Bates' friend to go amid Qld arts scandal

New nepotism claims have been levelled against Queensland's former arts minister Ros Bates. Source: AAP

A FRESH scandal surrounding Queensland's former arts minister, Ros Bates, has nothing to do with her resignation, her temporary successor says.

But Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek says it is unacceptable that a Screen Queensland board member and friend of Ms Bates was also working as a consultant.

Ms Bates resigned from cabinet on Friday after criticism surrounding alleged nepotism, her contact with lobbyists and the amount of leave she's taken.

On Saturday morning, it was revealed she had appointed her friend Kaye Martin to a department contract and a board position with Screen Queensland.

The Courier-Mail has reported Ms Martin earned $50,000 for three months' work reviewing finances in Ms Bates' department and was recently given a $1500-a-day consultancy at Screen Queensland despite also being appointed to its board.

Mr Langbroek, who has temporarily taken on Ms Bates' science, IT, innovation and arts portfolios, says he is seeking Ms Martin's resignation from Screen Queensland's board.

He wants Ms Martin to stand down because of the conflict of interest, not because Ms Bates appointed a friend.

"Her (Ms Bates') resignation yesterday was something that was due to health and family reasons," he told reporters in Brisbane on Saturday.

"That's separate to the situation we find ourselves in today.

"You can either be a consultant or a board member, but you can't be both."

Mr Langbroek said he only became aware of the situation late on Friday and it was the government who informed the newspaper of the story.

But Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk has called on the government to release all information it has on the board appointment so it's clear exactly what the government knew.

"Did the premier know on Friday this new scandal was about to be revealed and if so why did he still not lift a finger to sack a minister who clearly had to go?" she said in a statement.

Ms Bates resignation on Friday came just hours before Premier Campbell Newman announced that sidelined Department of Transport and Main Roads director-general Michael Caltabiano would be sacked.

Mr Caltabiano had also been involved in an alleged nepotism scandal with Ms Bates after he gave her son, Ben Gommers, a high paying job in his department.

The Crime and Misconduct Commission has been investigating whether he misled parliament by telling an estimates committee he only knew Mr Gommers personally, despite having worked with him at a lobbying firm.

Mr Langbroek told reporters he had only seen a brief statement Mr Newman made about Mr Caltabiano's sacking on Friday afternoon.

"The premier ... has been very open and up front with Queenslanders and I'm sure that more of those details will come to light," he said.

Mr Langbroek said Ms Bates' permanent replacement would be sworn in on Wednesday.

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Commodore to set pace at Daytona

The Chevrolet Pace Vehicle lineup includes (clockwise from front): Chevrolet SS, Chevrolet Silverado, Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at the Daytona International Speedway. (Photo by Steve Fecht for Chevrolet) Source: Supplied

MOVE over Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, the homegrown Holden Commodore has hit the big time in the USA.

Australia's favourite sedan was unveiled as a Chevrolet at Daytona Speedway overnight, and is due to make its first NASCAR appearance this weekend in the hands of superstars Jeff Gordon and Danica Patrick and 14 other top-level Chevrolet drivers.

The Commodore is also guaranteed to lead the Nascar field in its first ever outing – as the pace car for the Daytona 500, the season opener  and biggest race of the year, with crowds of up to 250,000 people on race day.

The former boss of Holden, Mark Reuss, who hatched the plan to revive the Commodore's export program and put it in front of one of the world's biggest sport TV audiences, unveiled the car in an airport hangar behind the famous motor speedway. 

"I've been working on this deal since my first month back here in 2009," Reuss, now the boss of General Motors in North America, told News Limited. 

"It might not be the biggest export deal for Holden, but it is the most significant to date. It's the best example yet of Holden's capability, and gives Chevrolet a type of car it has never had." 

The Commodore is Chevrolet's first V8 performance sedan in 17 years, and is loaded with technology never seen on its other models. 

Former Holden boss Mark Reuss and champion NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon unveil the new Chevrolet, a rebadged Holden Commodore.

Reuss revealed that the reason the new Commodore has so much technology – including several firsts for Chevrolet such as self parking, a heads-up display and a crash alert system – is because North America pushed for it.

"We needed it on our car, so the Holden had to have it. It's a win for both of us," Reuss said. 

Chevrolet has modest sales expectations for the new Commodore, which goes on sale in the US in November after its Australian showroom debut in June. But Reuss is quietly confident it will become Chevrolet's "hero car". 

"This is a hero car for the whole Chevrolet brand," Reuss said. "We've said before that we expect to sell about 5000 a year, but we have 3000 dealers across the country. So it shouldn't be too hard to top that." 

The Chevrolet SS looks the same as the Commodore SS but has a different badge and a bigger, more powerful V8 engine. It has the same high-performance 6.2-litre LS3 V8 engine found in the Corvette and local Holden Special Vehicles models. 

In US trim, the Chevrolet SS has a power output of 309kW and 563Nm (compared to the maximum output of 325kW and 550Nm from the HSV GTS), the same as when it was sold as the Pontiac G8 GXP in 2009. 

Chevrolet's 2013 NASCAR race car is rebadged Holden Commodore.

Shipments of the Commodore to North America as a Chevrolet are due to begin in November. It marks the brand's fourth attempt at an export program to the world's second-biggest car market. 

In 2004 and 2005 Holden shipped 31,500 Monaros as a Pontiac GTO – more than twice the number of Monaros sold locally over four years. 

About 41,000 Commodores were shipped as Pontiacs between November 2007 and February 2009, almost equivalent to Holden's annual sales of Commodore at the time. But the deal ended when the Pontiac brand was axed after the restructure of General Motors in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis. 

Holden began to export the Caprice limousine to North America as a police car in early 2011. It has shipped about 6000 to date – more than double the number of Caprices sold locally over the same period. 

Reuss indicated Holden could keep building the new VF Commodore beyond the 2016 deadline – if US demand takes off. "That's a champagne problem to have. I'm sure the guys at Holden can find a way to keep building it if they had to. General Motors and the guys at Holden can be very resourceful."

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Chevrolet's 2013 NASCAR race car is rebadged Holden Commodore.

Holden has finally unveiled its VF Commodore, which is the first new Commodore to be released since 2006.

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16-year-old 'stole car, hit cop'

AN unlicensed teenager is accused of stealing a sedan before hitting a police officer on the NSW central coast.

Police say the 16-year-old reversed a stolen red Hyundai into an officer after he and a passenger were stopped for questioning on Cape Street, West Gosford before midnight on Tuesday.

The open driver door struck the officer and scraped along the side of his patrol car.

The Hyundai, which was allegedly stolen from Ourimbah earlier in the night, was later found abandoned on a fire trail off Donnison Street at Gosford.

The policeman was unhurt.

Police arrested a 16-year-old boy over the incident on Thursday evening.

The boy has been charged with take and drive conveyance, drive manner dangerous and never licensed driver.

He is due to appear in Woy Woy Children's Court on April 5.

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GM earnings jump 89% in fourth quarter

Top US automaker General Motors has reported an 89 per cent rise in fourth quarter earnings. Source: AAP

GENERAL Motors' fourth quarter earnings jumped 89 per cent but were held back by $US700 million ($A680 million) in losses on its European operations, the company says.

The top US automaker earned a net $US892 million in the quarter to December 31, compared to $US472 million a year earlier.

The figures were buoyed by a turnaround in South America, where the company swung from a loss in the year-earlier quarter to a $US99 million gain, and in its Asia-Africa division, where earnings jumped $US100 million to $US473 million.

Earnings per share came in at 54 cents for the quarter, compared to 28 cents a year ago.

For the full year 2012 GM reported $US4.86 billion in net income - down 36 per cent from a year earlier, with special items having boosted 2011 earnings sharply and also taking nearly $US500 million from 2012's final figure.

"We recorded another solid year in 2012 as we grew the business, delivered a third straight year of profitability and took significant actions to put the company on a solid path for future growth," said Dan Akerson, chairman and chief executive.

"This year our priorities will be executing flawless new vehicle launches, controlling costs and delivering more vehicles to our customers at outstanding value."

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Melb blockade may continue despite order

A BLOCKADE at a Melbourne construction site could continue after a Federal Court judge said he would restrain the involvement of a union but not community protesters.

The Fair Work Building and Construction Inspectorate has been granted an interlocutory injunction restraining the AMWU, its employees and organisers from involvement in the protest at the Werribee water treatment plant.

A group of unemployed locals who call themselves the District Western Alliance Group has been protesting since last week against the employment of four Filipino workers on 457 visas at the site.

The building watchdog alleges AMWU organiser Tony Mavromatis was involved in the protest calling for local workers to be employed instead of foreigners, breaching a provision of the Fair Work Act which prohibits action to coerce someone not to employ a particular person.

The union has denied allegations it is behind the blockade, which has forced workers to be flown onto the site by helicopter.

In the Federal Court in Melbourne on Thursday, Justice Shane Marshall said there was sufficient evidence, even on Mr Mavromatis' own account, that he may have breached the act.

He restrained the union from preventing access to the construction site or encouraging others not to enter or work there, until the hearing of a trial.

But the judgment has no impact on the community protesters, he says.

"This judgment is not about the rights and wrongs of the employment of foreign nationals in circumstances where Australian citizens are out of work and available for that same employment," he said.

"It is also not about the rights and wrongs of the actions taken by community protesters."

Contractor Tedra's director Alan Atchison said he had no comment on the court decision, but looked forward to work resuming.

"Tedra's only concern is getting back to work on our project," he told AAP.

"We hope the blockade will be unwound as soon as possible."

Mr Mavromatis claims he only made contact with the protesters after being repeatedly asked to by the company's industrial relations consultant Grace Collier.

He says discussions with management regarding the protest were designed to facilitate a resolution of the issue and did not amount to support of demands for the removal of the Filipino workers.

Ms Collier says Mr Mavromatis told her: "Give these blokes a job and the picket will end."

The watchdog is seeking pecuniary penalties against the union and Mr Mavromatis, as well as compensation for losses suffered by the action.

It wants to use conversations secretly recorded by Ms Collier, on a device hidden in her bra, as evidence of the union's involvement.

Justice Marshall previously said he had grave concerns about the evidence, asking whether Ms Collier thought "she was in a James Bond movie".

On Thursday, he said the recordings had been inadequately transcribed and could not be relied upon.

The matter will return to court for a directions hearing next month.

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Man charged over Sydney car shooting

A MAN has been charged with firearms offences after he allegedly shot at a car in Sydney's west.

The 32-year-old man was charged after officers found a car sprayed with bullet holes at Wallacia shortly after 2.40am (AEDT) on Thursday.

Police say nobody was injured.

Police arrested the 32-year-old, along with a 22-year-old man, and have since charged the older man with shooting a firearm with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm and other firearm offences.

The younger man has been released without charge.

The 32-year-old was refused bail and is expected to face Penrith Local Court on Thursday.

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Gen Y suffer smartphone withdrawals

YOUNG Australians are so addicted to their smartphones that most admit using them while on the toilet and some suffer withdrawal symptoms if they're taken away.

The findings are revealed in new research that also shows one-third of Australia's Gen Y (roughly, 20-30 year-olds) admit checking their smartphones, emails or social media sites at least once an hour.

One-third also admit feeling anxious or as if "part of them was missing" if they are separated from their smartphone, according to the Connected World Technology Report published on Wednesday by tech giant Cisco.

The report finds 91 per cent of Gen Y Aussies surveyed own a smartphone and 88 per cent admit using them in bed, on the loo and while brushing teeth.

But the most worrying finding is that one in six Gen Y-ers admit using their smartphones to send text messages while driving.

That's despite strong evidence that using mobile phones in the car is incredibly dangerous.

One study published last year by Ohio State University, in the US, found that text messaging was more dangerous than merely talking on the phone while driving.

But our smartphone addiction does have its upside.

Telstra says Australians will send 44 million text and pictures messages from mobiles this Valentine's Day (Thursday).

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Scammers allege car damage, demand cash

SCAMMERS have targeted drivers in Perth's northern suburbs, demanding money for crashes that never happened.

Police say several people parked at Centro Dianella and Morley Galleria shopping centres have returned to their cars to find a note on the windscreen claiming they had hit another car.

"You have hit my car and not even left a note. I have reported this to the police and my insurance company. I have your licence plate number. Contact me on ..." one of the notes read.

On each occasion, the victims did not see any damage to their vehicle, police said.

When they called the number, the man who answered demanded money from them.

Police advised anyone who received such a note to not call the number on it.

If the note was legitimate, an insurance company would eventually contact them after the vehicle owner's details had been obtained, police said.

Anyone who receives a similar note is asked to report it to Morley Police Station or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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US gun victims invited to Obama's speech

US gun victims have been invited to attend President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech. Source: AAP

JOINING the White House in its demand for tougher gun laws, two dozen US lawmakers will host gun violence victims and relatives at President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech.

First Lady Michelle Obama will help lead the way, with aides confirming that the parents of Chicago shooting victim Hadiya Pendleton will join her for the speech on Tuesday.

Pendleton was a teenage high school band majorette who performed at Obama's January inauguration just days before she was gunned down in Chicago.

Democratic congressman Ron Barber will host his predecessor in the House of Representatives, Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head at a mass shooting two years ago in her Arizona district.

Republican Senator John McCain will host Giffords' husband Mark Kelly.

In an emotional return to congress, Giffords attended Obama's 2012 State of the Union speech one day before retiring from the House to focus on her recovery.

"Mark and I will be there again tomorrow night, because this is a critical moment in time for legislation to reduce gun violence in the United States," Giffords said in a statement on Monday, when she appeared in a debut TV ad for her new group, Americans for Responsible Solutions, which seeks to prevent gun violence.

At least 23 members of the US House, including Democratic minority leader Nancy Pelosi, will also host gun violence victims or their relatives.

The guests will include Natalie Hammond, a teacher who was shot three times by a gunman who massacred 20 schoolchildren and six adults last December at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut.

She joins congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy's guest, Police Chief John Aresta of Malverne, New York, whose uncle was killed, along with McCarthy's husband, in a 1993 mass shooting on a Long Island train.

House Democrats including Mike Thompson, chairman of the gun violence prevention task force, last week unveiled a package of possible gun control legislation which largely mirrored proposals put forward by Obama in the wake of Newtown.

One legislator took his message in a different direction.

Republican Steve Stockman said his guest at Obama's speech would be none other than Ted Nugent, the ageing rocker and controversial gun advocate.

"I am excited to have a patriot like Ted Nugent joining me in the House Chamber to hear from President Obama," said Stockman on Monday.

Nugent drew the attention of the US Secret Service last April when he warned at a National Rifle Association meeting that he would end up "dead or in jail" if Obama was re-elected.

Stockman last month threatened to initiate impeachment proceedings against Obama over the president's use of executive privilege to tighten gun laws, but ultimately backed off the threat.

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RBA to sell interest in Securency

The Reserve Bank of Australia has sold its 50 per cent stake in money printing firm Securency. Source: AAP

THE Reserve Bank of Australia has finally found a buyer for its stake in banknote firm Securency, as a review finds flaws in its oversight of the business in the lead up to a bribery scandal.

The RBA on Tuesday announced it would sell its remaining 50 per cent stake in Securency to its joint partner in the business, Innovia Films, for $65 million.

Securency was set up by the RBA in 1996 with its then partner UCB Films PLC to export the polymer banknotes the central bank had developed to other countries.

The RBA announced its intention to sell its stake in Securency in 2010.

Innovia Films CEO David Beeby said the central bank had always intended to part with its stake at some point.

"The RBA has been an outstanding and committed partner in this joint venture," he said in a statement.

"It has always been their clearly stated policy to grow the business to the point where it would be divested once it held a strong position in the market, and that time has certainly arrived."

The RBA will retain its ownership of Note-Printing Australia (NPA), which prints Australia's banknotes and NPA will now enter into a long term contract with Securency for the supply of polymer banknote substrates.

The central bank has faced criticism over its supervision of both NPA and Securency after agents from both firms were charged with bribing officials in Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Nepal to secure contracts for the sale of the polymer-note technology.

On Tuesday the RBA released a review which found that, though its response to problems within both firms was appropriate, the oversight applied to the companies could have been improved.

"Clearly, with the benefit of hindsight, there could have been more oversight applied to the activities of the two companies, which may have detected earlier the alleged illegal payments, but that does not mean the Bank's oversight was inappropriate," the review commissioned by the RBA and carried out by consultancy firm Cameron Ralph, said.

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Manly star Stewart arrested, not charged

MANLY NRL star Brett Stewart has reportedly been arrested and released without charge after a fight at a wedding party.

The fullback was arrested after an altercation during celebrations prior to teammate Anthony Watmough's nuptials in late January, several media outlets reported on Monday.

Sea Eagles chief operating officer David Perry told AAP the NRL club and the police were both satisfied that Stewart had done nothing wrong.

No charges have been laid.

"We've done our inquiry with our performance management group and we're happy with the outcome and the police are as well," Mr Perry said.

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SA looks for more mining investment

SOUTH Australian Premier Jay Weatherill has travelled to Perth in a bid to secure more mining investment.

Mr Weatherill wants mining companies to look to develop the state's resources and for mining service companies to use the state as a base for their wider operations.

"That's beginning to happen and we believe there is an ideal location here in South Australia to service the whole of the mining industry, not just around Australia, but around the world," he told reporters on Monday.

Mr Weatherill said South Australia was a competitive place to do business and had the skills base to successfully service the mining sector.

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NSW must act on Gonski reforms: unions

AROUND 60 parents, teachers and principals have gathered in Sydney to pressure the NSW government to act on the recommendations of the Gonski review.

The action is part of the Australian Education Union's (AEU) national campaign, involving television and newspaper advertising and sponsored green-coloured Gonski buses which are running in western Sydney, the Central Coast and Brisbane.

The AEU wants the states and the commonwealth to agree on a funding model for the Gonski reforms before the next Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting in April.

"We're calling on the state government and Premier Barry O'Farrell to put politics aside and start negotiating for funding reform," AEU president Angelo Gavrielatos told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.

"Let the negotiations commence against a backdrop of commitment to invest, which thus far has been lacking from Barry O'Farrell.

Federal Minister for School Education, Peter Garrett, joined the rally in Sydney, to back calls for an urgent deal.

"We have had slow negotiations with the states around identifying those details of a national plan for school improvement," Mr Garrett told reporters.

"We need to see states coming to the table to deliver and commit," he said.

Mr Garrett said the federal government is also prepared to allocate additional funding for education to the states, as long as they commit to the funding model for the Gonski reforms.

"If we don't successfully negotiate, Australian students around the country will be worse off."

The Gonski review outlined a new model for funding schools and set an ambitious goal of increasing spending on education by about $6.5 billion.

Victoria and Western Australia say the plan lacks details, which is a threat to achieving education reforms.

NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli says his state remains strongly in favour of Gonski but he is furious the Commonwealth and unions have politicised the issue.

"The Commonwealth is obviously intent on turning school funding into a political football during an election year," Mr Piccoli said in a statement on Sunday.

He said Mr Garrett had no additional details to share when he called education ministers to Sydney on February 1, to discuss Gonski.

Mr Piccoli said the federal government had been stalling on the issue for over a year and it was time the states were given more details on the funding arrangements.

"Minister Garrett should spend more time working on an offer and less time staging bogus political stunts," he said.

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Two die after car flips into Qld creek

A WOMAN and a young boy have died and two people are in hospital after a car flipped and crashed into a creek in north Queensland.

Police say four people were travelling in the car on the Bruce Highway, north of Proserpine, about 7.20am (AEST) on Sunday.

The car skidded off the road before flipping over and landing on its roof in Greta Creek.

A woman, aged 50, died at the scene and three other passengers were taken to hospital.

A four-year-old boy died later in hospital.

Two other passengers, a man aged 40 and an 18-year-old woman, are receiving treatment.

A report will be prepared for the coroner.

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