PM pays tribute to beef baron Graeme Acton

Australian beef baron Graeme Acton has died aged 63, after falling from a horse. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has paid tribute to Australian beef baron Graeme Acton, describing him as a great and proud man.

"He was a proud Queenslander and a great Australian," Mr Abbott said in a statement following news of Mr Acton's death on Friday in Brisbane.

"Graeme contributed so much to agriculture in our country, in particular to the cattle industry around Rockhampton where the Actons have been farming for four generations."

Mr Acton, 63, had been on life support in the Royal Brisbane Hospital after falling from a horse on May 2 while competing in a campdrafting event in central Queensland.

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman said he was shocked and saddened.

"He was an outstanding character who was much loved by all," he said in a statement.

"A hard working Queenslander, he devoted his life to the land and growing the cattle industry in this state."

Federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said Mr Acton was a hero of the cattle industry and a fierce advocate for agriculture.

"We are truly indebted to this great Australian, for the blessing he has been as a father, husband, friend, pioneer and great captain of the agricultural industry in Australia," he said.

Just last week Mr Acton had told Mr Joyce how the government could do things better.

"His words of wisdom were not lost on me," Mr Joyce said.

"Graeme possessed a unique ability to communicate with people irrespective of their background or social standing and united tens of thousands through his love of the art form of campdrafting."

Mr Acton headed Acton Land and Cattle - one of the country's largest farming operations.

The firm owns 180,000 head of cattle on seven Queensland farms which span about 1.58 million hectares of land.

Acton Land and Cattle exports 30,000 beasts to the Middle East and Asia each year.

Mr Acton is survived by his wife Jennie and their children Tom, Hayley, Victoria and Laura.

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Man charged with three-year-old's murder

A Melbourne man has been charged with murder after a three-year-old boy died in hospital. Source: AAP

A MELBOURNE man has been charged with murder after a three-year-old boy died in hospital.

The boy was taken to the Royal Children's Hospital with life-threatening injuries on Friday afternoon after emergency services were called to a Glenroy address.

He later died in hospital.

Brok Hughes, 25, was interviewed by police and charged with one count of murder.

He faced an out-of-sessions hearing early on Saturday and has been remanded to appear at the Melbourne Magistrates Court later in the day.

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Four arrested over train station stabbing

An 18-year-old man is in hospital after he was stabbed at a railway station south of Sydney. Source: AAP

THREE men and a teenage girl have been arrested after a stabbing at a NSW train station.

Policy say an 18-year-old man was found with a stab wound to his back at Sutherland Railway Station early on Saturday.

He was taken to St George Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Three men, 19, 23 and 26, and a 17-year-old girl were arrested less than an hour later at Engadine.

Police are questioning them at Sutherland Police Station.

Police are still searching for a fifth man thought to be linked to the stabbing.

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Easy access to welfare is over: Andrews

Australians who receive the disability support pension will be assessed for the capacity to work. Source: AAP

UP to 20,000 Australians who receive the disability support pension (DSP) will be assessed for the capacity to work, and if deemed able, will be expected to get a job.

In tough talk ahead of the budget, Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews also repeated warnings that the days of young Australians sitting at home on the couch collecting welfare cheques were over.

He said the government believed young people should be either be working or training for work.

"The message out of this is simply this. The days of easy welfare for young people are over. We want a fair system but we don't think it is fair that young people can just sit on the couch at home and pick up a welfare cheque. Those days are over," he told reporters in Melbourne.

Mr Andrews confirmed the budget, to be delivered on Tuesday night, will introduce rules that mean some people collecting the DSP disability support pension will be reviewed for capacity to work.

That will apply to some 10-20,000 people who had gone onto the DSP in the last 5-6 years but not yet assessed under new impairment tables.

"If they are capable of working, whether it is full-time or part-time, then our expectation is that they should be working," he said.

Mr Andrews said measures announced on Tuesday would be just the first instalment of reform.

He said former Mission Australia chief executive Patrick McClure had completed his discussion paper on welfare reforms but would review it in light of budget changes.

The review will be released for public consultation after the budget.

"I will be taking to cabinet further proposals for welfare review. This will go to the structural arrangements," Mr Andrews said.

Mr Andrews said the welfare system now comprised some 50 payments, allowances and supplements assembled ad hoc over the years.

"It is time to have a clear look at making structural change so far as welfare is concerned," he said.

Proposed changes are in line with the report of the National Commission of Audit which said the DSP was costing $15.8 billion a year.

Opposition health spokeswoman Catherine King was critical of the changes to the DSP.

"Why would you be punishing them? Why would you be punishing their income security payments and trying to restrict their access to income support whilst at the same time cutting a whole lot of benefits that support them into work," she told reporters in Melbourne.

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Pair die in fatal Qld car crash

Two people have been killed after their car hit a tree in a Gold Coast suburb. Source: AAP

TWO people have been killed after their car hit a tree in a Gold Coast suburb.

The driver, a 27-year-old Darra man, and a 26-year-old Fortitude Valley woman were travelling along a road in Nerang just before 12.30am when their vehicle collided with a tree.

Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

It is believed an incident involving a 4WD occurred 15km from the crash scene with the driver of a black Subaru Forester breath tested, a police spokeswoman said.

The Forensic Crash Unit is investigating.

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Legionnaires' disease outbreak in Vic

Three people have contracted the potentially deadly legionnaires' disease in Melbourne west. Source: AAP

THREE people have been struck down by an outbreak of potentially deadly legionnaires' disease in Melbourne.

Two men and a woman, aged between 47 and 88, are recovering after hospital treatment.

All live in the Altona North area or spent time there in April and May, Department of Health spokesman Bram Alexander says.

He said the first case came to light in early April and the most recent was confirmed on Friday.

The department has taken samples from air-conditioning cooling towers and has disinfected them as a precaution, but Mr Alexander said the source of the outbreak might not be found.

"We will continue to do the work that we need to do to find the source, but there are occasions where we do not find the source," he told AAP.

Single cases of the illness were not unusual, Mr Alexander said.

Early symptoms are flu-like, and include headache, fever, chills, confusion and muscle aches and pains.

These initial symptoms develop into respiratory problems and pneumonia within three or four days, with the full onset of the disease within 10 days of infection.

People aged over 50, heavy smokers or drinkers, diabetics, people with chronic lung disease and people with immune system deficiencies are at the highest risk.

Fifteen Victorians have contracted the illness this year, which is down from 23 at the same time in 2013.

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Graffiti tag link to school chook killers

A GRAFFITI tag that appears to say "Siko" is a lead in a police investigation into the killing of 14 pet chickens at a Perth primary school.

The principal and assistant principal of St Brigid's Primary School in Middle Swan were shocked to find the birds bashed to death earlier this week.

The RSPCA and WA Police are investigating the incident.

Police are seeking help from the public to identify the person who left a graffiti tag at the scene.

RSPCA spokesman Tim Mayne said a similar incident occurred at Calista Primary School in Kwinana last month.

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'Bitterness' behind brutal murders: court

Lian Xie's "bitterness" was behind his murder of five members of the Lin family a court has heard. Source: AAP

NINE-YEAR-OLD Terry Lin was alive for up to two hours after he was allegedly asphyxiated and bashed by his uncle in the boy's family home in Sydney, a court has heard.

The graphic details of the boy's death and that of his four family members were revealed during the crown's opening address at Lian Bin "Robert" Xie's trial on Friday.

Xie is accused of murdering his wife's brother Min "Norman" Lin, 45, Mr Lin's wife, Yun "Lily" Li Lin, 44 and their sons Henry, 12, and Terry, 9 in the early hours of July 18, 2009.

He is also alleged to have killed Lily's sister, Yun Bin "Irene" Yin, 39.

He has pleaded not guilty.

In outlining the crown case, prosecutor Mark Tedeschi QC said Xie was "motivated by bitterness" when he went to their North Epping home on the "particularly dark night" and turned off its electricity.

Without waking anyone, it is alleged Xie went into Min and Lily's bedroom first and murdered them in their beds.

He then killed the third adult, Irene.

These attacks, Mr Tedeschi said, involved numerous blows with a "hammer-like object" and likely happened while they were sleeping or "at most" while they were waking up.

Having killed those that represented the largest "threat", the crown says Xie then went into the bedroom the two boys Henry and Terry shared.

But here a struggle did break out.

Both boys, the crown said, showed signs of defensive wounds, with the crime scene indicating they had moved around their room.

Terry's injuries were consistent with that of a "furious struggle" and the nine-year-old survived for approximately one to two hours after the attack, the court heard.

Everyone except Irene showed signs they were asphyxiated.

None of the Lin family's neighbours heard a thing.

After slaying the family, it is alleged Xie would have been "covered in blood" when he walked the 300 metres back to his own home.

Xie then placed something on his garage floor and "unbeknown to him ... left a small area of blood smear that contained a mixture of three, four or five of the deceased persons," Mr Tedeschi told the jury.

When he cleaned his garage floor the following morning, this spot remained.

The court heard that Xie and his wife Kathy had gone to her brother's home on the morning of the 18th, after Min failed to turn up to work.

After discovering the crime scene, the court heard Kathy "pleaded" with Xie to stay, saying she was scared.

But Xie knowing "he himself was responsible for their deaths" left before eventually driving to Merrylands to pick up Kathy's parents, Mr Tedeschi said.

It is alleged that "many, many months" after the murders, Xie told a prisoner at Long Bay Jail that he had disposed of the murder weapon during this trip.

He is alleged to have also confided that he believed Kathy wouldn't be a danger to him as she had been sedated on the night her family died.

The trial continues.

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AWH boss denies favours from NSW Lib MP

AWH boss Nick Di Girolamo says he never received political favours in exchange for payments. Source: AAP

A NOTORIOUS infrastructure company's largesse towards NSW Liberals translated to "gold-edged service" including a favourable press release from a shadow minister, a corruption inquiry has heard.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is investigating suspect political donations that allegedly flowed through a slush fund founded by Tim Koelma, an ex-staffer to former NSW minister Chris Hartcher.

Australian Water Holdings (AWH) is alleged to have paid $183,000 to the "sham" company, EightByFive.

Former AWH boss Nick Di Girolamo on Friday was shown emails and phone records suggesting he had input into a media release that was sent out by Mr Hartcher in 2010, when he was a shadow minister, and which urged further development of greenfield sites in Sydney's northwest.

At the time, AWH was pushing for a $1 billion public-private partnership to provide water infrastructure in the region.

"Very good media release," Mr Di Girolamo wrote after Mr Koelma showed him the release.

The inquiry heard Mr Hartcher put questions on notice to parliament that asked whether Sydney Water's general manager "may be providing preferential commercial arrangements for a significant contractor".

"That is gold-edged service that your getting, isn't it?" junior counsel assisting Greg O'Mahoney said to Mr Di Girolamo.

The parliamentary questions came as AWH was locked in a commercial dispute with Sydney Water.

At the time, Mr Koelma allegedly arranged for false anonymous corruption allegations against senior Sydney Water executives Ron Quill and Kerry Schott to be sent to the ICAC.

But Mr Di Girolamo denied his company had received any preferential treatment.

"Regardless of what political donations I made, regardless of the EightByFive retainer, I don't believe I ever received any preferential or any biased favours from, at this point in time the opposition, nor from the government, when it came into parliament," he said.

"You were getting the service you were from this political office in the context of Mr Koelma dealing with it extensively," Mr O'Mahoney said.

"The reason he was dealing with it extensively was wholly and solely because of the payments that you were making to EightByFive."

"I don't accept that," Mr Di Girolamo said.

He is due back in the witness box on Monday.

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Snapchat settles charge it deceived users

US regulators announced a deal with Snapchat to settle a charge that the internet firm misled users Source: AAP

US regulators have announced a deal with Snapchat to settle a charge that the internet firm misled users into believing images sent over the popular phone application disappeared permanently.

Terms of the proposed settlement include Snapchat ramping up privacy and security at its popular self-destructing messaging service and having an independent monitor track its efforts for the next 20 years.

The Southern California-based service gained notoriety for the app that lets people send smartphone photos or video snippets timed to self-destruct 10 seconds or less after being opened.

Snapchat rocketed to popularity after the app was released in September 2011. Its growth initially sparked fears that in a world of selfies, it would provide a false sense of security for teenagers thinking of sexting risque photos.

The US Federal Trade Commission said it had launched an investigation into whether Snapchat was not up front about how much data it collected from users, how well it protected them, and whether disappearing messages could be copied or resurrected.

"If a company markets privacy and security as key selling points in pitching its service to consumers, it is critical that it keep those promises," FTC chairwoman Edith Ramirez said.

An FTC complaint charged that Snapchat misled users on several fronts, including how "ephemeral" smartphone pictures or video snippets, referred to as "snaps", actually are.

Snapchat boasted of letting people send images that "disappear forever" seconds after being viewed by recipients, neglecting to inform users there are ways people can save pictures indefinitely, the FTC says.

People who get snaps can use third-party applications to save images, grab screen shots, or even just take another picture using a camera.

Concerns expressed by regulators included the extent to which snaps could be erased after viewing; how well Snapchat lets senders know when messages intended for destruction were saved, and how open it is about information it collects from users.

The FTC complaint contended that Snapchat gathered contact information from address books of people accessing the service form iPhones, iPads, or iPods without telling them.

Regulators blamed Snapchat's failure to effectively secure a Find Friends feature for allowing hackers to breach its database and steal user names and phone numbers of about 4.6 million users.

No fines were announced, but Snapchat could be hit with financial penalties if it doesn't stick with the conditions it agreed to in the settlement, the FTC says.

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Mama panda shows off Canberra babies

Four-month-old twin red pandas are shown off for the first time at the National Zoo in Canberra. Source: AAP

IT'LL be a bittersweet Mother's Day for second-time mum Eilish.

The National Zoo's prized red panda lost one of her cubs the first time around - but now she's getting ready to show off her healthy new twins to Canberrans on Sunday.

Eilish's newborns are a special addition to a species whose numbers are low and declining.

Zookeepers are excited because the twins mark a successful breeding program of the threatened species.

"She had tough times with the first cub, and now for both of them to survive, we're very excited," National Zoo spokeswoman Bec Scott told AAP.

Visitors will be able to name the twins from a list compiled by keepers on the zoo's Facebook page.

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Fears for missing Victorian delivery man

GRAVE fears are now held for an Indian student who went missing while on his delivery job in Melbourne a week ago.

Homicide detectives have taken over the investigation into the disappearance of Shiva Chauhan who didn't complete any of his bread deliveries last Friday.

His silver van was found parked normally near an empty field in Keysborough that afternoon with his wallet and other belongings left inside.

Mr Chauhan, 27, was last seen leaving his Dandenong South depot at 12.30am last Friday.

Homicide Squad Detective Inspector John Potter says there are concerns for Mr Chauhan who has no relatives in Australia.

He says Mr Chauhan is on a student visa but works delivering bread in Melbourne's south.

Police have run checks on his bank accounts.

"The very location, the fact that Mr Chauhan hasn't been since last Friday, leads us to believe that this may be suspicious, and as a result we have grave concerns for his welfare," Det Insp Potter said.

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Kurnell conversion on track: Caltex

Caltex says the conversion of Kurnell refinery into a fuel import terminal is on time and budget. Source: AAP

FUEL refiner and supplier Caltex's $270 million conversion of its Kurnell oil refinery in Sydney into a major import terminal is on time and on budget.

Kurnell is due to close as a refinery and open as Australia's largest fuel import terminal in the fourth quarter of this year.

"The conversion of the Kurnell refinery to a leading import terminal remains on time and on budget, with the refinery on track to cease operations in the final quarter of this year," Caltex chief executive Julian Segal told shareholders at the company's annual general meeting on Thursday.

After the closure of the Kurnell refinery is complete, the amount of crude oil imported by Caltex will halve - Caltex still operates the Lytton refinery in Brisbane - and imports of refined fuels will increase.

The refinery closure was expected to result in the loss of 330 jobs, with several hundred more contract jobs on the line.

To strengthen the fuel supply chain after the conversion of Kurnell, Caltex has established an Ampol-branded office in Singapore.

The role of Ampol Singapore, which is wholly owned by Caltex Australia, is to source refined fuels and related shipping to Australia.

On behalf of Caltex, Ampol has entered into a deal with Chevron to help procure and supply imported refined fuels.

Mr Segal said that in the first three months of 2014, Caltex had made an unaudited profit of $121 million, down from $190 million in the first quarter of 2013.

Using the company's preferred measure - replacement cost of sales operating profit - unaudited profit was $96 million, down from $146 million in the prior corresponding period.

In the first quarter, Caltex's marketing and distribution business continued to grow despite the sale of Caltex's bitumen business in 2013.

Higher sales of jet fuel and premium grades of petrol and diesel offset a long-term decline in demand for unleaded petrol.

External factors, including currency and crude oil price fluctuations, that affected Caltex's refining and supply business in the second half of 2013 had continued into 2014 and had resulted in the business posting an earnings loss.

Caltex's refiner margin was $US8.78 per barrel, down from $US13.60 in the prior corresponding period.

The Lytton refinery increased production.

Mr Segal said the outlook for the marketing business for the rest of the year was positive, and the full year outcome for refining and supply would depend largely on the level of the refiner margin.

Caltex shares were 42 cents higher at $22.22 at 1320 AEST.

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Vic govt must do more on abuse: victims

The Victorian government will remove time limits that stop some child abuse cases going to court. Source: AAP

VICTORIAN child abuse victims will no longer be constrained by time limits in seeking compensation from the organisations that harboured their abusers, but another hurdle remains.

Premier Denis Napthine says organisations will no longer be able to hide behind the statute of limitations for victims who want to take civil action.

Victims advocacy group Broken Rites said removing time limits was an important step for victims, as it could take 20 or 30 years for some to come to terms with their childhood abuse.

"For victims who are still looking for justice and felt justice was denied that's an important turnaround that they can now bring their claim forward without that time limit that was there previously," spokeswoman Chris MacIsaac said.

But some child sex abuse survivors given a "bubble of hope" by the sweeping reforms from a Victorian parliamentary inquiry now fear it will burst if the government doesn't enact all of the recommendations.

"If these failed to materialise then the bubble would burst and suicides and premature deaths would rise," said the advocacy group, Ballarat and District Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse.

It says removing time limits is a good move, but for it to be effective the government also must enact reforms requiring non-government organisations to be incorporated and insured so they can be sued.

"The Ellis defence can still be used and leaves victims with no other option but to go back to the institution that abused them and beg for help," the group said.

Dr Napthine said the government wanted to protect children and was continuing to examine options for reform.

"We as a government are committed to ensuring organisations cannot hide behind statutory time limits in order to avoid the liability they have for harm they have caused to victims of child abuse," he said on Thursday.

Religious ministers will have to undergo working with children checks, while there will be mandatory reporting to a central body and minimum child safety standards for organisations dealing with children.

The government has already made it a crime to fail to report suspected abuse to police.

Dr Napthine said the government believed it "got the balance right" by making an exemption for anyone in a situation where they fear reporting abuse would put themselves and the child at greater risk.

But the Federation for Community Legal Centres says vulnerable women will still have to go to court to defend themselves.

"It is still an offence, potentially, for a woman in a family violence situation to fail to disclose but then there's a defence they can raise," the centre's senior policy adviser Dr Chris Atmore said.

The Catholic Church backed the government's reforms saying it would help to prevent further abuse while supporting victims.

Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart said the inquiry was an important opportunity for victims to be heard and for the Church to face the truth.

"I believe that this inquiry, and the government's response to it, will assist the healing of those who have been abused and the prevention of abuse in the future," Archbishop Hart said on Thursday.

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WA debt rises amid infrastructure splurge

THE West Australian government's debt projections show the state sliding deeper into the red as huge spending on infrastructure overshadows revenue raising and cost cutting measures.

The 2014/15 state budget handed down on Thursday shows the goal of restoring WA's AAA credit rating is a long way off, with debt creeping up to $27.5 billion by 2016/17, from $26.9 billion in the mid-year economic review.

A whopping $23.7 billion in planned infrastructure projects over the next four years will maintain the need for increased borrowings, Treasurer Mike Nahan told parliament as he delivered his first budget.

With just $243 million in infrastructure spending pushed back beyond 2017/18, Dr Nahan said the government would "keep a close eye" on debt levels.

Opposition leader Mark McGowan said the Liberal government should not have pushed ahead with all of its big projects.

"I went to the state election suggesting some changes that would have saved money," Mr McGowan told reporters.

"[Premier Colin] Barnett just went to the people and said 'you can have all of the capital works and we won't put up electricity prices'. Clearly, that was untrue."

The Barnett government had promised before last year's state election to keep electricity price rises "at or around inflation", but they will instead increase by 4.5 per cent.

Water bills will also rise, motorists will be slugged with a three per cent hike in vehicle registration fees and there will be a four per cent increase in public transport costs.

Dr Nahan says something has got to give, with the state receiving less GST as its royalties rise on the back of greater export volumes, and with massive infrastructure spending unavoidable as WA's population continues to surge, despite a slowdown in business investment.

But Mr McGowan was unforgiving.

"This is a budget of pain, hardship and dishonesty that will impact every West Australian man, woman and child," he said.

"It's a horror budget on the hip pocket. It's a budget that hurts people who can least afford it.

"They've had seven treasurers in the last five years. This is a government not fit to be in government."

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, which downgraded the state's credit rating from AAA to AA+ in September last year, was also critical.

It said the latest budget had no measures in place to deal with structural problems and left the state vulnerable to "external shocks" such as volatile commodity prices.

Ratings agency Moody's said improved financial performance would rely to a large extent on the state's ability to lower expenditures.

In 2014/15, the state's spending forecast of 2.6 per cent compares to a much higher rate of spending in the current financial year of 9.1 per cent, but this trend largely relies on employee costs rising by only 2.9 per cent.

That won't please public sector unions, which want bigger wage increases.

Despite the mounting debt, the WA government has managed to polish its net operating balance, replacing a $124 million deficit that was flagged for the coming financial year with a $175 million surplus.

But in 2015/16, the surplus is expected to be a measly $5 million.

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Pistorius introduced Steenkamp as fiancee

A neighbour has testified that Oscar Pistorius was "torn apart" after shooting his girlfriend. Source: AAP

OSCAR Pistorius introduced Reeva Steenkamp as his fiancee just a week before he shot her, a close neighbour of the runner testified in his defence.

Michael Nhlengethwa, who describes himself as Pistorius's "closest neighbour," said the Paralympic gold medallist introduced the 29-year-old model to him shortly before her death early Valentine's Day morning 2013.

Pistorius said "please meet my fiancee, Reeva," Nhlengethwa said.

The athlete nicknamed the "Blade Runner" claims he and his girlfriend of three months were in a loving relationship and that he shot her accidentally after mistaking her for a intruder.

He faces up to 25 years in prison if found guilty of premeditated murder.

On the night of the shooting, Nhlengethwa said he woke up to the sound of a man crying.

"A man was crying very loud," he said, "it was crying when you were in danger, when you need help."

Defence lawyer Barry Roux asked the witness - who was wearing a black suit with a sky blue tie - if the voice was low or high-pitched.

"You said a man's voice, was it a low pitch?" asked Roux. "It was a very high pitch voice," replied Nhlengethwa.

The defence claims that Steenkamp never screamed the night she was shot four times, alleging it was Pistorius screaming "like a woman" under the effect of stress.

The sprinter fired four bullets through a lavatory door, killing Steenkamp who was in the cubicle inside his house in an upmarket housing complex in the capital Pretoria.

Prosecutors have argued that the Valentine's Day shooting came after a row between the couple.

In his cross-examination, state prosecutor Gerrie Nel asked Nhlengethwa if he heard bangs or screaming on the night of the shooting.

"I did not really hear anything in terms of the gunshots or anything like that," the witness replied.

Earlier, in emotional testimony Nhlengethwa described going to Pistorius's house to investigate the crying and saw Steenkamp being taken out of the house on a stretcher.

"At that moment I knew she was no more," said Nhlengethwa.

Pistorius, who has wretched and sobbed in court, kept his head in his hands as he listened to his neighbour's testimony.

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PM's call puts Aust-Indon ties on track

A group of 20 asylum seekers claim they were turned back to Indonesia by Australian authorities. Source: AAP

INDONESIA'S president has told Prime Minister Tony Abbott he hopes the two countries can heal the rift left by last year's spying scandal by August.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's optimism came even as Australia sent a boatload of asylum seekers back to Indonesian territory with a new tactic that has added to Jakarta's concern over the border protection policy.

Dr Yuhoyono's office says he received a call from Mr Abbott on Tuesday afternoon, in which the prime minister conveyed his regret for having to miss a Bali forum, where the two were set to meet.

"President SBY stated that he could understand the reason for PM Abbott not attending in Bali regarding the discussion of budget in the parliament," the statement read.

The leaders discussed progress in the negotiations for a new code of conduct after revelations in 2013 that Australia had tapped the president's phone, his office says.

"President SBY stated that it is his hope for a code of conduct to have been agreed on at least by August 2014."

According to the statement, the leaders also set tentative dates to meet face-to-face.

Dr Yudhoyono welcomed Mr Abbott's suggestion he visit in June, and the president was invited to view the Indonesia-Australia Centre in Melbourne either during his remaining time in office or after.

Mr Abbott's office confirmed the warm exchange.

"In a very cordial conversation, both leaders agreed on the importance of the bilateral relationship between Australia and Indonesia," a spokesman said.

"They committed to continue the progress that has been made to resolve current issues and to strengthen the relationship further."

When Mr Abbott postponed his Bali trip, it seemed to dash hopes of a breakthrough in the talks with Indonesia, which made the new code a precondition to lifting a temporary ban on people smuggling and other co-operation.

But Dr Yudhoyono, who has always taken pride in close relations with Australia, is likely motivated by his term ending this year.

The government said Mr Abbott was forced to remain in Australia due to the coming budget.

But it was believed the trip was canned because Australia was in the process of turning back asylum seekers.

Indonesian navy officers found a group of 20 stranded on an island on Sunday, and claim they were originally on two separate boats.

One boat carrying 18 asylum seekers - first reported as Indian and Nepalese, but now believed to be Iranian and Nepalese - was met by two Australian vessels near Ashmore Reef on Sunday.

Indonesian officials believe three more people - an Indonesian and two asylum seekers from either Nepal or Albania - were intercepted in a second boat and then added to the first.

"There were two boats," the spokesman for Indonesia's Co-ordinating Ministry for Politics, Law and Security, Agus Barnas, told AAP.

"The bigger one left from Makassar and the smaller one left from Rote Island. The smaller one then caught by Australia, then the boat was burnt."

Then, Mr Barnas said, the larger boat was intercepted and all were sent back in it.

Indonesia's Foreign Minister, Marty Natalegawa, said it was worrying.

"If confirmed, obviously this is a very serious development," he told reporters in Bali on Tuesday.

"As I've said from the very beginning, we are risking a slippery slope."

Further, it showed Operation Sovereign Borders wasn't working.

"The policy of his government to push, unilaterally forcing asylum seekers - which is threatening and violating their human rights - it's not yielding (success) because such efforts are still being conducted," Dr Natalegawa said.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison wouldn't comment on "on-water" matters for "operational security reasons".

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Aussies spend $15b shopping online

Online retail sales are continuing to strengthen, with Australians spending more than $15 billion. Source: AAP

ONLINE retail sales are continuing to strengthen, with Australians spending more than $15 billion over the internet in the past year.

The National Australia Bank's online retail sales index grew 12.5 per cent in the year to March as Australians spent $15.2 billion shopping online.

Growth was strongest for groceries and liquor while department and variety stores and fashion also saw strong growth, the report said.

Media continued to trend downward while daily deals and personal and recreational goods also contracted.

Sales growth in traditional bricks and mortar retail had also improved in recent months, the report said.

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Baird forced into another reshuffle

Premier Baird has made another tweak to his ministerial line-up amid an ongoing corruption probe. Source: AAP

HE has been in charge of NSW for less than three weeks but Premier Mike Baird is quickly becoming an expert at reshuffles.

Mr Baird tweaked his ministerial line-up for the second time since taking the reins in April by unveiling the inexperienced Stuart Ayres as the new police minister.

The 33-year-old western Sydney MP replaces Mike Gallacher, who resigned on Friday over corruption allegations.

But Mr Baird dodged questions about whether this was the team he would take to the 2015 election.

"I can guarantee you that this team will do everything possible to improve the people of NSW's lives - that's our challenge," he said.

Mr Baird's reluctance to give a guarantee is understandable, having witnessed five Liberal MPs, including two ministers, being sidelined amid serious corruption allegations.

Mr Ayres also takes over Mr Gallacher's emergency services portfolio.

In his first question time as premier, Mr Baird told parliament he would leave no stone unturned to stamp out corruption after damning revelations at the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

"All corruption in public office must be condemned," he said.

"If you are doing wrong, we will find you and you will face the full consequences of your actions."

Labor used question time to press Mr Baird on donations he received in past election campaigns.

But Mr Baird said he wouldn't be "lectured" by Opposition Leader John Robertson, who himself failed to report a $3 million bribe he was offered and turned down.

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Mixed reaction for big-spending Vic budget

The Victorian government will unveil a string of record surpluses from 2015/16 in its budget. Source: AAP

THE Victorian government will stake its November re-election bid on its record infrastructure splurge but the opposition has accused it of ignoring basic services.

The government has outlaid $27 billion on new infrastructure in the 2014/15 budget and forward estimates period of four years, including $24 billion on transport infrastructure.

In addition to the major infrastructure outlay, the government will go to the November election with a string of hefty back-to-back surpluses.

A $1.3 billion operating surplus is forecast for 2014/15, growing to $3.3 billion by 2017/18.

Victoria is likely to be the only state to forecast back-to-back surpluses over the next four years, Treasurer Michael O'Brien said.

An $11 billion Melbourne rail link to the airport forms part of a big pre-election budget cash splash on major Victorian road and rail projects, which includes $10 billion in state funding to finish the second stage of the East West Link road project.

Mr O'Brien said the Napthine government's tight rein on spending meant that it was the only state government that could talk of a substantial and growing surplus.

"Because of this economic management, we are able to deliver this sort of transformational, job-creating infrastructure projects that Victoria needs," he told reporters.

But Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews says the budget does nothing for ordinary people and does not focus on basic services.

Mr Andrews said there was nothing to fix the crisis in TAFEs, over-crowded emergency departments and the ambulance service.

Mr Andrews says infrastructure projects announced in the budget would take years to come to fruition and it does nothing to improve basic education, health and emergency services.

"This is a panicked budget from a panicked and desperate premier, someone who is petrified that he will lose the election at the end of the year."

State coffers will be bolstered by the privatisation of Victoria's rural finance lender, expected to net the government $400 million, and the sale of a 40-year lease of the Port of Melbourne.

From July 2015, a new levy will also apply to planning permit applications in metropolitan Melbourne for $1 million-plus developments.

There will be a $32 hike in car registrations and a rise in vehicle stamp duty.

In a sweetener for businesses, the payroll tax will be cut to 4.85 per cent from July, saving employers $234 million over four years.

The Melbourne rail link will get under way in mid-2016, creating 3700 jobs at the peak of construction.

The rail route is different to what has previously been proposed as part of the Melbourne Metro Rail project.

Mr O'Brien said the latest route would have greater capacity, its construction would be less disruptive to the CBD and included the airport rail link, offering a 25-minute journey between Melbourne Airport and Southern Cross station.

But Mr Andrews said it fell short of the project ranked by Infrastructure Australia as Victoria's number one transport priority.

The Victorian Council of Social Service says the infrastructure splurge will help turn around the jobless rate in a sluggish economy while the Australian Industry Group said the projects will boost the building industry.

But the Victorian Trades Hall Council attacked the budget for lacking a jobs plan, saying the jobless rate was at its highest level in a decade.

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NSW donation scandal crosses party lines

ICAC's Operation Spicer will call Darren Williams into the witness box after a spectacular week. Source: AAP

FORMER coal mogul Nathan Tinkler made tens of thousands of dollars in secret donations so NSW politicians would "bend to his will", the state's corruption watchdog has heard.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has heard Mr Tinkler's development firm Buildev funnelled $66,000 in donations via his stud farm Patinack and then through EightByFive, a "sham" company set up by ex-Liberal minister Chris Hartcher's former staffer.

The unfolding cash-for-favours scandal has engulfed the NSW Liberal Party and there were claims on Monday that Buildev executive Darren Williams had arranged donations to the NSW Nationals before the 2011 election.

"As discussed we are delighted to accept support for our state election campaign as long as it is not from prohibited donors," then-Nationals NSW director Ben Franklin told Mr Williams in an email.

Mr Williams in turn wrote to Patinack director Troy Palmer: "Mate need $20(k) in here to help these guys, Nats will be running ports. Do you know any one that can help?????"

At the time, Buildev was lobbying for a $1 billion coal loader to be built on the Newcastle foreshore.

Under NSW electoral funding laws Mr Tinkler is barred from making political donations but counsel assisting, Geoffrey Watson SC, said ICAC investigators had uncovered evidence that four of his employees had each made $5000 payments to the National Party.

Days after the coalition swept to power in NSW in 2011, Tinkler Group CFO Troy Palmer passed on a "positive" news article about the lucrative coal loader to his boss - but Mr Tinkler was unimpressed.

The embattled businessman fired off this reply: "this is just to pacify me because I donated to the nats and they are doing f*** all about it. willy (Mr Williams) and govt trying to tell me it is moving forward but i dont see it and the whole thing is being held up in bureaucracy ... we had a bunch of deadbeats before and now we have a bunch of p****s scared to make a decision".

Mr Watson said it showed Mr Tinkler believed he could buy political support.

"That's what was operating down at the old Tinkler Group," Mr Watson put to Mr Palmer.

"Payments made to political parties to get the decision-makers to bend to Nathan Tinkler's will, isn't that right?"

"No, no," Mr Palmer replied.

Although the NSW coalition has featured prominently in ICAC's Operation Spicer, which led to last week's sensational resignation of police minister Mike Gallacher, it is alleged Mr Tinkler was not averse to crossing the floor.

He has been accused of working with former NSW Labor minister Joe Tripodi to depose former Newcastle member Jodi McKay after she refused to accept a bribe.

Mr Watson has indicated that on Wednesday morning he will ask that the inquiry be adjourned to allow further investigations.

The witness list has been shuffled to include Liberal fundraiser Nick Di Girolamo.

He was at the centre of the ICAC's last inquiry, Operation Credo, and his gift of a $3000 bottle of wine led to former NSW premier Barry O'Farrell's demise.

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Indonesia in dark over Abbott no-show

Indonesia has received no explanation for PM Tony Abbott postponing a meeting with the president. Source: AAP

INDONESIA has received no explanation for Prime Minister Tony Abbott postponing a meeting with the president, nor any indication that asylum seekers are being sent back to its territory, a government spokesman says.

Mr Abbott was invited to attend a forum in Bali on Tuesday, which was also a chance to meet President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The relationship has been on ice since last year's revelations that Australia had spied on Dr Yudhoyono and his wife, a bombshell that saw Indonesia halt co-operation pending a new code of conduct.

Talks on the code have crawled, but the Bali meeting could have provided a breakthrough.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa revealed the offer to Mr Abbott on April 7, when he told AAP the talks had taken a more positive turn.

Days before the Open Government Partnership forum was due to start, Mr Abbott's attendance hadn't been confirmed and he didn't state a reason for postponing the trip late on Friday.

"The attempt to make a trip to Indonesia has been postponed, but we are hopeful of finding another date soon," a spokesman said.

It's understood the prime minister postponed the trip because Australian officials were in the process of turning an asylum-seeker boat back to Indonesia.

On Saturday, Dr Yudhoyono's spokesman told AAP he only knew of the decision through media reports.

Agus Barnas, spokesman for Indonesia's Coordinating Ministry for Politics, Law and Security, said he checked with the foreign ministry on Monday and it had no explanation for Mr Abbott's no-show.

"They said that they were not told either about the reason for him not coming," he told AAP.

Indonesia has also received no notice of a boat turnback.

Mr Barnas said he read Australian opposition and Greens criticism of Mr Abbott's change of heart and agreed it was a missed opportunity.

"If I was going to take a negative view it would be that Abbott's reason was just that he did not want to meet President SBY in person," he said.

"It's a pity ... this was actually a good opportunity for both leaders to meet in person, eye to eye."

A spokeswoman for Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she won't be representing the prime minister on this occasion.

Australia will be represented at official level, she said.

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Abuse not seen as a crime, inquiry told

Senior Christian Brothers will give evidence to the royal commission into child sex abuse this week. Source: AAP

THE Christian Brothers regarded the physical and sexual abuse of children as abhorrent and a moral failing but not a criminal offence, a royal commission has been told.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has also heard double jeopardy laws prevented other men from coming forward to tell of their abuse at the hands of a Brother Dick, who was sentenced to three and a half years after confessing to abusing five "unknown" children.

Allegations of child sex abuse were not passed on to police because the order did not see them as a criminal matter.

"All I can assume, understand, is that there was a mindset that didn't see this first and foremost as a crime; that it was something of a moral failing, contributing to the corruption of the child," Brother Anthony Shanahan, the order's former provincial leader for WA and SA, said on Monday.

"I think they saw it as something that was abhorrent, harmful, although I don't think they understood it as harmful in the way we would now, in terms of consequences for the victim."

The commission last week heard from 11 men physically and sexually abused at four WA Christian Brothers residences at Tardun, Bindoon, Clontarf and Castledare between 1947 and 1968.

Justice McClellan asked Br Shanahan if he thought it extraordinary that the order did not view sex abuse as a criminal offence.

"Yes," he replied.

"Can you explain how the order would have brought themselves intellectually to that position?" Justice McClellan asked.

"No, I can't explain it," Br Shanahan said.

Br Shanahan said there existed a pattern where an accused brother would be transferred.

Christian Brothers who were accused of sexual abuse were still allowed to work with children by being sent to day schools where there would be less opportunity to offend.

"There was a pattern, I think - not completely in 100 per cent of cases, but I think it's a pattern where there was a complaint the person would be transferred to a day school and not a residential school," he said.

When asked by Council assisting the commission Gail Furness if Br Shanahan's predecessors knew of the underlying conduct that led to the transfer, he replied: "Probably, yes."

The commission also heard a series of documented sex abuse allegations dating back to 1919, some against brothers who were shifted to other schools around the country.

Last week an abuse survivor, Edward Delaney, said after he told the superior at Bindoon, Brother Bruno Doyle, of his abuse at the hands of a Brother Parker, he was informed the man had been transferred to Tasmania and was told not to talk about it.

Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Bruno Fiannaca told the commission the 1994 conviction of Br Dick prohibited others from coming forward in the courts.

The hearings continue.

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Katie Price pregnant with fifth child

British model Katie Price is reportedly pregnant with her fifth child. Source: AAP

BRITISH model Katie Price is reportedly pregnant with her fifth child.

Britain's The Sun on Sunday reports Price discovered she is pregnant after falling ill with stomach pains while on holiday in the Caribbean with her third husband Kieran Hayler and her other children.

After visiting doctors when she returned to the UK, Price was reportedly told she had been carrying the child for around six months after getting pregnant late last year.

The news comes just eight months after the model-turned-reality TV star gave birth to her son Jett, who was born in August last year.

A source tells the newspaper, "It's not something they had planned this soon after Jett, but they're still delighted."

The Daily Mail reports Price and Hayler were spotted shopping in Mothercare in Brighton on Wednesday and picked up several items for the impending arrival.

Price is already mum to Junior, eight and six year old Princess Tiaamii from her marriage to Australian pop star Peter Andre. She is also mum to Harvey, 11, from a previous relationship.

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Forrest hands $12m to uranium explorer

Iron ore magnate Andrew Forrest has injected $12 million into a WA uranium exploration company. Source: AAP

MINING magnate Andrew Forrest has invested $12 million in a prospective West Australian uranium miner aiming to be in production by the end of 2016.

Mr Forrest has paid Energy and Minerals Australia (EMA) $12 million for a 28 per cent stake in the company, which owns land in central Western Australia containing four deposits of uranium.

The company has also reached agreement with its lenders to remove $24.5 million of debt, and it says the two deals will help set it up to get its Mulga Rock project underway.

EMA is run by Julian Tapp, a former executive at Mr Forrest's Fortescue Metals Group, and former BC Iron boss Mike Young.

"My investment is a strong vote of confidence in the executive management team of Mike Young and Julian Tapp with whom I have had a long and successful working relationship," Mr Forrest said.

Mr Forrest, who has a net worth of an estimated $5.7 billion, last week paid $40 million for Harvey Beef, which processes beef for local and overseas markets.

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Firefighter bravery recognised

FIREFIGHTERS who attended a fuel spill with the potential to ignite and threaten a Sydney peninsula faced a choice.

Leave the two million litre tank to leak, evacuate the peninsula around Banksmeadow on Botany Bay and wait for a catastrophic explosion.

Or volunteer to wade through the fuel pool and repair the leaking valve.

NSW Fire and Rescue (NSWFR) station officer Ron Morasso looked at his colleagues and made his choice.

"I said to him, 'what was going through your mind'?" NSWFR commissioner Greg Mullins told AAP after presenting Mr Morasso with the fire service's highest bravery award.

"[Mr Morasso] said to me, 'I looked at my crew and thought - he has two young kids, his wife is pregnant, he is only young...it's got to be me'."

Mr Mullins said even a spark from a car passing the Caltex fuel terminal would have risked an explosion with enough ferocity to close Sydney airport and any subsequent fire might have taken days to extinguish.

Mr Morasso, who has since retired, was presented with the NSWFR medal for conspicuous bravery on Saturday.

Other crew members who responded to the spill in July 2013 also received commendations.

Meanwhile, two firefighters who rushed to the aid of a man on fire after a petrol tanker crash on Sydney's northern beaches were also recognised.

Mosman crew members Lloyd Mulder and George Cheeke stayed with the man, who crawled from his car after it burst into flames, until he died at the roadside last October.

Witnesses Andrew Cochran and Maria Tosone also received commendations for trying to pull the man and another person from the car on Mona Vale Road.

And 12 firefighters who responded to a fire at a unit complex in Bankstown in the city's west, where two women attempted to escape by jumping from a fifth floor window, were also among commendation recipients.

Mr Mullins said the blaze was so intense that firefighters' uniforms caught fire and helmets melted.

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Greens say they're the party to fix NSW

The Greens have announced their upper house line-up for the upcoming March 2015 NSW state election. Source: AAP

THERE'S a smell wafting from the Labor and Liberal party rooms in NSW parliament, the Greens say.

Just days after police minister Mike Gallacher stepped aside following claims in front of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) over illegal donations to the Liberal Party, Greens NSW MP John Kaye announced on Sunday his new upper house team for the March 2015 election.

Joining him on the ticket will be existing MP Mehreen Faruqi, as well as coal seam gas campaigner and political advisor Justin Field.

Mr Kaye said the team would be highlighting their credentials as an alternative to the major parties.

"NSW politics has been plunged into crisis, not just by the Labor party but also by the Liberal party's endemic addiction to collecting funds from tainted sources," he told AAP.

"This is the time for reform. This is the election campaign where politics needs to change."

Mr Field, who is third on the ticket, said he will be taking out the message of clean water, energy and politics out into the community.

"A stench of corruption now hangs over NSW parliament, but only the Greens are able to say they can clean up politics."

The announcement comes after the Labor party revealed on Sunday that a "record number" of their party's supporters had voted for former MP Verity Firth to be the next state candidate in the Sydney seat of Balmain.

She narrowly lost the marginal inner-city seat to Greens candidate Jamie Parker at the 2011 election.

Mr Parker said the Greens were confident that there needs to be change.

"It doesn't matter who the candidate is, we have seen before that he structure of Labor means they are silenced ... I stand for a different approach to politics," he told AAP.

He said one of the bills the Greens would be be introducing to parliament in the following months is a push to implement 2010 ICAC recommendations on lobbying in NSW.

This included a recommendation to set up an independent body to oversee the role of lobbyists.

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$15m boost to Vic mental health

Victoria will allocate an extra $15 million to mental health resources to reduce pressure on police. Source: AAP

MENTAL health services will get a $15 million boost in the Victorian budget to help change the way specialist, police and ambulance services respond to people with mental illness.

The investment, over four years, will create a new locally based, co-ordinated mental health crisis response.

Mental health workers will work with police and ambulance workers to tailor responses to someone needing urgent support.

The budget allocation also aims to reduce pressure on police, ambulance and emergency department resources.

Mental Health Minister Mary Wooldridge says the initiative draws on previous trials, which brought together mental health workers and police to respond to a crisis to avoid it escalating and involving an emergency department.

The trials found people suffering a mental illness episode were less likely to end up in the local emergency department and police units could be released to other duties more quickly, she said.

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Vic govt to unveil infrastructure spend

Tuesday's Victorian state budget is expected to contain a number of major infrastructure projects. Source: AAP

MELBOURNE'S East West Link tunnel will get more funding and light will be shed on plans for a Melbourne airport rail link in Tuesday's state budget.

Victoria is expected to remain in the black with the state on track to reach its net surplus target in a budget that will focus on major infrastructure projects six months out from an election.

State funds will flow for the second stage of the $18 billion East West Link road project, including $1.5 billion from the Commonwealth, while details of a plan to link Melbourne's CBD by rail to the Tullamarine airport will be unveiled for the first time.

Treasurer Michael O'Brien says that in contrast to the federal budget, which is expected to include significant spending cuts and possible tax increases to cut the deficit, Victorians can expect strong surpluses over the next few years.

Net debt will also fall over the forward estimates and there will be a focus on major infrastructure projects which create jobs, he says.

"The Victorian budget is in a very different position to the federal budget," Mr O'Brien told reporters on Friday.

"We're in surplus here in Victoria and we're going to have strong surpluses across the forward estimates."

Mr O'Brien says the government will be delivering the major infrastructure projects Victorians want to see to improve their quality of life, thanks to good economic management.

"We're funding major job creating infrastructure through strong surpluses, through good economic management and through asset recycling," he said.

The budget is expected to contain more money to progress the Melbourne Metro Rail project, a $10 billion underground cross-city tunnel designed take on thousands of extra passengers and connect the Dandenong and Sunshine rail corridors.

A swag of pre-budget announcements have been made, so far including: more than $1 billion to remove eight level crossings across Melbourne; $190 million to cut elective surgery waiting lists; a $220 million project to upgrade country rail and build a standardised rail link between Mildura and Geelong.

Mr O'Brien says the public service is safe from further cuts this budget, but it is yet to be seen what further pain may be in store for Victorians.

The government has already blamed a cut in the state's GST revenue from 90 cents in the dollar to 88 cents in 2014-15 for a $32 hike in car registrations and an increase in vehicle stamp duty.

The government says the extra charges would fund major transport infrastructure in the budget.

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Man dead after NSW highway smash

A man has been hit and killed by a bus that veered onto a footpath in Sydney, police say. Source: AAP

A PASSENGER has been killed after the vehicle he was in veered onto the wrong side of the road on the NSW south coast.

Police have been told the Honda was headed south on the Princes Highway, north of Gerringong, when it crossed to the other side, crashing into a Porsche four wheel drive.

The passenger in the Honda, a man in his 50's died at the scene.

The driver and the man behind the wheel of the Porsche were taken to hospital.

The death follows that of a man hit by a bus which witnesses say mounted a footpath in Sydney's Haymarket.

Emergency services were called to Hay Street in the inner city about noon following reports of a pedestrian struck by a coach.

Witnesses have told police the bus was travelling west when it veered to the opposite side of the road, mounted the footpath and hit the awning of a restaurant on the corner of Hay Street and Dixon Street.

They say the man was hit by and pinned underneath the bus.

He also died at the scene.

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