Aussie experts closer to making body parts

Australian scientists are researching the construction of human body parts by using 3D printing. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIAN scientists are on the cusp of constructing human body parts by using 3D printing to reproduce a patient's own cells.

3D printing uses machines to build body cells layer by layer from digital data.

Researchers from St Vincent's Hospital, in Melbourne, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES), in Wollongong, are behind the medical breakthrough.

ACES Director Professor Gordon Wallace believes that within a few years it will be possible to manufacture living tissues like skin, cartilage, arteries and heart valves using cells and biomaterials.

"Using a patient's own cells to create this tissue avoids issues of immune rejection," he says.

"By 2025, it is feasible that we will be able to fabricate complete functional organs, tailored for an individual patient."

The technology could provide the solution to several medical challenges including the development of bionic devices, the regeneration of nerve, muscle and bone, as well as epilepsy detection and control.

Professor Wallace says the research will be boosted next month with the launch of an additive biofabrication unit at St Vincent's Hospital - the first of its kind in Australia to be located in a hospital.

"This will put our scientists and engineers in direct contact with clinicians on a daily basis. This is expected to fast-track the realisation of practical medical devices and the reproduction of organs," he said.

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Pakistan prosecutor in Bhutto case killed

PAKISTAN'S main government prosecutor on the Benazir Bhutto murder case, in which ex-military ruler Pervez Musharraf is under house arrest, was shot dead in Islamabad.

State prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar was shot multiple times on Friday by gunmen as he was driving to the next hearing in the murder case of the former prime minister, who was assassinated more than five years ago.

His bodyguard was also wounded in the attack and a woman killed when Zulfiqar lost control of his vehicle, police said.

"Chaudhry Zulfiqar was driving his car. He lost control and the car crushed a woman passer-by," Yousuf told AFP.

"Zulfiqar was rushed to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries."

Police said the gunmen fled on a motorbike.

The attack happened in broad daylight in a busy street in a middle class neighbourhood.

The prosecutor had been on his way to appear before the anti-terrorism court hearing the Bhutto case in the neighbouring city of Rawalpindi.

Nobody has ever been convicted or jailed for Bhutto's December 2007 assassination.

Musharraf's government blamed the killing on Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement and was killed in a US drone attack in 2009.

On Tuesday, Musharraf was placed under a two-week house arrest over charges that he conspired to murder the former prime minister, who was at the time campaigning for election.

Bhutto's son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who is chairman of the outgoing main ruling Pakistan People's Party, has accused Musharraf of her murder.

In 2010 a UN report said Bhutto's death could have been prevented and accused Musharraf's government of failing to give her adequate protection.

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Former Qld MP says he's been cleared

FORMER Queensland housing minister Bruce Flegg says the state's integrity commissioner hasn't found anything untoward in his lobbyist register.

Dr Flegg was forced to resign in November 2012 amid allegations he failed to document all contact his office had with his lobbyist son.

He blamed a staffer for the administrative oversight.

Dr Flegg says he has been vindicated.

"The integrity commissioner found that there had been no improper lobbying by my son," he told ABC radio on Thursday.

"He also found that the lobbyist register maintained in my ministerial office was correct and did not need adjusting."

Dr Flegg says a disgruntled former staffer released to the media the subject lines only from dozens of emails.

Most were personal matters such as a visiting relative or graduation ceremony, he said.

"The Courier Mail, without the content of any of the emails, alleged that they constituted lobbying," he said.

"The integrity commissioner's seen all the emails that have been located and, to my knowledge, all of the ones that were listed - he has entirely cleared them."

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Medicare levy laws set for budget week

LAWS to hike the Medicare levy to pay for the national disability care scheme will go to federal parliament this month.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard used Twitter on Thursday to announce the legislation to lift the Medicare levy to two per cent - raising around $3.3 billion a year - would be introduced in budget week which starts on May 14.

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Qld govt targets union bosses

THE Queensland government's proposed industrial law changes are about trying to stifle opposition to asset sales, the state's public sector union says.

Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie has introduced changes to Queensland's industrial relations laws that require unions to publicly account for all spending, with particular emphasis on political party expenditure.

"Members deserve to know where and how their membership fees are being spent," Mr Bleijie said in a statement on Wednesday.

Unions will be required to provide an up-to-date public register of how much the top 10 highest earning officials are paid.

Officials will also have to publicly declare their personal material interests.

Their relatives will have to declare their material interests but this will not be made public.

All gifts and benefits over $500 received and given by officials and employees will also have to be declared.

The new laws will apply to 32 employer associations and 34 trade unions currently registered in Queensland.

They also delete union encouragement clauses in public service contracts.

Public sector union Together says the government has created an enormous amount of red tape and bureaucracy for unions to make it more difficult for them to fight privatisation.

"This government is petrified about a debate about privatisation and outsourcing," Together secretary Alex Scott told reporters.

"The transparency argument from the government is a smokescreen for what this legislation is really about.

"It's about providing unprecedented bureaucratic obstacles for workers being able to spend their own money in the pursuit of defending public sector services."

He said unions were already transparent about how they spend members' money.

The Services Union has welcomed the transparency part of the legislation.

It says it's already up-front about how money is spent.

The union represents workers from a range of industries, including the social and community sector as well as energy, ports and rail sectors.

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Murdered brothers had 'dozens of wounds'

TWO men who were fatally stabbed inside their Sydney home suffered a multitude of wounds to their face, chest, arms and hands during the attack, a court has heard.

Mario Frisoli, 52, and Albert Frisoli, 56, were found dead in their Rozelle home, in Sydney's inner west, in May 2009 by an employee of the elder man, the morning after the attack allegedly took place.

Giuseppe Di Cianni has pleaded not guilty to their murders.

His co-accused Josephine Pintabona has also pleaded not guilty to the murders and the alternate charge of being an accessory after the fact.

During their trial at the NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday, forensic pathologist Professor Johan Duflou said the Frisoli brothers sustained numerous defensive wounds to their hands during the attack.

Referring to a post-mortem report by his colleague Dr Rianie Van Vuuren, Prof Duflou said Mario suffered more than 30 injuries, including stab wounds through the cheek, neck and various wounds to the chest.

He said one stab wound through the front of the chest pierced his aorta - the large artery from the heart.

"Without emergency treatment it would almost certainly be fatal," Prof Duflou said.

"With expert emergency treatment you would stand a chance of survival."

Crown Prosecutor Mark Hobart, SC, previously told the court that Di Cianni and Albert Frisoli had a history marked by "animosity and violence".

The pair were co-directors of a construction company but their relationship soured after Di Cianni was diagnosed with cancer in 2000 and he came to believe Albert was defrauding him.

On the night of the stabbings, Mr Hobart said a neighbour saw a "little old lady" walking up to the door of the Frisoli brothers' home.

He alleged this was in fact Di Cianni, dressed in woman's clothing.

It is alleged that Pintabona drove Di Cianni to and from the scene.

The trial continues.

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Hip pocket pain hitting healthcare: report

FEDERAL Health Minister Tanya Plibersek says if you're going to get sick, "Australia is the place to do it", despite a report showing the country ranks the fifth most expensive in the world for out-of-pocket expenses.

The Consumers Health Forum on Monday said Australians pay $1075 every year per person in out of pocket medical costs, compared to $476 for New Zealand and $459 for the UK.

Australians' expenses are $94 above the weighted average for OECD countries, the forum found.

More concerning, it said thousands were applying to the federal Department of Human Services to access their superannuation to pay for health costs.

Forum chief Carol Bennett says Australia's developing a two-tiered health system and needed to overhaul the 30-year-old Medicare system.

"People who have the means can afford to benefit from the best treatment available. People without may not benefit at all," Ms Bennett said.

"What we are seeing in some cases is a triple whammy affect. People pay taxes and pay for private health insurance and then there are still out of pocket expenses."

Ms Plibersek said while Medicare wasn't perfect, it provided a better standard of care and choice than other countries around the world.

"Medicare is a system that most Australians are proud of, and they look around the world and they know that being sick is never good, it's never fun, but if you're going to get sick anywhere, Australia is the place to do it," she said.

While New Zealand paid less for some medicines than Australia, consumers across the Tasman had less choice and in the UK consumers had no choice when it came to their doctor.

"There are restrictions in place there (in Britain) that I don't think Australians would want to see," Ms Plibersek told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

Ms Plibersek said the number of medicines subsided through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme had increased, while Australia was witnessing "historic high bulk billing rates".

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UK man rescued from remote Pacific area

THE US Coast Guard in Hawaii has rescued one British man and is searching for another Briton who fell overboard in a remote area of the Pacific.

The 35-year-old missing man was conscious and wearing a yellow life jacket when he went overboard about 800km west of the Midway Atoll, but he had not been found more than 15 hours later, Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Eric J. Chandler said.

Officials from the Marine Rescue Coordination Center Falmouth, United Kingdom, reported to the US Coast Guard in Hawaii on Saturday that a man from a 12-metre vessel had fallen overboard, and the one who remained aboard had little sailing experience.

The area nearly 3220km from Oahu was too remote to reach quickly by boat, and winds were reported at 40km/h with two metre-high seas.

The Coast Guard sent an HC-130 Hercules aeroplane from an Oahu air station, and the US Navy diverted the USS Peleliu, an amphibious assault ship to assist in the search.

Two Navy helicopters were sent to search from the Peleliu on Sunday. One of them found the boat, lowered a hoist and pulled the man in.

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Abbott pledges $500m to SA road project

Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has pledged $500 million for Adelaide's South Road upgrade. Source: AAP

FEDERAL Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has pledged $500 million for an Adelaide road project and says he will remove any government impediments to the Olympic Dam project, in a stump speech to party faithful in the South Australian capital.

At a federal campaign rally at Flinders on Saturday, Mr Abbott told hundreds of Liberal supporters a coalition government would provide Australia with "the modern infrastructure that a first world country in the 21st century really needs".

Following on from road project commitments in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, the opposition leader said half a billion dollars would go to the South Road upgrade.

"I want to see cranes over our city, I want to see bulldozers on the ground, I want to see the traffic moving," he said.

"I don't want you to be stuck in traffic jams, on your way to work, on your way to university, bringing the kids home from school."

In a speech reminiscent of his US-styled campaign address in western Sydney earlier this year, Mr Abbott, jacketless and wearing his trademark white shirt and blue tie, also promised to remove government obstacles to the Olympic Dam expansion.

Mr Abbott last year blamed the mining and carbon taxes for BHP Billiton delaying the $30 billion Olympic Dam mine expansion, despite the company saying deteriorating market conditions were behind its decision.

At Nazareth Catholic College on Saturday, Mr Abbott said state and federal Labor governments were responsible for the project being put on hold, because they had not "created the climate in which this kind of investment can go ahead".

"I can't promise that Olympic Dam will go ahead, but I can promise that there will be no obstacles from government that will impede its progress," he said.

"And that means that South Australia will have a fighting chance of becoming once more one of the richest states in this great commonwealth."

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Vic ALP confident of winning Lyndhurst

Martin Pakula is confident he can win the by-election in the Victorian state seat of Lyndhurst. Source: AAP

LABOR candidate Martin Pakula is confident he can win Saturday's by-election in the Victorian state seat of Lyndhurst.

Victory for Mr Pakula would leave the state parliament on a knife edge, with Labor having 43 seats to the coalition's 44, including the Speaker.

It would mean the government would still require the support of independent MP Geoff Shaw to pass legislation opposed by Labor.

The coalition is not fielding a candidate in the by-election for Lyndhurst, which was triggered when Labor's Tim Holding resigned in February.

The Australian Greens, the Democratic Labor Party, Family First, the Sex Party and three independents are contesting the seat, which Labor holds by a margin of 13.9 per cent.

Mr Pakula, a former upper house MP and public transport minister, greeted voters arriving at Keysborough Primary School on Saturday morning.

Few voters were keen to stop for a chat.

Electoral signs fluttered in the strong winds, candidate signs blew over and how-to-vote cards flew away.

Several voters commented aloud at the taxpayer money being wasted on by-elections.

Mr Pakula, who was dressed casually in jeans and a suit jacket, said he had received a good reception from voters.

Voters were concerned about cuts to TAFE colleges, manufacturing jobs in Dandenong South, roads, schools and health care, he said.

"If those concerns translate into support for the Labor Party then we should have a reasonable result tonight", he told reporters.

"I'm confident, but haven't been complacent for one moment. I've treated this by-election as if it is being held in the most marginal seat in the state."

Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews said Mr Pakula would regain portfolios he stepped aside from for the by-election, including shadow attorney-general, if he won.

He said Victorians would be very concerned that Mr Shaw was now likely to hold the balance of power.

Mr Andrews said everything Premier Denis Napthine did would have to meet the approval of Mr Shaw.

Greens candidate Nina Springle said she felt positive about the party's chances.

"Anything's possible. I fully recognise it's a very strong Labor seat, but I think our vote is growing," Ms Springle told AAP.

"We got our first Greens councillor up in Dandenong last year and we certainly grew our vote in the last general election in Lyndhurst.

"I can't see why that won't happen again, particularly because there's no Liberal candidate."

Ms Springle said the absence of a party candidate was sad for Liberal voters.

Public transport, health and education were the biggest issues for the area, she said.

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