Reasonable chance of finding plane: RAAF

Three planes have left Perth to continue the search for a missing Malaysia Airlines plane. Source: AAP

LONG-RANGE aircraft have joined the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, boosting confidence that suspected debris from MH370 will be found.

The large debris that was captured on satellite imagery on March 16 and publicly revealed on Thursday after being analysed is the most credible lead so far in the hunt for the missing plane.

While it is yet to be spotted by search aircraft, the HMAS Success is due to arrive at the search area on Saturday afternoon.

Acting Prime Minister Warren Truss told a large international media contingent at the Royal Australian Air Force Pearce air base north of Perth, from where the search is being coordinated, that the Australian effort has so far covered some 500,000 square kilometres.

Mr Truss said there had already been 15 sorties from the base, mainly Australian and New Zealand Orion aircraft.

Two longer range aircraft being deployed this weekend had intercontinental capability and would be able to search the area for five hours, compared to the 2-3 hours that military aircraft had available over the past two days, he said.

Aircraft from China will arrive at Pearce later on Saturday and join the search on Sunday, when Japanese aircraft will land at the base.

They will become involved on Monday.

Several vessels from around the world are also en route to assist.

No aircraft or vessels have been sent from Malaysia to help with the Indian Ocean search, but it has sent military personnel to Pearce to act as liaison officers.

"They have other search areas where they are concentrating their efforts, in their own waters and nearby," Mr Truss said.

He said Malaysian authorities were being contacted every few hours

The search area has been adjusted to account for considerable drift.

Weather conditions had much improved and would remain so for the foreseeable future, Mr Truss said.

"If there's something there to be found, I'm confident that this search effort will locate it," he said.

RAAF group captain Craig Heap was cautiously optimistic.

"There's a reasonable chance of finding something," Captain Heap said.

At a press conference in Papua New Guinea, Prime Minister Tony Abbott described the lead as "tenuous", while Mr Truss conceded the debris may be a shipping container.

He said the search would continue as long as there was hope.

"It is important from the perspective of those who have families, whose whereabouts are unknown ... and indeed for the future of the aviation industry, that we do whatever we can to firstly confirm whether or not the sightings as a result of the satellite imagery are indeed connected in any way with the Malaysia Airlines flight," Mr Truss said.

"And then if so, what can be recovered so we can learn more about what has happened on this flight and learn any lessons that are necessary to make sure this doesn't happen again." Australian authorities would their utmost to keep the public informed, he said.

"These families .... they're anxious for information," Mr Truss said.

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Qld police search garbage dump for body

A SEARCH is underway at a Queensland landfill site for the remains of a diamond miner who vanished a month ago.

David Hanson, 71, was supposed to catch a flight to Tanzania on February 22 but never made it to the airport.

Police believe his body and belongings were dumped in a bin south of Brisbane and on Saturday began searching garbage at a waste transfer station.

Fifty-two State Emergency Service volunteers began sifting through 5000 tonnes of compacted waste at the Browns Plains Waste and Recycling Facility using rakes and garden forks on Saturday.

Police won't speculate on a motive.

They say Mr Hanson was jailed for drug trafficking in the United States two decades ago and was not a particularly wealthy man.

Detective Superintendent David Hutchinson said police had set aside a month for the search, which would be a slow and methodical process.

"There's been no proof of life in relation to Mr Hanson since the 22nd of February," he said.

"We always hope for the best and we hope that there's been a reason why he's gone away ... but the evidence that we have would suggest otherwise."

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Pakistan crash kills at least 25

AT least 25 people have been killed and 30 others injured in a multi-vehicle collision involving two trucks and two passenger buses in Pakistan's southwest.

Senior officer Ahmed Nawaz says the accident happened early on Saturday near the town of Gadani, when a bus bound for the port city of Karachi collided head-on with a truck.

Nawaz says the second bus and truck then piled onto the two vehicles and all caught fire, mainly because the buses were also smuggling Iranian petrol- and diesel-filled canisters.

He says most of the victims were severely burned and the death toll may rise.

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Cops firing blanks in sex exemption debate

Police in Hawaii may lose a law that allows them to have sex with prostitutes while on the job. Source: AAP

POLICE in Hawaii are facing the prospect of losing an exemption that allows them to have sex with prostitutes while on the job.

The state's Senate Judicial Committee chairman, Clayton Hee, has announced plans to get rid of the exemption in Hawaii's prostitution law that permits police to have sex, so long as it's part of an investigation.

His announcement at a committee hearing this week followed expressions of outrage after police had lobbied to keep the exemption for the so-called morals officers who are charged with the responsibility of investigating prostitution.

"To condone police officers' sexual penetration in making arrests is simply nonsensical to me," Hee said.

State legislators have been working to revamp Hawaii's decades-old law against prostitution. They toughened penalties against pimps and those who use prostitutes, and they also originally proposed scrapping the sex exemption for officers on duty.

But Honolulu police said last month that they needed the legal protection to catch lawbreakers in the act. Otherwise, they argued, prostitutes would insist on sex to identify undercover officers.

The legislation was then amended to restore the protection and the revised proposal passed the House and is now before the Senate.

While police say the exemption is necessary, Myles Breiner, a former Honolulu prosecutor who now works as a defence lawyer, testified that some of his clients who are prostitutes often complained to him that police had sex with them before making an arrest.

"How do we expect people to follow the law when the police engage in criminal conduct," Breiner asked.

Police testified in writing and in person to the House Judiciary Committee in February that keeping the exemption protected undercover officers from being found out. They said internal department protocols protected citizens against abuses.

Law enforcement experts say there's never any need to have sex with a prostitute to make an arrest, because the agreement to exchange money for sex is sufficient evidence of a crime.

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Principal says school trusted staff

A FORMER Adelaide principal who hired a pedophile says he did not lie but made a mistake when he initially said he had done a police check on the bus driver.

Claude Hamam also said the school was extremely vigilant about supervision, but he had not known children went to the woodwork shed at lunchtime to see the driver, Brian Perkins.

"At the time we had an element of trust that we had for all the staff there," he told the royal commission into sex abuse on Friday.

It is investigating St Ann's Special School and Perkins who sexually abused intellectually disabled children between 1986 and 1991.

Mr Hamam hired Perkins, who had three child abuse convictions, without doing a police check, could not recall if he verified his references, and interviewed him alone which breached catholic school policy.

He told the commission he deeply regretted telling the Catholic Education Office (CEO) in 2001 that he had carried out the check, before revealing in 2003 that he had not done so.

"It is something I have got to carry for the rest of my life," he said.

It had been a mistake and an error of judgment, so he was shocked and devastated to be accused of lying and to be dismissed on the grounds of not being a fit and proper person.

Mr Hamam agreed that as Perkins took on more school activities, he had greater opportunities to be alone with children but said "we were extremely vigilant".

Perkins did volunteer respite care of students on weekends and helped out in the woodwork shed.

Mr Hamam said he did not recall a mother telling him that Perkins had placed her daughter on his knee in the shed and tried to feel her breast.

If that happened, he said he would have informed police.

He did recall a teacher raising concerns about Perkins bringing another man - whom the commission heard was now a convicted pedophile - onto the school premises.

"She felt perhaps he was a little creepy and she didn't like the look of this person," Mr Hamam said.

He told the man he did not want him at the school, but he could not recall if he brought up the incident with Perkins or if it gave him concern about the driver.

He said he first found out about the abuse claims when police contacted him in 1991.

Mr Hamam said he told Michael Critchley, who worked in the CEO's resources section, and expected him to take the case further.

He denied only approaching Mr Critchley for help in terminating Perkins' employment, saying "I thought it was a much more serious matter than looking at an industrial issue".

He did not tell parents their children may have been abused as police told him to keep the matter confidential so as not to compromise their investigation.

He did not raise the allegations with the Archbishop or at school board meetings.

Mr Critchley testified that he did not inform anyone in the CEO of his conversation with Mr Hamam.

"I can't recall why I didn't do it," he said, but agreed that in retrospect he should have.

Perkins, jailed for 10 years in 2003 after pleading guilty to sex offences, died in prison in 2009.

The hearing is continuing.

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Australia's real Pacific solution

Guards at Australia's detention centre on Manus island are ordered to carry hooked knives. Source: AAP

GUARDS at Australia's detention centre on Manus island are ordered to carry hooked knives.

The knives are used to cut ropes when asylum seekers try to hang themselves.

This is the harsh reality of Australia's so-called Pacific Solution.

Here's another reality - in one sleeping area in Foxtrot compound 122 men sleep in a steaming hot, darkened room with no air-conditioning.

Large, industrial fans are spaced unevenly between the beds, leaving little room for people to move.

And another reality: these are men - 1296 of them - living with the dark memories of the February 17 riot that claimed the life of 23-year-old Iranian man Reza Berati.

Broken window panes in the dining hall at Oscar compound, missing windows in Mike compound, bullet holes in a large white container exposing - like wounds - the rusted brown interior.

"They hit him and he fell from here and they hit him till he died," one asylum seeker said of Berati, pointing to a stairwell in Mike compound.

"They hit him in the head until he died." Guards and immigration officials quickly moved us on.

On Friday, a select group of media organisations including AAP was permitted rare access to the centre by court order as part of a Papua New Guinea human rights inquiry into the treatment of asylum seekers.

We were not allowed to interview staff or detainees.

Men in Delta, Foxtrot and Oscar compounds held pictures of Berati.

"Please report this, we want freedom," shouted one man, who gripped tightly onto the shoulder of this journalist.

"Please, we can't sleep. We are scared all the time."

Another became visibly upset. "Six months, seven months, eight months like this here," he said.

"We have no (running) water, no safety."

In Delta compound, media were shown filthy toilets with no running water, while in another compound there were broken showers.

This part of the facility is constructed on the remains of the old Manus Island detention centre, built so the Howard government could implement the first instalment of the Pacific Solution.

Tightly packed shipping containers in rows, each one sleeping four or five men.

Facing each other, the walkway between them is shielded from the heavy and frequent Manus rains by a metal roof.

Peering down, you can barely make out the faces of the men in the dark.

There are vast differences in the quality of the compounds.

While Delta and Foxtrot compounds are extremely run down, others are not.

Mike compound is made up of blazing white shipping containers stacked on top of each other. Each room sleeps four men.

In Oscar compound - made up of a dining hall and large marquee sleeping halls for up to 50 men - showers were broken.

In one of these sleeping halls the words, "you'll never find a rainbow if you keep looking down", are scrawled on a wall above one of the bunk beds.

The beds are spaced about a foot apart.

The court party was informed there are fewer tables in the dining halls since the riot, with none in one compound.

Next to Oscar compound, behind a large corrugated iron fence, is the mental health sleeping quarters.

Inside, a bearded man clutches his violently shaking right hand to his chest.

"I am from Syria, please I want freedom," he said.

Next to Mike compound is "the green zone" where asylum seekers can make calls to their families at night.

But there's nothing safe about it.

An asylum seeker points out a bullet hole in a metal support beam - another memory of February 17.

As the team of court officials and media walks between Oscar and Delta compounds, men hang against the fences and stare at us silently.

One group of about eight men stand with their faces pressed against the rusted metal.

To their right: a sign ordering guards to carry the hooked knives.

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Nats will do better at re-run poll: Joyce

THE Nationals will improve their performance at the re-run West Australian Senate election, Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce says.

The party - which began in the west - missed out on a seat at the September poll because of preference deals wrangled by minor parties including the Australian Sports Party.

Shane Van Styn and Colin de Grussa are running again at the April 5 election, but former AFL star David Wirrapanda has decided he won't.

"We had David Wirrapanda and he did a good job - we got a better vote than one of the senators that got in, it's just that our preference flow wasn't right but this time, the preference flow is better for us," Mr Joyce told Fairfax radio on Friday.

"We've got a better position (on the ballot paper) in box B.

"There was an overwhelming desire for change at the last election and I suppose the National party, because they stand on their own, got run over a bit in it.

"But this election is different."

Mr Joyce said the party's policy platform was centred on abolishing the carbon tax, progressing trade agreements and more infrastructure in WA.

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No sweet tooth for Australian cake champ

FOR an award-winning cake decorator who spends Monday to Friday surrounded by the temptations of her sugary creations, Jacquie Goldstaiz's palate is a blessing in disguise.

"I never bake for me. I just really love fresh fruit and vegetables," she said.

"The only time I really taste cake is to make sure it's the right flavour or it's not too dry."

Ms Goldstaiz's artistic flair earned her the championship title and a $2000 prize at the Australian Cake Decorating Championships in Sydney on Friday.

The Gold Coast woman's marzipan fruit creation took two months to make.

While the competition version was not edible, Ms Goldstaiz estimates a real cake would take two weeks to create and would weigh about 10 kilograms.

Throughout her five-year career, Ms Goldstaiz has created cakes in the shape of a Louis Vuitton bag, a Native American head and a diving helmet.

But somehow the former florist manages not to overindulge.

"To me, it's an art," she said.

"I never look at it as a cake and never look at it as something to eat."

Her winning confection will return to Queensland to take prime position in her cake-decorating shop.

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Bungling Labor gets Sinodinos' scalp

Despite bungling its plan to bring down Arthur Sinodinos, Labor has got its first ministerial scalp. Source: AAP

LABOR managed to finish the day with a ministerial scalp of sorts, but not before it bungled its parliamentary strategy to bring down Arthur Sinodinos.

Senator Sinodinos started Wednesday as the government's assistant treasurer, notwithstanding questions about his involvement in a company being investigated by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in NSW.

By question time he was sitting on the coalition backbench, freed from the obligation to take questions from non-government senators.

A few minutes earlier he had told the Senate he was standing aside as a minister in the Abbott government.

Opposition senate leader Penny Wong was clearly frustrated by the announcement.

She and her colleagues had planned to use question time to quiz the minister about his involvement with Australian Water Holdings (AWH), a company associated with corrupt former NSW Labor minister Eddie Obeid and being investigated by ICAC.

Senator Wong lamented that Senator Sinodinos was not required to answer any questions.

Earlier the opposition parties failed by one minute to bring the minister to account.

When the Senate began proceedings on Wednesday morning, Labor and the Greens moved to have Senator Sinodinos front the chamber and explain "inconsistencies" between a statement he made to parliament in 2013 and evidence heard at ICAC this week.

Labor and the Greens set Senator Sinodinos a deadline of midday to explain himself.

But the motion making the call did not pass the Senate until 12.01pm. As a result, the government argued the senator could hardly be given proper notice to appear by midday.

That point was argued for another 45 minutes before the Senate's standing orders deprived Labor of making good on its threat to move a tougher motion against the minister.

But it was only a temporary reprieve for Senator Sinodinos, who presumably was working on his stand-aside statement.

In question time Labor was forced to ask questions about what the prime minister knew about the issue and what steps he took to ensure Senator Sinodinos was a fit and proper person to be a minister.

Tony Abbott was answering those questions in the other place, also known as the House of Representatives.

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School canteens break sugar rules: expert

A nutrition expert says school canteens are breaking the rules by selling sugary drinks and lollies. Source: AAP

SCHOOL canteens are breaking the rules by selling sugary drinks and lollies, says a nutrition expert who is calling for a revamp of guidelines and controls.

Many parents don't realise that there is almost a complete ban on confectionery, says Dr Kieron Rooney, a senior lecturer in biochemistry and exercise physiology at the University of Sydney.

Some states allow lollies and chocolates only once or twice a term but the rules are not enforced, he says.

Another concern is that school guidelines are out of sync with the latest national dietary guidelines, which recognise that sugar leads to obesity and dental cavities.

Liquid breakfast and other sugar-sweetened products are allowed because the guidelines focus only on the kilojoules, saturated fat, salt and fibre content of food and drinks, says Dr Rooney.

"The canteen rules are outdated."

The World Health Organisation says no more than 10 per cent and preferably five per cent of a person's diet should come from added sugar.

For a child that's about three teaspoons of added sugar a day.

"Natural sugar in foods like fruit and dairy is perfectly fine. But people should be avoiding added sugar in processed food as much as they can," says Dr Rooney, who is giving a public lecture at the university on March 26.

He says the word "natural" has been hijacked by processed food manufacturers.

"There is absolutely nothing natural about taking something that was grown in earth, extracting it, boiling it, breaking it down, crystallising it and then putting it into a bunch of jelly.

"My talk focuses on the failure of federal and state governments to update canteen rules in line with the latest dietary guidelines.

"Lollies are banned. However, you can take some low-fat milk and add sugar to it and that's perfectly fine.

"Canteen guidelines are failing our kids because they don't comply with the 2013 Australian dietary guidelines."

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No breakthrough in ties at Jakarta talks

Defence Minister David Johnston says there has been no breakthrough with Jakarta in maritime talks. Source: AAP

DEFENCE Minister David Johnston has underscored respect for sovereignty and intelligence-sharing at a Jakarta forum, where future opportunities to defrost the bilateral relationship were flagged.

Senator Johnston's participation in the annual Jakarta International Defence Dialogue on Wednesday is not being presented as a breakthrough moment in the tense period.

But he was well received by Indonesian counterpart Purnomo Yusgiantoro, who says the nations are close to setting a date in the near future for "two-plus-two" talks - both nations' defence and foreign ministers - to be held in Australia.

Senator Johnston took the opportunity to convey to Jakarta - and forum delegates - Australia's respect for its neighbours.

"I believe we should aim to strengthen each other's security by respecting each other's sovereign territory and helping to reinforce each other's capacity to protect our territorial waters," he wrote on the forum's website.

"We should aim to share information on security issues of mutual concern."

Defence co-operation was wound back late last year after reports of Australian intelligence monitoring the phones of Indonesia's leaders.

Then Australia apologised to Indonesia when it learnt its vessels had breached its territory during operations to turn asylum seekers away.

In his remarks, Senator Johnston made special mention of the Indonesian relationship.

"Australia and Indonesia are at our best when we co-operate," he wrote. "Whatever the momentary fluctuations in our relationship, we will be better off if we commit to help bring out the best in each other."

Earlier, the minister told reporters Australia came to the multi-national forum as "an honest player looking to make good relationships across the board, particularly with Indonesia".

But he conceded: "I don't think we're in a breakthrough situation".

In the wake of the spy scandal, Indonesia proposed a six-point plan to restore bilateral ties with Australia, but little progress has been made.

Both ministers, however, insist some co-operation in their portfolios goes on.

Dr Yusgiantoro told reporters the defence relationship with Australia endured, even when other difficulties persisted.

"I don't see any big deal from here, except that we ceased joint exercise and military exercises," Dr Yusgiantoro told reporters.

"We have to differentiate between bilateral and multilateral."

Also at the Jakarta forum was Indonesia's Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, who has repeatedly criticised the policy of turning back asylum-seeker boats.

Dr Natalegawa, who views the six-point plan as stuck at point one, says he will meet his Australian counterpart Julie Bishop next week, on the sidelines of a nuclear summit in The Netherlands.

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Crimeans attack Ukraine navy HQ

President Vladimir Putin has signed a treaty making Crimea a member of the Russian Federation. Source: AAP

PRO-RUSSIAN protesters have stormed Ukraine's naval headquarters in Crimea after Moscow claimed the peninsula and the first casualties ratcheted up the stakes in the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War.

A Ukrainian navy spokesman said the crowd of a few hundred irate activists in Ukraine's port city of Sevastopol had forced a group of officers to barricade themselves inside the building to avoid a direct confrontation.

"There are about 200 of them, some wearing balaclavas. They are unarmed and no shots have been fired from our side," said spokesman Sergiy Bogdanov.

"The officers have barricaded themselves inside the building," he said, adding that the officers had no intention of using their weapons.

A defiant President Vladimir Putin had brushed aside global indignation and Western sanctions on Tuesday to sign a treaty absorbing the flashpoint Ukrainian peninsula and expanding Russia's borders for the first time since World War II.

The historic and hugely controversial moment came less than a month after the ouster in Kiev of a Moscow-backed regime by leaders who spearheaded three months of deadly protests aimed at pulling Ukraine out of the Kremlin's orbit for the first time.

Putin responded by winning the right to use force against his ex-Soviet neighbour and then using the help of local militias to seize the Black Sea region of Crimea - the warm water outlet for Russian navies since the 18th century.

The explosive security crisis on the EU's eastern frontier now threatens to reopen a diplomatic and ideological chasm between Russia and Western powers not seen since the tension-fraught decades preceding the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall.

"Russia's political and economic isolation will only increase if it continues down this path and it will in fact see additional sanctions by the United States and the EU," US Vice President Joe Biden warned on Tuesday while paying a visit to Poland aimed at reassuring former Soviet satellites of Washington's backing in the face of the Kremlin's expansionist threat.

The greatest fear facing Kiev's new leaders and the West is that Putin will push huge forces massed along the Ukrainian border into the Russian-speaking southeastern swathes of the country in a self-professed effort to "protect" compatriots who he claims are coming under increasing attack from violent ultranationalists.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the speculation while still hinting strongly that Russia intended to play a big future role in Ukraine's domestic affairs.

"We are not speaking about military actions in the eastern regions of Ukraine," Peskov told the BBC.

"But Russia will do whatever is possible, using all legal means, all legal means, in total correspondence with international law, to protect and to extend a hand of help to Russians living in eastern regions of Ukraine."

Putin had signed the Crimea treaty - at this stage recognised by no nation besides Russia - after stressing the move was done "without firing a single shot and with no loss of life."

But the first bloodshed came to the rugged peninsula of two million people only hours later when a group of gunmen wearing masks but no military insignia stormed a Ukrainian military centre in Simferopol.

The Ukrainian defence ministry said one of its soldier died from a neck wound and another suffered various injuries.

The pro-Russia Crimean police said a member of the local militias had also been killed. A spokeswoman blamed both casualties on shooting by unidentified assailants from a nearby location.

But the violence prompted Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk to warn an emergency government meeting that "the conflict is shifting from a political to a military stage.

"Russian soldiers have started shooting at Ukrainian military servicemen, and that is a war crime," the Wester-backed prime minister said.

The Ukrainian defence ministry soon authorised its soldier in Crimea to open fire in self defence for the first time.

Ukraine had previously forbidden its troops from shooting - in some cases forcing them to stand guard at their bases with empty rifles - to avoid provoking a offensive by its nuclear-armed giant that could spill into an all-out war.

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Rio ups bailout package for Nhulunbuy

Rio Tinto says it will increase its support package for eastern Arnhem Land to attract new activity. Source: AAP

THE Northern Territory government has again asked the commonwealth to provide funds to help bail out the ailing community of Nhulunbuy in east Arnhem Land, but so far nothing has been committed.

Rio Tinto announced on Tuesday it would add another $50 million over the next five years to its support package for the region to help attract new economic activity and support the community's transition, after it announced late last year it would be winding down its operations at its alumina refinery at neighbouring Gove.

A total of 1200 jobs will go, hitting the town of 4000 residents hard.

Nhulunbuy would continue to be a centre for NT government services, Chief Minister Adam Giles said.

He said the Territory government would spend more than $1 billion on essential services over the next five years, including health, education and policing, with $330 million to be spent before the end of this financial year.

A total of $272 million would be spent on services, grants and infrastructure, $58 million on public sector wages, $66.5 million for local roads, $14.4 million in housing contracts, $7.3 million for new community facilities and $5.46 million for education services.

"Yesterday I again asked the federal government to put some money on the table; they haven't as yet," Mr Giles told reporters on Tuesday.

Rio Tinto said its bauxite operation would contribute more than $500 million to the east Arnhem area over the next five years, and said it would create a regional economic development fund, as well as a fund to support sports and the arts, and community events and organisations.

Rio has offered to help boost indigenous-run businesses and to support new economic activities such as potential mining operations on Aboriginal land.

Mr Giles said he was happy with the package Rio had offered.

"It's not just about the headline figure of $50 million, it's about the escalation of works, bringing works forward for environmental rehabilitation, ensuring we get more traditional owners employed, ramping up bauxite operations, and we're seeing a turnaround in the economy from what it was projected to be, which is a positive step forward."

Alumina production at Rio's Gove refinery is expected to be complete by August.

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Foil dangers overlooked in pink batts mess

The royal commission into the Rudd government's home insulation program is set to resume. Source: AAP

FOIL insulation was never considered a dangerous choice early in the Rudd government's home insulation scheme, despite the material being linked to three deaths in New Zealand.

A royal commission heard on Tuesday how Australian bureaucrats knew about the deaths, but still allowed foil insulation to be used.

Queenslanders Matthew Fuller, Rueben Barnes and Mitchell Sweeney would later die while installing foil insulation under the scheme, launched as an economic stimulus measure in February 2009.

The $20 million royal commission is investigating whether their deaths and another in NSW were avoidable.

It emerged on Tuesday that bureaucrats became aware about the New Zealand deaths at a meeting with insulation industry representatives, less than three weeks after the scheme's announcement.

A senior federal environment department public servant, Beth Brunoro, told the inquiry the deaths were mentioned, along with a raft of potential safety issues.

Counsel assisting Keith Wilson asked whether Ms Brunoro thought it was relevant to find out more about the New Zealand deaths after the meeting.

"Not me personally, no," she told the inquiry.

Ms Brunoro said a technical team was charged with collecting information about occupation, health and safety issues, but was unsure if the New Zealand deaths were probed further.

Mr Wilson asked Ms Brunoro if she expected that would be done.

"It was more around considering the breadth of safety issues that were raised," she replied.

Mr Wilson said that had those inquiries been made, it would have been evident that the New Zealand men died while using metal staples to secure foil installation.

While giving evidence via video link from Canberra, Ms Brunoro also said risks were raised about various insulation products, not just foil, before the scheme's rollout across Australia.

"There wasn't a strong sense that it should be excluded on its own," she said.

"It was in amongst a broad discussion about safety issues."

Former federal environment minister Peter Garrett suspended the use of foil insulation in the program in February 2010, not long after the third Queensland death.

The home insulation program was scrapped that month.

Mr Garrett, former prime minister Kevin Rudd and former senator Mark Arbib, who was charged with co-ordinating government stimulus programs, will be called as witnesses at the commission.

The inquiry has already heard how Ms Brunoro and her colleague Mary Wiley-Smith were given just two days to cost the scheme.

Ms Brunoro will continue her evidence when the royal commission before Ian Hanger QC resumes on Wednesday.

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Stones cancel show after Scott's death

US fashion designer L'Wren Scott has been found dead at her apartment in New York. Source: AAP

THE Rolling Stones have cancelled a show in Australia as a devastated Mick Jagger reportedly rushed to New York after his longtime girlfriend, American fashion designer to the stars L'Wren Scott, was found dead in her apartment.

Jagger was "completely shocked and devastated" by the death of the 49-year-old Scott, a spokesman for the rocker said.

The Stones on Tuesday cancelled a concert in Perth, the first gig of their sold-out 14-gig Australian and New Zealand tour, as reports said that the 70-year-old Jagger had flown back to New York City.

Famous for her relationship with Jagger, Scott was also a hugely successful designer whose body-hugging and figure-flattering dresses were loved by Hollywood stars and First Lady Michelle Obama alike.

Scott's family appealed for privacy, describing the death as "tragic."

"At this devastating time for Ms Scott's family and friends, we request that their privacy be respected," a statement said.

"There will be no further public statement for the time being."

New York police said Scott was found dead at 200 11th Avenue, a block of luxury apartments in Chelsea, shortly after 10am local time.

"Upon arrival, officers discovered a 49-year-old female unconscious and unresponsive," a spokeswoman said.

Scott was transported to hospital but she was pronounced dead on arrival.

"The investigation is ongoing," the spokeswoman said.

The New York Medical Examiner's Office will determine a cause of death but the initial investigation points to Scott taking her own life, police said.

The autopsy is expected to take place on Tuesday.

Last month, Scott cancelled her show at London Fashion Week because of production delays but there had been little public sign that anything more serious was wrong.

Jagger's first wife Bianca led the outpouring of tributes from celebrities who spoke of a kind and talented woman whose death would leave a gaping hole in their lives.

"Heartbroken to learn of the loss of the lovely and talented L'Wren Scott. My thoughts and prayers are with her family. May she rest in peace," she wrote on Twitter.

Pop superstar Madonna - just one of the many high-profile, glamorous women who wore Scott's clothes - released a statement calling her death "a horrible and tragic loss."

New York designer Marc Jacobs wrote: "Rest in peace, L'Wren Scott. You'll forever be missed."

Australian actor Nicole Kidman is shocked and heartbroken by the death of her close friend and favourite fashion designer.

"Nicole and L'Wren were close friends for 25 years," a representative for Kidman told Rumorfix.com.

"Nicole is heartbroken and in shock right now and unable to say anything."

Kidman wore a sequined Scott gown to the 2013 Oscars.

In a relationship for well over a decade with Jagger, Scott had appeared to give the ageing rocker a degree of romantic stability despite the couple's 21-year age gap.

Before meeting Scott, Jagger had a multitude of affairs with models, singers and actresses, and has fathered seven children with four women.

He twice married models - Bianca and Jerry Hall - while other ex-lovers include singers Marianne Faithfull and Carla Bruni, who is now married to former French president Nicolas Sarkozy.

Born in Utah, Scott was adopted by Mormons and worked in Paris as a model before finding herself more interested in dress-making than walking the runway.

She moved to Los Angeles, where she began to work as a stylist and a costume designer for films before launching her own brand, now stocked in some of the world's most exclusive shops.

Launched in 2006, she called her first collection Little Black Dress, and then moved into shoes, handbags and eyewear, as well as collaborating on cosmetics with Lancome in 2010.

Most recently, she collaborated with high-street fashion brand Banana Republic on apparel and accessories for women.

* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467.

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105 jobs to go in Nufarm restructure

Agricultural chemicals supplier Nufarm will cut 105 jobs under an Australian operations restructure. Source: AAP

AGRICULTURAL chemicals and seeds supplier Nufarm will cut 105 jobs as part of a cost cutting restructure of its Australian operations.

Nufarm expects the restructure will save up to $13 million a year, but will have one-off costs of up to $39 million in the current financial year.

The re-organisation includes the phased closure of its manufacturing facility in the Perth suburb of Welshpool, which produces specialised herbicides, and its Lytton plant in Brisbane which makes specialised insecticides and fungicides.

Nufarm's Victorian plant at Laverton will be expanded to produce the products currently made at those sites.

Six out of 13 regional service centres will also be shut, and management across most of the group significantly streamlined.

Changes to support and administration roles will also result in job cuts.

Managing director Doug Rathbone said 105 employees, out of the company's 673 staff, would be cut, impacting all areas of Nufarm's business, except product development.

He said Nufarm would maintain its total manufacturing capacity in Australia, with no operations moving overseas.

Nufarm had to improve its Australian business and lower its high, inflexible cost base, Mr Rathbone said.

"These improvements will clearly ensure our future competitiveness and protect our market leadership position in Australia," he said.

The Australian agricultural chemicals market had become much more competitive in recent years, with a lot of new entrants and a material increase in the number of new product registrations, Mr Rathbone added.

Pricing power and margins had suffered as a result, he said.

Drought has also added to the challenges facing the Australian business.

Mr Rathbone said Nufarm had to improve its response time to customers and launch more new products.

The changes are to be implemented over two years.

The company also said it was reviewing its New Zealand manufacturing operations, and would discuss the preliminary conclusions with New Zealand employees over coming weeks.

Nufarm warned in January that its Australian business would contribute lower than expected financial results in the first half of its fiscal year, given challenging conditions.

Nufarm reports its first half results on March 26.

The company's shares gained 10 cents to $4.00.

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Labor wants science involved in politics

Bill Shorten says scientists need to be more involved in political debates about science funding. Source: AAP

FEDERAL Opposition Leader Bill Shorten wants scientists to become more involved in politics, and they want specialist advisers in all federal government departments.

Mr Shorten, who took on the shadow science portfolio when he became leader, has told scientists their input is needed if Australia is not to be "stuck on the blocks" in the race for the jobs of the future.

His comments came as hundreds of industry leaders converged in Canberra to meet parliamentarians to fuse stronger bonds between science and politicians.

Pointing to the success of National Disability Insurance Scheme campaigners, Mr Shorten said "together they achieved an outcome that would have been impossible alone".

"The future of Australian science will depend on whether you, and I, can make your cause a national political issue," Mr Shorten said.

He says scientists shouldn't have to deal with uncertainty in funding and there should be a new national commitment to science and innovation.

Labor will call for a Senate inquiry into science, research and the Australian innovation system to explore that idea and others including how to help innovators commercialise their ideas.

Science and Technology Australia boss Catriona Jackson says industry leaders are hoping to follow the UK's lead and spread expert knowledge throughout federal divisions since the Abbott government scrapped a science ministry.

"We have certainly discussed the idea with the government and there has been some movement, with an appointment in agriculture," Ms Jackson told AAP.

After coming to power in 2013 Prime Minister Tony Abbott reshuffled portfolios and split science between industry and employment, removing the role of dedicated science minister which had been in place since 1931.

Ms Jackson said scientists were concerned but have suspended their opinions until they see the government's first budget in May.

While there is a federal chief scientist, and one for each state and territory, greater consultancy would be valuable, she said.

Chief scientist Ian Chubb will outline the importance of science to Australia's future on Tuesday at the National Press Club.

He hopes to explain how support for the full spectrum of research and a more strategic approach to science can provide Australia with the technological progress needed for sustained economic development.

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Leighton shares fall on uncertainty

Leighton Holdings shares have fallen sharply as investors worry about future profits and dividends. Source: AAP

LEIGHTON Holdings shares have fallen sharply as investors worry about the construction giant's future profits, lower dividends and more than $5 billion in unpaid bills.

Retail and institutional investors are offloading the stock amid concerns about being left as a minority shareholder in the construction group under parent company Hochtief.

Hochtief has flagged widespread job cuts to Leighton Holdings' 56,000-strong global workforce as shareholders consider a $1.2 billion bid to increase its stake in the company.

Germany-based and Spanish-owned construction company Hochtief is undertaking a review of Leighton and considering whether to merge or abandon its John Holland and Thiess businesses.

The move comes after Hochtief secured support from Leighton's board to take a greater stake in the company.

At 1445 AEDT Leighton Holdings shares were $1.07, or 5.0 per cent, lower at $20.30.

At the close, its shares had recovered somewhat to finish 72 cents or 3.4 per cent lower at $20.65.

Analysts say uncertainty around the future direction of Leighton had led to the sell off on Monday.

"There's increased uncertainty, especially around the key issue of the $US5.1 billion in unpaid bills," Morningstar analyst Ross MacMillan said.

Changes to the scope of works on the Gorgon and Iraq projects had worried investors and left doubts about Hochtief reaffirming Leighton's previously stated profit guidance and dividend policy, he said.

Last week, Leighton axed chief executive Hamish Tyrwhitt and chief financial officer Peter Gregg, in line with Hochtief's request to change Leighton's management and board.

Mr Tyrwhitt has been succeeded by Hochtief chief executive Marcelino Fernandez Verdes as the company undertakes a review.

"As a result of the general review by Leighton, already under way, some employees may become redundant," Hochtief said in a statement lodged on Friday and confirmed by Leighton to the market on Monday.

Hochtief on Thursday lifted its offer for three out every eight Leighton shares to $22.50 per share, from its March 10 bid of $22.15 per share.

The general review of Leighton, looking at making Leighton's businesses more efficient, is expected to be completed by the end of 2014.

Hochtief said the outcome of the review may result in changes to the structure of the operating businesses, including the number and functions of employees and the sale of assets.

Hochtief will lift its stake in Leighton from 58.77 per cent to a maximum of 73.82 per cent, for a total price of about $1.2 billion, subject to Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) approval.

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Cassowaries cop bad rap: conservationists

Conservationists are attempting to educate the public on the plight of the southern cassowary. Source: AAP

DON'T be fooled by their bad-bird reputation - cassowaries need your help.

Only 1000 southern cassowaries, known for the large horn-like casque on their head, are thought to remain in far north Queensland.

Growing to a height of up to 180cm, the cassowary has long been regarded as the world's most dangerous bird.

But according to Rainforest Rescue conservation scientist Jennifer Croes, that's a title Australia's heaviest bird doesn't deserve.

"All a myth, all a myth," she told AAP.

"There's definitely no records that show they're the world's most dangerous bird.

"Only if provoked and only through habituation by people through hand feeding can they potentially be a little bit more angry."

Cassowaries are fewer in number than the giant panda.

The largest wild pocket of them at Mission Beach, about 140 kilometres south of Cairns, has an estimated 40-50 birds.

On Monday Rainforest Rescue launched a partnership with the Girringun Aboriginal Corporation, councils, zoos and other groups to boost awareness of the giant bird's plight.

The campaign will include land buybacks and rehabilitation, monitoring projects and public education programs about threats from habitat destruction, dog attacks and traffic dangers.

At the campaign's launch in Sydney, Ms Croes said 60 birds had been reportedly hit by cars in the past decade.

"We're hoping we can reduce the speed limit ... around the Mission Beach area, from 80 (km/h) to 60 and hopefully maybe to 40," she told AAP.

"We can also try to change community behaviour and attitudes to coexist with this bird."

Cassowaries are held in captivity in every Australian state and territory and subject to a nationwide breeding program.

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Vic premier to fight for fair share of GST

VICTORIAN Premier Denis Napthine has vowed to "kick and scream" for a fairer share of the GST cake at the next meeting between the federal government and states and territories.

Dr Napthine said it was wrong that Victoria received about 90 cents in every dollar it pays in GST, while Queensland and NSW got a dollar for dollar return.

He said the recent allocation of the GST would make things worse and he would fight for a better deal at the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting in May.

"I will go to Canberra and I will kick and scream and fight for our fair share for Victoria," Dr Napthine said.

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Baby sisters in hospital after collision

TWO baby sisters are in a serious but stable condition after the hatchback they were travelling in collided with a NSW Fire and Rescue truck driving in the same direction on the Pacific Highway in Sydney's north.

A 17-month-old girl sustained head injuries and a one-month-old girl was treated for head and abdominal injuries at the scene in Ku-ring-gai before being taken to Westmead Childrens' Hospital, police said.

Their mother, 28, sustained minor injuries in the Sunday afternoon collision, while their 29-year-old father was uninjured.

Police are investigating the incident.

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Premier Hodgman gets straight to work

Will Hodgman has declared he begins his new job as Tasmania's premier with a mandate for change. Source: AAP

TASMANIA'S next premier Will Hodgman has spent day one after the Liberals' thumping election victory familiarising himself with the job.

Mr Hodgman has joined deputy Jeremy Rockliff and likely treasurer Peter Gutwein in meetings with the heads of the premier's department and treasury.

In scenes that mirrored the election of prime minister Tony Abbott last year, Mr Hodgman ticked off day one of a 100-day plan and didn't address the media.

The Liberals grabbed 52 per cent of the primary vote, a swing of 12 per cent, to win at least 14 of the lower house's 25 seats and take power for the first time in 16 years.

Mr Hodgman told department heads his team was serious about turning around Tasmania's struggling economy.

"We appreciate, having spent some time in opposition, there'll be a lot we need to hear from you as to what's required of us," he said.

"My team ... are keen to start work straight away. But we will do things in a sensible and methodical way as well.

"We are not proposing anything radical."

But his refusal to answer questions was immediately attacked by defeated Labor premier Lara Giddings.

Asked about the Liberals' disciplined campaign, Ms Giddings hit out on "day of the next election campaign".

"Discipline in not even being available to answer questions on your first day as the next premier is not really acceptable," she said.

With more than 80 per cent of the vote counted, the ALP had secured six seats, the Greens probably three while two were still in doubt.

Ms Giddings was clinging to hope that Labor could finish with as many as nine, the final outcome not expected for another 10 days.

"I'm not conceding any of the seats that are still in doubt," Ms Giddings told reporters.

"We don't know how the preferences will flow."

Ms Giddings, who confirmed she would be a candidate for the Labor leadership, said her government's rout had not been unexpected.

"It's a result that we're not unsurprised by in terms of the tough decisions we've had to make, the issues that were thrown at us ... and of course the difficulty of combating a very negative opposition," she said.

Greens leader Nick McKim was expected to retain the leadership of his party despite an eight per cent swing against it.

He joined Ms Giddings in reiterating support for Tasmania's forest peace deal between environmentalists and the timber industry.

The elected Liberals have promised to tear up the agreement, which protects contentious forests from logging in return for green group support of a plantation-based industry.

Signatories to the deal The Wilderness Society and Environment Tasmania also called on it to be retained.

"Will, can we just see your forest plan please mate?" Mr McKim said.

"Nobody's seen it and we'd like to see how you're actually going to do what you say you are going to do."

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Stolen BMW crashes into driver: police

POLICE in Perth are investigating a pursuit that ended with a 51-year-old man in a critical condition after his car was hit by a stolen BMW driven by a teenager.

Police say officers tried to stop the BMW on Albany Highway in East Victoria Park on Saturday night, but the 16-year-old driver sped off.

A brief chase by officers on the ground was taken over by the Police Air Wing, which continued to pursue the car.

Police said the BMW ran a red light at the intersection of McDowell Street and Orrong Road in Welshpool and struck another vehicle.

They said the young BMW driver ran off after the crash but Air Wing officers spotted him hiding in bushes and he was arrested a short time later.

He remains in custody and was later charged with aggravated dangerous driving causing bodily harm, no authority to drive, stealing a motor vehicle, reckless driving and failing to stop when directed by police.

He is due to appear in the Perth Childrens Court on Monday.

The 51-year-old man is in Royal Perth Hospital in a critical but stable condition.

Investigators from WA's major crash unit have been called in to investigate the crash, which will also be probed by the WA police internal affairs unit.

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20,000 Sydney homes lose power in storm

STRONG winds have lashed the NSW coast, cutting power to about 20,000 homes in Sydney's north and 19,000 on the Central Coast.

Residents between Palm Beach and Freshwater lost power early on Sunday afternoon and, about an hour later, State Emergency Service volunteers were called to 120 jobs, predominantly in the northern beaches.

This is expected to climb to about 300 by the end of the Sunday, Fairfax reports.

"This storm has hit Sydney so quickly, all our volunteers have just had to scramble together to get each job covered as quickly as possible," SES spokesman Todd Burns told Fairfax.

Responding to customers on Twitter, Ausgrid said it may take "a few hours" to restore power.

"It may take a few more hours depending on damage and location. Sorry for delays today. storm came thru fast and furious," Ausgrid said on Twitter.

Wind gusting up to 90 km/h was recorded at Terry Hills and 16 millimetres of rain fell in about 15 minutes at nearby Hornsby, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said.

"The cell was moving so quickly it didn't have a chance to drop too much," a bureau spokesman told AAP.

Further north, winds blew across Evans Head at 115km/h and through Casino at 107 km/h.

At Williamtown, near Newcastle, wind ripped through at 95 km/h, and speeds between 90 and 100 km/h were recorded at Gunnedah, Glenn Innes on the northern tablelands, Scone and in the upper Hunter regions.

The storm is now well gone and the BOM is forecasting dry, sunny days in the high 20s for the start of the week after a cool Sunday night.

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