Strong economy vital for NDIS: Abbott

Australia can only afford the NDIS with the coalition in power, Tony Abbott has told parliament. Source: AAP

OPPOSITION leader Tony Abbott says a strong economy is vital to delivering the National Disability Insurance Scheme and only the coalition can deliver both.

Joining the NDIS debate in parliament on Wednesday, Mr Abbott said a strong economy was the only guarantee the scheme would succeed.

"A rich country can afford a National Disability Insurance Scheme, a poor country cannot," he said.

"The party that you can best trust to deliver a National Disability Insurance Scheme is the party that you can most trust to deliver strong economic growth.

"Such a party is in fact the coalition," he said.

The opposition leader used his speech to renew his offer to work with the Gillard government in a bi-partisan parliamentary committee to oversee the scheme from introduction to completion.

Labor has not moved to legislate for such a committee but Mr Abbott said he would if elected.

The opposition leader called the NDIS bill one of the most complex pieces of policy ever put before the Australian parliament but said it was still a work in progress.

"It is a building site ... Is it to be a scheme such as Medicare, is it to be in effect Medicare for people with disabilities?" he said.

"Or is it to resemble more closely the workers' compensation schemes."

Earlier on Wednesday, Disability Reform minister Jenny Macklin told parliament the bill should pass both houses by the end of next week.

Debate on the NDIS has been adjourned.

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Ryan right man for development role: Fox

TRUCKING magnate Lindsay Fox has given a tick of approval to the Napthine government for creating the ministry of state development and putting Victorian deputy premier Peter Ryan at the head.

Mr Fox said infrastructure in Victoria is in a deplorable state and likened it to a man about to suffer a heart attack because his arteries are blocked.

"The new ministry is one of the best things I have heard from the state of Victoria for a long time," he told AAP.

Mr Fox said he worked with Mr Ryan in the period after the Black Saturday bushfires in February, 2009 and was impressed with his enthusiasm.

"He's a can-do man and if there is red tape to go through, then he'll go through it," he said.

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NDIS inquiry calls for age-limit rethink

THE merits of increasing the National Disability Insurance Scheme's 65-year age limit need to be explored, a parliamentary inquiry warns.

A seniors group is furious the federal government is retaining the cut-off, saying it will condemn many older people to a "cruel lottery".

The federal government pre-empted a Senate NDIS inquiry report by announcing on Wednesday several amendments to the draft NDIS laws, including letting people decide if they want to continue receiving care under the NDIS when they turn 65.

However, people who become disabled after they turn 65 will not be eligible to join the scheme and will enter the aged-care system instead.

The legislation is being debated in the lower house this week and should pass parliament next week.

The Productivity Commission recommended the cut-off to avoid duplication of services with the aged care system.

National Seniors Australia chief executive Michael O'Neill said it could condemn some to a cruel lottery.

People who get a severe disability at 64 could be covered for life.

"Acquire exactly the same disability at age 65 and you'll be shunted into the second-rate, user-pays aged care system," he told AAP.

The government's amendments also remove an onus on disabled people to seek compensation, so the NDIS agency can do so on their behalf.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says when it comes to the NDIS he is "Dr Yes".

"Always have been, always will be," he told parliament.

The government-controlled Senate Community Affairs committee released its report into the NDIS on Wednesday with 29 recommendations.

These include more research on the costs and benefits of varying the NDIS age eligibility criteria, funding for independent disability advocacy and a requirement that three NDIS board places go to people with disabilities.

The committee also recommended disabled prisoners get appropriate access to the NDIS.

The government should work with states and territories to ensure there is adequate disability support for people aged 65 and older whose disabilities are related to the ageing process, it said.

Coalition senators said in the report that legitimate questions about funding and due diligence should not be portrayed as a lack of commitment to the NDIS.

They flagged an amendment that would set up a non-partisan parliamentary NDIS oversight committee, a proposal the government has previously rejected.

Australian Greens senator Rachel Siewert says the amendments don't go far enough.

"There's no guarantee the aged-care system has the capacity to support over-65s with a disability," she said.

Many survivors of polio were likely to miss out if the age limit stayed in place.

She also wants an additional launch site set up in rural or remote Aboriginal communities.

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Warning on Fitzgerald docs fruitless

TWO Queensland authorities were warned but failed to ban public access to confidential Fitzgerald inquiry documents which could have led to "mischief and danger" in the wrong hands, it's been revealed.

A public hearing is under way into how the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) publicly released 741 documents and shredded at least 4000 others from the landmark 1980s inquiry into police corruption.

Former head of Queensland police's Special Branch, Barry Krosch, says in November 2011 he was researching for post-graduate study at the State Archives in Brisbane, but realised the documents he wanted to view had a 65-year ban on them, imposed upon the inquiry's completion in 1989.

Three months later, he noticed the access ban period on the same documents was 20 years.

He asked State Archives if that was correct and questioned the change of access period.

He ordered the documents and received them at his home at Kingaroy on March 4, 2012.

Also in early 2012, he noticed 1988 surveillance logs from the Special Branch were publicly available and named targets of operations.

"So anyone who was a little bit computer savvy or familiar with the archives could have found the targets," he said.

He couldn't recall when the documents were removed from public access but believes it could have been as late as November 2012.

On May 24, 2012 he emailed Sidonie Wood, Official Solicitor to the CMC, to warn her of the release of the documents.

"I just hope that targets from that era don't realise the reports are there for them to inspect," he wrote in the email.

Following his warning, on July 18, 2012 he requested to see more documents at State Archives and was inadvertently given hundreds of pages of sensitive documents he didn't ask for.

He couldn't recall if they contained information about targets and informants but believed they should have been embargoed for 65 years.

"I just remember I sort of said to myself 'holy hell, I shouldn't be looking at this'," he said.

"I took it to the counter ... and said someone should have a good look.

"Sort it out.

"There is no question in my mind, if it fell off the back of a truck, a lot of mischief could be caused and danger."

Earlier on Wednesday, a transcript was made public of a closed meeting held last week between CMC chair Ross Martin and the Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Committee (PCMC), which oversees the CMC and is running the public hearing.

In it, Mr Martin said he was deeply embarrassed by the errors.

He said the CMC became aware the documents could be publicly viewed in May 2012 and the issue was only corrected on September 19.

He said he regretted not informing the PCMC until last week.

"It did not occur to me to tell you about it because I thought the problem had been fixed and it was not a matter requiring referral," he said.

"In hindsight, I wish I had."

Mr Martin resigned last Friday for health reasons.

It is believed only 19 people had viewed the documents.

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Tunisia man dies after fire protest

A Tunisian cigarette vendor has died after setting himself alight in protest against unemployment. Source: AAP

A TUNISIAN cigarette vendor who set himself alight has died.

Adel Khadri, 27, died on Wednesday, said Imed Toiuibi, the director of the Ben Arous Burns Centre.

Officials said Khadri, from a poor family, had arrived in Tunis a few months ago to look for work.

Witnesses quoted him as shouting: "This is a young man who sells cigarettes because of unemployment," before setting himself on fire on the steps of the municipal theatre on Habib Bourguiba Avenue - epicentre of the uprising that toppled ex-dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali more than two years ago.

The revolution was sparked by the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi in a drastic protest against police harassment.

Economic and social difficulties were the key factors that brought down the regime. Two years later, poverty still plagues the North African country.

Parliament was to meet on Wednesday to vote on a new government to pull the country out of its long-running political crisis.

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1.7 million apply for 1500 Indian jobs

INDIA'S largest state-run bank has received 1.7 million applications for 1500 entry-level clerk jobs - and has promised to examine all of them.

State Bank of India chairman Pratip Chaudhuri attributed the huge interest to good marketing and attractive employment terms, with the number of applications underlining the appeal of "jobs for life" in the Indian public sector.

For positions in Mumbai, the bank offered a starting package of 69,000 rupees ($A1,245) a month.

Job opportunities in the Indian private sector have fallen in the past 18 months as economic growth has dropped to its lowest level in a decade.

The government forecasts that India's once-booming economy will grow by five per cent in the financial year to March 31.

Last year, it grew by 6.2 per cent but even that rate is insufficient to create the jobs India needs for its fast-growing young population.

India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a former economist, believes the country needs at least eight per cent growth to create enough jobs.

Chaudhuri said all 1.7 million applicants - more than 1,100 per position available - would be assessed.

"We have conducted such examinations in the past by hiring schools across the country. This time, we may have to do two shifts," he told the newspaper.

Nine out of ten Indians are employed in the "informal" sector in jobs that offer no security, few perks and often illegal working conditions, government data shows.

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Court battle over Irwin reserve in Qld

CAPE York traditional owners are continuing their fight to overturn a decision by the Queensland government to declare part of the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve a nature refuge.

The Cape York Land Council wants a say in the management of the land.

The council alleges Environment Minister Andrew Powell failed to follow due process before making a decision in September to turn a 125,000 hectare area, near Weipa, into a protected reserve.

The council launched action in the Planning and Environment Court in Cairns last month and the case was mentioned in the same court on Monday.

The case is to be mentioned in Cairns on June 3.

The Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve, a part of the Wenlock River basin, was purchased by the federal government as a tribute to Steve Irwin following his death in 2006.

Resources company Cape Alumina Limited resumed planning a bauxite mine on the reserve in October last year after the state's co-ordinator general gave it significant project status.

The plans were shelved after the former Queensland government in 2010 declared the Wenlock River to be a wild river, placing stringent environmental regulations on the entire basin.

The current state government has promised to repeal the Cape York Wild Rivers declarations.

A Cape York Regional Planning Committee has been established to identify zones of economic development and environmental protection.

Some indigenous groups have said the Wild Rivers protections hold them back from economic development.

But the Wilderness Society fears it will lead to widespread environmental damage and weaken protection for some of the state's most beautiful rivers.

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Vic grassfire contained

A LARGE grassfire burning around the Cashmore area in Victoria's southwest is under control and no longer threatening houses.

Some residents were evacuated as the 145-hectare fire threatened homes but the CFA said shortly after 8pm (AEDT) on Wednesday it was under control and some roads had been reopened.

An emergency warning has been downgraded to a watch and act alert and residents are being allowed back to their properties.

About 130 firefighters and seven water bombers battled the blaze in temperatures that nudged 37 degrees.

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UK PM urges Argentina to respect vote

David Cameron has urged Argentina to respect the wishes of Falklands residents after referendum. Source: AAP

BRITISH Prime Minister David Cameron has urged Argentina to respect the wishes of residents of the Falkland Islands after they voted overwhelmingly in a referendum to remain a British territory.

Before the result on Tuesday, Buenos Aires had dismissed the vote as meaningless in international law, saying it would not affect its claims on the South Atlantic archipelago.

But Cameron said the 98.8 per cent "yes" vote, on a turnout of 92 per cent, was "the clearest possible result there could be" and Argentina should respect that.

"They should take careful note of this result. The Falkland Islanders couldn't have spoken more clearly," he said in a statement.

"They want to remain British and that view should be respected by everybody, including by Argentina."

He added that he was personally "delighted" at the outcome.

"The Falkland Islands may be thousands of miles away but they are British through and through and that is how they want to stay. People should know we will always be there to defend them," he said.

"We believe in self-determination. The Falkland Islanders have spoken so clearly about their future and now other countries right across the world, I hope, will respect and revere this very, very clear result."

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Hong Kong, China stocks end lower

SHARES in Hong Kong and Shanghai have ended lower as early gains were wiped out by profit-taking and concerns over China's economy following disappointing data at the weekend.

Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index lost 0.87 per cent, or 200.22 points, on Tuesday to end at 22,890.60 on turnover of HK$69.14 billion ($A8.72 billion).

Beijing said on Saturday that inflation hit a 10-month high of 3.2 per cent in February while growth in industrial output and retail sales slowed.

Inflation is a key issue for the ruling Communist Party as it raises the chances of popular discontent over climbing prices and the threat of social unrest. Investors are also worried the government will unveil more tightening measures to temper the rising cost of living.

The results, which follow a string of unimpressive data in recent months, have dampened recent optimism for the economy, which had shown signs of a resurgence at the tailend of 2012 after spending much of it enduring slowing growth.

Concerns over China offset a fifth straight record close for the Dow Jones index on Wall Street, which was boosted by better-than-expected jobs figures on Friday.

"Confidence in China's growth recovery has taken a setback after the latest economic data," Sun Hung Kai Financial wealth-management strategist Daniel So told Dow Jones Newswires.

"There is a lot of wait and see going on. Investors are eyeing blue-chip results for trading cues; waiting for the conclusion of the National People's Congress on (March 17) for some policy clarity."

Hong Kong railway operator MTR Corp fell 2.3 per cent to HK$31.95 after reporting 2012 underlying profit declined 6.6 per cent. China Cosco, the mainland's largest shipping company by fleet size, slumped 5.3 per cent to HK$4.08.

Oi Wah Pawnshop Credit surged 33.7 per cent to HK$1.31 on its trading debut. The firm's 100 million-share offering was oversubscribed more than 1,000 times.

Chinese shares fell 1.04 per cent. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 23.98 points to end at 2,286.61 on turnover of 100.6 billion yuan ($A15.84 billion).

Financial stocks led the declines. Industrial Bank dropped 2.83 per cent to 18.55 yuan while China Everbright Securities fell 1.42 per cent to 13.92 yuan.

China Life Insurance lost 1.68 per cent to 17.58 yuan, while wastewater treatment firm Beijing Capital dropped 1.85 per cent to 6.91 yuan and pollution control equipment maker Fujian Longking lost 1.70 per cent to 38.23 yuan.

Media firms were lower on profit-taking. Zhejiang Daily Media Group lost 4.45 per cent to 15.23 yuan.

China Animal Husbandry Industry lost 3.62 per cent to 14.65 yuan, while Inner Mongolia Jinyu fell 4.04 per cent to 18.76 yuan.

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