Philippines militants free Warren Rodwell

Australian hostage Warren Rodwell has been released by Islamic militants in the Philippines. Source: AAP

THE federal government won't say whether a ransom was paid for the release of Australian Warren Rodwell by Philippines militants almost 15 months after he was kidnapped from his home on the southern island of Mindanao.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard welcomed the release of Mr Rodwell, a retired soldier, following his abduction by armed members of the al-Qaeda-linked group Abu Sayyaf on December 5, 2011.

"I think all Australians will be very pleased to hear this news and delighted on behalf of the Rodwell family," Ms Gillard told reporters during a visit to northern NSW on Saturday.

Philippines military authorities said Mr Rodwell was in the custody of police in Pagadian, about 100 kilometres east of Ipil, where he had run a store with his Filipina wife Miraflor Gutang before the kidnapping.

A photo and short video taken by a journalist at the police station early on Saturday showed a gaunt but smiling Mr Rodwell, aged in his 50s, sitting with two policemen.

In video clips previously released by his kidnappers, Mr Rodwell said his captors were demanding a $US2 million ($A1.93 million) ransom.

Foreign Minister Bob Carr says the government never pays ransoms but he would not confirm or deny whether a ransom had been paid by Mr Rodwell's family.

"The Australian government never pays ransoms - to do so would leave Australians exposed in all parts of the world to kidnappers who'd be motivated by a desire to get money and to get it fast from the Australian government," he told ABC TV on Saturday.

"But I won't comment on arrangements that may have been made by Mr Rodwell's family and Abu Sayyaf, the kidnappers, made through the Philippines anti-kidnapping unit and their police force."

Al Rashid Sakalahul, the vice governor of the southern island of Basilan who negotiated with the Abu Sayyaf for Mr Rodwell's release, told AFP the militants called him to confirm the hostage was freed in Pagadian.

Mr Sakalahul would not say if ransom money was paid, insisting he merely acted as an intermediary.

"Rodwell's family directly negotiated with the kidnappers and I do not know if they paid ransom ... my role was to get Rodwell out safely," he said.

Senator Carr said he had spoken to Mr Rodwell's "enormously relieved" sister Denise, who would be flying to the Philippines on Sunday.

"It's a good outcome, but I imagine that he's going to take some time to recover from what was a very unsettling experience to say the least," he told ABC TV.

He said Mr Rodwell was being moved to "a safe location" in the company of Philippines authorities, deputy Australian ambassador Andrew Burn and a representative of the Australian Defence Force.

Ms Gillard praised the Philippines government for securing Mr Rodwell's release.

She also paid tribute to Australian officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Australian Federal Police and Defence, "who have also worked hard on this matter".

Mr Rodwell is believed to have fought his kidnappers when he was initially taken, and bloodstains found beside his house were believed to have been from an injury to his hand, according to a Philippines military officer.

He had appealed for his family to raise the $2 million his kidnappers were seeking for his release "as soon as possible".

Mr Rodwell settled in Ipil in 2011 after working as a teacher in China before marrying Ms Gutang, whom he met on the internet.

The Abu Sayyaf is one of many armed Islamist groups operating in the southern Philippines, which has been home to a deadly Muslim separatist insurgency that has cost tens of thousands of lives since the 1970s.

It is believed to have only a few hundred militants but has been blamed for the worst terror attacks in recent Philippine history, and has a long history of kidnapping foreigners, Christians and local business people for ransom.

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

MPs, voters have no faith in govt: Abbott

The Labor MPs who have resigned show they have no confidence in the Gillard government, Abbott says. Source: AAP

FEDERAL ministers who have resigned their posts have "called it for Australia", showing they no longer have confidence in the Gillard government, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says.

Speaking in Sydney on Saturday, Mr Abbott said it was time for a change of government.

He again foreshadowed a motion of no confidence in the government when parliament resumes in May but called on Prime Minister Julia Gillard to call an election beforehand.

"It's pretty obvious that the Australian people no longer have confidence in this government," he said.

"It's pretty obvious that some of its senior members ... no longer have confidence in the current government.

"Martin Ferguson, Simon Crean and the others called it for Australia."

"The only difficulty is the Labor Party is incapable of doing what Mr Crean and the others said was necessary - a government that governs for everyone, a government that follows due process, a government that consults with people before it makes decisions," Mr Abbott said.

He hoped every member of parliament was listening to the voices of the Australian people during the seven-week parliamentary recess before the budget.

Visiting shopkeepers on the main street of Homebush on Saturday with his daughter Frances and local Liberal candidate Craig Laundy, Mr Abbott drew a throng of curious locals and well-wishers crowding about and taking photos.

Mr Abbott chatted with many of them and afterwards repeated his claim that more than anything, people just wanted better government.

"They feel let down by the current government and they feel full of hope that after the election things can be better," he said.

"Because we've got the plan, I'm confident that they can and will be."

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Houses 'blown apart' in Vic tornado

Twenty people have been injured after storms and mini-tornadoes pelted northeast Victoria. Source: AAP

CARAVANS, roofs and trees were sent flying as a tornado powered across Victoria's northeast, leaving towns in wreckage.

Moira Shire Mayor Brian Keenan said several houses at Bundalong, home to about 300 people, were destroyed and many others damaged.

"It is absolutely incredible. You would think an atom bomb went off," Mr Keenan told AAP on Friday.

He said massive trees had been ripped out of the ground and several hundred metres of power lines had fallen.

"How there wasn't lives lost is beyond me," he said.

Fierce storms hit the Murray River towns of Bundalong, Yarrawonga, Mulwala, Rutherglen, Koonoomoo and Cobram about 8pm (AEDT) on Thursday.

Sun Country Holiday Village receptionist Bree, who did give her surname, said most caravans had been damaged and one or two had been swept into the air and carried away.

"It's a disaster zone," she told AAP.

Bree was with her family driving to Melbourne when the storm hit Mulwala.

They were on the Yarrawonga bridge and turned around when hailstones the size of golf balls began hitting their car.

"You could see the sky, it was actually swirling," Bree said.

"It was amazing. It was surreal."

Barooga Post Office manager Max Steward said the storm lasted only five minutes but ripped off the back verandah off and blew it about 30 metres into the street.

"It just was like a mini tornado," he said.

"A couple of houses down the road ... were literally blown apart by the force of the wind."

Mr Steward, 65, said there had been no warning the storm was about to strike.

"It just came out of nowhere just like a low-flying aeroplane - it just roared though," he said.

He said after five minutes the wind died down.

"You can look out our window here and see the bush between here and Cobram, and it's just like a lawnmower has gone across the top of the trees - trees that were 60 foot high, or they were. Unbelievable, it was."

Barooga Sports Club assistant chief executive Greg Ferguson said hundreds of trees at the Cobram Barooga Golf Club were uprooted and flung across the fairways.

Part of the club roof was torn off, the windows were blown in and a section of the ceiling collapsed.

Twenty people were injured, including two men in their 50s who were flown to Melbourne hospitals in critical condition.

State Control Centre forecaster Tony Bannister said tornadoes of such force, with winds of between 180 and 250km/h, were rare in Victoria.

Some witnesses reported seeing two tornadoes on Thursday.

"The line of the damage isn't quite a straight line, so there could have been more than one," Mr Bannister said.

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Katter won't reveal his confidence vote

INDEPENDENT MP Bob Katter is keeping his planned vote on an upcoming no-confidence motion against the Gillard government under his large Akubra hat.

Asked on Friday which way he was likely to vote when the opposition introduced the bill on the next sitting day - May 14 - the Katter's Australian Party leader told reporters, "I'll cross that bridge when it comes, and I'm not signalling punches either way."

Mr Katter criticised Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's move to bring a no-confidence motion two hours before the ALP's leadership ballot on Thursday as a "lamentable act".

"It wasn't the act of a responsible leader, and I refused to be part of it," he said.

"But his comments that the government is not governing, I think, are valid."

Mr Katter said he'd told both sides, "Don't read into the fact that I abstained from that vote on Thursday."

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Anti-bikie laws introduced in NSW

BIKIE gangs could be declared criminal organisations in NSW within months, with the state government hoping to get its modified anti-bikie legislation in place by Easter.

The state government had been awaiting a High Court case testing a Queensland law declaring a chapter of the Finks motorcycle club a criminal organisation.

The Gold Coast chapter of the Finks bikies argued the Act was unconstitutional and denied procedural fairness.

But the High Court last week upheld the validity of certain provisions of the Act, which has been studied by the NSW government.

A bill which replicates Queensland's anti-bikie legislation was introduced to the NSW parliament on Thursday.

"We're determined to get these tough new laws in place by Easter," Premier Barry O'Farrell said.

"We did the prudent thing, waited for the High Court ruling on the Queensland laws. After careful examination, we've modified our bill.

"The NSW government is determined to have outlaw motorcycle gangs declared criminal organisations."

Mr O'Farrell said the laws gave police the power to protect the public from criminal gangs.

Attorney-General Greg Smith said the amended legislation adopted the Queensland model in allowing for the Supreme Court, rather than an eligible judge, to make decisions on applications to declare an organisation a criminal organisation.

The Supreme Court would also decide what is criminal intelligence.

"The amendments should also give the community extra confidence that due process is being followed in these applications," Mr Smith said.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced plans to implement national anti-gang and asset seizure laws.

She said she would ask the premiers and chief ministers at April's Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting to refer some of their powers to the commonwealth.

Anti-bikie legislation in NSW and South Australia has previously been successfully challenged in the High Court.

AA

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ten welcomes dumping of media reforms

TEN Network has expressed relief at the federal government's decision to dump controversial changes to media laws.

The government withdrew four bills affecting media ownership and regulation that had sparked anger from media organisations and failed to gain crucial support from independent MPs.

"These bills were fundamentally flawed, contained numerous significant drafting and operational problems and could not realistically be implemented in their current form," a Ten spokesman said in a statement.

However Southern Cross Austereo chief executive Rhys Holleran criticised the decision.

"We are not surprised by today's decision, we're disappointed as we've been a consistent supporter regarding the removal of the reach rule - a policy which we believe is out of date," Mr Holleran said.

Two uncontroversial bills, out of the original six-bill package unveiled in a surprise move by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy last week, were passed by parliament.

Those bills dealt with Australian content quotas and the permanent reduction of commercial television licence fees.

Media stocks were slightly stronger in afternoon trade, with Seven West Media and Southern Cross up three per cent and Fairfax Media up around 0.4 per cent.

Ten shares were 1.4 per cent lower at 34.5 cents at 1536 AEDT.

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

China should play role in Indo-Pacific

A NEW Indo-Pacific maritime security regime should be set up with all relevant players including China, a security report says.

The Indian Ocean security report, prepared by a taskforce of the Australia India Institute at Melbourne University, says there is no region-wide security regime for the Indian Ocean and sub-regional security regimes are relatively weak.

Security arrangements that do exist are essentially western-oriented and principally orchestrated by the United States.

The report said some discussions of the Indo-Pacific security system excluded China.

"We argue for the concept to be inclusive, meaning that China is included, in order to maximise long-term regional security," it said.

The report notes Australia's relative neglect of the Indian Ocean Region in its strategic thinking.

But the region is likely to be elevated in strategic importance in the coming Defence White Paper.

As well, Australia takes the chair of the pre-eminent regional grouping, the 20-member Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Co-operation (IOR-ARC) for a two-year term later this year.

The AII taskforce calls for an expansion of the group's agenda beyond economic issues.

Launching the report in Canberra on Wednesday, parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs Richard Marles said the AII was not a government body and the government would not respond to its conclusions.

"But this report is intended to be a very significant contribution to the debate," he said.

Mr Marles said Australia's approach to the Indian Ocean issues was incremental but very purposeful.

"We are trying not to overreach, particularly in regional organisations. But we are also taking care not to set our sights and our ambitions too low," he said.

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

WA men plead not guilty over wild party

THE first two people in Western Australia to be charged with organising an out-of-control party have pleaded not guilty and will go to trial.

Jonathan James French and Travis Thomas Glennie Robinson, both 22, allegedly organised a party in December last year that got out of control, with more than 40 people throwing bricks at police who arrived to disperse the crowd.

The men could face a year in prison and a $12,000 fine if convicted under recently introduced laws.

Their lawyer entered a plea of not guilty for both men in the Joondalup Magistrates Court on Wednesday and a trial date will be set in April.

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

More nurses needed in NSW hospitals: union

MORTALITY rates will increase and patients will spend longer in hospital unless the NSW government introduces set patient to nurse ratios, nurses say.

About 200 members of the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA) protested outside parliament in Sydney on Tuesday, demanding the government pass laws ensuring there are four nurses to every patient in hospital.

The ratios are in place in some metropolitan hospitals but rural nurses are worried their workload will soon overwhelm their ability to properly care for patients.

Hospital patients need 18 hours of care per day and this can only be achieved in rural areas if the ratios are implemented, Kristen King, a 50-year-old nurse from Forbes, said at the protest.

If ratios aren't brought in nurses will be too busy to properly care for all patients, she said.

"They can deteriorate while you're not there," Ms King told AAP.

"If the nurses are around and looking after them then hopefully they don't deteriorate ... where you're off doing something else."

Not having sufficient staff increases the length of hospital stays and will raise mortality rates by about 9 per cent, she said.

"If the government cares about patients then they will give us the ratios," she added.

The NSWNMA is also asking for a 2.5 per cent pay increase.

"It's just going to keep us in line with inflation," Ms King said.

All bar one of the 215 branches of the NSWNMA voted in favour of campaigning to improve nurse to patient ratios.

Letters from branch members across NSW demanding the implementation of the four to one ratio will be delivered to the government later on Tuesday.

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

WA Shooters, Fishers miss out on 2nd seat

WESTERN Australia's newest political party, the Shooters and Fishers, has missed out on an expected second seat in the upper house.

Its Mining and Pastoral region candidate John Parkes was pipped by Dave Grills of The Nationals by 223 votes.

Other seats went to Robin Chapple of the Greens, Liberals Ken Baston and Mark Lewis, Labor's Stephen Dawson and Jacqui Boydell of The Nationals.

Winners for the South Metropolitan and East Metropolitan region will be announced later on Tuesday.

More counting is needed for the North Metropolitan region, so winners of these seats will be unveiled on Wednesday.

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Kids drink 'alarming' levels of soft drink

About one in four Australian children drinks more than five cups of soft drink a week. Source: AAP

SCHOOL-AGED children are consuming "alarming levels" of soft drinks, partly because they're readily available at home, a study has found.

Kids from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and boys are more likely to be big consumers of soft drinks.

The study by the University of Sydney, published in the current issue of Preventive Medicine, found that 24 per cent of the 8058 kids surveyed were drinking an "alarming" five or more cups of soft drink a week.

More than a quarter of kids from lower socioeconomic backgrounds reported high levels of soft drink consumption, compared with 19 per cent in high socioeconomic backgrounds.

"We also found students who drank soft drink with meals at home were almost 10 times as likely to be high consumers of these drinks," the study's lead author Lana Hebden said in a statement on Monday.

Kids aged 9-16 years were almost five times as likely to be high consumers if soft drinks were readily available at home, according to the study.

That showed a clear link between the availability of soft drinks at home and at school, and high levels of consumption, Ms Hebden said.

The health implications of excessive soft drink consumption should act as a caution for parents to buy soft drinks only on special occasions and not regularly offer them with meals, she said.

"We need to be putting out more information about kids' access to drinks at home.

"Parents need to consider what is stored in their cupboards or fridge and what their children have access to."

Ms Hebden added that the government should also impose a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks or ban the sale of soft drinks from schools to curb excessive soft drink consumption.

The study used data from a 2010 survey and was published for the first time on Sunday.

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sunday penalty rates to stay

A BID to halve Sunday penalty rates for workers in the retail, fast food and hospitality industries has been rejected by the national workplace relations tribunal.

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) handed down its decision on Monday to keep penalty rates unchanged, following a 15-month review process in which groups such as the National Retail Association, the Queensland Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Ai Group made submissions.

The groups sought to halve the penalty rates paid to employees on Sundays and remove the 25 per cent penalty rate for evening work.

The bid would have affected workers in the fast food, food and beverage, general retail, hair and beauty and general hospitality industries.

But a full bench of the FWC on Monday said "a case had not been made" to change the penalty rates, because the modern award recognised the "disabilities of working at unsociable times".

It also said the industries already had relatively low pay rates.

Australian Retailers Association executive director Russell Zimmerman said the decision would affect retailers already struggling in a tough trading environment.

"It's a tough ask for retailers at this moment," he told AAP on Monday.

"It's fair to say that the world is changing. There are employees in other industries who are not being paid penalties on Sundays.

"We are living in an era where we have to operate in a 24-hour environment, and all we were looking for is to make Sundays more competitive."

Mr Zimmerman said the decision would also mean the unemployment rate in the retail industry would rise.

"Particularly in regional areas, the less they trade, the less money is going into the community because the retailers will look to run the stores themselves.

"It takes employment out of the industry."

Workplace relations minister Bill Shorten said the government welcomed the decision.

"We believe that adequate compensation for unsociable hours at work is reasonable," he said in a statement.

"The question for the Liberals is do they support this decision, and do they support the safety net for some of Australia's lowest paid workers.

"Or are they seeking, should they win government, to allow penalty rates to be stripped from workers as was the case under WorkChoices."

Last week, Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced the government would enshrine worker penalty rates into workplace law, as a consideration for the FWC.

The proposal was slammed by business groups, including the Australian Retailers Association.

"Along with the prime minister's announcement last week, this process now amounts to a one-sided barracking for the trade union movement on penalty rates, doing union bidding as if small business employers, shops, restaurants, cafes and tourism operators are constituencies that don't exist," Mr Zimmerman said.

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sydney turns green for St Patrick's Day

THE streets of Sydney turned green as thousands of revellers celebrated St Patrick's Day across the CBD.

Crowds around Town Hall and Elizabeth Street were 10-deep on Sunday to watch the annual parade roll past, with youngsters dressed in traditional costume getting the biggest cheers as they waved to the crowd.

Greystanes mum Margaret, who grew up in Ireland, came to the city with her children and husband to celebrate their heritage at a family day at Hyde park.

She said she had experienced St Patrick's day in Ireland, New York and Sydney.

"The parade was fantastic, great celebration and great atmosphere... my little one got to see her mates dance in the parade," she told AAP.

Locals and Irish nationals also celebrated with a pint or two of Guinness at one of Sydney's many Irish pubs, which were enjoying one of their biggest trading days.

Popular Irish watering hole PJ O'Briens offered a full Irish breakfast and had crowds stretching down the street.

Australia has celebrated St Patrick's Day on 17 March since 1810, when Governor Lachlan Macquarie declared the date an official day of celebration.

Sydney's St Patrick's day is the largest Irish event in the southern hemisphere with an estimated 60,000 Irish and Australian families participating on Sunday, according to Australia's Irish newspaper the Irish Echo.

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Defeated Kenyan PM challenges poll result

Kenya's defeated presidentical candidate, the outgoing Prime Minister Raila Odinga, files a a legal challenge to his election loss with the Supreme Court, rejecting the slim first-round election win by Uhuru Kenyatta. Jessica Gray reports.

Outgoing PM Raila Odinga has lodged a petition to challenge the outcome of the Kenyan election. Source: AAP

OUTGOING Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has lodged a petition with the country's top court to challenge the outcome of the presidential election that saw him defeated by his rival Uhuru Kenyatta.

The move will be seen as a test of democracy in Kenya, which was rocked by bloody violence after the last disputed polls in 2007, when more than 1100 were killed and hundreds of thousands were displaced.

Odinga's Coalition for Reform and Democracy (CORD) claims the poll was marred by irregularities including changes to the voter register and inflated numbers of registered voters.

They also accused the electoral commission of using "poorly selected, designed" electronic equipment to transmit the results.

With the petition, Odinga is asking the court "to set aside the results of the presidential election as announced on March 9 and the declaration of Uhuru Kenyatta as president-elect ... and declare null and void the whole electoral process," according to a CORD statement.

The party filed the suit at the Supreme Court in the capital Nairobi on Saturday after Odinga spoke to supporters and reporters outside his offices.

"I have no hesitation whatsoever in lawfully challenging the election outcome," he said.

"To do otherwise would be a betrayal of the new constitution and therefore of everything that Kenyans hold dear."

Earlier, police used tear gas to disperse around 100 people demonstrating in favour of Odinga at the court.

An AFP photographer saw one young man bleeding from a wound to the forehead. Bystanders said he had been struck by a tear gas cannister.

Kalonzo Musyoka, Odinga's running mate in the March 4 election, accused the police of being heavy-handed and said Kenyans had simply "been trying to exercise their constitutional right to freedom of movement".

But he called on party supporters to remain calm.

Kenyatta, who avoided a second-round run-off vote by the slimmest of margins to win a majority with just 50.07 per cent, beat Odinga - his closest rival - by more than 800,000 votes.

Odinga won 43.31 per cent of the votes in his third failed attempt at the top job. He said he would abide by the decision of the court and urged Kenyatta to do likewise.

The Supreme Court has 14 days in which to hand down a ruling.

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More