Sydney ferry staff take industrial action

SYDNEY ferry workers have decided to take industrial action this weekend but it will hurt the NSW government rather than ferrygoers.

The Maritime Union of Australia has told its workers not to collect ferry tickets after 6pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the latest salvo in a wages dispute with Harbour City Ferries.

"The workers will still be there to get people on and off the boat," said MUA Sydney assistant secretary Paul Garrett with massive crowds expected in the city for the popular Vivid Festival this weekend.

"We want Harbour City to come and make fair proposals."

Mr Garrett said workers were being asked to take a pay rise that was below inflation while some were being offered work at $500 per week less than before.

Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian said she was dismayed by the decision which followed months of negotiations between Harbour City and the unions.

"I am disappointed that both the Maritime Union of Australia and the Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers have chosen to take industrial action this weekend, during the popular Vivid Festival," she said in a statement.

"I'm dismayed that the unions would choose to sabotage the Vivid Festival and disrupt the journeys of so many people, including families."

Harbour City Ferries chief executive Steffen Faurby said his organisation would try to minimise disruptions.

"We will continue negotiations, but our main priority is making sure our customers are not inconvenienced," he said.

Mr Faurby said extra services were being run during Vivid.

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Diver dies in search of South Korean ferry

A DIVER has died during the search for people still missing inside a sunken South Korean ferry.

It's the second such death among divers mobilised since the ferry sank on April 16, leaving more than 300 people dead or missing.

Government task force spokesman Ko Myung-seok says the diver fell unconscious when he was pulled to the surface by fellow divers on Friday.

The diver received CPR and was taken to a hospital on a helicopter but was declared dead there. The exact cause wasn't known.

Ko says the diver was cutting open parts of the ship exterior to make searches easier.

Since the sinking, 288 bodies have been recovered but 16 people are still missing. No new body has been retrieved since May 21.

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WA shoplifter jailed over guard attack

A PERTH woman who shoplifted lollies and chips, and then ran over an undercover security guard who confronted her has been jailed for three years.

Narissa Marie Gidgup was with two children when she stole confectionery and cosmetics worth a total of $60 from a Coles supermarket last July.

Gidgup was confronted by a female covert security guard dressed in casual clothes and a male security guard when she sprayed the male guard in the face with deodorant and then tried to flee in a car.

She attempted to run both guards over, but her car got stuck on a bollard, so she turned it around and sped towards the female guard, striking her head-on, the Perth District Court heard on Friday.

The guard was carried onto the bonnet and became trapped under the vehicle as Gidgup drove over her.

Gidgup reversed the car, crashing into a pole and then the car stalled as she tried to flee.

The male guard grabbed the keys from the ignition, but Gidgup then charged at him, the court heard.

He punched her in the face and attempted to grab her cardigan to stop her from leaving, but it was pulled off in the struggle.

Gidgup then removed other garments and spat in his face until police arrived.

The female guard suffered injuries to her legs, hip, ribs and back.

In sentencing, Judge Ronald Birmingham said it was lucky her injuries were not more serious.

Judge Birmingham rejected claims Gidgup was stealing because she was "desperately hungry" for food, saying it was "sly deliberate stealing".

"There was preparation, forethought and certainly persistence in your offending conduct," he said.

Judge Birmingham also noted Gidgup's mental health, alcohol and drug abuse, and lengthy criminal record.

He said she had little remorse and was likely to reoffend.

Gidgup's sentenced was backdated to March 2013 and must serve 18 months behind bars before being eligible for parole.

She will also be disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver's licence for two years, to begin upon her release from prison.

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Vic agencies unprepared for scale of fire

A VICTORIAN coalmine fire was so big it took agencies responsible for firefighters' health time to adjust to the scale of their task, the state's fire chief says.

Fire Service Commissioner Craig Lapsley has dubbed health monitoring at the Hazelwood mine fire a success but said the response would have to be better at future fires.

The monitoring system was based on previous, smaller fires and agencies improved over the 45 days the fire burned, Mr Lapsley said.

"We had to be agile in the way that we did it," Mr Lapsley told an inquiry into the blaze on Friday.

"The system of work needs to be embedded to ensure that we can deal with not only 30 or 40 firefighters, but the shifts of 200, 300, 400 if it was to happen again."

Fourteen firefighters were hospitalised with carbon monoxide poisoning while battling the blaze.

The inquiry heard the monitoring project was the largest of its kind in the world, with 7000 people being assessed for the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning and 23 WorkCover claims filed.

"I'd say (it was) a very successful operation," Mr Lapsley said.

The inquiry heard the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning at mine fires was known following a 2006 fire, but when the blaze started on February 9 the Country Fire Authority was yet to implement a 2010 draft operating procedure.

Mr Lapsley said it should have been signed off and published earlier.

He was also pressed on why firefighters were not given breathing apparatuses after it was agreed they should be compulsory when entering the mine.

Mr Lapsley said protocols were set around the use of breathing apparatuses in consultation with firefighters who did their own "dynamic risk assessment".

"It was found to be totally impractical to actually wear a breathing apparatus all the time," Mr Lapsley said.

He was also questioned on the possibility of the fire starting within the mine, which he said he could not rule out but was unlikely.

"The probability of having a fire start within the mine from some vehicle movement, mechanical device or other things, you couldn't actually take away," Mr Lapsley said, adding there was no evidence of fires starting from any way other than ember attacks.

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ASIO HQ a step closer: spy boss

TEN months have passed since its official opening, and in about another seven months Australia's spy agency should finally move into its new Canberra headquarters.

The $680 million building on the northern side of Lake Burley Griffin has been plagued by delays and budget blowouts, but Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) director-general David Irvine can see a conclusion.

"The first cohorts should be going in towards the end of the year (or) early next year," he told a Senate estimates hearing on Thursday.

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd officially opened the imposing, multistorey building in July 2013, more than a year after it was due to be ready.

Since then, windows have fallen off the building, and problems remain to be fixed.

"Further remediation work will still be required on the air-conditioning system," Mr Irvine said.

Those problems stem from difficulties with the building's automatic fire doors. The access system also has problems.

After the repairs, Mr Irvine expects to get the keys in mid-June, and after some top-secret tweaking, such as with the wiring and internal fitout, the workers can move in.

However, Mr Irvine will not get the chance to work in the new building. He retires in September.

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Westfield restructure plan on ice

Westfield chairman Frank Lowy has endured vocal criticism from shareholders over a restructure plan. Source: AAP

THE Lowy family has suffered a setback to its plans for a $70 billion restructure of Westfield following a revolt from small investors in its managed trust, who accused the shopping mall barons of using strong-arm tactics to get a crucial vote to go their way.

A meeting of Westfield Retail Trust (WRT) shareholders was adjourned suddenly on Thursday before the final outcome of a vote on the restructure was known.

Another vote is planned to be held within a fortnight.

The move followed a warning earlier in the day from Westfield founder and chairman Frank Lowy, who vowed to press ahead with plans to split Westfield's Australasian and global businesses regardless of the whether WRT shareholders supported the deal.

Under the restructure plan, Westfield's Australian and New Zealand businesses would merge with WRT to create a new entity, to be called Scentre.

Westfield Group's international business, which includes malls in Great Britain and at the World Trade Center in New York, would become Westfield Corporation.

But the board of WRT considered the warning from Mr Lowy to be a "material change" in the outlook for its investors, and they should have more time to consider the restructure plan, which was approved at a separate meeting of Westfield Group shareholders earlier on Thursday.

The surprise development came after shareholders in WRT appeared set to reject the overall restructure plan.

Steven Lowy, a director on the WRT board and Westfield Group board, told AAP the decision to adjourn the meeting was the right thing to do.

"What's the downside in giving another 10 to 14 days to consider this important proposal?" he said.

But Stephen Mayne from the Australian Shareholder's Association (ASA) said the board should not have delayed a vote on the restructure plan, calling the adjournment "outrageous".

"They lost the vote and shifted the goalposts," Mr Mayne told AAP.

"The independent directors should not have voted like that. It's a sorry tale all round."

Mr Mayne earlier in the day criticised Frank Lowy after the 83-year-old billionaire said a rejection of the restructure plan by WRT "would not diminish our determination to proceed with Westfield Group's strategic objective of separating the two businesses".

Mr Mayne accused Mr Lowy of trying to strong arm WRT investors, adding that his revised proposal to push ahead could devalue WRT by creating a competing investment vehicle.

In a fiery Westfield Group meeting on Thursday morning, Mr Mayne said Mr Lowy had run an "oppressive" campaign to get the deal across the line.

"It's oppressive and it shouldn't be happening," Mr Mayne said to Mr Lowy.

Mr Lowy responded by telling Mr Mayne he was living in "dreamland".

"Your characterisation is absolutely wrong," Mr Lowy said.

"You're in dreamland to say this is being done in an oppressive way."

Mr Mayne later said Mr Lowy was out of line to tell shareholders he would pursue the split regardless of the WRT vote, even before the result was known.

"I'm suggesting he's tying one last desperate attempt to strong-arm Westfield Retail shareholders to accept an unattractive offer," Mr Mayne told AAP.

Westfield had needed support from 75 per cent of investors in each company to push ahead with the restructure.

While 98 per cent of Westfield Group investors gave the nod to the plan, only 74.1 per cent of proxy votes cast by WRT investors.

Shares in Westfield Group and WRT remain in a trading halt.

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Cyber attacks on the rise

CYBER security attacks on business are on the rise, and the culprits appear to be competitors seeking commercial information.

And while many companies reported cyber security incidents, others didn't, raising concerns they don't know what's really happening on their networks.

Australia's national Computer Emergency Response Team says 56 per cent of companies it has surveyed reported one or more cyber security attacks in the past year.

Forty-four per cent reported no incidents. But CERT, part of the Attorney-General's Department, says in a new report that anecdotal evidence indicates some businesses were unaware of the full scope of unauthorised activity on their networks.

"Most of the incidents were in the form of targeted emails, followed by virus or worm infection and trojan or rootkit malware," CERT said.

"This is consistent with the finding that respondents viewed cyber security incidents to be targeted at their organisation, rather than random or indiscriminate."

Attorney-General George Brandis said the most commonly reported was what's called "spear phishing", sending emails to specific individuals, often using personal information to create credibility. Clicking on links will download spyware, he said in a statements.

The main motivation is considered to be competitors seeking commercial advantage.

CERT's survey was directed at big business with a quarter of the 135 respondents in the defence industry sector.

All businesses used varying levels of network security but CERT found potential problems.

More than 60 per cent think their IT staff, chief executive and directors need to improve security skills and practices.

Forty-seven per cent use the now superseded Windows XP operating system and almost all were aware that Microsoft no longer provided technical support after April 8.

But 13 per cent had no plans to move to another operating system and eight per cent didn't know.

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Melbourne Zoo seal Gordo dies

GORDO the seal has died at Melbourne Zoo, more than a decade after being rescued when found emaciated and dehydrated on a Victorian beach.

The sub-Antarctic fur seal suffered a cardiac arrest while recovering from an anaesthetic procedure, zoo head vet Dr Michael Lynch said on Thursday.

The 11-year-old was having problems with his kidneys and vets were investigating whether he had a degenerative renal condition. Dr Lynch said it was possible that condition contributed to the arrest.

Gordo was found emaciated and dehydrated on the main beach at Warrnambool in August 2003.

As a yearling not adjusting well to life away from his mother he was not suitable for re-release and was kept in the zoo's care, the zoo said.

Wild Sea keeper Mark Keenan said Gordo was good natured and hundreds of thousands of zoo visitors witnessed his acrobatic skills in daily shows.

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Stockland says $2.5b Australand bid final

Property group Stockland has increased its takeover offer for rival Australand to $2.5 billion. Source: AAP

STOCKLAND says its sweetened $2.5 billion takeover bid for fellow property developer Australand is final and as good as it will get.

Australand's board did not rule out accepting the offer as it did the initial $2.4 billion bid, saying it would consider it, raising speculation a deal would be made.

Stockland chief executive Mark Steinert said senior management from both companies had been holding talks since the process began.

It was also reported that Stockland had offered one-on-meetings to institutional investors with its management team on Wednesday to discuss the offer.

Some Australand investors are against the deal, with the company's shares falling on Wednesday.

Stockland's new share swap offer values Australand shares at $4.35 each, up from its previous rejected offer of $4.20.

Stockland has also offered to add a $250 million cash component to what is currently a non cash deal, but that would reduce the current scrip ratio of 1.124 shares for each Australand share.

Mr Steinert insisted he had uniform support from shareholders of both companies that he had spoken to so far.

"That has been a key part of giving us the confidence to make this compelling final proposal today," he told an analysts briefing.

"The combination creates a really great real estate company."

Stockland acquired a 19.9 per cent stake in Australand in March.

The following month it made its initial takeover bid.

If the pair merge, the combined group would be Australia's leading residential developer.

It would also hold the number one spot in regional shopping centre developments and number two position in distribution warehousing, logistics and business parks.

Stockland said a deal would immediately be earnings accretive, increasing earnings per share by five per cent and delivering savings through synergies of $15 million in the first year and $25 million in the second.

However when analysts questioned where those figures had come from, Mr Steinert said while he was confident in the savings figures due diligence still had to be done on Australand's books to prove it.

CMC Markets chief market strategist said he thought a deal would go ahead and that Stockland's bid was final, given there were legal implications for reversing such statements.

"I think there is unlikely to be another bid, it represents a better than 20 per cent premium to Australand's net tangible assets and I would think it is enough to get it over the line," he said.

He cited Australand's share price fall to investors not liking a non-cash scrip bid that forces them to be exposed to Stockland's different profile.

Australand shares were one cent lower at $4.25 at 1504, while Stockland had risen 1.5 cents to $3.885.

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Elder's 'stolen wages' claim dismissed

AN Aboriginal elder's claim for wages he says were stolen by the state has been thrown out of court due to a lack of evidence.

Conrad Yeatman, 74, was seeking $35,000 for wages he said were never paid to him when he worked as a carpenter and labourer in north Queensland in the 1950s.

Under the Aboriginals Preservation and Protection Act 1939 part of his wages were placed in the trust of the superintendent of the Yarrabah mission where he lived.

Mr Yeatman's District Court claim said that while some of his earnings were paid out when he became exempt from the law in 1958, 70 pounds that he earned working on a station was never recovered.

However, Justice David Andrews granted a state bid to put the case on hold permanently after exhaustive searches found almost no financial documentation, and that potential witnesses were dead.

"The defendants have effectively no evidence whatsoever to test these claims," the judge said.

Justice Andrews said it wasn't disputed that Mr Yeatman's savings had been managed by the superintendent but the money could have been withdrawn on his behalf for food or other reasons.

There was some evidence money had been spent on the indigenous teen for clothes, medical expenses and trips.

"I don't accept Mr Yeatman is capable of giving a useful account of the number and amounts of payments made for and on his behalf," the judge said.

Mr Yeatman, whose claim was seen as a test case and was backed by the Queensland Council of Unions (QCU), must also pay the state's legal costs.

His lawyer Charles Massy said it was an immensely disappointing outcome and the team was considering an appeal.

In 2002, former premier Peter Beattie acknowledged that as much as $500 million may have been stolen from Aborigines' wages.

Mr Beattie offered $55 million in compensation, and a reparation scheme subsequently paid out about $35 million to 7000 applicants.

Mr Yeatman was offered the maximum $7,000 reparation but knocked it back as inadequate.

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Ice addict thief spared extra jail time

A HOMELESS ice addict who went on a $20,000 spending spree across Sydney using credit cards stolen from mailboxes has been spared extra time in prison.

Kayla Hemmings, 25, received a minimum sentence of 18 months at the NSW District Court on Tuesday for deliberately lighting a fire at the historic Sydney pub, the Lansdowne Hotel, which caused $2 million damage.

Magistrate Eve Wynhausen said she took Tuesday's punishment into account at Central Local Court on Wednesday when she sentenced Hemmings to concurrent sentences, the longest a nine-month jail term, for a string of offences including credit card theft.

Ms Wynhausen said Hemmings had shown remorse for the two-week spending binge in October 2013, which was funded by bank cards stolen from mailboxes on Sydney's north shore.

By the time Hemmings was charged on October 31, 2013, her spending included 48 separate transactions on a credit card totalling just under $5000 and using a David Jones store card to buy two Apple Mac Pro laptops worth more than $5000.

Hemmings' counsel, Mary Underwood, told the court at her sentencing on Wednesday that her client had been using the drug ice at the time and under the influence of her boyfriend.

"I am not excusing her actions, but she did not have a serious criminal record ... until she was in a relationship with someone that amplified this behaviour," Ms Underwood said.

The lawyer said Hemmings was introduced to amphetamines as a teenager by her mother.

"Unfortunately, she's had a number of converging events," Ms Underwood said.

"There's been abuse, physical and sexual, she got pregnant and was abandoned, she was introduced to ice and got mixed up with domestic violence."

Ms Wynhausen said Hemmings' offending had cost the community tens of thousands of dollars.

"I hope that once she is released from custody, she gets her life in order," she said.

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Row over green reforms derails debate

A STRAIGHTFORWARD proposal to change the way fees are managed under national environment law has been sidetracked by a lengthy debate about the Abbott government's green credentials.

The non-controversial bill allows for cost recovery for environmental impact assessments, and on Wednesday cleared the first hurdle of parliament with bipartisan support.

But Labor's environment spokesman Mark Butler used the occasion to move an amendment condemning the government's plan to create a "one-stop-shop" for environmental approvals.

"In eight short months... this government has shown itself to have scant regard indeed for its responsibilities to protect and nurture Australia's environment," Mr Butler told the chamber.

Critics claim the proposal will erode environmental protections by handing federal powers to the states but the government argues it will deliver faster approvals and reduce regulatory duplication.

The amendment failed, and Environment Minister Greg Hunt pushed the bill through in a vote.

He said almost all state governments - Liberal and Labor - strongly supported the reforms on the table.

"The only people opposed to this reform are the current members of the federal opposition," he said.

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Palmer seeks extra staff to probe bills

Federal MP Clive Palmer has called on the government to provide his party with more advisers. Source: AAP

BILLIONAIRE politician Clive Palmer has called on the government to provide his party with more advisers ahead of it sharing the balance of power in the Senate.

The Palmer United Party will have three senators from July 1 and has an agreement to work with the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party's Ricky Muir - giving it four out of the six extra votes the government will need to pass laws.

Mr Palmer put a submission to Prime Minister Tony Abbott seeking a similar level of resources to that of the Australian Greens.

The Greens have four advisers per senator and Christine Milne has about 14 staff because of her status as a party leader.

Mr Palmer says his staffing proposal was rejected but the government should reconsider.

Asked whether he would make the extra staffing a bargaining chip over legislation the government wanted passed, Mr Palmer said: "That may be the ultimate thing."

"But that is not the intention. Our intention is for the government to be reasonable."

Mr Palmer said his party could not talk to the government about legislation until they knew what it was about.

He said his senators would not simply "tick boxes".

They needed to know how to amend legislation and ensure that government bills did not hurt pensioners and orphans.

"It's not about advantage - it's just getting the job done," he said.

"It's in Australia's interest, it is in the Senate's interest, not to have any holdups."

Mr Palmer said his senators would look at each bill on a case-by-case basis.

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Hotel pair 'possibly had a verbal':inquest

A MAN who was the last person to see a Queensland woman before she plunged to her death from a fourth floor hotel balcony says the pair may have argued before the fall.

A coronial inquest in Cairns is looking into Deborah Lee Humm's death on May 14 last year.

A man who was staying at the hotel with Ms Humm on the night she died told the court the pair had "possibly had a verbal" moments before she fell.

However, he said he was in the bathroom when the incident happened.

"I was intoxicated and can't recollect the exact movements [over the night]," the man, who can't be named for legal reasons, told the court on Tuesday.

"I've tried to think about it, I've tried to work it out."

The man said he couldn't recall hearing what witnesses described as a woman screaming, "go ahead, go head" before Ms Humm fell to her death.

He said he was so intoxicated he couldn't recall the three hours from when the pair left a central Cairns bar to when they returned to the Rydges Tradewinds hotel about 10pm.

He also couldn't explain why he arrived at the hotel on foot about a minute before Ms Humm arrived by taxi.

"I don't know, obviously we just parted," the man said.

Within eight minutes of the pair walking into their hotel room Ms Humm lay dead on the footpath below.

He said the pair may have been speaking loudly that night but, he said, that wasn't unusual after a night drinking.

He said Ms Humm had been standing on the balcony or inside the room when he went to the toilet. When he returned she was gone.

The court heard police took out a domestic violence order against the man in 2011 after Ms Humm's arm was cut open, requiring 10 stitches, after a dispute between the pair.

The man denied he was violent and said the pair hadn't argued frequently.

He said Ms Humm had been depressed about her financial situation and health, and also wasn't happy about his relationship with another woman.

The inquest continues.

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

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Apple set to connect iPhone to your car

The latest gadget from Apple - connecting iPhones to cars - is getting set for a rollout in the US. Source: AAP

APPLE is getting ready to hitch the iPhone to cars in a mobile marriage of convenience.

The ambitious project, called CarPlay, implants some of the iPhone's main applications in cars so drivers can control them with voice commands, a touch on the steering wheel or a swipe on a display screen in the dashboard.

It's expected to be available in the US in the coming months when Pioneer Electronics plans to release a software update for five car radios designed to work with the iPhone.

Alpine Electronics also is working on CarPlay-compatible radios for cars already on the road.

Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo and Ferrari are among those expected to start selling car models with built-in CarPlay services this year.

Google is working with car makers to do something similar with smartphones running its Android operating system, but Apple appears to be further along in efforts to make it easier and safer to text, email, get directions, select music and, yes, even make calls while driving.

I recently checked out a test version of CarPlay in a van equipped with a Pioneer radio designed to work with the iPhone.

The demonstration through the streets of San Francisco convinced me that Apple is on the right track.

The CarPlay system is bound to appeal to iPhone fans who spend a lot of time behind the wheel. It makes less sense for iPhone owners who, like me, spend more of their time walking and using public transport instead of driving.

CarPlay's biggest drawback is the cost. If you want it in a car you already own, compatible radios from Pioneer sell for $US700 to $US1,400.

After factoring in other required parts and labor, figure on spending $US900 to $US1,000 just to get Pioneer's least-expensive CarPlay system in your vehicle.

That's more than the price of a new iPhone, but cheaper than buying a new car with CarPlay built in.

The key to CarPlay's success may hinge on Siri, the iPhone's digital personal assistant. Apple has been striving to make Siri smarter and more versatile, an endeavor that CarPlay figures to put to the test.

Siri serves as CarPlay's central nervous system, doing everything from taking email dictation, reading incoming text messages out load, and scrolling through the system for song requests or different genres of music.

Summoning Siri can be done by touching a button on the steering wheel or CarPlay's display screen.

While CarPlay also responds to touch, the system is at its best when Siri is doing most of the work. I got only a half-hour demo of CarPlay, too little time to determine whether Siri will be up to the job.

Within minutes of getting in the car, Siri couldn't retrieve the correct address for a requested restaurant in San Francisco. Instead, CarPlay listed several other places with the same name, so Siri apparently at least heard the request correctly.

The omission of the requested restaurant may have reflected shortcomings in Apple's database of local businesses.

Beyond that, Siri performed flawlessly reading back incoming texts, composing and sending emails and playing the role of disc jockey when asked to play the music of specific artists such as AC/DC.

It took only a few seconds before "Back in Black" blasted through the stereo.

Even a question about Arnold Schwarzenegger, a name that can be difficult to decipher, didn't stump Siri.

If Siri is able to consistently handle those kinds of challenges, then CarPlay could make the iPhone an even more indispensable mobile device.

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Rogerson can't dodge murder charge

EVEN for a man immortalised on the small screen, former NSW detective Roger Rogerson endured the most dramatic of days.

The once-decorated detective had police thumping on the door of his Sydney home on Tuesday morning before ending the day behind bars, charged with the murder of university student Jamie Gao.

Rogerson, 73, appeared frail and dazed as he was frogmarched out of his suburban home in front of a media pack in Sydney's southwest.

"We're back to the Gestapo days now," he told the pack.

As he was pushed into a police car he complained about his bad hip and knee and said "on the advice of my lawyer, I've got nothing to say."

He and fellow former policeman Glen McNamara have been accused of killing Mr Gao in an alleged botched drug deal.

A day after police flew to Brisbane to track down Rogerson, detectives pounced on his home in Sydney's southwest as he chatted with his lawyer Paul Kenny.

Rogerson was whisked away to Bankstown Police Station, where he was charged with murdering the 20-year-old Mr Gao and large commercial drug supply.

Police allege Mr Gao took three kilograms of methamphetamine to a drug deal with Rogerson and McNamara on Arab Rd in Padstow last Tuesday.

Mr Gao was then driven to a nearby location and murdered, they say.

His body, wrapped in a blue tarpaulin with chains binding the feet, was found floating in the sea off Cronulla on Monday.

Rogerson had been in Queensland on Monday for a speaking engagement but Mr Kenny said his client had agreed to turn up to Sydney Police Centre at midday on Tuesday.

Mr Kenny was outraged by the surprise visit to his home by detectives.

He labelled the police move an "absolute disgrace" and deplored the theatrics.

"The way they spoke to Mr Rogerson was most unnecessary," Mr Kenny said.

"He has been an experienced policeman, he is an older gentleman, as you know ...

"He was treated like a dog.

"I don't know what television shows they have been watching but it's obviously a flop."

Rogerson didn't apply for bail which Magistrate Elaine Truscott formally refused in court on Tuesday afternoon.

Mr Kenny asked the magistrate for Rogerson's "security to be looked at", and for orders to be made so he could access medication while in custody.

Outside court, Mr Kenny wouldn't commit as to whether Rogerson would fight the charges.

"We'll see when we get the brief of evidence," he said.

Rogerson's due before Central Local Court on July 22, where he will appear by audio visual link.

McNamara, who was arrested on Sunday night and also charged with murder and large commercial drug supply, is also due to appear in court in July.

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Housing prices suffer winter blues

THE weather across much of Australia is unseasonably warm, but the housing market is cooling down right on schedule.

After falling by 0.9 per cent the week before, prices in the five mainland state capitals were down by another 0.6 per cent over the week to Sunday.

According to the RP Data's analysis of the residential property market, all five capitals recorded falls last week, from 0.2 per cent in Brisbane to 1.0 per cent in Adelaide.

It was the third week in a row that prices had posted significant falls, but not necessarily an indication that the market has topped out and, at long last, begun the slump that pundits have been forecasting for years now.

There are two reason to doubt that the boom is now going bust.

One is that the market dipped at the same time last year, and to about the same degree - around two per cent or a bit more by RP Data measure.

Both times it had recovered all the lost ground by the end of June.

There is an obvious seasonal pattern.

The other is the auction clearance rates remains high.

Just over 66 per cent of properties whose auction results were tabulated by RP Data last week were sold.

The week before it was 65.4 per cent.

That was still down from the peak of over 75 per cent reached a couple of months earlier as buyers and sellers returned from summer holidays, but it remains high.

It's about level with clearance rates seen at the same time last year.

In other words, it still appears that demand is rising more rapidly than supply.

That could all change, of course.

Consumer confidence figures since the budget the week before last suggest households have had their equilibrium disturbed.

So the coming few weeks, especially the latter half of June when prices would normally be expected to recover from their winter blues as they did last year and the year before, will be a critical time for the housing market.

If the recovery does not proceed as normal, investors will be prompted to wonder whether the easy ride is over.

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Speaker stands by fundraising event

Speaker Bronwyn Bishop must explain what took place in her suite on budget night, says Labor. Source: AAP

SPEAKER Bronwyn Bishop has refused to reveal details of how her parliamentary office was used for a Liberal Party fundraising event.

Labor says a $2500 a head budget night function in the Speaker's Parliament House office - revealed in weekend newspaper reports and not denied by Ms Bishop - is unprecedented and breaches the independence of the role.

Ms Bishop told parliament on Monday that all members of parliament were entitled to use their suites "for their own purposes, but not for illegal purposes".

The opposition asked her to reflect on her ruling, but she stood by her statement.

Now Labor has written to the privileges committee asking for an investigation.

A motion asking the House to refer the same was voted down.

"This is a motion about smear and innuendo directed at the speaker's office," Leader of the House Christopher Pyne said, noting political fundraising events were held in Parliament House all the time.

As long as the costs were covered privately or by a political party there was no breach of the rules, he said.

Opposition frontbencher Tony Burke said the speaker's suite was a special case and the fundraiser represented "improper interference" in the independence of the office.

"This is not an ordinary venue," he told parliament.

"Your job is not owned by the Liberal Party."

Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who is understood to have attended the fundraiser, told parliament Labor was looking for distractions from its lack of policy.

"They worry about what might be in what room at what time in this parliament," he said.

Taking aim at Labor leader Bill Shorten the prime minister said: "Really and truly, this man is no Bob Hawke - he is no leader."

Labor has been critical of Ms Bishop's appointment from an early stage, especially in her handling of question time and biased language.

She has suspended 101 opposition MPs from parliament, but none from the government.

That image was reinforced when Ms Bishop said, after Mr Burke finished his speech: "I find it a bit rough to be lectured on morality from you."

Earlier, the secretary of the Department of Parliamentary Services, Carol Mills, told a Senate estimates hearing she was unaware of any rule preventing such a use of the speaker's suite.

"It is up to the speaker, president or the other holders of special suites to decide how to use them," she said.

Greens senator Lee Rhiannon asked for a list of events held in Parliament House over the past three years to ascertain how many were party fundraisers.

Two previous speakers, Anna Burke and Harry Jenkins, have said they never used the suite for political fundraising events.

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Letter bid to block Vic child abuse bill

ANTI-VIOLENCE groups want three Nationals MPs to block new Victorian laws that they fear will turn women who fail to report child sexual abuse into criminals.

Opponents say they broadly support the child protection bill's aim but one clause risks criminalising women who fail to report child abuse in their family out of fear for their own safety.

With the Legislative Council set to debate the bill this week, leaders from nine organisations have jointly written to the three National MLCs - Danny O'Brien, David O'Brien and Minister for Sport, Recreation and Veterans' Affairs Damian Drum - asking them to vote it down.

Dr Chris Atmore of the Federation of Community Legal Centres said the bill ignores previous research and best practice in the field of domestic violence.

"We hope that at least one Nationals MP will vote based on the evidence and not political expediency," she told AAP.

"We have had very little in the way of a response to our concerns from government MPs but in contrast we have had a fair amount of discussion with the opposition and the Greens, who are concerned about reducing domestic violence but seem to understand our concerns with (the) clause."

A spokesperson for the Nationals said a bi-partisan committee had strongly recommended that all adults have a duty to tell police about child sexual abuse.

"The legislation makes clear that a person does not commit an offence if they have a reasonable fear for their own or someone else's safety and if it is reasonable for them not to inform police in the circumstances of family violence they face."

Labor and the Greens hold 19 seats in the 40-seat Legislative Council and are likely to vote against the bill.

The Liberals have 18 seats and their coalition partner the Nationals hold three seats.

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Man, 21, burned in Sydney gas fireball

A GAS-FUELLED fireball in a busy northern Sydney shopping plaza has left a man with serious burns.

The 21-year-old was rushed to Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital with burns to his lower body after a gas main caught alight about 1pm (AEST) on Monday at the front of a shop in Lane Cove.

He was reported to be in a stable condition.

The local primary school was locked down and about 150 people were moved to safety as firefighters monitored the fire.

They decided not to put the fire out, opting instead to ask the gas company to shut the gas down - which it did an hour later.

"It's actually safer to allow the gas to burn," Superintendent Ian Krimmer told AAP.

"If you put the fire out, you create a bigger problem because the gas leak could go to other areas and cause explosions in other locations."

As the gas was being shut off, six fire crews were protecting buildings, while police kept Longueville Road closed to all traffic.

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