NSW introduces risk-based liquor licensing

ROGUE NSW nightclubs and pubs with poor compliance records will be slugged with thousands of dollars of yearly licensing fees, the state government has announced.

Venues currently pay a small one-off application fee for a new or existing liquor licence, regardless of how long the licence remains in existence.

From July, venues will have to pay a yearly fee, which will be calculated based on a number of risk factors, such as the venue's capacity, location and operating hours.

Venues with a poor compliance history will also pay more.

The announcement has been slammed by clubs and bottle shops as being unfair but welcomed by the Australian Medical Association (AMA) which hailed it as a positive move against alcohol-fuelled violence.

State Hospitality Minister George Souris says the changes will make licensed venues safer.

"This scheme will hit bad venues where it hurts most - the hip pocket - and encourage good operators to stay on their game," Mr Souris said on Friday.

Office of Liquor, Gaming & Racing executive director Paul Newson said the plan targets "rogue licensees" with bad records and could have some venues paying up to $24,500 in fees a year.

"Do the right thing and you will pay a modest annual fee," he told reporters.

"Do the wrong thing and you will pay more."

Mr Souris stressed that three-quarters of the state's 18,400 licensees would only pay a base fee of between $100 and $500 a year.

AMA NSW president associate professor Brian Owler said the announcement was a positive move towards combating drunken violence.

"There is now a financial incentive to make sure venues do comply with the responsible service of alcohol and in reducing the number of violent incidents that occur in their premises and around them," he told AAP.

But ClubsNSW chief Anthony Ball said the industry could not understand why registered clubs were being treated the same as pubs and nightclubs under the changes.

"Venues which fail to comply with the law should be the main focus of any licensing system which aims to tackle anti-social behaviour," he said.

"Those venues deserve to be targeted, but punishing good community clubs simply doesn't make sense."

John Green, from the Australian Hotels Association, hoped the money raised from the licensing fees would go towards improving infrastructure for the late night economy, including on more transport, policing and on better lighting.

The Liquor Stores Association of NSW said the "disappointing" changes penalise responsible packaged liquor store owners "simply for having more than three stores".

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Nicaragua earthquake leaves one dead

A 6.1-magnitude earthquake has hit Nicaragua, injuring 14 people and damaging dozens of houses. Source: AAP

A 6.2-MAGNITUDE earthquake that struck Nicaragua has killed one person, left 33 injured, and damaged more than 800 homes.

President Daniel Ortega declared a state of emergency after Thursday's quake, centred in the Pacific coast region of the Central American nation.

He said it caused significant damage and triggered panic among the population.

The fatality was a 37-year-old woman who died of a heart attack, said officials at Carlos Roberto Huembes Hospital in Managua.

Three of the injured were in serious condition.

"There are thousands of families that lost their homes or saw them seriously damaged," he said.

The quake happened at 2327 GMT (0927 AEST Friday) and its epicentre was about 20 kilometres north of the capital at a depth of 10 kilometres, said the US Geological Survey.

The Nicaraguan Institute of Territorial Studies put the magnitude at 6.2.

The president ordered classes suspended for Friday, and added there were more than 400 aftershocks.

People ran out of their homes in panic, he said. Managua was left without power for a few hours.

The quake was also felt in El Salvador, Honduras and the north of Costa Rica.

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Lorde fills Cobain's shoes

NEW Zealand singer Lorde has fronted Nirvana in New York as the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The 17-year-old belted out All Apologies with the remaining band members on Thursday as they performed Kurt Cobain's music for the first time since his death 20 years ago.

Lorde, who was born two years after Cobain died in 1994, tweeted after the show: "So honoured and happy i got to help celebrate nirvana's rock and roll hall of fame induction tonight. true f****** rock stars, all, forever".

Three other female artists - Joan Jet, Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth and Annie Clark from St Vincent performed with Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear at Brooklyn's Barclays Centre.

Nirvana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in its first year of eligibility amid widespread speculation about whether they'd perform instrumental numbers and if not, who would step in for Cobain.

Novoselic, the band's bass player, said fans still came to him every day.

"Nirvana fans walk up to me every day and say thank you for the music," he said.

"When I hear that, I think of Kurt Cobain."

Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, hugged the two surviving band members, with whom she's had bad blood in the past.

"I just wish Kurt was here to do this," she said.

Kiss, thumbing their noses at critics who have dismissed them, them, also entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with Peter Gabriel, Hall & Oates, Cat Stevens, Linda Ronstadt and Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band.

The original four members of Kiss didn't perform because of a dispute between active original members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley and retired members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley. But the original four made peace and saluted each other in heartfelt induction speeches.

The theatrical quartet put on make-up, belched blood, shot fireworks out of Frehley's guitar and sang their classic anthem Rock and Roll All Nite.

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Ministers worried about indigenous privacy

EDUCATION ministers are grappling with the question of how to track indigenous truancy without breaching students' privacy.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced in February he would add school attendance to the "closing the gap" targets aimed at improving the lot of indigenous Australians.

The country's education ministers discussed the matter when they met on Friday.

They want to collect and publish attendance data twice a year.

Ministers acknowledged there should be simple and timely snapshots of attendance to help work towards the target.

NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli told AAP attendance was crucial to help students do well.

But it's understood some ministers are concerned about the privacy of students.

One solution could be to only identify indigenous attendance records when there are more than five in a class.

However, in small jurisdictions with few indigenous students, like the ACT, this could end up meaning no separate data is published.

AAP understands federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne encouraged his colleagues to raise the issue with their premiers and chief ministers for further discussion in the Council of Australian Governments, which set the target.

A final decision is likely to be made on how the data is collected when the ministers meet again in October.

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Northern Victoria cops drenching from rain

PARTS of northern and north-eastern Victoria and are watching the skies nervously as heavy rain threatens flooding.

Some parts of the state's north have had up to 80mm of rain - well over the average for April - since Tuesday as a slow-moving low pressure trough crosses the state.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has renewed severe weather warnings for heavy rain and possible flash flooding in the Mallee, Northern Country and North East forecast regions, a wide area that spans Mildura, Swan Hill, Bendigo, Echuca, Shepparton, Benalla, Wangaratta and Wodonga.

BoM senior forecaster Terry Ryan said Rushworth, near Shepparton, had 50mm of rain to 9am (AEST) on Thursday while Bendigo had 45mm and Benalla 44mm over the same period.

Since 9am, a further 29mm fell near Benalla at Violet Town and falls around 30mm were common across the north of the state.

Mr Ryan said between 30mm and 80mm had fallen across the north, with the heaviest falls in the high country.

Flood watches have been issued for the Goulburn/Broken river catchment and for East Gippsland.

Severe weather warnings for the central district around Melbourne, the Wimmera and North Central districts have been cancelled.

Melbourne has copped its heaviest rainfall since November with 20mm falling over the past two days.

There, the main impact has been on the roads, with cars colliding in the slippery conditions.

There haven't been any serious injuries, Ambulance Victoria said in a tweet on Thursday, but paramedics have been called to 24 collisions across the state in the space of eight hours.

The State Emergency Service handled more than 70 assistance calls on Thursday, mainly for building damage and fallen trees.

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Qld locals prepare for category five

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman has cut short a trade trip as the state prepares for cyclone Ita. Source: AAP

FAR north Queensland residents are preparing for the worst as category five Cyclone Ita heads their way.

Ita was upgraded to a category five late on Thursday afternoon and is predicted to land north of Cooktown on Friday night, with a strong chance of coinciding with a 7pm high tide.

This will create dangerous storm surges, about 1.5 metres bigger than usual high tides, along a 240km stretch of coast from Port Douglas to Cape Melville, Queensland's Bureau of Meteorology says.

The bureau's senior forecaster Pradeep Singh says heavy rain will also trigger flash floods.

He said while Ita was intense, it's a smaller system and would move slower than category five Cyclone Yasi in 2011 and category four Cyclone Larry in 2006.

It's expected to bring 280km/h winds when it hits the coast, with 9000 people directly in its path.

Cooktown mayor Peter Scott said cyclone shelters were being put up Thursday night as winds of up to 100 km/hr were forecast to hit the town on Friday morning.

"It's coming in faster and bigger than we first thought it was going too," he said while boarding up windows of his family home.

Premier Campbell Newman has pleaded for campers and residents in low lying areas to seek safer shelter.

"There'll be lots of rain, 100mm of torrential rain. That means flooding of creeks and road crossings," he said.

"If it's flooded forget it. Please don't put your life at risk."

Staff and tourists have left Lizard Island, while 50 mine workers have already abandoned the Cape Flattery silica mine township, north of Cooktown.

Some residents north of Port Douglas have already evacuated their homes.

Local Dianne Fursdon says an eerie quiet feeling has enveloped Cooktown.

"It's really strange, everything has gone quiet," she told AAP.

"There's no bird sounds, no geckos and the ants are all crawling onto higher ground."

Ms Fursdon feels confident her home will withstand the storm as she's used five rolls of tape to secure windows.

"Maybe the roof will come off, but what the hell," she said with a smile.

"All I need is my plonk and I'll be fine."

Fourteen-year-old Kathleen Stevens, her aunt and great aunt were buying buckets and jerry cans to fill with water and fuel at the 11th hour.

They've been warned they may have to go without water and power for some time.

The family is hopeful their home can withstand the force of potentially destructive winds.

"But if it gets really bad we're going to head to the cyclone shelter," Kathleen told AAP.

"Or the bathroom because it's sturdy," her aunt Stacey Stevens added.

A cyclone watch has been declared for areas up to 300km inland, including Kalinga, Laura, Palmerville and Chillagoe.

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ASIC rejects corruption allegation

AUSTRALIA'S investment watchdog has hit back at claims of corruption within its ranks.

Australian Securities and Investment Commission chairman Greg Medcraft has rejected, in a Senate hearing, suggestions staff acted inappropriately when authorising the use of online superannuation calculators in 2005.

The accusations stem from lawyer James Wheeldon, who was engaged by ASIC as part of a team tasked with granting permission to superannuation funds to offer customers the online tool to tally their super savings.

Mr Wheeldon claims ASIC failed to comply with its own standards when issuing an exemption that meant fees and charges were not necessarily included in the calculations.

Mr Wheeldon has previously told the senate hearing he reported to a senior lawyer, Grant Jones, who was on secondment to ASIC from the wealth management division of National Australia Bank, MLC.

Mr Wheeldon said Mr Jones acted as a "enthusiastic advocate within ASIC" for the benefit of MLC.

He also told the hearing that head of the team, Mark Adams, was driving an outcome which would see permission granted across the industry for the use of online calculators.

In response on Thursday, Mr Medcraft discredited Mr Wheeldon as a junior lawyer who was employed by ASIC for only nine months.

"ASIC completely rejects Mr Wheeldon's allegations," he said.

There was no special treatment for any parties and if ASIC considered the matter again, the same outcome would be achieved, Mr Medcraft said.

The Senate Economics References Committee's inquiry into the performance of ASIC is due to report back in late May.

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ICAC hears how Tripodi baled up Kelly

Former NSW minister Tony Kelly has admitted a cabinet minute that didn't favour AWH was rewritten. Source: AAP

FORMER minister Joe Tripodi says he took a 10-hour round trip to rural NSW to learn about hay, not straighten out a story with ex-MP Tony Kelly.

Counsel assisting the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), Geoffrey Watson SC, on Thursday accused Mr Tripodi of trying to elude investigators by switching his mobile telephone off for most of the trip to Wellington.

But Mr Tripodi did not realise his sat-nav system was tracking his every turn, Mr Watson said.

"You turned off your telephone that day, deliberately," Mr Watson put to the witness.

"You didn't want anybody to have the facility to track where you were going."

The corruption watchdog has heard allegations Mr Tripodi and Mr Kelly helped create a sham cabinet minute that boosted Australian Water Holdings' (AWH) prospects of securing a lucrative public-private partnership.

The document replaced - and effectively reversed - expert advice prepared by external consultant Brian McGlynn.

The two men agreed they had a hand in altering the original minute: Mr Kelly agreed it was his decision to put up a new "positive" minute, while Mr Tripodi said he provided "working notes" that were incorporated in the paper.

But both men deny penning the final minute or working to further AWH's interests to benefit crooked ex-MP Eddie Obeid, whose family allegedly had a secret stake in the company.

It was revealed on Thursday that Mr Tripodi visited Mr Kelly's Wellington property in central western NSW early last year.

Mr Kelly said his old parliamentary colleague showed up unannounced with a hamburger in one hand and a coffee in the other and the men chatted about what fellow ex-MPs were up to.

Mr Tripodi mentioned that former planning minister Frank Sartor was writing a book "bagging out Labor" and that the notorious cabinet minute alteration would get a mention, Mr Kelly said.

"And then he finished his hamburger and said, okay, good to catch up with you and off he went," Mr Kelly said.

In a bizarre afternoon of evidence, Mr Tripodi claimed he was in the area to scout out a possible hay export scheme for a Chinese friend.

"You know lucerne costs about $12 a bale. It's not even economic to move lucerne (the 100km) from Wellington to Orange, so why would someone be exporting it back to Shanghai?" Mr Watson asked incredulously.

"Did you go down there for the sole purpose of getting stories straight about the cabinet minute?"

"Absolutely not," Mr Tripodi said.

The inquiry heard about extensive telephone contact between Mr Tripodi and former AWH chief executive Nick Di Girolamo.

"Like two young lovers," Mr Watson said. "You were at it all day."

Mr Tripodi denied he did anything wrong by putting Mr Di Girolamo in touch with then-water minister Phil Costa.

"I did that for many, many people on many, many issues," Mr Tripodi said.

"There was a dry cleaner at Wynyard that approached me when I was catching a train, raised some issues, and I went and raised it with a minister."

"We haven't got to that inquiry yet," Mr Watson quipped.

The inquiry continues on Friday with Mr Di Girolamo due to give evidence.

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'Greed and lies': Obeid faces ICAC

Former Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid is due to give evidence to the NSW corruption watchdog again. Source: AAP

FALLEN NSW Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid says he was motivated by duty, not greed, in requesting ministerial meetings and approaching a premier on behalf of Australian Water Holdings (AWH) and its boss Nick Di Girolamo.

His statement is at odds with the silk leading an Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) probe into the firm, who believes Mr Obeid was motivated by pure greed.

Counsel assisting Geoffrey Watson SC has told the inquiry the Obeid family had a secret stake in AWH and stood to make up to $60 million from a proposed public-private partnership (PPP) with the NSW government.

Mr Obeid took his much-anticipated turn in the ICAC witness box on Wednesday, where he admitted approaching former senior NSW Labor politicians Michael Costa, Phil Costa, Morris Iemma, Kristina Keneally and Nathan Rees on Mr Di Girolamo's behalf.

He conceded he even called Ms Keneally at home during her time as premier, to urge her to consider the AWH proposal on its merits and not let the fact his son Edward was working for the company colour her judgment.

These comments came despite telling the ICAC in a private interview last year he was "positive" he had never mentioned the firm to Ms Keneally.

And although he denied lobbying fellow former MPs Joe Tripodi and Tony Kelly, he conceded he attended one meeting between Mr Di Girolamo and then-treasurer Michael Costa where a long-running dispute between AWH and Sydney Water was discussed.

"That's the way I treated every constituent that wants my help," Mr Obeid told the inquiry.

"I object to (suggestions I was) 'doing favours' - I did what my duty allowed me to do which was solve a problem that could blow up as far as the government's concerned."

But Mr Watson claimed Mr Obeid had attempted to further AWH's aims at every turn.

"You knew at all times that your family was closely involved with Australian Water Holdings, you knew from November 2010 that your family owned one quarter of the company," he said.

"Mr Obeid, at all times, you were motivated by nothing more than just personal greed to try and secure an improper outcome."

Mr Obeid spat back: "That's your version and it's rubbish."

Moments later he was outside the commission, wearing a thin smile and telling reporters: "I never lie."

Anyone found to have wilfully given false or misleading evidence to the commission can be jailed for up to five years.

Mr Obeid echoed the testimony of his sons Paul and Moses, who have each claimed a 2010 agreement recorded a $3 million loan to AWH chief executive Nick Di Girolamo, not a share purchase.

He said he would not have approved of the loan if he had known about it and thought the proposed PPP was "stupid" but never meddled in his sons' affairs.

"I do not go and second guess what they're doing."

Late in the day, former planning minister Tony Kelly denied altering a cabinet minute to favour AWH's PPP bid.

He will return to the witness box on Thursday.

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Special constable attacked 'midget'

WHEN Heath Kelly was bashed by a special constable in Sydney more than a year ago, he says he was shocked someone would attack a "midget".

Fadi Chafei, 40, was found guilty on Wednesday by Magistrate Harriet Grahame of assault occasioning in actual bodily harm against Mr Kelly in November 2012 in Surry Hills.

He was also found guilty of intimidating bystander Matthew Harper who stopped Chafei from leaving the scene by making a citizen's arrest.

In handing down her decision at Downing Centre Local Court, Ms Grahame criticised Chafei's claims he was acting in self-defence.

"Mr Kelly describes himself as a midget," she told the court.

"When I observed him giving evidence, he looked younger than his 30 years and he was childlike."

Ms Grahame said she believed Mr Kelly's statement to the court that "no one expects a fully grown man to come up to a midget and smash the f*** out of him".

"I found his (Mr Kelly's) evidence lacking in guile or artifice," she said.

A special constable is not a sworn police officer but a person involved in law enforcement for a agencies such as local councils.

Chafei's defence team had argued that the special constable had punched Mr Kelly because he was one of a group of six who had been intimidating their client.

But Ms Grahame said this was inconsistent with CCTV footage and that his evidence was "at best" exaggerated.

The court was told that Mr Harper heard Chafei say to Mr Kelly "shut your f***ing mouth" before punching him.

Mr Kelly then fell, striking his head on the pavement.

Mr Harper told the court that after the attack, Chafei had said to an unconscious Mr Kelly "you just learnt your lesson" before he turned to him and sneered, "do you want to have a go c***".

Two nearby security guards stopped the 40-year-old from getting into a taxi and helped Mr Harper make a citizen's arrest.

Ms Grahame will sentence Chafei on May 20.

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Qld's north prepares for severe cyclone

North Queensland is bracing for Cyclone Ita, which is predicted to reach the coast on Friday. Source: AAP

EVACUATIONS have begun and Queensland's premier is returning from overseas as the strongest cyclone since Yasi in 2011 moves in on the state's far north.

Cyclone Ita is due to intensify into a category four storm early on Thursday morning and cross north of Cooktown on Friday night.

Gusts up to 280km/h, storm surges and heavy rain are expected which cause flooding in low-lying coastal areas.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) says Ita, which was 710km off the mainland on Wednesday afternoon, poses a "significant threat" to far northern coastal communities.

A cyclone watch alert is in place from Cape Grenville to Cairns.

Gales will extend hundreds of kilometres from the eye of the storm, affecting areas from Coen to Cairns over Thursday and Friday.

The storm comes three years after category five Yasi ripped through Queensland, causing $3.5 billion worth of damage and lost tourism earnings.

Yasi unleashed its wrath about 1000km south of where Ita is forecast to cross.

"The winds won't be as strong as Yasi, but it will be the worst we've had since," BOM forecaster Andrew Cameron told AAP.

All staff and guests have been evacuated off Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef as a precaution.

The last time the resort was evacuated was during Yasi, although the island wasn't affected.

Premier Campbell Newman has also cut short his Asian trade mission with Prime Minister Tony Abbott and will fly home on Thursday to oversee preparations for Ita.

Those in the small Cape York communities likely to be affected spent Wednesday stocking up on supplies and clearing yards.

Peter Scott, mayor of Cookshire Council, which covers 80 per cent of Cape York, says Ita could be one of the worst storms to hit the area in decades.

"Residents need to be ready and have somewhere safe to shelter," he told AAP.

Lockhart River Mayor Wayne Butcher says residents are concerned as there is no cyclone shelter in the isolated community.

"If a category four cyclone hits it will definitely throw spanners in the works for us," he told AAP.

Local district disaster management groups held meetings across the state's far north on Wednesday and extra police and emergency crews have been sent to at-risk areas.

There are no plans for evacuations just yet but residents are being urged to be prepared.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services says those in affected areas should secure their homes and ensure they have food, water and first aid supplies.

When the storm approaches residents should stay indoors.

Hospital emergency plans have been activated in Cooktown, Coen, Laura, Hopevale, Lockhart River and Wujal Wujal.

Before forming into cyclone Ita, the tropical depression led to 21 deaths in the Solomon Islands last week.

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Physicist wins tech prize for data storage

BRITISH-AMERICAN physicist Stuart Parkin has won the 1 million-euro ($A1.48 million) Millennium Technology Prize for discoveries leading to a thousand-fold increase in digital data storage on magnetic disks.

His discoveries enabled cloud services and the online distribution of social networks, music and film.

The Finnish foundation on Wednesday cited the 58-year-old director of the IBM-Stanford spintronic science centre in California as an innovator who helped make "our contemporary online world largely possible." Spintronics relies on the magnetic spin of electrons rather than their charge to store bits.

The biennial technology award was initiated in 2004 by the Finnish government and industry for "innovations that improve the quality of people's lives."

Previous winners include Japan's Shuji Nakamura for laser research and Tim Berners-Lee for inventing the world wide web.

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Whistleblower got it wrong: Salvo bos s

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<p><span>An inquiry has heard how a resident of a Salvation Army boys home received financial compensation.</span> <span><em>Source:</em> AAP</span></p>
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<p><strong> SALVATION Army commissioner James Condon says he already had a process in train to remove an officer with a sex abuse record before a whistleblower contacted authorities. </strong></p>
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<p>Mr Condon, the territorial commander of the Salvation Army in NSW, Queensland and ACT, told a hearing in Sydney on Monday that his absence due to a meeting in London in early 2013 had probably contributed to a delay in removing Colin Haggar as director of a crisis shelter for women and children.</p>
<p>The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has heard that Mr Haggar confessed to indecently assaulting an eight-year-old girl in 1989, and was dismissed from the Salvos, but was re-admitted in 1993 and subsequently promoted.</p>
<p>Additional allegations were made against him in 2013.</p>
<p>Captain Michelle White said on Friday that concerns about Mr Haggar had been raised with Mr Condon in early 2013.</p>
<p>Ms White said that delays by Mr Condon in fulfilling mandatory reporting requirements prompted her to report to the NSW Ombudsman on September 4, 2013 that there was an active Salvation Army officer with a known history of child related sexual abuse.</p>
<p>But asked on Monday if it was only after Ms White's actions that he considered reporting Mr Haggar to the Ombudsman and the Office of the Children's Guardian, Mr Condon replied: "No, it wasn't."</p>
<p>He said a decision had been made to "have a fresh look at all historical cases", including those involving Haggar, in preparation for the royal commission.</p>
<p>"We were reporting to the ombudsman, reporting to the police ... we were in the process ... we were absolutely committed to doing the right thing."</p>
<p>Mr Condon said that following a meeting with Ms White, he also made phone calls, including to Mr Haggar, informing the senior Salvo that he should not have any responsibility for children at the shelter.</p>
<p>Mr Condon said he opposed the promotion of Mr Haggar to lieutenant colonel but it was army policy to promote a husband when a wife was taking an executive role. Mr Haggar's wife Kerry, also a lieutenant colonel, had been made secretary for business administration and a member of the Salvation Army executive.</p>
<p>Mr Condon told the hearing that he accompanied Mr Haggar to Parramatta police station in the early 90s to report the assault, recalling that an officer at the station told Mr Haggar that unless the victim or the family of the victim came forward, there was nothing police could do.</p>
<p>The commission was also told on Monday that the Salvation Army had no plans to use the defence of vicarious liability in historical cases of child abuse, unlike the Catholic Church which had argued in another matter that it could not be held vicariously responsible for historical abuse.</p><br />

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Milk keeps osteoarthritis at bay for women

A GLASS of milk a day can keep osteoarthritis (OA) at bay, at least for women with the disease affecting their knees, research has shown.

Increasing consumption of fat-free or low-fat milk was found to slow progression of the degenerative condition, which wears away the joints.

Women who drank more than seven 230ml glasses a week had significantly less space between their joints than those who drank none after four years.

Those who drank no milk had an average width space of 0.38 millimetres, compared with 0.26mm for high consumers.

Even drinking up to three glasses a week led to a shrinking of the joint gap to 0.29mm.

However, no association was seen between milk consumption and reduced joint space width in men.

The trend was maintained even after adjusting for disease severity, body mass index (BMI), and diet.

"Milk consumption plays an important role in bone health," said lead scientist Dr Bing Lu, from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, US.

"Our study is the largest study to investigate the impact of dairy intake in the progression of knee OA.

"Our findings indicate that women who frequently drink milk may reduce the progression of OA. Further study of milk intake and delay in OA progression are needed."

Findings from the research are reported in the latest edition of the journal Arthritis Care & Research.

A total of 2148 men and women with knee OA were recruited for the Osteoarthritis Initiative study.

Dietary data was collected and joint space width measured by X-ray to assess OA progression.

In an editorial published in the journal, US experts Dr Shivani Sahni and Robert McLean, from the Hebrew SeniorLife Institute for Ageing Research, which is affiliated with Harvard University, wrote: "With the ageing population and increase in life expectancy, there is an urgent need for effective methods to manage OA.

"The study by Lu et al provides the first evidence that increasing fat-free or low-fat milk consumption may slow the progression of OA among women who are particularly burdened by OA of the knee, which can lead to functional disability."

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Nats may help Libs secure 3rd Senate seat

Labor Senate leader Penny Wong says the party's results off the WA senate re-run was disappointing. Source: AAP

THE Liberal party is likely to win a third seat in the re-run West Australian Senate election, a political analyst predicts, based on key preferences.

While counting continues, Greens candidate Scott Ludlam has undoubtedly retained his seat, the top two Liberal candidates appear home and hosed, Labor has secured one seat and Palmer United Party is looking comfortable with one seat.

But in the battle between Liberal and Labor for the sixth seat, the latter could lose out, says David Black, history and politics professor at Curtin University.

"I assume the Greens preferences will find their way fairly soon to Labor, but they may not have that many preferences because they may have to use up most of their vote in order to get their quota," Professor Black told AAP on Monday.

"I would have thought on the figures I've seen so far, that unless Labor pick up some significant chunks from other places, then the Liberals will probably win the final sixth seat because the Liberals will get the National Party preferences for a start.

"The Nationals have got enough to make a bit of a difference."

Professor Black said there would be severe recriminations within the Labor party over ordering of candidates on its Senate ticket.

If the order had been reversed - with Louise Pratt ahead of union stalwart Joe Bullock - it would have had a much better chance of winning a second seat, he said.

The Liberals had strong candidates and if the party didn't win the sixth seat, it would only be because of competition from the Palmer United Party, Professor Black said.

Member for Perth and former Labor state minister Alannah MacTiernan said the re-run poll had been a salutary experience for both major parties.

But there was no papering over the fact it was not going well for Labor, she said.

Ms MacTiernan said she was not the only one in the party who had been arguing for reform for many years, "particularly concentrations of power blocs, a small number of people who wield a great deal of power and that's not healthy in any system".

"We've got to open this up so that we are attractive to a broad range of people, and can go out there and build a constituency," she told ABC radio.

"We've got to reflect the community, we've got to show leadership.

"We've got to have candidates who can win votes for us."

Defence Minister David Johnston, who was first on the Liberal ticket, said it was a shame Labor's Mark Bishop was retiring as he was "their best performer".

Senator Johnston also noted - as many had - the absence of Mr Bullock and Ms Pratt from Labor's how to vote cards.

"It's just bizarre what goes on inside the Labor party," he told ABC radio.

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Terrorist Bashir 'wants to disrupt polls'

Radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir has encouraged supporters to disrupt the Indonesian elections. Source: AAP

EDS: Updates with DFAT advice

JAKARTA, April 7 AAP - Indonesian police are on alert after suspected Bali bombing mastermind Abu Bakar Bashir encouraged supporters to disrupt this week's Indonesian legislative elections.

The convicted terrorist has asked supporters not to be "unproductive" and to disrupt Wednesday's nationwide ballot.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Adi Deriyan Jayamarta told Indonesia's Kompas news website police have been warned by Indonesia's anti-terror forces that a terrorist network could be planning an attack.

The police chief, based in Malang, East Java, has ordered officers to stay in communication with religious leaders and approach any suspicious object with care, especially near polling stations.

"There's expert personnel who will handle it," he said on Monday.

"Don't think that you have some kind of 'blast-free magic' and handle it yourself."

According to Lt Col Adi, Detachment 88, Indonesia's counter-terror squad, had information from a terror suspect involved with a network "that has done military training for firearm and bomb usage".

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade updated its travel advice for Indonesia last week, noting the elections.

"Australians are advised to avoid all protests, demonstrations and political rallies, as they can turn violent with little notice," a spokesman said.

"The department keeps the travel advice for Indonesia under close review and updates it as required."

Bashir, the founder of Jemaah Islamiah (JI), is serving 15 years in Nusa Kambangan, a high-security jail off the coast of central Java dubbed the Alcatraz of Indonesia.

He was acquitted over the 2002 Bali bombings, but was jailed over his role in setting up a terror cell in Aceh.

Indonesia's counter-terrorism agency chief in 2012 told AAP Bashir was still giving orders from behind bars, albeit to a group with a different name, but the same radical ideology as JI.

The bombing of two Kuta nightclubs in 2002 killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.

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