US stocks lower on weak Chinese growth

US stocks have retreated following a surprisingly weak economic report out of China.

Five minutes into trade on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 60.97 points, or 0.41 per cent, to 14,804.09.

The broad-based S&P 500 sank 8.78 points, or 0.55 per cent, to 1,580.07.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 16.15 points, or 0.49 per cent, to 3,278.79.

Official government data on Monday said growth in China slowed to 7.7 per cent in the first quarter, compared with a median forecast of 8.0 per cent in an AFP survey and 7.9 per cent in the previous quarter.

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Sydney girl dies after being hit by car

A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD girl has died in hospital after being hit by a car in Sydney's west last week.

Police said the girl was run down by the car in Wilga Street, Fairfield about 6pm last Thursday.

She was taken to Liverpool Hospital and had been on life support, but died on Monday morning.

Police have spoken to a 44-year-old woman who was driving the car that struck the child.

Officers say they believe the child ran out onto the road.

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NSW man trapped under car for three days

AN elderly man has been rescued after spending three days stuck under a crashed car in NSW's central west.

Police said neighbours found the man, 76, trapped under the Honda CRV about 6.30pm on Monday (AEST).

The vehicle had crashed into a tree on the man's Rylstone property, police said.

It's thought the man got out of his car after the crash and then the car rolled on top of him.

Police believe the man was trapped under the chassis for at least three days.

He was still conscious when found, but was suffering severe injuries including a fractured skull.

He has been flown to John Hunter Hospital at Newcastle.

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Welfare tragic for indigenous: Pearson

ABORIGINAL leader Noel Pearson says welfare entitlement has been "a tragic disability" for his people.

Mr Pearson has backed comments by indigenous academic Marcia Langton that a sense of entitlement had poisoned Aboriginal society.

"It's been a tragic disability," he told ABC TV on Monday.

"The flipside of the opening up of the doors of citizenship to our people, was the provision of welfare. What should have been provided was opportunities to engage in ... the mainstream economy."

Australia was now "reaping that tragedy".

He also echoed Professor Langton's statements about mining being a quiet revolution for indigenous people.

"The revolution she is talking about is one that is absolutely tectonically happening," he said, adding that it was a strange irony.

Mr Pearson reflected on his "bitter" negotiations with Rio Tinto in his early years of work in the Cape York and how the changed paradigm was now creating a new Aboriginal middle class.

"We've got to embrace Aboriginal success," he said.

"Money and materialism shouldn't be an anathema to Aboriginal people."

He said indigenous people needed to be striving for a better life.

"We still haven't gotten out of the mindset of Aboriginal people being the poor, benighted victims in Australian society," Mr Pearson said.

Mr Pearson is frustrated his far north Queensland Cape York welfare reform trials had not been able to achieve home ownership for any indigenous people in the trial communities.

"There are complexities of home ownership on Aboriginal land involving tenure," he said.

"Many of the Aboriginal people in these communities earn full-time wages, work for adjacent mining companies, but they can't own a home on their own land."

The federal government was yet to heed his message that the focus on social housing should move to home ownership, Mr Pearson said.

The trials, under way in Coen, Aurukun, Mossman Gorge and Hope Vale, aim to restore local indigenous authority and improve living conditions and the local economy.

Mr Pearson is in remission from lymphoma and says 2012 was his "descent into hell".

"But I had the great joy to spend 12 months with my youngest child," he said.

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Aussies fret more, but drink less: study

AUSTRALIANS have cut down on smoking and drinking, but they have gained weight and become more anxious, a major research project shows.

A survey of 50,000 Australians has found 1.1 million fewer glasses of alcoholic beverages are being consumed a week and 134,000 fewer people smoke compared with 2007.

The bad news is 736,000 more adults are obese and the number of people with anxiety has increased by 1.3 million, says Michele Levine, CEO of Roy Morgan Research, which collaborated with Alere healthcare company to establish the Alere Wellness Index.

Although tempting, it is not possible to link reduced smoking and drinking to increased anxiety and obesity.

"It's more likely that local and global economic issues are to blame for the psycho-emotional trend and fast-food consumption could account for the increase in obesity," said John Lang of Alere.

The results are based on 1,800 questions put to 50,000 people a year for the past five years.

According to the research, western Brisbane is the most healthy of the 57 areas surveyed. Least healthy is the Murray and Murrumbidgee area in NSW.

The questions cover medical conditions, food purchasing and consumption and psychological wellbeing. Alcohol, smoking, body weight and activity levels are also included.

"Compared to 2007, the overall health of Australians is down just slightly," said Ms Levine.

Alere managing director Mark Volling says the research allows well-informed monitoring of chronic disease risk factors.

"The index allows us to determine where action is needed," he said.

"It will provide an excellent public health resource to assist state and federal governments in their allocation of health services and funding.

"It will also provide an invaluable tool with which to track outcomes of public health initiatives."

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Taliban claims Pakistan roadside bomb

A bomb blast on a bus in Pakistan has killed at least nine people. Source: AAP

A ROADSIDE bomb planted by the Taliban in restive northwest Pakistan has killed a political party official, a month before the country votes in a historic general election.

The blast on Sunday in the Swat valley, which was ruled by the Pakistani Taliban during a 2007-9 insurgency, comes a day after militants blew up the office of an independent candidate in North Waziristan tribal district.

The attacks are the latest violence to mar the runup to national and regional elections on May 11, which will mark the country's first democratic transition of power after a civilian government has served a full term in office.

Sunday's blast killed a local leader of the Awami National Party (ANP), which ruled the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province from 2008 until assemblies were dissolved last month for elections.

"Mukarram Shah, a local leader of ANP, was travelling to Mingora when his vehicle was targeted by an IED (improvised explosive device), around 12 kilometres northeast of Mingora city," Gul Afzal Afridi, the district police chief said.

Shah was alone in his car and no one else was hit by the explosion.

Pakistani Taliban militants claimed responsibility of the attack saying all secular parties and their leaders were in their crosshairs.

"We have already announced we will attack ANP and other secular parties," Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, said by phone.

Elsewhere, in the Charsadda district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, another convoy of ANP workers was struck by an IED and four people, including a candidate for the provincial assembly, were injured.

The Pakistani Taliban have targeted a number of top ANP figures in recent months, assassinating the number two in the provincial government in December.

The militants also claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on an ANP rally on March 31 that killed two people.

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New US doctrine sends wrong message

THE US military is developing a new military doctrine but it's not in Australia's interests to openly sign on to it because of the message it would send China, a new study says.

Air-Sea Battle is a new US plan to fight and defeat an advanced adversary, which the US has consistently denied means China.

In a new Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) paper, senior analyst Benjamin Schreer said Australian endorsement of Air-Sea Battle would risk making an enemy of the Chinese military just when Australia was seeking to deepen the friendship.

Dr Schreer said Australia had an interest in contributing to the US military rebalance in the Asian region, and hosting of US training in the Northern Territory had displayed the commitment to the ANZUS alliance.

"Fully embracing the logic behind Air-Sea Battle or developing specific military capabilities to underpin the concept's implementation are so far not in Australia's interests," he said.

"Openly signing up for the concept would send a strong political message to China that the ADF is now actively planning and equipping for a potential war with the PLA (People's Liberation Army)."

As China has built up its military, it has developed a strategy to deny US forces the ability to operate in the Taiwan Strait region, South China Sea and adjacent Pacific Ocean.

The Chinese strategy includes a significant submarine force and missiles designed to hit US aircraft carriers.

In response, the US has developed Air-Sea Battle. That's been compared with the Air-Land doctrine, developed to fight the numerically superior Warsaw Pact during the Cold War.

The full version remains classified but Air-Sea envisages withstanding an initial assault, then exploiting US superiority in stealth aircraft and submarines to attack surveillance and communications networks to achieve air superiority.

Dr Schreer said there were only a few scenarios which could result in use of Air-Sea Battle, including invasion of Taiwan or a pre-emptive attack on US forces.

If that occurred, Australia would likely play a role, although not necessarily on the front line.

The US could make extensive use of Australian bases. Australian forces could also conduct peripheral operations such as intercepting Chinese merchant ships in a blockade of the Straits of Malacca.

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Sixteen arrests after Thatcher death party

SIXTEEN people are in police custody after hundreds of demonstrators gathered at a London landmark to protest against Margaret Thatcher's legacy and mark her death with a party.

Metropolitan Police officers made the arrests - mostly for drunk and disorderly conduct - in the early hours of Sunday as crowds revelled in Trafalgar Square, Whitehall and surrounding streets.

Those arrested are aged between 18 and 44 and remain at a central London police station.

Of those arrested, eight suspects were taken into custody for being drunk and disorderly and two were arrested for assaulting officers.

Union members from across the UK, who had fierce battles with Thatcher in the 1980s, rubbed shoulders with those demonstrating against today's welfare cuts.

Old and young turned out last night to mark the former prime minister's death in a "celebration" that was many years in the planning.

Despite the depth of feeling and a large police presence, there was no serious trouble.

A police spokesman said the last of the protesters left Trafalgar Square about 2am and there were no reports of any damage to property.

During the protest people drank cider and champagne, waving sparklers and letting off party poppers - and they chanted slogans about Thatcher, who died at The Ritz hotel on Monday.

Members of the National Union of Mineworkers travelled to the capital from northeast England, with others joining them from Scotland and Wales.

UK Uncut members, protesting about welfare cuts, also joined the demonstration.

One protester, drinking from a mug that read "I still hate Thatcher", said the event - initially planned by now defunct anarchist group Class War - had been years in the planning.

The 49-year-old, who gave his name only as Steve, said: "I was here during the Poll Tax riot in the 1990s."

"I've come from Brighton to be here today," he said.

"I believe it's something not to be celebrated, but something that needs to be marked in history."

Former miner Dave Douglas from Newcastle, part of the delegation from the miners' union, said Thatcher was a "terrible woman".

"We're absolutely furious at this image that is being presented on television, that the whole country is in mourning," he said.

"In the north of England, in Scotland, Wales and the Midlands, people are celebrating the fact she's gone because we don't support what she did to our community, our industry and our unions."

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Vic Point Nepean master plan released

SOME things in life don't change, even over the course of more than 150 years.

From the mid 1850s, unwell first-class passengers arriving at Point Nepean in Victoria were given the best rooms with a view at the quarantine station so they could take in the glorious vistas of Port Phillip Bay.

Now the former station's first-class quarters in the national park are slated to be transformed into a boutique hotel or some other high-end accommodation.

It is just one of 57 largely unused buildings to be either reinvigorated or demolished under the Point Nepean master plan.

The Victorian government released the plan on Sunday, with expressions of interest from the private sector to open in coming months.

Last month, the government made public the rules for developments in national parks.

Stuart Hughes from Parks Victoria said adaptive reuse of existing buildings was the way forward.

"Our objective is to bring the place to life," he said.

Near the first-class quarters at the quarantine station stands the medical superintendent's house that was built in 1899. It was last used to house Kosovo refugees in 1999 and could soon be used as a day spa facility.

The quarantine station was established in 1852 and from 1952 the buildings also housed the Army Officer Cadet School.

The army officer cadet mess hall is expected to be transformed into a restaurant and function centre that can seat up to 300 people. It has already been used for several weddings.

It won't all be high-end offerings, with backpacker accommodation and a camping ground to be considered, along with an art gallery and a marine education facility.

There are also plans to establish a coffee shop near the visitor centre with the opportunity for visitors to learn about the multi-layered history of Point Nepean, including stories from the indigenous Boonwurrung people.

Peter Watkinson, from the Department of Sustainability and Environment, said at this stage there were no height or capacity restrictions for new buildings or renovations.

"You don't want to stifle innovation," he said.

Environment Minister Ryan Smith said the government was determined to strike the right balance between preserving the historical, natural and cultural values of the national park and supporting tourism and other opportunities.

"Appropriate and sensitive private investment is critical in ensuring the long-term survival of the site's historic and culturally significant buildings," he said.

Victorian National Parks Association executive director Matt Ruchel said he supported adaptive reuse of existing structures but the government should rule out new multi-storey buildings.

Visitors to the national park grew from 50,000 a year in 2009 to 180,000 in 2012.

Mr Hughes said the park could easily accommodate a more than doubling of annual visitor numbers.

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US stocks fall on drop in retail sales

US stocks opened have lower after a government report showed a drop in March retail sales.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 41.09 (0.28 per cent) to 14,824.05.

The broad-based S&P 500 fell 6.49 (0.41 per cent) to 1,586.88, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 10.68 (0.32 per cent) to 3,289.48.

The losses came after the Commerce Department reported a 0.4 percent drop in March retail sales compared with February. Sales were down over a number of key categories: auto, electronics, food and beverage, health spending and gasoline.

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