Open West Papua to media, NGOs: Jokowi

INDONESIAN presidential candidate Joko Widodo has promised to open West Papua to foreign journalists and non-government organisations if he wins next month's election.

Access to the troubled Indonesian province is broadly restricted to foreign reporters but this doesn't stop requests for entry, particularly from Australian media.

Those who defy the ban typically report being followed and questioned by Indonesian police.

Visiting Jayapura on Thursday, the presidential favourite known as Jokowi promised to allow access, The Jakarta Post reports.

"Why not? It's safe here in Papua," he was quoted as saying. "There's nothing to hide."

The popular former Jakarta governor promised to improve education and healthcare in West Papua.

Foreign NGOs have reported difficulties getting access to the area, which lags behind the rest of Indonesia in development despite being resource-rich.

In October last year, three West Papuan activists climbed the wall into the Australian consulate in Bali to demand media access to the province.

Ahead of a visit by Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the trio presented a letter asking for him to seek the release of political prisoners from Indonesian jails.

Mr Abbott reiterated his support for Indonesia's sovereignty over Papua.

Indonesia's presidential race officially began on Wednesday, with Jokowi facing stiff competition from rival Prabowo Subianto, a former military commander.

Indonesia goes to the polls on July 9.

17.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Two more Nauru opposition MPs banned

TWO more opposition MPs have been suspended from the Nauru parliament amid claims the government is trying to avoid scrutiny of a budget that contains Australian funding for asylum seekers.

The Nauru government is expected to hand down its budget later on Thursday.

Three opposition MPs were banned from parliament in May amid chaotic scenes that included a police stand-off.

Another two - former president Sprent Dabwido and Squire Jeremiah - were suspended on Thursday for behaving in an "unparliamentary, disorderly, shameful, disgraceful way" during the last sitting day in May.

A committee will examine whether to freeze their entitlements.

They had opposed the earlier suspensions of Roland Kun, former foreign minister Kieren Keke and Mathew Batsiua.

That trio had been booted from parliament for talking to foreign journalists and criticising the government's decision to expel the country's chief justice, Australian Geoffrey Eames, and the dismissal of its only magistrate, Peter Law, another Australian.

There are now only three non-government MPs left in the parliament, facing 11 from the government.

"The whole thing has gone pear-shaped," Mr Kun told AAP from New Zealand.

"We're pleading for the Speaker to save the legislature because the government has already killed the judiciary."

The opposition is unable to seek a Supreme Court ruling because no chief justice has been appointed to replace Mr Eames.

Mr Kun believes the latest suspensions are connected to budget timing.

"There are numerous holes in the budget but we can't put a finger on them until they actually present the paper work," he said.

Australia provides much of the government's budget, which it uses to run an immigration detention centre and resettlement program.

So far Nauru has resettled 41 refugees on a temporary basis until a third country, expected to be Cambodia, agrees to a deal with Australia.

The detention centre is accommodating more than 1100 asylum seekers.

Opposition MPs are concerned that funding for health care, education, transport and utilities is going backwards.

Mr Kun believes money has been diverted to a pool of fund used to pay cash bonuses to "selected individuals".

If the budget passes on Thursday parliament may not sit again until next year, he said.

17.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Australia looks beyond China for growth

AUSTRALIA won't be putting all of its economic and investment eggs into China's basket, Trade Minister Andrew Robb says.

Mr Robb and Prime Minister Tony Abbott will embark on a trade and investment tour of Canada and the United States next week.

It will include Mr Abbott's first meeting with US President Barack Obama at the White House.

Mr Robb will lead a separate business delegation to Ottawa, Toronto, New York and Houston.

China accounts for 30 per cent of Australia's exports and about $151 billion in two-way trade.

Critics say this leaves the Australian economy open to danger should the Chinese economy slow down.

But Mr Robb said the argument was misguided, particularly given the interest in Australia from the US, Canada, Indonesia, the Gulf States and Singapore.

"I've done 28 investment roundtables in 10 countries," he told AAP.

"They want a stable, certain investment environment.

"I think we are quite attractive and we are restoring the gold standard for sovereign risk."

The US had 10 times more invested in Australia than it had in China, and Australia had $30 billion invested in China but $450 billion in the US.

"I'm very conscious of the fact that the long-term investors - the US, UK, Switzerland and Japan - will continue to be the mainstay of our investment," Mr Robb said.

"A lot of the growth may come out of China and others but you still need the mainstay.

"We can't put our eggs in the one basket but it's fair to say we are not."

The focus of Mr Robb's mission will be pension funds and other investors in North America with an interest in tourism and hospitality, medical research and devices, resources and energy, education and agribusiness.

"These are five things we feel we are as good as anybody and better than most," he said.

There was also the potential for investment in some of the $200 billion in potential state asset sales spurred on by the government's offer of a 15 per cent bonus if the money is put back into infrastructure.

Capital was needed to build five-star hotels to service the growing number of high-spending Chinese tourists.

Agribusiness investment was essential to growing high-value food and fibre products, processing it and shipping it overseas.

Mr Robb's next trip after North America will be to Switzerland and the UK.

17.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Dredge spoil dumping near reef approved

THE government body that protects the Great Barrier Reef has approved the dumping of more than 370,000 cubic metres of dredge spoil in the marine park.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) has issued a permit to allow a port authority to dump the spoil as part of a dredging project at Hay Point coal port in central Queensland.

The decision has angered conservation groups, and comes only months after the authority gave the green light for three million tonnes of spoil to be dumped as part of a project to expand the nearby Abbot Point coal port.

"It is an astounding level of arrogance," North Queensland Conservation Council spokeswoman Wendy Tubman said.

"The government claims it is protecting the reef while allowing it to be subjected to such damage from out-of-control sea dumping."

She also says the federal and Queensland governments are taking UNESCO "for a ride".

The United Nation's environment arm has said it regrets the federal government's decision to approve the Abbot Point dredging project, and has raised concerns about the overall health of the reef.

UNESCO is expected to discuss whether to list the reef as a World Heritage site "in danger" when it meets next week.

The Ports Corporation of Queensland wants to carry out the works at Hay Point to make it easier for ships to access the port and to increase capacity.

It's estimated 378,400 cubic metres of dredge spoil will be dumped within the marine park over three years.

The dredging will be carried out within the marine park and the World Heritage Area.

GBRMPA says no hard coral reefs are in the approved dredge disposal area.

It also says the permit imposes a number of conditions to minimise potential effects on the marine park, including the Whitsundays, which is north of Hay Point.

"With safeguards in place, the proposed dredging and dredge disposal is unlikely to significantly impact on the environmental, social, heritage and cultural values of the Marine Park," the authority said in a statement.

17.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Light rail to transform Sydney: govt

A $1.6 billion light rail system linking some of Sydney's biggest attractions will create 10,000 jobs and make it easier for people to travel to sporting, entertainment, health and education areas, the state government says.

By 2020, 20 light rail stops will be built along the 12km route, which, according to present schemes, will run between Circular Quay and Central, the Moore Park sporting and entertainment precinct, Randwick Racecourse, the University of NSW and Prince of Wales Hospital at Randwick.

"It extends from Circular Quay along George Street to Central Station and Moore Park, then to Kingsford via Anzac Parade and Randwick via Alison Road and High Street," Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian said of the "priority project ... that will transform Sydney".

During peak times, services would depart the city centre every two to three minutes and about every five minutes between Moore Park and the Randwick and Kingsford branches, Ms Berejiklian said.

The light rail project will be designed, built, operated and maintained using money from public and private sectors.

Major works are scheduled to start in 2015.

17.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

No panic about iron ore price:WA treasurer

THE West Australian treasurer says he is not panicking about a slump in iron ore prices, which threaten to erode the budget surplus.

The spot price for the metal is about $US92 a tonne, a near two-year low.

The state government has assumed a price of about $US125/t for the financial year and almost $123/t for 2014/15.

And for every $US1 fluctuation in the iron ore price, WA's royalties vary by $49 million.

That is substantial considering the state has forecast a surplus of $183 million this financial year, falling to a wafer-thin $5 million by 2015/16.

While WA Opposition Leader Mark McGowan has called on the state government "to provide a full explanation" as to why its projections are higher than those of analysts, Treasurer Mike Nahan says treasury estimates are credible and there is no reason to panic.

Dr Nahan said the state government was closely watching the iron ore price, which fluctuates considerably.

"It varies quite a bit," he told ABC radio on Wednesday.

"We're not trying to predict the variations in it - we're looking at the long haul.

"You just have to hold your nerve on these issues. There is volatility in this.

"If we react to every downward trend by immediately taking drastic actions, we could not govern well.

"I'm not going to slam on the brakes in any way."

17.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Confusion remains about Burma name change

CONFUSION over what to call Burma, or Myanmar, depending on who and where you are, seems to have surfaced once again.

For decades, Australia's foreign service referred to the Southeast Asian nation as Burma, but after democratic reforms, the previous Labor government in 2012 changed all official references to the Union of Myanmar.

Now it's been confirmed the Abbott government quietly switched back to Burma in late 2013, as rumoured, when the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) website suddenly reverted to the old title.

Consistency seems to be lacking, though.

DFAT's country brief uses Burma, but the Smartraveller website opts for Burma followed by Myanmar in brackets.

Liberal Senator Helen Kroger appeared unimpressed that references to Myanmar remained at all, given the directive from the prime minister in November.

In particular, the eagle-eyed senator grilled DFAT officials at a Senate estimates hearing on Wednesday about Australia's top envoy being confusingly called the ambassador to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.

"There was a directive from the prime minister in relation to this foreign policy matter," Ms Kroger told a Senate estimates hearing on Wednesday.

"So you're saying that his word doesn't amount to anything?"

DFAT secretary Peter Varghese assured Senator Kroger his officials were "faithfully implementing" the prime minister's policy changes by the book.

Under the somewhat confusing guidelines, the government's policy is for diplomats and envoys to switch freely between Burma and Myanmar, depending on the circumstances.

When dealing with the government in Yangon or countries that prefer Myanmar, Australian officials follow suit.

But in domestic contexts or dealing with the US or UK, the older Burma title is adopted.

"Our ambassador to Myanmar would be our ambassador to Myanmar, because the country to which she is accredited is Myanmar, in the eyes of the government of Myanmar," Mr Varghese said.

17.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Alleged jewellery thieves flaunted booty

IT took several police officers and a member of the public to bring down an alleged jewellery thief as he fled through a Perth mall before a dramatic arrest.

About 5.45pm (WST) on Wednesday, officers saw two men in their early 20s, who had allegedly stolen jewellery from a city store, filming and photographing themselves wearing the stolen goods, a police spokesman said.

Police caught one of the men and asked the other to hand over his mobile phone, but he took "an aggressive stance" and fled the scene.

Following a chase through Forrest Place, several officers and a member of the public brought the man to the ground.

Both men were taken into custody.

17.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

No relief in sight as 'warm wave' rolls on

Record high temperatures are clear sign of climate change hitting Australia, a report shows. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIA has experienced its hottest two years on record and high temperatures are set to continue through winter in a clear sign climate change is having an impact, a new report warns.

May 2012 to April 2014 was the hottest 24-month period ever recorded in Australia, but that is likely to be eclipsed by the two years between June 2012 and May 2014, according to the Climate Commission's latest report, Abnormal Autumn.

"We have just had an abnormally warm autumn, off the back of another very hot 'angry summer'," Climate Council Professor Will Steffen said.

"The past two-year period has delivered the hottest average temperature we have ever recorded in Australia.

"Climate change is here, it's happening, and Australians are already feeling its impact."

The average temperature across Australia in April was 1.11C above the long-term average, the report says, citing Bureau of Meteorology figures.

The average minimum temperature was 1.31C above normal.

Unseasonable temperatures in the autumn "warm wave" set records, with Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne setting benchmarks for the consecutive number of May days when the mercury reached 20C or higher.

In its report, the Climate Council says the abnormally warm weather in April and May "are part of a longer-term trend towards hotter conditions in the summer months and more warm spells in autumn and winter".

It says each of the 12-month periods ending in January, February, March and April 2014 have been record warm periods for Australia, with May figures on track to also be a new high.

"Such records are consistent with the ongoing global and Australia-wide, multi-decadal trends towards a hotter climate," the report says.

Meteorologists predict a high likelihood that Australia will experience an El Nino event - characterised by below-average rainfall in the east and south - in coming months.

The Climate Council says an El Nino could worsen the impacts of climate change, leading to hotter, drier weather.

The Climate Council is a crowd-funded, independent organisation created by the members of the former Climate Commission, which was axed by the coalition government when it came to power in 2013.

17.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

No electricity sell-off plans yet: Baird

The NSW premier's reported plan to sell the state's electricity network in stages has been attacked. Source: AAP

NSW Premier Mike Baird has hosed down suggestions he is preparing to sell off the state's poles and wires, as Labor accuses him of having a "secret" privatisation plan.

Media reports suggest Mr Baird will use the government's June 17 budget to spruik the benefits of selling off the state's electricity assets.

But the premier, who spearheaded an aggressive privatisation push in his previous role as the state's treasurer, said the government had not changed its position on the issue and would take any privatisation policy to the next election.

"I've said very clearly that if we are going to pursue a transaction like that we would need a full mandate," Mr Baird told reporters in Sydney on Monday.

"That is something we'll discuss in our party rooms, that is something we'll discuss in cabinet and that's something we'll be doing in due course."

But Opposition Leader John Robertson wasn't convinced.

He claims Mr Baird is preparing a "secret plan" to privatise the state's poles and wires.

"For years, the people in this state have known only too well what privatisation means," he told reporters.

"It means increased prices ... and for many families that's going to simply push them to breaking point."

He said any sale would strip $1 billion a year in dividends from NSW, which would normally be reinvested into schools and hospitals.

The state's peak union council is vowing to resist the move with a fierce campaign.

"We're very concerned about the premier trying to privatise electricity by the backdoor," Unions NSW Assistant Secretary Mark Morey told AAP.

"Mr Baird should be open and honest rather than floating balloons and come clean with the public."

17.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Abbott to meet with Indonesian president

PM Tony Abbott is to meet with Indonesian President to mend diplomatic rifts. Source: AAP

AN Indonesian resort island known as a romantic wedding venue will host an ice-breaking meeting between Tony Abbott and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Ties between Australia and Indonesia have been uneasy since the Abbott government began turning back asylum-seeker boats and reports emerged of spies tapping the president's phone.

Relations soured to a point that Indonesia's ambassador to Australia, Najib Riphat Kesoema, was recalled to Jakarta in November.

But since then the ambassador has been a key figure in rebuilding relations and working towards a code of conduct, which could be signed or at least progressed when the leaders meet on Batam Island on Wednesday.

The ambassador met with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop in Canberra last week and this was considered constructive by government sources.

A phone call between Mr Abbott and the president in May is also understood to have helped mend bridges, with the prime minister apologising for not attending a planned meeting in Bali.

Indonesian officials say the president is keen to leave office later this year with a legacy of strong relations with Australia intact.

The pair will discuss not only the bilateral relationships but developments in the region such as China's growing interest in disputed territories.

Batam Island, a popular location for beach weddings, was also the venue for a reconciliation meeting between former prime minister John Howard and Mr Yudhoyono in 2006.

The Howard meeting came after the Papuan boat people crisis and the release of radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir.

Mr Abbott is making the eight-hour stopover on his way to France for the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings at Normandy and a trade and investment tour of North America.

He will meet with US President Barack Obama in Washington DC and hold talks with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa.

17.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Driver may have seen missing Vic girl Bung

THREE years and 1000 calls to CrimeStoppers on, police are still waiting for the one tip-off to help them find missing Melbourne schoolgirl Siriyakorn "Bung" Siriboon.

Police have chased down a mountain of leads, doorknocked 1000 homes, interviewed 250 registered sex offenders and offered a $1 million reward.

Homicide squad Detective Inspector John Potter said it might take a tip-off to find Bung, who disappeared on her walk to school in Boronia in Melbourne's east.

"Someone may tell someone else what's happened to Bung and that's the person that we need to come forward," Det Insp Potter told reporters on Monday.

"We continue to hold grave fears for Bung."

The family's pain is the same every day, Bung's stepfather Fred Pattison said.

"We're all hurting," Mr Pattison told TV reporters.

"Somebody come forward and let us know what's going on. Somebody out there knows something.

"Please, it's time. It's been long enough."

What's for certain is Bung's neighbour saw her walk along Elsie St shortly after 8.30am on June 2, 2011.

Beyond that, the details are sketchy.

Police thought Bung made it all the way along Harcourt Rd to Moncoe St, 130 metres from her school.

But another report, that a driver saw a teenage Asian girl - possibly in a school uniform - in the back seat of a white Ford station wagon on Boronia Rd, puts that in doubt.

"They were driving, they were stationary at the traffic lights, they saw this happen, they felt there was something odd about what they were seeing, so they reported it," Det Insp Potter said.

The driver, aged in his late 50s or early 60s, had a tattooed left arm and a "rock and roll styled hairdo".

"If this is a perfectly innocent scenario we need to find out," Det Insp Potter said.

Police had held onto the information about the sighting in the car "for some time" until they were sure it was on the day Bung went missing.

He said police had spoken to persons of interest, but none of them owned a white station wagon.

In 2013 a man claimed he hit Bung with his car and dumped her body at a local reserve.

But no remains were found, and police said parts of his story didn't add up.

Det Insp Potter said police "always hold out hope" Bung may be found alive.

Mr Pattison had a simple message for Bung should she see it.

"Bung, we miss you. We want you to come home."

17.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Aust pledges $100m for polio fight

Australia has pledged 100 million dollars to go towards eradicating polio in northern Africa. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIA has pledged $100 million to help eradicate polio for good.

The funds will be spread over five years and will go towards making countries in northern Africa and the Middle East - where outbreaks have been reported - polio-free.

It will also help Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria, where the disease is endemic.

About $20 million will be provided over the next year to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative for immunisations to fight the disease's re-emergence.

Announcing the pledge on Sunday, Foreign minister Julie Bishop said Australia is committed to helping finish the job of eradicating polio.

17.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

People want vision, not complainers: PM

Tony Abbott says he is the man with the plan and the Australian public will back him. Source: AAP

SENIOR government ministers have been accused of being ignorant of their own policies as the prime minister continues to hard sell an unpopular budget.

Tony Abbott on Sunday remained optimistic budget measures - including the $7 Medicare co-payment - would pass parliament, insisting Australians wanted a man with a plan, not a bunch of complainers.

"Whether it's (opposition leader) Bill Shorten, whether it's the Greens, whether it's others - it's one long chorus of complaint," the prime minister said.

"The man with the plan has an extraordinary advantage over the person who has just got the complaint."

But Labor said the government was ignoring what the people wanted - which was not Abbott's budget.

Mr Shorten said the prime minister had lost control of not only his budget, but of ministers who did not know details of their own policies.

He jumped on Mr Abbott quashing reports a senior minister was considering drug testing dole recipients, while he accused education minister Christopher Pyne of contradicting his university-fee change policy.

"Australians are appalled that this government can't maintain the same position for 24 hours without something changing," Mr Shorten told reporters in Melbourne on Sunday.

He vowed again to block large parts of the budget including the co-payment, prompting scorn from Mr Abbott.

The prime minister said it was bizarre for Labor to be "waxing morally indignant" in opposing the co-payment when former Labor leader Bob Hawke sought to introduce it in the 1990s.

But opposition frontbencher Jason Clare said Labor stood up to Mr Hawke on the co-payment and it would do the same with Mr Abbott.

The coalition now has to horse-trade with crossbench senators to realise its budget.

Mr Abbott admits refinement of some measures may be necessary and has been wooing minor party and independent senators to get them on board.

He defused questions about whether he had a difficult relationship with Clive Palmer whose party with key independents would hold the balance of power in the Senate from July 1.

It was "perfectly normal" for senior members of the coalition, like frontbencher Malcolm Turnbull, to hold talks with Mr Palmer in his place, Mr Abbott said.

17.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Qld still on track for surplus

Queensland premier Campbell Newman isn't phased by a massive increase to the fiscal deficit. Source: AAP

QUEENSLAND is still on track for a surplus despite the budget deficit quadrupling to a projected $2.27 billion next financial year.

The mid-year budget update in December estimated the fiscal deficit would be $664 million for 2014/15, but a $600 million write down in coal royalties has worsened the bottom lime.

So too has a lag in natural disaster relief repayments from the Commonwealth.

Premier Campbell Newman doesn't see the loss as a budget deterioration, rather he insists it's an accounting problem.

"It's a timing issue," he said.

Two years of job and service cuts have given enough of a buffer to sustain the hit, with the state still on track for a surplus in 2015/16, as promised.

"It will be the first time in over a decade that Queensland taxpayers won't have to borrow money," Mr Newman said.

On Tuesday, the Newman government will hand down its third and final budget before next year's election.

It has all but confirmed it will sell assets, instead of increasing taxes and reducing services, to help pay down $80 billion debt and build new infrastructure.

Two ports could be leased and two electricity generators and the commercial parts of Sunwater sold.

"The only way we can build the new infrastructure is through cutting front line services, putting up taxes and charges, or asset sales," Mr Newman said.

On Sunday, it was announced that $6.5 million had been set aside in the budget to hire 70 child safety officers.

Another $25 million will be spent on child safety initiatives, such as more referral services, support for families to care for children at home instead of out-of-home care, and improved support for indigenous families.

Child Safety Minister Tracy Davis says $406 million will be spent over five years, to allow an overhaul of the child protection system.

The funding boost is in response to the Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry and the final report by Commissioner Tim Carmody QC.

He recommended keeping families together, with more prevention and early intervention services.

"Parents should be able to care for their own children at home safely, with early intervention services and support easily accessible for those families who need it," Ms Davis said.

17.01 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bali flights under cloud but Darwin clear

Flights in Darwin are expected to resume later today as plumes from an Indonesian volcano dissipate. Source: AAP

FLIGHTS to and from Darwin have resumed after they were grounded by an ash cloud from an Indonesian volcano, as Jetstar grounds flights to Bali.

Darwin was cut off to all air services on Saturday as ash plumes billowed from the Sangeang Api volcano off the Indonesian island of Sumbawa. It erupted continuously after an initial blast on Friday afternoon.

The major plume affecting Australian aviation swept southeast over the west side of the Northern Territory and as far south as Alice Springs.

Cyndee Seals of the Bureau of Meteorology's Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre in Darwin said Australia was now clear but airlines were meeting to discuss an ash cloud near Bali.

"I can advise that the ash cloud across Australia is dissipating but there are still ash clouds southwest of the volcano and another to the east east-northeast from an earlier high eruption," she said.

The southwesterly ash cloud was nearing Bali but its effects on flights to Denpasar were not yet clear, Ms Seals said.

"Right now, unless the winds change - and they are a little variable - it will take the ash south of Denpasar, away from Bali," she said.

"The airlines are meeting about it."

On Sunday night Jetstar cancelled 12 flights in and out of Bali as the Sangeang Api cloud drifted towards Denpasar International Airport.

Qantas announced it had resumed its flights, while Virgin, Air Asia and Jetstar also resumed operations in and out of Darwin, Darwin International Airport spokeswoman Virginia Sanders told AAP.

But she urged travellers to stay in touch with their airline for updates on flights as some changes might be made.

"Flights are coming back on line but there are some scheduled changes so people still need to check with the airline with regards to what's happening with their particular flight," she told AAP.

17.01 | 0 komentar | Read More