornado."

It only last 10-20 seconds, she added.

Paramedics took 12 people to Hornsby Hospital following the wild weather.

An Ambulance Service of NSW spokesman said crews were sent to the shopping centre, the library and the railway station.

At the library a 19-year-old woman was treated for shock, and at the station, where a demountable building had flipped, five people were treated, including a man who sustained multiple cuts to his head.

Six patients were treated at the shopping centre for minor injuries.

The spokesman said a 50-year-old woman had cuts to her head and neck after being hit by shards of glass.

Sam Gibbons, 19, who works at a fast food outlet in the shopping centre told AAP he and his colleagues were forced from the building in the middle of their shift.

"There was a mini tornado thing that came through, some loud bangs, power went off," he said.

A glass dome in the shopping centre's roof also cracked and fell, he said.

Mr Gibbons and his fellow workers face a long night of cleaning up.

"We can't leave the shop in a mess," he said.

Fire and Rescue NSW Assistant Commissioner Jim Hamilton told Macquarie Radio a cinema ceiling in the shopping centre had collapsed but no one was inside at the time.

The nearby Hornsby Inn suffered significant roof damage.

SES spokeswoman Sue Pritchard said the SES received 20 calls in about 20 minutes from residents around Hornsby at about 3pm (AEDT).

Ms Pritchard said the Bureau of Meteorology had confirmed to her a "mini-tornado" had hit the area.

A spokeswoman for the Westfield Group told AAP that customers, acting on advice from authorities, had been moved out of the centre but Westfield was told shortly afterwards not to evacuate.

"The centre is not trading and is operating on emergency power," the spokeswoman said.

The Pacific Highway was closed in both directions between Bridge Street and Coronation Street in Hornsby due to a fallen tree, the NSW Transport Management Centre said in a statement.

Traffic lights were also out because of power black-outs and motorists were being advised to use George Street as an alternative route.

The wild weather also brought down a large tree on the railway lines between Asquith and Hornsby but train services have since been restored.

Walkway roofs and various buildings at the Hornsby railway station have also been damaged.

A Sydney Trains spokesman confirmed the people injured in the demountable building at the railway station were Sydney Trains staff.

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Bill Glasson to run for LNP in Griffith

FORMER Australian Medical Association president Bill Glasson will have a second crack at winning the Brisbane seat vacated by former prime minister Kevin Rudd.

The inner south electorate has long been one of Labor's safer seats but Dr Glasson's grassroots campaigning before September saw him beat Mr Rudd before preferences were dished out.

The ophthalmologist attracted a 5.5 per cent swing, reducing Mr Rudd's winning margin to three per cent.

The by-election will be a revealing snapshot of the mood of Queensland voters after several months of the Abbott government.

The odds however are again stacked against Dr Glasson.

Only once has a federal government gained a seat from an opposition at a by-election and that was the Kalgoorlie by-election of 1920.

Labor is yet to announce who their candidate will be but employment and IR lawyer Terri Butler has emerged as front runner.

The first possible date for a by-election is December 21 but it is most likely to be held early next year.

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Severe storm warning for Qld

Hundreds of cars and homes have been damaged in a severe hailstorm on the Sunshine Coast. Source: AAP

LARGE swathes of Queensland are expected to be threatened by severe storms on late Sunday afternoon and evening.

The weather bureau says dozens of communities, from Georgetown to the Sunshine Coast, can expect damaging winds, heavy rain, flash flooding, and large hail.

Rockhampton had already recorded wind gusts of up to 82 kilometres an hour at 3pm (AEST).

The bureau has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for people in the Northern Goldfields and Upper Flinders, Herbert and Lower Burdekin, Central Coast and Whitsundays, Central Highlands and Coalfields, Capricornia, Wide Bay and Burnett, and parts of the Gulf Country, Northern Tropical Coast and Tablelands, Central West, Darling Downs and Granite Belt and the Southeast Coast.

On Saturday hundreds of cars and homes were damaged in a severe hailstorm on the Sunshine Coast.

Hailstones the size of cricket balls battered the region but there were no reports of major injury, the Department of Community Safety told AAP.

Spokeswoman Katie Rowney says on Saturday SES volunteers were at an awards ceremony in Gympie for State Emergency Service Week and about a quarter of the audience had to leave.

There were about 200 requests for help, mostly from Maroochydore, she said.

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Protesters brave rain for climate change

THE federal government was "sacrificing the planet for politics" by not taking stronger action to combat climate change, a rally in Sydney has been told.

Thousands of protesters, many in plastic ponchos or huddling under umbrellas, braved wild weather in Sydney's Prince Alfred Park on Sunday to call for stronger action on climate change.

Organised by social activist group GetUp!, the rally is one of more than 100 similar events throughout the country, with a total of about 50,000 people expected to take part.

"Today is a challenging period in our political history. It's a time when our government is sacrificing our planet for politics," GetUp! campaigns director Erin McCallum told a crowd carrying placards with slogans such as "Aim higher on climate", "Turn up the heat, choose solar power" and "Hands off our carbon tax Abbott".

"The government might have turned climate change into a political football but they weren't counting on us to play ball," Ms McCallum said.

Police estimated between 3500 and 5000 people were at the Sydney event.

Deputy federal opposition leader Tanya Plibersek said the government needed to get back to basics on climate change.

"Australia is going backwards, the rest of the world is going forwards accepting that climate change is real and accepting that we must act," Ms Plibersek told the crowd, receiving applause.

"Australia can't go backwards in the face of global action.

"Is climate change real? Yes. Was climate action working? Yes."

The rally also heard from firefighters concerned about more fire danger from hotter temperatures, the Greens, and former resources executive Ian Dunlop.

Benson Koschinksi, 18, who attended the event, said the federal government's climate policy wasn't good enough.

"It's probably the effectiveness of farting in a typhoon," he told AAP.

"Around the world we're seeing action but here we've got a leader who's axing credible climate policy."

Australian Youth Climate Coalition spokeswoman Amy Gordon said the group urged the government to "show leadership and not go backwards on the issue of climate change policy".

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Undercover asylum seeker account published

Two journalists who went undercover on an asylum seeker boat have published details of their voyage. Source: AAP

TWO journalists who went undercover on an asylum seeker boat bound for Australia have published details of their harrowing voyage.

In an extensive report accompanied by images and footage, published by The New York Times Magazine on Saturday, US writer Luke Mogelson recounted the cramped three-day, 320km-plus September trip aboard a nine-metre "sad" timber boat that was "clearly not designed for passengers".

Posing as Georgians who fled their home country with sensitive information about the government, Mogelson and Dutch photographer colleague Joel van Houdt paid $US4000 ($A4300) each to be taken from Indonesia to Christmas Island.

The Afghanistan-based reporters arranged the transfer before arriving in Jakarta.

"It's surprisingly simple, from Kabul, to enlist the services of the smugglers Australian authorities are so keen to apprehend," Mogelson wrote.

They shared the boat with two Indonesian crew, an Afghan man, plus 54 Iranians including nine children and more than a dozen women, one of whom was seven-months pregnant.

"The Indonesians distributed life vests: ridiculous things, made from thin fabric and a bit of foam," Mogelson wrote.

Within hours of setting off, most aboard were vomiting.

Would-be travellers had not been put off by Australia's deterrence measures, including billboard advertisements in their home countries that Australia was not settling asylum seekers.

"It's a lie to scare people so that they don't come," one man told Mogelson.

"How can they turn you away?" asked another of the Australian policy. "You put yourself in danger, you take your life in your hand? They can't."

The boat travelled no faster than five knots.

"At times we seemed to make no headway whatsoever against the strong southeasterly trade winds, which whipped up white caps on the waves and kept us all alert with stinging gusts of spray."

Conditions on board were sickening.

"There was no toilet, and absent any railing to hold on to, going over the side was too risky. The men urinated on the hull, the women in their pants," Mogelson wrote.

Upon nearing Christmas Island a crew member used a satellite phone to call Australian authorities for help, before passengers destroyed passports and identity documents and threw mobile phones overboard.

Fresh-faced Australian sailors subsequently arrived, distributing new life vests, fresh water, bags of frozen tortillas, jars of honey and a tub of strawberry jam.

They instructed the crew to restart the boat's engines and continue the voyage under escort.

Arriving one day after Tony Abbott's election as prime minister, Mogelson said he and Van Houdt revealed themselves as journalists and were treated well by Australian authorities who said they had been lucky with the weather.

"If we had left a few days earlier, the boat would have capsized."

As the two men were taken to "a surprisingly luxurious hotel" their travel companions were interned and the boat was towed out to sea to be destroyed.

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