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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Girl dies in Vic dune buggy incident

A NINE-YEAR-OLD girl has died in a dune buggy accident in Melbourne.

Police said a 38-year-old man was driving the vehicle with a girl and boy on board when it lost control on a private property at outer eastern Yarra Glen on Friday night.

An ambulance helicopter and mobile intensive care ambulance were dispatched but the girl died at the scene.

An 11-year-old boy was taken to hospital in a stable condition with minor injuries including shock and bruising, an Ambulance Victoria spokesman said.

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Cowboy hats popular at outback Qld polling

Many locals in Mount Isa turned out to vote in similar attire to Akubra-wearing MP Bob Katter (L). Source: AAP

FOR veteran federal MP Bob Katter election day is less stress and more catching up with old mates.

"You look good, you don't even look like you've had a heart attack," he said to one local man as he left a Mount Isa polling booth in Queensland's northwest.

As Mr Katter has held the seat of Kennedy since 1993, it's not surprising that he greets many in his political heartland by their first name.

He spent Saturday morning handing out how-to-vote cards and catching up with old mates outside Mount Isa Central State School.

Many locals turned out in similar attire to the Akubra-wearing MP.

"I better shake your hand before stealing your vote," Mr Katter's son Robbie, a state MP, said to a mate heading into the polling station.

Others were annoyed by being given up to four how-to-vote cards by various party volunteers outside the school.

"It's a waste of bloody paper," one woman said.

Katter Snr says he's had more positive feedback this election day than on any other.

"But as I've said, I've never gone into an election feeling confident," he told AAP.

Political analysts say Mr Katter will keep his lower house seat of Kennedy, and star candidate country musician James Blundell may pick up a Senate seat in Queensland.

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Battle for Melbourne will be close: Bandt

Greens leader Christine Milne is confident her party can pick up seats in the Senate. Source: AAP

THE battle to retain the Australian Greens' only lower house seat will come down to a handful of votes, deputy leader Adam Bandt says.

Mr Bandt is confident of claiming victory against Labor's Cath Bowtell in the seat of Melbourne which he holds by a six per cent margin, but admits it will be a close call.

"We've probably got our noses in front at this point but it is going to be very close and it will come down to a handful of votes," he said outside a polling booth in Melbourne.

In 2010, Mr Bandt wrested the seat from Labor for the first time in a century but won via Liberal preferences.

This time the Liberals have preferenced the Greens last and the minor party needs a four per cent boost in primary votes to win.

"We know that we are trying to do something that hasn't been done before and that is win a lower house seat here in our own right," Mr Bandt said.

Mr Bandt says voters "certainly don't want Tony Abbott" and are fed up in a race to the bottom by the major parties.

He says voters have a choice between a Labor backbencher likely to be in a demoralised opposition or a party who will be in the balance of power in the Senate and be an insurance against Mr Abbott's "brutal" agenda.

"Unlike the Labor Party, I won't vote Tony Abbott to send refugees offshore," he said.

Ms Bowtell agrees voters are worried about getting a Liberal government, but only Labor can form government and protect voters from what she says will be the impacts of the East West tunnel, expand the rail network and invest in education.

"The only party that can form government and keep the Liberals out is the Labor Party," she said, after casting her vote in Melbourne.

She says the Greens are making lots of pledges they cannot deliver on.

"The Greens are promising lots of things but that is a dishonest promise that you make to people because the Greens will not form government and you have to form government to do the things that people want," she said.

"If I'm elected, I'll be a strong voice in the Labor caucus in government or in the alternative government and really, at election day, we choose the government."

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Acclaim in Toronto for WikiLeaks thriller

THE new Hollywood thriller about Julian Assange and his WikiLeaks project has received a long ovation at its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.

Assange originally described The Fifth Estate as "a mass propaganda attack" against WikiLeaks after reading a leaked script, but softened his stance against the film before Thursday's debut in Toronto.

The 42-year-old Townsville-born former computer hacker is masterfully played by English actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who speaks with an authentic Australian accent and is likely to be a firm favourite for an Oscar nomination.

The film, which looks at how Assange built WikiLeaks into an online powerhouse that has exposed governments and corporations around the globe, received a 15-second ovation at the premiere.

"I've wanted to make a political movie for a very long time and I thought this was a very rich area to explore," the film's US director, Bill Condon, said before the premiere.

"We are trying very hard to present all sides of a very complicated subject."

Condon's past credits include Chicago, Kinsey and two Twilight films.

The Fifth Estate offers insight into Assange's childhood and teenage years in Australia and follows him as he builds WikiLeaks into a website designed to protect whistleblowers.

Assange took issue with an earlier draft of the script dealing with Iran, but on August 27, during an interview with AAP at the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he has been holed up since June 2012, he said the publicity surrounding the DreamWorks film will benefit WikiLeaks.

"Cumberbatch has been personally supportive of me and the struggles that WikiLeaks is going through," he added.

"Our view is that a $US40 million ($A44.05 million) advertising budget promoting WikiLeaks around the world, and actors like Cumberbatch speaking about it, is a good thing for the popularisation of WikiLeaks," Assange told AAP.

"But people need to understand that this is a Hollywood movie and it has sections which are fictitious in order to increase the drama."

Aside from the Assange film, there are plenty of A-list Aussie actors in Toronto for the festival, including Hugh Jackman, who is promoting his thriller Prisoners, Nicole Kidman for her drama The Railway Man and Chris Hemsworth in Rush.

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Kiwi firms ahead of US employment figures

THE New Zealand dollar has increased in local trading ahead of US employment figures, seen as the linchpin to whether the US Federal Reserve will start unwinding economic stimulus.

The kiwi rose to 79.08 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 78.88 cents at 8am, and 78.95 cents on Thursday.

The trade-weighted index gained to 74.95 from 74.68 on Thursday.

US non-farm payroll statistics are expected to show the world's biggest economy added 180,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate remained at 7.4 per cent.

Fed chairman Ben Bernanke has linked the reduction in money printing to an improving labour market, and the jobs data are seen as being the final arbiter on whether the tapering plan will begin this month.

"It's going to be the final hurdle for 'Septapering' - it's either a real baddie and takes it off the table, or it's OK to a goodie in which case it's firmly on the table," said Imre Speizer, market strategist at Westpac Banking Corp in Auckland.

"The payrolls then the September FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) should give the kiwi direction."

The NZ currency is heading for a 2.4 per cent gain against the greenback this week and the trade-weighted index is heading for a 1.5 per cent weekly gain.

The kiwi gained to 86.60 Australian cents at 5pm in Wellington from 86.13 cents on Thursday, was little changed at 78.91 yen from 78.85 yen and climbed to 60.25 euro cents from 59.86 cents.

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Lawyers defrauding PNG: attorney-general

DODGY lawyers have siphoned off as much as 1 billion kina (about $A425 million) from PNG's public coffers, the country's attorney-general says.

Kerenga Kua has told a law seminar in Port Moresby lawyers are using their skills and education to rip off the country.

"I don't want to pick figures out of the blue," the National reported him as saying on Friday.

"I think in the last six years or so, lawyers would have been involved and assisted in committing fraud against the state that could be easily estimated to be close to kina 1 billion."

Mr Kua was speaking on the subject of ethics and court etiquette at the PNG Law society.

He said some of PNG's 1100 registered lawyers were failing the rules of ethical or professional conduct.

Mr Kua was until 2012 a principal lawyer in law firm Posman, Kua, Aisi Lawyers.

He played a key roll in the 2011/12 political turmoil in PNG, representing the ousted government of Sir Michael Somare in court.

After the 2012 election, he was appointed attorney-general by his one-time legal opponent, Prime Minister Peter O'Neill.

Mr Kua said the fight against corruption in PNG is going slowly because of a lack of resources.

"We cannot move on everybody because of the limited resources and skills that are available to the government," he said.

He added the government will act in the coming weeks and months to clean up the legal landscape.

"All the talking has got to come to a stop one day," he said.

Mr Kua's comments come just weeks after secretary to the government Theo Zurenouc told an anti-corruption forum in PNG's second largest city, Lae, the government was preparing to table legislation for an independent commission against corruption.

Mr Kua has also stated he wants the commission to have teeth and be able to follow cases through to prosecution "for better or for worse". The head of the government's anti-corruption watchdog Taskforce Sweep, Sam Koim, recently revealed as much as 40 per cent of public funds is squandered or lost to corruption annually.

In 2010, then-prime minister Sir Michael Somare tabled a commission of inquiry report into PNG's department of finance, which he said would make readers "shudder in awe" at the level of corruption revealed.

The report made 75 recommendations after revealing half a billion kina had been spent on questionable deals.

The day after Sir Michael tabled the report, the court placed a ban on its publication and implementation, following a challenge by former solicitor-general Zachery Gelu and lawyer Paul Paraka.

That injunction is now being challenged in the courts.

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Congolese minister pulls out of conference

A CONGOLESE minister who has been probed by French authorities for alleged human rights abuses has pulled out of a conference appearance in Perth at the last minute.

Pierre Oba, Republic of Congo Minister of Mines and Geology, was scheduled to speak at the Paydirt Africa Down Under mining conference on Thursday but pulled out on Wednesday.

Paydirt chairman Bill Repard said his delegation also did not attend.

"He's unfortunately had a change of plans," Mr Repard told AAP.

He said Mr Oba was not on any Australian blacklists and would not have had any visa problems.

Mr Oba addressed the conference last year and was to be the guest of honour at a breakfast of mining executives at a Perth hotel in November 2010 but pulled out.

He had played a vital role in helping Sundance Resources deal with the aftermath of a plane crash in the Republic of Congo in June 2010 that killed the company's entire board.

Mr Oba was the subject of a legal case in a local court in France in relation to an alleged massacre in the Republic of Congo in the late 1990s, but has denied any involvement.

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