Minister to meet mine protesters

ABORIGINAL elders are meeting with the federal environment minister to show the destruction a controversial northern NSW mine is doing to sacred areas.

For more than a month environmentalists, farmers and local Aboriginal people have protested against Whitehaven's $767 million Maules Creek mine near Boggabri, concerned about the damage it will cause to a surrounding forest and its sacred Aboriginal cultural and burial sites.

Several activists have been charged after locking themselves to gates and bulldozers. But after days of increased action in January, authorities closed the forest, for fear of fire, effectively blocking protesters from entering.

Gomeroi elders asked environment minister Greg Hunt to temporarily halt works last year and after waiting 116 days for a response, they say he has now asked for more information.

He is due to meet Gomeroi elder representative Dolly Talbott on Tuesday afternoon.

"That's 116 days of bulldozers and earthworks and now more than 10 days of blasting," Ms Talbott said in a statement.

"We fear by the time the minister is satisfied that the areas are at risk of destruction and are important to us that it will all be too late."

The minister, she says, wants to know the exact areas considered sacred and in need of protection.

But Whitehaven is preventing access to the forest, even for traditional ceremonies.

Whitehaven, which in January described the protests as "a nuisance" said it would not be deterred "from getting on with building Maules Creek."

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'No controllers as Airbuses flew over WA'

TWO Garuda aircraft flew over Western Australia's north without being monitored by air traffic controllers to ensure they didn't collide, a report has revealed.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau last week released its findings from an investigation into an incident on March 31 last year, when a Temporary Restricted Area (TRA) was declared for the Kimberley and Cable airspace sectors after two controllers called in at short notice to say they could not perform the night shift.

While the restriction was in place for five hours, two Garuda Airbus A330s - one bound for Melbourne and the other bound for Sydney - flew through the area.

Air controllers in Melbourne only became aware the planes were there when they were contacted by the aircraft as they emerged from the TRA.

"The minimum standards for separation from other aircraft were met, but both situations constituted losses of assurance that separation would be maintained," the bureau said in its report.

While Airservices Australia had adequately addressed some of the safety issues highlighted in the incident, it had not done so with others, the ATSB said.

"A range of actions by operational personnel did not conform to expectations.

"Airservices' risk controls were not robust enough to effectively manage this situation and ensure they would be made aware of all aircraft that were operating within the TRA."

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Liberal-Nats turf war may be resolved soon

A TURF war between two senior NSW government ministers could be resolved in the coming days.

The Nationals' Katrina Hodgkinson has loudly voiced her intention to run against Liberal Pru Goward in the seat of Goulburn at the next state election, due early in 2015.

Ms Hodgkinson, the NSW primary industries minister, said last month she would nominate for pre-selection for the seat after her electorate of Burrinjuck was abolished in a redistribution.

The Liberal Party warned off its junior coalition partner from contesting Goulburn, saying Ms Goward, the family and community services minister, was "entitled" to run as she is a serving minister.

Ms Goward says her cabinet colleague's decision threatened to inflame tensions between the parties and could even force the Liberals to "re-examine" the coalition agreement.

Premier Barry O'Farrell says he expects a decision on the matter "shortly".

"I expect there to be an announcement in the next week or so," he told reporters in Sydney on Monday.

Officials from the Liberal and National parties met on Friday to discuss the seat and how it might affect the coalition agreement for the 2015 election.

AAP understands the Nationals are keen to maintain the upper house part of the coalition agreement as it stood at the last election, because it would leave them with more winnable seats on the joint coalition ticket.

But Ms Hodgkinson's public comments that she was contesting Goulburn have angered some in the Liberal Party, who are warning the Nationals they could be forced to renegotiate the upper house agreement, which may leave their junior coalition partner with less winnable seats on the ticket.

Liberals argue that only 35 per cent of the new seat of Goulburn comes from Ms Hodgkinson's electorate and that the name has not changed.

The coalition agreement forbids a challenge against a sitting coalition member where the seat name hasn't changed in a redistribution.

Ms Hodgkinson is expected to withdraw her interest in Goulburn and instead run in the new seat of Cootamundra, which was created after a redistribution last year.

Ms Goward and Ms Hodgkinson both enjoyed comfortable wins at the 2011 election, picking up first preference votes of 61.3 per cent and 74.4 per cent respectively.

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Govt to repeal Qantas Sale Act

PM Tony Abbott says cabinet will repeal part of the Qantas Sale Act to "unshackle" the airline. Source: AAP

THE federal government will seek to repeal part of the Qantas Sale Act that governs foreign ownership laws.

But Prime Minister Tony Abbott says cabinet does not intend to offer a debt guarantee or a line of credit to Qantas.

Part three of the Qantas Sale Act restricts foreign ownership of the airline.

Foreign ownership of the airline will now be capped by the Air Navigation Act and the Foreign Investment Review Board.

Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said the repeal of the Act would allow Qantas to compete on a level playing field with other airlines.

"It's quite clear that the competition has been vigorous," Mr Truss said on Monday night.

"That's meant that it's been hard for Qantas, hard for Virgin, hard for its competitors and good for travellers."

Mr Abbott said the decision was made after two hours of deliberation in federal Cabinet on Monday.

"We've come to a decision and I'm very confident that this is a decision which is best for our nation and ultimately best for Qantas," he said.

Mr Abbott said Qantas could still in a "meaningful sense" be considered an Australian business if it was foreign owned, in the same way as its foreign-owned rival Virgin Australia.

"I reject ... this idea that Qantas is Australian and Virgin isn't because let's face it, Virgin is employing Australians and it's serving Australians.

"It's hard really to say that Virgin is substantially less Australian than Qantas itself and what we want to ensure is that both of these fine airlines are operating under the same rules."

Mr Abbott acknowledged the potential for further local job losses as warned by federal Labor.

"If some jobs have to go offshore in order to ensure that Qantas has a strong and viable long-term future, it may be regrettable, but nevertheless it is the best way to guarantee Australian jobs for the long term," he said.

Mr Abbott said a debt guarantee was discussed but rejected by cabinet.

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QLD crash victim would fly to relax

TRIBUTES are flowing for a Queensland plane crash victim who would spend his weekends in the skies to relax.

John Stortelder, 58, was on a regular Sunday morning flight when his light plane came down and burst into flames in the Lockyer Valley in southeast Queensland on Sunday morning.

The fatal crash occurred about 7.20am (AEST) at Gatton, west of Ipswich.

Firefighters say the aircraft slammed into a transport depot on Princes Road and bounced over a fence before coming to rest on an embankment.

The crash occurred in the same area as the local airpark, where Mr Stortelder spent a lot of time, friends say.

Members of tight-knit flying community in Gatton have remembered Mr Stortelder as a reserved, quiet man who loved to fly.

"He was a lovely guy," friend Martin Hone said.

"Its just such a shame and has really affected everyone out here."

Mr Hone, who had known Mr Stortelder for six years, was also flying when the father-of-two crashed.

"He did have a lot of flying time," he said.

"He had been flying for a few years but took it very seriously and flew regularly.

"On weekends he would come out to the airpark to fly his planes and that was his relaxation."

Lockyer Valley mayor Steve Jones said the tragedy would impact many at the Gatton airpark.

"It will be upsetting for the people that live there because the site is right beside the airpark."

Alec Williams knew the pilot and says he was a "good fella" who spent a lot of time at the Gatton airpark.

He told ABC radio the pilot spent weekends at the airpark and was "well respected around the place".

"He was a good fella who lived his own life."

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Dad drink drives three times in one day

Police have charged a NSW father who was caught driving drunk three times in 24 hours. Source: AAP

A NSW father on his p-plates who allegedly drove drunk to a police station to collect his daughter after she was caught boozed up behind the wheel has been nabbed for drink driving twice more in 24 hours.

After his 19-year-old daughter blew 0.016 at Toronto police station on Friday night, the man arrived to collect her only to be breath tested himself.

He was found to have a blood alcohol reading of 0.192.

The 37-year-old was charged and his provisional licence was suspended.

About 13 hours later, at Saturday lunchtime, the man was stopped at a random breath test.

He was taken back to Toronto police station and blew 0.190.

Police charged the man with another high-range drink driving offence.

But about 10 hours later, he was caught for the third time after losing control of his car and driving down the wrong side of the road.

This time he was caught with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.159.

He was given his third high-range drink driving charge.

The man is due before Toronto Local Court in March.

Pedestrian Council of Australia president Harold Scruby says repeat high range drink-driving offenders should have their vehicles confiscated, as is the case in places including New Zealand.

"If you run amok with a gun or a knife, they'll confiscate the weapon and they'll lock you up. If you run amok with Australia's most dangerous weapon, the motor vehicle, it's almost an Order of Australia these days," he told AAP.

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Premier wants minister to stay on

Victorian Liberal frontbencher Mary Wooldridge lost a preselection battle for the safe seat of Kew. Source: AAP

PREMIER Denis Napthine wants Victorian government minister Mary Wooldridge to continue her career in state parliament after she lost a preselection battle for the safe seat of Kew.

In an embarrassing blow to the government, the community services minister lost a Liberal preselection contest for Kew on Sunday to former local mayor Tim Smith.

Premier Denis Napthine had strongly backed Ms Wooldridge, saying she would win preselection after her seat of Doncaster was abolished in an electoral redistribution.

Ms Wooldridge said she will now contemplate her future.

"Obviously I'm disappointed but it's an important part of a democracy of our party," she told reporters.

She says she will discuss her future with her husband and colleagues.

Mr Smith, seen as a rising star in the party, said he was humbled to be chosen by about 300 mainly rank and file Liberal members, but would not take questions.

"Extraordinary day, for which I'm truly humbled by the honour the Liberal party in Kew has bestowed on me," he told reporters.

Dr Napthine said he had no regret in strongly supporting Ms Wooldridge's preselection.

"She was a great candidate and I thought she would win," he said.

The premier said Ms Wooldridge was an outstanding contributor who will remain in his cabinet prior to November's election.

He wanted to ensure the government does all it can so Ms Wooldridge can continue on his team.

"I'll be encouraging Mary Wooldridge to continue her state parliamentary career," he said.

Dr Napthine congratulated Mr Smith and said his team would support him.

"Tim Smith is a young man with a great track record and certainly has a great future," he said.

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Fed govt boosts pension payment

THE federal government has announced a boost to pension payments to help 3.6 million pensioners keep pace with rising living costs.

The increase to pension payments will come into effect on March 20 and is aimed at helping pensioners keep up with rises in cost of living expenses, the federal government says.

Federal Minister for Social Services Kevin Andrews said the payment rise had been driven by the consumer price index increase of 1.9 per cent for the first six months to December 2013.

"The coalition government is pleased to deliver increases to those on the Age Pension, Disability Support Pension, Carer Payment and veterans' income support," Mr Andrews said on Sunday.

He signalled another increase would occur in September to reflect growth in the CPI or the Pensioner and Beneficiary Living Cost Index, whichever is higher.

Single age pensioners would receive an increase of $15.70 a fortnight, while age pensioner couples would receive an extra $23.80 a fortnight.

"This means total pension payments for people on the maximum rate will be $842.80 a fortnight for singles, and $1,270.60 a fortnight for couples," Mr Andrews said.

One million allowance recipients would also benefit from a boost to income support payments such as Newstart and Parenting Payment as of March 20.

The announcement comes as the government is considering combining disability payments and payments to the unemployed into a single welfare payment, News Corp Australia reported on Sunday.

Mr Andrews told reporters in Melbourne the government needed to tackle welfare reform because the budget was in a dire position.

The federal opposition believes any move to combine the dole and disability pensions into a universal payment is just putting the boot into disabled people.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten accused the government of persecuting people with disabilities and seeking to slash their incomes.

"They seem to believe that everyone on the disability pension is rorting the system," he told reporters in Hobart.

"That isn't true."

The head of the government's welfare review, Patrick McClure, recommended to the Howard government in 2000 that it create a single, unified payment for all welfare recipients with top up amounts based on further need.

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Refugee activists march in Sydney

REFUGEE activists have clashed with police in a peak-hour march through inner Sydney.

Riot police were called in as hundreds rallied along George Street on Friday evening chanting "Free, free the refugees".

At times the throngs spilled onto city roads, disrupting traffic and prompting physical confrontations with police.

The demonstration comes after the death of 23-year-old Reza Berati during violent clashes at Australia's Manus Island immigration detention centre.

Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul told the rally the Iranian's death would not be forgotten.

"They want to push it aside," he said. "They want it to be covered up in the lies and the cover-ups which are now under way on Manus Island.

"We are not going to allow that to happen."

The protesters have called for the Papua New Guinea facility to be shut down and Immigration Minister Scott Morrison to step down.

"Scott Morrison, blood on your hands," they cried as the march approached the Immigration Department's Sydney headquarters.

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LNP members push for more wild river cuts

LIBERAL National Party members want more wild river protections to be wound back.

Office holders will vote on whether to forward the policy to the LNP government, along with 27 other proposals, at the party's state council meeting in Toowoomba this weekend.

The resolution calls for wild river declarations of the Gregory and Staaten catchments, in the gulf, be rescinded.

Plans are already underway to revoke six other declarations across northern and western Queensland, with new protections to be offered under regional plans.

Other resolutions include increasing sentences by up to 100 per cent where alcohol and drugs were a contributing factor to the crime.

The Queensland Core Skills test should be aborted from 2014, and soon-to-be mothers should receive more support via social media and phone calls to decrease anxiety and depression.

There are a number of recommendations to reduce the cost of living, which was one of the LNP's election pledges.

Land rental on leasehold land should be frozen while a review to overhaul the system is undertaken, and solar feed in tariffs for any new customers should be immediately removed.

The existing solar feed in tariff scheme alone is now forecast to cost on average each customer, in 2015/16, around $276 per year.

Premier Campbell Newman and LNP president Bruce McIver will speak at the event on Saturday, and Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss will address the crowd on Sunday.

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