Found! Kidnapped 82-year-old cocky

AN 82-year-old cockatoo stolen from Victoria's Phillip Island has been found in a Sydney backyard.

The sulphur-crested cockatoo, named Robbo, had been a well-loved resident of Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit Visitors Garden for more than 40 years before he was stolen about six weeks ago, Andrew Bowring of the visitor's centre told AAP.

Police said the elderly cocky was found in a cage in the backyard of a Marrickville home during a search on Monday.

"Investigations revealed that the cockatoo was possibly being held at a home in Sydney's inner west," police said in a statement.

"Robbo the cockatoo was located in the rear yard of the property in a large cage during the search."

He was kidnapped from the garden on May 18.

Mr Bowring said Robbo had been missed and the visitor's centre was thrilled to be getting the bird back.

"He's been here for years and years and years," he said.

"He's well known with a lot of the regulars here, including our campers for some of our major events."

Although Robbo was old at 82, sulphur-crested cockatoos are known to live to 120.

The cocky is being checked by an RSPCA vet before being returned to his home.

12.22 | 0 komentar | Read More

New moon spotted circling Neptune

A TINY new moon has been spotted circling Neptune - the 14th known to be orbiting the faraway planet, the US space agency says.

The moon is the smallest ever glimpsed around Neptune and measures just about 19 kilometres across, based on observations from the Hubble Space telescope, NASA said on Monday.

Neptune is the farthest planet from the Sun, and NASA said the moon, named S/2004 N1, is about 100 million times fainter than the dimmest star that can be seen with the naked eye.

Astronomers found the moon by tracking a white dot that appeared repeatedly in more than 150 photos taken by Hubble from 2004 to 2009.

Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, found the moon on July 1 while studying the faint arcs around Neptune, NASA said.

"The moons and arcs orbit very quickly, so we had to devise a way to follow their motion in order to bring out the details of the system," he said.

"It's the same reason a sports photographer tracks a running athlete - the athlete stays in focus, but the background blurs."

The moon is believed to circle Neptune once every 23 hours.

12.22 | 0 komentar | Read More

Juice withdrawn as senator complains

THE Berri fruit juice company has withdrawn an imported product from sale amid criticism from independent Senator Nick Xenophon.

Berri Ltd on Monday said its Berri Truly juice, produced in Mexico, had been withdrawn because it had not met its performance benchmarks.

The company's action came on the same day Senator Xenophon launched an attack on the company for misleading customers.

He said the fact the juice was a product of Mexico was only in small print on the pack which also included the Berri logo and the words "since 1943".

South Australian Liberal MP Tim Whetstone also criticised the company for deceiving consumers and misrepresenting Australian growers.

"The whole product comes from Mexico with not one molecule of Australian content," Mr Whetstone said.

The two MPs said they planned to file complaints with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and SA Consumer Affairs arguing that the packaging would lead consumers to assume that the product contained Australian juice.

Berri said Berri Truly was the only one of its products not produced in Australia.

It said the juice complied with country of origin labelling laws and Australian food standards and was regularly monitored and tested for quality.

"We do not apologise for investing in innovation to grow the juice category in Australia," the company said in a statement.

"In the case of Berri Truly, the product required technology not available in Australia."

Senator Xenophon said the product should not have been sold in Australia in the first place.

"People assume Berri uses fruit that's grown in Berri or in South Australia at the very least, not in Mexico," he said.

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Asiana may sue over erroneous TV report

ASIANA Airlines says it is is considering legal action over a report on a San Francisco television station that used bogus and racially offensive names for four pilots on its plane that crashed earlier this month.

An anchor for KTVU-TV read the names on the air on Friday and then apologised after a break.

The report was accompanied by a graphic with the phoney names listed alongside a photo of the burned out plane. Video of the report has spread widely across the internet since it was broadcast.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has also apologised, saying a summer intern erroneously confirmed the names of the flight crew.

An Asiana statement on Sunday said it's mulling legal measures against both KTVU-TV and the NTSB because the report "badly damaged" the reputation of the airline and its pilots.

It didn't say what legal measures it was considering.

Neither the station nor the NTSB commented on where the names originated.

The four pilots, who underwent questioning by a US and South Korean joint investigation team while in the US, returned to South Korea on Saturday.

South Korean officials plan to conduct separate interviews with them, South Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on Sunday.

Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashed at San Francisco International Airport on July 6, killing three and injuring dozens.

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

One dead in rally car crash in Qld

ONE person is dead and another has been seriously injured in an accident at a rally car competition in Queensland.

Police said a car involved in the International Rally of Queensland rolled about 11am (AEST) in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

Both victims are believed to be men.

Ambulance officers said one person was pronounced dead at the scene, while the second, a 40-year-old man, was airlifted to hospital with chest and spinal injuries.

Rally organisers say they are preparing a statement.

The incident occurred on a road near state forest close to Imbil, south of Gympie.

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Greens to tax big business to fund reforms

TAXES for mining companies, millionaires and banks would be increased to fund an extra $43 billion in social spending proposed by the Australian Greens.

Under the Robin Hood-style policy, the money would be used to boost payments to the unemployed and single parents, while nearly $6 billion more would be spent on education.

Launching the party's election platform on Sunday, Greens leader Christine Milne said the vision was not just about the next three years, but about the next 50 to 100 years.

As policy launches go, the Greens' was definitely a no-frills one.

A few dozen party faithful crammed into a small room in Melbourne's Docklands where Senator Milne and deputy leader Adam Bandt stood in front of a simple backdrop and announced a four-step plan to raise $42.7 billion.

The Greens plan to raise an extra $21.8 billion by increasing the mining tax and $12 billion by abolishing tax breaks for the fossil fuel industry.

A levy on banks would raise $8.4 billion, while increasing the marginal tax rate on incomes over $1 million to 50 per cent would raise $500 million.

The money would fund a $50 per week increase in unemployment payments and the Youth Allowance and a $40 a week increase for single parents.

Cuts to university funding would be reversed and an extra $2 billion would be spent on school funding.

The policies have been costed by the independent Parliamentary Budget Office, the Greens say.

Senator Milne said only the Greens had a sustainable plan for the future.

"We want to see an environment that can sustain us, a society that cares for us and an economy that responds to the major challenges of this century, because the Greens are not just about the next three years, we are about the next 50 to 100 years," she said.

Mr Bandt said the Greens would stand up to the big miners and big banks, which were the world's most profitable.

"We have got a clear choice at this election: we can either go down the road of keeping cutting government services as the old parties want to do or to have guts and to stand up and raise the revenue that this country needs," he said.

The Australian Education Union welcomed the Greens' commitment to public education and their strong advocacy for the Gonski reforms.

Liberal senator Eric Abetz said the Greens were simply repackaging old policies with some costings that were not comprehensive.

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

School talks will continue with Qld, Vic

Campbell Newman (R) praised Kevin Rudd for listening to the state's concerns over education reforms. Source: AAP

THE federal government will keep negotiating on school funding reforms with Queensland and Victoria beyond the Sunday deadline set by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

Parliamentary secretary for schools Kelvin Thomson says there is "considerable momentum" in negotiations for the $14.5 billion national schools funding plan.

"I'm encouraged by the fact that the negotiations are continuing," he told Sky News, adding that statements by the Queensland and Victorian premiers and education ministers were also encouraging.

On Friday Queensland premier Campbell Newman praised Mr Rudd for finally listening to the state's concerns and said he wanted to achieve a deal.

He and federal Education Minister Bill Shorten indicated they would negotiate for another week or two, beyond the Sunday sign-up deadline.

Victoria has also asked for longer to reach a deal.

The federal government's position is that as long as talks continue to be positive and constructive, it is happy to give the states a bit longer to work out the details.

But things aren't going as well with the other two hold-outs - Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

So far only NSW, the ACT, South Australia and Tasmania have come on board for the better schools plan, based on the Gonski panel recommendations.

Opposition education spokesman Christopher Pyne said the government's planned national funding model was now in complete disarray.

"Far from being close to being landed, the government's program is in complete disarray and I think they are a long way from securing it," he told Sky News.

He says his party would keep the new model if an "overwhelming majority" of states sign up, otherwise it would extend current arrangements.

13.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tassie shooting was targeted: police

THE shooting death of a man outside a northern Tasmanian hotel was targeted, police say.

The man in his 40s was shot dead outside the Marrawah Hotel just after midnight (AEST) on Saturday.

"Investigations to date suggest this is not a random act - and that it was a targeted act," police said in a statement.

"We are following a number of lines of inquiry. We have deployed significant resources to the incident and are seeking assistance from the public."

Police have urged anyone with information relating to people acting suspiciously, vehicles moving in the area at the time, hitchhikers or people walking along the road to contact them.

They will continue to have resources in the area and have set up a command post at the scene.

"We encourage the public to be alert to what is going on around them, but not alarmed - but remember that any information could prove vital and don't hesitate to pass it on to us," a police statement said.

The man's next of kin have been notified, but police are not releasing his details at this stage.

Marrawah is a small town of about 400 people in Tasmania's northwest and is approximately 300km from Launceston.

13.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Labor's Bennelong candidate to be sacked

LABOR'S candidate for Bennelong is expected to be sacked before he gives evidence at the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption hearing next week.

The NSW party branch has recommended that Jeff Salvestro-Martin, a councillor for Ryde Council, be stood down as the prime minister scrambles to clean up NSW Labor before the federal election.

"The party officers met this morning and recommended to the national executive that Mr Salvestro-Martin's endorsement as the Labor candidate for the federal seat of Bennelong be withdrawn on the basis of media reports in relation to the ICAC investigation into Ryde council matters," an ALP spokesman told AAP on Friday.

The ALP national executive is expected to meet over the weekend to adopt the recommendation.

Mr Salvestro-Martin is one of six City of Ryde councillors who has been ordered to appear at the inquiry next week to face allegations that they received undisclosed political donations in the form of election advertising in the lead up to the September 2012 local government elections, ICAC announced on Friday.

He will appear at the ICAC hearing in Sydney from Monday alongside Ryde mayor Ivan Petch and councillors Victor Tagg, Terry Perram, Michael Butterworth and Justin Li.

Mr Petch allegedly tried to blackmail former general manager John Neish, and allegedly failed to disclose financial relationships and potential conflicts of interest while serving as a City of Ryde councillor.

The Commission is also investigating whether a corrupt offer was made to City of Ryde Councillor Bill Pickering by an employee of a local newspaper, The Weekly Times, to persuade Cr Pickering to support a development application.

Fairfax on Friday reported that Mr Salvestro-Martin had tried to funnel Ryde Council's advertising budget to the paper as a reward for giving him favourable political coverage and a regular column called "Just Ask Jeff".

He is currently listed as the 13th witness to give evidence from Monday, but an ICAC spokeswoman said it was not known when exactly he would appear.

Bennelong, which former prime minister John Howard lost to Labor's Maxine McKew in 2007, is held by Liberal John Alexander on a margin of 3.1 per cent.

NSW Opposition leader John Robertson later said it was his understanding that the ALP's federal office had decided to dump Mr Salvestro-Martin.

"I understand that that's the decision that's been taken by the federal office and that's a matter in the end for the prime minister," he told reporters in Sydney on Friday.

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Quigley can be proud of NBN role: govt

The government has thanked retiring NBN Co boss Mike Quigley for his work in developing the network. Source: AAP

THE federal government has thanked retiring NBN Co chief executive Mike Quigley for his instrumental work in developing the broadband network.

Mr Quigley on Friday said he would retire from corporate life after heading the rollout of the National Broadband Network for four years.

In a joint statement, Broadband Minister Anthony Albanese and Finance Minister Penny Wong said as NBN Co's first employee, Mr Quigley had overseen the network's development from the beginning.

They said he intuitively understood what all infrastructure builders know: "You do it once and you do it right".

"Mr Quigley was instrumental in negotiating the deal with Telstra which has paved the way for the NBN rollout," the statement said.

"Over the past four years, Mr Quigley has also successfully managed the switching on of fibre, fixed wireless and satellite connections right across the country, as NBN Co has established the full scale rollout of the National Broadband Network."

Opposition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull responded to the news on Twitter.

"Revolving doors at NBN Co just as there are in the Labor caucus," he wrote.

"How can project be a success when CEO gets fired?"

Parliamentary secretary for broadband Ed Husic told reporters in Darwin Mr Quigley would make a personal statement later in the day.

"I think we can all salute a great public servant in the form of Mike Quigley ... and thank him for what he did to contribute to improving the rollout of this fantastic technology which will transform our economy and communities," Mr Husic said.

Asked whether the NBN boss was a marked man under a coalition government, Mr Husic said: "It's a pity the conservatives don't recognise talent in people like Mike Quigley and the inherent benefit that the NBN rollout will have for the country."

Later, Mr Turnbull acknowledged the federal opposition had criticised Mr Quigley's performance.

"Mr Quigley has not been pushed out because he's been doing a good job. He's been pushed out of this company because it has not succeeded to meet its targets," Mr Turnbull said in Darwin.

"We have been very critical of Mr Quigley."

Mr Turnbull also pointed to the direction of NBN Co under company chairman Siobhan McKenna.

"(She) has no experience in the telecom sector. She's never built a network or run a network. She's a management consultant. So there's real questions about her capacity to chair this business," he said.

Mr Quigley's retirement was "a huge setback" for the NBN rollout and left the project leaderless, Mr Turnbull said.

Mr Albanese later admitted Mr Quigley's time as CEO wasn't always smooth sailing.

"No one does everything perfectly in terms of the creation of a major infrastructure project," he told reporters in Sydney.

But he said it was absurd to suggest the government had pushed Mr Quigley out or had a hand in ousting him.

He said it would be up to the NBN board to decide on their new CEO, but added he couldn't comment whether this would be before the federal election.

12.21 | 0 komentar | Read More