Rogerson treated like a dog: lawyer

ROGER Rogerson's lawyer says the disgraced former policeman has been "treated like a dog" after being forcibly taken from his Sydney home for questioning over the alleged murder of university student Jamie Gao.

"We're back to the Gestapo days now," a handcuffed Rogerson said as he was escorted by detectives through a media scrum outside his home in Sydney's southwest.

He was taken to Bankstown police station where he was later joined by his lawyer Paul Kenny.

Detective Inspector Mick Sheehy and Detective Inspector Russell Oxford, who were unable to track down Rogerson in Queensland on Monday, also arrived at the police station.

Rogerson was meeting with Mr Kenny on Tuesday morning when police swooped, banging on his door and surrounding his Padstow Heights home.

Mr Kenny said he would be calling NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione to complain about his client's treatment.

"He was treated like a dog. I've never seen conduct like this by NSW police," Mr Kenny said.

"This is like something off a TV show, but a bad TV show."

Mr Kenny said Rogerson, 73, was just about to head off to a meeting with police when the officers arrived.

"Police starting smashing at the door and a number of them came into Mr Rogerson's office where we were having a legal conference to make arrangements to go into the city," he said.

"I was just about to call Superintendent (Luke) Moore to let him know we were on our way."

Mr Kenny said Rogerson would be defending any possible charges.

"It was just very distressing and disturbing ... just the way they spoke to Mr Rogerson, it's most unnecessary," he said.

But NSW Police said in a statement that they were not satisfied with Rogerson's arrangements and decided to arrest him.

Fellow former Sydney detective and self-titled whistleblower Glen McNamara was charged on Monday with Gao's murder.

Police allege Mr Gao was killed last Tuesday after a drug deal went wrong.

Mr Kenny said earlier on Tuesday said that Rogerson was shocked at being linked to the murder.

He also appealed for calm, telling journalists Rogerson wanted to avoid any media hysteria.

"We don't want any OJ Simpson situation," he said.

Rogerson is one of the most infamous policemen in NSW history.

The highly-decorated detective was dismissed from the force in 1986 before being convicted of conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

His police career was later depicted in the ABC drama series Blue Murder.

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Shot Melbourne man stays silent

A MELBOURNE man who was shot in the groin is refusing to co-operate with police attempting to find who tried to kill him.

Police believe the 31-year-old man may know who shot him at close range with a shotgun.

The Keysborough man was visiting a friend at her St Kilda East home when he was shot on the afternoon of April 14, with two men seen fleeing from the flat.

Detective Sergeant Brett Kahan said the victim won't co-operate with police, refusing to identify the gunman or say if he knew him.

"There's many reasons why victims don't co-operate. Certainly fear is one of those factors," Det Sgt Kahan told reporters on Tuesday.

"Our investigations tend to suggest that he was shot with the intention of being killed."

Police suspect the shooting may have been drug-related.

Det Sgt Kahan said the victim is known to police.

The 31-year-old has undergone several surgeries and has been released from hospital.

"Anyone shot at such close range with a shotgun will suffer injuries consistently right through his life," Det Sgt Kahan said.

The woman who lives at the home has said she doesn't know who shot her friend.

Police believe the two men got into a car after leaving the unit block.

They believe someone will have seen them and have released CCTV footage of the men and a face image of the gunman.

One of the men wore a light-coloured T-shirt, the other wore dark-coloured track pants and a jumper with large words on the back.

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Vic fire aircraft resources were stretched

AUTHORITIES knew coal mines could come under threat as Victoria faced the worst bushfire conditions since Black Saturday but firefighting aircraft were needed elsewhere in the state, an inquiry has heard.

Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley says firefighting aircraft requested to be in Gippsland for first light on February 9 did not arrive until late morning because they were needed in the state's west.

"We had to take into account the risk in the west of the state," Mr Lapsley told an inquiry into the Hazelwood coal mine fire on Monday.

"We did our darnedest to make sure the incident controller got what he needed and by reshuffling the state fleet we were able to do that.

"They weren't there until late morning or close to lunchtime."

The blaze in a disused section of the Hazelwood open-cut mine burned for 45 days and forced some residents to leave as it shrouded the nearby town of Morwell in smoke and ash for six weeks.

It started on Sunday February 9 when Victoria faced its worst bushfire conditions since the Black Saturday bushfires that killed 173 people in February 2009.

The cause is being examined as part of the inquiry but Mr Lapsley said it is believed to have been sparked by bushfires burning in the area.

Authorities knew on Saturday the Latrobe Valley mines could be affected by the fires, Mr Lapsley said.

He said authorities discussed on the Saturday morning that an existing bushfire, although contained, had potential.

"If it had bad conditions on the Sunday it had potential to move to Morwell and could impact on both the Morwell and Hazelwood mines," Mr Lapsley said.

The bushfire was under control until the Sunday, he said.

Counsel assisting the inquiry Melinda Richards asked if the Hazelwood fire was possibly caused by a hot spot within the mine.

Mr Lapsley said it was a possibility, but said it would have been an offence if mine operators GDF Suez had failed to report this.

"We've taken the assumption it has been spotting into the mine," Mr Lapsley said.

Mr Lapsley was also questioned about the use of water bombing at the mine after a 2005 review of a coal mine fire found the technique made that fire worse.

The inquiry heard there were four other fires at the mine in the past decade, all of which triggered reviews.

Mr Lapsley said different aircraft were used in this year's blaze.

He said what came out of the reviews around 2005/2006 was about rotary aircraft that had tanks.

"It's a different machine, it's a different helicopter, it's got different equipment," he said of aircraft used to fight the fire over February and March.

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Man burned in Sydney gas main fire

A MAN has serious burns and about 150 people have been moved to safety after a large fire broke out in a busy northern Sydney shopping plaza.

The fire started after a gas main caught alight on Monday afternoon at the front of a shop in Lane Cove, Ian Krimmer from NSW Fire and Rescue said.

A man in his early 20s suffered serious burns to his lower body and was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital, an ambulance spokesman told AAP.

About 150 people were moved out of surrounding shops and offices amid concerns the fire could spread to the adjoining buildings.

As the gas was being shut off, six fire crews were protecting buildings but not trying to extinguish the flames, saying it was safer to allow the gas to burn.

Longueville Road remained closed to all traffic.

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We won't compromise on co-payment: Hockey

Treasurer Joe Hockey has all but ruled out compromise on a GP co-payment. Source: AAP

TREASURER Joe Hockey has all but ruled out compromise on a GP co-payment, as Labor finally confirmed it would not block the government's deficit levy for the rich.

A bullish Mr Hockey on Sunday said the government would be willing to negotiate with senators on the budget, but warned against outright opposition to every measure.

"If the immediate answer of everyone in the Senate is no, then I think the Australian people have a low, low tolerance for that," he told Sky News on Sunday.

Labor, the Greens and cross-benchers have said they will oppose many of the unpopular changes in Mr Hockey's first budget, including the $7 Medicare co-payment.

But Mr Hockey said he did not think the government should compromise on the payment, $5 of which will go into a new medical research future fund.

"If the independents and the Labor party want to have a medical research future fund, there has to be a co-payment," Mr Hockey said.

"You cannot have both."

Health Minister Peter Dutton also signalled an unwillingness to negotiate on the $7 co-payment.

"As people realise that this package really is about strengthening Medicare ... I think that will bring pressure to bear on the senators," he told the Ten Network.

"Some people advocated that we get rid of bulk billing altogether, but we haven't."

Labor Senate leader Penny Wong revealed her party would not stand in the way of the proposed deficit levy for those earning more than $180,000, after weeks of hinting it may support the new tax.

However, the opposition was "not for moving" on changes to pensions and Medicare, or cuts to health and education funding, she said.

Senator Wong ruled out negotiation on plans for university deregulation, which will allow them to charge higher student fees.

Labor's opposition to the Medicare co-payment was also non-negotiable, she said.

"If Tony Abbott wants to do that he's going to have to come through us in the Senate," she told ABC Television.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said he won't surrender his government's budget commitments to the Senate, and has hinted a double dissolution election isn't out of the question if negotiations fail.

But Greens leader Christine Milne labelled Mr Abbott untrustworthy and incapable of negotiating with the senators.

Mr Abbott was leading a "lame duck government", she said.

The prime minister said the government's tough budget was "absolutely necessary" to rein in the country's debt and deficit.

"We need to take action now or an even greater burden will fall on our kids' generation," Mr Abbott said in a brief statement.

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New prison unit for dangerous Vic crims

THE Victorian government will build a maximum security prison wing to house a growing number of underworld figures, bikies and violent offenders.

The new unit of 40 cells will be built adjacent to Barwon Prison, near Geelong.

A spokesman from Corrections Victoria said the wing was needed to house the state's growing prisoner population.

"It will build on the prison system's capacity to manage an increasingly complex prisoner population, including outlaw motorcycle gang members, underworld figures and violent prisoners," he told AAP.

The Banksia Unit - used to house protected prisoners - will also be upgraded, he said.

The spokesman said the government was seeking expressions of interest from contractors to build the unit, which is expected to be built by the middle of 2016.

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US, EU report progress in TTIP trade talks

US and EU trade representatives have had a "productive" fifth round of talks, but hard work lies ahead, US trade representative Michael Froman says.

"We've moved from discussing a conceptual framework to defining specific ideas for addressing the majority of the negotiating areas," Froman said as the talks ended.

He said there was "a lot of work ahead" but "steady progress" was being made and there was now "a firm understanding of the key issues that need to be resolved".

Froman's chief negotiator in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), Dan Mullaney, called the week's talks "challenging".

Completing the world's largest free trade agreement "will require a lot of creativity and a lot of persistence," he told reporters.

Ignacio Garcia-Bercero, chief negotiator for the European Union, underlined that the overall goal was "highly ambitious" but that progress had been made through "intensive" discussions this week on labour, environment and sustainable development issues.

The US and European Union aim to expand what is already the world's biggest trade relationship by dismantling regulatory barriers that force companies to produce different products for the US and European markets.

The next round of talks is slated for July, most likely in Europe.

The US and EU say the deal would allow companies to save millions of dollars and create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

The toughest areas of dispute are financial regulation, which the US does not want to include in the deal, and a special extrajudicial mechanism to settle investor-state disputes, which has met growing opposition from European civic groups and the German government.

Garcia-Bercero sought to reassure that the EU "in no way" intended to "weaken financial services regulations ... or interfere with work being done".

US financial officials have repeatedly pushed the EU to tighten its banking regulations, in light of the rolling bailouts that undermined economic growth across Europe in recent years.

Garcia-Bercero said there had been "very intensive discussions" over allowing businesses on both sides of the Atlantic to bid on public procurement offers, which are currently largely restricted to domestic bidders.

European businesses are keen on having access not only to US federal projects, but those of the individual states, which are not under federal control.

The United States likewise wants US firms to be able to bid on government contracts across the EU and is "looking for opportunities to expand market access," Mullaney said.

The prospect that Europe's strict food safety rules could be watered down through US standards has driven much of the public interest in the talks, especially during ongoing European Parliament elections.

Garcia-Bercero repeated past EU assurances that hormone treated beef "has to be prohibited under European law".

He said genetically modified crops could be a different issue, with more than 50 "GMOs" having been authorised in Europe.

The US wants Europe to accept World Trade Organisation obligations that allow trade in food that has been approved through scientific review and risk assessment, Mullaney said.

So-called bleached chicken sold in the US is another hot issue.

Mullaney said "there is no such thing as bleached chicken" and, when pressed by a reporter, indicated he saw no problem.

"I have very catholic tastes. I will eat almost anything," Mullaney quipped.

"The United States has no intention of forcing Europeans to eat anything a European does not want to eat."

Garcia-Bercero was optimistic about finding common ground in regulations of most sectors, saying there had been a "very good" discussion, though no point of agreement had been reached.

"We are progressively reaching a better common understanding on these issues," he said.

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Budget will pass eventually: PM

Tony Abbott says he won't compromise on his budget as pressure mounts from all sides. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott says he won't surrender his budget in the face of pressure to compromise over its most unpopular measures.

Mr Abbott is confident the coalition's first budget will pass the Senate because the alternative would be a double dissolution election.

Senior government ministers have signalled compromising on key budget reforms such as higher education interest rates and the GP co-payment, amidst a fierce public backlash and a hostile Senate.

Continuing the budget sell on Saturday, Mr Abbott said his team "absolutely" understood the "iron necessity" of sticking with difficult and unpopular budget measures.

"We are not going to surrender our budget commitments," Mr Abbott told reporters in Adelaide.

But negotiations were inevitable.

"You have got to negotiate your legislation through the parliament," he said.

Mr Abbott was confident that the government would get the budget through the Senate in the end, because the alternative would be a double dissolution election.

"Because let's face it, there have been many governments over many years that have had to negotiate budgets through the Senate.

"The only time that wasn't successfully done ... that was a different bill in 1975."

Last week, Mr Abbott appeared to back away from a threat to hold a double dissolution election after earlier signalling incoming Senate cross-benchers would be unlikely to keep their seats if there was a new election.

Labor, the Greens and Palmer United Party have vowed to block changes such as the Medicare co-payment and pension cuts.

Education Minister Christopher Pyne, who has faced a slew of student protests this week over university deregulation measures, has signalled compromising on some reforms.

He said it was in recognition the government did not have a majority in the upper house.

"We will of course seek to consult and negotiate with the minor parties and the crossbenches to ensure these important reforms are delivered," Mr Pyne said in a statement to AAP.

The industry is also being consulted to "refine the details" of the changes, with two higher education stakeholder working groups providing feedback.

Opposition finance spokesman Tony Burke said the government's willingness to compromise showed it was in disarray and its budget unravelling.

If any measures change in the parliamentary process, Labor will apply the same "tests" to vote them down in the way it's opposing changes affecting pensioners, university students, Medicare, and fuel and cost-of-living prices.

"If they want to keep changing the budget because they're in disarray and chaos, we will keep applying the same principles," Mr Burke told reporters in Sydney.

Meanwhile, the Australian Medical Association is set to hold urgent talks with Health Minister Peter Dutton to seek a compromise on all medical co-payments flagged in the budget.

A vote was passed at the group's national conference on Saturday to push to have the payment targeted at higher-income earners.

The group is concerned co-payments will hit vulnerable groups hard and add pressure on hospitals.

"The health minister has made it clear he wants to engage with the profession about the future of the health system," president Steve Hambleton said in a statement.

"The AMA is well-positioned to help the government design a fairer and more equitable model."

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New app to help bring missing kids home

A NEW smartphone app will help the parents and guardians of Australian children who go missing.

The free Police Child ID app, for iPhone and Android, allows parents to store photos and vital information about their children and is designed to help authorities.

Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Andrew Colvin said more than 17,500 children were reported missing each year - two young people disappeared every hour of every day.

He said the disappearance of children greatly affected families and investigators alike, and urged parents to download the app, which also features tips on keeping kids safe.

"What the police do in that first 12 to 24 hours is fundamentally critical to us," Mr Colvin said at an International Missing Children's Day event in Melbourne on Friday.

"If we have accurate, good information straight away - photographs, dates of birth, habits of these children, friends, places they like to frequent - that gives police a good spot to start their investigation."

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Govt to work on asylum backlog from July

The federal government plans to introduce new laws to speed up the asylum seeker decision process. Source: AAP

THE government will wait until July before trying to tackle the huge backlog of asylum seeker claims, the immigration minister says.

Labor and the Greens were blocking the measures to allow the processing to begin, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said.

About 23,000 asylum seekers live in Australia on bridging visas and await decisions on their claims.

But from July 1 when the Senate changes, Mr Morrison will introduce a bill to parliament to "triage the case load".

Asked about details of what he would like to introduce, Mr Morrison said it was important to have a "fair" and "definitive" process.

"It's having a process which is able to deal with the different types of claims, those which require greater interrogation, those which are more simple claims," he said.

After the Senate change, the government will negotiate the passage of the laws with eight crossbenchers, including three senators from Clive Palmer's Palmer United Party, rather than the Greens, who currently hold the balance of power.

"In the Senate, the Labor Party and the Greens have been denying the government's mandate on temporary protection visas," he told reporters in Sydney.

"If it weren't for Labor and the Greens, (those found to be refugees) would already have work rights ... and they would be living in the community.

"We'll await the outcomes of the sittings in the new Senate before setting our process and ensuring we can start to move through that backlog."

Temporary protection visas lasting up to three years and as short as a few months can be issued.

"That's at the discretion of the officers who are handling those cases," he said.

The government is also considering changes to the Refugee Review Tribunal, which reviews unsuccessful asylum seeker claims, to allow the government to make its own case on appeals and challenge any new information introduced by claimants.

The changes would be detrimental to refugees' safety, Australian Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

"It's all about sending as many refugees back into harm's way as possible," she said.

Another 10 asylum seekers on Nauru have been granted refugee status.

Two refugee families have initially moved to the Anibare Lodge while the four single men would live elsewhere, the Nauru government said in a statement.

They will all eventually move to permanent accommodation.

A further 11 asylum seekers had their claims refused.

The Nauru government has set up a buddy system to build friendships between refugees and the locals.

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