School talks will continue with Qld, Vic

Campbell Newman (R) praised Kevin Rudd for listening to the state's concerns over education reforms. Source: AAP

THE federal government will keep negotiating on school funding reforms with Queensland and Victoria beyond the Sunday deadline set by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

Parliamentary secretary for schools Kelvin Thomson says there is "considerable momentum" in negotiations for the $14.5 billion national schools funding plan.

"I'm encouraged by the fact that the negotiations are continuing," he told Sky News, adding that statements by the Queensland and Victorian premiers and education ministers were also encouraging.

On Friday Queensland premier Campbell Newman praised Mr Rudd for finally listening to the state's concerns and said he wanted to achieve a deal.

He and federal Education Minister Bill Shorten indicated they would negotiate for another week or two, beyond the Sunday sign-up deadline.

Victoria has also asked for longer to reach a deal.

The federal government's position is that as long as talks continue to be positive and constructive, it is happy to give the states a bit longer to work out the details.

But things aren't going as well with the other two hold-outs - Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

So far only NSW, the ACT, South Australia and Tasmania have come on board for the better schools plan, based on the Gonski panel recommendations.

Opposition education spokesman Christopher Pyne said the government's planned national funding model was now in complete disarray.

"Far from being close to being landed, the government's program is in complete disarray and I think they are a long way from securing it," he told Sky News.

He says his party would keep the new model if an "overwhelming majority" of states sign up, otherwise it would extend current arrangements.

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Tassie shooting was targeted: police

THE shooting death of a man outside a northern Tasmanian hotel was targeted, police say.

The man in his 40s was shot dead outside the Marrawah Hotel just after midnight (AEST) on Saturday.

"Investigations to date suggest this is not a random act - and that it was a targeted act," police said in a statement.

"We are following a number of lines of inquiry. We have deployed significant resources to the incident and are seeking assistance from the public."

Police have urged anyone with information relating to people acting suspiciously, vehicles moving in the area at the time, hitchhikers or people walking along the road to contact them.

They will continue to have resources in the area and have set up a command post at the scene.

"We encourage the public to be alert to what is going on around them, but not alarmed - but remember that any information could prove vital and don't hesitate to pass it on to us," a police statement said.

The man's next of kin have been notified, but police are not releasing his details at this stage.

Marrawah is a small town of about 400 people in Tasmania's northwest and is approximately 300km from Launceston.

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Indonesian police hunt 131 escapees

Indonesian police have stepped up their search for 131 inmates who escaped from a Sumatran jail. Source: AAP

INDONESIAN police have expanded their search for 131 inmates including four militants who escaped from an overcrowded jail during a riot that left five dead, a spokesman says.

Inmates began rampaging through the jail in Medan city on Sumatra island on Thursday, setting fires and hurling bottles at guards in anger over power cuts and water shortages at the facility.

The Tanjung Gusta jail was engulfed in towering flames, killing three inmates and two prison staff who were trapped in their office.

"We stepped up efforts by instructing all police forces across Sumatra island to carry out a massive hunt operation," Heru Prakoso, spokesman for the North Sumatra police, told AFP on Saturday.

Security forces managed to regain control of the prison on Friday afternoon and had recaptured 81 of the 212 inmates who escaped, he said, adding that four convicted of terrorist offences were still on the loose.

"Security at all entry points bordering North Sumatra province has been intensified," he said, adding that the elite Detachment 88 counter-terrorism force was also involved in the operation.

The escaped terror convicts had been involved in militant training for Mumbai-style attacks on high-profile Indonesians and in connection with a bank robbery to fund terror activities, police said earlier. Some 1000 police and soldiers were deployed to guard the facility.

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Clubs to save money with hamstring tester

ELITE sports clubs could save hundreds of millions in lost player time with the invention of an on-field hamstring tester.

The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is working with a portable prototype that can help determine which players are most likely to hurt their hamstring.

The University says it has already caught the eye of English premier league soccer clubs such as Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea.

Hamstring tears are the most common sports injury in the world, with injured players typically missing three to six weeks of competition and training.

And players are likely to reinjure the tendons within a year, says QUT Faculty of Health lecturer and researcher Dr Tony Shield.

The device is currently being trialled by six AFL clubs, the Queensland Reds and a number of track and field athletes including long jump Olympic silver medallist Mitchell Watt.

Dr Shield said the device aims to provide almost immediate and accurate measures of athletes' hamstring strength to compare strength between limbs and monitor the progress that players make across the pre-season or in rehabilitation.

"Armed with this information, a trainer can make a more informed decision on what types of strength training need to be employed and whether a player is fit to take the field," he said in a statement on Friday.

Until now, the best measure of hamstring strength and injury risk had been via an isokinetic dynamometer - a large, heavy and immobile machine found in only a few dozen university exercise science facilities around the country.

Despite providing excellent data, dynamometers cost up to $100,000, making them accessible to only the wealthiest sporting clubs.

They also need at least two full days to test a squad of 40 or more AFL players, whereas 44 were tested in two hours using the QUT prototype, Dr Shield said.

With worldwide interest already high, he said the device will hopefully be available within a year at a cost of around $10,000.

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Labor faces preselection pressures

FEDERAL Labor administrators have again refused to commit to the rank-and-file preselection of candidates in five federal seats, risking an internal revolt.

As the party scrambles to find candidates for five federal seats ahead of the election, ALP president Jenny McAllister said time constraints could mean intervention by the national executive.

"We do find ourselves in an unusual situation where we've had some very late vacancies," Ms McAllister told ABC TV on Friday.

"I think that in some of those situations we will see a rank-and-file preselection. But we are consulting to find out whether those things can be conducted in a timely way."

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has urged the party to use rank-and-file processes wherever possible to find candidates.

The ALP national executive is due to meet on Friday and discuss the preselection of candidates for vacancies in Rankin (Queensland), Charlton and Kingsford-Smith (NSW) and Lalor and Hotham (Victoria).

The seats are being vacated by ministers Craig Emerson, Greg Combet, Peter Garrett, Simon Crean and former prime minister Julia Gillard.

Local Labor representatives have issued a warning against national intervention for the seat of Charlton.

"Members have indicated that they would leave the party," Wallsend branch president Lisa Higgins told ABC Radio.

Ms McAllister said the process is more progressed in some seats, such as Rankin.

"We've been through many rank-and-file processes right across the country to select a great suite of candidates to go into the next election," she said.

Ms McAllister refused to comment on the preselection race for Ms Gillard's Melbourne seat of Lalor, where nominations are due to close on Friday.

"What is good in that seat is we're seeing quite a number of good women come through," she said.

Coalition frontbencher Christopher Pyne is cynical of Labor party efforts to boost local-level input for the preselection process.

"Kevin Rudd on the one hand says he's going to open up the windows and allow democracy in the Labor party and yet his national executive takes away rank-and-file preselections and imposes candidates in all seats for this federal election," Mr Pyne told ABC Radio.

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No deal on school reforms: Qld premier

THE Queensland government hasn't signed up to the federal government's education reforms but has left the door open.

Premier Campbell Newman says no deal has been reached yet after meeting with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, federal Education Minister Bill Shorten and state Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek on Friday afternoon.

He says the Sunday deadline has been pushed back a few weeks so Queensland and the federal government can possibly iron out outstanding issues.

Mr Newman praised Mr Rudd for having a positive meeting with him, unlike previous prime minister Julia Gillard, he said.

"We've talked about it for a considerable period of time, I cannot give you anything other than saying it was a productive discussion," Mr Newman told reporters.

"It was again a discussion that was not afforded to us by the previous prime minister.

"I thank the prime minister for that.

"It was very productive and we now know what we have to do to try to reach an agreement."

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Bigger fines urged to save NSW koalas

PENALTIES for illegal logging in NSW forests should be 10 times higher to ensure koala habitats are preserved, the state opposition says.

Forestry Corporation of NSW was fined a total of $900 last week after being found guilty of illegal logging of koala habitats in the Royal Camp State Forest near Casino on three separate occasions last year.

Opposition environment spokesman Luke Foley says the "paltry" fine would not deter future illegal logging.

"As a state we should be doing everything we can to protect our dwindling population of koalas," Mr Foley said.

"Are we so indifferent to their plight that the only place they will be in a few years is in captivity?"

Mr Foley has called on the O'Farrell government to support a private member's bill, now being debated in the upper house, to increase penalties for illegal forestry activities.

This would see maximum fines raised from $22,000 to $220,000, with the possibility of two years in prison.

"Increasing penalties by tenfold will help address the exceedingly low penalties for illegal forestry operations and the forestry record on complying with environmental laws," Mr Foley said.

He said forestry penalties fell well below those for other environmental breaches, where fines of $1.1 million can be levied for offences such as polluting a waterway and illegal land clearing.

North East Forest Alliance spokesman Dailan Pugh echoed the call for greater penalties, saying there is currently no incentive for loggers to do the right thing.

"They're taking dozens of trees out of the koala high-use areas and they're making a lot of money out of them, and the fine's nothing.

"It's not even one tree."

A Forestry Corporation spokeswoman said the $900 fine reflected "the insignificant nature of the breaches".

The corporation was found guilty of illegal logging of koala habitats on three occasions last year.

But the spokeswoman said there was no evidence koalas had been harmed in the Royal Camp State Forest.

She added that harvesting in the forest was not intense and "preferred koala feed trees" were not touched.

She also said koalas preferred managed and natural forests.

"Harvesting promotes the preferred forest structures for healthy koala populations," she said.

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Police weigh up charges over royal prank

Radio host Mel Greig (L) has filed a claim against 2Day FM for failing to provide a safe workplace. Source: AAP

THE fallout from a royal prank call continues to haunt 2Day FM radio, with Australian police looking at whether charges could be laid.

Australian Federal Police and NSW police are evaluating a file, provided to them by the UK's Metropolitan Police, over the phone call made on December 4 by presenters Mel Greig and Michael Christian.

They called London's King Edward VII Hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was being treated for a pregnancy-related illness, and pretended to be the Queen and Prince of Wales.

The DJs were put through to the ward by nurse Jacintha Saldanha, who committed suicide soon after the hoax was widely publicised in the British media.

British prosecutors have already said no legal action will be taken in the UK over the call.

But NSW Police spokeswoman said on Thursday that federal police would "evaluate the referral as per the AFP's usual process to determine if any commonwealth offences are identified" and NSW police would look at it from a "state offences" point of view.

The DJs' employer, Austereo, wouldn't comment on Thursday on the possibility of charges being laid in Australia.

"We're not commenting at the moment and have nothing to add ... we're not making a statement," a spokeswoman said.

The referral by British police comes as lawyers for Greig - who has not returned to work - revealed on Wednesday that she is taking legal action against Austereo.

Greig's lawyer, Steven Lewis of Slater & Gordon, says a general protections application has been filed with Fair Work Australia, alleging Southern Cross Austereo failed to maintain a safe workplace in relation to the hoax call incident.

News of Greig's legal action comes a week before a scheduled federal court hearing in Sydney in which 2Day FM is trying to block a media watchdog probe into the prank call.

The radio station last month filed a court application arguing that the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has no power to continue a part of its ongoing investigation.

The federal court hearing is scheduled for July 17.

In London, a spokesman for the Saldanha family says it's no surprise one of the DJs behind the prank call has turned on the station which broadcast the hospital hoax.

Meanwhile, Christian was last month awarded the title of "Top Jock" by Austereo for being at the "top of his game".

An inquest into Ms Saldanha's death is due in London in two months time.

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NZ shares edge up ahead of earnings season

NEW Zealand shares edged up in relatively light trading as investors looked ahead to the earnings season.

The NZX 50 Index rose 3.287 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 4560.054. Within the index, 27 stocks rose, 16 fell and seven were unchanged. Turnover was worth $120 million.

Ebos rose 2.9 per cent to a record close of $9.99. The medical and pet supplies distributor's stock is up 34 per cent this year and the gains accelerated after it agreed to buy Australia's Symbion and raised capital to do so.

"Ebos has changed vastly with that deal," said David Price, a broker at Forsyth Barr. "The capital raising has been well received."

Ryman, the nation's biggest listed retirement village operator, rose 1.9 per cent to $6.98, also a record close. Rival Summerset Group gained 0.7 per cent to $3.02.

The biggest companies on the bourse fell. Telecom dropped 3 per cent to $2.25 and Fletcher Building fell 1.3 per cent to $8.55.

Mr Price said they were among stocks driven higher on Wednesday by buying at the close and had since given back those gains.

"It is relatively quiet leading into the results season," he said. "The market is trading on relatively high multiples so companies need to deliver on expectations."

The Warehouse Group, the biggest listed retailer, was unchanged at $3.75, clothing chain Hallenstein Glasson was down 0.6 per cent to $4.94 and outdoor equipment group Kathmandu fell 0.8 per cent to $2.58. Pumpkin Patch gained 1.2 per cent to 82 cents.

Manufacturers gained after BNZ-BusinessNZ figures showed the sector's activity continued to grow last month, albeit at a slower pace from May when it reached a nine-year high.

Skellerup gained 1.5 per cent to $1.32, Nuplex Industries advanced 1 per cent to $3.09, Moa Group rose 1.7 per cent to $1.18 and Goodman Fielder climbed 1.2 per cent to 85 cents.

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Japan officials used wrong Google settings

Japanese officials used the wrong settings on Google Groups making confidential documents public. Source: AAP

JAPAN'S bureaucrats used the wrong privacy settings for Google Groups online discussions, allowing anyone to see internal memos including on negotiating positions for an international treaty, the government says.

Environment ministry mandarins were among those who used the default settings on Google Groups, which allow public access to discussion threads, instead of limiting them to members only.

The mass-selling Yomiuri Shimbun said it found more than 6000 cases where information from public or private organisations, including hospital records, was publicly available.

The Yomiuri, the world's biggest-selling newspaper, also admitted its journalists had been using the wrong settings on Google Groups, and may have revealed draft stories and interview transcripts to anyone who wanted to see them.

Google Groups allows users to establish or join discussions on any subject, which can be accessed either by email or through the web.

The user who sets up the group can determine who can join the group and who can view and post messages.

The default on the set-up page allows anyone to see messages, although this can be limited by a drop-down menu.

A spokesman for the environment ministry admitted officials have used the service to share information, including planned talking points for negotiations on an international mercury trade treaty.

The Japanese delegation also uploaded its exchanges with their Swiss and Norwegian counterparts. The treaty is expected to be signed in the northern autumn.

"It was problematic that the processes around ongoing negotiations could be seen by outsiders. We have taken corrective steps," an environment ministry spokesman told AFP.

The memos were not "top secret", but were not for public release, the spokesman admitted.

Officials from at least six government ministries and agencies used the wrong settings on Google Groups, allowing outsiders to see internal exchanges, national broadcaster NHK said.

The Yomiuri also reported that hospitals and schools had uploaded patients' and students' records.

At least one political party also used the service, revealing a list of its supporters, the Yomiuri said.

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