Four killed in NSW highway crash

FOUR people have died after two cars and a semi-trailer collided on the Great Western Highway in western NSW.

Emergency services were called to Glanmire, east of Bathurst, about 1.40pm (AEDT) on Saturday following the three vehicle accident.

The three occupants of one of the cars died at the scene, while a passenger in the other car was also killed.

The driver of the second car was injured and is in a critical condition.

The truck driver was not injured.

Police are investigating and have urged anyone who witnessed the incident to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Significant delays are expected on the Great Western Highway, which is closed in both directions between Bathurst and Lithgow.

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Burn-offs get out of hand in Victoria

FIRE crews have extinguished two blazes in Victoria's south after the private burn-offs grew out of control.

Eighteen tankers extinguished a grass fire in Mambourin, southwest of Melbourne, about 12.30pm (AEDT), but not before it burned 20 hectares as the temperature topped 30 degrees Celsius.

A second burn-off took hold just after 12.45pm in nearby Little River, but was quickly brought under control by seven Country Fire Authority (CFA) tankers.

The fire caused minor damage to a shed and water tank on the property.

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Former premier Brian Burke back in court

Former West Australian premier Brian Burke has appeared in court on insider trading charges. Source: AAP

FORMER West Australian premier-turned lobbyist Brian Burke has spent more time in court, appearing alongside a stockbroker on four charges of insider trading.

Mr Burke and David John Massey made a brief appearance in Perth Magistrate's Court, where the charges were adjourned to another hearing in February next year.

Both men have each been charged with four counts of insider trading, and were again not required to plead to the charges, which are alleged to have occurred six years ago.

It is understood the charges arose from the taping of Burke's telephone calls by the Corruption and Crime Commission and the calls were passed on to federal authorities.

Massey and Burke have each been released on bail with a $10,000 personal undertaking ahead of their next court appearance on February 1.

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2 dead in Texas highway pileup

TWO people are dead and more than 80 have been hurt with at least 140 vehicles colliding on a Texas highway in dense fog.

The mass pileup left trucks twisted on top of each other and authorities rushing to pull survivors from the wreckage.

"It is catastrophic," said Jefferson County Sheriff's Office Deputy Rod Carroll.

"I've got cars on top of cars."

The Thanksgiving holiday morning crash happened on Interstate 10 about 130 kilometres east of Houston.

Carroll said 80 to 90 people were rushed to hospitals, with 10 to 12 in serious to critical condition. He said 140 to 150 vehicles were involved in the pileup.

Carroll said the fog was so thick officers didn't immediately realise they were dealing with multiple accidents.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, a crash on the eastbound side of the highway led to other accidents in a dangerous chain reaction. There were multiple crashes on the other side of the highway as well.

Trooper Stephanie Davis said two people were killed in a 4WD crushed by a tractor trailer. She said at least 100 cars and trucks were involved in the accident.

I-10's eastbound lanes were re-opened on Thursday evening after more than eight hours.

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Heart can restart after deadly sting

HUMAN hearts can survive a potentially lethal box jellyfish sting, new research suggests.

Findings from James Cook University released on Wednesday could change the way people are treated for the stings, which can kill a person in five minutes.

Researcher Stephanie Chaousis found that although the venom kills 70 per cent of human heart cells, which can be fatal, the cells fully recover after about four hours.

"Previously it wasn't known what part of the venom was fatal so I was able to isolate this part," Ms Chaousis, who has a bachelor of zoology, told AAP.

"Typically people who have been stung are given CPR for about 20 minutes.

"Now that we know there can be full cell recovery it could mean that if CPR is given until a person is put on a heart/lung machine this could potentially save lives."

Queensland Tropical Health Alliance Associate Professor Jamie Seymour, who supervised the study, says the research could also be beneficial in heart transplant surgery as a heart needs to be temporarily stopped during the process.

"Knowing that the component of the venom can cause a temporary heart standstill may lead to novel drug discovery in human heart transplants," he said.

Pharmaceutical companies have already shown interest in the research.

Box jellyfish use a dual-action venom that enables them to quickly stun and then kill their usual food source, such as shrimp and fish.

There have been 64 deaths in Australia attributed to box jellyfish stings in the past 130 years.

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Give MPs free votes on some issues: Hawke

Former PM Bob Hawke says giving MPs free votes would lift the poor standard of parliamentary debate. Source: AAP

FORMER prime minister Bob Hawke has called on both major parties to allow MPs free votes on some issues, ending the "charade" of parliamentary debate and promoting a return to great political speeches.

He urged Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to tell voters at the next election: "Of course there are particular policies we are committed to. But on some issues there is room for doubt about what exactly is the right way to go. We will introduce draft legislation but there will be no caucusing and we expect members to vote according to what they individually think."

Mr Hawke did not specify which issues could be handled in this way, though he has been a staunch advocate for legislation allowing gay marriage.

Labor's most successful leader said speeches mattered a great deal in his days as a trade union leader because the outcomes of industrial cases depended on the quality of advocacy.

But when he entered parliament he found speeches were a charade because governments had already made their decisions and had the numbers on the floor of parliament to carry them through.

It was a tragedy that parliament these days had declined "almost into contempt and ridicule".

Mr Hawke was launching For The True Believers, a book on Labor's greatest orations. He was speaking in the very room at Sydney's Trades Hall where Ben Chifley made perhaps the most iconic speech of all, the "light on the hill" address to a party conference in 1949.

The old political warrior was at his feistiest when trying to picture a book about the greatest conservative speeches.

"Can you imagine what the bloody hell they would be about?" Mr Hawke asked. "Banning the Communist Party? Going to war in Vietnam?

"How in hell could they produce a book of great political speeches? They couldn't do it."

He said Labor would win the next election if it could tell the story of its "gold standard" of basic values compared with the negativity and divisiveness of the conservative forces.

He regaled his audience with a tale of how former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Fraser, known for being brusque with his staff, sometimes had no input into the speeches he made.

A day after fighting with his speech writer, Mr Hawke said, Mr Fraser was giving an address in Melbourne when he turned over the fourth page to find the only words on it were: "Now you're on your own, you bastard."

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Man shot dead in Adelaide

A MAN has been shot dead at business premises at Pooraka in Adelaide's north.

Police say the shooting occurred about 1.40pm (CDST) on Wednesday at the Langford Street premises and is not believed to be a random incident.

The street has been cordoned off by police, who are seeking information from the public.

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Palmer's dinosaurs 'bizarre and tacky'

IT has been branded tacky and bizarre, but Queensland mining magnate Clive Palmer says PGA fans are going to love watching elite golfers tee off next to a giant robotic Tyrannosaurus Rex.

The eight-metre beast has already been erected at his Coolum Resort and the eccentric billionaire wants to bring in another 149 to create the world's biggest dinosaur park.

But Mr Palmer may have bitten off more than he can chew, with some members of the Sunshine Coast Council far from amused.

Councillor Russell Green says the life-size beasts will be in view of the resort's golf course, which hosts the PGA Tour each year.

He fears Queensland's premier golf resort will become a running joke.

"You'll putt down the fairway, bounce the ball off T-Rex's left leg and get it into the 18th hole," Mr Green told ABC Radio.

He warned Mr Palmer would have to seek permission from council to erect more than four dinosaurs, as that would change the intended use of the area.

"It's taking a premium resort surrounded by incredible natural beauty with a magnificent golf course and turning it into a theme park from the Happy Gilmore movie," Mr Green later told AAP.

PGA Australia chief executive Brian Thorburn said it wasn't something he'd envisaged for the course, but he does not believe golfers will be put off or distracted.

"It's getting a lot of attention for our championship and any publicity is good publicity," he told AAP.

"We're not going to die in a ditch over it."

Mr Palmer insists his prehistoric menagerie will be a fabulous drawcard that will thrill golfers and spectators alike.

Earlier this month, soon after accusing the LNP government of cooking Queensland's books, Mr Palmer dubbed his giant T-Rex Jeff.

It was apparently an aside to Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney, who has been engaged in a public war with Mr Palmer - a life member of the LNP now facing expulsion for criticising the government.

Under a photo of the dinosaur, Mr Palmer tweeted: "Meet 'Jeff' ... he's big, grumpy, has a wart on his bottom ... and going nowhere."

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Discrimination reforms may hit rights: IPA

PROPOSED changes to federal anti-discrimination legislation skew the process to favour the person making the complaint, the conservative thinktank the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) says.

IPA director of legal rights Simon Breheny said these changes undermined fundamental legal rights including the presumption of innocence.

"The entire complaints process has been skewed towards the person making an allegation of discrimination, and fails to respect the rights of defendants," he said in a statement.

"The Gillard government's decision to reverse the onus of proof in this case shows the willingness of this government to ignore basic legal rights."

Attorney General Nicola Roxon on Tuesday released draft legislation to create a single piece of legislation consolidating five existing statutes covering age, disability, race, sex and other forms of discrimination.

The most controversial change relates to the onus of proof.

After the complainant establishes a prima facie case of discrimination, the respondent would then have to show the action was justified or didn't amount to discrimination.

Mr Breheny said the onus of proof should remain on the person making the accusation as it was often very difficult to prove innocence.

"Giving complainants an unfair level of power under the legislation raises the threat of dubious claims being made and makes a mockery of Australia's legal system," he said.

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Roxon defends her anti-discrimination bill

ATTORNEY-GENERAL Nicola Roxon has defended her plan to consolidate national anti-discrimination laws, describing the move as a sensible middle course.

She acknowledged some sections of the community thought the government was not going far enough to address discrimination.

Ms Roxon on Tuesday released draft legislation that creates a single piece of legislation to amalgamate five existing statutes covering age, disability, race, sex and other forms of discrimination.

The draft bill does not make significant changes to what is unlawful and what is not.

However, it does outlaw discrimination against sexual orientation and gender identity, and extends protections against relationship discrimination to same-sex couples.

In a more controversial move, the draft also includes a controversial change to the onus of proof that has angered the opposition.

Ms Roxon said the draft bill lifted existing laws, some of which were 30 years-old, to the highest contemporary standard.

"I believe we have actually chosen a very sensible middle course," she told reporters in Canberra.

The new legislation would provide better protections with a clearer and simpler regime for business, organisations and individuals, she said.

Ms Roxon cited the "ridiculous" example of an African woman who needed to separately make complaints of sex and race discrimination.

"Now she can make a single complaint recognising the discrimination was because she was both a woman and African."

There will be a single, simple definition of discrimination as "unfavourable treatment" and a simple defence of justification.

Discrimination would be lawful when done for legitimate aim and proportionate to aim.

Religious exemptions will continue, except in relation to commonwealth-funded aged-care providers.

No longer will they be permitted to discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The draft bill will create a shifting burden of proof. Once a prima facie case has been established, it will have to be disproved by the respondent to the complaint.

That provision has not impressed the opposition.

"It violates the whole principle upon which our justice system has always operated," shadow attorney-general George Brandis said.

It was for the complainant to demonstrate a wrong had been committed, not for a respondent to prove they had done the right thing, he said.

Senator Brandis warned the change could result in a huge increase in claims.

Finance Minister Penny Wong dismissed his concerns, saying the draft bill gave the Human Rights Commission greater power to reject complaints without merit earlier in the process.

The commission said the evidentiary onus on respondents was common sense and consistent with other civil claims processes in Australia.

The Australian Greens do not think the government has gone far enough, arguing the consolidated laws should cover aspects such as intersex status, religious beliefs or activity, irrelevant criminal records and social status.

"This would mean people could not be discriminated against, for example, if they are homeless or unemployed," Greens senator Penny Wright said.

Marriage equality advocates want the draft bill to end discrimination against same-sex marriage.

"The government should lead by example, respecting the same standards of fair and equal treatment that it expects the community to uphold," said Rod Croome, national convenor of Australian Marriage Equality.

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Libs say Labor vote has flatlined

Senior Liberal Christopher Pyne says the latest Nielsen poll suggests the Labor vote has flatlined. Source: AAP

SENIOR Liberal Christopher Pyne says a blizzard of spending announcements has failed to lift federal Labor's standing with voters.

The latest Nielsen poll, published in Fairfax newspapers on Monday, shows primary vote for the Gillard government has stalled at 34 per cent.

After preferences, the coalition maintains an election winning lead of 53-47 per cent over Labor.

"The government's slag-and-bag policy of the last three months simply hasn't worked," Mr Pyne told Sky News, adding Labor had thrown everything including the kitchen sink at Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.

"The government's also created a blizzard of spending announcements of money they simply don't have."

As well, Labor had created "a veritable blizzard" of distractions to take attention away from cost-of-living pressures and job security.

"The truth is Labor's primary vote has flatlined and continues to flatline because the public know this is a poor government," Mr Pyne said.

Labor was taking Australia down "the Irish road economically", he said.

Labor senator Doug Cameron says there are significant issues for the party in Sydney's western suburbs.

"We've got lots of work to do in the western suburbs of Sydney," he told reporters in Canberra.

"I don't think our message is out there and I think we have to put that message out there loud and clear."

Senator Cameron said he didn't know exactly why voters were not backing the government.

"I'm talking to some people out there and there are issues of trust," he said.

"There are issues of being able to make sure we deal with some of the problems that are in the western suburbs of Sydney."

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French opposition's new leader unclear

THE battle to succeed former president Nicolas Sarkozy at the helm of France's main opposition party, the UMP, was left undecided after both candidates claimed victory amid allegations of ballot rigging.

Jean-Francois Cope, the party's populist secretary-general, claimed a clear win while former prime minister Francois Fillon said he believed he had edged the contest, subject to confirmation by the electoral commission which oversaw the poll.

"The French people are watching us. We do not have the right to announce the result before those in charge of the vote," said Fillon on Monday in a swipe at Cope that reflected the acrimonious nature of the campaign.

Cope said: "The activists of the UMP have accorded me a majority of their votes and therefore have elected me as the president of the party."

Aides to Cope said he had won 1000 more votes than his rival in a poll in which more than half of the UMP's 300,000 members had cast their ballots. Fillon said he was 224 votes ahead.

But the electoral commission suspended the count until 10am on Monday (2000 AEDT), with the chairman saying records from 50 per cent of the regions were missing.

Fillon, who paid a brief visit to the scene of the count, said dryly: "We note that at 0300 in the morning our political group is unable to give a result."

Both camps claimed there had been irregularities in voting in several departments and it was unclear how long it would take the electoral commission to check the voting and announce a winner.

The vote came six months after Sarkozy's presidential election defeat by Socialist Francois Hollande.

Whoever emerges as the new UMP leader will be taking over a party well-placed to capitalise on Hollande's slump in popularity and the economic gloom engulfing the country.

But he may also face a difficult task in uniting the party after a bitter battle that delighted the UMP's rivals.

"It is obvious that whoever is elected president of the UMP will have no legitimacy whatsoever given that he will be in charge of a party broken in two," said Florian Philippot, the deputy leader of the far-right National Front.

The new leader is not certain to be the mainstream right's candidate at the next presidential election in 2017.

Sarkozy is now establishing himself on the money-spinning international conference circuit but he has not ruled out a return to national politics. Polls suggest two thirds of UMP supporters want him to have another tilt at the presidency.

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Parents hunt for children after bus crash

Parents are searching for their children who were on a schoolbus that was hit by a train near Cairo. Source: AAP

A SPEEDING train has crashed into a bus carrying Egyptian children to their kindergarten in central Egypt, killing at least 49 and prompting a wave of anger against the government in Cairo.

Over 50 children between four and six years old were on board when the bus was hit, a security official said, adding that it appeared the railway crossing was not closed as the train sped towards it.

Books, school bags and children's socks were strewn along the tracks near the blood-stained, mangled bus near al-Mandara village in the central Assiut province.

Parents of the missing wailed as they looked for signs of their children. An Associated Press reporter at the scene said many of the remains were unrecognisable.

A woman who called herself Um Ibrahim, a mother whose three children were on the bus, was pulling her hair in grief. "My children! I didn't feed you before you left," she wailed. A witness said the train pushed the bus along the tracks for nearly a kilometre.

As one man picked up pieces of shattered limbs he screamed: "Only God can help!"

Two hospital officials said more than a dozen injured were being treated in two different facilities, many with severed limbs.

The carnage prompted grieving families to set up road blocks in the area, preventing Morsi's prime minister from reaching the scene. Some burned logs and fired automatic rifles in the air in denunciation of Morsi, the AP reporter said.

Prime Minister Hesham Kandil was greeted by a jeering crowd as he arrived with a detachment of riot police at Assiut's main hospital, where the injured were being treated.

Residents of Assiut are traditionally heavily armed and many hold tribal alliances. They have complained that a lack of ambulances and equipment in the area had hindered hospitals' response.

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3000 protest in Sydney over education cuts

ABOUT 3000 people have gathered in central Sydney to protest against sweeping education cuts in NSW.

Premier Barry O'Farrell is slashing the state's education spending by $1.7 billion, impacting on schools, public and private, as well as TAFEs.

Thousands of teachers, education support staff, parents and supporters gathered in Darling Harbour on Sunday for a community action day.

"What you'll see here today is a groundswell of public opinion against these cuts - parents, teachers and the wider community coming together to say these cuts cannot be justified," Opposition Leader John Robertson told the crowd.

"Barry O'Farrell needs to stop and listen, watch what's happening here today, and understand that this isn't going to go away.

"This is a campaign that's going to grow."

Mr Robertson also called on the government to wind back the education reforms in the wake of an apparent $1 billion budget accounting mistake.

"The O'Farrell government discovered that (Treasurer) Mike Baird had made a $1 billion mistake in the budget," he said.

"That billion should be going straight into the education system."

Sherie Dewstow, a support officer at Forest Lodge Primary School and member of the Public Service Association (PSA), rejected government claims that front line wouldn't be impacted by the cuts.

"Support staff in our schools are the backbone of the school, they are the front line," she said.

Ms Dewstow said fewer administration staff meant teachers would be forced to pick up slack on photocopying, enrolment and other non-teaching duties.

"There will be disruptions in all areas of learning, and to the teaching profession," she said.

The PSA says school learning support officers have been among the first to lose their jobs or have hours cut.

The union believes hundreds of policy and support roles will soon follow.

Earlier, Education Minister Adrian Piccoli said the protest would not nothing to change the government's mind.

"We are in difficult budget times and I think the responsible thing to do is to take measures in the back office, in the bureaucracy, to make sure we've got those dollars to invest in the front line," he told reporters.

"The government has made it pretty clear what it needs to do, we won't be changing the decision that we have made."

Teachers Federation president Maurie Mulheron rejected suggestions the protest would have no impact on the government.

"It will never be a waste of time. While ever we've got fight within us we will fight this for as long as it takes," he said.

"In every electorate, in every town, in every suburb.

"I think the minister needs to be warned that he and his government are put on notice.

"The community of NSW will not stand by idly and allow them to rip jobs and courses out of our TAFE colleges and schools."

Mr Mulheron also flagged further industrial action.

"We will fight this as a community based campaign for as long as it takes," he said.

PSA president Sue Walsh said the cuts were already hurting.

"We know that those people who work as support officers and work directly with students with disabilities, they're already being told they're losing hours if not their jobs as of next year," she said.

Ms Walsh said the government should spend less effort looking for efficiencies and more on improving the education system.

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