China should play role in Indo-Pacific

A NEW Indo-Pacific maritime security regime should be set up with all relevant players including China, a security report says.

The Indian Ocean security report, prepared by a taskforce of the Australia India Institute at Melbourne University, says there is no region-wide security regime for the Indian Ocean and sub-regional security regimes are relatively weak.

Security arrangements that do exist are essentially western-oriented and principally orchestrated by the United States.

The report said some discussions of the Indo-Pacific security system excluded China.

"We argue for the concept to be inclusive, meaning that China is included, in order to maximise long-term regional security," it said.

The report notes Australia's relative neglect of the Indian Ocean Region in its strategic thinking.

But the region is likely to be elevated in strategic importance in the coming Defence White Paper.

As well, Australia takes the chair of the pre-eminent regional grouping, the 20-member Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Co-operation (IOR-ARC) for a two-year term later this year.

The AII taskforce calls for an expansion of the group's agenda beyond economic issues.

Launching the report in Canberra on Wednesday, parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs Richard Marles said the AII was not a government body and the government would not respond to its conclusions.

"But this report is intended to be a very significant contribution to the debate," he said.

Mr Marles said Australia's approach to the Indian Ocean issues was incremental but very purposeful.

"We are trying not to overreach, particularly in regional organisations. But we are also taking care not to set our sights and our ambitions too low," he said.

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WA men plead not guilty over wild party

THE first two people in Western Australia to be charged with organising an out-of-control party have pleaded not guilty and will go to trial.

Jonathan James French and Travis Thomas Glennie Robinson, both 22, allegedly organised a party in December last year that got out of control, with more than 40 people throwing bricks at police who arrived to disperse the crowd.

The men could face a year in prison and a $12,000 fine if convicted under recently introduced laws.

Their lawyer entered a plea of not guilty for both men in the Joondalup Magistrates Court on Wednesday and a trial date will be set in April.

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More nurses needed in NSW hospitals: union

MORTALITY rates will increase and patients will spend longer in hospital unless the NSW government introduces set patient to nurse ratios, nurses say.

About 200 members of the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA) protested outside parliament in Sydney on Tuesday, demanding the government pass laws ensuring there are four nurses to every patient in hospital.

The ratios are in place in some metropolitan hospitals but rural nurses are worried their workload will soon overwhelm their ability to properly care for patients.

Hospital patients need 18 hours of care per day and this can only be achieved in rural areas if the ratios are implemented, Kristen King, a 50-year-old nurse from Forbes, said at the protest.

If ratios aren't brought in nurses will be too busy to properly care for all patients, she said.

"They can deteriorate while you're not there," Ms King told AAP.

"If the nurses are around and looking after them then hopefully they don't deteriorate ... where you're off doing something else."

Not having sufficient staff increases the length of hospital stays and will raise mortality rates by about 9 per cent, she said.

"If the government cares about patients then they will give us the ratios," she added.

The NSWNMA is also asking for a 2.5 per cent pay increase.

"It's just going to keep us in line with inflation," Ms King said.

All bar one of the 215 branches of the NSWNMA voted in favour of campaigning to improve nurse to patient ratios.

Letters from branch members across NSW demanding the implementation of the four to one ratio will be delivered to the government later on Tuesday.

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WA Shooters, Fishers miss out on 2nd seat

WESTERN Australia's newest political party, the Shooters and Fishers, has missed out on an expected second seat in the upper house.

Its Mining and Pastoral region candidate John Parkes was pipped by Dave Grills of The Nationals by 223 votes.

Other seats went to Robin Chapple of the Greens, Liberals Ken Baston and Mark Lewis, Labor's Stephen Dawson and Jacqui Boydell of The Nationals.

Winners for the South Metropolitan and East Metropolitan region will be announced later on Tuesday.

More counting is needed for the North Metropolitan region, so winners of these seats will be unveiled on Wednesday.

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Kids drink 'alarming' levels of soft drink

About one in four Australian children drinks more than five cups of soft drink a week. Source: AAP

SCHOOL-AGED children are consuming "alarming levels" of soft drinks, partly because they're readily available at home, a study has found.

Kids from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and boys are more likely to be big consumers of soft drinks.

The study by the University of Sydney, published in the current issue of Preventive Medicine, found that 24 per cent of the 8058 kids surveyed were drinking an "alarming" five or more cups of soft drink a week.

More than a quarter of kids from lower socioeconomic backgrounds reported high levels of soft drink consumption, compared with 19 per cent in high socioeconomic backgrounds.

"We also found students who drank soft drink with meals at home were almost 10 times as likely to be high consumers of these drinks," the study's lead author Lana Hebden said in a statement on Monday.

Kids aged 9-16 years were almost five times as likely to be high consumers if soft drinks were readily available at home, according to the study.

That showed a clear link between the availability of soft drinks at home and at school, and high levels of consumption, Ms Hebden said.

The health implications of excessive soft drink consumption should act as a caution for parents to buy soft drinks only on special occasions and not regularly offer them with meals, she said.

"We need to be putting out more information about kids' access to drinks at home.

"Parents need to consider what is stored in their cupboards or fridge and what their children have access to."

Ms Hebden added that the government should also impose a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks or ban the sale of soft drinks from schools to curb excessive soft drink consumption.

The study used data from a 2010 survey and was published for the first time on Sunday.

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Sunday penalty rates to stay

A BID to halve Sunday penalty rates for workers in the retail, fast food and hospitality industries has been rejected by the national workplace relations tribunal.

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) handed down its decision on Monday to keep penalty rates unchanged, following a 15-month review process in which groups such as the National Retail Association, the Queensland Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Ai Group made submissions.

The groups sought to halve the penalty rates paid to employees on Sundays and remove the 25 per cent penalty rate for evening work.

The bid would have affected workers in the fast food, food and beverage, general retail, hair and beauty and general hospitality industries.

But a full bench of the FWC on Monday said "a case had not been made" to change the penalty rates, because the modern award recognised the "disabilities of working at unsociable times".

It also said the industries already had relatively low pay rates.

Australian Retailers Association executive director Russell Zimmerman said the decision would affect retailers already struggling in a tough trading environment.

"It's a tough ask for retailers at this moment," he told AAP on Monday.

"It's fair to say that the world is changing. There are employees in other industries who are not being paid penalties on Sundays.

"We are living in an era where we have to operate in a 24-hour environment, and all we were looking for is to make Sundays more competitive."

Mr Zimmerman said the decision would also mean the unemployment rate in the retail industry would rise.

"Particularly in regional areas, the less they trade, the less money is going into the community because the retailers will look to run the stores themselves.

"It takes employment out of the industry."

Workplace relations minister Bill Shorten said the government welcomed the decision.

"We believe that adequate compensation for unsociable hours at work is reasonable," he said in a statement.

"The question for the Liberals is do they support this decision, and do they support the safety net for some of Australia's lowest paid workers.

"Or are they seeking, should they win government, to allow penalty rates to be stripped from workers as was the case under WorkChoices."

Last week, Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced the government would enshrine worker penalty rates into workplace law, as a consideration for the FWC.

The proposal was slammed by business groups, including the Australian Retailers Association.

"Along with the prime minister's announcement last week, this process now amounts to a one-sided barracking for the trade union movement on penalty rates, doing union bidding as if small business employers, shops, restaurants, cafes and tourism operators are constituencies that don't exist," Mr Zimmerman said.

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Sydney turns green for St Patrick's Day

THE streets of Sydney turned green as thousands of revellers celebrated St Patrick's Day across the CBD.

Crowds around Town Hall and Elizabeth Street were 10-deep on Sunday to watch the annual parade roll past, with youngsters dressed in traditional costume getting the biggest cheers as they waved to the crowd.

Greystanes mum Margaret, who grew up in Ireland, came to the city with her children and husband to celebrate their heritage at a family day at Hyde park.

She said she had experienced St Patrick's day in Ireland, New York and Sydney.

"The parade was fantastic, great celebration and great atmosphere... my little one got to see her mates dance in the parade," she told AAP.

Locals and Irish nationals also celebrated with a pint or two of Guinness at one of Sydney's many Irish pubs, which were enjoying one of their biggest trading days.

Popular Irish watering hole PJ O'Briens offered a full Irish breakfast and had crowds stretching down the street.

Australia has celebrated St Patrick's Day on 17 March since 1810, when Governor Lachlan Macquarie declared the date an official day of celebration.

Sydney's St Patrick's day is the largest Irish event in the southern hemisphere with an estimated 60,000 Irish and Australian families participating on Sunday, according to Australia's Irish newspaper the Irish Echo.

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Defeated Kenyan PM challenges poll result

Kenya's defeated presidentical candidate, the outgoing Prime Minister Raila Odinga, files a a legal challenge to his election loss with the Supreme Court, rejecting the slim first-round election win by Uhuru Kenyatta. Jessica Gray reports.

Outgoing PM Raila Odinga has lodged a petition to challenge the outcome of the Kenyan election. Source: AAP

OUTGOING Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has lodged a petition with the country's top court to challenge the outcome of the presidential election that saw him defeated by his rival Uhuru Kenyatta.

The move will be seen as a test of democracy in Kenya, which was rocked by bloody violence after the last disputed polls in 2007, when more than 1100 were killed and hundreds of thousands were displaced.

Odinga's Coalition for Reform and Democracy (CORD) claims the poll was marred by irregularities including changes to the voter register and inflated numbers of registered voters.

They also accused the electoral commission of using "poorly selected, designed" electronic equipment to transmit the results.

With the petition, Odinga is asking the court "to set aside the results of the presidential election as announced on March 9 and the declaration of Uhuru Kenyatta as president-elect ... and declare null and void the whole electoral process," according to a CORD statement.

The party filed the suit at the Supreme Court in the capital Nairobi on Saturday after Odinga spoke to supporters and reporters outside his offices.

"I have no hesitation whatsoever in lawfully challenging the election outcome," he said.

"To do otherwise would be a betrayal of the new constitution and therefore of everything that Kenyans hold dear."

Earlier, police used tear gas to disperse around 100 people demonstrating in favour of Odinga at the court.

An AFP photographer saw one young man bleeding from a wound to the forehead. Bystanders said he had been struck by a tear gas cannister.

Kalonzo Musyoka, Odinga's running mate in the March 4 election, accused the police of being heavy-handed and said Kenyans had simply "been trying to exercise their constitutional right to freedom of movement".

But he called on party supporters to remain calm.

Kenyatta, who avoided a second-round run-off vote by the slimmest of margins to win a majority with just 50.07 per cent, beat Odinga - his closest rival - by more than 800,000 votes.

Odinga won 43.31 per cent of the votes in his third failed attempt at the top job. He said he would abide by the decision of the court and urged Kenyatta to do likewise.

The Supreme Court has 14 days in which to hand down a ruling.

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US uni proposes fracking on its own land

Protesters have condemned a proposal to allow a US university to "frack" on state-owned land. Source: AAP

A US university wants to allow "fracking" on a state-owned tract of rolling woodland and plans to use the revenue to fund research into the environmental impact of such drilling.

Environmentalists have condemned the proposal as a conflict of interest.

The unique plan is being considered as the debate on hydraulic fracturing continues across the country.

Energy companies use the procedure to remove gas or oil from rock formations by forcing liquids underground at high pressure.

Many universities say they lack the money to properly study its environmental implications.

Gwen Parker, a Nashville-based staff lawyer for the Southern Environmental Law Center, said her group is taking a lead in trying to block the move.

She called the University of Tennessee's proposal a "fundamental conflict of interest".

"We have not been able to find any instances of a university drilling on their land and funding their research with revenues from the drilling activities," Parker said.

Without an appraisal, it was unclear how much revenue such drilling could yield, though some said it could be in the range of millions of dollars annually.

The university wants state permission to allow an outside company to drill on about 3240 hectares of mature woodlands it maintains as an outdoor laboratory in the Cumberland Plateau - all while performing research on the effects on water quality, air quality and ground impacts.

University officials argue that because the property is state-owned, they can maintain control over the drilling project and provide independent scientific results in an area of the industry where many environmental questions remain.

On Friday, the university presented its proposal to a subcommittee of the State Building Commission, which voted unanimously to allow the university to seek bids from companies.

"Our intention is science-based investigation," said Larry Arrington, chancellor of the UT Institute of Agriculture.

"We will move forward in a transparent manner, in which we will seek to engage and receive input from all interested parties."

Before the meeting, about 50 people against fracking held a rally across the street from the state Capitol.

"We should not be allowing fracking in the state of Tennessee until we are absolutely certain that we have regulations ... in place that are going to guarantee the protection of water quality," said Scott Banbury, one of the organisers.

Environmentalists also argue that preservation of the forest tract in question is critical because it is one of the few mature forests still intact in the state's Cumberland Mountains region.

Governor Bill Haslam is supportive of the university's proposal.

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US hack 'prank' doesn't merit jail: lawyer

A LAWYER for a Reuters editor accused of helping hackers deface a Los Angeles Times story says the journalist didn't commit the crime, but even if he did, it was an internet prank that shouldn't send anyone to prison for 25 years.

"No one was hurt, there were no lasting injuries, no one's identity was stolen, lives weren't ruined," said Matthew Keys' lawyer, Jay Leiderman.

"It was a joke, and I guess a joke will get you 25 years in prison."

Federal authorities allege that in December 2010, Keys provided hackers from the group Anonymous with login information to access the computer system of the Tribune Co., the parent company of the Times. Tribune also owns a Sacramento television station Keys was fired from months earlier.

According to the US Justice Department, a hacker altered a Times news story to read "Pressure builds in House to elect CHIPPY 1337," a reference to another hacking group. "Chippy 1337" claimed responsibility for defacing the website of video game publisher Eidos in 2011.

A second attempt to hack the Times was unsuccessful, according to an indictment released on Thursday.

Keys was charged with one count each of conspiracy to transmit information to damage a protected computer, as well as transmitting and attempting to transmit that information. If convicted, the New Jersey native faces a combined 25 years prison and a $US500,000 ($A484,003) fine if sentenced to the maximum for each count. He is scheduled for arraignment April 12 in Sacramento.

"It's astounding that we would use our laws and scarce prosecutorial resources in this manner," Leiderman told The Associated Press.

"In the wake of the Aaron Swartz case, we really thought that Justice would kind of catch their breath and maybe understand that they had erred in pushing these cases forward in such an aggressive manner for what are essentially pranks.

"I guess what Justice has done is kind of double down on it."

He was referring to the 26-year-old internet activist who was found dead in his Brooklyn apartment January 11 as a trial loomed in his future.

Family and friends say Swartz killed himself after he was hounded by federal prosecutors. Officials say he helped post millions of court documents for free online and that he illegally downloaded millions of academic articles from an online clearinghouse.

The indictment of Keys, also 26, comes after recent hacks into the computer systems of two other US media companies that own The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Both newspapers reported in February that their computer systems had been infiltrated by China-based hackers, likely to monitor media coverage the Chinese government deems important.

Anonymous and its offshoot, Lulz Security, have been linked to a number of high-profile computer attacks and crimes, including many that were meant to embarrass governments, federal agencies and corporate giants. They have been connected to attacks that took data from FBI partner organisation InfraGard, and they've jammed websites of the CIA and the Public Broadcasting Service.

Keys' Facebook page says he worked as an online news producer for Tribune-owned FOX affiliate KTXL from June 2008 to April 2010.

Investigators allege that Keys then gave a hacker named "Sharpie" the login information in an internet chat room frequented by hackers and urged the hacker to do some damage to the Tribune Co.

Federal prosecutors allege in court papers that a legendary hacker and Anonymous leader named "Sabu" offered advice on how to infiltrate Tribune's systems. The FBI unmasked Sabu when it arrested Hector Xavier Monsegur on June 7, 2011. Monsegur secretly worked as an FBI informant until federal officials announced that he helped them arrest five other alleged hackers on March 6, 2012.

Federal officials declined to comment on whether Sabu assisted in the investigation of Keys.

The day after it was announced that Sabu was an FBI informant, Keys wrote a story for Reuters about "infiltrating" the hackers' chat room.

Reuters had hired Keys in 2012 as a deputy editor for social media. David Girardin, a spokesman for the news agency, told AP in an email that Keys was suspended on Thursday with pay.

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