Abbott's plea to WA voters

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has pleaded for Western Australian voters to back Liberal candidates. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has made a last-ditch plea to West Australian voters as they head to the polls for a Senate election re-run.

Before jetting out of the country to Asia on Saturday, Mr Abbott recorded a message saying Labor and the Australian Greens in the Senate were standing in the way of his government's plan to repeal the mining tax and carbon tax.

"If you want to get rid of these anti-West Australian taxes ... that means voting Liberal," Mr Abbott said.

He said coalition candidates are "absolutely committed" to scrapping the taxes and the government hoped to get the numbers in the upper house from July to pass the repeal legislation.

"Send a strong message to Canberra, send a strong message to the Labor Party," Mr Abbott said.

"You can't say one thing in Perth and do the opposite in Canberra.

"That's my plea."

The outcome of Saturday's election is important for Australia's future, the prime minister added.

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Boy's parents located

POLICE have tracked down the parents of a young boy who was found wandering alone through suburban southwest Sydney.

Residents of Claymore called police after spotting the boy in the street wearing pyjamas about 7.30am Saturday.

Estimated to be aged two or three years old, the boy was cared for by officers until his parents were located and the search was called off.

The police thanked and updated the public about 2pm.

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Cyclone tipped to hit Queensland

Dramatic firsthand footage shows what it's like being in the different categories of cyclones. Produced by Christine Nestel.

A cyclone forming in the Coral Sea is expected to hit Queensland's Cape York Peninsula later next week.

The low pressure system which has brought torrential rainfall and flooding to the Solomon Islands -- killing at least 17 people and leaving thousands homeless – is forecast to intensify into a tropical cyclone, which will be named Ita, tomorrow.

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Amber Young said the weather system was moving slowly south-west and expected to be about 750km north-east of Cairns by Monday morning.

"The conditions are very favourable for it to develop into a tropical cyclone,'' she said.

Information issued by the Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre yesterday indicated the system could become a category two cyclone by Monday, strengthening to a category three by Tuesday.

Most models indicated it would continue to edge closer to Australia, possibly crossing the northern Cape York coast on Thursday, although some suggested it could stall and even turn back out to sea.

Cook Shire Mayor Peter Scott said they keeping a close eye on the developing weather pattern.

"We keep our fingers crossed every time one looms.''

Cr Scott said Cooktown had been quite fortunate.

"The last time Cooktown was hit was 1949.  This one looks as if it might cross at Lockhart River or north.'

"I think we are as well prepared as we can be and the same goes for the other communities up the Cape. They all go through cycle preparation exercises every year.

"But if it brings the sort of rainfall that has hit Honiara, it would cause a lot of damage to our road network.''

Lockhart River Shire Mayor Wayne Butler was not available to comment.

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Man shot as police swarm on suburban street

Police at the scene of a reported shooting in Dennison Court, Capalaba, in Brisbane. Picture: Sarah Orr Source: CourierMail

A MAN is in hospital tonight after he was shot twice in the stomach when he charged at police when a Taser did not work.

Police swarmed the Denison Court, Capalaba home around 7.25pm.

It is understood the man was shot twice by a female police officer after he charged her partner, when a Taser did not work.

The man was taken to Princess Alexandra hospital where he was last night in a serious condition.

Police sources said the man was shot twice in the stomach.

A police spokeswoman said officers were rushing to disturbance in Dennison Court, Capalaba after Triple Zero calls saying shots had been heard shortly after 7.30pm.

Neighbors have told The Courier-Mail they heard two loud bangs and a woman's scream before calling police.

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SA and Canberra closer on road plan

The SA and federal governments have held talks on Adelaide's north-south road corridor. Source: AAP

THE federal and South Australian governments have held talks aimed at overcoming disagreements on how to fully redevelop Adelaide's north-south road corridor.

The two governments had been at odds before the recent state election, with the Commonwealth wanting to start the project with an upgrade at Darlington in the city's south.

The state government maintained a section of the road further north should be the priority.

But a meeting on Thursday between federal Assistant Minister for Infrastructure Jamie Briggs and new SA Transport and Infrastructure Minister Stephen Mullighan appears to have closed the gap.

Mr Briggs said he was now more confident about the project.

"We want to get the north-south corridor upgraded in a decade," he said.

Mr Mullighan described Thursday's meeting as productive.

"We've made very clear what our priority is and they've made very clear what their priority is," he said.

"What we're working on is how we can deliver both projects."

Mr Mullighan said talks would continue.

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Safety overlooked in batts scheme rush

FORMER prime minister Kevin Rudd's "horrendous" timeline for the home insulation program denied bureaucrats adequate time to consider safety risks, an inquiry has heard.

Public servants were given five months to devise the $2.8 billion scheme.

Safety considerations were overlooked as they scrambled to have it up and running by July 1, 2009, a royal commission has been told.

Former environment department deputy secretary Malcolm Forbes, who oversaw delivery, says potential risks would have been properly considered if time wasn't so tight.

Commissioner Ian Hanger QC asked what was "so magic" about July 1, 2009.

"That's what the prime minster wanted," Mr Forbes replied.

Asked why nobody told Mr Rudd it couldn't be done, Mr Forbes said doing so would have gone against the public service culture, which was to remain positive and get the job done.

Mr Forbes said he did raise concerns about the challenging deadline with former co-ordinator general Mike Mrdak.

"We were flagging early that this was a significant challenge to us," he said.

A coronial inquest has already blamed the scheme's rushed rollout for the deaths of young Queenslanders Matthew Fuller, Rueben Barnes and Mitchell Sweeney.

NSW tradesman Marcus Wilson also died installing home insulation.

Mr Forbes said he had never, in his 33 years as a public servant, seen such a short gap between a government program being announced and rolled out, as occurred with the home insulation program (HIP).

"The HIP implementation timeline was horrendous," he said in a statement to the inquiry.

" ... some compromises were made that left risks remaining to achieve the timeline."

The scheme wasn't fully implemented until September 2009 but even then inspections were happening slowly.

While 400,000 homes had been insulated by October, only 172 roof inspections had taken place.

The inquiry resumes on Friday.

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'500 dolphins caught in WA nets' in decade

Western Australian scientists say methods to reduce dolphin bycatch are not working. Source: AAP

ABOUT 500 dolphins have been caught in the Pilbara trawl fishery in the past 10 years, West Australian scientists say.

Murdoch University PhD candidate Simon Allen and colleagues from the Cetacean Research Unit have made the claims based on independent observer data, which shows methods to reduce dolphin bycatch are not working.

"Independent observers reported bycatch rates of about 50 dolphins per year, which is double the number reported by the skippers of these vessels," Mr Allen said.

Under-reporting was not unusual around the world, especially where marine mammal capture was illegal, he said.

"This doesn't necessarily mean that skippers are deliberately under-reporting," Mr Allen said.

"Fishers are concentrating on the job at hand and may not see a dead dolphin fall out of the net on winch up."

A report by the WA Fisheries Department detailed similar findings, but instead suggested self-reporting mechanisms in place were accurate and the impact posed negligible risk, Mr Allen said.

But researchers said modified bycatch reduction devices with top-opening escape hatches could be more effective.

The scientists have also called for a reinstatement of independent observers and in-net video collection to accurately measure bycatch.

"The next step is to calculate the acceptable levels of human-caused dolphin mortality, which requires an estimate of the dolphin population size in the region," Mr Allen said.

"If the ongoing bycatch exceeds that threshold, switching to alternative, less destructive fishing methods, like trap or line fishing, should be considered."

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Second man charged on NSW double shooting

A MAN has been charged with attempted murder and several robbery offences for his part in a western Sydney double shooting that left a teenager and an innocent bystander in serious conditions in hospital.

Police had been looking for the man after he and three others ambushed three teenagers in their car last week, shooting one before running away and firing on an innocent bystander who confronted the group in the front yard of his Merrylands home.

They arrested the 23-year-old on a street corner at Guildford early on Thursday afternoon and charged him with shooting at with intent to murder, robbery armed with offensive weapon causing wounding or grievous bodily harm, assault with intent to rob while armed with an offensive weapon causing wounding and or grievous bodily harm and robbery while armed with dangerous weapon.

He was refused bail and is due before Parramatta Local Court on Friday.

After the bungled armed robbery, a 19-year-old man was rushed to hospital with chest, stomach and arm wounds and a 62-year-old man was left in a critical but stable condition from a gunshot to the chest.

Both shooting victims remain in hospital.

Police say the 19-year-old had gone to Merrylands with two mates, 17 and 18, late on the night of March 26 to buy a mobile phone advertised on a social networking site.

But they were stopped in their car on a residential street by two men.

Two more men appeared and a fight broke out.

The 19-year-old was shot after a man jumped into the teen's car allegedly demanding cash and property.

The two other suspects remain at large.

Yousiff Chami was last week also charged over the Merrylands shootings.

The 27-year-old, who's facing firearm and robbery charges, was remanded in custody until his matter appears before Parramatta Local Court on May 22.

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Artist plants fake Bieber CDs in LA stores

AN artist is making it difficult to believe there's actually a copy of Justin Bieber's latest album for sale in Los Angeles stores.

Paz, a 25-year-old electronic musician and artist, says he planted 5000 copies of an album that appears to be Bieber's Believe but actually contains a copy of his own CD at retailers on Tuesday, April Fool's Day.

"We were meticulous," said Paz, who fancies the stunt as more of a performance art piece than an April Fool's gag. "We paid a lot of attention to detail because we wanted these to stay up on shelves as long as possible."

From the outside, the wrapped CDs resemble Believe right down to the bar code and silky Bieber portrait on the cover. However, Paz's artwork is inside the back cover, and the disc itself is slathered with images of cats, pizzas and a dog stuffed inside a taco. The CD contains the 13 tracks from Paz's synth-heavy independent release From the Bottom of My Heart to the Top of Your Lungs.

The Associated Press independently verified the stunt by purchasing random copies of what looked like Bieber's Believe from widely scattered LA area locations. In each instance, the CDs were scanned and paid for as if they were Bieber CDs. But when they were opened outside the store, each contained a copy of Paz's album, not Bieber's.

Why replace Bieber?

"The world won't really miss a Justin Bieber record," said Paz.

Paz, whose full name is Paz Dylan, said he wanted to use so-called "big-box retailers" as his artistic canvas by "droplifting" his music into the hands of consumers.

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PM labels PUP 'one man personality cult'

Labor MP Jason Clare (pic) says the coalition will regret its pre-election attacks on Clive Palmer. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has taken another swipe at Clive Palmer, dismissing his political outfit as "a personality cult for one person".

Mr Abbott has repeatedly accused Mr Palmer of trying to buy seats in parliament in a bid to further his own interests.

And on Wednesday, he asked what it meant for democracy when candidates were "a proxy for a minor party that is a personality cult for one person".

"It's something for voters to ponder in the lead-up to Saturday," he told ABC radio in Perth on Wednesday during the West Australian Senate election campaign.

On the party's appeal, Mr Abbott said: "I think there is a certain novelty value and obviously there has been a massive, massive, massive advertising spend.

"So far, the gentleman in question has spent - presumably from his own money - far more than the combined spending from both the Liberal Party and the Labor Party," he said.

But Labor deputy leader Tanya Plibersek, also campaigning in Perth on Wednesday, said it was up to each party to determine how much was spent on a campaign.

"We believe in a democracy," Ms Plibersek said.

"As long as a political party declares all its donations, as long as it abides by the rules, they've got every right to spend the money they raise."

Despite the Greens being the second biggest spenders in the re-run WA Senate election, leader Christine Milne said the party wanted to see expenditure on campaign ads capped in light of the Palmer United Party ad blitz.

"This is the first time in Australian politics where we've had a rich individual being able to so manifestly influence the vote," she said.

Greens Senator Scott Ludlam said his party's ad spending was different to PUP's because the funds came from a large amount of small donations.

Mr Palmer said PUP's advertising cash splash was his personal money to do with what he wished.

He said he had only spent a third of what the Liberal Party did at the 2013 federal election.

"No matter how much money you spend on advertising, if you have a bad idea people won't vote for you," Mr Palmer told Network Ten.

If PUP wins a WA Senate seat on Saturday, it will have three members on the upper house crossbench after July 1.

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830 manufacturing jobs to leave Aust

MORE jobs are leaving Australia with 830 positions cut in just one day by three big employers.

Only hours after BP and Philip Morris announced 530 job cuts between them, Boeing on Wednesday evening said up to 300 jobs would go from its Port Melbourne site.

The aerospace giant said the jobs, mainly of contractors, would go by the end of 2014.

Philip Morris will also close its Moorabbin-based cigarette factory in Melbourne by the end of the year at the cost of 180 jobs.

BP's Bulwer Island plant in Brisbane will shrink from 380 staff to just 25 by mid-2015, while another 300 contractors could be affected.

Boeing said it would work to minimise job losses by not filling open positions and natural attrition.

"In line with a long established financial forecast, we will be releasing up to 300 people, primarily fixed-term contractors, by the end of the year," Boeing said in a statement issued on Wednesday night.

"Reducing employment on these programs is a natural part of the manufacturing cycle.

According to its website, Boeing Aerostructures Australia employs 1300 people at its Melbourne site, in design, test, certification and manufacture of advanced structures for commercial airplanes.

BP said the emergence of large low-cost oil refineries in Asia was the reason for its decision to close its Brisbane operations.

"While this decision will significantly improve our competitive position, it will result in job losses and I would like to acknowledge the enormous commitment and contribution made over many years by our staff at Bulwer Island," BP Australasia president Andy Holmes said.

Tim Wall, the managing director of the Bulwer Island refinery, said it was a sad day for all of the plant's staff.

"We will be putting measures in place to assist our affected employees, including transitional support and job placement assistance," he said.

Philip Morris is sending its cigarette production to Korea, partly blaming over-regulation in Australia for the move.

John Gledhill, PMI managing director for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, said the introduction in 2010 of reduced-fire risk requirements for Australian-made cigarettes had resulted in products that did not match consumers' preferences in other markets in the region.

"Despite the introduction of plain packaging and the continued growth in illicit trade, PML's volumes were stable in 2013," Mr Gledhill said in a statement on Wednesday.

"However, with any significant export opportunity restricted by Australian government regulations, our Moorabbin factory is significantly under-utilised, operating at less than half of its currently installed capacity."

The Australian Workers Union said it was in negotiations with the company over the shutdown.

"These are people who have done an honest job, been loyal to their employer and contributed to the life of this state. They need jobs," AWU Victorian secretary Ben Davis said.

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Police 'amended' Hillsborough statements

POLICE officers' accounts of the Hillsborough disaster were amended to remove comments criticising police leadership or abusive remarks about fans, an inquest has heard.

Jurors sitting on the inquest into the deaths of 96 football fans at the FA Cup semi-final on April 15, 1989 will have to consider whether the changes were part of a policy to blame fans and deflect criticism from the police, coroner Lord Justice Goldring said.

Senior ranks and lawyers at South Yorkshire Police reviewed all self-taken statements by officers present at the disaster and amended some of them before forwarding them on to West Midlands Police, who were investigating the tragic events, the inquest jury was told.

The coroner said: "Over the years between 1989 and today it has become known that a large number of statements were amended in the review. The amendments vary in type and significance.

"Some simply involve corrections of language and factual error. Others involve removing expletives.

"A number involved the removal of comments criticising the police leadership on the day of the disaster.

"Others were of deletions of passages denouncing poor and defective radio communications.

"A small number were amended to remove comments which were critical or even abusive of the fans at the match."

Lord Justice Goldring said the jurors would have to consider whether the amendments affect their view of the "reliability" of early written statements given by the officers.

He added they would have to ask why the were amended, if it was an "innocent" alteration or "part of a policy of blaming fans in order to deflect criticism from the police".

The hearing continues.

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Search for MH370 could drag on: Houston

Authorities are in a race against time to locate the black box in the Malaysia Airlines plane wreck. Source: AAP

AS Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak prepares to travel to Perth to thank those searching for Malaysia Airlines flight 370, Australia's former defence chief has warned the operation could take a long time.

Mr Najib will arrive on Wednesday and stay until Thursday, visiting the RAAF Pearce air base to the city's north, the departure point for the seven-nation search effort.

Danica Weeks - the wife of missing Perth passenger, Paul Weeks - visited the air base on Tuesday, prompting Air Chief Marshal Houston to urge the mother-of-two to come to the new Joint Agency Co-ordination Centre near the West Australian parliament for a full briefing.

He also passed on his personal phone number to her.

Air Chief Marshal Houston is leading the centre, which has taken over from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority in co-ordinating the search and distributing information about it.

He said the operation would be pursued with vigour, but with no objects pulled from the Indian Ocean identified as being from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight, it could drag on for weeks, maybe months.

"I have to say in my experience - and I have got a lot of experience in search and rescue over the years - this search and recovery operation is probably the most challenging I have ever seen," he told reporters in Perth on Tuesday.

The last known position of the plane was a long way away from the area being examined and until some debris was found to narrow down the search, it "could drag on for a long time".

"I say that because the starting point whenever you do a search and rescue is the last known position of the vehicle or aircraft.

"In this particular case, the last known position was a long, long way from where the aircraft appears to have gone.

"We've been searching for many, many days and so far have not found anything connected with MH370."

Air Chief Marshal Houston said it was not known what altitude and speed the aircraft was travelling at and authorities were relying on the best information available.

"I think at this stage that it's very important to pursue all the leads," he added, as 10 planes and nine ships, some with helicopters, resumed the search.

He also said updated information about the pilot's final words provided some "clarity".

The pilot was originally reported as signing off: "All right, goodnight".

But it emerged on Monday that he had actually said: "Goodnight Malaysian three seven zero".

"The last communication was more formal than what was reported some weeks ago," Air Chief Marshal Houston said, and declined to comment further.

Defence Minister David Johnston said about a week remained to find the plane's black box, given the satellite "pinger" had about 30 days of battery life and the aircraft vanished on March 8.

"It depends on the temperature of the water and water depth and pressure as to how long the battery power will last," Senator Johnston told ABC radio.

He said it would take two or three days for the Australian naval vessel Ocean Shield, which has been fitted with a pinger locator, to reach the search zone, some 1850km west of Perth.

A fourth Australian ship, the Seahorse Standard, left on Tuesday to assist with surface sweep operations and would take five days to reach the search zone, the Department of Defence said.

Commodore Peter Leavy said search vessels were experiencing strong winds and heavy seas but conditions were expected to ease. "The priority remains to find objects that can be linked to missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370," he said in a statement.

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Gas industry shrugs of job loss worries

The development of Australia's natural gas reserves will benefit the nation, an industry body says. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIANS should welcome the nation's looming gas boom, despite warnings it will cost thousands of jobs, a global industry body says.

Meeting in Australia this week, the International Gas Union (IGU) said Australia was on the way to overtaking Qatar as the world's top gas exporter by the end of the decade.

The comments come less than a week after Manufacturing Australia warned 10,000 jobs would be lost unless the federal government intervened to keep cheap gas available for domestic use.

IGU vice president David Carroll, who heads the Illinois-based Gas Technology Institute, said he believed liquefied natural gas exports (LNG) would benefit Australia.

"There has been independent study after study commissioned by the US department of energy that indicates the more gas we export from the US the more our economy benefits," he told reporters.

"As a net overall its a benefit to our economy and in geopolitical relations and a variety of things."

IGU president Jerome Ferrier, a senior executive at French giant Total Oil, said Australian gas exports were an exciting opportunity to supply the world's fastest growing economies in the Asia-Pacific.

The IGU supports market based principles when it comes to gas prices, but Mr Ferrier said he supported the methods employed by newly emerging gas producing African nations, where gas supplies are reserved for their poor populations.

Canada, Israel, Qatar and the US - where manufacturers are enjoying cheap energy thanks to the shale boom - all reserve gas for domestic use.

Among those to call for intervention to protect Australian gas users from soaring export-parity prices include US-based Dow Chemical chairman Andrew Liveris and the heads of Incitec Pivot, Brickworks and BlueScope Steel.

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Govt defends asylum seeker transfer

THE Abbott government has defended relocating dozens of asylum seekers in Sydney to the other side of Australia while the Villawood detention centre undergoes renovations.

A letter sent from the Immigration Department to 83 detainees says they will be moved from Villawood in Sydney's west to a facility in Curtin, thousands of kilometres away in Western Australia.

A spokesperson for Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said facilities across the detention network were "designed to be flexible and adaptive to changes".

"The detention network is not run at the convenience of asylum seeker activists and detainees," the spokesperson told AAP in a statement on Tuesday.

"It is run to optimise its management for both government and the taxpayer."

Decisions on whether people are returned to Villawood will be made at a later time.

The planned move comes a day before 16 of the Villawood group are due to have a legal challenge against the Australian government heard in court.

The 16 took legal action after the details of every asylum seeker in Australian detention was inadvertently published on the department's website last month.

Their lawyer has suggested the move could be seen as "either trying to frustrate the justice system and/or punish my clients".

But Mr Morrison's office said detainees would continue to receive the same level of services now available to them, including communication with legal representatives.

The transfers to Curtin will start this month.

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Royal Mail sold off cheaply: UK auditor

THE British government cost taxpayers millions by selling off the Royal Mail at too low a price, the country's public-spending watchdog says.

The Conservative-led government sold a majority stake in the postal service last year, putting the system under private control for the first time in its 500-year history.

The National Audit Office said on Tuesday the government sold the shares "substantially below" their actual trading price.

Shares were offered at 330 pence, but on the first day of London Stock Exchange trading in October closed at 455 pence. They traded on Tuesday at 565 pence.

Audit Office chief Amyas Morse said the government's approach "was marked by deep caution, the price of which was borne by the taxpayer."

"The government retained 30 per cent of the company," Morse said. "It could have retained even more and allowed the taxpayer to participate further in the rapidly increasing share price and thus limit the cost to the taxpayer."

The auditor also said 12 of the 16 institutional "priority investors" given the chance to buy chunks of shares sold all or part of their stake within weeks at a substantial profit, contrary to the government's expectation "that they would form part of a stable long-term and supportive shareholder base". Most of the 16 institutions have not been named publicly.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said the government had succeeded in selling the Royal Mail, "predominantly to responsible long-term investors.

"Achieving the highest price possible at any cost and whatever the risk was never the aim of the sale," Cable said.

But opposition Labour Party spokesman Chuka Umunna said the sale had left taxpayers "shortchanged by hundreds of millions of pounds."

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Planes, ships in seven-nation MH370 search

Tony Abbott says Australia owes it to the world to do everything it can to aid the search for MH370. Source: AAP

ORANGE objects spotted by a plane searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet have turned out to be nothing more than fishing equipment, as prime minister Tony Abbott declared there's no time limit on the search for MH370.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said the objects had been analysed and spokesman Jesse Platts said "they have nothing to do with the missing flight."

An Australian P-3 Orion search plane spotted at least four orange objects in waters west of Perth on Sunday and were described by Orion pilot Russell Adams as the most promising lead in the search so far.

But despite yet another false alarm, Mr Abbott said the search will not be scaled down.

"I'm certainly not putting a time limit on it... We can keep searching for quite some time to come," Abbott told reporters on Monday at RAAF Pearce, the Perth military base coordinating the operation.

"We owe it to the families, we owe it to everyone that travels by air, we owe it to the anxious governments of the countries who had people on that aircraft. We owe it to the wider world which has been transfixed by this mystery for three weeks now."

The Australian naval vessel Ocean Shield conducted sea trials of hi-tech detection equipment on Monday before its 1850km journey to a tract of the southern Indian Ocean west of Perth.

The trials included a US Navy black box detector, an unmanned underwater vehicle and other acoustic detection equipment.

The Ocean Shield is expected to take up to four days to reach the huge, 319,000 square kilometre search zone, another navy ship, the frigate HMAS Toowoomba, at top speed reached the area by mid-morning on Monday after two days at sea.

It's a race against time, given the box's low-frequency acoustic beacon has a limited battery life. That has extended from an estimated 30 days to roughly 45 days, according to Captain Mark Matthews, a US Navy equipment specialist.

"These are rated to last 30 days, but that is a minimum. In my experience, they do last a little bit longer than that," Capt Matthews said yesterday.

But the operation remained an extraordinarily difficult exercise, Mr Abbott said.

"We are searching a vast area of ocean and working with quite limited information," he said after touring the Pearce base, where search planes from seven nations are being deployed, involving 550 personnel.

Defence Minister David Johnston said about 1000 sailors were looking for debris at sea - but the task was still onerous.

While each country involved was currently bearing its own costs, Australia was paying for running the co-ordination centre, which will have about 20 staff and be led by retired air chief marshall Angus Houston from Perth CBD headquarters.

Mr Abbott also said his Malaysian counterpart was not too hasty in announcing last week - before any debris had been recovered or confirmed as being from MH370 - that the plane was lost in the southern Indian Ocean and all on board were assumed dead.

"That's the absolute overwhelming weight of evidence and I think that Prime Minister Najib Razak was perfectly entitled to come to that conclusion," he said.

In China, home to 153 people on board the flight, a comment piece in the China Daily newspaper called for "rationality" among relatives - some of whom insist their loved ones could still be alive.

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Search for fishing boat suspended

A SEARCH has been suspended for a fishing vessel believed to have got into trouble off Antarctica, with authorities saying it's unlikely anyone survived.

An RAAF P3 Orion aircraft and a civilian jet were on Sunday sent to look for the 75-metre long boat after an emergency beacon was set off in the southern Indian Ocean about 3200km southwest of Perth and 648km north of the Antarctic mainland.

"The vessel was not located but debris was seen in the location of the beacon signal. There were no signs of a life raft or people in the water," the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said on Monday.

"Based on expert medical advice ... in the current weather conditions there is no prospect of survival."

It's believed the vessel may have been illegally fishing.

Foul weather, with swells up to seven metres, winds of up to 70km/h and water temperatures as low as zero degrees celsius, has led investigators to conclude there were two possibilities.

Either equipment, including the vessel's EPIRB (emergency position indicating radio beacon), were swept overboard in rough weather and the boat continued on its course or the vessel foundered and all the crew drowned.

"Due to discrepancies in the ship's records AMSA has been unable to establish an owner, flag state, or what the vessel's purpose was in this area," AMSA said.

"Indications are the vessel may have been involved in illegal fishing activities."

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British girl, 9, drunk on vodka

A NINE-YEAR-OLD British girl needed hospital treatment after consuming vodka, according to police.

The nine-year-old girl, who lives near Consett, County Durham in England, was found to be in a dazed state after drinking vodka with two friends who were about the same age. Her parents called an ambulance.

Medics alerted the police, who spoke to the family last month.

The shocking incident was not unusual, with officers blaming peer pressure for an increase in drinking among the very young.

Durham Police are also investigating how a 12-year-old required accident and emergency treatment over three consecutive weekends for alcohol-related injuries.

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Whale verdict won't hurt Japan: Brandis

Peter Garrett has welcomed the court verdict that Japan's annual whaling hunt is not scientific. Source: AAP

THE federal government doesn't believe a decision in Australia's favour in the UN's top court to ban Japan's whale hunt will affect ties between the nations.

The International Court of Justice on Monday evening ruled that Japan's whale hunt in the Southern Ocean was not scientific and it should cease the program "with immediate effect".

The decision comes less than a week before Prime Minister Tony Abbott heads to Tokyo in a bid to finalise a free trade agreement with Japan, Australia's second-largest trading partner.

When asked if he thought the outcome would affect negotiations between Australia and Japan on the long-awaited trade deal, Attorney-General George Brandis said: "I'm sure it wouldn't".

Senator Brandis said the fact Australia and Japan could differ on this "narrow" issue but remain close was testament to the "endearing" nature of the relationship.

"The relationship between Australia and Japan is an excellent relationship," he told reporters in Perth on Monday.

Senator Brandis said he had been briefed by Australia's solicitor-general at The Hague, and understood the effect of the court was "to stop the existing program".

Labor welcomed the historic decision, saying a program that had killed thousands of whales over the years would finally come to an end.

Deputy Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek said Australia's opposition to whaling had been vindicated and in the process they'd successfully held Japan to account on its legal commitment.

"The court has now upheld our arguments, and the international rule of law will be stronger for the action we have taken," she said in a joint statement with shadow ministers Mark Dreyfus and Mark Butler.

Both nations had agreed to abide by the court's decision so it was now time for the federal government to take up discussions with Japan on non-lethal methods of whaling research, she added.

Former environment minister Peter Garrett said he felt vindicated over Labor's decision in 2010 to pursue the case in The Hague against so-called "scientific whaling".

"I'm absolutely over the moon, for all those people who wanted to see the charade of scientific whaling cease once and for all," the former Midnight Oil singer told ABC Radio on Monday evening.

Greens leader Christine Milne paid tribute to the "champions" at Sea Shepherd, calling the ICJ verdict "justice at last".

Sea Shepherd Australia chairman and former Australian Greens leader Bob Brown congratulated the captain of the fleet that made its name in daring clashes with Japanese whalers in Antarctica.

"A whale of a win! Paul Watson is a global hero and Australians can all feel proud. Sea Shepherd Australia chairman," Mr Brown posted on Twitter.

Australian Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson said Australia had shown it could be a "powerful force" for nature on the world stage, and it was vital the job was seen through to the end.

"When Tony Abbott visits Japan in just over a week, whales must be top of the agenda," he said in a statement.

ANU professor of international law Don Rothwell said the ICJ decision provided "significant guidance" for the first time on how a legitimate whaling program could be run in the future.

"This could provide Japan with a basis to undertake future whaling programs consistently with its international legal obligations," he said in a statement.

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Increased fines for misbehaving drunks

On-the-spot fines for misbehaving drunks is set to rise in NSW from from Monday. Source: AAP

MISBEHAVING drunks will be slapped with fines up to $1100 after the NSW government dramatically increased the penalties as part of its crackdown on alcohol fuelled violence.

The fine for swearing and offensive behaviour will rise from $150 to $500 from Monday.

People who continue to act disorderly after being moved on by police will attract a $1100 fine, up from $200.

The increased on-the-spot fines, which Labor and the Greens opposed, are part of NSW's package of drunken violence measures.

"The message to drunken thugs is clear: violent, offensive and anti-social behaviour simply won't be tolerated," Attorney-General Greg Smith said in a statement.

"Anyone ignoring that message should prepare to learn a very expensive lesson."

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20 rescued from broken Perth chairlift

EMERGENCY workers have rescued 20 people trapped on a chairlift at a Perth adventure park.

WA's Department of Fire and Emergency Services were called to Adventure World in Bibra Lake on Sunday afternoon, after the chairlift ground to a halt with almost two dozen people on board.

After almost three hours, the last of them was rescued, with 12 firefighters using a cherry picker to free the stranded patrons.

The trapped riders have been provided with water while work continued to free them.

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Plane diverted from MH370 search

AN Australian air force plane has been diverted from the search for Malaysia Airlines flight 370 to respond to a fishing boat's emergency distress beacon near Antarctica.

The P3 Orion was on Sunday afternoon sent from the Indian Ocean search zone to look for a fishing boat in trouble about 3240km southwest of Perth and 650km north of the Antarctic mainland, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said.

"The rescue coordination centre was unable to establish communications with the vessel and the nature of distress is unknown," AMSA added.

Authorities sent the P3 as it is capable of dropping survival equipment.

"A broadcast to shipping has been issued, however due to the remoteness of the location it is unlikely that any other ships will be near the area," AMSA said.

"The weather forecast for the area is extremely poor with low cloud, rain, snow and a water temperature of 2 degrees Celsius."

The beacon is registered to a fishing vessel, but no details of the nationality, crew or size of the vessel have been released.

To replace the Orion in the search for MH370 a civilian jet has been dispatched from Melbourne.

That jet is expected to take five hours to travel nearly 4000km to the search zone, where it can fly for a further two hours before having to turn back.

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Drunk crash driver had 3yo in car: police

AN allegedly drunk Melbourne woman who crashed into two parked cars had an unrestrained toddler on board, police say.

Officers were called after a Holden sedan hit two parked cars in Clifton Hill on Sunday evening.

Officers allegedly found the 41-year-old female driver drunk with an unrestrained three-year-old in the car.

No one was injured.

The woman was allegedly found to have a blood alcohol reading of 0.154 per cent, more than three times the legal limit.

The Clifton Hill local had her licence suspended and is expected to be charged on summons with traffic-related offences including drink driving and careless driving.

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