Principal says school trusted staff

A FORMER Adelaide principal who hired a pedophile says he did not lie but made a mistake when he initially said he had done a police check on the bus driver.

Claude Hamam also said the school was extremely vigilant about supervision, but he had not known children went to the woodwork shed at lunchtime to see the driver, Brian Perkins.

"At the time we had an element of trust that we had for all the staff there," he told the royal commission into sex abuse on Friday.

It is investigating St Ann's Special School and Perkins who sexually abused intellectually disabled children between 1986 and 1991.

Mr Hamam hired Perkins, who had three child abuse convictions, without doing a police check, could not recall if he verified his references, and interviewed him alone which breached catholic school policy.

He told the commission he deeply regretted telling the Catholic Education Office (CEO) in 2001 that he had carried out the check, before revealing in 2003 that he had not done so.

"It is something I have got to carry for the rest of my life," he said.

It had been a mistake and an error of judgment, so he was shocked and devastated to be accused of lying and to be dismissed on the grounds of not being a fit and proper person.

Mr Hamam agreed that as Perkins took on more school activities, he had greater opportunities to be alone with children but said "we were extremely vigilant".

Perkins did volunteer respite care of students on weekends and helped out in the woodwork shed.

Mr Hamam said he did not recall a mother telling him that Perkins had placed her daughter on his knee in the shed and tried to feel her breast.

If that happened, he said he would have informed police.

He did recall a teacher raising concerns about Perkins bringing another man - whom the commission heard was now a convicted pedophile - onto the school premises.

"She felt perhaps he was a little creepy and she didn't like the look of this person," Mr Hamam said.

He told the man he did not want him at the school, but he could not recall if he brought up the incident with Perkins or if it gave him concern about the driver.

He said he first found out about the abuse claims when police contacted him in 1991.

Mr Hamam said he told Michael Critchley, who worked in the CEO's resources section, and expected him to take the case further.

He denied only approaching Mr Critchley for help in terminating Perkins' employment, saying "I thought it was a much more serious matter than looking at an industrial issue".

He did not tell parents their children may have been abused as police told him to keep the matter confidential so as not to compromise their investigation.

He did not raise the allegations with the Archbishop or at school board meetings.

Mr Critchley testified that he did not inform anyone in the CEO of his conversation with Mr Hamam.

"I can't recall why I didn't do it," he said, but agreed that in retrospect he should have.

Perkins, jailed for 10 years in 2003 after pleading guilty to sex offences, died in prison in 2009.

The hearing is continuing.

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Australia's real Pacific solution

Guards at Australia's detention centre on Manus island are ordered to carry hooked knives. Source: AAP

GUARDS at Australia's detention centre on Manus island are ordered to carry hooked knives.

The knives are used to cut ropes when asylum seekers try to hang themselves.

This is the harsh reality of Australia's so-called Pacific Solution.

Here's another reality - in one sleeping area in Foxtrot compound 122 men sleep in a steaming hot, darkened room with no air-conditioning.

Large, industrial fans are spaced unevenly between the beds, leaving little room for people to move.

And another reality: these are men - 1296 of them - living with the dark memories of the February 17 riot that claimed the life of 23-year-old Iranian man Reza Berati.

Broken window panes in the dining hall at Oscar compound, missing windows in Mike compound, bullet holes in a large white container exposing - like wounds - the rusted brown interior.

"They hit him and he fell from here and they hit him till he died," one asylum seeker said of Berati, pointing to a stairwell in Mike compound.

"They hit him in the head until he died." Guards and immigration officials quickly moved us on.

On Friday, a select group of media organisations including AAP was permitted rare access to the centre by court order as part of a Papua New Guinea human rights inquiry into the treatment of asylum seekers.

We were not allowed to interview staff or detainees.

Men in Delta, Foxtrot and Oscar compounds held pictures of Berati.

"Please report this, we want freedom," shouted one man, who gripped tightly onto the shoulder of this journalist.

"Please, we can't sleep. We are scared all the time."

Another became visibly upset. "Six months, seven months, eight months like this here," he said.

"We have no (running) water, no safety."

In Delta compound, media were shown filthy toilets with no running water, while in another compound there were broken showers.

This part of the facility is constructed on the remains of the old Manus Island detention centre, built so the Howard government could implement the first instalment of the Pacific Solution.

Tightly packed shipping containers in rows, each one sleeping four or five men.

Facing each other, the walkway between them is shielded from the heavy and frequent Manus rains by a metal roof.

Peering down, you can barely make out the faces of the men in the dark.

There are vast differences in the quality of the compounds.

While Delta and Foxtrot compounds are extremely run down, others are not.

Mike compound is made up of blazing white shipping containers stacked on top of each other. Each room sleeps four men.

In Oscar compound - made up of a dining hall and large marquee sleeping halls for up to 50 men - showers were broken.

In one of these sleeping halls the words, "you'll never find a rainbow if you keep looking down", are scrawled on a wall above one of the bunk beds.

The beds are spaced about a foot apart.

The court party was informed there are fewer tables in the dining halls since the riot, with none in one compound.

Next to Oscar compound, behind a large corrugated iron fence, is the mental health sleeping quarters.

Inside, a bearded man clutches his violently shaking right hand to his chest.

"I am from Syria, please I want freedom," he said.

Next to Mike compound is "the green zone" where asylum seekers can make calls to their families at night.

But there's nothing safe about it.

An asylum seeker points out a bullet hole in a metal support beam - another memory of February 17.

As the team of court officials and media walks between Oscar and Delta compounds, men hang against the fences and stare at us silently.

One group of about eight men stand with their faces pressed against the rusted metal.

To their right: a sign ordering guards to carry the hooked knives.

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Nats will do better at re-run poll: Joyce

THE Nationals will improve their performance at the re-run West Australian Senate election, Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce says.

The party - which began in the west - missed out on a seat at the September poll because of preference deals wrangled by minor parties including the Australian Sports Party.

Shane Van Styn and Colin de Grussa are running again at the April 5 election, but former AFL star David Wirrapanda has decided he won't.

"We had David Wirrapanda and he did a good job - we got a better vote than one of the senators that got in, it's just that our preference flow wasn't right but this time, the preference flow is better for us," Mr Joyce told Fairfax radio on Friday.

"We've got a better position (on the ballot paper) in box B.

"There was an overwhelming desire for change at the last election and I suppose the National party, because they stand on their own, got run over a bit in it.

"But this election is different."

Mr Joyce said the party's policy platform was centred on abolishing the carbon tax, progressing trade agreements and more infrastructure in WA.

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No sweet tooth for Australian cake champ

FOR an award-winning cake decorator who spends Monday to Friday surrounded by the temptations of her sugary creations, Jacquie Goldstaiz's palate is a blessing in disguise.

"I never bake for me. I just really love fresh fruit and vegetables," she said.

"The only time I really taste cake is to make sure it's the right flavour or it's not too dry."

Ms Goldstaiz's artistic flair earned her the championship title and a $2000 prize at the Australian Cake Decorating Championships in Sydney on Friday.

The Gold Coast woman's marzipan fruit creation took two months to make.

While the competition version was not edible, Ms Goldstaiz estimates a real cake would take two weeks to create and would weigh about 10 kilograms.

Throughout her five-year career, Ms Goldstaiz has created cakes in the shape of a Louis Vuitton bag, a Native American head and a diving helmet.

But somehow the former florist manages not to overindulge.

"To me, it's an art," she said.

"I never look at it as a cake and never look at it as something to eat."

Her winning confection will return to Queensland to take prime position in her cake-decorating shop.

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No breakthrough in ties at Jakarta talks

Defence Minister David Johnston says there has been no breakthrough with Jakarta in maritime talks. Source: AAP

DEFENCE Minister David Johnston has underscored respect for sovereignty and intelligence-sharing at a Jakarta forum, where future opportunities to defrost the bilateral relationship were flagged.

Senator Johnston's participation in the annual Jakarta International Defence Dialogue on Wednesday is not being presented as a breakthrough moment in the tense period.

But he was well received by Indonesian counterpart Purnomo Yusgiantoro, who says the nations are close to setting a date in the near future for "two-plus-two" talks - both nations' defence and foreign ministers - to be held in Australia.

Senator Johnston took the opportunity to convey to Jakarta - and forum delegates - Australia's respect for its neighbours.

"I believe we should aim to strengthen each other's security by respecting each other's sovereign territory and helping to reinforce each other's capacity to protect our territorial waters," he wrote on the forum's website.

"We should aim to share information on security issues of mutual concern."

Defence co-operation was wound back late last year after reports of Australian intelligence monitoring the phones of Indonesia's leaders.

Then Australia apologised to Indonesia when it learnt its vessels had breached its territory during operations to turn asylum seekers away.

In his remarks, Senator Johnston made special mention of the Indonesian relationship.

"Australia and Indonesia are at our best when we co-operate," he wrote. "Whatever the momentary fluctuations in our relationship, we will be better off if we commit to help bring out the best in each other."

Earlier, the minister told reporters Australia came to the multi-national forum as "an honest player looking to make good relationships across the board, particularly with Indonesia".

But he conceded: "I don't think we're in a breakthrough situation".

In the wake of the spy scandal, Indonesia proposed a six-point plan to restore bilateral ties with Australia, but little progress has been made.

Both ministers, however, insist some co-operation in their portfolios goes on.

Dr Yusgiantoro told reporters the defence relationship with Australia endured, even when other difficulties persisted.

"I don't see any big deal from here, except that we ceased joint exercise and military exercises," Dr Yusgiantoro told reporters.

"We have to differentiate between bilateral and multilateral."

Also at the Jakarta forum was Indonesia's Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, who has repeatedly criticised the policy of turning back asylum-seeker boats.

Dr Natalegawa, who views the six-point plan as stuck at point one, says he will meet his Australian counterpart Julie Bishop next week, on the sidelines of a nuclear summit in The Netherlands.

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Sun saps folic acid from women: study

Women who spend a lot of time in the sun are at risk of losing folic acid, according to a new study. Source: AAP

WOMEN who spend a lot of time in the sun are at risk of losing folic acid, according to a new study.

This means outdoor workers and others should speak to their GP if they are pregnant or likely to become pregnant, says researcher Professor Michael Kimlin from the Queensland University of Technology.

He and Dr David Borradale found a 20 per cent reduction in folate levels in a study of Brisbane women aged 18 to 47 who had high rates of sun exposure.

"This is concerning as the benefits of folic acid are well known," Professor Kimlin said.

Folate has been found to reduce miscarriage and neural tube defects in unborn babies.

Pregnant women or those planning a pregnancy are encouraged to take 500 micrograms a day.

High exposure to sun left women with folate below the recommended range for those considering pregnancy, according to the study published in the Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology.

Women who spend time outside from 10am to 3pm with inadequate sun protection are most at risk.

Folic acid is a B vitamin found in green leafy vegetables, citrus fruits, legumes, whole grains and vegemite.

In Australia it is also added to foods such as bread.

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Crimeans attack Ukraine navy HQ

President Vladimir Putin has signed a treaty making Crimea a member of the Russian Federation. Source: AAP

PRO-RUSSIAN protesters have stormed Ukraine's naval headquarters in Crimea after Moscow claimed the peninsula and the first casualties ratcheted up the stakes in the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War.

A Ukrainian navy spokesman said the crowd of a few hundred irate activists in Ukraine's port city of Sevastopol had forced a group of officers to barricade themselves inside the building to avoid a direct confrontation.

"There are about 200 of them, some wearing balaclavas. They are unarmed and no shots have been fired from our side," said spokesman Sergiy Bogdanov.

"The officers have barricaded themselves inside the building," he said, adding that the officers had no intention of using their weapons.

A defiant President Vladimir Putin had brushed aside global indignation and Western sanctions on Tuesday to sign a treaty absorbing the flashpoint Ukrainian peninsula and expanding Russia's borders for the first time since World War II.

The historic and hugely controversial moment came less than a month after the ouster in Kiev of a Moscow-backed regime by leaders who spearheaded three months of deadly protests aimed at pulling Ukraine out of the Kremlin's orbit for the first time.

Putin responded by winning the right to use force against his ex-Soviet neighbour and then using the help of local militias to seize the Black Sea region of Crimea - the warm water outlet for Russian navies since the 18th century.

The explosive security crisis on the EU's eastern frontier now threatens to reopen a diplomatic and ideological chasm between Russia and Western powers not seen since the tension-fraught decades preceding the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall.

"Russia's political and economic isolation will only increase if it continues down this path and it will in fact see additional sanctions by the United States and the EU," US Vice President Joe Biden warned on Tuesday while paying a visit to Poland aimed at reassuring former Soviet satellites of Washington's backing in the face of the Kremlin's expansionist threat.

The greatest fear facing Kiev's new leaders and the West is that Putin will push huge forces massed along the Ukrainian border into the Russian-speaking southeastern swathes of the country in a self-professed effort to "protect" compatriots who he claims are coming under increasing attack from violent ultranationalists.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the speculation while still hinting strongly that Russia intended to play a big future role in Ukraine's domestic affairs.

"We are not speaking about military actions in the eastern regions of Ukraine," Peskov told the BBC.

"But Russia will do whatever is possible, using all legal means, all legal means, in total correspondence with international law, to protect and to extend a hand of help to Russians living in eastern regions of Ukraine."

Putin had signed the Crimea treaty - at this stage recognised by no nation besides Russia - after stressing the move was done "without firing a single shot and with no loss of life."

But the first bloodshed came to the rugged peninsula of two million people only hours later when a group of gunmen wearing masks but no military insignia stormed a Ukrainian military centre in Simferopol.

The Ukrainian defence ministry said one of its soldier died from a neck wound and another suffered various injuries.

The pro-Russia Crimean police said a member of the local militias had also been killed. A spokeswoman blamed both casualties on shooting by unidentified assailants from a nearby location.

But the violence prompted Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk to warn an emergency government meeting that "the conflict is shifting from a political to a military stage.

"Russian soldiers have started shooting at Ukrainian military servicemen, and that is a war crime," the Wester-backed prime minister said.

The Ukrainian defence ministry soon authorised its soldier in Crimea to open fire in self defence for the first time.

Ukraine had previously forbidden its troops from shooting - in some cases forcing them to stand guard at their bases with empty rifles - to avoid provoking a offensive by its nuclear-armed giant that could spill into an all-out war.

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No curfew for Brisbane Airport: Truss

The federal government says aircraft using Brisbane Airport will not be subject to a curfew. Source: AAP

THE federal government will not allow a curfew to be imposed on Brisbane Airport.

"A curfew at Brisbane Airport would have had an ongoing impact on the Brisbane economy, not to mention the tourism industry," Infrastructure Minister Warren Truss told a tourism and transport forum in Canberra on Wednesday.

"At the same time it would have done very little to mitigate the aircraft noise impact, particularly during peak periods, on Brisbane residents."

Mr Truss, who is the deputy prime minister, said the capacity at Brisbane Airport, the nation's third busiest, needed to be improved as it handled growing air traffic numbers.

An additional runway at Brisbane Airport is "some time" away from being operational and in the interim, all efforts should be made to maximise capacity.

Mr Truss said the nearest house was more than six kilometres from the runway, double the buffer at Melbourne Airport where there was no curfew.

Aircraft using Brisbane Airport should take advantage of its coastal position, flying over water whenever possible, he said.

"Brisbane has that advantage that there is no population on one end of the runway and therefore that is where the maximum noise should be concentrated," he said.

"The government is not predisposed towards implementing additional regulatory burdens on industry," Mr Truss said of his decision.

The Tourism and Transport Forum said a 24-hour airport would give Brisbane a competitive advantage.

"This decision removes the uncertainty the lengthy review created in the air transport and tourism industries," chief executive Ken Morrison said in a statement.

Brisbane Airport Corporation managing director Julieanne Alroe said it took noise mitigation very seriously.

"It is a very high priority and we will continue to lead the country in working with airlines, AirServices Australia and the community to find new ways to manage noise impacts," she said.

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Labor wants science involved in politics

Bill Shorten says scientists need to be more involved in political debates about science funding. Source: AAP

FEDERAL Opposition Leader Bill Shorten wants scientists to become more involved in politics, and they want specialist advisers in all federal government departments.

Mr Shorten, who took on the shadow science portfolio when he became leader, has told scientists their input is needed if Australia is not to be "stuck on the blocks" in the race for the jobs of the future.

His comments came as hundreds of industry leaders converged in Canberra to meet parliamentarians to fuse stronger bonds between science and politicians.

Pointing to the success of National Disability Insurance Scheme campaigners, Mr Shorten said "together they achieved an outcome that would have been impossible alone".

"The future of Australian science will depend on whether you, and I, can make your cause a national political issue," Mr Shorten said.

He says scientists shouldn't have to deal with uncertainty in funding and there should be a new national commitment to science and innovation.

Labor will call for a Senate inquiry into science, research and the Australian innovation system to explore that idea and others including how to help innovators commercialise their ideas.

Science and Technology Australia boss Catriona Jackson says industry leaders are hoping to follow the UK's lead and spread expert knowledge throughout federal divisions since the Abbott government scrapped a science ministry.

"We have certainly discussed the idea with the government and there has been some movement, with an appointment in agriculture," Ms Jackson told AAP.

After coming to power in 2013 Prime Minister Tony Abbott reshuffled portfolios and split science between industry and employment, removing the role of dedicated science minister which had been in place since 1931.

Ms Jackson said scientists were concerned but have suspended their opinions until they see the government's first budget in May.

While there is a federal chief scientist, and one for each state and territory, greater consultancy would be valuable, she said.

Chief scientist Ian Chubb will outline the importance of science to Australia's future on Tuesday at the National Press Club.

He hopes to explain how support for the full spectrum of research and a more strategic approach to science can provide Australia with the technological progress needed for sustained economic development.

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Leighton shares fall on uncertainty

Leighton Holdings shares have fallen sharply as investors worry about future profits and dividends. Source: AAP

LEIGHTON Holdings shares have fallen sharply as investors worry about the construction giant's future profits, lower dividends and more than $5 billion in unpaid bills.

Retail and institutional investors are offloading the stock amid concerns about being left as a minority shareholder in the construction group under parent company Hochtief.

Hochtief has flagged widespread job cuts to Leighton Holdings' 56,000-strong global workforce as shareholders consider a $1.2 billion bid to increase its stake in the company.

Germany-based and Spanish-owned construction company Hochtief is undertaking a review of Leighton and considering whether to merge or abandon its John Holland and Thiess businesses.

The move comes after Hochtief secured support from Leighton's board to take a greater stake in the company.

At 1445 AEDT Leighton Holdings shares were $1.07, or 5.0 per cent, lower at $20.30.

At the close, its shares had recovered somewhat to finish 72 cents or 3.4 per cent lower at $20.65.

Analysts say uncertainty around the future direction of Leighton had led to the sell off on Monday.

"There's increased uncertainty, especially around the key issue of the $US5.1 billion in unpaid bills," Morningstar analyst Ross MacMillan said.

Changes to the scope of works on the Gorgon and Iraq projects had worried investors and left doubts about Hochtief reaffirming Leighton's previously stated profit guidance and dividend policy, he said.

Last week, Leighton axed chief executive Hamish Tyrwhitt and chief financial officer Peter Gregg, in line with Hochtief's request to change Leighton's management and board.

Mr Tyrwhitt has been succeeded by Hochtief chief executive Marcelino Fernandez Verdes as the company undertakes a review.

"As a result of the general review by Leighton, already under way, some employees may become redundant," Hochtief said in a statement lodged on Friday and confirmed by Leighton to the market on Monday.

Hochtief on Thursday lifted its offer for three out every eight Leighton shares to $22.50 per share, from its March 10 bid of $22.15 per share.

The general review of Leighton, looking at making Leighton's businesses more efficient, is expected to be completed by the end of 2014.

Hochtief said the outcome of the review may result in changes to the structure of the operating businesses, including the number and functions of employees and the sale of assets.

Hochtief will lift its stake in Leighton from 58.77 per cent to a maximum of 73.82 per cent, for a total price of about $1.2 billion, subject to Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) approval.

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