'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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Peter Hore charged after ICAC outburst

Serial pest Peter Hore has stormed a NSW corruption inquiry, leaving a police officer in hospital. Source: AAP

SERIAL pest Peter Hore has stormed a NSW corruption inquiry, leaving a police officer in hospital.

The special constable was bleeding from the head after he tried to restrain the troublemaker, who barged into the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) hearing room just before 11am (AEDT) on Friday screaming about his "brother" and a death in Newcastle.

Hore was charged on Friday with assaulting a law enforcement officer, for offensive conduct and inflicting actual bodily harm.

He has had his bail refused and will face Central Local Court on Saturday.

The injured officer was taken away from the ICAC's Sydney CBD offices by ambulance while Hore was led from the seventh floor in handcuffs.

"We're the second coming," he yelled.

"Stop trying to assault me ... Don't try to break my wrist."

He was later seen banging on the walls of the paddy wagon in which he was transported from the building.

The injured officer is at St Vincent's Hospital recovering from what are described as minor injuries.

The body of Hore's 52-year-old housemate was last week found hog-tied and half-naked at a cricket ground in Newcastle.

Police have previously said there was no suggestion Hore had any involvement in the man's death and on Friday said Anthony Richard Dent, 53, was wanted for the alleged murder.

ICAC Commissioner Megan Latham, who was asked to leave the hearing room as Hore was tackled to the ground on Friday morning, returned to call an adjournment and said some staff were "traumatised".

Hore wore a long beard and a t-shirt with the letters "WTF" and told reporters he was "only trying to introduce myself".

A woman who arrived at the commission with Hore later told reporters she did not speak English.

The notorious gatecrasher has disrupted a string of major events including the Melbourne Cup, the funeral of rock singer Michael Hutchence and the Socceroos' 1997 World Cup qualifier against Iran.

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Boat incursion secrecy continues

CUSTOMS has refused to disclose whether Australian border protection vessels were turning asylum seeker boats back when they breached Indonesian territorial waters on six occasions.

The incursions took place between December 2013 and January 2014 under Operation Sovereign Borders and the discovery of the "inadvertent" breaches prompted the Abbott government to issue a swift apology to Indonesia.

Customs and Defence conducted a joint internal review into the incidents but only the executive summary with five recommendations was publicly released in February.

But a copy of the full report, under Freedom of Information laws, shows that damage to international relations and national security and defence are cited as reasons for the 18 blacked out pages and other redacted sections.

The document shows the joint review actually made seven recommendations but two have not been made public.

Sections identifying which boats were involved and the circumstances are also blanked out.

The discussion about the Abbott government's policy parameters on boat turn backs - only when safe and outside 12 nautical miles from Indonesia's archipelagic baseline - was also heavily redacted.

Last month, a Senate inquiry into the breaches found those two aims may not be achievable.

The document, obtained by AAP, shows the review team made up of three Defence personnel, and two Customs officers sought advice from the Attorney General's Department and Department of Foreign Affairs but the names of other bodies were blanked out.

It said the review took into account the potential for further inquiry into the events as a justification for making no findings against individuals.

The report said territorial seas declared by foreign nations are generally not depicted on Australian hydrographic charts.

The review blamed the breaches on incorrect calculations of boundaries of Indonesian waters rather than deliberate actions or navigational error.

The breaches have added to tension in Australian Indonesian relations following allegations Australian spies tapped the mobile phones of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife in 2009.

Customs and Defence are still assessing whether lapses in judgment contributed to the breaches.

Training regimes are under review and revised force preparation training will be introduced by May.

Officers will also be given special training on the United Nations convention of the law of the sea from the end of June.

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