Cabbie car-jacked in NSW Hunter region

A taxi driver has been beaten up, robbed and car-jacked in the NSW Hunter region. Source: AAP

A TAXI driver had his nose broken during a terrifying ordeal in which he was beaten up, robbed, kidnapped and car-jacked by a drunken passenger in NSW's Hunter region.

The cabbie picked up a man in Kurri Kurri on Saturday morning and was asked to drive to Newcastle.

Police say that on the way, the passenger asked to be driven to a caravan park in Maitland to collect money for the fare.

Once at the caravan park, the driver and passenger went inside a cabin where it's alleged the passenger pulled out a knife, kicked the taxi driver in the head and took his wallet.

The passenger then allegedly forced the taxi driver into the passenger seat, cut the wires to the taxi meter, radio and CCTV system; and started speeding north on the Pacific Highway.

Police used road spikes to stop the taxi after detecting it travelling at 185km/h on the Pacific Highway at Moorland.

A 28-year-old man was arrested and taken to Taree Police Station, where a breath-analysis test returned an reading of 0.106.

He is still being questioned and is expected to be charged later on Saturday.

The taxi driver was taken to Manning Base Hospital suffering swelling, abrasions and bleeding to his face, and a broken nose.

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US woman gets 'custody' of her embryos

A US judge has awarded custody of frozen embryos to a 42-year-old Chicago woman. Source: AAP

A US judge has awarded custody of frozen embryos to a 42-year-old Chicago woman over the objections of her ex-boyfriend who said it violates his right to not procreate.

In 2009, Karla Dunston, began dating Jacob Szafranski, a 32-year-old firefighter. A few months into their relationship Dunston was diagnosed with lymphoma and had to undergo chemotherapy that would ultimately destroy her fertility.

She testified that she longed to have a biological child and asked Szafranski to provide his sperm so that embryos could be frozen prior to her treatment, and he did so, despite neither of them thinking the relationship had long-term prospects.

The couple broke up in May 2010. Szafranski said he changed his mind about being a father after friends and a girlfriend reacted negatively, according to court documents.

Judge Sophia Hall said Friday in a written ruling that oral agreements between Szafranski and Dunston concerning use of the embryos stand and added that Dunston's desire to have a child outweighs Szafranski's desire to not procreate.

"Karla's desire to have a biological child in the face of the impossibility of having one without using the embryos outweighs Jacob's privacy concerns, which are now moot," the judge said in the ruling, "and his speculative concern that he might not find love with a woman because he unhesitatingly agreed to help give Karla her last opportunity to fulfil her wish to have a biological child."

Dunston's lawyer, Abram Moore, applauded the ruling.

"Using these pre-embyros is important to our client, but it is equally important to her to set a precedent in Illinois which helps other women cancer survivors who find themselves in this heart-wrenching situation," he said in an email.

Szafranski's lawyer, Brian Schroeder, said they plan to appeal the decision.

"We're obviously very unhappy," he said.

Schroeder said lawyers for both parties have agreed that the embryos should not be implanted in Dunston until the appeal is completed.

Through a lawyer, Dunston previously has said she was not seeking any support, financial or otherwise, from Szafranski.

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Blazes lit in Melbourne's botanic gardens

A 100-YEAR-OLD pavilion was damaged and two others destroyed by an arsonist in Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens.

Firefighters were called to a large blaze in the gardens just before 6am on Saturday and arrived to find two more fires burning.

Police said the arsonist was potentially in the gardens at the same time that firefighters arrived.

"It's too early to say, but it appears that they are all linked because obviously they were all in very close time frames," detective senior constable Megan MacInnes told reporters.

Professor Tim Entwisle, chief executive of the Botanic Gardens, said two buildings were destroyed and another significantly burned.

"Some plants were damaged doing this as well, which for us in the botanic gardens is just as distressing," Prof Entwisle said.

He said the Lakeview rest house is 100 years old and had been damaged, while the William Tell rest house had been burned down.

A toilet block was also burned down.

Prof Entwisle said security patrols spotted the fire, and said it was tough to keep people from getting in at night.

"It's very hard - without putting razor wire around the Botanic Garden - to absolutely keep people out," he said.

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Police hunt two sex predators in Melbourne

A man has tried to sexually assault a woman in the inner Melbourne suburb of Brunswick. Source: AAP

THE hunt is on for two sex predators who attacked three women in the same Melbourne suburb where Jill Meagher died.

Police say an assault on Friday night in Brunswick is not linked to two similar attacks a week earlier.

A 21-year-old woman was walking through a park at 8pm on Hope St in Brunswick West on Friday when grabbed from behind.

The assault continued until she called out to a passing cyclist and the attacker stopped and ran.

Another woman has been assaulted in Brunswick, Melbourne overnight as police hunt two serial predators.

Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Michael Phyland said on Saturday police would like to speak to the cyclist and anyone else who might have seen the incident.

It came after another man grabbed two woman from behind and dragged them down side streets in Brunswick in the early hours of May 10.

Both were able to fight him off and escape.

Jill Meagher was raped and murdered after being snatched from a Brunswick street in 2012.

Sgt Phyland said men and women should be careful when walking at night in the suburb.

"Where you can, take well lit areas, be aware of your surroundings, take the safest path that you can," he told reporters.

Sgt Phyland said descriptions of the two men were different and the attacks were not linked.

The Friday night offender is described as Caucasian, with a medium to solid build, aged in his 30s, with dark hair, blood-shot eyes and a beard.

Police have released CCTV footage of the other man wanted for the May 10 attacks.

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Oprah helps Barbara Walters say goodbye

Oprah Winfrey and Hillary Clinton have surprised Barbara Walters as she taped her final edition of The View.

OPRAH Winfrey and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have surprised Barbara Walters as the legendary American newswoman taped her final edition of The View to end a five-decade career on television.

Actor Michael Douglas, a longtime friend and frequent subject for Walters' interviews, also dropped by for the tribute.

Looking smart in a cream-coloured blazer and a black skirt, the 84-year-old Walters was presiding over a studio audience of friends, colleagues and fans on hand to witness a bit of history.

Although she will retain a behind-the-scenes role as executive producer of the talk show she created 17 years ago, she is ending her daily on-air involvement, while limiting her appearances to the occasional story or interview.

Oprah has helped journalist Barbara Walters tape her final edition of the View and retire from TV.

"I can't believe this day has come, and I can't believe it's for real," Clinton told Walters, who began her career in 1962.

Typically, Walters couldn't let Clinton get away without fielding the question on so many minds: Is she running for president in 2016?

"I am running," smiled Clinton. "Around the park."

A bit later, Douglas brought the subject up again with Walters.

"If Hillary runs," he said, "I bet you'd be a great vice president."

Some of the best moments happened during commercial breaks, never to be seen by viewers. Then audience members could snap photos and interact with Walters and her co-panellists (Whoopi Goldberg, Sherri Shepherd and Jenny McCarthy).

The audience erupted at the sight of Winfrey, who told Walters, "You're the reason I wanted to be in television."

"You shattered the glass ceiling for so many women," said Winfrey, who then brought on a startling parade of them, some two dozen prominent on-air women including Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, Robin Roberts, Gayle King, Connie Chung and Joan Lunden.

"You are my legacy," Walters, visibly moved, said to them as they crowded around her onstage.

The hour had its comic twist: In a pre-taped segment, Walters (who, after all, has interviewed everybody else) lobbed some questions at herself, in the person of former Saturday Night Live cast member Cheri Oteri doing a spot-on Walters imitation.

Walters brought the hour to a close with a heartfelt statement looking back with amazement on her career.

But a more telling moment took place during a break, as the throng of women she had paved the way for posed with her for a group portrait.

"I have to remember this on the bad days," Walters said quietly, "because this is the best."

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Israel designs hi-tech fin to save turtle

A prosthetic fin has been built to save the life of an injured sea turtle in Israel. Source: AAP

A BADLY injured sea turtle's prospects are looking up - thanks to a new prosthetic fin designed by an Israeli team and modelled on the wings of a US fighter jet.

The green sea turtle, named "Hofesh," the Hebrew word for "freedom," was caught in a fishing net off Israel's Mediterranean coast in early 2009.

With his two left flippers badly wounded, rescuers had to amputate, leaving him with a pair of stumps that made it difficult to swim.

Yaniv Levy, director of Israel's Sea Turtle Rescue Centre, said on Saturday Hofesh was initially fitted with a diver's fin but it provided little relief and he bumped into things as he tried to swim.

Shlomi Gez, an industrial design student at Jerusalem's Hadassah College, read about the animal on the internet and wanted to help.

He designed a prosthetic based on a fish's dorsal fin. The contraption provided some improvement but Hofesh still had trouble breathing and rising to the surface.

Then, inspired by the design of Lockheed Martin Corp's F-22 Raptor warplane, Gez designed a new prosthetic with two fins.

The device, somewhat resembling the aircraft's wings, was strapped onto Hofesh's back on Thursday, allowing him to move easily around his tank.

"I discovered it worked better than one fin on the back," Gez explained.

"With two fins, he keeps relatively balanced, even above the water."

Levy said Hofesh will never be able to return to the wild.

But he shares a tank with a blind female turtle named Tsurit, and researchers are optimistic the pair will mate, potentially adding to the local population of the endangered green sea turtles.

He said it is difficult to say exactly how old the two turtles are but they are estimated to be between 20 and 25 and approaching the age of sexual maturity.

"We have great plans for this guy," Levy said.

"They will never go back to the wild but their offspring will be released the minute they hatch and go immediately into the sea and live normally in the wild," he added.

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Truck driver's arrest sparks SA drug bust

THE arrest of a truck driver in NSW has led to a drug bust in South Australia.

Police on Wednesday stopped a truck on the Sturt Highway, near Gol Gol, and found six bags of cannabis weighing about 160 grams, leading them to charge the 42-year-old driver.

Information about the arrest was shared with South Australia Police (SAPOL).

Members of SAPOL's Heavy Vehicle Enforcement Section on Friday searched the truck driver's home in Albert Park, SA, and allegedly located about two kilograms of dried cannabis, an amount of cash and a number of firearms.

The man was rearrested and charged with trafficking cannabis and firearms offences.

NSW Police Traffic and Highway Patrol Operations Commander, Superintendent Stuart Smith, said officers will continue to target the heavy vehicle industry to curb drivers and operators who break the law.

" ... whether that's through unsafe driving practices or criminal activities such as transporting drugs across borders," Supt Smith said in a statement.

The man was granted conditional bail to appear in Wentworth Local Court on July 8.

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Donation law concerns cost me job: Davis

CHRIS Davis says he was sacked as Queensland's assistant health minister partly because he raised concerns about changes to political donation laws.

Premier Campbell Newman sacked Dr Davis this week, saying his decision to speak out against some aspects of the government's agenda had breached the Westminster principle of cabinet solidarity.

Dr Davis had publicly raised concerns about reforms to the Crime and Misconduct Commission and new work contracts for doctors.

On Friday, he told the ABC he believed there was another factor in his dismissal.

He said he had raised with the premier his concerns about the government's move to ease restrictions on political donations, and he believed that played a part in the decision to dismiss him.

He cited revelations at the NSW corruption inquiry as proof powerful interest are involved in politics and it would be naive to think similar forces weren't at play in Queensland.

"You only need to look across the border to NSW to actually see under current arrangements how there are a number of very powerful interests in any political system," he said.

"We have at the moment on the table a great relaxation of caps and donations and so on, just at the same time the new premier of NSW, Mike Baird is actually saying that he needs to nail shut the back door to government because it is actually causing so much damage.

"You don't make an investment in business unless you make a return on it. You'd be naive to think that the political gene pool changed when you crossed the border from NSW to Queensland."

Dr Davis said he was not offered the chance to offer his resignation when he met with the premier this week, and instead was sacked.

He said he believed there'd been a number of complaints made against him, and the premier felt compelled to send a message.

"I think it was a signal on a number of fronts. I think it was not just a technicality of the cabinet solidarity message, I think I had trod on some very powerful toes," Dr Davis said.

"It doesn't sting me so much but if you look at social media there has been a lot of concern about what sort of message it sends in terms of our style of government in Queensland, our tolerance, I guess, of democracy."

Dr Davis did not say if he would contest the next election as a member of the Liberal National Party, saying his pre-selection was a matter for the party.

A spokesman for the premier told the ABC Dr Davis never raised any concerns about electoral donation laws with either himself or Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie and any claim that he did was completely wrong.

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Tinkler faces ICAC over pollie donations

Nathan Tinkler tells ICAC, he gives to political parties because he's a great guy. Source: AAP

NATHAN Tinkler has told NSW's donation rort inquiry he gives to political parties because he's "such a great guy", not because he thinks his largesse will buy favours.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is probing more than $400,000 in payments to alleged NSW Liberal slush fund EightByFive, including $66,000 by the former mining mogul's racehorse business, Patinack Farm.

Counsel assisting the inquiry Geoffrey Watson SC alleges the money was funnelled through Patinack from another Tinkler business, development firm Buildev, and that Mr Tinkler was trying to win support for a lucrative coal loader on the Newcastle foreshore.

Mr Tinkler told the ICAC on Friday he "didn't know about Eighty By Five" until the company hit the headlines, courtesy of the inquiry that has now toppled four Liberal MPs and two NSW ministers.

Nor did he accept suggestions he arranged for two employees and their partners to donate $5000 apiece to the Nationals to sidestep laws that cap individuals' electoral donations.

But he has admitted to a $45,000 personal donation to the Nationals and handing over $50,000 to a Newcastle group manoeuvring to oust then-ALP MP Jodi McKay at the 2011 NSW election.

Mr Tinkler also signed off on $53,000 in payments to another alleged Liberal front group, the Canberra-based Free Enterprise Foundation.

"You share it around," he said.

Mr Watson didn't buy it, asking: "Why would you give that away if you weren't getting something in return for it?"

"Because I'm such a great guy," the witness quipped.

"I've never had a political favour in my life."

He also said he was "quite annoyed" when he learned the financially troubled Patinack had been spending thousands each month on an EightByFive retainer, ostensibly for marketing services and political advice.

But Mr Watson said it was a crooked deal designed to subvert NSW electoral funding laws, which ban developers making political donations, and signed off by Mr Tinkler himself.

"You knew, Mr Tinkler, didn't you, that Buildev was paying money into a campaign associated with Liberal Party politicians and funding it under a subterfuge," he said.

"No I didn't," Mr Tinkler replied.

Emails obtained by ICAC show Buildev executive Darren Williams was seeking advice in 2010 on "which entity" to give Mike Gallacher - the former NSW police minister allegedly in on the scam - and was told by his colleague David Sharpe Mr Tinkler should have the final say.

Phone records show Mr Williams rang Mr Tinkler four minutes later.

Asked on Friday what they might have discussed, Mr Tinkler joked: "Probably footy scores."

During two hotly anticipated hours in the witness box, Mr Tinkler was both feisty and playful - though at lunchtime was heard to remark: "This is some of the most boring s*** I've ever seen."

However, he was emphatic when questioned over claims he offered former Newcastle MP Ms McKay a bribe to win her support for the coal loader - and that when she turned him down, he funded a leaflet campaign to "destroy" her.

"Definitely not," he said.

"I never took this to her, I never asked for her support."

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US mum convicted of killing her teens

US mother Julie Schenecker has been found guilty of the murders of her teenage daughter and son. Source: AAP

A FORMER US Army officer's wife has been convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of her two teenagers, with jurors rejecting her insanity plea.

Jurors on Thursday found 53-year-old Julie Schenecker guilty of killing her 13-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter in Florida in 2011.

Prosecutors say she was sane when she killed her children.

The defence argued she suffered from years of mental illness and was legally insane during the time of the killings.

Julie Schenecker wiped her nose and eyes, then the bailiffs handcuffed her as the verdict was read after just about an hour of deliberations. She started to cry.

Prosecutors chose not to seek the death penalty and she faces a mandatory life sentence. Sentencing was expected on Thursday.

Schenecker, a former Army linguist, fatally shot her daughter, Calyx, and son, Beau, in January 2011 while her now ex-Army officer husband, Colonel Parker Schenecker, was on a 10-day deployment to the Middle East.

Parker and his mother looked sad and exhausted as the verdict was read on Thursday. Julie Schenecker's sister cried softly.

All six mental health experts who testified said Schenecker was mentally ill, but three experts called by prosecutors said she was legally sane when she shot her children.

Defence lawyers said Schenecker is so affected by bipolar disorder and depression that she doesn't know right from wrong. Under Florida law, the inability to tell right from wrong is one of the criteria for a not guilty by reason of insanity plea.

Her lawyer, Jennifer Spradley, told jurors they needed to consider Schenecker's state of mind when she pulled the trigger, that she was suffering from such severe depression and manic depression that she didn't understand what she was doing.

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Land Council upset over NT township leases

THE federal government is trying to snatch back land from Aboriginal people by pressuring them to sign 99-year township leases, the Northern Land Council says.

The NLC is clashing with federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion over what it says is an attempt to convince traditional owners to sign over their lands and associated rights.

Township leases provide a surety to banks and give indigenous communities the opportunity to borrow against their land to buy their own homes and businesses.

Land councils serve to negotiate with the government on their behalf.

However, the NLC says leases signed under section 19A of the Land Rights Act designate an executive leaseholder to hold the rights to the land on behalf of the government and can make decisions without traditional owners' consent.

The NLC want the provision repealed in favour of the broader section 19, which offers traditional owners the same economic benefits of the lease while retaining full decision-making powers over their land.

"It's one thing to talk about normalising townships, it's another thing to talk about taking rights away," NLC CEO Joe Morrison said on Friday.

The NLC accused Senator Scullion of trying to divide and conquer communities by pushing section 19A township leases.

The community of Gunbalanya in East Arnhem Land is negotiating a 99-year lease with the government but NLC executive member John Christophersen told Mr Scullion he had a petition against it signed by 400 people, as well as eight of the 13 traditional owners.

"People are very concerned about it and want it to go away," Mr Morrison said.

"One can surmise that this is a land grab.

"Forty years ago no one really saw the value of Aboriginal land - it was wasted land, it was the domain of buffaloes and pigs.

"Now we understand Aboriginal lands are very valuable and everyone wants a slice, and we want to make sure we maintain control."

Senator Scullion said the NLC was playing power games.

"This is about a perceived loss of power ... (but) traditional owners are completely in control," he said.

Gunbalanya will decide whether or not to sign up to a 99-year lease later this year.

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Trial for academic over indecency claims

Criminologist Paul Wilson is ordered to stand trial for allegations he indecently treated two girls. Source: AAP

QUEENSLAND criminologist Paul Wilson has been ordered to stand trial over allegations he indecently treated two girls in the 1970s.

The former head of criminology at the Gold Coast's Bond University was on Friday committed to stand trial on six charges of indecent treatment of girls under 17.

After three days of witness testimony Brisbane Magistrate John Costello ruled there was enough evidence to commit the 73-year-old to trial.

Wilson pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The trial is expected to take place in the District Court in Brisbane at a date to be set.

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Car industry cuts face Senate block

THE Abbott government's cuts to car industry assistance could be blocked in the Senate.

Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane announced on Tuesday the shutdown of a number of automotive sector programs, with funding redirected to new innovation and training plans.

Unions estimated the cuts to the auto industry totalled $838 million.

Under the government's new schemes, $480 million will be spent on an entrepreneurs' infrastructure program bringing research and business together to develop and commercialise home-grown ideas.

There is also a $476 million industry skills fund and $50 million for a manufacturing transition grants program.

A $155 million growth fund will help industry transition from car manufacturing to new products.

"Our new industry approach builds on our strengths by improving productivity, rewarding entrepreneurship and giving companies the structural support to back themselves," Mr Macfarlane said.

But independent senator Nick Xenophon said the budget tossed a "wrecking ball" through the automotive sector.

"The federal government is destroying any chance of new jobs and new industries and new markets being found," he said, adding he would oppose the bill when it came to parliament.

Democratic Labor Party senator John Madigan said the budget had pulled the rug from under many automotive businesses and threatened 33,000 jobs.

Labor spokesman Senator Kim Carr declined to comment, but has previously expressed concern about industry assistance cuts.

The budget cut $215 million that was to go to Holden to make its next-generation vehicles.

A company spokesman said Holden won't need the money as it will stop making cars in Australia in 2017.

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union said the government had failed auto workers in Victoria and South Australia.

"Tony Abbott's 'liberated' automotive workers won't be feeling very bright after today's budget," AMWU president Andrew Dettmer said.

He said the budget's total funding cut for the car industry came in at $838 million and car makers were now likely to close their factories earlier than expected.

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Uni students pledge to fight fee hikes

Universities will be able to charge what they like while government contributions reduce from 2016. Source: AAP

A BODY blow or historic reform?

The reaction to the deregulation of university fees depends on whether it causes pain or gain.

University students say the Abbott government's "horror budget" will leave them drowning in debt.

They face a double financial hit from 2016, when universities will be allowed to charge what they like while government contributions reduce.

"Thousands and thousands of parents around the country will be worrying about how their children are going to afford their education," National Union of Students president Deanna Taylor said.

Meghan Hopper from the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations didn't mince words: "This budget sucks for students."

But the nation's top research institutions and private higher educators are thrilled.

ANU vice-chancellor Ian Young, chair of the Group of Eight, said the moves reconciled access and equality and made growth affordable for universities.

The government hopes the changes will force Australian universities to be more competitive.

It wants at least one local institution to break into the world's top 20, and more in the top 100.

The budget also provides subsidies for all diploma and sub-bachelor students - a massive expansion of the demand-driven system.

The Council of Private Higher Education chief Adrian McComb says the measure delivers everything the sector wants.

It's expected expanding places will lead to the government subsidising an extra 80,000 students by 2018 at a cost of $820 million.

However, it will still bank $1.1 billion from cutting an average 20 per cent from student payments.

Non-university providers will get smaller subsidies than universities.

Mr McComb said the finer detail of arrangements were still to be negotiated.

"Some of that is not cheaper to teach in fact, the sort of work you need to do with sub-bachelor degree students," he told AAP.

The group representing all universities was more circumspect about the changes, saying it was disappointing the likely increase in student fees was being offset by a significant drop in government contributions.

"In combination (with lower indexation) that represents a reduction of around $1.9 billion over the forward estimates," Universities Australia chief Belinda Robinson told AAP.

The budget changes will affect anyone who accepts a higher education place after Wednesday.

Students already enrolled at the time of the federal budget won't be affected unless they're still studying at the end of 2020.

In a small sweetener, universities will have to put $1 from every $5 raised from fee hikes into scholarships.

Students, however, don't think that is especially sweet.

"(Treasurer Joe) Hockey is claiming to provide more opportunity for low-SES (socio-economic students) and rural students while he's making them foot the bill for their own scholarships," Ms Hopper said.

Another $3.3 billion will be saved from changes to the higher education loans program.

Graduates will have to start repaying the loans once they earn $50,638 from mid-2016, almost $700 less than now.

Their debts will be indexed at a higher rate, capped at 6 per cent, depending on what it costs government to borrow.

At the moment, the rate is indexed in line with inflation - currently about 2.5 per cent.

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Non-mining industries told to fire up

THE mining industry has underpinned Australia's budget for a decade but Treasurer Joe Hockey says its peak has passed and it's now time for other industries to step up.

Treasury forecasts the Australian economy will grow below trend in 2014/15 chiefly because of a fall in investment in resources projects.

New engineering construction in Australia was expected to fall 13 per cent in 2014/15 and 20.5 per cent the next year.

Coal and iron ore prices are also tipped to continue falling due to growing world supply and moderating Chinese growth.

Iron ore is Australia's number one export and crucial to budget revenues, but its price has plunged 20 per cent in the last four weeks.

The economy is now going through an extraordinary period of transition, in a reversal of the shift during the boom of labour and capital into resources.

"Mining and resources represent about 10 per cent of our economy but two per cent of our employment," Treasurer Joe Hockey told parliament.

"So now we need to fire up the rest of the economy."

Despite the negative outlook for resources, miners will get $100 million in tax offsets to keep exploring for new minerals.

University of Melbourne business and economics professor Neville Norman said he was more optimistic than the government about the resources industry, saying they may be underestimating its strength.

"It will make a big difference to corporate revenue and mining revenue if prices do go up," he told AAP.

"There is nothing more speculative in the budget than speculating on that."

The mining tax, which the government wants to repeal, was expected to raise $100 million in 2013/14, down from $200 million last year, and well down on original forecasts for $10.5 billion in those two years, the government said.

How Australia emerged from the transition would depend chiefly on how quickly non-resources business investment started picking up from its subdued state, Treasury said.

Australia's suite of new liquefied natural gas projects offer hope for new revenue, but there exists uncertainty about gas prices, and investment is falling now mega-projects were mostly built, it said.

The gas industry today is part way through an investment of around $200 billion on seven LNG projects, and will roughly double in export value by 2015-16, overtaking coal, the government said.

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Budget attacks Queensland, says govt

Queensland's premier says he'll attack the federal budget if it's a raw deal for his state. Source: AAP

QUEENSLAND will benefit from billions of dollars worth of infrastructure funding in the federal budget, but the state government says changes to health and education are an attack on the state's finances.

More than $9 billion will be spent on projects including the Bruce Highway, the Melbourne to Brisbane inland railway, venues for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018 and the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing.

"These projects are essential projects for Queensland and will help us to grow our four pillar economy," said Treasurer Tim Nicholls.

Mr Nicholls said the $7 GP co-payment and reducing funding to the Better Schools Plan were deeply disappointing changes.

"The revisions are nothing more than an unjustified attack on the state's delivery of health and education services," he said.

"We will use the time between now and the implementation of these measures to take the fight to Canberra.

"These changes will significantly increase the pressure on the state's budget, as we believe the shifting of expenditure to the state's budget is unsustainable.

"Of particular concern is the freezing of indexation payments to local governments. The state is not in a position to assist, given our own budget repair task, so this reduction in funding is going to increase the strain on local governments."

Shadow treasurer Curtis Pitt says the budget shows Prime Minister Tony Abbott is like Queensland Premier Campbell Newman when it comes to telling the truth and keeping promises.

"Tony Abbott and Campbell Newman are two peas in a pod. They say anything to get elected, and then they break promise after promise to the people who put their trust in them," Mr Pitt said in a statement.

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Shocking day for NT: Opposition

IT has been a shocking day for Territorians hit with a one-two punch of the Northern Territory and federal budgets, the Labor opposition says.

NT Treasurer Dave Tollner will comment on the national figures on Wednesday, his spokesman said, but others have been quick to respond.

"Territorians will be disproportionately affected twice a year by the fuel excise increase, with motorists already paying too much for fuel, about $2 a litre in regional areas and $1.72 in Darwin," Opposition Leader Delia Lawrie said.

Seniors have had benefits cut from both budgets. A mean test has been put in place to access NT benefits, and the eligibility age for the Commonwealth age pension will be increased to 70 by 2035.

The age pension's means test thresholds will be frozen for three years, and there will be a tougher income test for self-funded retirees to receive the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card.

Ms Lawrie said there was more cause for concern.

"Extremely concerning is the $500 million cut to indigenous services and the $80 billion axe taken to schools and hospitals across the nation," Ms Lawrie said.

The federal government says $593.7 million will be invested in NT roads.

Projects include more funding for NT roads, with the strengthening and widening of road pavements, flood immunity improvements and fatigue management measures, which will have a federal contribution of $77 million.

There are also upgrades to six regional roads, which will improve flood immunity, safety and reliability for communities at a federal cost of $90 million, although the opposition says this is merely a repackaging of a deal fully costed and funded by the former Labor NT and federal governments.

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AirAsia to do Interpol checks

BUDGET airline AirAsia says it will become the first carrier to check its passengers' passports against Interpol's database of stolen and lost travel documents.

The Kuala Lumpur-based airline said on Tuesday it will begin implementing the screening this month as part of its effort to enhance aviation security in the aftermath of the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines jet on March 8.

The Interpol database had previously been available only to government immigration authorities. Interpol's I-Checkit system will be deployed across all of AirAsia's international operations, covering 600 flights daily.

Attempts to solve the mystery of what happened to the missing Malaysia Airlines plane with 239 people on board revealed that two of its passengers had travelled with stolen passports. The Austrian and Italian passports used were on Interpol's database as having been stolen in Thailand.

Ronald Noble, Interpol secretary general, said the decision of AirAsia to screen its passengers using the Interpol database "will raise the bar across the industry for passenger safety and security".

"After today, airlines will no longer have to depend solely on countries screening passports to keep passengers safe from terrorists and other criminals who use stolen passports to board flights," he said.

At present, fewer than 10 countries systematically screen passenger passports against the Interpol database.

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Gary Barlow urged to return OBE

Take That star Gary Barlow is facing calls to hand back his OBE over tax avoidance allegations. Source: AAP

TAKE That star Gary Barlow is facing calls to hand back his OBE over claims he invested in a tax avoidance scheme.

Prime Minister David Cameron hit out at "aggressive" tax avoiders while senior MPs from across the political spectrum waded in to voice their displeasure.

The singer and two other members of Take That refused to comment on reports over the weekend that they face having to pay tens of millions of pounds in tax after a court ruled a partnership in which they invested was a tax avoidance scheme.

Barlow along with Howard Donald, Mark Owen and their manager Jonathan Wild invested STG66 million ($A120.47 million) into two partnerships styled as music-industry investment schemes, according to reports.

Judge Colin Bishopp ruled that 51 partnerships set up by Icebreaker Management were to secure tax relief for members and HM Revenue and Customs is now expected to demand repayment.

It was alleged in 2012 that Barlow, Donald, Owen and Wild invested at least STG26 million in a scheme run by Icebreaker Management.

At the time Take That's lawyers insisted the bandmates believed the investments were legitimate enterprises and that all four named paid "significant tax".

Cameron told The Times: "I am opposed to all aggressive tax avoidance."

Barlow, who has previously been seen on the campaign trail with Cameron, masterminded the Queen's Diamond Jubilee concert and was given an honour for services to the entertainment industry and to charity in 2012.

Labour's Margaret Hodge, chair of the public accounts committee, who has brought a spotlight to bear on tax avoidance, said Barlow "might want to show a bit of contrition by giving back his OBE".

Liberal Democrat chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said: "People who don't pay the taxes that they should undermine the economy, damage our public services and place an extra, unfair burden on hard-working families and companies who play by the rules."

Conservative Charlie Elphicke told the newspaper: "People who have seriously abused the tax system should be stripped of their honours."

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Union cash handover at Gillard's house

A former union official told an inquiry he gave cash to workers at former PM Julia Gillard's home. Source: AAP

A FORMER union official went to the home of former prime minister Julia Gillard and gave cash to workers doing renovations, a royal commission into union corruption has heard.

Ralph Blewitt, the former secretary of the Western Australia branch of the Australian Workers' Union, told the commission he had $10,000 or $20,000 in cash when, in 1994, he went to Ms Gillard's Melbourne home to meet Bruce Wilson, his union boss and Ms Gillard's then-boyfriend.

In an extraordinary opening day, the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption heard the payment was one of a series of cash deliveries drawn from a secret fund and flown across the country by Mr Blewitt.

The cash was from the Workplace Reform Association - a secret entity allegedly set up by Mr Blewitt and Mr Wilson with legal advice from Ms Gillard, who was a lawyer advising the AWU at the time.

Allegations surrounding the fund dogged Ms Gillard's political career, although Ms Gillard has maintained she knew nothing about any impropriety.

Mr Blewitt told the inquiry Ms Gillard was at home when he arrived for the 1994 meeting, and the future PM directed him to the back of the house to find Mr Wilson.

Mr Wilson was in the kitchen or veranda where three men in "workers'-type overalls" were doing renovation work, he said.

Mr Blewitt said Mr Wilson asked him to pay one worker $7000.

"I counted off $7000, gave it to that gentleman. He stuck it in the front pocket of his bib and brace overall and went back outside to join the other two workers," he said.

He said he gave the rest of the money to Mr Wilson, but Ms Gillard was not present during the handovers.

In an eventful day, Mr Wilson was spotted outside the commission building on Monday after a meeting with his barrister, and shoved, swung a punch and shouted abuse at a news photographer who took his picture.

Mr Blewitt detailed a series of flights in which he carried cash, drawn from the Workplace Reform Association, from Perth to Sydney to give to Mr Wilson.

In one 1993 example, Mr Blewitt took $50,000 that he gave to Mr Wilson at a Travelodge hotel in the inner-Sydney suburb of Camperdown, the commission heard.

Mr Blewitt also said that $93,000 from the fund was used by Mr Wilson to buy a $230,000 house in Melbourne in 1993.

The commission heard the Workplace Reform Association was established without the knowledge of the broader AWU in 1992 to receive payments from construction firm Thiess, which had a major infrastructure project in Western Australia.

Mr Blewitt said he submitted invoices to Thiess, including one for more than $25,000, to cover the cost of a union-appointed workplace safety adviser, but no work was ever done.

Mr Wilson told him the association's purpose was to raise funds for union elections, he said.

Mr Blewitt said he was instructed by Mr Wilson to regularly withdraw cash and keep it until it was time to deliver it to him in Sydney.

Once, he had so much cash at his WA home, Mr Blewitt buried almost $10,000 in his yard and the money was water damaged.

He followed Mr Wilson's orders because he was afraid for his job, he said.

Mr Blewitt, 69, flew in from his home in Malaysia for the hearing and will continue giving evidence on Tuesday.

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Chrysler reports $690m 1Q loss

CHRYSLER Group has posted big first quarter sales gains thanks to new Jeep Cherokee and Ram utility models.

However, its results have been overshadowed by charges related to its merger with Italian automaker Fiat SpA.

Chrysler lost $US690 million ($A746.55 million) in the January-March period, the company announced on Monday. Without one-time charges related to the merger, its net income more than doubled to $US486 million.

In January, Fiat paid $US3.65 billion to a union-run health care trust to acquire Chrysler's remaining shares. As part of the deal, Chrysler agreed to pay $US700 million to upgrade its factories.

Aurburn Hills, Michigan-based Chrysler took a $US672 million charge in the first quarter to meet those commitments. It also booked a $US540 million non-cash loss on extinguishment of debt related to the merger.

Revenue rose 23 per cent to $US19 billion.

Worldwide vehicle sales jumped 10 per cent to 621,000.

In the US, Chrysler's biggest market, the company's sales rose 11 per cent, far outpacing the one per cent average gain for the industry.

Chrysler saw strong sales of the new Jeep Cherokee SUV, which went on sale at the end of last year. Ram truck sales were also up 25 per cent in the US

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Pistorius has 'anxiety disorder': Doc

THE chief prosecutor in the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius says that the double-amputee athlete should be placed under psychiatric observation after an expert called by the defence said Pistorius has an anxiety disorder.

Judge Thokozile Masipa has not yet ruled on Monday's request.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said he had no other option but to ask for a study of Pistorius' mental health following testimony by a psychiatrist, who said the Olympic runner's anxiety could have shaped the way he responded to perceived threats.

Pistorius has said he killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp by mistake last year, fearing that there was an intruder in his home when he fired through a closed toilet door in the early hours of February 14, 2013.

The prosecution says he killed her intentionally after an argument.

Psychiatrist Dr. Merryll Vorster said events during Pistorius' life, including the amputation of his lower legs as a baby and his late mother's habit of sleeping with a gun under her pillow, contributed to his "increasing stress."

"Overall, Mr. Pistorius appears to be a mistrustful and guarded person," Vorster testified.

She said the Olympic athlete displayed "escalating levels of anxiety" through his life when she interviewed him this month.

Vorster said she also spoke to members of Pistorius' family, some of his friends and his agent.

Pistorius' defence said at the outset of its case that it would show his feelings of "vulnerability" and his disability contributed to him shooting Steenkamp.

Pistorius is charged with premeditated murder and faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted.

Vorster's testimony also dealt with what she said was Pistorius' fear of crime and how, because he was a double amputee, he reacted to perceived threats in a different way to other people.

She noted Pistorius' mother, who died when he was a teenager, slept with a gun in her bed and also had a fear of being attacked in her home.

Cross-examining Vorster at the start of the eighth week of the trial, prosecutor Nel asked if she was saying Pistorius had a mental illness and should undergo a 30-day period of observation, and if he was changing his defence to one of "diminished responsibility."

Nel also asked the psychiatrist if someone who was suffering from an anxiety order of the kind that she had diagnosed in Pistorius, and also had access to guns, would be a danger to society. Vorster said the person would, indeed, be a danger.

Talking specifically about the shooting of Steenkamp, Vorster said Pistorius was more likely to try and "fight" what he thought was an intruder than run away, because his disability meant it was harder for him to flee.

Pistorius was on his stumps when he fired four times through the toilet stall door with his licensed 9 mm pistol, killing Steenkamp.

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Shorten open to talks on MP standards

The Labor caucus has discussed the need for anti-corruption checks at a federal level. Source: AAP

OPPOSITION Leader Bill Shorten is willing to talk to the Abbott government about ways to prevent corruption.

Mr Shorten was asked during Monday's federal Labor caucus meeting in Canberra whether he supported a national version of NSW's Independent Commission Against Corruption.

The Labor leader told colleagues he was willing to talk to the government about reforms to improve the performance and standards of MPs.

But he did not elaborate on what form of new checks he supported.

The Australian Greens on Thursday will push for a vote on a bill to put in place a national anti-corruption body.

The National Integrity Commission would have three officers: a national integrity commissioner, a law enforcement integrity commissioner and an independent parliamentary advisor.

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Eurovision rates well but The Voice wins

IT was the battle of the voicepipes but local talent won over overseas glitz when The Voice beat Eurovision in the TV ratings on Sunday night.

The Nine Network reality talent show retained its perfect number one record with an audience of 1.894 million. Eurovision's mammoth four hour grand final telecast was 16th, but returned healthy figures for SBS.

The Eurovision finale ran from 7.30pm to 11.15pm and, while it lost out to The Voice, it beat several big shows on the commercial networks.

Eurovision, which was won by the bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst, garnered an average audience of 476,000 on OzTAM's overnight Sunday ratings.

It finished one spot ahead of Network Ten's crime series Elementary (470,000) and two spots clear of the Seven Network's Mr Selfridge (441,000).

Eurovision also proved a winner for SBS on Saturday night when a repeat of the semi final finished fifth with more than half a million viewers.

Nine also snared second and third spot with 60 Minutes (1.552 million) and Nine News (1.218 million), respectively.

Seven's reality series House Rules and Ten's MasterChef are holding up well in the face of going head-to-head with The Voice.

House Rules was fifth with 1.058 million viewers and MasterChef held down 10th spot with 770,000

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