New plan to tackle overseas phone bills

Mobile phone operators will now be forced to provide alerts about the cost of international roaming. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIANS will soon have no excuse for racking up huge mobile bills when they travel abroad with telcos set to adopt a warning system to highlight exorbitant overseas charges.

A new standard by the communications watchdog, announced on Wednesday, will force mobile phone providers to alert users to the financial consequences of roaming on overseas networks.

"For young people who just jumped on the plane and then come home to find that their mobile phone has cost them more than the plane journey, I think they're entitled to say 'this is wrong'," Communications Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters in Sydney.

"What we're about today is doing something about it."

From September phone users will receive an SMS when they arrive overseas detailing the significant hike in charges for using roaming services.

Users will also be able to disconnect from roaming, from either home or abroad, for a small fee.

If they choose not to they'll be notified of excess data charges in $100 increments.

Though the official start date for the Australian Communications and Media Authority's plan is September, Mr Albanese said Telstra, Optus and Vodafone are already in compliance.

The government is also in international negotiations to control pricing regimens for data, starting with New Zealand, he added.

"A lot of Australians who are in New Zealand (think) if you're in Wellington it's no different than if you're in Perth.

"Well there is a big difference," he said.

"If people want to rack up a sizeable bill that's ok, but they should do so in the full knowledge of what they're doing."

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

RBA governor speech sends $A lower

THE Australian dollar hit a near three-year low minutes after Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens revealed the RBA board deliberated for a "very long time" before deciding to leave the cash rate unchanged.

Mr Stevens made the remark as he opened a speech at a business lunch in Brisbane on Wednesday, a day after the RBA decided keep the cash rate at its record low of 2.75 per cent.

"As you may know, the Reserve Bank board in fact held its meeting here in Brisbane yesterday, at which we deliberated for a very long time and then we acted to stick with the cash rate unchanged," Mr Stevens said.

When he began his speech at 1250 AEST, the Australian dollar was at 91.6 US cents.

By 1300 AEST the currency had fallen to 91.23 US cents, and at 1348 AEST it hit 90.95 US cents, its lowest point since early September, 2010.

RBC Capital Markets fixed income and currency strategist Michael Turner said the comment provided confirmation that the door was open for another rate cut in August.

"It was the comments on the length of deliberation which has caught the attention of markets," Mr Turner said.

"Markets have reacted to the unscripted comments by pushing the Australian dollar lower and bonds higher."

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Man pleads guilty to McGurk murder

ONE of the men charged over the 2009 shooting of Sydney businessman Michael McGurk has pleaded guilty to his murder.

Haissam Safetli is now set to give evidence against property developer Ron Medich in his upcoming committal hearing, a court has heard.

Magistrate Jan Stevenson insisted Safetli be brought up from the cells to face Central Local Court on Tuesday after his solicitor Dennis Miralis entered guilty pleas on his behalf to one count of murder and one count of stalk and intimidate.

Mr Miralis said his client "doesn't wish to appear before the court".

"He is not feeling well ... He disclosed that in the cells," Mr Miralis said.

But Ms Stevenson said: "I want him up here Mr Miralis. I would like him in court."

12.22 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hopefuls trade barbs in race for Rankin

A POTENTIAL successor to retiring MP Craig Emerson says his main rival doesn't have what it takes to keep the safe Labor seat out of coalition hands.

Dr Emerson has announced he will vacate his seat of Rankin, which takes in part of Brisbane and satellite city Logan, at the next election.

The former minister and Julia Gillard-backer made the call after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd won last week's leadership spill.

Jim Chalmers, who has worked as former Treasurer Wayne Swan's chief-of staff, and former federal MP Brett Raguse have both confirmed they will seek pre-selection for the long-held Labor seat.

Indigenous health worker Leanne Enoch has also been named in media reports as a contender, but she is yet to publicly declare her intentions.

Mr Raguse, who lost the neighbouring seat of Forde in 2010, says he has a much higher profile than Dr Chalmers.

He says his profile will help ensure Rankin, which has been in Labor hands since its creation in 1984, isn't seized by Liberal National Party (LNP) candidate and well-known businessman David Lin.

"Jim is a nice guy ... but no one knows him," Mr Raguse told AAP.

"The branchies (branch members) don't know him and this is a crucial election... and we are truly under threat."

Mr Raguse said Mr Rudd contacted him personally to ask him to join and he was sure he would have Dr Emerson's support too if he sought it.

Conversely, Dr Chalmers says he has Dr Emerson's support, but is yet to seek Mr Rudd's.

Dr Chalmers says Mr Raguse doesn't even hail from the electorate.

Meanwhile, he has been hitting the phones garnering support from branch members.

"The support for my candidacy so far has been based on my genuine local credentials, my policy experience, and my passion and energy to represent the community I grew up in," he said.

Comment from Ms Enoch has also been sought.

Ms Enoch, who failed as a candidate in the 2009 Queensland election, gained notoriety after successfully taking legal action against columnist Andrew Bolt for articles he wrote about "fair-skinned" Aborigines.

12.22 | 0 komentar | Read More

Coles caught out on home grown claims

SUPERMARKET giant Coles has been fined $61,200 for selling imported fruit that it advertised as Australian-grown.

The competition watchdog acted after a complaint that Coles had displayed imported navel oranges and kiwi fruit underneath signs reading 'Helping Australia Grow' and displaying the triangular Australian Grown symbol.

A review by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) between March and May this year found the signage was also being used in other stores for imported asparagus and almonds.

Coles denies breaking any law, saying the signs were mistakenly left behind when stock was moved within its stores.

The payment of the fines is not an admission that Coles broke the Competition and Consumer Act, the ACCC said.

But the signs wrongly gave the impression to customers that the imported produce was Australian grown, it said.

There were small stickers on the produce showing the overseas country of origin, but that did not correct the overwhelming impression that it was Australian due to the imagery of the 'Helping Australia Grow' advertising, the ACCC said.

"Consumers should be able to rely on the accuracy of claims about food, particularly when they are prepared to pay a premium for products made in Australia," ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said in a statement.

"Misleading country of origin claims can also have a significant impact on the competitive process and hurt the local economy."

Coles said it paid the ACCC's fines out of expediency to avoid a lengthy and costly legal action in defending its position.

Mr Sims said the misleading signage did not appear to be a case of widespread or systemic conduct, but action was needed because of the importance consumers placed on such claims.

The offences occurred in five stores, in Queensland, NSW, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory.

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Residents in Mandela village pray for him

NELSON Mandela's neighbours have held a special prayer service in his ancestral village in South Africa to wish the gravely ill anti-apartheid hero a speedy recovery.

Worshippers sang solemn hymns in a community hall in Qunu, calling on God to heal the revered leader "during this difficult time".

"We want him to recover from whatever pain he is experiencing. That is what we are here for and praying for," said Methodist Church minister Sonwabile Msotyana, as Mandela started a fourth week in hospital.

"This is a very important man that is lying there, not only for South Africa but the entire world," he said on Sunday.

The Nobel peace laureate is in critical condition in Pretoria where he was hospitalised on June 8 with a recurring lung infection.

Mandela's oldest grandson Mandla and several other relatives also joined the inter-denominational service around 1000 kilometres away in South Africa's rural hinterland.

Supporters of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) dressed in party colours also attended.

Mandela spent 27 years in jail for his opposition to white minority rule, and went on to become the nation's first black president after all-race elections in 1994.

"The new South Africa would not have been possible" without the sacrifices made by Mandela and other anti-apartheid leaders, Methodist Bishop Don Dabula said.

Together they "liberated us from the yoke of oppression", he added.

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Crunch meeting over future of Browse

THE future of the stalled multi-billion dollar Browse gas project will be discussed when the joint venture partners meet for talks on Monday.

The troubled project, believed to be worth between $30 billion and $90 billion, is led by Woodside, who want to exploit three gas fields off the northwest coast of Western Australia.

Premier Colin Barnett has said a July 1 crunch meeting would be held between venture partners Shell, BP, Japan Australia LNG and PetroChina International Investment.

It is believed the Perth meeting concerns Woodside's preference for floating processing, whereby Browse Basin gas will be processed on a large purpose-built vessel stationed far off the coast.

This has angered Mr Barnett, who was determined to see onshore processing and the subsequent flow of local jobs.

His government is pressing ahead with land acquisition at James Price Point, setting aside space for future gas developments.

After years of work on the project, and resistance on environmental grounds, Woodside scratched plans to build an onshore processing plant in April, saying it would not deliver the returns the company needed.

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Gunpowder blast kills man in Qld

A MAN is dead and two others have been seriously injured after gunpowder exploded in far north Queensland.

Police say the men were believed to have been trying to dispose of expired gunpowder in a burn-off on a rural property west of Mareeba on Saturday morning.

It caused an explosion, killing a 58-year-old Cairns man and seriously injuring another 58-year-old man and a 33-year-old man.

One suffered chest injuries and the other had serious lacerations to his arm.

Police say the cause of the blast is not suspicious.

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Back to the 80s with accord in Tasmania

Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings has flagged a 1980s-style accord with public sector unions. Source: AAP

TASMANIAN Premier Lara Giddings has flagged a 1980s-style accord with the state's public sector unions.

Ms Giddings says she will negotiate a memorandum of understanding with unions similar to the national agreement former prime minister Bob Hawke achieved after his election in 1983.

"I want to make sure that we secure our public services against the threats posed by potential (federal and state) Liberal governments under Tony Abbott and Will Hodgman," she told the ALP state conference on Saturday.

"The 1980s accord underpinned strong jobs growth and low inflation throughout the life of the Hawke and Keating governments."

Ms Giddings has had her run-ins with unions over massive budget cuts she made in 2011/12.

She made her pitch to the 20,000 public servants covered by their three largest unions with a warning about job cuts in Liberal states Queensland, Victoria and NSW.

Tasmanian Liberal leader Will Hodgman has said 500 public service jobs would be cut, without forced redundancies, if he became premier in the next state election scheduled for March next year.

Ms Giddings says that would be just the beginning.

"Don't take my word for it - look at what Campbell Newman's done in Queensland," she said.

But the premier could give little detail of what the Tasmanian "accord" would look like.

"We'll be working now with the public sector unions aound what are the sorts of issues they would like to see addressed by this government and a future government," she told reporters after the speech.

Ms Giddings' address contained nothing as dramatic last year's announcement Tasmania would go it alone on same-sex marriage.

She promised to press on with the reform, after the state's upper house knocked it back last year, particularly now that returned prime minister Kevin Rudd was a supporter.

The premier received a standing ovation from the party faithful at the Burnie Arts and Function Centre, despite conceding her unpopular Labor-Green government could be dumped next March.

"When the family's under threat, we need to stand together," she said.

"Within nine months Tony Abbott could be prime minister and Will Hodgman could be premier."

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Brazil robbers murder crying 5yo boy

ROBBERS who attacked the home of a Bolivian couple before dawn in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo killed their only child "because he wouldn't stop crying", police officials say.

The mother identified the boy as five-year-old Bryan Yanarico Capcha and told police that six armed men had broken into their home.

The married couple, who came to the city at the beginning of the year to work in a clothing factory, gave the assailants the 4,500 reais ($A2,165) they had in the house, but the criminals wanted more money, the woman told police.

Police officials cited in the media said the boy, who was in his mother's arms, "would not stop crying," which irritated one of the assailants who shot him in the head.

The criminals fled immediately and the child was rushed to a nearby hospital, but died on the way.

In recent years Sao Paulo has become the destination of thousands of Bolivians looking for a better future, often in the textile industry.

Human rights organisations estimate the number of Bolivians living in Sao Paulo at some 100,000, most of them illegally and many the victims of slave-labour practices in the textile industry.

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More