Inquiry to look at bank debt guarantee

Last updated: May 02, 2014

THE head of an inquiry into Australia's financial system says government backing of the big four banks during the global financial crisis may have given them an unfair advantage over smaller rivals.

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Boy, 10, goes missing in pyjamas

POLICE have appealed for assistance from the public in locating a 10-year-old boy who went missing in his pyjamas in Brisbane's north.

Pedestrian hit by 4WD in inner city

A PEDESTRIAN is in a critical condition after being hit by a four-wheel-drive in Brisbane's CBD.

LNP dobs in Ben and Jerry's

UPDATE: THE consumer watchdog confirms it is considering a request to investigate ice cream giant Ben and Jerry's over its Great Barrier Reef campaign.

Botched scheme devised on napkin

KEVIN Rudd may have brainstormed the costings for the botched insulation scheme on the back of a napkin, a royal commission has heard.

Drug accused 'had links to Rebels'

A "WANNABE bikie'' accused of hiding $10,000 of ecstasy in his mother's house also had photos, memorabilia linking him to the Rebels.

Super Rugby expansion plans unveiled

PLANS for an expanded Super Rugby competition have been rolled out while Australian rugby chiefs were still locked in a meeting discussing its merits.

Will these cock-ups ever go away?

THESE pranks sure have lasted the test of time. These schools have been haunted by graffiti visible from space for a very long time.

Why 54 is the magic number in travel

IT'S the airlines little secret and now it's all yours. We reveal why the number 54 will get you the most bang for your buck.

Why is this mistress wearing a visor?

SHOULD we call this look Darth-Vader-chic? The woman who outed disgraced LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling for his racist remarks this week has been acting very strangely indeed.

Don't get dudded on refunds

YOUR chances of getting a refund are greatly improved if you keep good records. But some companies won't budge — even when presented with irrefutable proof.

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MH370 relatives to be sent home

RELATIVES of those on board the missing Malaysia Airlines flight will be checked out of hotels and sent home to await updates on the search.

In a statement on Thursday evening, the airline said relatives would be sent home and Family Assistance Centres around the world would close on May 7.

"From past experience, we understand the continuing search and investigation would be a prolonged process," it said.

"While Malaysia Airlines is committed to continuing its support to the families during the whole process, we are adjusting the mode of services and support.

"Instead of staying in hotels, the families of MH370 are advised to receive information updates on the progress of the search and investigation and other support by Malaysia Airlines within the comfort of their own homes, with the support and care of their families and friends."

The airline said it would keep in close touch with the families via phone calls, messages, the internet and face-to-face meetings, and Family Support Centres would be established in Kuala Lumpur and Beijing.

The detailed plan of follow-up support and services would be passed on to families in person, Malaysia Airlines said.

The relatives of the 153 Chinese passengers on board the ill-fated flight have been up in arms about the airline's handling of the disaster, staging protests, threatening hunger strikes and labelling it a murderer, saying they would not accept the assertion that all on board are dead until physical proof is found.

MH370 went missing 55 days ago on the way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, with 239 passengers and crew on board.

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Slow NDIS roll-out: audit tells govt

The commission of audit has urged the government to slow down the roll-out of the NDIS. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIANS with a disability might have to wait a little bit longer for the complete roll-out of a landmark scheme designed to cover their care and needs, if the Abbott government accepts advice from its commission of audit.

A day before Prime Minister Tony Abbott meets with state and territory leaders to discuss progress of the national disability insurance scheme, the commission warns the implementation timetable is highly ambitious.

The NDIS is scheduled to be fully operational in 2018-2019, covering about 450,000 people with disabilities.

The commission acknowledges the worthiness of the scheme and the fact that it enjoys widespread community support and bipartisan political backing.

But it's concerned about early cost blow-outs at the four trial sites that began in July 2013, noting average package costs of $46,000 per year exceeded the $35,000 figure factored into the scheme's initial design and costing.

The NDIS Agency on Thursday insisted it was operating within its budget and had the capacity to meet the roll-out schedule.

The commission is not so sure, saying there was a risk of inadequate delivery of services to participants as well as significant financial risks to the scheme.

It recommends there is merit in pursuing a slower roll-out schedule.

It also wants government to take control of the scheme's budget, which it estimates will exceed $25 billion after 2019, arguing such an amount was too great a responsibility for an independent board.

The commission also questions whether the assessment of potential participants should be outsourced as it is now.

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Tenants sign on for Barangaroo tower

Two firms have signed up as tenants for the tallest building at Sydney's Barangaroo development. Source: AAP

PLANNING for the tallest office tower at Sydney's Barangaroo development will commence after the developer secured two tenants for the 49-storey building.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Australia will take 12 floors of the tower and HSBC Bank Australia three and a half floors, under new leases signed with developer Lend Lease.

Lend Lease will now commence development and funding of the building, and intends to introduce co-investors into the tower "at an appropriate time in the future", it said in a statement on Wednesday.

Construction is expected to begin in the second half of 2014, and is expected to be completed in the 2016/17 financial year.

Barangaroo South is planned to be a major financial district of Sydney's CBD, and will include an exclusive casino and hotel to be operated by Crown Resorts.

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Gold dazzles at refurbished Perth Mint

THE biggest, heaviest and most valuable coin in the world is the centrepiece of a new permanent exhibition at the refurbished Perth Mint.

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Tunisia uses Star Wars to rescue tourism

IMPERIAL stormtroopers are set to march through Tunisia's capital as part of a new effort to attract tourists and burnish the image of the North African country.

Tunisia's national tourism office is collaborating with the local Star Wars fan club to hold a convention starting on Wednesday in the country, which boasts sets from the popular science fiction film franchise deep in the desert.

The campaign also features a Star Wars-themed online video set to the tune of Pharrell Williams' popular hit Happy, involving characters from the films.

Tunisia's beach resorts were a popular destination for European tourists but many stayed away after the 2011 overthrow of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Tourists have been slowly returning and the new campaign seeks to promote lesser-known Tunisian attractions.

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Partial eclipse ruined by cloud

IT was billed as the "super fat banana".

But Tuesday's rare partial solar eclipse was more like a rotten tomato.

Thick cloud blanketed most of the continent for much of the day, ruining any sustained view of the eclipse for astronomers and enthusiasts from Perth to Port Arthur.

At 4.14pm the moon nudged in front of the sun - causing a partial eclipse that experts predicted would darken the sky a little and make the sun look like a fat yellow banana.

The sky did turn dark on the eastern seaboard - but only because thick cloud and rain ruined the moment with less than heavenly timing.

"We got clouded-out on the east coast from the absolute moment the moon just touched the sun - it was incredible timing," Melbourne-based astronomer Dr Alan Duffy told AAP.

"The next eclipse in Melbourne of this quality will be 2028.

"So this was very disappointing."

Astronomical Society of Victoria media spokesman Perry Vlahos was equally miffed.

He didn't even go outside to check out the partial eclipse.

"I have given up all hope, the best optical telescope cannot see through rain and clouds," he added.

Tasmania should have given the best view of the eclipse - the further south you were the more of the sun would have been covered.

Members of the Astronomical Society of Tasmania gathered at the rainy Rosny Lookout in Hobart's east.

"We've actually got three telescopes here but at the moment they're sitting in the boots of cars," the society's Bob Coghlan told AAP.

"The committee are telling jokes and saying who brought the cloud-busting laser just to keep their spirits up."

Sydney Observatory had about 150 guests to watch the celestial activity.

Astronomer Andrew Jacobs said the partial eclipse was of little research value - scientists learn far more from full eclipses.

"We saw the very beginning of it, just a couple of minutes before it went into the clouds," he said.

West Australian residents had a slightly better view but only towards the end of the eclipse when some of the cloud cleared.

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Two MPs allege Palmer approach

A Queensland MP has told police an envoy for Clive Palmer offered him an inducement to jump ship. Source: AAP

TWO Queensland government MPs have accused Clive Palmer's team of trying to lure them away from the Liberal National Party.

Mr Palmer says the claims made by MPs Michael Hart and Jason Costigan were made up by premier Campbell Newman, while police have looked at one of the accusations and will take no action.

Mr Newman, however, has stepped up his war with the mining magnate turned federal MP, arguing he needs to reveal the full truth.

Mr Hart on Tuesday alleged a Palmer United Party envoy tried to entice the Burleigh MP with financial sweeteners - an assertion refuted by the party's state leader Alex Douglas.

Also on Tuesday, Whitsunday MP Mr Costigan said a PUP member approached him a week later on April 16, but without a financial incentive.

"They said they could ... help me with my campaign if I was their candidate and rambled on how they needed one more MP to form the official opposition," he told AAP.

Mr Hart took his claims to police who said they had "concluded that, based on current available information, no further action will be taken".

Mr Hart said he cut short a conversation with a PUP official after being made an offer to become one of the party's leading candidates at next year's Queensland election.

"The words that were used I took as a form of inducement or that there was about to be an inducement. I didn't want that to happen," he told AAP.

Mr Hart's allegation has escalated the bitter feud between Mr Palmer and the LNP, with the mining magnate accusing Mr Newman of inventing the story.

"This is just concocted by the premier because he's going to be sued by me," Mr Palmer told AAP.

"He's just trying to mislead the press."

But a spokesman for Mr Newman says Mr Palmer is the one who needs to come clean after Dr Douglas confirmed the party approached Mr Hart.

"Mr Palmer denies inducements were offered to Mr Hart, but Alex Douglas has confirmed that Mr Hart was told that 'we would look after him if he joined us'," the spokesman said.

Dr Douglas says while contact was made, claims about any inducement are entirely false.

"It was basically to say: 'Michael we know you're not going to be preselected or endorsed by the party and if you want to have a career you are welcome to come and discuss that with us'," he said.

The latest claims follow Sunday's allegations by Mr Newman that Mr Palmer had tried to "buy" his government, and had offered inducements to successfully entice three renegade Northern Territory MPs to join his party.

Comment has been sought from Dr Douglas about Mr Costigan's claim.

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Pakistan PM's gas cut off for unpaid bills

Last updated: April 30, 2014

PAKISTANI authorities have disconnected gas supply to the prime minister's official residence and the national parliament secretariat over unpaid bills.

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No tsunami risk from Tongan quake

A 6.3-MAGNITUDE earthquake has struck off the coast of the Pacific Island nation of Tonga but experts say there is no threat of a tsunami.

The quake reportedly struck in waters northeast of the Tongan capital, Nuku'alofa, at about 7pm local time (1600 AEST) on Saturday.

Geoscience Australia reports the impact could have been felt by people more than 600-kilometres away.

Seismologist Marco Maldoni said residents of the island nation would definitely felt shaking after the movement of tectonic plates and that that part of the world was prone to earthquakes.

"That earthquake itself happened where the Australian plate meets the Pacific plate," Dr Maldoni told AAP on Saturday.

"Thankfully this is a non-tsunamigenic earthquake - something that can potentially generate a tsunami."

Dr Maldoni said that in the past five years there had been about 200 earthquakes within that area, with another one occurring near Tonga at a magnitude of 6.2 as recently as Friday.

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