SA clerk's harassment case 'not for cash'

Rebecca Ramstrom (left) was cross-examined on Thursday in the Equal Opportunity Tribunal. Source: AAP

A FORMER magistrate's clerk who claims she was sexually harassed by her boss has denied ever hearing about a $450,000 award made to another woman in a similar Adelaide case.

Rebecca Ramstrom also denied discussing that case with the magistrate and saying to him: "I should have sued my previous employer for sexual harassment".

The 33-year-old was being cross-examined on Thursday in the Equal Opportunity Tribunal in Adelaide by Marie Shaw QC, who is acting for the now-retired magistrate Joseph Baldino.

Ms Ramstrom, who was his clerk between 2008 and 2010, claims Mr Baldino repeatedly made salacious and disgusting comments, touched her breasts when pretending to look at her necklace and slapped her on the bottom with a file.

She said she walked out of her job in September 2010 after a panic attack caused by the slapping and has not been able to work since then.

Ms Shaw asked her about a Centrelink case, which came before Mr Baldino, involving a woman who had been awarded $450,000 in a sexual harassment claim.

Ms Ramstrom said she could not recall if she typed the magistrate's sentencing remarks in the Centrelink case or if she was present in court the four times the case came before him in 2009.

She denied ever reading about the award or seeing a story about it on the television news.

Ms Shaw suggested it was "simply incorrect" for her to say she had never heard about the award.

"I stand by what I say, I speak the truth," Ms Ramstrom replied.

She said she had never heard about the award "up until this day", adding it did not interest her.

"You are not interested in how much money you could get for sexual harassment?" Ms Shaw asked.

When Ms Ramstrom replied that she was not, the Ms Shaw again asked if that was the reason she was in the tribunal.

"I am here because I am not well and I was touched," Ms Ramstrom replied.

"I want my health back."

The hearing is continuing.

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Vic MP backs coalition after quitting Libs

EX-LIBERAL MP Geoff Shaw has used his first vote as an independent to back the coalition and kick out a Labor MP from Victorian parliament.

Mr Shaw quit the Liberals on Wednesday to join the cross benches, blaming Ted Baillieu's leadership for his decision.

Mr Baillieu resigned as premier later on Wednesday and Denis Napthine took the top job.

Mr Shaw's move to become an independent has big implications for the coalition's slim hold on power and the government will be relying on his vote to pass laws.

In the first test of support, Mr Shaw voted with the coalition on Thursday to eject Labor MP Joanne Duncan from parliament.

Dr Napthine said he planned to have discussions with Mr Shaw but refused to be drawn on whether he would welcome him back into the Liberal fold.

The coalition now has 44 seats to Labor's 42. Labor's number will increase to 43 after the by-election for the safe Labor seat of Lyndhurst on April 27.

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High Court told MRRT unconstitutional

Fortescue Metals Group's challenge to the mining tax is set to go ahead before the full High Court.

Fortescue Metals Group will appear before the High Court to challenge the government's mining tax. Source: AAP

A LAWYER for mining magnate Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest says the federal government's mining tax breaches the constitution and nothing can be done to bring it back from the dead.

"It is not revived or quickened by being put through the crematorium of this court," counsel for the Fortescue Metals Group, David Jackson QC, told High Court judges on Wednesday.

Mr Forrest wasn't in court for the start of the case that pits his Fortescue Metals Group against the Commonwealth of Australia over the validity of the Minerals Resources Rent Tax (MRRT).

The full court of the High Court, sitting in Canberra, has set down three days to hear the case.

At one point, Justice Kenneth Hayne observed: "Nothing is unduly simple in this."

Mr Forrest has vigorously opposed the MRRT from the outset.

He foreshadowed a legal challenge last year - long before the government revealed just how little the MRRT raised in its first six months.

To the end of December 2012, the tax garnered $126 million from miners against a full-year forecast of $2 billion.

Fortescue expects to pay no MRRT this year.

Opening the case, Mr Jackson said Fortescue did not dispute the commonwealth's power to raise tax.

But the company was challenging the validity of the MRRT on grounds that it contravened a provision of the constitution which stipulates tax must be applied equally to all states.

"It discriminates against the states in that it gives rise to a preference to some states," Mr Jackson said.

He argued the MRRT was levied differently in each state because of the variation in mining royalties which are offset against tax liabilities.

The commonwealth, represented by Solicitor-General Justin Gleeson, has yet to present its case.

But it will argue the tax is constitutional because it is imposed at a uniform rate regardless of a mine's location.

Royalties were deemed merely one type of allowance for which a miner can calculate deductions in calculating MRRT liability.

The MRRT is levied at the rate of 22.5 per cent on total profits over $75 million derived from extraction of iron ore, coal and coal-seam gas.

Mining companies can reduce MRRT liability through claiming certain expenditure including royalty payments to state governments.

The case has attracted considerable interest with the solicitors-general for Queensland and Western Australia granted leave to intervene.

It's being heard by six of the court's seven judges after Justice Stephen Gageler excused himself on grounds that he provided legal advice to the commonwealth on the MRRT when he was solicitor-general.

The case is expected to run for another two days.

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Carr critical of DFAT over Zygier case

Foreign Minister Bob Carr says his department's handling of the Ben Zygier case was unsatisfactory. Source: AAP

FOREIGN Minister Bob Carr has criticised his department's handling of the shadowy case of Melbourne man and suspected Israeli spy Ben Zygier.

Senator Carr last month ordered a review of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's (DFAT) handling of the case, shortly after Mr Zygier was named as Israel's mysterious "Prisoner X".

Mr Zygier, a dual citizen of Australia and Israel, was detained for alleged Israeli national security offences in February 2010 and died in a supposedly suicide-proof cell 11 months later.

It's believed he worked for Israeli spy agency Mossad.

Senator Carr says the DFAT review found Mr Zygier was granted regular access to a lawyer and more than 50 visits by family members during his detention.

But he criticised a lack of clarity in government decision-making over consular responsibilities.

"The Zygier case was complex and outside the normal bounds of consular activity," Senator Carr said in a statement on Wednesday.

"However it is unsatisfactory that there was a lack of clarity over the exercise of consular responsibilities."

Senator Carr says it's also unsatisfactory that details of assistance provided by Israeli authorities to Mr Zygier were not sought by or provided to DFAT until he ordered the review.

"I acknowledge DFAT's contemporaneous assessment that Israel would not have granted direct consular access to Mr Zygier," he says.

"However it would have been preferable for follow-up information to have been sought in 2010."

Senator Carr admitted for the first time Mr Zygier was an "employee of the Israeli government".

But the minister could not confirm or deny Mr Zygier worked for Mossad.

He also revealed then-prime minister Kevin Rudd and then-foreign minister Stephen Smith were not told of Mr Zygier's arrest.

The DFAT report notes it would have been "prudent" for Australian intelligence agencies - who knew about Zygier's arrest within days - to consult with Australia's ambassador in Tel Aviv about the likelihood of officials being granted consular access to him.

"A more coherent system for handling intelligence information on individual consular cases would have assisted management of issues around Mr Zygier's circumstances," Senator Carr said.

The report recommends any Australian agency that becomes aware of the detention of an Australian citizen tell the relevant ambassador or high commissioner, unless the foreign minister grants an exemption.

The report also recommends DFAT lead the development of a protocol for dealing with individuals detained on intelligence-related matters.

A better system should be developed to ensure senior consular officers can access written records, including intelligence, of sensitive cases, the report adds.

It also calls for a further review into the consular services that should be provided by Australia to dual nationals, like Zygier.

"I have directed that these recommendations be implemented," Senator Carr said.

Senator Carr says if it emerges Australian passports are being used by other countries to conduct intelligence operations, the government will be outraged.

"It's something to which we would take the strongest opposition," he told reporters in Sydney.

"We can't live with that."

Australia expelled an Israeli diplomat in May 2010 after it emerged forged Australian passports were used in the assassination of Hamas agent Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai.

"There is no evidence Mr Zygier was involved in the Dubai incident," Senator Carr said.

Senator Carr said there were questions about the Zygier case that remained unanswered.

"There's a lot about this that's odd."

DFAT secretary Peter Varghese met with Israeli Ambassador Yuval Rotem to seek information about the case while he was preparing the report, Senator Carr said.

But there was no information forthcoming, Senator Carr said.

Mr Zygier - also known as Ben Alon and Ben Allen - trained as a lawyer in Melbourne but moved to Israel in 2000.

Seven days after he was found hanged in his cell at age 34, his body was flown back to Melbourne, where he is buried in a Jewish cemetery.

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Disaster heroes cruise on Queen Mary 2

ONE of the heroes of this summer's disasters is looking forward to being far away from a ringing telephone.

Queensland SES coordinator Christie Heitmann is one of more than 35 heroes being treated to a two-night cruise on the world's largest ocean liner.

The group - chosen at random from among volunteers active during the Queensland floods and the bushfires in Tasmania, NSW and Victoria - have been welcomed on board the Queen Mary 2 to sail from Brisbane to Sydney.

Ms Heitmann co-ordinated the SES response on the Gold Coast in the wake of Cyclone Oswald in January.

After responding to 824 calls for help, Ms Heitman says it will be nice not to have a phone constantly ringing.

She's looking forward to relaxing by the pool for a few days.

"It's going to be a different type of water to what we're used to working in," she told AAP.

Cunard Line president Peter Shanks said Queen Mary 2's 'Salute to the Summer Heroes' was about recognising volunteers.

"Emergency services volunteers risk everything to protect their communities in the most extreme conditions and they do it willingly year after year and sometimes at great personal cost," he said in a statement.

"Queen Mary 2 makes a huge impact wherever she goes, and we are delighted she can play a part in marking the service and sacrifice of volunteers."

A special auction will be conducted onboard, with proceeds to go to the Australian Red Cross 2013 natural disaster appeal.

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Great Keppel development wins fed approval

A $600 million marina development has won federal government approval on Great Keppel Island. Source: AAP

A RAFT of strict conditions has been imposed on federal approval for a $600 million tourism and marina development on Great Keppel Island.

The project, off the central Queensland coast, includes a new 250 berth marina precinct, 750 resort villas, 300 apartments, a hotel and an 18 hole golf course.

Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke says the approved development is significantly different from the original, which was rejected in 2009.

The development's size is 40 per cent smaller, down by 58 hectares, there are 950 or 55 per cent fewer villas in the tourism resort, and 310 or 55 per cent fewer berths in the marina.

Waste water management has been considerably improved with no discharge into the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park allowed.

The golf course, designed by Greg Norman, has been relocated away from Leeke's Lagoon to create larger buffers for migratory birds and remove its visibility from the sea.

And the marina has been redesigned to reduce the extent of dredging.

"The conditions I have imposed will ensure that the outstanding universal value of the Great Barrier Reef is not diminished by this development," Mr Burke said in a statement.

The minister said Great Keppel has been a tourist destination since the 1930s with the first resort established in the 1960s and expanding in the 1970s before the resort facilities closed in 2008.

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Low Vitamin D 'linked to food allergies'

FOUR-YEAR-OLD Harry is looking forward to Easter this year, because for the first time he may be able to eat chocolate eggs.

Harry has food allergies, and the chocolate treats might have killed him in the past because of his allergic reaction to milk.

But recent testing in a Murdoch Childrens Research Institute (MCRI) study in Melbourne shows his milk tolerance has improved.

The testing is part of the institute's study into links between vitamin D levels and food allergies in children.

In results released on Monday, the study found one-year-olds with food allergies were up to 10 times more likely to have low vitamin D levels.

Lead researcher Professor Katie Allen says the vitamin D factor, combined with other hygiene and food introduction factors, may help solve the puzzle of Australia's soaring food allergy rates.

"I think ... all these coming together within the next couple of years could have a dramatic impact on preventing food allergies and turning back the tide of the epidemic," Ms Allen told reporters in Melbourne.

"So, yes, I think that things are happening very quickly."

The rate of anaphylaxis, a potentially deadly allergic reaction, has soared in Australia in recent years.

Harry's mum Katie Eyers says when Harry was 18 months old, he stopped breathing for about 30 seconds after drinking a fifth of a teaspoon of milk.

Curing him of his allergies would mean the world to her.

"It would mean so much to have a child you could let out of your sight and not fear that every little bit of food might kill them," Ms Eyers said.

"So just being able to let them go to school without a worry, birthday parties, family functions, all those things that in the back of your mind you're always feeling a bit anxious about."

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China volunteers rescue 900 dogs in truck

Animal rescue in China says volunteers have rescued about 900 dogs that were found in a truck. Source: AAP

THE head of an animal rescue centre in China says volunteers have rescued about 900 dogs that were being transported in a truck.

Chen Mingcai of the Chongqing Small Animal Protection Association said on Sunday that a citizen became suspicious of the truck and called police, who detained the truck driver on Friday night.

Chen says he was later contacted by someone who had seen a photo of the dogs left in the truck on the entrance of an expressway in southwestern Chongqing city.

By Saturday afternoon, Chen says volunteers from the animal center and other animal lovers who had seen postings about the dogs on social media had arrived at the truck wanting to help the canines.

Chen says many of the dogs looked like pet dogs.

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NSW floods could isolate hundreds more

HEAVY rain across northeast NSW could leave hundreds more people isolated on the state's mid-north coast.

A severe weather warning for heavy rain in the northern rivers and mid-north coast forecast districts remained in place on Sunday afternoon.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) warned residents in those areas to expect scattered showers and possibly local heavy falls through the rest of the weekend.

Rainfall was easing but flash flooding was still possible, the bureau said.

A State Emergency Service (SES) spokeswoman said a flood rescue was under way at Singleton, in the Hunter, on Sunday afternoon.

"There's a person stuck in rising floodwaters with their vehicle," she told AAP.

Dozens of SES volunteers flew north on Saturday to help locals respond to any flooding.

"Our focus today is on the mid-north coast, especially areas around the lower Macleay," the spokeswoman said.

She said hundreds of locals at South West Rocks, Crescent Head, Hut Head, Gladstone, Jerseyville and Smithtown could become cut off, joining the 5300 people already isolated by floodwaters in the region.

Up to 133 millimetres of rain had fallen on the lower Macleay Valley since 3pm (AEDT) on Saturday, according to the BOM.

Moderate flooding was already affecting Kempsey, and the Macleay River was expected to peak near six metres about 5pm on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Sydney Western Region SES said on its Facebook page that it had made several failed attempts to reach isolated residents at St Albans, Webbs Creek, Colo and McDonald Valley by helicopter.

Flood teams from the Hills and Penrith were heading to those areas on Sunday afternoon to assess the extent of the flooding.

The SES reminded people in flood areas not to drive, ride or walk through floodwater, but the spokeswoman said the SES had received few calls for help over the weekend.

"It's good people are heeding our message," she said.

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Sydney CBD apartment fire scary: residents

FOR six-year-old Arran, it was a pretty good start to the weekend: he had a ride in a cherrypicker, got to meet a fireman and was treated to a bag of chips for being brave.

For mum Elaine Kelly and dozens of neighbours, Saturday began with a frightening scramble to safety as a fire burned below and thick, toxic smoke billowed into corridors.

Ms Kelly and her two young sons were among the 15 adults and four children rescued from the roof of their inner Sydney apartment block after a blaze broke out in the Pyrmont property's basement shortly before 10am (AEDT).

About 60 other residents were evacuated and 15 forced to shelter in an upper-level unit, as firefighters stood with hoses drawn to protect them from any encroaching flames.

"Not your average Saturday morning," Ms Kelly told reporters, as she described how firefighters plucked Arran and four-year-old Caleb from the roof using an airlift.

"They've been very brave indeed.

"A little bit anxious at first when they realised it was a fire, but then the fireman came and it was just, 'this is really cool!'"

Superintendent Rick Parkes told reporters that fire stairways in the building led down to the basement where a car had caught fire, so for the 19 people who became stranded, the only way out was up.

"They felt that their best option was to make their way to the roof and wait for assistance there," he said.

One first-floor resident, Cheri Kelcher, told AAP she and her friends nearly became trapped by the thick smoke.

"Where all the smoke was coming out is where the fire exit ends, so we couldn't get back in to cut across to get out, so we were standing there with all this smoke in our face going uh-oh, what do we do?" she said.

She said she held her breath and "did a runner" when the smoke thinned briefly.

No one was injured, but one woman was taken to hospital suffering shortness of breath.

The fire was extinguished by midday but residents were unlikely to be allowed back into their homes until evening.

Supt Parkes said the thick smoke generated in the fire could be toxic.

"(A burning car) generates smoke such as hydrogen phosphine, which they use in chemical warfare, and it also generates carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide," Supt Parkes said.

Police investigators were still determining whether the site should be declared a crime scene on Saturday afternoon.

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