UK teen catches TB from pet kitten

A BRITISH teenager developed pneumonia and has been rushed to hospital for treatment for severe lung damage after she contracted tuberculosis from her pet kitten.

Jessica Livings, 19, had to have emergency surgery after she caught TB, in what health officials say is among the first cases in the world of humans picking up the disease from cats.

Ms Livings' mother Claire also contracted a dormant form of the disease, the Daily Mail said.

It is thought the pair contracted TB when they were cleaning a wound on their pet, Onyx, which they had adopted only weeks before.

"I lost a stone and a half in five weeks, I was very ill and had fevers, cold sweats and hallucinations," Ms Livings told the newspaper.

She was reportedly diagnosed with the disease in October after a vet voiced concerns over an outbreak of TB among cats in the the Newbury area of Berkshire.

Ms Livings was readmitted to the Royal Berkshire Hospital last month, but is now classed as being at no risk of passing TB on.

Her mother told the Mail that their kitten became ill and they discovered he had an open wound on his belly. Despite taking him to the vet he died, but they had no idea it was TB.

Vet Carl Gorman, who reported the outbreak, told the Mail he believed it started with a local herd of cows contracting bovine TB.

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Search for WA diver hampered by rain

POLICE searching for a diver missing off the WA coast have been hampered in their efforts by rain.

The diver was one of a group of five who were on board a vessel on Saturday about 4-5km off the Dawesville Cut, just south of Mandurah.

Police say the group raised the alarm when the diver failed to resurface.

Water Police and Mandurah Volunteer Marine Rescue (VMR) vessels are helping in the search along with a police dive team.

Two helicopters assisting in the search have had to return to base after heavy rain in the area, but police say all water-based teams are still searching.

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Approach minimum wage with caution: govt

The Abbott government says it's wary of increasing the minimum wage. Source: AAP

ANY prospective increase to the minimum wage should take into consideration the fact that Australians are set to benefit to the tune of $550 a year once the carbon tax is abolished, the federal government says.

And with an economy struggling to find its feet after a resources boom, any increase that comes at the cost of jobs should be approached with caution, the government has submitted to the Fair Work Commission's (FWC) annual wage review.

Unions and business groups are at loggerheads over the FWC's review, with the ACTU calling for a minimum rise of $27 a week for Australia's lowest paid workers and employers arguing for $8.50.

The national minimum wage is $622 per week.

ACTU secretary Dave Oliver said the growing gap between minimum wages and actual wages and raised concerns Australia was heading down the same path as the US with its established class of working poor.

But in its submission to the commission, the federal government said Australia's transition from a resources-driven economy to non-resources-led one meant it was not growing as fast as forecast.

At a time when global markets were strengthening, any increases that put jobs at risk should be approached with caution, the government said.

"Any wage increases that are not supported by improvements in productivity and that are beyond the affordability of businesses will not be sustainable and will cut jobs," the submission said.

"The panel's decision should support jobs growth."

The submission said being employed, even at a low wage, was better for families and individuals than being unemployed.

"Minimum wage increases are an inefficient and ineffective tool for increasing the living standards of low paid workers," it said.

Employment Minister Eric Abetz said the government was concerned about easing the burden on low income earners but that would largely come from scrapping the carbon tax.

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Penny Sharpe wins ALP preselection

NSW MP Penny Sharpe has won the Labor party's first community preselection process, under which local residents and branch members can both vote for their preferred candidate.

The trial of what Labor insiders call "US-style primaries" was run for two state seats, after being tested during the City of Sydney council elections last year.

Ms Sharpe, an upper house member and opposition transport spokeswoman, won the right to contest the new seat of Newtown after picking up 58 per cent of the community vote and 64 per cent of the branch vote on Saturday, with more than 1500 participating in the preselection.

Further west in Campbelltown former soldier and Camden councillor Greg Warren scored 61 per cent of the branch vote and 57 per cent of the community vote.

About 1000 people turned up to have their say.

"Labor will be in a stronger position at the March 2015 state election because we've invited local communities into the preselection process and worked hard to win their support," NSW ALP General Secretary Jamie Clements said in a statement.

Previously only Labor members could cast ballots for candidate preselection.

The reform is part of the measures decided upon at the party's state conference in 2011, following the 2010 review of its processes by Labor heavyweights former NSW premier and foreign minister Bob Carr, NSW Senator John Faulkner and former Victorian premier Steve Bracks.

The next community preselections will be in Balmain and Strathfield.

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Syringe threat in Vic carjacking

A woman has been threatened with a syringe during a carjacking in the Melbourne suburb of Dandenong. Source: AAP

A WOMAN has been threatened with a syringe during a carjacking in Melbourne, police say.

The woman was parked in a shopping centre in Dandenong on Saturday afternoon when a man approached her car and allegedly threatened her with a syringe.

He demanded the woman get out of the car and she did.

The man then got into her car and drove away.

Police said the stolen car is a red 2006 Ford sedan with registration number UQI 236.

The man is described as caucasian, with blonde hair and a thin build.

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Customs nabs smuggled tobacco in Vic

Customs have seized tonnes of smuggled cigarettes from a shipping container in Melbourne. Source: AAP

CUSTOMS officers have smoked out more than 300,000 smuggled cigarettes and almost two tonnes of illicit molasses tobacco in Melbourne.

Australian Customs and Border Protection Service officials used X-ray equipment to find the massive haul at its Melbourne container examination centre which they say should have attracted about $1 million in duty.

About 100 cardboard boxes filled with the illicit cigarettes and 1866kg of molasses tobacco were found among household goods including blankets, plastic ware and ornaments.

Customs national cargo operations manager Jagtej Singh on Friday said the tobacco is illegal because import duties had not been paid.

The agency seized 183 tonnes of smuggled tobacco and 200 million cigarettes in 76 separate seizures last financial year, which represented a potential $151 million in unpaid duties.

The maximum penalty for tobacco smuggling is 10 years' jail or a fine of up to five times the amount of duty evaded.

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500 litres of CSG water leaks in forest

Contaminated waste water has leaked from a Santos coal seam gas well in northern NSW. Source: AAP

ABOUT 500 litres of contaminated waste water has leaked from a coal seam gas well in northern NSW.

The spill, which occurred on Tuesday at a Santos gas field at Pilliga forrest, south of Narrabri, is being investigated by the NSW Environment Protection Authority.

Santos has downplayed the incident, saying "there was no impact to any nearby water source and no risk to the environment."

"The water was contained within a surface diversion drain on site and was captured and returned to the holding pond," the company said in a statement.

But the Greens and The Wilderness Society say the leak proves coal seam gas is dangerous to the environment.

"Santos has a long tragic history of failure in the Pilliga forest, with at least 20 toxic coal seam gas waste water spills including uranium contamination and continuing leaks from evaporation ponds," Wilderness Society spokeswoman Naomi Hogan said.

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NY college to offer Miley Cyrus class

A US college will offer a course called The Sociology of Miley Cyrus: Race, Class, Gender and Media. Source: AAP

A COLLEGE in upstate New York is offering a course on Miley Cyrus and won't even make students do any class twerk.

The Saratogian newspaper reports the course will be offered by Skidmore College, a private liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs.

Visiting Assistant Professor Carolyn Chernoff calls the course The Sociology of Miley Cyrus: Race, Class, Gender and Media.

Chernoff says she'll focus on the 21-year-old performer and all her incarnations as a way to study such topics as gender, race, class, fame and power.

She says she got the idea after teaching a course on youth culture that featured video of Cyrus twerking at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards.

But Chernoff says students will have to learn how to twerk on their own time.

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Vic underworld man The Texan Longley dies

Billy "The Texan" Longley, who survived the Painters and Dockers wars, has died in Melbourne. Source: AAP

ONE of the Melbourne underworld's great survivors, former Painters and Dockers union hardman Billy "The Texan" Longley, has died.

Longley, who was convicted of ordering a rival's murder during the Painters and Dockers wars in the 1970s, died in Melbourne on Friday aged 88, multiple media outlets report.

He survived the Painters and Dockers underworld while many he came into contact with didn't.

"I never thought I'd see 80, for various reasons," Longley said in 2005.

Longley gained the nickname "The Texan" because he wore a Stetson hat and carried a Colt .45.

He served 13 years in Pentridge prison after he was found guilty of organising the murder of union rival Pat Shannon.

Longley was linked to more than a dozen others, in which he denied involvement.

The murders took place in the early 1970s when open warfare was waged on Melbourne's docks as factions fought for control of the union and the rorts it allegedly presided over.

In a book released in 2005 Longley told of a lifelong tendency to get into a stoush.

He put his survival down to "sheer good luck".

"Maybe it's because I was a depression child - you learn to be quick on your feet in the depression," Longley said.

"I've got a few regrets .... but it's been a great life."

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Pell promises compo for Vic abuse victims

CARDINAL George Pell has promised to review compensation payments for Melbourne church abuse victims and has conceded it may cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Cardinal Pell met with Anthony and Chrissie Foster, whose two daughters were abused by a priest in Melbourne and told them a cap on payments would be eliminated.

He also told them during the meeting, which took place on Thursday after Cardinal Pell completed his evidence to the royal commission into child sexual abuse, the church would review all existing payments.

"I stated that we needed to see the Melbourne cap eliminated, revisiting all the existing claims and in line with civil limits," Mr Foster told ABC TV.

"I also said to him that this will cost the Catholic Church in Melbourne several hundred million dollars.

"His response was he nodded and said 'yes'."

Francis Sullivan from Catholic Church Truth, Justice and Healing Council, who was at the meeting said Cardinal Pell gave a commitment that he would speak with the Archbishop of Melbourne.

Nicky Davis from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) said the commitment was a good first step and hopes it is not an empty promise.

"George Pell is making an honest man of himself at last," she said in a statement.

"What has been agreed to so far is a first step, but what makes this different is it is not a vague promise or deceitful claim. We are talking about concrete action that will help hundreds of our most vulnerable."

"It is vital George Pell not offer survivors another devastating blow by betraying our hopes and going back on promises made to the Fosters."

Ms Davis said the commitment did not remove the need for an independent body to ensure survivors receive access to justice and fair compensation.

The Fosters' two daughters were raped by a priest at primary school.

One of them took her own life and the other was hit by a car while binge drinking and now requires 24-hour care for permanent disabilities.

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

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Abuse case challenge 'was not denial':Pell

Cardinal George Pell has given evidence at the royal commission into child sexual abuse in Sydney. Source: AAP

CARDINAL George Pell insists he acted truthfully when he instructed lawyers to vigorously dispute the claims of a sexually abused former altar boy in court, even though he knew the claims were true.

Dr Pell, appearing before the royal commission into child sexual abuse, admitted the Catholic church did not deal fairly with victim John Ellis "from a Christian point of view", but in a legal sense it did nothing improper.

He said he defended the Ellis case vigorously to discourage other complainants from going to court, revealing he was worried that payments for abuse cases in the US sent some churches bankrupt and he wanted to ensure similar situations could not occur in Australia.

At the end of his second day of evidence to the commission, Dr Pell's admissions were condemned by victims' families.

"We've seen a sociopathic lack of empathy this morning from this man," said Anthony Foster whose two daughters were raped by a priest in Melbourne.

"I really wonder if he has any idea whatsoever what these people go through."

Dr Pell expressed regret over the handling of Mr Ellis's case, starting from the diocese's refusal to settle the matter in 2004 before Mr Ellis started legal action.

"I understood insufficiently just how wounded he was," he told the commission.

The former archbishop of Sydney told the commission on Wednesday that disputing that Mr Ellis had been abused by pedophile priest Father Aidan Duggan in the 1970s did not mean he denied the abuse took place.

The church had already found that Mr Ellis had been abused by Fr Duggan but in 2006 Dr Pell instructed the church's lawyers to proceed with an appeal in which Mr Ellis was cross-examined at length about the veracity of his claims.

Senior counsel assisting the commission, Gail Furness SC, asked Dr Pell if his instruction to his lawyers, Corrs Chambers Wesgarth, was "to dispute Mr Ellis had been abused as he claimed?"

Dr Pell replied: "Yes. Not to deny it."

He said his lawyers had explained the tactic was "legally proper".

"In doing so I was not violating my obligation to truthfulness," Dr Pell said.

Dr Pell said his "error of judgement" was mitigated by a mistaken belief that Mr Ellis wanted millions in compensation, and by how busy he was at the time.

"I mean, it was at the centre of Mr Ellis's life - with a busy archdiocese, I wasn't focused sufficiently on it," he said.

Ellis lost the case and Pell said he was consoled by the court ruling that the church's trustees, which hold its property assets, could not be sued.

"One of the few consolations, if that's what I've got from this sorry mess, is that the court of appeal unanimously endorsed the view that the trustees were not responsible in this case," he said.

Ms Furness asked Dr Pell if he had defended the Ellis case to make plaintiffs "think twice" about suing the church.

Dr Pell said he wanted them to "think clearly".

"They should consider the advantages in not going to litigation," he said.

He denied, however, that he wanted sexual abuse victims to go through the Catholic church's internal system, Towards Healing, rather than the courts, so that the church could control the size of payouts.

Dr Pell appears before the commission again on Thursday before leaving Australia to start a new job as manager of the Vatican's finances in Rome on Monday.

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Questions over deadly NZ plane crash probe

QUESTIONS are being raised about the conclusions reached by an official investigation into a deadly 2010 skydiving plane crash at New Zealand's Fox Glacier.

Nine people, including two Australians, were killed when the Fletcher FU24-954 plane crashed shortly after take-off at the end of the runway at Fox Glacier airport on September 4, 2010.

There were no survivors.

A 2012 Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) report found the plane was unbalanced, with too much weight towards the rear, causing it to crash.

However, just days after the crash, large parts of the plane's wreckage were buried - on the instruction of the TAIC - meaning they weren't examined by investigators, a local current affairs TV program reports.

Among the parts buried was the plane's control stick and cables.

Investigator Andrew McGregor, who's conducted TAIC investigations in the past, says the TAIC's investigation in this case was flawed.

"I would think on the evidence we have available, that a control system failure of some sort is likely," he told TV3.

"In my view we do have sufficient information to warrant the investigation being reopened."

The crash killed four tourists - Glenn Bourke, 18, of Australia, Patrick Byrne, 26, of Ireland, Annita Kirsten, 23, of Germany, and Brad Coker, 24, of England.

The crew were Skydive New Zealand director Rod Miller, 55, pilot Chaminda Senadhira, 33, Adam Bennett, 47, an Australian living in Motueka, Michael Suter, 32, and Christopher McDonald, 62.

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Installing batts 'not that hard': Garrett

ALTHOUGH four people subsequently died working under the scheme, the minister in charge Peter Garrett reportedly believed it was easy to install pink batts.

According to an email from a cabinet staffer, former environment minister Mr Garrett and a federal environment department secretary thought the task was "not that hard", an inquiry has heard.

They shared the view at a meeting on April 3, 2009, two months after the scheme's announcement.

"The secretary and the minister compared notes on their personal experience in installing batts! 'not that hard'," the email from cabinet and prime minister's department staffer Martin Hoffman read.

The royal commission into the former Labor government's scheme was told that insulation companies were given only hours warning - via text message - about the termination of the scheme.

They were informed on February 19, 2010 that the program would end at 5pm that day, after a 2.30pm public announcement to that effect.

The former Rudd government pulled the pin on the stimulus measure after workers Matthew Fuller, Rueben Barnes, Mitchell Sweeney and Marcus Wilson died while installing insulation.

But insulation companies had no idea the program was going to be dumped as they'd been told to beef up employment, the supply of manufacturing materials and capital investment.

Michael Windsor QC, who is representing insulation companies at the inquiry, said the program's end left the industry in tatters.

Mr Windsor, who is also fighting for compensation for businesses adversely affected by the scheme's termination, said insulation companies were given little chance of off-loading stock and meeting obligations with suppliers.

The abrupt end of the stimulus program, he said, also negatively affected the economy with jobs lost and companies unable to meet obligations with financial institutions.

Under cross-examination by Mr Windsor, Mr Hoffman agreed that insulation companies were somewhat negatively affected by the announcement.

When asked when he became aware about the government's decision to end the program, Mr Hoffman said: "It would have been a few days before ... it would have been right at that period."

Mr Hoffman also said that no industry body, to his knowledge, had been informed of the government's decision at that time.

The inquiry into the troubled scheme also heard on Wednesday of how the government took a "light touch" approach to installer registration standards.

Mr Hoffman said it was important to note the tight exit approach, which included a one-strike policy for those who breached safety guidelines.

But Richard Perry QC, who is representing the Fuller and Barnes families, said the "light touch" approach did nothing to stop installers dying while using metal staples to secure foil insulation, like Mr Fuller.

Former co-ordinator-general Mike Mrdak is expected to give evidence at the royal commission when it resumes on Thursday.

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Scalping not a big problem, senators say

CONCERT-GOERS and sports fans can breathe easy: ticket scalping isn't a big deal in Australia, a parliamentary inquiry has found.

Because of this, the committee looking into the matter doesn't see the need for any further regulation.

But it does say the state and federal governments could work together to have greater co-ordination in how to deal with the scalping that does occur.

Committee chair Senator Mark Bishop was surprised to find only minimal evidence of ticket scalping across the country.

"I had expected the opposite," he said on releasing the inquiry report on Wednesday.

Several disgruntled Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and AFL fans had told the committee of their difficulties in getting tickets over the past year.

But ticketing companies and entertainment and sporting groups told the committee large-scale, concerted ticket scalping efforts were rare in Australia.

They said it was important to distinguish between genuine re-selling of tickets - for instance if someone bought tickets to a concert and then couldn't go - and scalping purely for profit.

Many said anti-scalping laws in place in some states and elsewhere in the world were not effective and were difficult to enforce.

The committee recommends an industry-wide standard of conduct be established to give more transparency over how tickets can be issued and distributed.

It also suggests the consumer watchdog look at increasing education around the sale and re-sale of tickets and what rights buyers have.

But independent senator Nick Xenophon, who initiated the inquiry, says there should be national anti-scalping laws.

He wants a cap on re-sales above the original purchase price, powers to block sites selling scalped tickets and sites like eBay to have to tell authorities the identities of scalpers.

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New debris found in hunt for MH370

NEW satellite images taken three days ago have revealed 122 potential pieces of debris from the missing Malaysian Airline flight MH370, Malaysia's Transport Minister says.

Hishammuddin Hussein revealed the latest - and largest - find of objects that may have come from the plane at a daily press briefing in Kuala Lumpur.

The news comes after satellite images from China, Australia and France showed items floating in the southern Indian Ocean, where the plane is believed to have crashed, leaving no survivors.

"Yesterday, on the 25th of March, the Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency, MRSA, received new satellite images from Airbus Defence and Space, which is based in France, and these images were taken on the 23rd of March," he said on Wednesday evening.

"MRSA analysed the images and in one area of the ocean, measuring some 400 square kilometres, were able to identify 122 potential objects.

"Some objects were one metre in length, other objects were as much as 23 metres in length. Some of the objects appeared to be bright, possibly indicating solid material."

The minister said the objects were found about 2557 kilometres from Perth, Western Australia, from where search planes are flying.

"MRSA immediately forwarded the information to the Australian rescue coordination centre yesterday," he said.

"It must be emphasised that we cannot tell if the potential objects are from MH370. Nevertheless, this is another new lead that will help direct the search operation.

"Our determination to find MH370 remains steadfast.

"As we have said all along, we will never give up trying to find the plane in order to bring closure to the families and explain what happened."

A dozen planes from six nations travelled to the search area, divided equally into east and west zones, on Wednesday.

Two ships also joined the operation, HMAS Success and Chinese polar supply ship Xue Long.

A Japanese Gulfstream jet also flew to Perth to become involved in the search.

Malaysia Airlines is now taking the lead in communicating with the families of the passengers and crew.

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NSW urged to get flu-ready

Pregnant women and the elderly are being urged to prepare for winter and get a flu shot. Source: AAP

PREGNANT women and the elderly are being urged to prepare for winter and get a flu shot following an "unusually high" level of influenza in NSW this summer.

The Director of Health Protection NSW, Dr Jeremy McAnulty, said the northern hemisphere had experienced widespread influenza over the past months, with influenza A(H1N1) pandemic strain, A(H3N2) and influenza B circulating to different extents in different countries.

An unusually high level of influenza had also been seen in NSW over summer, he said.

He and other health professionals are now urging people, especially the elderly and pregnant women, to prepare for winter.

"The Australian flu vaccine has been updated to more closely match the influenza strains likely to circulate in NSW this year.

"So get a shot in preparation for this season," Dr McAnulty said on Sunday.

He said the seasonal flu shot continues to be the best defence for pregnant women and has the added advantage of protecting babies during their first six months when they are too young to have the vaccine.

NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner said the government's Be Winter Wise campaign, launched on Sunday, was focusing on pregnant women, the elderly and people with chronic medical conditions.

"Although we are still experiencing warm weather, people should not be complacent when it comes to the dangers of the flu," she said in a statement.

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Pope outlines sex abuse commission

Pope Francis has named the initial members of a commission to advise him on sex abuse policy. Source: AAP

POPE Francis has named the initial members of a commission to advise him on sex abuse policy, tapping lay and religious experts - and an Irish woman assaulted as a child by a priest - to start plotting the commission's tasks and priorities.

The eight members, four of them women, were announced on Saturday after Francis came under fire from victims' groups for a perceived lack of attention to the abuse scandal, which has seriously damaged the Catholic Church's reputation around the world and cost dioceses and religious orders billions of dollars in legal fees and settlements.

The Vatican in December announced that Francis had decided to create the commission to advise the church on best policies to protect children, train church personnel and keep abusers out of the clergy.

But no details had been released until Saturday and it remains unknown if the commission will deal with the critical issue of disciplining bishops who cover up for abusers.

In a statement, the Vatican hinted that it might, saying the commission would look into both "civil and canonical duties and responsibilities" for church personnel.

Canon law does provide for sanctions if a bishop is negligent in carrying out his duties, but such punishments have never been imposed on a bishop for failing to report a pedophile priest to police.

The eight inaugural members include Marie Collins, who was assaulted as a 13-year-old by a hospital chaplain in her native Ireland and has gone on to become a prominent campaigner for accountability in the church.

Also named was Cardinal Sean O'Malley, one of Francis' key advisers and the archbishop of Boston, where the US scandal erupted in 2002.

Two other members are professors at Rome's Jesuit Pontifical Gregorian University, which in 2012 hosted a seminar for bishops from around the world to educate them on best practices to protect children.

Several participants from that conference are now founding members of Francis' commission, including Baroness Sheila Hollins, a British psychiatrist.

The initial group will define the scope, statutes and priorities of the commission and propose other members to better reflect the church's geographic diversity.

Other members include:

- Catherine Bonnet, a French consultant in child and adolescent psychiatry.

- Claudio Papale, an Italian canon lawyer and official of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which handles sex abuse cases.

- Poland's longtime former ambassador to the Vatican, Hanna Suchocka, a constitutional lawyer.

- The Rev Humberto Miguel Yez, an Argentine Jesuit who studied with Francis as a seminarian and currently is head of moral theology at the Gregorian.

- The Rev Hans Zollner, the vice-rector of the Gregorian, a psychologist and psychotherapist who organised the Gregorian seminar and also serves on the German government's roundtable on child.

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Female hiker found in Vic park

A HIKER missing for days in the Victorian wilderness has been winched to safety.

A police helicopter spotted the woman and winched her from the Alpine National Park, northeast of Melbourne, just after 10am on Sunday.

The woman, from the rural NSW city of Dubbo, sent a text message to her husband late on Thursday to say she was lost and out of water as she trekked through the remote park.

She lit a campfire at Howitt Plains to attract the attention of the helicopter.

A police spokeswoman said the woman was in reasonable health and was being attended to by paramedics.

Victoria Police and SES and CFA crews were involved in the search.

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One-punch killers to face life in Qld

One-punch killers will face life imprisonment under proposed changes to Queensland laws. Source: AAP

ONE-PUNCH killers would face life imprisonment under proposed changes to Queensland laws.

The Newman government's draft plan to tackle alcohol-related and drug-related violence, released on Sunday, would create an offence - unlawful striking causing death - to deal with one-punch killers.

If convicted, defendants would be required to serve at least 80 per cent of their life sentence behind bars before being eligible for parole.

"We have all seen the devastating and often tragic effects of coward punches not just in our state but across the nation," Premier Campbell Newman said in a statement.

"The Queensland government is determined to counter this dangerous trend and make Queensland the safest place in Australia for people to go out and enjoy themselves."

Under the plan, the maximum penalty for aggravated serious assaults on ambulance officers would rise from seven to 14 years' imprisonment.

Drunkenness would no longer be a viable excuse to mitigate an offender's sentence and courts would have the power to ban people from licensed premises for life.

ID would be installed in all licensed venues trading after midnight to keep out problem patrons and banned people.

The government would also set up 15 "safe night precincts" across the state where there would be late-night lockouts and more police on the beat.

Police would be given the power to detain people for their own safety if they were unduly intoxicated and at risk of serious harm, or behaving in a potentially violent or antisocial manner.

The government would also introduce a compulsory drinking awareness plan for all students between years 7-12 as part of the school curriculum.

The public has been asked to comment on the draft policy before April 21.

The opposition called on the Newman government to introduce a blanket 1am lockout across the state.

"If you don't tackle trading hours you don't tackle alcohol-fuelled violence. It's that simple," Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk said in a statement.

"Unfortunately we have a premier too scared to act and showing no leadership."

Opposition police spokesman Bill Byrne questioned whether the government had failed to introduce a lockout because it was beholden to vested interests.

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Mining tax debate focus in parliament

THE federal government will try to pressure Labor over the repeal of the mining tax this week as the re-run of the West Australian Senate election looms.

The repeal bills have been listed as the first item of business in the upper house when parliament resumes on Monday.

The Senate election on April 5 is expected to be a focal point of debate in question time, as the Liberals aim to retain the three seats they won at the 2013 election and Labor aims to pick up two seats.

The government has already targeted Labor over its decision this week to vote with the Greens to block the repeal of the carbon tax, despite former prime minister Kevin Rudd pledging in 2013 to scrap the tax.

"We always said that our two first priorities in terms of legislation was to scrap the carbon tax and the mining tax," Finance Minister Mathias Cormann told AAP on Friday.

"We are continuing to work down our to-do list."

Prime Minister Tony Abbott will also seek Labor support for a package of bills on his "repeal day" on Wednesday.

The legislation aims to remove thousands of regulations and pieces of legislation that are redundant, outdated or impose a burden on business.

Mr Abbott says the repeal package - coupled with other measures - will take $700 million a year in compliance costs off business and community groups.

Another repeal day will be held later in the year.

The Senate on Monday will receive a report from its economics legislation committee on the Qantas Sale Act, which would allow majority foreign ownership of the airline.

Labor and the Greens say the airline should remain in Australian hands and be based here, but there might be room for a compromise: allowing foreign airlines to hold more than a 35 per cent stake in Qantas or a greater than 25 per cent stake for any single foreign shareholder.

Senate inquiry reports will be received on Wednesday relating to ticket scalping, the coalition's Direct Action climate plan and people living with dementia.

On Thursday, reports will be tabled from inquiries into Operation Sovereign Borders, Qantas jobs and overseas aid.

The lower house will continue to debate laws to extend road funding and re-establish the Green Army of environmental volunteers.

Labor wants an inquiry into the Green Army legislation, saying it has concerns about workplace protections, the interaction with other welfare payments and the obligation of employers to provide training.

The House of Representatives will also debate a Labor motion on Monday seeking assurances from the government that ABC funding won't be cut and that it will stop vilifying the broadcaster.

It will be the last sitting week before the May 13 budget.

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