Labor, coalition fight for rural affection

IF you believe Labor, they are the party for farmers and rural Australia.

IF you believe the government, that's a complete joke.

Parliament took a country tone on Thursday when Labor's agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon brought on debate about the budget's impact on regional Australia.He was concerned about the fuel excise hike's impact on rural residents, which he says will go down as the Abbott government's "worst broken promise".Mr Fitzgibbon is behind Labor's new "country caucus" made up of regional MPs and senators who will influence party policy on rural issues.Labor has long been a champion of the bush, given it was partly born out of the shearing sheds of rural Queensland, Mr Fitzgibbon told AAP."Country Labor has been successful in NSW and it can be successful nationally," he said in a statement.But the coalition is having none of that.Liberal MP Dan Tehan derided Mr Fitzgibbon's topic for debate, given it came just after its country caucus was publicly announced."That's why we have this (debate) here today," he said."What an absolute joke."Mr Tehan said the country caucus came too late."You all should be ashamed of yourself, starting in the year 2014 a regional caucus and coming in here telling us who should stand up for regional and rural Australia."Nationals deputy leader Barnaby Joyce joined in the derision.If there was a friend for regional Australia, it was clear which side of the chamber they would find them in, he said.

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Ferry fraudster Smith 'had no choice'

A FORMER Sydney Ferries boss who racked up more than $200,000 on the company credit card says he felt he had no choice because he couldn't tell his emotionally fragile wife how desperate the family's financial situation had become.

FORMER naval admiral Geoffrey Smith on Thursday told his sentencing hearing he was hired to help turn the troubled transport company around in August 2006.

By early 2009, allegations of rorting had surfaced and he was brought up before the corruption watchdog.He has now pleaded guilty to one charge of cheating or defrauding the company he directed.Smith said two fatal crashes on Sydney Harbour in 2007 ushered in a five-month inquiry and intense scrutiny.On the home front, his wife - who had previously been hospitalised and subjected to electroconvulsive therapy in a battle with depression - was diagnosed with cancer."I'm deeply ashamed," Smith told the Sydney District Court."I've let down a lot of people and I've done something contrary to all the values I've lived my whole life."He said he always intended to reimburse Sydney Ferries for his personal expenses, and with a crippling monthly mortgage of $11,000 and medical bills stacking up, Smith says he knew he needed to sell his home in leafy northern Sydney.But he couldn't tell his wife.They'd been married for 26 of his navy years and moved 32 times."She never asked for anything except that when the time came for me to retire we would buy a house and settle down and have a semi-normal life," Smith said."I was intensely worried that if I spoke to her about selling the house it would have a profound impact on her."When he eventually spoke to his wife about the "parlous" state of the family books, the global financial crisis was in full swing, and the house's value had dropped from an estimated $2.2 million to $1.86m - too little to settle Smith's debts.But Crown prosecutor Sara Bowers said Smith was spending Sydney Ferries' money on extravagances including a family trip to New Zealand, jewellery, a new swimming pool and two BMWs, including one for his "bedridden" wife."Not the necessities of life, are they," she said."I didn't think I had a choice," Smith said.Smith says he still wants to pay the missing money back using earnings from his retail job at hardware chain Bunnings and his superannuation.Judge Michael Finnane has indicated he intends to sentence Smith to two years, but that this may be served in the community under an intensive correction order, rather than in jail.The hearing resumes in August.

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Psychiatric drugs soar among Aussie kids

Last updated: June 20, 2014

THE use of powerful psychiatric drugs is soaring among Australian children as young as 10, research shows.

Hodkinson call buried a dynasty

DESPITE owning the try that ended eight years of Origin heartache halfback Hodkinson was not meant to receive the ball that led to his stirring solo run.

No straights here — just gays

A GATED housing community built solely for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people is being proposed for a European city.

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Indian students charged over PM in mag

Last updated: June 17, 2014

NINE students at a southern Indian college have been arrested for using "objectionable and unsavoury language" about Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a crossword puzzle in their college magazine, according to news reports.

Who's the hottie with Warnie?

IT seems everyone has seen the pictures of Shane Warne stepping out with a mystery brunette in London, including his rumoured flame Emily Scott.

Carmody the 'right man for job': Ministers

NEWMAN Government ministers have pledged support for Queensland's new Chief Justice and Attorney-General as legal fraternity continues to call for their heads.

Wrong country! World Cup travel fail

A YOUNG couple who saved money to attend the World Cup in Brazil have been left devastated after a travel agent flew them to the wrong country.

Pockets of luxury in leisurely Logan

LOGAN is well known for cheap and cheerful properties but the city also has its share of millionaires' enclaves.

Miner ignored standards

A COMPANY with a history of environmental breaches is expected to receive approval within days for an $8 billion mine in central Queensland.

Gallen reveals ASADA baby anguish

THE ASADA scandal prevented Paul Gallen and his wife from having another child, he has unveiled in his most revealing interview yet.

Don't ever microwave these things

THE microwave has been around for quite some time, but it is still a mystery to many of us. Here are 11 things that should never go into one.

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More care for lost phone than lost super

A survey has found Australians care more about a lost phone than tracking their missing super. Source: AAP

LOST superannuation? Whatever.

A Westpac survey shows 48 per cent of working-age Australians would do "everything they could" to find their lost mobile phone but just a third would be as vigilant about tracking down $2,500 of their missing super.Westpac retail banking general manager Gai McGrath said the figures reveal widespread apathy about superannuation."For someone in their twenties, $2,500 in super today could amount to more than $22,000 by the time they retire," she said."When you put it in these terms, you start to realise how much of an impact this money can have on your financial future."Ms McGrath said superannuation funds are usually lost as a result of moving to a different fund when a person changes jobs.The report showed more evidence of super apathy with 31 per cent of people saying they would prefer to find $200 in cash than $2,000 in lost superannuation.Nine out of 10 of those surveyed do not know whether they have any superannuation.Tracking down lost super is as easy as going to the Australian Tax Office (ATO) superseeker website and entering your name and tax file number."With $18.2 billion in six million lost and ATO-held super accounts across the country, we have heard amazing stories of people finding tens of thousands of dollars," Ms McGrath said."If the average mobile phone costs around $600 and the average lost super account is more than $2,000, you can see that it makes sense to put as much effort into finding your lost super as you would a lost phone."

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Anger in UK over Blair comments on Iraq

FORMER prime minister Tony Blair has faced derision across the British political spectrum after he said the 2003 invasion of Iraq was not linked to the current unrest in the country.

BLAIR, now a Middle East peace envoy, had "finally gone mad," Boris Johnson, the Conservative mayor of London, wrote in his regular Daily Telegraph column.

An essay on the Iraq crisis published at the weekend by Blair was "unhinged in its refusal to face facts" and made up of a "chain of bonkers assertions," Johnson said on Monday.Blair, a Labour politician, led Britain into the Iraq war alongside former US president George W Bush, justifying it with the mistaken assertion that the late dictator Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction."The Iraq war was a tragic mistake, and by refusing to accept this, Blair is now undermining the very cause he advocates - the possibility of serious and effective intervention," Johnson wrote.Lord Prescott, who was Blair's deputy prime minister, also attacked his former boss, telling Sky News that intervention in Iraq took the West "back to the Crusades" of the medieval period."I don't agree with Tony as I didn't then," he said, adding that Blair's essay confirmed that the 2003 invasion had always been about "regime change".Christopher Meyer, Britain's ambassador to Washington from 1997 to 2003, also criticised Blair, writing in the Mail on Sunday that the decision to invade Iraq was "perhaps the most significant" cause of the current violence.In an essay published on his website Saturday, Blair argued that Britain was not responsible for the current unrest in Iraq: "We have to liberate ourselves from the notion that 'we' have caused this. We haven't." It was "bizarre" to argue that "but for the removal of Saddam, we would not have a crisis," he said."The fundamental cause of the crisis lies within the region not outside it," he wrote."The problems of the Middle East are the product of bad systems of politics mixed with a bad abuse of religion going back over a long time."Blair also repeated his arguments during television interviews and urged the West to intervene, saying that otherwise, it faced future terrorist attacks from extremist Muslim groups."Every time we put off action, the action we will be forced to take will ultimately be greater," he wrote.

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Kiska inaugurated as Slovakia president

Last updated: June 16, 2014

POLITICAL newcomer Andrej Kiska has been inaugurated as Slovakia's new president.

Gallop defends Cahill's cheat claims

FFA CEO David Gallop insists Tim Cahill had every right to make allegations of cheating by Chilean players during Australia's 3-1 loss.

Did Lena Headey spoil GoT finale?

THE season finale of Game of Thrones draws near and rumours swirl about "the finest hour" of TV. But is Lena Headey responsible for the biggest spoiler yet?

The Hunt is on as Blues target Ben

NSW PLAYERS are salivating at the prospect of Queensland gambling on Ben Hunt at halfback in a desperate bid to save the Origin series.

Strewth! Aussie lingo is dying off

THIS will make you as mad as a cut snake. Experts say as Australia becomes more global, successful and cosmopolitan, our unique expressions are dying off.

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Afghan bomb kills 11 amid vote fraud claim

Afghans have braved threats of violence and searing heat to vote in the presidential elections. Source: AAP

A ROADSIDE bomb killed 11 people including five election workers in northern Afghanistan, officials said Sunday, as a prolonged vote count began after the presidential run-off election.

ELECTION officials were sifting through fraud complaints from both candidates, and analysts said the lengthy count could be the trickiest phase in the country's first democratic transfer of power.

More than 50 people were killed on polling day Saturday by militant attacks, including the 11 whose bus was hit by a roadside bomb in Samangan province and five members of one family who died when a Taliban rocket hit a house near a polling station.Eleven voters in the western province of Herat had their fingers - which were dipped in ink to register their ballot - cut off by insurgents, Deputy Interior Minister Ayoub Salangi said.But despite the Taliban attacks, Saturday's election drew a high turnout of about seven million voters in a contest between former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah and ex-World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani.The White House praised voters' courage and called the elections "a significant step forward on Afghanistan's democratic path".The US, along with the UN, also urged the two candidates not to trade unproven fraud allegations, but both Abdullah and Ghani raised the issue immediately after polls closed."It is win or lose now," said Kate Clark, director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network."The voting is only one phase of the election, and there is still a lot that could change. Being a good loser doesn't gain you much here."If it is close and fraud looks to have been a lot, and either candidate wants to really make a fuss, then we could be in for months of wrangling."The 2009 election, when outgoing President Hamid Karzai retained power, was marred by massive fraud that shook the US-led international effort to develop Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.A credible election and smooth handover of power would be a major achievement for Afghanistan's backers after 13 years of hugely costly military and civilian assistance.All foreign combat troops are due to withdraw by the end of this year."Allegations of fraud need to be addressed," US ambassador James Cunningham said after polls closed on Saturday."But the candidates and their supporters should refrain from premature judgments and from criticism that is not supported with clear evidence."The preliminary result is due on July 2, before the complaints period begins, and the final result is scheduled for July 22."We have urged the candidates to act as statesmen, future presidents, rather than people simply in a competition with each other," said Nicholas Haysom, the deputy chief of the UN mission.Reflecting international fears of a contested result, he said candidates must "exercise patience" as the count got underway.The Electoral Complaints Commission said it had registered about 275 complaints by Sunday morning."There were violation cases where the supporters of the presidential candidates forced voters to vote for a certain candidate," said spokesman Mohammad Nader Mohsini."Supporters were also offering money for voters to vote for a certain candidate."He said allegations had also been raised of interference by election officials and the security forces.

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Nicole Kidman for top Shanghai honour

Nicole Kidman is to be honoured at the Shanghai International Film Festival in China. Source: AAP

NICOLE Kidman is to be honoured with an outstanding contribution award at the Shanghai International Film Festival in China.

HUGH Grant and John Woo will present the Australian actress with her latest accolade at the opening ceremony on Saturday, while artist Qin Yi will honour actor and director Jiang Wen with the Outstanding Contribution to Chinese Film Award.

Kidman will be hoping the festival will be a better experience than her visit to Cannes last month, when her new film Grace of Monaco was savaged by critics.Kirsten Dunst, John Cusack, Hayden Christensen, Jackie Chan, Tony Leung, Li Bingbing and Korean superstar Rain are expected to attend the opening gala, according to The Hollywood Reporter.The film festival will open with a restored version of 1964 movie Two Stage Sisters and close with Transformers: Age of Extinction.A jury led by actress Gong Li will decide the winner of the Golden Goblet from the 15 films in competition.

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Expert questions rushing woman's syndrome

A mental health expert has dismissed a medical condition that Lisa Curry says wrecked her marriage. Source: AAP

A MENTAL health expert has dismissed the "medical condition" that Lisa Curry says played a role in her break-up with Grant Kenny.

IN an interview with A Current Affair, the former swimming star says she suffered from "rushing woman's syndrome", which created tension in her marriage by turning her into "an absolute bitch".

"I had days where I felt completely out of control," she told the Nine Network program on Thursday night."I was moody, I would cry for no reason, I wanted to kill the world."The 52-year-old said she was able to treat the condition with a "natural" hormone treatment, which she is endorsing as part of her 10-week online weight-loss program.Rushing woman's syndrome is the subject of a book by Sydney-based biochemist and "holistic nutrition specialist" Libby Weaver.Weaver says the syndrome can cause hormonal imbalances that are making women depressed, overweight and in some cases infertile.According to her website, women who want to benefit from the "Dr Libby method" can arrange a 90-minute consultation with her for $600.A search of the medical literature by AAP failed to find any published reference to the disorder.Psychologist Dr Janine Clarke of the Black Dog Institute said it was not a recognised condition and described the hormonal explanation as simplistic and undermining."There's no such diagnosis," she told AAP."There are vulnerable people who are willing to pay almost anything for an answer."But they should talk to someone close to them if they can. Or they can also see a GP, who might refer them to a mental health professional as opposed to a biochemistry expert."The syndrome was also ridiculed on Twitter."Rushing Woman's Syndrome....really? I'm sure these 'news' articles will help sell a certain book," one user tweeted.Former ironman Grant Kenny split from Curry in 2009 and is dating TV personality Fifi Box.

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