Tasmanian forestry boss to quit

FORESTRY Tasmania boss Bob Gordon is quitting as the controversial government business prepares to implement the state's forest peace deal.

Chief executive Bob Gordon says he has come to a mutual agreement with the company's board after six years at the helm of the Tasmanian logging agency.

"I have reached agreement with the board that now is the right time for a change," Mr Gordon said in a Forestry Tasmania (FT) statement.

"My departure will allow the board to select a long-term leader that can take the organisation forward into what I believe is a challenging but exciting future."

That future includes the "significant challenges" to implement the agreement between environmentalists and the timber industry, the FT statement said.

The Tasmanian Forests Agreement was legislated last month after three years of negotiations between mainstream green groups and the industry.

It aims to end 30 years of bitter conflict by protecting around 500,000 hectares of forest.

In return, the federal government will provide hundreds of millions of dollars to restructure the industry in an attempt to make it sustainable.

FT chairman Bob Annells said the agreement's implementation was one of several challenges facing the company.

They also include gaining the tick of approval from the Forest Stewardship Council, an international non-government organisation that certifies sustainable forestry practice.

"The transfer of reserve areas and the new focus on a more concentrated wood production zone require a long-term commitment which the board and Bob have agreed would be best met through new leadership," Mr Annells said.

Mr Gordon's announcement comes days after he told a Senate inquiry FT had "stuffed up internally" its handling of a $45 million government compensation program for contractors exiting the ailing industry.

Mr Gordon will officially leave in July with chief operating officer Steve Whitely FT's interim CEO.

AAP dpb/

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Defence reveals details of major battle

RAKED by fire from Taliban machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, Australian special forces soldiers were pinned down in the Afghanistan dust and, in the words of their commander, "digging holes with their eyelids".

Overhead, helicopters rained gunfire on insurgent positions. One soldier saved the day - Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith - whose charge directly at Taliban machine guns earned him a Victoria Cross.

Defence has now revealed further details of surrounding actions which won Special Operations Task Group (SOTG) members 13 bravery decorations and SOTG the first battle honour awarded since Vietnam.

What's called the battle of Eastern Shah Wali Kot unfolded in May and June 2010, with SOTG charged with securing northern approaches to Kandahar city in the major coalition operation to oust insurgents from their heartland.

In a media briefing on Thursday, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Burns, SOTG commander at the time, said the operation was carefully orchestrated to draw the Taliban into a decisive defeat.

Early on June 10, helicopters landed 100 members of the 2nd Commando Regiment in the middle of the insurgent stronghold in Chenartu, an area where earlier coalition incursions had been repelled.

"At 10am precisely every single position was exposed to a hail of gunfire, heavy machine gun fire and RPGs," he said.

The soldiers pushed the insurgents back. Taliban attacked again in the afternoon. Enemy positions on high ground were obliterated by a US A-10 ground attack aircraft.

"The enemy broke contact, withdrew again to lick their wounds," he said.

Local people expressed delight to see the back of the Taliban who had been sponging off them at a time of drought.

Five kilometres away in the village of Tizak, there were indications some Taliban leaders were present and Lt Col Burns dispatched a team of 25 Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) operators aboard four Black Hawk helicopters, supported by a pair of Apache gunships.

They encountered a hail of insurgent fire.

"All they could do was crawl into a position so they didn't die. The guys said, 'I was digging a hole with my eyelids,'" he said. Helicopters were riddled with holes.

At this point Corporal Roberts-Smith dashed 40 metres across open ground, destroying three enemy machine gun positions.

"The guys systematically broke down that position and destroyed every single enemy machine gun position and every enemy in that village," Lt Col Burns said.

The Australian Defence Force doesn't reveal enemy body counts but some reports put the toll as high as 80-90, including a number of senior commanders. One Australian, one Afghan soldier and one Afghan civilian were wounded.

The Taliban propaganda machine claimed that as a great victory. SOTG knew otherwise.

For a victory of this magnitude, SOTG had escaped very lightly but that wasn't to last. In one of the final operations of the campaign on June 21, a helicopter crashed and killed three Australian commandos.

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Govt is 'holding budget hostage to Europe'

The government has deferred a $1.59 a week tax cut because of the falling global carbon price. Source: AAP

THE federal government is holding Australian policy hostage to European decisions when it should be looking toward Asia, the coalition says.

Climate Change Minister Greg Combet on Wednesday said carbon price forecasts would be revised down in next Tuesday's budget because of a slump in the European market and related tax cuts would be deferred.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said the government was wrong to hinge domestic budget decisions on what happens in Europe.

"This is a government that talks about living in the Asian century, yet they gave economic policy-making in Australia over to the Europeans," Mr Abbott told reporters in Sydney on Wednesday afternoon.

"It's an absolutely bizarre decision and it shows why this whole carbon tax apparatus should just be gotten rid of in the interests of the security of Australian jobs and the welfare of Australian families."

Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey said the government had "subcontracted out" the fate of the Australian budget to Europe.

"This is a moment when we should be moving away from European policy-making rather than linking ourselves with it - no wonder our budget's a mess, and no wonder the carbon revenues are guessable," he said.

Australia's carbon price is currently fixed at $23 a tonne but in 2015 will move to a market-based mechanism linked to the European emissions trading system.

Tax cuts that were due to kick in then will now be deferred, Mr Combet said.

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Parental leave costs out before poll: Libs

OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott says the coalition will have more to say about the cost of its paid parental leave scheme ahead of the election, after a leaked forecast showed it could be $2 billion more than expected.

Costings from the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO), published in The Australian Financial Review, predict the package would cost $3.6 billion in 2014/15 and rise to $5.3 billion in 2016/17.

The costings are much higher than the $3.4 billion a year forecast by the coalition at the 2010 election.

Questioned about the PBO forecast on Wednesday, Mr Abbott would only say: "We'll have much more to say between now and polling day.

"This is a very important economic policy," he told reporters in Sydney.

"The wealth of a country depends on three things - population, participation and productivity - and our paid parental leave policy does good things for everything."

Mr Abbott has this week faced pressure from some of his own MPs to dump his "signature" scheme, which would give new mothers their regular wage for six months, up to $75,000.

The coalition says it will introduce a 1.5 per cent levy on more than 3000 top-earning companies to pay for the policy.

Responding to the PBO costings leak, shadow assistant treasurer Mathias Cormann dismissed suggestions the coalition had got its sums wrong.

"We ... released the costings in relation to the paid parental leave scheme in the lead-up to the last election, which was about three years ago," Senator Cormann told ABC radio.

"We will, of course, in the lead-up to the next election, release our full costings in relation to the paid parental leave scheme."

In a rare public statement, Parliamentary Budget Officer Phil Bowen said the figures published by Fairfax Media were not from costings prepared for the coalition.

"The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) has prepared a number of costings in this policy area for different parliamentarians," Mr Bowen said.

"The PBO will only confirm costings that have been publicly released by the political party or parliamentarian for whom the costing was prepared."

Mr Abbott was also asked to clarify his "women of calibre" comment, suggesting his paid leave scheme would encourage educated career women to have children, which reignited claims of misogyny against him.

"What I meant was that we have got to give a fair dinkum paid parental leave scheme to the families of Australia," Mr Abbott said of the comment.

"If it's right for the bloke on holiday to get paid at his real wage, if it is right for the bloke on sick leave to get to paid his real wage, why isn't it right for the woman on parental leave to get paid her real wage?"

Prime Minister Julia Gillard took aim at the Abbott parental leave scheme, saying it wasn't in keeping with the "Australian way" of providing a helping hand to those who need it most.

"Mr Abbott's scheme is the complete reverse of that," Ms Gillard told reporters in Brisbane.

"The more you have, the more you get, and that isn't how we provide assistance in Australia."

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$A falls after RBA cuts cash rate

THE Australian dollar fell below 102 US cents after the central bank cut the cash rate at its board meeting on Tuesday.

The Reserve Bank of Australia cut the cash rate by a quarter of a percentage point to record low of 2.75 per cent at its May board meeting.

At 1434 AEST, the currency was worth 101.88 US cents, down from 102.37 US cents shortly before the bank's decision was announced.

The currency ended Monday's local session at 102.72 US cents.

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RBA cuts cash rate to 2.75%

The Reserve Bank cut the cash rate to a record-low of 2.75 per cent at its May board meeting. Source: AAP

THE Reserve Bank of Australia has cut the cash rate to 2.75 per cent at its May board meeting, in a effort to boost economic growth in Australia, which is still below trend.

In 2012 the central bank cut the cash rate four times, but this was the first reduction in 2013.

In a statement accompanying the decision, RBA governor Glenn Stevens said economic growth was below trend in the second half of 2012 and continued to be that way in 2013.

"Employment has continued to grow but more slowly than the labour force, so that the rate of unemployment has increased a little, though it remains relatively low," Mr Stevens said on Tuesday.

"The global economy is likely to record growth a little below trend this year, before picking up next year.

"Among the major regions, the United States continues on a path of moderate expansion and China's growth is running at a more sustainable, but still robust, pace."

Mr Stevens said the RBA board noted the inflation outlook would afford scope to ease the cash rate further.

"At today's meeting the Board decided to use some of that scope," he said.

"It judged that a further decline in the cash rate was appropriate to encourage sustainable growth in the economy, consistent with achieving the inflation target."

Commonwealth Bank chief economist Michael Blythe said it appeared recent consumer price index (CPI) figures, which showed inflation remains benign, had prompted the RBA's decision to cut.

"It's hard to see much in the statement that suggests a change in views (on the economy) compared with last month," he said.

"It seems that confirmed low inflation has just allowed them to act on an easing bias and give the non-mining economy a further nudge along."

Mr Blythe said the RBA's statement gave no indication of whether it was considering further rate cuts.

UBS interest rate strategist Matthew Johnson said he thinks there won't be any more rates reductions for a while and this one was a line-ball decision.

"My read of the statement is they cut because inflation was low and because they could, not necessarily because they changed their demand outlook.

"I think that means they are not going to cut in the near term, they are pretty data dependant."

"I guess the decision was 50-50, the future market had it right and the economists got it wrong."

HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham said low inflation has won the day.

"It's allowed them to cut the cash rate a bit further but it also seems as though part of their objective is to get the Aussie dollar to come down a bit," Mr Bloxham said.

However, he remains sceptical that the central bank can achieve those aims.

"They have noted in the past that the link between the Aussie dollar and interest rates is pretty loose so it's hard to know."

In its statement the RBA said inflation is consistent with the target and a little lower than expected.

It also said the exchange rate had been at a historically high level over the past 18 months, which was unusual given the decline in export prices and interest rates during that time.

If today's interest cut was passed on in full then the repayments on a $300,000 mortgage would drop by about $46 a month on average.

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Five women die after US limo catches fire

A CORONER investigating the deaths of five women killed in a limousine fire as they were heading to a hen's night in California says their badly-burned bodies were found near the partition that separates the driver from the passengers.

San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault says that suggests the women tried to use the window opening to escape the fast-moving fire that began in the back of the limo.

Four other women got out of the limousine after the driver stopped on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge on Saturday night. Foucrault said passersby helped three women get out of a rear door, and a fourth woman managed to squeeze through the partition.

The driver was not injured.

Foucrault said the women were heading to a hotel to celebrate the recent wedding of a woman who died in the fire.

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Qld announces racing Commission of Inquiry

A COMMISSION of Inquiry will look into the Queensland racing industry under the former Labor government.

Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie says serious allegations had been raised over the past few weeks.

"We heard almost daily more allegations of more money being thrown around by the former Labor government and the former bosses of Queensland racing," he said.

"There is no use-by date for justice."

He's concerned Contour Engineers won tens of millions of dollars in work, however only one job went to tender.

There have also been reports the former government approved more than $20 million in payments to the company in its final days.

The inquiry, which starts on July 1, will run for three months and cost $3 million.

The commission has been directed to examine the tender process, whether there were conflicts of interest at Racing Queensland, the renegotiation of contracts of senior staff, and the $20 million paid to Contour Engineers two days before the Labor administration went into caretaker mode.

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Parliament House marks 25th anniversary

This Thursday, May 9, marks the 25th anniversary of the new parliament House opening by the Queen. Source: AAP

A WEEK is a long time in politics and for Australia's "new" Parliament House, it's been a very long 1300 weeks.

This Thursday, May 9, marks the 25th anniversary of the new parliament's opening by the Queen.

In 1988 there was some trepidation about moving up Capital Hill from the old parliament into the labyrinthine complex.

"There was an element of dread, that you thought oh-oh, we're going to this huge space, do you leave a trail of cut paper to know where you've been," former speaker Harry Jenkins told AAP.

But space had its advantages, particularly for MPs like Liberal Bronwyn Bishop whose new digs compared favourably with her old "broom cupboard".

Minister Warren Snowdon said the building's size caused - and still causes - problems for MPs trying to negotiate its 10km of corridors to get to the chambers for votes.

"I missed a division once," he told AAP.

"We ran down and the doors had just shut - whack - and we're standing outside feeling such idiots."

Newcomers like Senator Anne Ruston, who took up her post in September, still experiences building disorientation once or twice a sitting week.

Another issue, 25 years later, is the sense of social isolation many house dwellers experience.

Some MPs think another in-house bar could partially resolve the problem - after three bars included in the original design were subsequently closed.

But for many new hands like Liberal backbencher Wyatt Roy, the youngest MP elected to federal parliament and who, at 23, is younger than the house itself, it's as inspiring as its predecessor.

Parliament House was designed with a shelf-life of at least 200 years in mind, and if its first 25 years are anything to go by it will continue to evolve over the next quarter century.

Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) secretary Carol Mills says the ongoing challenge is keeping up with digital technology and security risks.

It only got in-house wi-fi in late 2012 and today is surrounded by anti-vehicle barriers.

Last year, DPS was under immense pressure after a man managed to breach security and join a prime ministerial press conference in the inner sanctum of the ministerial wing.

In 1988, more than 25,000 people turned out to see Her Majesty "unlock" the front doors.

Next week some of the 10,000 construction workers will hold a reunion along with architects Romaldo Giurgola and Ric Thorp.

A book on parliament's art collection will be launched on May 15 and the Mint has released a commemorative coin.

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Rio Tinto to shed more jobs in Australia

Rio Tinto boss Sam Walsh says more jobs will be shed in Australia as they continue to make savings. Source: AAP

RIO Tinto boss Sam Walsh says more jobs will be shed in Australia as the global miner continues to make US$5 billion in savings by the end of 2014.

Three months after the company announced its first ever full year net loss of almost US$3 billion, Mr Walsh confirmed more local job cuts were on the cards.

"There will be reductions," Mr Walsh told the Financial Review Sunday program.

"This is not easy. This is a process that is very very tough, but we need to get on top of our costs."

He said the energy and aluminium businesses were both going through very tough times and the company needed to have competitive businesses.

Mr Walsh was unable to specify how many jobs would be cut, following recent staff reductions at Rio's Sydney, Melbourne and London offices.

"We don't have targets for reductions in people," he said.

"We do have targets for reduction in costs and we're working thorough that and addressing that business by business."

It comes ahead of the company's annual general meeting in Sydney on Thursday.

Mr Walsh, who recently said Rio was focused on raising funds by selling assets, said he had met with the company's 50 biggest shareholders.

"They've all got a piece of advice for us and of course one wants to listen to shareholders but this is about value, this is about ensuring that I do deliver value to shareholders.

"It' not about a fire sale."

He also predicts the global economy is in for more volatile times.

"The world is an uncertain place," he said.

"First quarter we saw a dip in China. We've seen increased commitment to infrastructure and an easing of credit and we expect that will flow through to steel production and iron ore demand," he said.

But Rio was "doing okay".

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