ADF troops say war is all about your mates

IT was his fellow soldiers who made the time in Afghanistan worthwhile, a soldier says.

At an official welcome home parade held for about 250 Australian Defence Force personnel in Darwin on Saturday, Captain George Minns reflected on his last tour of Uruzgan province.

As the Second Cavalry Regiment Taskforce helped wind down activity in Tarin Kowt and hand over to the Afghan National Army (ANA), everything seemed different, he said.

"It really started to get to the circle the wagons stage, because you had to maintain that ability to provide security while seeing off those last few tasks," he told AAP.

"It was quite eerie."

His second tour of Afghanistan ran for the second half of last year as the ADF prepared to leave, and he saw no trouble.

"For me the trip was pretty quiet; no one tried to shoot us, no one tried to blow us up.

"We knew activity had dropped off significantly but we still expected something - someone at some point having a crack. But it didn't happen."

Sapper Robert Muraru, preparing to march with his explosives detection dog Chipper, said he didn't detect much hostility from the locals.

"Some of them didn't like us there, (but) when we were patrolling through villages most of them would come out and wave at us," he said.

On Saturday, he faced a more welcoming crowd as friends, family and the wider Darwin community lined the streets as troops marched to applause and flag-waving.

About two dozen veterans on motorcycles staked out a strip along a main street, their leather vests proclaiming them proud returned servicemen.

"This is my spot now," said one man who identified himself as Bronco, who left the army last year.

"We're here not for us but to support the troops."

Sam Kav of the Military Brotherhood, a social group for veterans and current serving members, said support was crucial for those returning from deployment.

"A lot of people find it hard to transition from the military to the civilian world, and we provide that link to allow us to integrate back into society," he said.

Mateship was key, Captain Minns agreed.

"The best bit was always the people you're sharing the experience with and that's always true of the experience in the army in general: it's the mates that make or break it."

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Islands to sink by 2100: Nauru president

ENTIRE islands, languages and histories will be lost to rising sea levels before the end of this century unless urgent action is taken on climate change, the president of Nauru says.

While the world's island nations have a history of perseverance against all odds, they are facing their biggest threat yet, President Baron Waqa told the United Nations' International Year of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) launch in New York on Monday.

Nauru holds the chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, a coalition of 44 small island and low-lying coastal countries.

"No people or country has faced the risk of total inundation from rising seas before," President Waqa said.

It isn't just small island nations that are at risk from the effects of climate change, he said.

"Never forget that by protecting us, we safeguard the whole world."

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Opinion divided on next rate move

ECONOMISTS are divided on whether the next move in the Reserve Bank of Australia's interest rate will be up or down, and how far away that move may be.

They do agree that the cash rate will stay at 2.5 per cent for several months, with all 13 economists surveyed by AAP forecasting no change in the first half of 2014.

Three of those surveyed say there will be a quarter of a percentage point cut by the end of 2014, and six are forecasting a rise before the end of 2014.

The remainder say no change.

Australia's central bank holds its March board meeting on Tuesday.

After the February board meeting RBA governor Glenn Stevens indicated he was not inclined to cut the cash rate from its current record low.

"On present indications, the most prudent course is likely to be a period of stability in interest rates," he said.

An argument for increasing the cash rate would be higher inflation.

The official consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.7 per cent in 2013, which is towards the higher end of the RBA's two to three per cent target bank for inflation.

However business investment data for the December quarter, released on Thursday, showed Australia's mining investment boom is well and truly over, but other parts of the economy aren't quite ready to pick up the slack.

Citigroup head of economics Paul Brennan said the RBA's policy stance after the February meeting should have been one inclined to cutting the cash rate.

"With the rotation of economic growth towards domestic demand proving to be somewhat drawn-out, sentiment to help guarantee a return to trend growth in a timely manner would arguably be better supported by a more accommodative RBA," he said.

Mr Brennan expects the RBA to maintain its neutral policy bias on Tuesday and keep the cash rate unchanged for the rest of the year.

HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham said the bank will increase the cash rate later in the year but this is reliant on an improvement in employment growth.

Unemployment rose to a 10-year high of six per cent in January after a year of weak jobs growth.

"With inflation already in the upper half of the RBA's target band and timely indicators suggesting that domestic demand is lifting, we see little scope or need for the RBA to cut rates further," Mr Bloxham said.

"We believe the key for determining when rates may rise is the labour market and see the RBA as unlikely to lift rates until the unemployment rate is falling.

"Our central view is that the unemployment rate will peak around the middle of the year."

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Elderly, young told to leave Morwell smoke

Authorities are advising vulnerable residents in the south of Morwell to move temporarily. Source: AAP

THE elderly and young children are among those urged to leave Morwell South, the area worst affected by smoke from an ongoing Victorian coal mine fire.

Authorities insist it's not an evacuation but rather precautionary advice to temporarily relocate.

Fire crews expect to take at least another 10 days to get on top of the fire in the Hazelwood open-cut mine that's been burning for nearly three weeks.

People over 65 years, preschool-aged children, pregnant women and anyone with a pre-existing heart or lung condition have been advised to temporarily relocate out of Morwell South, the area close to the mine.

The advice affects an unspecified portion of the 1500 people in the Morwell South district.

Chief health officer Rosemary Lester defended the timing of the stepped-up advice, given fire authorities had already said it would take at least another fortnight to get on top of the blaze.

"The advice up until now has been appropriate for the length of exposure," she said.

"Because we know now that the exposure is likely to continue we think now is the right time to increase the advice to temporary relocation."

Dr Lester says the advice is a precautionary measure.

"This is not an evacuation. It is an advice for a temporary relocation until the air quality improves," she said.

Locals unhappy with the response by authorities heckled the media conference in Morwell.

"We can't sleep, we can't go outside, we can't breathe," said one woman through tears.

"You can't continue to allow this to happen."

Dr Lester said moving temporarily would be the best way for vulnerable people to avoid the continuing smoke.

"We do know that the longer vulnerable people spend in the fine particles from the smoke that that's a continuing risk for them," she said.

The continued advice to other residents is to take temporary breaks from the smoke, to stay indoors and avoid physical activity outside.

Dr Lester admits the evidence around medium-term exposure to the smoke is unclear.

Local residents say people outside the vulnerable groups are experiencing problems in the smoke but Dr Lester says there have been no serious health effects from the smoke as yet.

"We know it can produce health effects for everyone but we do know that some groups are at higher risk than others."

Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley says the best-case scenario is that it will be another 10 days before the fire stops causing significant smoke and ash over Morwell, but authorities are concerned about two hot and windy days next week.

The fire has been burning since February 9, when a deliberately-lit blaze spotted into a worked-out area of the Hazelwood mine.

Chief Commissioner Ken Lay says police have received 50 new pieces of evidence regarding the unknown arsonist who sparked the blaze.

Police will boost their presence in Morwell South by 30 officers to patrol the area while people move out.

Premier Denis Napthine has urged people to follow the chief health officer's advice.

"However there is no compulsion for people to relocate," he told reporters in Morwell.

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Ashby wins appeal in Slipper case

PETER Slipper's former staffer James Ashby has won his appeal against a Federal Court decision to throw out his sexual harassment case against the former parliamentary speaker granted.

Federal Court judge, Justice Steven Rares, had dismissed Mr Ashby's case against Mr Slipper as an abuse of process in December 2012.

The full bench of the Federal Court upheld Mr Ashby's appeal on Thursday.

Outside court, Mr Ashby said he had a cry over the decision.

"I'm extremely pleased that the full court has decided to reject and overturn Justice Rares' decision in my case," he said.

"I say this with so much thrill.

"I've always believed the original court decision was wrong. It was unjust and not based on all the facts."

"We will now continue with the legal fight and my chance to obtain justice.

"As you can imagine this has been a long and torturous journey, but I am determined not to give up until my claim has been vindicated."

Asked if his claim was ever politically motivated? Ashby replied: "No, never at all."

"It was about working for the community. That's all I ever wanted to do with that job."

"It's important that legal firms support whistleblowers and James Ashby is a whistleblower who has, against the full force of the former federal government, pursued his legal rights at great personal risk," he said.

"We will be pursuing Peter Slipper for full costs and everything else that flows from this decision.

"James has never had a proper hearing on the merits of his case, and he will now get that hearing. And that's what we've been after for a long time."

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China rude towards Bishop: DFAT

AUSTRALIA'S top diplomat for north Asia has described China's public rebuke of foreign minister Julie Bishop as the rudest display he's seen in his career.

It was a candid moment during a heated debate about the status of Australia's relationship with China, in which Labor suggested the Abbott government was mishandling ties with its biggest trading partner.

Top officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) were quizzed about the incident in December when Ms Bishop was upbraided by her Chinese counterpart during a press conference in Beijing.

The foreign minister was criticised for "irresponsible" comments after Australia condemned China's declaration of an air-defence zone over an island chain also claimed by Japan.

DFAT North Asia Division first assistant secretary Peter Rowe on Thursday gave a frank assessment of the display from Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

"I have never in 30 years encountered such rudeness, actually," he told a Senate estimates hearing on Thursday.

His superior, DFAT secretary Peter Varghese, quickly interrupted by saying foreign ministers often have robust exchanges, even if they're usually not in front of the media.

Mr Rowe's revelation prompted Labor senator Sam Dastyari, who suggested it was one of a number of incidents that suggested all wasn't well between Australia and China.

He pointed to the summoning of China's ambassador over the no-fly zone, and the government's failure to criticise Japan after its prime minister visited a controversial war shrine that was offensive to China.

In particular, he questioned whether a trilateral communique issued in October between Japan, Australia and the United States equated to a change in policy towards China.

"To play this game where you pretend this isn't a significant communique, I just don't think passes the believability test," he said.

Mr Varghese said although the Chinese had expressed their disappointment over the communique, "not one phrase" in it represented a shift in policy from Australia.

He also said Prime Minister Tony Abbott's description of Japan as an "ally" was correct, though there were "capital A" and "small A" allies, which amused Labor senator John Faulkner.

"The use of upper case and lower case, do I find that in some diplomatic handbook? That's one of the most interesting things I've ever heard," he said.

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Kiwi keeps within narrow range

THE New Zealand dollar is little changed as a light data week keeps investors wary of testing recent ranges.

The kiwi traded at 83.27 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 83.32 cents at 8am and 83.33 cents on Tuesday. The trade-weighted index was 78.16 from 78.20 on Tuesday.

Traders remained wary of breaking recent ranges with little new data ahead of US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen's testimony before legislators on Friday and US employment figures next week.

Investors are also awaiting the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's policy expected move to start raising interest rates at the March 13 monetary policy statement.

"The market is suffering from an acute lack of local data after the G20 at the start of the week," said Stuart Ive, a senior client adviser at OMF in Wellington.

"I don't think the kiwi's going to significantly go too far either way at the moment."

The kiwi edged up to 92.44 Australian cents from 92.33 cents on Tuesday after federal government figures showed Australia's total value of construction fell one per cent in the final three months of 2013, largely due to weak residential building.

The local currency slipped to 85.24 yen from 85.42 yen on Tuesday and was little changed at 60.60 euro cents from 60.66 cents.

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No money left for new ships: Johnston

DEFENCE Minister David Johnston says the government has no money for new naval vessels and has to "rob Peter to pay Paul" to keep shipbuilders in work.

Senator Johnston said the government faced a deficit of $123 billion and there was no money for shipbuilding projects.

"We have got to rob Peter to pay Paul that keeps people in work and that is precisely what we are seeking to do," he told a Senate estimates committee hearing on Wednesday.

"We have a clean sheet of paper to try and resource any of those programs to keep (defence contractors) BAE, Forgacs and ASC workers in place."

This stems from the so-called "valley of death", the period between the end of current shipbuilding projects and the start of new projects, when companies will have to lay off skilled workers.

Speaking in Canberra on Wednesday, Forgacs chief executive Lindsay Stratton warned the company would have to lay off 900 skilled workers by the end of next year as their work on the air warfare destroyer project concluded.

Senator Johnston said it would not be a problem if the former Labor government had brought forward shipbuilding projects.

The government was now considering what it could do for shipbuilders in the new Defence White Paper and Defence Capability Plan, to be launched in early 2015.

Senator Johnston said the government's promise of lifting defence spending to two per cent of gross domestic product in 10 years gave some semblance of hope.

But defence was no orphan in these tough times.

There were a host of other portfolios where the financial base had been eroded or where expenditure far exceeded the capacity of government to resource them, Senator Johnston said.

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