Australians on board missing plane

A search and rescue mission is underway for a Malaysia Airlines flight, which has lost contact with air traffic control.

Flight with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board missing ... Malaysia Airlines service bound for Beijing lost. Source: Supplied

• Beijing-bound flight loses contact at 5.40am AEDT
• 239 passengers missing
• Seven Australians were on board
• DFAT hotline: 1300 555 135 or 02 6261 3305

SEVEN Australians are among the 239 people on board a Malaysia Airlines flight bound that lost contact with air traffic control and may have gone down in the Gulf of Thailand.

The Beijing-bound Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, a Boeing 777-200 aircraft, lost contact with Subang Air Traffic Control at 5.40am (AEST).

"The flight was carrying 227 passengers (including two infants), 12 crew members," the airline said in a statement.

Malaysia Airlines said the passengers were from 14 different nationalities. Seven are believed to have been Australians and there were two from New Zealand.

Grim news ... Malaysian Airlines Group CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya addresses the media near Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Picture: Manan Vatsyayana Source: AFP

A total of 153 passengers were Chinese nationals.

There were also 38 from Malaysia, 12 from Indonesia, three from France, two from New Zealand, four from the USA, two from Ukraine, two Canadians, two Russians, one Italian, one from Taiwan, one from The Netherlands and one from Austria.

Reports on Twitter appeared to show a list of names of passengers on board the flight, but this had not been confirmed.

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Yahoo News quoted local newspaper reports that the Vietnamese Navy said the plane went down into the sea about 153 miles south of Phu Quoc island.

This has not been confirmed, however.

"Malaysia Airlines is currently working with the authorities who have activated their search and rescue team to locate the aircraft," Malaysia Airlines said.

Search and rescue under way ... a map of the Malaysia Airlines flight's approximate flight path to Beijing. Source: Supplied

China's state news agency reported that the Malaysia Airlines aircraft lost contact over Vietnam while an unconfirmed report on a flight tracking website said the aircraft had plunged 200m and changed course shortly before all contact was lost.

The route would have taken the plane across the Malaysian mainland in a north easterly direction and then across the Gulf of Thailand.

Grief ... A possible relative cries at the Beijing Airport. Picture: Mark Ralston Source: AFP

Chinese news agency Xinhua quoted Chinese aviation authorities saying the plane did not enter China's air traffic control sphere.

China's foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a statement: "We are very concerned learning this news."

"We are contacting relevant authorities and are trying to confirm relevant information.''

Malaysia Airlines vice president told CNN that the missing plane had enough fuel for seven hours.

Malaysia Airlines' Chief Executive Officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said in a statement: "We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts with flight MH370 which departed Kuala Lumpur at 12.41am earlier this morning bound for Beijing."

MORE: PLANE CRASHES THAT CHANGED AVIATION HISTORY

Seven Australians have been confirmed to be on board a Malaysian Airlines flight which has gone missing.

"The aircraft was scheduled to land at Beijing International Airport at 6.30am local Beijing time (9.30am AEST).

Subang Air Traffic Control reported that it lost contact at 2.40am (local Malaysia time) today.

Flight MH370 was operated on a Boeing B777-200 aircraft," he said.

"The flight was carrying a total number of 239 passengers and crew — comprising 227 passengers (including 2 infants), 12 crew members. The passengers were of 13 different nationalities."

Recording the grief ... media hover over a possible relative of a passenger on the Malaysia Airlines flight. Picture: Mark Ralston Source: AFP

The pilot was 53 year old captain Zahari Ahmad Shah, who joined the airline in 1981 and had over 18,000 flying hours.

An interesting Tweet from The Daily Telegraph's Beijing correspondent shows Beijing Airport full of police but no one waiting for the plane to arrive.

"Malaysia Airlines is currently working with the authorities who have activated their Search and Rescue team to locate the aircraft," Mr Yahya said..

"We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts with flight MH370 which departed Kuala Lumpur at 12.41am earlier this morning bound for Beijing.

"Our team is currently calling the next-of-kin of passengers and crew.

"Focus of the airline is to work with the emergency responders and authorities and mobilise its full support.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with all affected passengers and crew and their family members."

Fearing the worst ... Chinese police stand beside the arrival board showing the flight MH370 (top red) at Beijing Airport. Picture: Mark Ralston Source: AFP

Follow Malaysia Airlines on the incident on Facebook

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade released a statement saying: "Malaysia Airlines has advised that seven Australians were on board the missing flight MH370. Australian consular officials are in urgent and ongoing contact with Malaysia Airlines. Malaysia Airlines has advised that it is contacting relatives of the passengers on the flight.

The airline has established a call centre — telephone +60 37884 1234 — for those seeking more information.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's 24 hour Consular Emergency Centre is contactable on 1 300 555 135, or +61 2 6261 3305 (if calling from overseas).

Commercial flight missing ... The image from @flightaware shows the last known track of flight MH370 over southern Asia. Picture: Flightaware.com Source: Supplied

Malaysia Airlines is the national carrier of Malaysia and one of Asia's largest, flying nearly 37,000 passengers daily to some 80 destinations worldwide.

Malaysia Airlines has 15 777 planes in the fleet and is an experienced operator of this type of aircraft. This aircraft is believed to be 11.8-years-old, delivered to the Malaysian Airlines fleet in 2002, so it's not a particularly old aircraft.

Aviation Week reported that the missing plane was a 777-2H6ER with tail number 9M-MRO and serial number 28420. It had been built in 2002 and had been used by Malaysian Airlines since that time.

Anyone wanting more information on the flight should call the airline on +60-378841234.

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Bullet hits man's pillow as he sleeps

A Sydney man has escaped with a grazed elbow after shots were fired into his innerwest home. Source: AAP

A BULLET hit a man's pillow as he slept in Sydney's west.

The 62-year-old was asleep with his wife in Windsor Avenue, Croydon Park when at least five shots were fired at his property.

One hit his pillow, another hit his mattress and a third grazed his left elbow, leaving a small wound.

"He was extremely lucky - you couldn't be much luckier really," Detective Inspector Michael O'Rourke told AAP.

"His wife was also asleep and a couple of bullets went whizzing over her head."

Detectives are keeping an open mind about the motive for the shooting, which happened about 1.45am (AEST) on Saturday.

A trail motorbike was seen speeding away from the scene without any lights on.

Witnesses said the vehicle had two people on it.

Police say they do not believe the shooting was bikie gang-related.

The bullets were fired from a high-powered weapon.

Some penetrated the home's front wall, whizzed through the front bedroom, penetrated a second wall and ended up at the back of the property.

Police have asked for information about the attack to be passed to Crime Stoppers.

"We're extremely keen to solve this crime; these people could easily have been killed or at least seriously injured," Det Insp O'Rourke added.

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Defence chief warns sea lanes threat

DEFENCE force chief David Hurley has warned that any disruption to key regional sea lanes threatens Australia's ability to freely trade with Asia.

In an oblique reference to a simmering territorial dispute between China and Japan over islands in the East China Sea, General Hurley said Australia had a key interest in contributing to sustainable security in the region.

"Any disruption to key regional sea lanes and to Australia's ability to trade would have a fundamental impact on our nation," he told the National Security Institute in Canberra on Friday.

General Hurley said while Australia would be affected by

security relationships and developments across the region, it had little direct influence over some of them.

He cited the US-China and the China-Japan relationships as key examples.

"And as other middle power states rise, we will need a stronger voice if we are to be heard."

General Hurley said regional economic growth was being translated into military modernisation, warning that it was raising the bar for Australia as it endeavoured to maintain a capability edge.

While the growth of regional military capabilities did not mean there was greater risk of a major conventional attack against Australia, it did raise other issues about strategy, force structure and positioning of assets.

The sorts of advanced platforms, systems and missiles entering the region meant that whenever the ADF deployed, it would potentially face a more dangerous operating environment during the next 20 years.

General Hurley noted that by the end of that period Indonesia's economy would be twice as big as Australia's.

"That development by itself has important repercussions for our security and reinforces how critical our relationship with Indonesia is," he said.

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Falconio murderer withdraws appeal

LAWYERS for Bradley John Murdoch, convicted of murdering British backpacker Peter Falconio, have withdrawn an appeal against his conviction.

Murdoch is serving a life sentence with a 28-year non-parole period, but wanted his conviction quashed and a retrial ordered due to what his lawyers called "a miscarriage of justice".

He launched a leave to appeal in December, but a notice to withdraw was lodged at the Northern Territory Court of Criminal Appeal on Friday.

He was convicted in 2005 over the 2001 murder of Mr Falconio, whose body has never been found.

Murdoch believed a News Corp interview with prosecutor Rex Wild QC showed that the prosecution felt Joanne Lees, Mr Falconio's girlfriend and the key witness in the case, was so unlikable that she might have endangered their case, and so groomed her "secretly, deliberately and improperly" to improve her behaviour in order to obtain a conviction from the jury.

Mr Wild said he was happy to hear the appeal had been withdrawn.

"Relieved isn't the word for that; I'm pleased," he told AAP.

All decisions on submitting and withdrawing appeals had come from Murdoch himself, a spokesman for his lawyers said.

He denied that Murdoch had withdrawn his appeal due to having a weak case.

"Not at all," the spokesman said.

"It's certainly not over yet. There's more to come."

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Ford says no guarantees on 2016 closure

Ford says there are no guarantees the company will keep making cars in Australia until 2016. Source: AAP

FORD is rolling new car models into Australia earlier than expected, but says it might shut down local manufacturing earlier than initially planned.

Ford announced in 2013 that car making at its Broadmeadows and Geelong plants would close in October, 2016.

But the company has since cut 300 workers, citing a downturn in sales.

Ford Australia boss Bob Graziano said on Thursday the sales trend meant local production was not a certainty in the next two-and-a-half years.

However, that didn't mean Ford would close dealerships and stop selling cars.

"We'll continue to match our production with demand," he told reporters while visiting a Ford dealership in Melbourne.

"If you are looking for a guarantee, there are no guarantees. It is our intent to work to (October 2016)."

Since announcing its production closures, Ford says it has moved 20 out of more than 1000 manufacturing workers into new jobs in the company.

About 20 marketing professionals will also be hired to support Ford's plans for promoting local sales.

The company says it expects to be Australia's largest auto employer by 2018, including employing about 1500 skilled employees across fields such as engineering and design.

Nine Australian auto suppliers have found new business in Ford's global operations, too.

Mr Graziano stressed that the company was committed to launching its refreshed Falcon and Territory models later in 2014.

The Mustang will also be rolled into dealerships by 2015, a year earlier than expected, and the Mondeo will also make its Australian debut.

Mr Graziano said the new Mustang should attract its own drivers and not overlap with Falcon enthusiasts.

"It's a car, quite honestly, that I've had people ask me about since I arrived here three years ago," he said.

Victorian Manufacturing Minister David Hodgett said he was confident Ford would give its "best efforts" to stick with its manufacturing shutdown dates.

"Ford still expects to be Australia's largest automotive employer, which is great news for the Victorian economy," he said.

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Biotron shares jump on trial result

SHARES in drug developer Biotron have soared after data from a clinical trial of its lead anti-viral drug showed patients co-infected with HIV and hepatitis C were virus-free after six months of treatment.

"This extends previous data that showed patients had undetectable virus levels at 12 weeks," Biotron said on Thursday.

"Response to treatment at this time point is generally a good indication of final outcome at 48 weeks."

Preliminary data from patients who have completed 48 weeks of treatment indicate that they remain virus-free, the company also said.

"This 24-week data further validates the efficacy of BIT225 as a potential new therapy for HCV (Hepatitis 3 virus) and, in particular, for this difficult to treat group of HIV/HCV co-infected patients who typically have more serious HCV infection and lower response rates to treatment with existing standard therapies," managing director Michelle Miller said.

Biotron shares had more than doubled by 1522 AEDT, up 8.4 cents at 18 cents.

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WA election recount a 'disaster': Keelty

Former federal police chief Mick Keelty has described WA Senate election recount as a "disaster". Source: AAP

FORMER federal police chief Mick Keelty has described the handling of the West Australian Senate election recount as a "disaster".

Parliament's electoral matters committee is investigating how 1370 ballots went missing in a recount of the 2013 Senate election in WA and measures to ensure it does not happen again.

The loss has resulted in a court-ordered re-run of the WA Senate election on April 5, which could affect the Abbott government's delivery of key election promises.

Mr Keelty was hired to find out what went wrong, but was unable to put his finger on one specific fault or criminality.

"This was a disaster," he told the committee in Canberra on Wednesday.

The debacle claimed the resignations of Australian electoral commissioner Ed Killesteyn and WA electoral officer Peter Kramer.

Mr Keelty said he was glad Mr Kramer had gone.

"There was poor leadership," he said.

The transport contract for moving ballot boxes had expired two months before the election and pallets with boxes of ballot papers were found, Russian doll-style, near rubbish bins.

"As boxes were used and reused and packed and repacked, they had (ballots from) different polling stations in them and different parties," Mr Keelty said.

He could not conclude whether the missing ballot papers were "accidentally thrown out with the rubbish" or stolen by criminals.

"The system was so parlous you could not come to that (criminal) conclusion," he said.

"You can't rule it out and you can't rule it in."

Mr Keelty dismissed a suggestion the federal police investigate, saying any evidence was likely to have been destroyed.

He said the solution lay in treating every ballot paper as "sacrosanct" and accounting for them through the barcoding of boxes so they could be tracked.

The electoral commission also had a culture that favoured the House of Representatives count because it was seen as more urgent and important than the Senate count.

"If nothing else, the AEC has learnt a big lesson out of the mistake that happened here."

Acting electoral commissioner Tom Rogers will appear before the committee next week to talk about improvements for the election re-run.

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Little penguins make new friends

The penguin colony at Manly's Sea Life Sanctuary has welcomed two new females. Source: AAP

TWIRL is shy, Velma is dominant. And now they're part of one big, happy little penguin family.

The pair waddled into their new home at Sydney's at Manly Sea Life Sanctuary on Wednesday after spending three weeks in quarantine.

It was quite a stint, given they were only making the short journey from Taronga Zoo lower down the harbour.

Little penguins are friendly, social animals and Sea Life veterinary nurse Marina Tsamoulos says the group is "getting along beautifully".

The younger and smaller Twirl is known for being shy while Velma is a dominant and "very, very curious" individual.

Little penguins, the smallest of the species, grow to about 30-35cm in height and weigh about one kilogram.

The new arrivals are part of a national breeding program and have been brought to Manly to balance out the colony's gender ratio.

It's hoped they'll boost the chances of the "relatively new" colony breeding this season.

"We've only had them for just under two years," Ms Tsamoulos told AAP.

"We didn't expect to have any breeding immediately, so this year they're just gearing up for their breeding season again and to start nesting."

Male little penguins begin digging burrows and attracting mates between June and August and most couples remain breeding partners for life.

An endangered wild population lives in Sydney's north harbour.

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Kiwi dollar firms against Aussie

THE New Zealand dollar has firmed against its trans-Tasman counterpart after the Reserve Bank of Australia affirmed its policy of keeping its cash rate unchanged.

The kiwi rose to 93.67 Australian cents at 5pm in Wellington from 93.37 cents immediately before the RBA release, and unchanged from Monday.

The kiwi traded at 83.65 US cents at 5pm, unchanged from 8am, and up from 83.53 cents on Monday.

The RBA kept the cash rate at 2.5 per cent, with governor Glenn Stevens saying "monetary policy is appropriately configured to foster sustainable growth in demand and inflation outcomes consistent with the target".

Strong Australian building consent figures earlier in the day had put pressure on the kiwi against the Aussie, though that was erased by the RBA announcement.

The RBA "don't want to cut rates or be seen that they're looking to cut with a very buoyant housing market fuelling by lower interest rates," said Stuart Ive, senior client adviser at OMF in Wellington.

"Building consents were a lot better than expected and that put pressure on the kiwi/Aussie."

The RBA announcement comes a week before New Zealand's central bank reviews monetary policy at a meeting that's expected to see the first hike in a tightening cycle as governor Graeme Wheeler looks to head off the threat of future inflation.

The kiwi climbed to 85 yen at 5pm in Wellington from 84.69 yen on Monday, and rose to 60.93 euro cents from 60.62 cents.

The trade-weighted index gained to 78.62 from 78.39.

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WA scrap yard fined $80,000 after death

A WEST Australian scrapyard has been fined $80,000 over an unsafe work environment where a worker was fatally crushed under a piece of metal.

J & P Group, trading as J & P Metals, pleaded guilty in the Bunbury Magistrates Court to failing to provide and maintain a safe work environment.

The scrapyard near Picton, in the state's South West, uses oxy-cutters to chop scrap metal into smaller pieces so they can be easily transported.

The yard employed some Chinese nationals with varying levels of understanding of English, and the deceased worker spoke little English.

In November 2011, the worker was given the job of oxy-cutting a large bucket above head height.

He was working without supervision when he was crushed by an 800kg piece that broke away from the main structure and fell on him.

When the worker began his job nine months earlier, he was given an induction but nothing specific to oxy-cutting.

He then received a few hours of formal training and worked under the supervision of another relatively inexperienced Chinese oxy-cutter for three months.

The man was shown how to assess the risk of falling pieces, safe cutting and where to position himself when cutting overhead.

WorkSafe WA commissioner Lex McCulloch described the incident as "a very disappointing failure" in providing and enforcing safe work procedures.

"Although some safety documents were available at this workplace, there were no written safe work procedures for oxy-cutting oversize items, no individual job safety analyses were carried out and risk assessments were left to the oxy-cutters themselves," he said.

Since the death, the employer had reassessed the risks at the yard and an additional supervisor had been been employed.

"It is crucial, especially in any workplace employing foreign workers, that training and procedures are communicated to workers, and supervision is provided to those workers in a language that is readily and clearly understood," Mr McCulloch said.

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Police release image over Vic kidnap bid

AN image has been released of a man police want to speak to about an attempted abduction of a boy from a Melbourne playground.

The six-year-old boy was in the playground on Dempster Way in Narre Warren when he was approached by an unknown man about 5pm on Saturday.

The man grabbed the boy by the arm and dragged him almost 80 metres towards Melzak Way, police said.

He let go of the child when a woman challenged him and then left the area with a young girl, believed to be known to him, police say.

The man is described as being of Indian sub-continental appearance and about 177cm tall, well presented and clean cut.

He was wearing a black shirt, black shorts with a red strip down the sides and a white emblem, and glasses.

The girl who was with the man is described as being aged about four or five, with black hair in a ponytail, wearing a pink top with a butterfly on the front and a skirt.

The boy wasn't injured and police are treating it as an isolated incident.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 00.

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NZ MP urges Aust same-sex marriage reform

NEW Zealand MP Louisa Wall is challenging Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to pick up the ball on same-sex marriage.

The gay Labour MP, who is a former national representative netball and rugby union player, has released a video urging Mr Abbott to hold a free vote on reform.

"My message to Tony Abbott is don't be afraid of democracy and don't be afraid of the people."

Marriage equality was a topic of its time, she said.

Ms Wall drafted the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill which made New Zealand the 13th country to allow same-sex marriage and the first in the Asia-Pacific.

MPs cast conscience votes in April 2013, with no instructions from their parties, and the bill passed 77-44.

"We were able to join what is a global conversation in New Zealand because of the members' bill," Ms Wall said.

"And within the context of that bill, what we were really clear about was that every member of parliament had the right to exercise their conscience."

Australia's Labor Party will introduce a private members' bill aimed at legalising gay marriage, in a move designed to pressure Mr Abbott into deciding on whether government MPs will be allowed a conscience vote, ABC reported last week.

The draft legislation is practically the same as the private members' bill the then government MP, Stephen Jones, proposed to the last parliament, which was defeated in 2012.

When in opposition last year Mr Abbott was blasted for describing the push to legalise same-sex marriage as the "fashion of the moment".

Ms Wall released the video when she was in Sydney ahead of the Mardi Gras parade, GayNZ.com reported.

"Some years after taking on Australia on the netball court and rugby field, she has joined forces with Australian Marriage Equality," GayNZ.com said.

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