China FTA talks are 'sensitive': Gillard

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has told Chinese media in Australia the two countries are working through economic sensitivities as they continue negotiations over a Free Trade Agreement.

Ms Gillard met about 30 members of the Chinese media after speaking at the Victorian Labor Party state conference in Melbourne on Saturday - just weeks after her trip to China.

The press conference, which was organised just for Chinese media, included members of local Chinese media groups, and China's state-run Xinhua news agency.

Ms Gillard was asked by the journalists what the major obstacles were on reaching an FTA with China.

Ms Gillard said Trade Minister Craig Emeraon had been working to secure an agreement on some issues where the prospects of agreement were very good.

"There are sensitivities on both sides, we are economies that are rich, that are complex, that have many industry segments in them," she said.

"That's true of the Australian economy, we've got a diverse economy, rich in its diversity, China has an increasingly diverse economy too.

"We'll keep working on it ... we'll keep working on better and further exchange between China and Australia, both in trade and in investment."

Ms Gillard was also told many Chinese were worried about United States Marines being based in Darwin, but she said no concerns had been raised by China's president or premier over that plan.

"There is no reason for concern," she said.

Ms Gillard was also forced to defend the government's immigration policy, including its crackdown on 457 visas.

"We are doing what Australian governments have always done and will always do, which is to adjust our immigration settings in light of the needs of our economy at that time," she said.

Ms Gillard said the 457 visa crackdown ensured the visas were used for their true purpose and that positions were firstly filled by qualified Australian workers.

"We have a non-discriminatory immigration policy, it is not targeted at any one country, it is non-discriminatory and from time to time we change policy settings depending on economic needs," she said.

Xinhua journalist Bobby Xu said the Chinese saw their nation's relationship with Australia as very important.

"We are very interested in the coming elections and also the relations between China and Australia," he said.

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Marshall to run for Nats in Torbay's seat

THE Nationals have backed Adam Marshall to stand in the NSW by-election sparked by the snap resignation of MP Richard Torbay.

The former Gunnedah mayor won Nationals preselection for the NSW seat of Northern Tablelands on Saturday, the party's state chair Niall Blair said on Twitter.

The seat was vacated when former speaker Mr Torbay quit the NSW parliament last month, a day after the Nationals asked him to step down as their candidate for the federal seat of New England.

The information that led to his axing was referred by the Nationals to the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Alexander "Jock" Laurie, a fourth-generation grazier from Walcha, had resigned his position as National Farmers' Federation president to stand against Mr Marshall for preselection in the Northern Tablelands.

A third contender was Nationals staffer Claire Coulton.

Mr Marshall will face competition for the seat when Northern Tablelands voters go to the polls on May 25, with NSW Labor last week announcing it would field a candidate.

"We believe local residents deserve an opportunity to send a message to the Liberals and Nationals that they won't stand for attacks on local schools, hospitals and primary industries," NSW Opposition Leader John Robertson said at the time.

Mr Robertson conceded Labor would face a challenge in the seat.

Nominations for Labor candidates for the by-election close on Monday.

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Aussies develop sexy robotic undies

IMAGINE raunchy robotic undies which allow long-distance lovers to 'touch' each other via the internet.

Sydney-based tech firm Snepo have built the Fundawear garments, which contain small vibrating and pulsating actuators that can be remotely controlled via a mobile phone app.

The idea is to allow couples separated by distance to remotely stimulate each other - and the garments have quickly gained worldwide attention.

"After the laughter had stopped, we knew it was going to be an awesome project," said Snepo owner and director Ben Moir in a video posted online about the product.

"Fundawear is a project about transferring touch over vast distances.

"That's really a first, globally."

A team of three engineers and a number of fashion designers have been working on the undies in Sydney since January.

They were developed for condom maker Durex Australia and the company has posted a video online showing an Australian couple trialling them, while talking over a Skype-type service.

Billie Whitehouse, an Australian fashion designer who worked on the project insists the garments are comfortable, despite the electronic gadgets inside.

"Everyone's who's tried them on has said how comfortable they are, how good they feel in them. They are an attractive piece of technology," she added.

The undies are still at the experimental stage and Durex has not yet decided whether to make them widely available.

But a source close to the project said they were an entirely viable product for the mass market.

According to the firm's Fundawear Facebook page, couples can volunteer to become involved in further trials.

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Heroic soldier braves public speaking

PUBLIC speaking is a top fear of many people and it didn't seem to be a comfortable task for one of Australia's bravest soldiers.

But in typical heroic style, he did it anyway.

At a business function in Perth on Friday, Victoria Cross recipient Corporal Daniel Keighran recounted the experience that earned him the nation's highest military award for valour, as Defence Minister Stephen Smith announced he was the new ambassador for the Australian Defence Force Assistance Fund.

The fund offers support to veterans and defence force members who have sustained physical or mental wounds as a result of their service.

Corporal Keighran repeatedly put himself in the line of intense enemy fire in August 2010 during a three-hour fight against the Taliban at Derapet, in one of the most intense battles fought by Australians in Afghanistan.

His heroic act drew fire away from his patrol as they sought to treat Lance Corporal Jared MacKinney, who was fatally wounded, and helped identify enemy locations so these could be targeted.

Admitting he felt daunted giving leadership tips to business titans, Corporal Keighran told the audience that being decisive was all important.

"Don't be afraid to make a call," he said.

"A wrong decision is always better than no decision at all."

It was that steely resolve to move to high ground - revealing his position to the enemy as they upped the ante with reinforcements and rocket-propelled grenades - that gave his mates the break they needed.

"I did what needed to be done," Corporal Keighran said.

"We were being engaged from multiple firing points.

"Things were not looking good."

There were way too many near-misses, he said.

"Something had to change in that firefight to turn the tide.

"If we continued the way it was going, things would have gone downhill at a rapid rate.

"It was time to move.

"I took responsibility, I trusted my team, I formulated a course of action and I carried it out."

After resounding applause for Corporal Keighran, he gave short answers to questions from the crowd, advising the business leaders to get to know their colleagues well, learning each others' strengths and weaknesses to improve team work.

Now a reservist and an employee at a Kalgoorlie mine in Western Australia's Goldfields region, Corporal Keighran was gently ribbed by a mine colleague for giving brief responses as he sought to get out of the spotlight.

The colleague asked him how his team was to work with - and urged him to respond in more than 25 words.

"Great working with you guys. Thank you," he grinned.

Next came "All good - can I go now?", before he swiftly left the stage to laughter from the audience.

Host Bob Cronin, editor-in-chief of The West Australian newspaper, joked: "I can see he's keen to get away from the action".

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Fund plan to protect NSW building workers

BUILDING companies will have to establish a trust fund to ensure subcontractors and workers are paid if the firm goes bust, under reforms announced by the NSW government.

New legislation will also force companies to make progress payments within 30 days of going under.

The changes are the government's response to an inquiry into the construction industry after a string of high-profile firms collapsed leaving suppliers and subcontractors more than $1 billion out of pocket.

Building company Kell and Rigby collapsed in February last year leaving 500 workers out of job.

The collapse was followed by revelations that Reed Construction was unable to pay millions of dollars to more than 50 subcontractors.

St Hilliers Ararat also went into voluntary administration two months later.

The inquiry, led by Bruce Collins QC, made 44 recommendations.

NSW Finance Minister Greg Pearce says some of the recommendations will be adopted immediately, including establishing a cash retention scheme to protect payments to subcontractors if a construction company collapses.

Legislation will also be changed to improve payment practices in the building industry, such as giving authorities power to prosecute over breaches.

"These reforms are aimed at providing better protections for builders, subcontractors and suppliers working in the industry," Mr Pearce said on Thursday.

The state government will trial a system of directly paying subcontractors working under government construction contracts.

An advisory group will also be set up to advise on the reforms.

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Dead man found as renters check WA unit

A DEAD man has been discovered in a West Perth unit by prospective tenants inspecting the property.

A police spokeswoman says the man's death is not suspicious.

The real estate agent didn't check the unit before letting people in on Monday.

Real Estate Institute of Western Australia president David Airey says lessons will be learnt from the incident.

"I'll be saying to some of my staff this morning, and certainly agents hearing this will be saying, 'Make sure you check, you've got to speak personally (with the home owner), go inside first'," Mr Airey told Fairfax radio on Thursday.

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Floods will cost Queensland $2.5 billion

THE damage bill from this year's floods in Queensland will be more than $2.5 billion, Queensland Treasurer Tim Nicholls says.

More than half the payments have been to councils to fix infrastructure, costing in excess of $1.3 billion.

Repairs to state controlled roads will cost $900 million.

Mr Nicholls says the repair bill is half a billion dollars higher than the 2012 floods but about $4.5 billion less than the 2010/11 disasters.

One of the challenges facing the state is how it will pay for the recovery.

"How we rebuild and where we get the funds from to rebuild are important considerations as we move towards the coming state budget," he told parliament on Wednesday.

"We need to be sure that what we rebuild is better than what we lost, and will withstand future weather events."

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North Korea rejects negotiations with US

NORTH Korea will not be returning to the negotiating table with the United States, media reports say.

Pyongyang said while it was not opposed to a dialogue, it will not sit down at a "humiliating negotiating table with the party brandishing a nuclear stick," according to a statement by North Korea's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday.

The insistence by the US that the North demonstrate its "will for denuclearisation" before any negotiation was "a very impudent hostile act," said the statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.

US Secretary of State John Kerry urged North Korea last week to take "meaningful steps" toward denuclearisation and allow the resumption of six-party talks involving the Koreas, Japan, the US, Russia and China.

The talks, aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear program, stalled in 2009.

Meanwhile North Korea barred a delegation of South Korean businessmen from delivering food and supplies to 200 of their staff inside the closed Kaesong joint industrial zone.

Ten representatives of the 123 South Korean firms in Kaesong had applied for permission to visit the zone, two weeks after the North blocked all access amid soaring military tensions on the Korean peninsula.

"Moments ago, North Korea informed us that the request for a visit by 10 representatives of the business companies at Kaesong had been turned down," Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-Seok said.

"It is very regrettable that the North has rejected the request and disallowed a humanitarian measure," Kim said.

Kaesong, which lies 10km inside North Korea, was established in 2004 as a shining symbol of inter-Korean co-operation.

Of the nearly 900 South Koreans who were in the zone when the North first cut off access on April 3, around 200 have opted not to leave in an effort to keep their companies running.

But the North's action has left them without supplies of daily necessities, as well as raw materials.

"We again strongly urge the North Korean authorities to take responsible measures for meeting the most basic needs of the staff at Kaesong," Kim said.

The North withdrew all its 53,000 workers and suspended operations in Kaesong on April 8.

Seoul's offers of dialogue to resolve the situation have been dismissed by the North as a "crafty trick".

On Tuesday, North Korea said the South was seeking to shift responsibility for Kaesong's closure, which Pyongyang insists was forced by Seoul's policy of "confrontation" and its "war-mongering" statements.

"The puppet regime can never escape from the criminal responsibility for putting Kaesong in this grave situation", the North's state body in charge of special economic zones said in a statement.

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Vehicle sales down in March

The Australian Bureau of Statistics says sales of new motor vehicles fell 0.6 per cent in March. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIAN sales of new motor vehicles fell 0.6 per cent in March.

There were 95,113 new vehicles sold in March, seasonally adjusted, compared with 95,716 in February, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.

In the year to March, new motor vehicle sales rose 4.5 per cent, seasonally adjusted.

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NSW homes cheaper after law changes: govt

A NSW government paper recommends speeding up the approval process for many types of developments. Source: AAP

NEW homes will be cheaper to build under the NSW government's overhaul of the state's planning system, says Planning Minister Brad Hazzard.

About 80 per cent of development proposals will qualify for fast-tracked decision making under the changes, estimated to save businesses and families about $174 million a year.

Most of these applications, which include new homes and home extensions, will be determined in less than 25 days.

Mr Hazzard said the government was slashing millions of dollars in red tape.

"That should translate into far faster processes, and holding costs are what contributes to the expense of homes, so we are anticipating that will have downward pressure," he said.

He was unable to put a figure on the cost saving for new homes but said it was logical to expect a drop in prices if more housing was coming in to the market.

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell said the white paper represented the most significant reform of the state's planning laws in more than 30 years.

"What we are delivering is an opportunity for communities and councils to work together to plan their suburbs, their streets and their regions.

"To deliver homes more affordably, to deliver the jobs closer to where people work and to do so at the same time as infrastructure is being delivered."

Under the changes, communities will have a legal charter to participate in upfront planning of areas, deciding where developments will go, what type they will be and what infrastructure will be needed to support them.

Community consultation was the centrepiece of the reforms, Mr Hazzard said.

"There will be guaranteed capacity for the community to have their say on how they see their local area developing."

"The community will be able to own this planning system, they will own what happens in their local area."

However, he conceded, "There is no question it is a mighty challenge to get the community to switch on at an earlier stage".

State opposition leader John Robertson said the proposed planning laws would give more power to developers.

"This is a regime which will give developers everything they want.

"It will exclude local communities from having a say at the most critical point of the planning process - that is, when the detailed development applications go to a council and no-one in the local community will have a say on anything."

Opposition planning spokesman Luke Foley said it would remove the general consultation process with communities in the preliminary stages of community engagement.

"Whilst cutting out the consultation at the point when development plans become a reality - that is a very cynical breach of faith with people who voted for a return of planning powers to local community."

Greens MP David Shoebridge said the proposals would favour developers over local communities.

"It's very clear that this legislation is intended to privilege developers, builders and construction, while local communities and local environment will play second-fiddle."

He said local councils will be sidelined on planning decisions with fewer representatives on regional planning boards.

"Local councils will become government patsies, they will just implement the decisions being made by the regional planning boards.

"Who would have thought that two years into the O'Farrell government, we would be looking back to the corrupt and broken scheme of planning under Labor and thinking they were the good days for planning in NSW."

The white paper is now open for community consultation for the next ten weeks. Legislation will be introduced to parliament in the second half of this year.

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Man faces court over WA hit and run death

A 23-YEAR-OLD man has made a brief appearance in a Perth court over the hit and run death of a Sudanese man on the weekend.

Luke David Taylor has been charged with a string of offences over the death of William Maker, 29, who was originally from Sudan and spent years in a Kenyan refugee camp.

It is alleged Mr Maker was waiting at a bus stop in Merriwa, in Perth's outer-northern suburbs, on Saturday when he signalled for Taylor to slow down.

But instead, Taylor allegedly drove around a roundabout several times and struck Mr Maker as he drove back up the road, throwing him over the vehicle and onto the road.

Mr Maker was taken to Royal Perth Hospital but later died from his injuries.

Taylor was arrested up by police at a house in nearby Quinns Rocks.

He has been charged with manslaughter, no authority to drive, failing to stop after a traffic incident causing bodily harm, and failing to report an incident occasioning death or grievous bodily harm.

Taylor appeared in Perth Magistrates Court on Monday but was not required to plead to the charges.

He was remanded in custody until his next court date in Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court on May 1.

Mr Maker's family and friends were also in court to hear the matter.

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Maduro barely wins Venezuela poll

Venezuelans have flocked to the polls to pick Hugo Chavez' successor and decide the nation's future. Source: AAP

HUGO Chavez's hand-picked successor, Nicolas Maduro,has won a razor-thin victory in the special presidential election, edging the opposition's leader by only about 300,000 votes, electoral officials have announced.

Maduro's stunningly close victory on Sunday over Henrique Capriles came after a campaign in which the winner promised to carry on Chavez's self-proclaimed socialist revolution, while the challenger's main message was that Chavez's regime put Venezuela on the road to ruin.

Maduro, acting-president since Chavez's death, held a double-digit advantage just two weeks ago, but electoral officials said he got just 50.7 per cent of the votes to 49.1 per cent for Capriles.

Chavistas set off fireworks and blasted car horns as they cruised downtown Caracas in jubilation.

There was no immediate word from the Capriles camp but Maduro addressed a crowd from the presidential palace. He called his victory further proof that Chavez "continues to be invincible, that he continues to win battles."

He said that Capriles had called him before the results were announced to suggest a "pact" and that Maduro refused. There was no immediate word from Capriles.

Maduro, a longtime foreign minister to Chavez, rode a wave of sympathy for the charismatic leader to victory, pinning his hopes on the immense loyalty for his boss among millions of poor beneficiaries of government largesse and the powerful state apparatus that Chavez skillfully consolidated.

Capriles' main campaign weapon was to simply emphasise "the incompetence of the state" in handling the world's largest oil reserves.

Millions of Venezuelans were lifted out of poverty under Chavez, but many also believe his government not only squandered, but plundered, much of the $US1 trillion ($A956.62 billion) in oil revenues during his tenure.

Venezuelans are afflicted by chronic power outages, crumbling infrastructure, unfinished public works projects, double-digit inflation, food and medicine shortages, and rampant crime - one of the world's highest homicide and kidnapping rates - that the opposition said worsened after Chavez succumbed March 5 to cancer.

That discontent was thick across the nation.

"We can't continue to believe in messiahs," said Jose Romero, a 48-year-old industrial engineer who voted for Capriles in the central city of Valencia. "This country has learned a lot and today we know that one person can't fix everything."

Turnout was 78 per cent, down from just over 80 per cent in the October election that Chavez won by a nearly 11-point margin.

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New ad campaign to cut smoking rates

A NEW wave of hard-hitting ads will focus on the suffering caused by smoking to try to slash smoking rates.

The ads for the federal government's Stop Before The Suffering Starts campaign will run on television, radio, online and print media, as well as social media, from Sunday.

They highlight the toll taken by smoking-related illnesses and the impact on smokers and their families.

"Many medical conditions caused by smoking can result in not just death, but in living for years of suffering with disabling health problems," Health Minister Tanya Plibersek said in statement on Sunday.

The goal was to reduce smoking rates from around 25 per cent of the population to 10 per cent by 2018.

Tobacco smoking remains the single largest cause of preventable premature death and disease in Australia, killing 15,000 Australians each year and costing the economy $31.5 billion.

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Aust could lose historic square: activists

AUSTRALIA risks losing a unique and valuable part of its history if plans to revamp the nation's only remaining pristine Georgian-era square are approved, local activists say.

Community Action for Windsor Bridge (CAWB) says parts of the historic Thompson Square in Windsor, northwest of Sydney, are being threatened under plans to replace the nearby Hawkesbury River bridge.

The Roads and Maritime Services said the work is required because the existing bridge is more than a century old and deteriorating.

It said no heritage buildings in the square would be demolished but work will potentially impact on its "heritage values and archaeology".

Construction is scheduled to start mid to late 2013 once planning is approved.

Historian Peter Luck said the nation will lose another part of its unique and valuable history if the work goes ahead.

"We are in danger of ... saying a familiar farewell to a piece of Australia which embodies the Macquarie era, the beginning of Australia's so called 'age of enlightenment'," he said in a statement on Sunday.

"Thompson Square is a gem, miraculously preserved until the 21st century.

"It would be a great pity if it survived so brilliantly, only to be destroyed by historical carelessness and short-sightedness."

He said the bridge was still "in good nick" for use by moderate traffic, but was not suitable for heavy traffic.

"Perfect colonial Georgian buildings and incessantly rumbling B-doubles make a bad mix."

CAWB said a rally scheduled for Sunday to protest against the plans has been met with opposition from locals, after finding a number of their promotional placards removed from their posts in the morning.

"We know there is very small group of locals who seem to have a passionate commitment in getting rid of the historic bridge," spokeswoman Kate Mackaness told AAP.

"People don't seem to have the best interest of Windsor at heart, and I'm not sure what's generating this."

Ms Mackaness said during the construction of the bridge will also be a "disaster" for local business.

The group has so far 12,000 petition signatures and is gaining more support, she said.

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