Victims group backs filming in NSW courts

OPENING the doors on NSW criminal cases to TV cameras and broadcasting will provide greater understanding of the court process, a victims of crime advocate believes.

Traditionally an environment reserved for notepads and pens, the NSW government has announced plans to allow TV cameras and broadcasting in some criminal matters.

NSW Attorney-General Greg Smith said the plan would create a presumption in favour of allowing broadcasting in final proceedings such as verdicts and sentences.

Howard Brown, of the Victims of Crime Assistance League, believes it is a brilliant idea.

"Even though the courts are open to the public and the media, people generally take a very limited interest in it," he told AAP.

"When you see what is really involved in handing down a sentence in any matter and how complex it is, I think people would have a better understanding of it."

It could also yield greater compliance from judges as they are aware every decision is subject to public scrutiny, Mr Brown added.

However the victims advocate does not want to see anything like the live-streaming of the Oscar Pistorius murder trial.

Mr Smith referred to the South African trial, which was adjourned when a television station broadcast the image of a witness entitled to privacy.

"The judge warned the station in question to ensure they complied with the broadcast conditions," Mr Smith said.

"We'll consult with the media and other stakeholders before passing the legislation to ensure that the appropriate balance is struck."

Under the proposal, the filming of jurors, protected witnesses or victims would still be forbidden.

The plan would be initially rolled out in the Supreme Court but could apply to other courts and civil cases.

The attorney-general's department is considering introducing web streaming for certain court proceedings.

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Business wants even more red tape to go

FOR thousands of Australian businesses the Abbott government's first so-called repeal day can't come soon enough.

But there will also be disappointment that among the thousands of pieces of regulation that will be ditched on Wednesday - in what the government describes as a "red tape bonfire" - three areas that are the real bugbears of trying to do business are largely untouched.

Research by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry found safety and workers compensation; wages, conditions and superannuation; and tax compliance obligations are the biggest hindrances to doing business.

The chamber's acting chief economist, Burchell Wilson, said that while that was unfortunate, he was optimistic they would be on the agenda at some point.

Even so, business is highly supportive of repeal day, which is part of the government's promise to remove $1 billion worth of red tape a year.

"Red tape is strangling small business," Mr Wilson told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.

Almost three quarters of businesses believe the regulatory burden has increased over the past 12 months alone, while more than half said they had no capacity to pass on compliance costs to consumers.

For Mr Wilson the most disturbing finding was that 40 per cent said the red tape burden was restricting the growth in their businesses.

"If you are preventing businesses from expanding, you are also preventing them from taking on new staff," he said, adding that was seriously bad news for both them and the economy.

The Labor opposition will support most of the government's repeal day laws that cover some 9500 pieces of unnecessary regulation and 1000 redundant acts of parliament that come at a cost to the economy of $700 million a year.

But it has baulked at legislation to axe the Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission.

And a bill to streamline the way in which agricultural and veterinary chemicals are approved will be referred to a Senate committee for an inquiry.

Separately, the government has temporarily deferred rolling back Labor's financial advice reforms amid concerns it would weaken protections for investors.

The government decided on Monday to wait until Finance Minister Mathias Cormann consults with all relevant stakeholders "before pressing the go button" on changes to Future of Financial Advice laws.

"We are committed to the polices we took to the last election," Senator Cormann told the Senate on Tuesday.

Senator Cormann took charge of the issue after Arthur Sinodinos stepped down as assistant treasurer last week pending his appearance as a witness before anti-corruption inquiries in NSW.

Industry groups have supported the delay, but shadow treasurer Chris Bowen said the government was avoiding implementation of the controversial changes before the April 5 West Australian Senate election, a state where consumer protection is a key concern after the Westpoint collapse.

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Abbott restores knights and dames

RETIRING Governor-General Quentin Bryce has become a dame and her successor Peter Cosgrove will become a knight, after Prime Minister Tony Abbott restored the system of pre-eminent honours.

The Queen has amended the letters patent for the Order of Australia to allow for the new honours, Mr Abbott said on Tuesday.

The honours category, which was removed in 1986 after only 10 years of operation, will recognise pre-eminent Australians and up to four knights or dames can be appointed each year.

"I believe this is an important grace note in our national life," Mr Abbott said.

The chairman of the Order of Australia Council will be consulted on any recommendations.

Mr Abbott, a former director of Australians for a Constitutional Monarchy, defended the decision, saying it would enhance the dignity of the existing system.

"I don't think it's really any surprise," he said.

The prime minister made the decision to ask the Queen for the new category in the past few weeks, as he contemplated Dame Quentin's retirement and General Cosgrove taking on his new role.

He consulted both governors-general on the proposition and said they were happy to accept.

Asked whether it would lock in future governors-general to the monarchy, Mr Abbott said: "People who love our country, I think would be happy to accept this honour."

Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus said the move showed the government was rushing back to the 19th century.

Australian Greens leader Christine Milne said Australia had gone socially backwards under Mr Abbott's government.

"Bring on a republic," she said.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten didn't have much to add.

"It's good to see the government has a plan for Knights and Dames - where's their plan for jobs?" he said in a statement.

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Qlders should be able to party: Newman

QUEENSLAND Premier Campbell Newman says he won't change pub and club trading hours because people should be able to "let their hair down and party".

Queensland's government on Sunday released its draft plan to tackle alcohol-related and drug-related violence.

The reforms are aimed at stamping out night-life violence, including setting up 15 "safe night precincts" across the state.

But the opposition criticised the proposal for not reviewing trading hours for pubs and clubs.

Queensland Labor leader Annastacia Palaszczuk says the new laws won't work without action on hours. She said Newcastle in NSW had experienced a 33 per cent reduction in alcohol-related violence since restricting trading hours.

Mr Newman said closing licensed venues earlier wasn't part of his reforms because the reforms were about safety, not halting fun.

"We're saying this is a place where people should be able to let their hair down," he told reporters on the Gold Coast.

"It should be a place to party and you don't do that by saying that you're going to shut the place down.

"There are many places overseas that have even more liberal drinking hours than Australia and they manage to do it far better than we do in this country.

"That's what we should be aiming at, to change the behaviour."

Councils are supporting the government's plans, which would set up local boards to run the "safe night precincts".

"This approach reflects a commitment to further empowering local councils to create safe and supportive environments for their communities," Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) president Margaret de Wit said in a statement.

"Under the action plan, councils will have greater say on applications for extended liquor trading hours and adult entertainment permits, a proposal which has been supported by local government and the LGAQ for some time."

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Curriculum experts help review

AUSTRALIA'S curriculum developers have emphasised in a submission to an independent review the large amount of consulting and the lengthy time taken to create subjects to be taught.

The Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority notes that ministers from every state and territory and the Commonwealth have to endorse each subject before it can be published.

The authority's statement outlines the process the authority has gone through during the past five years to develop the national curriculum.

It published 30 subjects, ranging from foundation or kindergarten to Year 12.

Each subject takes two to three years to develop and almost 17,000 submissions have been considered in their formation.

The authority decided that the topics of indigenous history and culture, engagement with Asia and sustainability could be taught under other relevant subjects rather than being subjects in themselves, chairman Barry McGaw said on Monday.

For example, under the maths curriculum, Year 10 students studying statistics can compare data for the entire Australian population with data for indigenous people.

Professor McGaw says there is international interest in ACARA's work and Australia is recognised as a world leader.

"We have not yet seen the true benefits of a national curriculum," he said.

While change would always be debated, the imperative was for any revisions to be evidence-based and focused on achieving the best possible education outcomes.

Reviewers Kevin Donnelly and Ken Wiltshire will report to the government by the end of July.

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Archbishop fronts abuse inquiry in SA

THE Archbishop of Adelaide has agreed the Catholic Church's response to sexual abuse claims at a special school should have started about a decade earlier than it did.

Archbishop Philip Wilson told the royal commission into sexual abuse in Adelaide on Monday that if his predecessor had known of the claims in 1993, he would have expected police would have been contacted, letters written to parents and other processes put in place.

"If the matter was known, it should have been dealt with in all the formal ways that are required," he said.

The commission is investigating St Ann's Special School and its bus driver Brian Perkins, who sexually abused intellectually disabled children between 1986 and 1991.

The archbishop was referred to a statement of his predecessor, Archbishop Leonard Faulkner, who said he was informally told in 1993 about the arrest and charging of Perkins, who worked at St Ann's.

Archbishop Wilson said he first learnt of the claims in late 2001, when Archbishop Faulkner told him the Catholic Education Office had received a complaint from parents saying children had been molested by a bus driver at St Ann's.

Archbishop Wilson told the commission he was appalled and horrified and took immediate steps to put appropriate responses and processes in place.

The church made an offer to police to pay for Perkins's extradition from Queensland and Archbishop Wilson said that in March 2002 he wrote to parents who had children at the school at the relevant times.

The hearing is continuing.

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Female hiker found in Vic park

A HIKER missing for days in the Victorian wilderness has been winched to safety.

A police helicopter spotted the woman and winched her from the Alpine National Park, northeast of Melbourne, just after 10am on Sunday.

The woman, from the rural NSW city of Dubbo, sent a text message to her husband late on Thursday to say she was lost and out of water as she trekked through the remote park.

She lit a campfire at Howitt Plains to attract the attention of the helicopter.

A police spokeswoman said the woman was in reasonable health and was being attended to by paramedics.

Victoria Police and SES and CFA crews were involved in the search.

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NSW urged to get flu-ready

PREGNANT women and the elderly are being urged to prepare for winter and get a flu shot following an "unusually high" level of influenza in NSW this summer.

The Director of Health Protection NSW, Dr Jeremy McAnulty, said the northern hemisphere had experienced widespread influenza over the past months, with influenza A(H1N1) pandemic strain, A(H3N2) and influenza B circulating to different extents in different countries.

An unusually high level of influenza had also been seen in NSW over summer, he said.

He and other health professionals are now urging people, especially the elderly and pregnant women, to prepare for winter.

"The Australian flu vaccine has been updated to more closely match the influenza strains likely to circulate in NSW this year.

"So get a shot in preparation for this season," Dr McAnulty said on Sunday.

He said the seasonal flu shot continues to be the best defence for pregnant women and has the added advantage of protecting babies during their first six months when they are too young to have the vaccine.

NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner said the government's Be Winter Wise campaign, launched on Sunday, was focusing on pregnant women, the elderly and people with chronic medical conditions.

"Although we are still experiencing warm weather, people should not be complacent when it comes to the dangers of the flu," she said in a statement.

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One-punch killers to face life in Qld

One-punch killers will face life imprisonment under proposed changes to Queensland laws. Source: AAP

ONE-PUNCH killers would face life imprisonment under proposed changes to Queensland laws.

The Newman government's draft plan to tackle alcohol-related and drug-related violence, released on Sunday, would create an offence - unlawful striking causing death - to deal with one-punch killers.

If convicted, defendants would be required to serve at least 80 per cent of their life sentence behind bars before being eligible for parole.

"We have all seen the devastating and often tragic effects of coward punches not just in our state but across the nation," Premier Campbell Newman said in a statement.

"The Queensland government is determined to counter this dangerous trend and make Queensland the safest place in Australia for people to go out and enjoy themselves."

Under the plan, the maximum penalty for aggravated serious assaults on ambulance officers would rise from seven to 14 years' imprisonment.

Drunkenness would no longer be a viable excuse to mitigate an offender's sentence and courts would have the power to ban people from licensed premises for life.

ID would be installed in all licensed venues trading after midnight to keep out problem patrons and banned people.

The government would also set up 15 "safe night precincts" across the state where there would be late-night lockouts and more police on the beat.

Police would be given the power to detain people for their own safety if they were unduly intoxicated and at risk of serious harm, or behaving in a potentially violent or antisocial manner.

The government would also introduce a compulsory drinking awareness plan for all students between years 7-12 as part of the school curriculum.

The public has been asked to comment on the draft policy before April 21.

The opposition called on the Newman government to introduce a blanket 1am lockout across the state.

"If you don't tackle trading hours you don't tackle alcohol-fuelled violence. It's that simple," Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk said in a statement.

"Unfortunately we have a premier too scared to act and showing no leadership."

Opposition police spokesman Bill Byrne questioned whether the government had failed to introduce a lockout because it was beholden to vested interests.

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Fire at Vic car firm

A FIRE has destroyed a number of imported cars in Melbourne.

The blaze at a high-performance car importer in Clayton South burned four modified Nissans, but two large 'Mr T-style' vans got away with just some smoke damage.

The fire at Auto Project caused $500,000 damage on Sunday, with fire investigators unable to immediately determine the cause.

Firefighters got the Fairbank Rd fire under control within 30 minutes.

A large quantity of oils and lubricants helped fuel the blaze but firefighters managed to stop the flames reaching a bank of acetylene cylinders.

Mr T's character B.A. Baracus drove a large, black GMC van in the 1980s tv series 'The A-Team'.

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