Syringe threat in Vic carjacking

A WOMAN has been threatened with a syringe during a carjacking in Melbourne, police say.

The woman was parked in a shopping centre in Dandenong on Saturday afternoon when a man approached her car and allegedly threatened her with a syringe.

He demanded the woman get out of the car and she did.

The man then got into her car and drove away.

Police said the stolen car is a red 2006 Ford sedan with registration number UQI 236.

The man is described as caucasian, with blonde hair and a thin build.

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Chinese plane spots objects in jet search

CHINA'S state news agency says a Chinese aircraft has spotted three suspicious objects floating in a search area for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet.

Xinhua News Agency said on Saturday that the Chinese military plane Ilyushin IL-76 sighted the three floating objects of white, red and orange colours respectively, from an altitude of 300 metres.

Flight 370 disappeared March 8 while bound from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Investigators believed it crashed in the southern Indian Ocean, where planes and ships have been looking to recover any debris.

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UK teen catches TB from pet kitten

A BRITISH teenager developed pneumonia and has been rushed to hospital for treatment for severe lung damage after she contracted tuberculosis from her pet kitten.

Jessica Livings, 19, had to have emergency surgery after she caught TB, in what health officials say is among the first cases in the world of humans picking up the disease from cats.

Ms Livings' mother Claire also contracted a dormant form of the disease, the Daily Mail said.

It is thought the pair contracted TB when they were cleaning a wound on their pet, Onyx, which they had adopted only weeks before.

"I lost a stone and a half in five weeks, I was very ill and had fevers, cold sweats and hallucinations," Ms Livings told the newspaper.

She was reportedly diagnosed with the disease in October after a vet voiced concerns over an outbreak of TB among cats in the the Newbury area of Berkshire.

Ms Livings was readmitted to the Royal Berkshire Hospital last month, but is now classed as being at no risk of passing TB on.

Her mother told the Mail that their kitten became ill and they discovered he had an open wound on his belly. Despite taking him to the vet he died, but they had no idea it was TB.

Vet Carl Gorman, who reported the outbreak, told the Mail he believed it started with a local herd of cows contracting bovine TB.

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Search for WA diver hampered by rain

POLICE searching for a diver missing off the WA coast have been hampered in their efforts by rain.

The diver was one of a group of five who were on board a vessel on Saturday about 4-5km off the Dawesville Cut, just south of Mandurah.

Police say the group raised the alarm when the diver failed to resurface.

Water Police and Mandurah Volunteer Marine Rescue (VMR) vessels are helping in the search along with a police dive team.

Two helicopters assisting in the search have had to return to base after heavy rain in the area, but police say all water-based teams are still searching.

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Search for MH370 shifts focus

The search for a missing Malaysia Airlines flight has resumed with weather conditions improving. Source: AAP

THE hunt for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has shifted more than a thousand kilometres from where teams had been scouring the Indian Ocean, but Australian authorities insist their previous efforts have not been a waste of time.

New radar data analysis has prompted authorities to re-focus the six-nation search 1100km to the northeast of its original location, and some 1850km west of Perth, following updated advice from the international investigation team in Malaysia.

Taking into account radar data before contact was lost, the likely performance of the aircraft, its speed and fuel consumption, and 21 days of drift, authorities are now searching an area about 319,000 square kilometres in size - almost as large as Malaysia itself.

The previous focus was in an area 2500km southwest of the West Australian capital.

"Continuing analysis indicates that the plane was travelling faster than was previously estimated, resulting in increased fuel usage, reducing the possible distance it travelled south into the Indian Ocean," Australian Transport Safety Bureau chief commissioner Martin Dolan said on Friday.

"This is our best estimate of the area in which the aircraft is likely to have crashed into the ocean."

He said the search area could change again as new information emerged.

Australian Maritime Safety Authority emergency response manager John Young said all search planes and ships had been moved to the new zone, which was "now our best place to go".

"We have moved on from those search areas to the newest credible lead," Mr Young said, adding however, that the decision to shift focus was not based on a new theory but a refining of the original analysis used to plot the location of the aircraft's possible resting place.

"The analysis is in fact the same form as we started with," he said.

"I don't count the original work a waste of time."

Mr Young also stressed, however, that he would not use the term "debris field" in relation to various objects spotted by satellite.

The new location will also allow search planes to spend more time on the scene. Previously, they only had one to two hours before having to return to RAAF Base Pearce.

Mr Young said weather conditions in the new search area were also more favourable.

"We will see what that does in terms of satellite imagery as the re-tasking of satellites starts to produce new material."

The new area is shallower, with water depths ranging from 2000 to 4000 metres.

Any wreckage found would be handed over to Malaysian authorities.

The new "credible lead" on a possible crash site, almost three weeks to the day since the plane carrying 239 people disappeared on March 8, also came with a warning from Malaysia Airlines of the effect on the families of rumours and speculation about the flight's fate.

"Whilst we understand that there will inevitably be speculation during this period, we do ask people to bear in mind the effect this has on the families of all those on board," the airline's group chief executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said.

"Their anguish and distress increases with each passing day, with each fresh rumour, and with each false or misleading report."

Mr Yahya said preparations were underway for family members of passengers and crew to be taken to Perth, should physical wreckage be found.

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Mum wed my abuser, inquiry hears

A WOMAN who'd been abused as a young girl says she felt doubly betrayed when the Salvation Army officer who raped her ended up marrying her mother.

The woman, identified only as JD, told a hearing into child sexual abuse in Sydney her mother and her church disbelieved her story of abuse which started when she was a four-year-old attending an army Sunday School in Queensland.

"I was one of their own and they turned their back on me," said JD.

When JD was 18 her mother told her she was going to marry the army envoy who taught at the school.

JD said her mother accused her of lying about the abuse because "I didn't want a new daddy".

She and another girl who had been raped by the man went to see Colonel Stan Everitt, the army's divisional commander for south-east Queensland.

He asked them if they were making it up and told them not to go to police.

JD told the commission on Friday she was still angry.

"I came to him (Mr Everitt) as an 18-year-old girl. I needed help," she said.

"The man who abused me was going to marry my mother ... They were married in a Salvation Army church. I was kicked out of home."

She described sexual abuse as one of the most evil things to happen to a child and said it was a "terrible thing" when an institution like the Salvation Army reacts like it did.

"I hadn't done anything wrong. I was a little girl going to church and a predator got me," she said.

"Because he wanted to and he could."

She was told by the army that Mr Everitt, who is now old, was refusing to apologise because "he did nothing wrong".

Other witnesses told Friday's hearing they felt disbelieved and unsupported by the Salvation Army.

Cherryl Eldridge was placed in Horton House, a Salvation Army orphanage in Toowoomba, Queensland when she was six.

She never knew why she, her six sisters and their brother were taken from their home.

At Horton House when she wet the bed, the sheets were rubbed in her face.

She was beaten with a belt and a strap and locked in a storage cupboard, by a matron who seemed "out of control" during the beatings.

Three witnesses on Friday were asked by counsel for the Salvation Army Kate Eastman SC, what they would like the army to do by way of apology.

Ms Eldridge said she found the question offensive.

"I find if you, The Salvation Army, really wanted to give me a genuine apology, and really mean it you would not be asking me the question - how do I expect you to apologise to me or any of us who went through what we went through."

One man, who had been kept in solitary confinement at the Salvation Army's Riverview Training Farm in Queensland in 1971 where he was made to sleep where he defecated, vehemently refused to accept an apology.

"If I see one of those uniforms come within a metre of me, you'd better be there ... okay, just keep them away from me," the man said.

"If I see that Gestapo come near me ...," he added.

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NY college to offer Miley Cyrus class

A US college will offer a course called The Sociology of Miley Cyrus: Race, Class, Gender and Media. Source: AAP

A COLLEGE in upstate New York is offering a course on Miley Cyrus and won't even make students do any class twerk.

The Saratogian newspaper reports the course will be offered by Skidmore College, a private liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs.

Visiting Assistant Professor Carolyn Chernoff calls the course The Sociology of Miley Cyrus: Race, Class, Gender and Media.

Chernoff says she'll focus on the 21-year-old performer and all her incarnations as a way to study such topics as gender, race, class, fame and power.

She says she got the idea after teaching a course on youth culture that featured video of Cyrus twerking at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards.

But Chernoff says students will have to learn how to twerk on their own time.

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500 litres of CSG water leaks in forest

ABOUT 500 litres of contaminated waste water has leaked from a coal seam gas well in northern NSW.

The spill, which occurred on Tuesday at a Santos gas field at Pilliga forrest, south of Narrabri, is being investigated by the NSW Environment Protection Authority.

Santos has downplayed the incident, saying "there was no impact to any nearby water source and no risk to the environment."

"The water was contained within a surface diversion drain on site and was captured and returned to the holding pond," the company said in a statement.

But the Greens and The Wilderness Society say the leak proves coal seam gas is dangerous to the environment.

"Santos has a long tragic history of failure in the Pilliga forest, with at least 20 toxic coal seam gas waste water spills including uranium contamination and continuing leaks from evaporation ponds," Wilderness Society spokeswoman Naomi Hogan said.

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Tough budget decisions coming: Abbott

PM Tony Abbott has warned that "tough decisions" are coming to restore the federal budget. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has warned that "tough decisions" are coming to restore the federal budget.

In the last parliamentary sitting day before Treasurer Joe Hockey brings down his first budget on May 13, Mr Abbott said of all the government's commitments, the most fundamental was to restore the budget.

"Tough decisions are coming," he told parliament.

"They are necessary for the prosperity of our country."

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen asked Mr Hockey why, if he is concerned about the budget, did he double the deficit and add $68 billion of new spending, and change economic assumptions to his mid-year review in December.

Mr Hockey described this as "great fiction" which came from a party with a record of $190 billion of deficits in five years.

"The legacy of Labor is that over the next 10 years there is no surplus, there is no repayment of debt," he said.

"The Labor party legacy of debt and deficit wasn't just for the period they were in government, it is for as far as you can see in the years ahead."

He said the government plans were very clear, and entirely consistent in dealing with what were changing economic circumstances over the last few decades.

"We said government cannot afford to waste taxpayers' money," he said.

He said the pink batts program was a terrible waste of money and cost lives; GP super clinics were medical facilities that did not treat any patients; and the NBN was a litany of waste and incompetence.

"We are going to fix the mess," he said.

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Canning of safaris a croc: NT govt

THE federal government's decision not to allow crocodile hunting safaris in the Northern Territory has been derided as "a croc" by the NT government.

Two NT ministers have accused federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt of being shortsighted and ill-informed.

"Canberra needs to take its foot off the Territory's throat," Minister for Land Resource Management, Willem Westra van Holthe said in a statement on Thursday.

"Crocodile safari hunting has the potential to create real employment for indigenous people in remote parts of the Territory."

Mr Westra van Holthe said the NT government had extensively consulted with traditional owners and lodged an application for a one-year crocodile safari trial, under a scientifically researched plan that demonstrated the economic benefits to the Territory.

Under the existing crocodile management plan, the NT government is able to harvest up to 500 crocodiles from the wild each year, while the safari proposal sought to harvest 50 crocodiles from within the existing quota on a one-year trial basis.

It was suggested that crocodile safari packages could cost between $20,000 to $50,000, appealing to high-end hunters from around the world seeking to bag themselves a croc.

Mr Westra van Holthe said the proposal was humane, with animal welfare standards maintained by having a conservation officer and traditional owner attend every safari.

"We are severely disappointed with Greg Hunt's short sighted and ill-informed decision," he said.

It was taking away work opportunities for indigenous people who needed it the most, said Bess Price, Minister for Parks and Wildlife.

"Greg Hunt has made a decision which will do nothing to improve the lives of indigenous Territorians living in remote communities," she said.

The decision was at odds with the Commonwealth government's priorities of developing the north and ending welfare dependency, she said, as well as boosting tourism.

The NT government is now exploring alternative pathways to make crocodile safari hunting a reality.

It may be able to legislate to permit the safaris but could face an obstacle with foreign hunters being unable to take crocodile carcasses out of Australia without a federal permit.

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Art Gallery of NSW to give back sculpture

AUSTRALIA is returning a stolen statue worth more than $300,000 to India.

The 1000-year-old Ardhanariswara idol, depicting Hindu god Shiva and his consort Parvati, was on display at Sydney's Art Gallery of NSW after being purchased during the tenure of former director, Edmund Capon.

However, it later emerged that the valuable stone sculpture was stolen from a temple in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

It was sold, along with five other items to the Art Gallery of NSW by New York dealer Subhash Kapoor.

Kapoor is now facing trial in India for allegedly trafficking stolen antiquities from two Indian temples, with museums around the world also said to be examining items bought from him.

The Australian Attorney-General's department received a formal request from the Indian government to return the Ardhanariswara this month.

The statue depicts a hermaphrodite human form and is said to represent the 'synergy of man and woman'.

The Attorney-General's department said India's request to return the idol was being acted upon under Australia's international obligations.

Delhi's request stated that the statue was exported from India illegally.

The National Gallery of Australia in Canberra has already agreed to return a dancing Shiva statue, which it bought in 2007 for $5.6 million from Kapoor.

It is understood that Mr Capon's successor, Dr Michael Brand, is in favour of returning all six works that the Art Gallery of NSW bought from Kapoor.

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Labor no confidence bid on Speaker fails

Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus has been banned from parliament for 24 hours. Source: AAP

SPEAKER Bronwyn Bishop has fended off a no-confidence motion after attracting Labor's ire for banning a frontbencher for 24 hours.

Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus was punted from the chamber on Thursday - the final day of parliament before the six-week pre-budget break - after he called out "Madam Speaker" in an exasperated tone over a ruling relating to the prime minister.

The government voted to suspend Mr Dreyfus from parliament for 24 hours after the Speaker "named" him.

The incident riled the Labor opposition, which has become increasingly frustrated over Mrs Bishop's perceived bias in her question time rulings.

Manager of opposition business Tony Burke used the wording of a successful 1949 no-confidence motion in Deputy Speaker Clark, in which he was described as showing "serious partiality" and "constantly fails to interpret correctly the standing orders of the House".

Among her sins had been throwing out a Labor MP for laughing, ejecting 98 Labor members and not one coalition MP, allowing name-calling and ignoring time limits on answers from ministers.

Mr Burke said Mrs Bishop, who has been in parliament for 27 years, was respected as a formidable MP who could launch "scathing and effective attacks".

"But we cannot support you continuing to behave that way when you want to sit in the Speaker's chair," he said.

House leader Christopher Pyne defended Mrs Bishop, saying Mr Burke clearly had been working up to the motion since the 44th parliament began.

"The fact that this is a stunt ... is so clearly indicated by the fact the manager of opposition business came into the chamber with a prepared speech," he said.

Mr Pyne said Tony Abbott had been criticised in the previous parliament by Labor for having "trouble with strong women" - such as Julia Gillard and then-speaker Anna Burke - but Mr Dreyfus had made a habit of bullying Mrs Bishop.

He accused Labor of being rude, aggressive and "behaving quite intolerably badly towards a woman in the chair".

Independent MPs Andrew Wilkie and Cathy McGowan supported the government in fending off the suspension motion, while Greens MP Adam Bandt sided with Labor.

A spokesman for Mrs Bishop told AAP she remained confident of her position and took heart at the vote from the two independents as well as phone calls of support after the debate.

On her return to the office she had a cup of tea, followed by a meeting with the Solomon Islands high commissioner and the French ambassador.

Mr Abbott, who this week marked 20 years in parliament, told reporters he had faced tough decisions by Speakers but MPs had to cop it.

"I was ejected back in 2000 when I called the then leader of the opposition Mr Beazley a sanctimonious windbag," he said.

"I happen to have a much higher opinion of Mr Beazley now that he's our ambassador in Washington."

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Abuse case challenge 'was not denial':Pell

Cardinal George Pell has given evidence at the royal commission into child sexual abuse in Sydney. Source: AAP

CARDINAL George Pell insists he acted truthfully when he instructed lawyers to vigorously dispute the claims of a sexually abused former altar boy in court, even though he knew the claims were true.

Dr Pell, appearing before the royal commission into child sexual abuse, admitted the Catholic church did not deal fairly with victim John Ellis "from a Christian point of view", but in a legal sense it did nothing improper.

He said he defended the Ellis case vigorously to discourage other complainants from going to court, revealing he was worried that payments for abuse cases in the US sent some churches bankrupt and he wanted to ensure similar situations could not occur in Australia.

At the end of his second day of evidence to the commission, Dr Pell's admissions were condemned by victims' families.

"We've seen a sociopathic lack of empathy this morning from this man," said Anthony Foster whose two daughters were raped by a priest in Melbourne.

"I really wonder if he has any idea whatsoever what these people go through."

Dr Pell expressed regret over the handling of Mr Ellis's case, starting from the diocese's refusal to settle the matter in 2004 before Mr Ellis started legal action.

"I understood insufficiently just how wounded he was," he told the commission.

The former archbishop of Sydney told the commission on Wednesday that disputing that Mr Ellis had been abused by pedophile priest Father Aidan Duggan in the 1970s did not mean he denied the abuse took place.

The church had already found that Mr Ellis had been abused by Fr Duggan but in 2006 Dr Pell instructed the church's lawyers to proceed with an appeal in which Mr Ellis was cross-examined at length about the veracity of his claims.

Senior counsel assisting the commission, Gail Furness SC, asked Dr Pell if his instruction to his lawyers, Corrs Chambers Wesgarth, was "to dispute Mr Ellis had been abused as he claimed?"

Dr Pell replied: "Yes. Not to deny it."

He said his lawyers had explained the tactic was "legally proper".

"In doing so I was not violating my obligation to truthfulness," Dr Pell said.

Dr Pell said his "error of judgement" was mitigated by a mistaken belief that Mr Ellis wanted millions in compensation, and by how busy he was at the time.

"I mean, it was at the centre of Mr Ellis's life - with a busy archdiocese, I wasn't focused sufficiently on it," he said.

Ellis lost the case and Pell said he was consoled by the court ruling that the church's trustees, which hold its property assets, could not be sued.

"One of the few consolations, if that's what I've got from this sorry mess, is that the court of appeal unanimously endorsed the view that the trustees were not responsible in this case," he said.

Ms Furness asked Dr Pell if he had defended the Ellis case to make plaintiffs "think twice" about suing the church.

Dr Pell said he wanted them to "think clearly".

"They should consider the advantages in not going to litigation," he said.

He denied, however, that he wanted sexual abuse victims to go through the Catholic church's internal system, Towards Healing, rather than the courts, so that the church could control the size of payouts.

Dr Pell appears before the commission again on Thursday before leaving Australia to start a new job as manager of the Vatican's finances in Rome on Monday.

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Questions over deadly NZ plane crash probe

QUESTIONS are being raised about the conclusions reached by an official investigation into a deadly 2010 skydiving plane crash at New Zealand's Fox Glacier.

Nine people, including two Australians, were killed when the Fletcher FU24-954 plane crashed shortly after take-off at the end of the runway at Fox Glacier airport on September 4, 2010.

There were no survivors.

A 2012 Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) report found the plane was unbalanced, with too much weight towards the rear, causing it to crash.

However, just days after the crash, large parts of the plane's wreckage were buried - on the instruction of the TAIC - meaning they weren't examined by investigators, a local current affairs TV program reports.

Among the parts buried was the plane's control stick and cables.

Investigator Andrew McGregor, who's conducted TAIC investigations in the past, says the TAIC's investigation in this case was flawed.

"I would think on the evidence we have available, that a control system failure of some sort is likely," he told TV3.

"In my view we do have sufficient information to warrant the investigation being reopened."

The crash killed four tourists - Glenn Bourke, 18, of Australia, Patrick Byrne, 26, of Ireland, Annita Kirsten, 23, of Germany, and Brad Coker, 24, of England.

The crew were Skydive New Zealand director Rod Miller, 55, pilot Chaminda Senadhira, 33, Adam Bennett, 47, an Australian living in Motueka, Michael Suter, 32, and Christopher McDonald, 62.

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Installing batts 'not that hard': Garrett

ALTHOUGH four people subsequently died working under the scheme, the minister in charge Peter Garrett reportedly believed it was easy to install pink batts.

According to an email from a cabinet staffer, former environment minister Mr Garrett and a federal environment department secretary thought the task was "not that hard", an inquiry has heard.

They shared the view at a meeting on April 3, 2009, two months after the scheme's announcement.

"The secretary and the minister compared notes on their personal experience in installing batts! 'not that hard'," the email from cabinet and prime minister's department staffer Martin Hoffman read.

The royal commission into the former Labor government's scheme was told that insulation companies were given only hours warning - via text message - about the termination of the scheme.

They were informed on February 19, 2010 that the program would end at 5pm that day, after a 2.30pm public announcement to that effect.

The former Rudd government pulled the pin on the stimulus measure after workers Matthew Fuller, Rueben Barnes, Mitchell Sweeney and Marcus Wilson died while installing insulation.

But insulation companies had no idea the program was going to be dumped as they'd been told to beef up employment, the supply of manufacturing materials and capital investment.

Michael Windsor QC, who is representing insulation companies at the inquiry, said the program's end left the industry in tatters.

Mr Windsor, who is also fighting for compensation for businesses adversely affected by the scheme's termination, said insulation companies were given little chance of off-loading stock and meeting obligations with suppliers.

The abrupt end of the stimulus program, he said, also negatively affected the economy with jobs lost and companies unable to meet obligations with financial institutions.

Under cross-examination by Mr Windsor, Mr Hoffman agreed that insulation companies were somewhat negatively affected by the announcement.

When asked when he became aware about the government's decision to end the program, Mr Hoffman said: "It would have been a few days before ... it would have been right at that period."

Mr Hoffman also said that no industry body, to his knowledge, had been informed of the government's decision at that time.

The inquiry into the troubled scheme also heard on Wednesday of how the government took a "light touch" approach to installer registration standards.

Mr Hoffman said it was important to note the tight exit approach, which included a one-strike policy for those who breached safety guidelines.

But Richard Perry QC, who is representing the Fuller and Barnes families, said the "light touch" approach did nothing to stop installers dying while using metal staples to secure foil insulation, like Mr Fuller.

Former co-ordinator-general Mike Mrdak is expected to give evidence at the royal commission when it resumes on Thursday.

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Scalping not a big problem, senators say

CONCERT-GOERS and sports fans can breathe easy: ticket scalping isn't a big deal in Australia, a parliamentary inquiry has found.

Because of this, the committee looking into the matter doesn't see the need for any further regulation.

But it does say the state and federal governments could work together to have greater co-ordination in how to deal with the scalping that does occur.

Committee chair Senator Mark Bishop was surprised to find only minimal evidence of ticket scalping across the country.

"I had expected the opposite," he said on releasing the inquiry report on Wednesday.

Several disgruntled Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and AFL fans had told the committee of their difficulties in getting tickets over the past year.

But ticketing companies and entertainment and sporting groups told the committee large-scale, concerted ticket scalping efforts were rare in Australia.

They said it was important to distinguish between genuine re-selling of tickets - for instance if someone bought tickets to a concert and then couldn't go - and scalping purely for profit.

Many said anti-scalping laws in place in some states and elsewhere in the world were not effective and were difficult to enforce.

The committee recommends an industry-wide standard of conduct be established to give more transparency over how tickets can be issued and distributed.

It also suggests the consumer watchdog look at increasing education around the sale and re-sale of tickets and what rights buyers have.

But independent senator Nick Xenophon, who initiated the inquiry, says there should be national anti-scalping laws.

He wants a cap on re-sales above the original purchase price, powers to block sites selling scalped tickets and sites like eBay to have to tell authorities the identities of scalpers.

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ICAC hears of Terrigals' 'move' on Iemma

THE pay-off for unseating NSW premier Morris Iemma was a new contract for a company with alleged links to the Obeids, a corruption probe has heard.

Retired engineer Peter Phillips has told the NSW corruption watchdog he was tasked with certifying costs run up by infrastructure company Australian Water Holdings (AWH), in which corrupt ex-MP Eddie Obeid's family allegedly had a secret 30 per cent stake.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has been told of an agreement whereby AWH would build sewerage and water infrastructure in Sydney's northwest, and Sydney Water would pay the company's administrative costs.

But the state-owned utility ended up paying for lavish salaries, limousine rides and legal fees, the inquiry has heard.

Giving evidence to the commission, Mr Phillips said he became "uncomfortable" with ballooning AWH management costs and wondered if the involvement of Liberal party fundraiser Nick Di Girolamo and Eddie Obeid Junior in AWH could explain the cost hikes.

"I was told fairly firmly that political pressure was going to be applied very heavily to Sydney Water and they were going to be forced to come into line, and the implication being, I better not get in the middle of that," Mr Phillips said.

He said the "clincher" came in July 2008, when AWH finance manager Vass Kuznetsov told him "the Terrigals were going to move on Morris Iemma and have him removed as premier, and that part of the payment for their support of this was going to be a water licence for Australian Water Holdings".

Mr Iemma stepped down in September that year.

"I realised there were very powerful influences being wielded around the place," Mr Phillips said.

He said he understood the "Terrigals" to be a group including Mr Obeid and fellow former Labor MP Joe Tripodi.

But Mr Obeid's lawyer Stuart Littlemore QC urged Mr Phillips to admit he "overegged" his evidence about the 2008 meeting.

"Sensational stuff, wasn't it? The way you tell it here," Mr Littlemore said.

"That's how it happened," the witness responded.

Earlier on Tuesday, former Sydney Water chair Tom Parry told the inquiry he warned former NSW premier Kristina Keneally's office that he would consider referring to ICAC an allegedly doctored cabinet minute, which recommended a public-private partnership with AWH, if it was adopted by the NSW government.

The minute was a "complete distortion" of the Department of Premier and Cabinet's original recommendation not to go ahead with the partnership, Dr Parry said.

"I thought this had been killed off," he remembers telling an advisor to Ms Keneally about the minute.

"Obviously we needed to put a stake through the heart."

The inquiry continues.

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30 people killed in bus crash in Thailand

At least 30 workers have been killed when a bus plunged off a steep road into a ravine in Thailand. Source: AAP

OFFICIALS say a double-decker bus carrying municipal workers on a field trip plunged off a steep road into a ravine in western Thailand, killing at least 30 people.

Tak provincial governor Suriya Prasatbunditya says another 22 people were injured in the crash that occurred when the driver tried to pass other cars on a steep, winding mountain road.

The bus slid off the mountain road and then flipped several times before crashing into a tree. The driver told authorities the brakes failed.

The bus was one of four carrying local workers and villagers Monday night from Tak to northeastern Thailand.

The governor said more than 300 accidents took place last year on the winding, hilly road frequented by buses and trucks travelling across the border to Myanmar.

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Tribute to black box inventor

THE Canberra headquarters of a Defence agency will be named after the Australian inventor of the black box flight recorder, David Warren.

As the late Dr Warren's creation again hits world headlines as authorities try to learn the fate of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, Australia is paying tribute to the inventor.

"Dr Warren was a visionary and his invention has made an extraordinary contribution to aviation safety around the world," Assistant Defence Minister Stuart Robert said on Tuesday.

His flight recorder captures crucial cockpit information that has been used by global agencies to improve safety levels in air travel.

The Defence Science and Technology Organisation building, close to Canberra Airport, will be named after Dr Warren, in what Mr Robert said is a "fitting tribute to a great Aussie".

Dr Warren invented the black box in the mid-1950s when working at the former Defence division, the Aeronautical Research Laboratory, in Melbourne.

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Govt caves in on gender reporting

THE Abbott government has backed down on plans to dilute workplace gender reporting requirements following pressure from women's groups and business.

Employment Minister Eric Abetz has announced the current reporting arrangements for companies with more than 100 employees will stay in place.

However, fewer companies will now have to comply with gender reporting minimum standards - composition of workforce, equal pay, flexible work arrangements and sexual harassment and discrimination.

The standards will now only apply to companies with more than 500 employees from October 1, 2014 and they can choose to comply with one or more.

Senator Abetz said the government will consult with industry and peak bodies about streamlining reporting over the next six months.

The results of the consultations will be announced later this year and the changes will start from April 1 2015.

"We want to make sure that we get this right and do not force new, onerous requirements that do not achieve the stated objectives," he said.

Senator Abetz said it was vital that effective data was collected.

Australian Greens Senator Larissa Waters said the Abbott government was intent on pleasing "big business buddies".

"The government's plans mean that in a year, companies would have to provide less information about gender inequity, and from October fewer businesses would have to do anything to redress it," she said.

Women on Boards spokeswoman Claire Braund conceded that the minimum standards may not be the process in which to "drive change" on gender equity in the workplace.

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Female hiker found in Vic park

A HIKER missing for days in the Victorian wilderness has been winched to safety.

A police helicopter spotted the woman and winched her from the Alpine National Park, northeast of Melbourne, just after 10am on Sunday.

The woman, from the rural NSW city of Dubbo, sent a text message to her husband late on Thursday to say she was lost and out of water as she trekked through the remote park.

She lit a campfire at Howitt Plains to attract the attention of the helicopter.

A police spokeswoman said the woman was in reasonable health and was being attended to by paramedics.

Victoria Police and SES and CFA crews were involved in the search.

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One-punch killers to face life in Qld

One-punch killers will face life imprisonment under proposed changes to Queensland laws. Source: AAP

ONE-PUNCH killers would face life imprisonment under proposed changes to Queensland laws.

The Newman government's draft plan to tackle alcohol-related and drug-related violence, released on Sunday, would create an offence - unlawful striking causing death - to deal with one-punch killers.

If convicted, defendants would be required to serve at least 80 per cent of their life sentence behind bars before being eligible for parole.

"We have all seen the devastating and often tragic effects of coward punches not just in our state but across the nation," Premier Campbell Newman said in a statement.

"The Queensland government is determined to counter this dangerous trend and make Queensland the safest place in Australia for people to go out and enjoy themselves."

Under the plan, the maximum penalty for aggravated serious assaults on ambulance officers would rise from seven to 14 years' imprisonment.

Drunkenness would no longer be a viable excuse to mitigate an offender's sentence and courts would have the power to ban people from licensed premises for life.

ID would be installed in all licensed venues trading after midnight to keep out problem patrons and banned people.

The government would also set up 15 "safe night precincts" across the state where there would be late-night lockouts and more police on the beat.

Police would be given the power to detain people for their own safety if they were unduly intoxicated and at risk of serious harm, or behaving in a potentially violent or antisocial manner.

The government would also introduce a compulsory drinking awareness plan for all students between years 7-12 as part of the school curriculum.

The public has been asked to comment on the draft policy before April 21.

The opposition called on the Newman government to introduce a blanket 1am lockout across the state.

"If you don't tackle trading hours you don't tackle alcohol-fuelled violence. It's that simple," Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk said in a statement.

"Unfortunately we have a premier too scared to act and showing no leadership."

Opposition police spokesman Bill Byrne questioned whether the government had failed to introduce a lockout because it was beholden to vested interests.

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NSW urged to get flu-ready

Pregnant women and the elderly are being urged to prepare for winter and get a flu shot. Source: AAP

PREGNANT women and the elderly are being urged to prepare for winter and get a flu shot following an "unusually high" level of influenza in NSW this summer.

The Director of Health Protection NSW, Dr Jeremy McAnulty, said the northern hemisphere had experienced widespread influenza over the past months, with influenza A(H1N1) pandemic strain, A(H3N2) and influenza B circulating to different extents in different countries.

An unusually high level of influenza had also been seen in NSW over summer, he said.

He and other health professionals are now urging people, especially the elderly and pregnant women, to prepare for winter.

"The Australian flu vaccine has been updated to more closely match the influenza strains likely to circulate in NSW this year.

"So get a shot in preparation for this season," Dr McAnulty said on Sunday.

He said the seasonal flu shot continues to be the best defence for pregnant women and has the added advantage of protecting babies during their first six months when they are too young to have the vaccine.

NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner said the government's Be Winter Wise campaign, launched on Sunday, was focusing on pregnant women, the elderly and people with chronic medical conditions.

"Although we are still experiencing warm weather, people should not be complacent when it comes to the dangers of the flu," she said in a statement.

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Mining tax debate focus in parliament

THE federal government will try to pressure Labor over the repeal of the mining tax this week as the re-run of the West Australian Senate election looms.

The repeal bills have been listed as the first item of business in the upper house when parliament resumes on Monday.

The Senate election on April 5 is expected to be a focal point of debate in question time, as the Liberals aim to retain the three seats they won at the 2013 election and Labor aims to pick up two seats.

The government has already targeted Labor over its decision this week to vote with the Greens to block the repeal of the carbon tax, despite former prime minister Kevin Rudd pledging in 2013 to scrap the tax.

"We always said that our two first priorities in terms of legislation was to scrap the carbon tax and the mining tax," Finance Minister Mathias Cormann told AAP on Friday.

"We are continuing to work down our to-do list."

Prime Minister Tony Abbott will also seek Labor support for a package of bills on his "repeal day" on Wednesday.

The legislation aims to remove thousands of regulations and pieces of legislation that are redundant, outdated or impose a burden on business.

Mr Abbott says the repeal package - coupled with other measures - will take $700 million a year in compliance costs off business and community groups.

Another repeal day will be held later in the year.

The Senate on Monday will receive a report from its economics legislation committee on the Qantas Sale Act, which would allow majority foreign ownership of the airline.

Labor and the Greens say the airline should remain in Australian hands and be based here, but there might be room for a compromise: allowing foreign airlines to hold more than a 35 per cent stake in Qantas or a greater than 25 per cent stake for any single foreign shareholder.

Senate inquiry reports will be received on Wednesday relating to ticket scalping, the coalition's Direct Action climate plan and people living with dementia.

On Thursday, reports will be tabled from inquiries into Operation Sovereign Borders, Qantas jobs and overseas aid.

The lower house will continue to debate laws to extend road funding and re-establish the Green Army of environmental volunteers.

Labor wants an inquiry into the Green Army legislation, saying it has concerns about workplace protections, the interaction with other welfare payments and the obligation of employers to provide training.

The House of Representatives will also debate a Labor motion on Monday seeking assurances from the government that ABC funding won't be cut and that it will stop vilifying the broadcaster.

It will be the last sitting week before the May 13 budget.

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