By George - a right royal welcome

Power prices to drop in NSW

AFTER years of big price rises NSW households can expect cheaper electricity from July, even before the carbon tax is axed.

Taking Sydney to new heights

THE talk is over. The decision has been made. Sydney is getting an airport at Badgerys Creek. This decision will create jobs.

Bondi hoarder's assault claims

A MEMBER of the infamous 'Bondi hoarders' family has been treated for a cut to her hand, after allegedly having a run in with a garbage removalist today.

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It's a royal croc block for George

Prince George and the NT's crocodile George will not meet in Sydney due to quarantine restrictions. Source: AAP

THE royals aren't the only ones who cause a kerfuffle when travelling - it has proven so difficult to fly George the royal crocodile from Darwin to Sydney to meet his namesake that the two remain tragically separated by the tyranny of distance.

Young Prince George won't be accompanying his parents, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, when they visit the Northern Territory next week.

That means he won't be able to meet his crocodile namesake at Crocasaurus Cove, named George after he hatched on December 12, the day the royal pregnancy was announced.

"We did try to get the crocodile George to meet Prince George in Sydney, but unfortunately quarantine regulations did not allow the crocodile to get into Taronga Zoo," Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles told reporters in Darwin on Tuesday.

"We don't know if there's any friendly political rivalry there, because I understand (NSW Premier) Barry O'Farrell is very keen for the bilby to be showcased to the royals, and the Territory wanted to showcase our crocs, because we do have the best and biggest crocodiles ... it's very unfortunate the crocodile won't get to meet the royals."

Flying crocodile George to Uluru to meet William and Kate is too logistically difficult, Mr Giles said.

Instead, the chief minister will take a group of nine secondary school students from around the NT for a half-hour meeting with the royal couple.

"This is an unreal opportunity," said Emma Kellaway, a year 12 student at Taminmin College.

"I'm very excited," said Tarra Brain, from Casuarina Senior College.

Grace Tozer, from Palmerston Senior College, wants to ask the duchess what it's like being swept up in the royal life despite not being born into it.

When teachers approached the family of Chevez Kirkman, from the remote community of Mutitjulu near Uluru, they weren't sure how they would react.

"We thought, oh jeez, some people still think of it as the invasion and all that, but when his father heard he'd been selected he was absolutely beside himself with excitement," Terry Brown, deputy principal of Nyangatjatjara College, told AAP.

The duke and duchess touch down in Yulara on Tuesday, and will present graduation certificates to students of the National Indigenous Training Academy before walking around Uluru.

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Coca-Cola's profit dips

COCA-COLA'S first-quarter profit has fallen nearly eight per cent as the world's biggest beverage maker faced a stronger dollar and sold less soda.

But the company sold more of its non-carbonated drinks worldwide, and its earnings matched expectations.

The Atlanta-based company says global sales volume rose two per cent. In its flagship North American market, soda volume slipped 1 per cent as the company raised prices.

Coca-Cola, which also makes drinks including Sprite and Powerade, has been under pressure to deliver stronger results, particularly back at home where Americans have been cutting back on soda for years.

The company isn't alone in its struggles to boost soda sales. PepsiCo, which reports its earnings on Thursday, has seen even steeper declines in its soda business despite stepped-up marketing, including sponsorship of the Super Bowl half-time show.

Both companies sell a wide array of beverages, including sports drinks, bottled water and orange juice. But sodas remain a big part of their businesses, and they're scrambling to figure out ways to stop the declines.

To boost sales, the company plans slash costs and put the savings into marketing in the year ahead. It also introduced a version of its namesake soda sweetened with a mix of stevia and sugar in Argentina, with plans to eventually introduce the drink elsewhere.

For the quarter ended March 28, net income fell to $US1.62 billion ($A1.73 billion), or 36 US cents per share. That compares with net income of $US1.77 billion, or 39 US cents per share a year ago.

Excluding one-time items, net income totalled 44 US cents per share, matching analyst expectations.

Revenue fell four per cent to $US10.58 billion. Analysts expected $US10.5 billion. Companies like Coca-Cola that do a large portion of their business overseas take a hit to revenue when the dollar is strong, because foreign currencies convert back into fewer dollars.

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Call for more money for Vic mine clean-up

COMMUNITY groups want a $90 million fund for new brown coal technology in Victoria's Latrobe Valley to be instead used to pay for the Hazelwood coalmine fire clean-up.

The Voices of the Valley spokesman Simon Ellis said $2 million in support announced by the Victorian government had already been spent, but the clean-up was not close to being finished.

The federal and Victorian governments each pledged $45 million to the Advanced Lignite Demonstration Program back in 2012, to entice companies to develop ways to use brown coal from the valley more profitably with reduced emissions.

"It would be an insult to Latrobe Valley residents if the state and federal government's first significant response to the Hazelwood fire was to find new coal mines and technologies," Mr Ellis said.

He said the priority should be to clean up Morwell homes and prevent any further fires at the Hazelwood mine.

At Wednesday's Hazelwood mine inquiry community consultation session in Traralgon, The Voices of the Valley will deliver hundreds of affidavits, survey responses, photos and videos collected from residents to help the inquiry with its investigation into how the fire unfolded.

The fire ignited when bushfires spread to a disused section of the mine on February 9 and burned for 45 days, shrouding nearby communities in smoke and forcing some residents to leave Morwell.

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Youth jobs in national service: Lambie

COMBAT youth unemployment with national service.

That's what Palmer United Party senator-elect Jacqui Lambie suggests.

The former Australian Army soldier who joins the upper house in July wants to see a greater utilisation of military national service.

"You can put them in for 12 months, I'm not saying they sign on for war," she told ABC TV on Monday night.

Such a stint would arm young people with valuable experience for the workforce, Ms Lambie said.

"It's got to be better than being on the dole."

Ms Lambie said she hasn't discussed her plan with party leader Clive Palmer or other PUP colleagues, but wanted to throw the idea into the public arena.

She said volunteer and charity sectors are also crying out for manpower.

"We need to do a bit of tough love," Ms Lambie said.

"If you're not going to go out and volunteer yourself for charity services ... then you know what, it's time to cut your dole back."

The idea does not stretch to conscription, but Ms Lambie said young people should stand for their country.

"If war shows up on our shores then we're in trouble," she added, citing a shortage of military personnel.

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Citigroup's earnings edge higher

CITIGROUP says its first-quarter earnings rose, beating the expectations of Wall Street analysts.

The bank made $US4.1 billion ($A4.38 billion) in the first quarter, after stripping out the effects of an accounting change and a tax item. That was up 2.5 per cent from the same period a year earlier, when it made $US4 billion.

On a per-share basis, that amounted to $US1.30 compared with $US1.29 a year ago. That was better than estimates of analysts polled by FactSet, who had been expecting $US1.14.

Revenue was $US20.1 billion. That was down 2 per cent from the same period last year when the bank generated revenue of $US20.6 billion.

Analysts had forecast revenue of $US19.5 billion.

Citi's stock rose $US1.27, or 2.8 per cent, to $US46.97 in pre-market trading.

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US retail sales up a strong 1.1 per cent

US retail sales in March rose by the largest amount in 18 months, led by strong gains in sales of cars, furniture and a number of other products.

The Commerce Department said on Monday that retail sales rose 1.1 per cent in March, the best showing since September 2012. The government also revised February to a 0.7 per cent gain, more than double its previous estimate. Sales had fallen in January and December.

Sales of cars climbed 3.1 per cent while sales at general merchandise stores, a category that covers retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target and department stores, increased 1.9 per cent, the strongest one-month gain since March 2007, before the country went through the recession.

The strong March gain was evidence that the economy is emerging from a harsh winter with some momentum.

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Cane toads continue to spread poison in WA

TOXIC cane toads have reportedly wiped out entire species of animals in the world heritage-listed Purnululu National Park, home to Western Australia's famed Bungle Bungles.

Kimberley Toad Busters (KTB) founder Lee Scott-Virtue said cane toad numbers had reached staggering numbers as they invaded every habitat system.

The first toad arrived just east of the Bungle Bungles - the large cone-shaped quartz sandstone ranges formed from erosion over 20 million years - in May last year.

The poisonous creatures had already wiped out some entire species of animals in the areas they infected including quolls and some reptiles such as king brown snakes.

Ms Scott-Virtue said visitors and people working in the park were horrified by the number of toads that had appeared since the wet season.

She warned numbers would continue to increase if nothing was done about their breeding.

"It's going to happen in every national park," Ms Scott-Virtue told AAP on Monday.

One operator commented that despite busting toads every night, there seemed to be just as many the next night, Ms Scott-Virtue said.

The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) has put in live toad drop boxes in the park but Ms Scott-Virtue said those toads were usually only found in permanent camp sites at night, which made up about one per cent of the total area of the park.

Killing toads in the national park remains prohibited and DPaW have banned the use of Dettol in the park - the only effective method of killing the metamorph, Ms Scott-Virtue said.

KTB was granted permits to work in the park but found the restrictions too prohibitive because they had to take the toad catch out of the park to euthanase and were not allowed to use Dettol to deal with the immature metamorphs.

They were also restricted to specific areas that contained designated vehicular tracks, which meant there was no access to a large part of the park to undertake appropriate toad busting, she said.

KTB has been trialling the use of Dettol on metamorphs congregating around water edges since 2006.

The group says there has been little residual evidence of Dettol afterwards and no evidence of bi-catch.

Cane toads were introduced to Queensland in 1935 and began spreading to the Northern Territory before invading northern WA in 2009.

They are now advancing into the state at a rate of about 50 kilometres a year.

The KTB has not had any government funding since last June.

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Bee threats to be outlined

BEE business and a potential billion dollar threat to agriculture is on the agenda of a Senate hearing on Tuesday.

At a town hall in Murray Bridge, west of Adelaide, senators will start to hear evidence from those in the bee and honey industry, including their fears of an infestation of the disease-spreading Varroa mite.

Ten submissions have been received, with some indicating a mite infestation is most likely to reach Australia via established bee hives carried on international shipping.

Such a breakout could cost Australian agriculture billions of dollars through subsequent loss of pollination and propagation of crops, independent senator Nick Xenophon says.

Australia needs to strengthen its biosecurity regulations, demanding that overseas shipping companies remove bee hives from ships before arrival, Senator Xenophon said.

The beekeeping and pollination inquiry is also scheduled to sit in Brisbane in May.

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Chinese pork giant plans IPO

THE world's biggest pork producer says it plans to raise up to $US5.3 billion ($A5.66 billion) in an initial public offering on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

China's WH Group said late on Monday it was selling 3.65 million shares priced at between 8 and 11.25 Hong Kong dollars ($A1.10 -$A1.55).

That would raise between $US4.1 billion and $US5.3 billion for WH Group, formerly known as Shuanghui International Holdings.

The company is a pork behemoth after buying the largest US pork company, Smithfield Foods Inc., less than a year ago for $US4.7 billion in cash.

Most of the proceeds from the IPO will be used to pay off the loan that the company took out to buy Smithfield Foods.

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