A MAN who allegedly followed two women in the Melbourne CBD and indecently assaulted them will be charged on summons.
A 22-year-old South Australian man was arrested over the two incidents on Queen Street on July 26.
He will be charged on summons with two counts of indecent assault and will appear in a Melbourne court at a later date, police said on Thursday.
ROBOTS that do most of the dirty work on the Sydney Harbour Bridge have been recognised in a prestigious science award.
The Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) and the Sydney University of Technology collaborated on the technology and are the finalist in the ANSTO Eureka Prize for innovative use of technology.
"It's a fantastic recognition for the two grit-blasting robots which help carry out two-thirds of the dirty work to maintain our iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge," an RMS spokesman said.
"The 25 kilogram robots use internal sensors and cameras to locate old paint and grit to then blast the material away as part of the $20 million annual maintenance program on the bridge."
The technology is a culmination of six years of development and can be applied to any steel infrastructure around the world.
Australian Dominic Bird, acquitted of drug charges in Malaysia, could be back in Perth within hours. Source: AAP
EDS: Adds details of possible appeal in final pars
By Karlis Salna and Rebecca Le May
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 AAP - A Perth man acquitted in Malaysia on drug-trafficking charges won't be home in time for dinner as hoped because his legal team is still scrambling to secure his visa.
Dominic Bird, 33, was taken into custody in Kuala Lumpur on March 1 last year, accused of supplying an undercover policeman with 167 grams of methamphetamine.
The possession of more than 50 grams carries a mandatory death penalty in Malaysia.
On Wednesday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court found him not guilty, with Justice Kamardin Hashim saying the prosecution had failed to prove its case and the defence had raised reasonable doubt.
The swift verdict was a surprise because only closing submissions were expected.
However Mr Bird hasn't been able to return home because his visa expired while he was in prison.
His lawyer, Tania Scivetti, has been working furiously to arrange a new visa since 9am (1100 AEST), and had earlier in the day said she hoped he would return to Perth "before dinner".
But at about 4pm (1800 AEST), she said the matter was still unresolved.
If her client was not able to catch a plane on Thursday night, it was hoped he would be home within days, Ms Scivetti said.
"We are waiting for a reply from the immigration department," she told AAP.
"Once we receive a reply - I'm hoping it's going to be a favourable reply, and I don't see why it wouldn't be a favourable reply - then he'll be back on the next plane back to Perth.
"We've sent a letter to immigration informing them that there was no offence committed by our client on the basis that when he entered Malaysia, he had a valid visa and the reason why his visa has since expired is because of his detention.
"On that basis they should ... do what they've got to do so he can exit the country."
It's understood Mr Bird is not being held behind bars.
"They shouldn't be holding him for much longer, but we have to await the decision," Ms Scivetti said.
The defence team, led by barrister Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, argued during the trial Mr Bird had been set up by Inspector Luther Nurjib - the prosecution's star witness - who was last week found guilty of contempt of court for threatening and attempting to bribe another witness.
Insp Nurjib could face further charges.
If the prosecution wants to appeal the verdict, it would need to do so by September 14.
"We are still considering whether or not to appeal," prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib told AAP.
"We have 10 days to decide."
Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey will release the coalition's full list of costings on Thursday. Source: AAP
AUSTRALIANS can go to the election confident a coalition government can afford its policies and improve the federal budget, shadow treasurer Joe Hockey says.
The opposition waited until two days before the election campaign to release its policy costings and announce a bottom line injection of $6 billion by 2016/17, if it wins government.
"We are turning around the direction of the budget," Mr Hockey said in Melbourne on Thursday.
But Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Mr Hockey's costings amounted to a few "flimsy bits of paper" that didn't give voters the necessary detail.
"What are they hiding?" he said.
If Mr Hockey becomes treasurer, he says federal budget spending of $33 billion will be more than offset by cuts or savings of $40 billion over four years.
The biggest single saving - $14.7 billion - will come from scrapping Labor's mining tax package and related spending measures, such as the Schoolkids Bonus, small business tax breaks and the low-income superannuation top-up.
Scrapping the carbon tax will cost about $6 billion, because a coalition government will have to forego revenue of $13.6 billion and still pay for household compensation and pension increases.
But the Parliamentary Budget Office, which assessed the coalition's costings, estimates the budget would be $1.1 billion better off due to a "surge" in economic activity from dumping carbon pricing.
The estimate wasn't included in the opposition's costings tables.
The coalition estimates its $5.5 billion a year paid parental leave scheme, to be partly funded by a 1.5 per cent levy on 3000 companies, will generate a net $1.7 billion budget benefit by 2016/17 as that tax revenue begins to outstrip running costs.
However, Mr Hockey said the current growth rate of Australia's foreign aid budget wasn't feasible so this would be reduced to free up $4.5 billion for other priorities such as road projects.
"Only the coalition will live within its means and get Australia back on the path of strong economic growth," he said.
Mr Albanese criticised the aid budget cut and warned the coalition was also planning to dump $4.7 billion worth of rail infrastructure projects.
"Ripping billions of dollars out of the infrastructure budget ... would be an act of economic vandalism," he said.
Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia CEO Lee White said while budget cuts were necessary due to the challenging fiscal conditions, cutting foreign aid was a "big step in the wrong direction".
"We have a moral responsibility as a wealthy nation to support those that need assistance," he said.
As previously announced, the coalition also plans to lower the company tax rate to 28.5 per cent, from 30 per cent, at a cost of $4.9 billion.
BDO national tax director Lance Cunningham said the coalition was "tinkering round the edges" of a tax system that needed more fundamental reforms.
The Tax Institute's tax counsel Deepti Paton agreed, saying without a commitment to reform, the tax system would become "a handbrake on growth over the coming decades".
The coalition didn't commit to a timeframe to deliver a budget surplus.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has previously said a coalition government would be on track to a "believable" surplus by the end of its first three-year term.
The pre-election economic and fiscal outlook forecast a $4.2 billion surplus in 2016/17.
ENERGY Australia's managing director denies he promoted a culture of sexual harassment at the company, saying he previously enjoyed a very good relationship with a woman who has made claims against the supplier.
Kate Shea claims she was wrongfully sacked from Energy Australia for highlighting a culture "where sexual harassment is condoned".
Ms Shea, 47, has accused the company's managing director Richard McIndoe of commenting on the weight and appearance of employees and joking about pornography in the workplace.
Mr McIndoe denied the claims in the Federal Court, saying the only time he commented on a staff member's appearance was to request that one woman wore less revealing clothes into the office.
Ms Shea also alleges a human resources manager had to follow Mr McIndoe around the 2010 company Christmas party to ensure he didn't sexually harass staff.
But Mr McIndoe said he was released from hospital with 120 stitches just days before that party after having a tumour removed from his neck.
"I was in a great deal of pain and quite frail," he told the court on Monday.
Mr McIndoe said he and Ms Shea had shared a good personal and professional relationship before she made the accusations in mid 2011.
He said the pair often went out for lunch and drinks and had dined together with their partners.
Ms Shea has alleged in court that Energy Australia's chief financial officer Kevin Holmes, who has since left the company, touched her inappropriately on a work trip to Hong Kong in February 2010.
The former corporate affairs director is claiming compensation for loss of earnings and reinstatement to her role.
Energy Australia says Ms Shea lost her job in February 2012 as part of a necessary restructure.
The trial continues.
A FORMER Rural Fire Service volunteer who lit a string of fires before helping to put them out has walked from court, hours after he was sentenced to a minimum 12 months in jail.
Magistrate Michelle Goodwin on Monday sentenced 20-year-old Joshua Staples to 18 months' jail with a non-parole period of one year.
But the offender has been let out on bail while he waits for his appeal to be heard next month.
Moments after the sentence was handed down, Staples' father shook his head as his son was handcuffed and led from Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court.
His mother grinned and called out "You right mate?" to her boy.
The Badgerys Creek man was later released on bail.
He was convicted of deliberately starting multiple grass and bin fires at Bringelly, Badgerys Creek and Greendale in January 2011.
In several cases, Staples doubled back to help fellow RFS firefighters extinguish the blazes, the court heard.
His lawyer had pushed for a part-time or non-custodial sentence.
"The offences are out of character for him, he's unlikely to reoffend, and has positive prospects for rehabilitation," Michael Coroneos told the court.
Mr Coroneos said his client was barely 18 when he lit the fires.
"He was one month and 21 days over the cut-off mark," he said.
Ms Goodwin said a psychiatrist's report showed there were "no psychiatric issues apparent" but "the offender still maintains his innocence".
"It is therefore difficult to assess any prospects for rehabilitation," she said before handing down her sentence.
"I am firmly of the view that the only appropriate sentence ... will be a sentence of full-time custody."
Staples' grandmother Veletta Heron, who crucially told Staples' hearing that her grandson had broken down at her kitchen table and confessed to lighting the fires, was not in court to see him sentenced.
The appeal is set to be heard in the Downing Centre District Court on October 23.
CONVICTED Queensland triple murderer Max Sica could seek to have his conviction overturned by the High Court of Australia.
It would be the 43-year-old's final avenue of appeal, after the Supreme Court of Queensland dismissed an appeal on Monday.
Sica was last year jailed for a minimum of 35 years for the murders of former girlfriend Neelma Singh, 24, and her siblings Kunal, 18, and Sidhi, 12.
Their bodies were found in the spa of their family home in the outer Brisbane suburb of Bridgeman Downs in April 2003.
Sica was not in court on Monday but family members told reporters outside court there would be a High Court appeal.
"We lost the battle but not the war," Sica's father Carlo Sica said.
Mr Sica and his wife Anna Sica had loudly protested in court when Justice John Muir delivered the decision.
"There is no justice. Shame on you," Mr Sica called out.
Outside court Sica's brother Claudio said there was "irrefutable" evidence the Singh siblings were murdered by someone else.
Mrs Sica said her son had been set up by police.
Sica has always maintained his innocence.
He appealed his conviction on the grounds that he should have been given a judge-only trial and that some evidence should not have been admitted during his trial.
The evidence included police interviews with Sica and the evidence of expert witnesses concerning footprints found at the scene of the crime.
Sica also sought leave to appeal his sentence on the grounds it was excessive.
But the Court of Appeal ruled on Monday there was no error by the trial judge concerning the admission of evidence.
The three appeal judges also did not accept that the trial judge's refusal to make a no-jury order was grounds for an appeal.
Justices Muir, Robert Gotterson and Peter Applegarth also disagreed that Sica's sentence was excessive.
"Neelma, Kunal and Sidhi Singh were deprived of the possibility of having long and fulfilling lives," they wrote.
"Their parents and surviving sibling were deprived of their companionship, love and support ... they were condemned to lifelong misery and suffering."
Sica or his legal team have 28 days to apply to the High Court for leave to appeal.
They would need to show the matter is of general public importance.
It's understood that if leave to appeal is refused the court is unlikely to change its mind at a later date.
A MAN who gave an emotional apology for failing to stand for a magistrate in court has been found guilty of rioting at a Sydney protest over an anti-Islamic film.
Mohammed Issai Issaka claimed he got caught up in the violence during the September 2012 protest in Sydney's CBD and only lashed out at police officers in self-defence.
He had pleaded not guilty to rioting, resisting arrest and assault.
But on Monday Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge found Issaka had been a rallying figure and had helped lead the chanting.
"This mob, and it turned into a mob, was screaming and chanting as one organism," she said.
Issaka's lawyer Stephen Hopper told the Downing Centre Local Court that police had not made their case, and could not say that Issaka's wide eyes and wild gestures warranted his arrest.
"The defendant was probably scared as hell that he was going to get beaten up by the riot squad," Mr Hopper said.
Ms Milledge agreed that some protesters had probably planned on joining a peaceful protest and must have been bewildered by the shouting, violence and the placards saying "Behead all those who insult the prophet".
"But Mr Issaka is not one of them, he's captured on that footage leading and jumping and chanting," Ms Milledge said.
"Not even the other members of the protest could stop him from carrying on the way he was ... I find all the offences proved."
Her decision came hours after Issaka delivered an emotional apology to the court for failing to stand for the magistrate during his last appearance.
Dressed in a kufi cap and white robes, Issaka broke down after offering his "unreserved apology".
"I had formed a sincere religious belief that I did not have to stand for any man or woman," he said.
"It was never my intention to show contempt or disrespect to the court or your honour by not standing."
He stood and sobbed as Ms Milledge accepted his apology.
Issaka pulled a white cloth over his head and shoulders before stepping outside court, where he refused to comment to the waiting media, telling reporters simply to "speak to my lawyer".
He remains on bail to be sentenced on November 12.
Police prosecutor Matthew Baker asked that Ms Milledge consider a custodial sentence but would not comment further outside court.
PM Kevin Rudd is likely to play the underdog card amid new polls, as he campaigns in the NT. Source: AAP
LABOR and the coalition are entering the crucial final week of election campaigning with neither side prepared to give up.
Labor vowed to "fight, fight, fight" despite poor polls on Saturday as Prime Minister Kevin Rudd prepared to officially launch his campaign in Brisbane on Sunday.
"I've seen a range of polls both public and private which suggest to me this election will end up a little closer than you think," Mr Rudd told reporters in the Northern Territory.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says he expects plenty of "low" politics from Labor in the countdown to September 7 but played down polls showing a coalition victory.
He plans to run a steady campaign during a tough last week, knowing the last few yards are when "the most can go wrong".
"Lots of people have said to me over the course of the last three or four weeks that we are desperately hoping for a change of government and if it doesn't happen you, Abbott, are going to be held responsible," he told reporters on Saturday.
"The last thing I want to do over the next seven days is give anyone an excuse to vote against the coalition."
Mr Rudd, who will promote Labor's message of jobs and growth at Labor's launch on Sunday, had another bad day on the campaign trail.
Journalists travelling with him were prevented from touring a GP superclinic in the marginal Country Liberal seat of Solomon by the conservative Northern Territory government.
Mr Rudd called it "base politics" by the NT government.
But the NT government made no apologies for putting the needs of patients and health staff ahead of politicians "hot on the campaign trail".
Mr Rudd used his visit to re-commit $110 million to build a second hospital in Palmerston.
During his press conference, he was loudly heckled by a man who shouted "You fool! Get out of here! Stop spending!"
Mr Abbott also had a heckler but it was not so loud or unfriendly.
Deep in the heart of beef country in the Queensland seat of Flynn, Mr Abbott said regional Australia would be a focus of a coalition government.
"It better be," a local called out.
Earlier in Townsville, Mr Abbott pledged $20 million for flood-proofing a local road as his shadow Immigration Minister Scott Morrison announced the scrapping of free government legal advice which he said will save $120 million over four years, and deter people from getting on boats.
Elsewhere on the campaign, Treasurer Chris Bowen was insisting the coalition was hiding by not releasing its full list of election promises and costs - and that amounted to deception.
Liberal Senator Arthur Sinodinos said the coalition had already released most of its costings.
A bushwalker has fallen to his death during a rescue operation in bushland northeast of Melbourne. Source: AAP
PARAMEDICS did everything they could to help a Victorian bushwalker who fell to his death while being winched to safety during a rescue operation, the head of Ambulance Victoria says.
The bushwalker was being winched into an air ambulance after injuring his leg near Mansfield, northeast of Melbourne, at about 12.30pm (AEST) on Saturday, when he fell.
Ambulance Victoria chief executive Greg Sassella said helicopter operations were high risk.
"They did everything they could to assist this person but unfortunately something's obviously gone wrong and the person's (fallen) to their death," Mr Sassella told reporters on Saturday.
"We have a very good record here in Victoria but that's because we do learn and understand what goes wrong when it goes this wrong and we'll do the same in this instance."
Ambulance Victoria suspended all winching operations following the incident.
Mr Sassella said the equipment involved in the accident was of a very high standard.
"What happened here today we just need to try and understand," he said.
He said his thoughts were with the family of the man involved.
