RAAF looks to high-end electronic warfare

THE RAAF is developing advanced electronic warfare capabilities to play a vital role in future operations.

RAAF chief Air Marshall Geoff Brown told an Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) dinner in Canberra that Force Level Electronic Warfare (FLEW) would involve new Growler electronic warfare aircraft and Wedgetail surveillance and control aircraft.

It could also include proposed new P-8 maritime patrol aircraft and Triton unmanned surveillance aircraft, F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft and the Navy's air warfare destroyers (AWDs).

All possess significant ability to deceive, confuse or attack an enemy through electronic means.

Air Marshal Brown said these capabilities could improve current defence forces but that their real value would be to future governments.

Air Marshal Brown said FLEW could assure theatre and national operations over air, land and sea, in peace and in conflict.

"The confluence of Growler, P-8, Wedgetail, Super Hornet and JSF, Navy's Aegis-equipped AWD and Army's special force operations presents an extraordinary development for Australia. It assures relevance in operations across time," he said.

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Caucus votes on leader in Labor ballot

Labor is waiting on thousands of voting papers from rank and file members for the leadership ballot. Source: AAP

LABOR MPs have voted and the caucus ballots are under lock and key in preparation for the completion of the ALP's historic new-look leadership contest.

The MPs met in Parliament House on Thursday afternoon to cast their vote for the next parliamentary leader, with the Right's Bill Shorten tipped to get about 60 per cent of caucus support.

Rival Antony Albanese's chances now hinge on a strong showing among the vote of rank-and-file members, who have until 5pm on Friday to get their vote to returning officers.

Continuing the civil spirit of the month-long contest, the contenders walked together to the meeting.

Mr Shorten said the leadership process, which takes into account the wishes of grassroots members as well as MPs for the first time, is going a "long way towards healing" party divisions after its devastating election loss.

"Normally when you lose an election, there tends to be a bout of recriminations and a blame game," he said.

"Hopefully, in this process we've moved to absorb the lessons from the Australian public." Mr Albanese told reporters the ALP had done the right thing by "opening up to our membership, by empowering the membership".

"Three weeks after a significant election defeat, Labor is stronger, more united," he said.

Interim leader Chris Bowen said the leadership process had energised the party after its September 7 federal election defeat, with 4000 new membership applications received.

"It's an indication by Labor supporters across the country saying, 'if the Labor party is prepared to be open and inclusive, then I want to be part of the process'," Mr Bowen said.

Mr Bowen rejected claims MPs had voted along factional lines, which would make a mockery of claims the new leadership process had democratised the party.

"There were left wingers voting for Bill, right wingers voting for Anthony based on their decision about who is best placed to lead the Labor Party into the next election," he told reporters after the vote.

Labor chief whip Chris Hayes said he would keep the caucus votes under lock and key until they were tallied with the rank and file votes ahead of Sunday's announcement of the new leader.

ALP members and supporters are likely to be the first to know when party headquarters sends out an email at about 2pm.

Mr Bowen, Mr Hayes and Labor's National President Jenny McAllister will then meet the media.

Labor National Secretary George Wright said 27,000 votes had been cast so far from 43,000 members.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we get 30,000 votes to count tomorrow and Saturday," he told Sky News.

"This sort of participatory democracy, there is a big appetite for it. It will be a very good thing for our party. It's a good thing for democracy in Australia."

But senior Liberal Christopher Pyne said the ballot was another example of Labor "talking about themselves".

"They engage in this myopic discussion about Labor and who's going to be leader," he told Sky News.

"The truth is, it is just two factional warlords fighting it out, one from the left, one from the right."

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Motoring party deal extends Palmer's reach

Clive Palmer says his alliance with the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party will bring stability. Source: AAP

CLIVE Palmer has warned the federal government to negotiate or face "a very cold winter" after securing a powerful four-vote bloc in the Senate through an alliance with micro-party senator-elect Ricky Muir.

The mining magnate has struck an agreement with the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party senator-elect to align with the three newly-elected Palmer United Party (PUP) senators when the new upper house convenes in July.

Thursday's announcement included a warning to government senate leader Eric Abetz to work with the new alliance or face the consequences.

"Erica - is it Erica? - will have to negotiate with our team or he won't be negotiating at all," he said.

"It'll be a very, very, very, very cold winter.

"But we hope we can bring that into a nice prosperous summer for the government and the people of Australia."

While Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he would try to work constructively with the PUP, he was quick to remind Mr Palmer of the government's mandate.

"I'm confident everyone in this parliament very well understands that the new government has a clear mandate to get certain things done," he told reporters in Brunei.

The coalition will need the votes of at least six crossbenchers to get bills past the Greens and Labor.

Mr Muir, who has kept a low profile since his shock election last month, said the voting agreement with Mr Palmer was critically important to the nation's future and would bring certainty to Australian politics.

"Together, I can do so much more than I could've achieved alone," Mr Muir told reporters in Sydney.

But political opponents are asking whether secret deals are behind the move and whether the billionaire is treating federal parliament as his personal plaything, while Mr Muir's own party is looking at ways it can dump him as senator.

The AMEP's former Victorian branch chairman Scott McDonald said party members had been betrayed by Mr Muir after he aligned with Mr Palmer without consulting them.

"I feel a bit sorry for Ricky because he's kind of been a puppet stuck in the middle of something that he doesn't understand," he said.

Members plan to meet next Wednesday and could vote to remove the party leader from the senate, Mr McDonald said.

Australian Greens leader Christine Milne said the public deserved to know the details of the "secret deals" that led to the deal.

"The key question here is: what backroom deal did the Motoring Enthusiast Party enter into, what are the policies they have both agreed to support?" she said.

Mr Palmer didn't reveal the terms of the agreement, saying only it would cover "certain matters" and that the two parties shared common policies.

Greens senator Scott Ludlam, who faces a recount after losing his West Australian seat by 14 votes to PUP candidate Dio Wang, was sceptical about Mr Palmer's intentions.

"Is this a plaything for a rather erratic and eccentric coal billionaire, or is it going to be serious political player?" he told ABC radio.

Mr Palmer may end up wielding significant power in Canberra without even being in parliament himself. His bid for the lower house seat in the electorate of Fairfax hinges on a recount after he beat LNP opponent Ted O'Brien by just seven votes.

Interim Labor Leader Chris Bowen labelled the deal between the PUP and Senator Muir as "unusual", and called for both men to be transparent about the arrangement.

"I think the important thing here is transparency, for Mr Palmer and Senator Muir to be very clear about what this arrangement, this deal entails, about what the process will be," Mr Bowen told ABC TV.

"Will they actually always be voting together? Will they be voting separately on some instances? Who will actually make the decisions?"

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Tassie judo club wants Putin as patron

Russia's president has been asked to become the patron of a Tasmanian judo club. Source: AAP

A JUDO club in Tasmania has written to the Kremlin to ask Vladimir Putin to be its patron.

The Ulverstone Judo Club, in the state's north, says President Putin's prowess in the sport and no-nonsense approach make him the perfect candidate.

"I often say (at the club), look, Vladimir Putin doesn't put up with crap like this," head coach Chris Palmer told AAP.

"He's got plenty of backbone, he makes a decision and away he goes."

Mr Palmer said members of the club came up with the idea when they spotted the Russian president at the world championships in Rio last month.

They wrote to him this week and are hopeful of receiving a reply.

"We've gone to the Kremlin now," Mr Palmer said.

"If we don't do any good with getting a reply ... I'll shoot it back through the European judo.

"We might be able to get something that way."

President Putin began judo as a teenager and holds a sixth 'dan' red and white belt.

He has been the president of his boyhood club in St Petersburg and co-authored a book on the sport.

Mr Palmer, who earned his fifth 'dan' black belt last weekend, said the president's appearances practising judo on TV showed he had a sound knowledge of the sport.

"You can tell straight away that he has done a bit," he said.

"We have kids one night a week, some might do two.

"In Russia you're four nights a week or bugger off."

Mr Palmer said while he admired President Putin's lack of political correctness, he didn't agree with some of his more controversial policies.

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Fuel supply to return to normal next week

NSW, Queensland and Victorian motorists are being urged to remain patient with patchy petrol supplies amid an interstate crackdown on a transport company.

More than 80 Cootes Transport vehicles have been grounded in NSW and Victoria after one tanker's fiery crash on Sydney's northern beaches killed two motorists.

In a massive audit of the Cootes Transport fleet, authorities have grounded 10 vehicles in NSW and 73 in Victoria.

A VicRoads spokeswoman said six vehicles previously grounded had been cleared for operation.

With the vehicles off the road, service stations are juggling petrol shortages.

Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association (ACAPMA) chief executive Nic Moulis said Melbourne would be the worst city hit and Queensland second but Sydney would not be as bad.

However, Colin Long of the NSW Service Station Association said a BP service station near Sydney Airport was running "very, very low" on Tuesday.

"This is an absolutely unprecedented situation," he told AAP on Wednesday.

"There will be pockets of service stations that will be out of some product."

Mr Long expects fuel deliveries to return to normal by next week.

Shell is increasing fuel deliveries to service stations across Australia, but said only Victoria, Adelaide and southeast Queensland will be affected.

The number of fuel tankers available to supply 7-Eleven's NSW stores is back to normal and tankers supplying fuel to Queensland service stations were expected to be available by Friday morning.

The company's Victoria stores are not impacted, a spokesperson said.

Amid the safety review, Cootes's parent company McAleese has also voluntarily pulled out of the National Heavy Vehicle Accreditation Scheme.

The move means a Cootes truck registered in a particular state will be subject to that state's inspection requirements.

A NSW Roads and Maritime Services spokeswoman said in NSW, that meant annual inspections.

NSW Roads Minister Duncan Gay has requested a review of the national scheme, as NSW is the "through state" for trucks travelling in Australia's eastern seaboard.

"We have the safest fleet in the country but we have trucks crossing our borders that do not have to be inspected annually in NSW," he said.

Mr Gay has written to the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator asking for a review of the scheme and its effectiveness.

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Compo offer worthy, Bali victims say

Australian victims of terror attacks and their families are finally set to receive compensation. Source: AAP

A VICTIM of the second Bali bombings hopes compensation for victims of terrorism overseas will help the children who lose their parents.

Paul Anicich was critically injured while with a large group of families from Newcastle when the 2005 Bali bombings killed 23 people including four Australians.

He hopes retrospective compensation for terror victims announced by Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Wednesday will help children impacted by terror attacks.

From October 21, all Australian victims of terrorism overseas since the September 11, 2001 attacks will be able to apply for up to $75,000 in compensation under changes announced by the Abbott government.

Mr Abbott, who was holidaying in Bali in 2005 and helped arrange for Mr Anicich to be airlifted to Singapore for treatment, has long pushed for this compensation and had called for the Gillard government's victims of overseas terrorism compensation scheme to be retrospective.

The retrospective scheme will cover Australians affected by the 2001 attacks on New York and subsequent terrorism in Bali, Jakarta, London, Egypt, Mumbai and most recently Nairobi.

Mr Anicich hopes it helps the children left behind.

"I immediately thought of the then young children who had been left without parents, who were with us in that bombing, and the prospect that there would be some money that could help them along in their lives without parents," he told AAP.

"Even though it is seven years later it will certainly help them."

Mr Abbott fulfilled his pre-election pledge to backdate compensation when he announced the scheme after laying a wreath at the site of the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.

Standing alongside Peter Hughes, who was injured in that first Bali blast, Mr Abbott acknowledged the compensation could not change the past but said they amounted to a "measure of justice" for the victims.

"This is a modest enough acknowledgment of those who have suffered by virtue of the fact that they were Australian," he told reporters in Kuta.

He said the victims were singled out as targets "because they were westerners and their way of life was an abomination to those who wished us harm".

The scheme is expected to benefit about 300 individuals and their families and cost around $30 million, and won't replace existing benefits available to victims.

Ray Mavroudis, whose cousin David Mavroudis died in Bali in 2002, said nothing could restore their ruined lives, but Australians affected by terrorism now at least have the consolation of compensation.

"You never bring the victim back, unfortunately, but it's some sort of consolation to help their families get through it," he said.

Mr Mavroudis said more information should be given to families about counselling services available.

"Money doesn't go that far when it comes to psychological things," he said.

"Their family's lives are wrecked for the rest of their life because they've lost a loved one."

Albert Talarico, the president of the Coogee Dolphins rugby league club when six of their young players were killed in Bali in 2002, said he wasn't sure whether any of their parents would access the payments.

"But ... at least they know it's there, and that's the main thing," Mr Talarico told AAP.

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Chopper's life a "torrid" journey

Crime figure Mark "Chopper" Read has died following a battle with liver cancer, his manager says. Source: AAP

THE life of Mark "Chopper" Read was a torrid and violent journey which ended on a quiet note, those close to the once-feared criminal say.

The best-selling crime author who spent almost half his life in jail died on Wednesday after a battle with liver cancer, aged 58.

He spent more than 23 years in jail for crimes including armed robbery, assault and kidnapping, even trying to abduct a County Court judge at gunpoint.

He also claimed involvement in killing 19 people and the attempted murder of 11 others.

But in the end he died a man who lived a quiet family life and paid his taxes, his manager Andrew Parisi said.

"He worked as a writer, painter and public speaker, paid his taxes and took care of his family," he said.

Mr Parisi asked people to reflect on how Read overcame his past to find a way to re-enter society.

He said Read wished to be remembered as someone who spun a great yarn and made people laugh.

"Despite his failing health, he delighted the audience with his skills as a raconteur and storyteller," he said.

He announced he had terminal liver cancer in April 2012 and made his last public appearance a fortnight ago in front of a sold-out audience at Melbourne's Athenaeum Theatre.

Read was last freed from prison in 1998, after serving six years for inflicting grievous bodily harm on a bikie by shooting him in the chest.

Former prison chaplain Peter Norden said Read was a complex character and a loner inside jail.

"He came through the school where you had to fight to survive," Mr Norden said.

"He didn't move with a gang, much.

"He was unpredictable."

Read claimed to have been stabbed seven times, shot once, run over by a car, and gouged to the head with a claw hammer.

He had a fellow inmate cut his ears off while in prison, which he said was part of a plan to avoid an ambush at Pentridge's H division.

Mr Norden said Read would often ask to see him while in H division where he worked in the laundry yard.

"Essentially he really just wanted some stimulating conversation," he said.

Mr Norden said he was more intelligent than most people realised and knew about topics like the suppression of Jesuits throughout the world.

Read's books, beginning in 1991 with Chopper: From the Inside - which sold more than 300,000 copies alone - made him Australia's best selling true crime author.

He was also immortalised in the movie Chopper.

But he was no hero and not much chop as a crook either, having been jailed for most of his serious crimes, Mr Norden said.

The best thing that happened to him was meeting his second wife Margaret Cassar who helped him forge a reasonable life.

"In the end he lived a simple life, but he carried scars," Mr Norden said.

The fact he began reflecting on his life through writing showed he would have had regrets, he added.

But he never showed weakness because he needed to maintain a tough exterior to survive.

"He did have some happiness in his life at the end of it but it was a pretty torrid journey along the way."

Read leaves behind his wife Margaret, their son Roy and another son Charlie he had with first wife Mary-Ann Hodge who he married while in Tasmania's Risdon Prison.

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Swimmer drowns in NSW

A MAN has died after being winched from the water by surf life savers on the NSW far south coast.

Officials say he was one of five swimmers who initially got into trouble near the Bega River Mouth at Tathra around 4.30pm (AEDT) on Wednesday.

Surf Life Saving (SLS) Far South Coast duty officer Andrew Edmunds said three of the group managed to make their way to shore while two others went missing.

One aged 19 was found clinging to a log, Mr Edmunds said.

"A land, sea and air search continued for the other swimmer and he was eventually spotted by police and lifesavers.

"He was winched into the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter and flown to a nearby oval at the Tathra Country Club."

Emergency services carried out CPR for over an hour but the man, believed to be 19, could not be revived.

Mr Edmunds said the men were swimming at an unpatrolled location.

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Petrol shortages hit Vic, NSW hardest

The public is being urged not to panic-buy fuel as grounded Cootes trucks may cause fuel shortages. Source: AAP

FUEL supplies are expected to run low at southern Australian service stations for days while hundreds of Cootes Transport vehicles are grounded or forced to undergo repairs.

A massive audit of the trucking company's fleet was launched in NSW and Victoria following last week's horrific tanker crash in Mona Vale, Sydney, which killed two people.

By Tuesday, authorities had grounded 79 Cootes trucks in Victoria and 23 in NSW.

Petrol companies say some fuel deliveries have been affected but motorists are urged not to panic buy.

Navi Kahlon, an attendant at a petrol station in the Melbourne suburb of Balaclava, told AAP several kinds of petrol were running low.

"It has been very busy and the customers have been very angry," she said.

"I just say to them, 'have you seen the news?'"

VicRoads inspectors have now completed their four-day audit of 205 Cootes vehicles in that state, issuing 181 defect notices.

"With regards to when the grounded vehicles will return to operation, that is largely dependent on the company, on the nature of the faults and how quickly the company can organise for repairs to be carried out," VicRoads Chief Operating Officer Peter Todd said.

VicRoads is now reviewing the company's heavy vehicle accreditation.

In NSW, Roads and Maritime Services and police have launched the second phase of their audit, ordering the Cootes LPG tanker fleet and all the company's remaining heavy vehicles off the road for inspection.

About half the 53 defect notices issued so far are for major problems including brake failures, suspension and steering faults.

NSW inspectors handed down 174 notices during the first stage.

A BP spokesman told AAP the company was operating at 64 per cent of its normal capacity.

"With so many vehicles off the road, our distribution networks have been disrupted, particularly in Melbourne and Sydney," he said.

"If it would normally take three days to fulfil an order, it's now taking four days."

He said it was "regrettable" but the company was doing everything it could to get supply moving again, including diverting some of its own trucks from regional areas.

Shell Australia said customers in NSW and Western Australia shouldn't be affected.

"Customers in Victoria, southeast Queensland and Adelaide may see some temporary periods of fuel availability at a small number of Shell service stations until fresh deliveries are made," spokesman Paul Zennaro said in a statement.

A Caltex spokesman said supply of all fuel products was "more than adequate to meet demand" and distribution disruptions would have a limited impact on customers.

One in 10 Caltex-supplied Melbourne metro servos have experienced petrol or diesel shortages, he said.

The company is not expecting any more petrol or diesel disruptions in NSW or the ACT but some LPG deliveries have been disrupted there.

LPG supplies have also been affected in South Australia.

Colin Long of the NSW Service Station Association said some stations were starting to run out of certain fuel types and one in the Blue Mountains had run out of everything.

But he said there was no cause for alarm.

"There's no reason to panic buy because we anticipate within a few days those deliveries will be back to normal," he told AAP.

A Cootes spokeswoman could not confirm how many trucks remained off the road.

In a statement she said "once any issues identified have been addressed the vehicles are being returned to service".

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Abbott's fitness shouldn't cost public:ALP

Anthony Albanese believes Peter Slipper (pic) has been treated harshly over travel expense claims. Source: AAP

CHRIS Bowen admires Tony Abbott's fitness regime but the interim Labor leader says taxpayers shouldn't have to cover the cost of the Prime Minister showing off his sporting prowess.

Mr Abbott has repaid over $1700 claimed for travelling to the weddings of former colleagues Sophie Mirabella and Peter Slipper in 2006.

But he is defending the use of parliamentary entitlements to enter an ironman triathlon and the annual Pollie Pedal charity fundraiser.

"I believe that all of my claims have been within entitlement," he told reporters at the APEC leaders forum in Bali.

Mr Abbott claimed nearly $1300 in flights and allowances for a night at Port Macquarie in November 2011 when he competed in the ironman triathlon in the marginal NSW seat.

"I don't go to marginal seats simply for sporting events ... and I think you'll find there were quite a few other community events involved in those visits," he said.

Mr Bowen says it didn't appear Mr Abbott had participated in any other community events in Port Macquarie.

"It's good that Mr Abbott tries to keep fit ... but if he chooses to participate in an ironman event, that is in my view pretty clearly a personal issue, a personal expense, not something the taxpayer can fairly be asked to cover," he said.

Coalition ministers George Brandis and Barnaby Joyce have also repaid expenses they claimed for travel to former shock jock Michael Smith's 2011 wedding - and a clutch of others are also caught up in expense controversies.

But it's not just the government caught up in the furore.

Hours after calling for "some serious investigation" into the coalition's expenses claims, shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus paid back $466 he claimed for staying two nights in Canberra in August 2011 when he was actually skiing in the Snowy Mountains.

His office called it an administrative error, saying Mr Dreyfus had taken the trip on a weekend between two parliamentary sitting weeks in Canberra without his staff knowing he had left the capital.

Labor frontbencher Tony Burke said Mr Abbott shouldn't be surprised at the outcry given his "holier than thou" attitude over former speaker Peter Slipper's alleged expense rorts.

"If you're going to do the character assassination that Tony Abbott and George Brandis did on Peter Slipper, then I don't think you can be surprised when the public want to apply the same standards that these two men held up," he said.

Labor doesn't take issue with $3500 Mr Abbott claimed when taking part in the 2012 Pollie Pedal through regional Australia as it allows for engagement with community groups in towns that rarely see politicians.

Mr Abbott will take part in it again in 2014 and plans to use his allowances "to the extent that it involves being away from home".

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