Wine prices may rise due to frost

Wine drinkers could pay more for their favourite tipple after frost damaged the 2014 harvest. Source: AAP

WINE drinkers could pay more for their favourite tipple after frost damaged the 2014 harvest.

Winemaker Australian Vintage, whose brands include McGuigan, Passion Pop and Tempus Two, says the amount of grapes it crushed for the 2014 vintage fell by nearly a fifth as a result of frost late last year.

And it expects the 2014 crush for the whole industry will be down on 2013 because of the damaging frost.

"Whilst this will help the industry's supply and demand position it is likely to lead to higher priced wine due to lower utilisation of the industry's processing assets," Australian Vintage chief executive Neil McGuigan said on Thursday.

"It is quite clear that the industry still has an issue with an overcapacity of processing capability."

Australian Vintage crushed 124,214 tonnes of grapes from the 2014 harvest, compared to 153,000 tonnes last year.

The drop came after frost significantly affected the company's vineyards at Balranald in NSW and near Swan Hill in Victoria.

The two vineyards produced 16,000 fewer tonnes than last year.

The company's Adelaide Hills vineyards were also down by more than a third.

However Australian Vintage believes the quality of the wine from its dry land vineyards looked outstanding and better than the 2013 vintage.

It described the quality of wine from irrigated regions was equal to the outstanding 2013 vintage.

The company still expects its net profit for the 2014 financial year to be significantly better than that of 2013 and in line with previous market guidance, despite overall sales being down on last year by about three per cent.

The decreases in overall sales were mainly due to reduced bulk wine sales in North America and the United Kingdom.

Exchange rates movements had been favourable during the financial year, resulting in an improved margin but some of that had been offset by customers in the United Kingdom demanding lower prices

Shares in Australian Vintage closed one cent lower at 33 cents.

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Drug-smuggling syndicate smashed

A drug-smuggling syndicate has been smashed after police intercepted a package of methamphetamines. Source: AAP

A DRUG-TRAFFICKING syndicate has been broken up after the recipient of a 12.5 kilogram package of methamphetamines was arrested in Perth.

The parcel was sent from Sydney in late April and intercepted by police, who switched the contents with an inert substance.

A 41-year-old Gold Coast man was arrested as he picked up the parcel in Perth on Sunday.

His home in Broadbeach, Queensland was searched and police seized mobile phones, precursor chemicals, manufacturing equipment and an estimated $1 million in cash.

A 35-year-old man was arrested a short time later and police raided his home in Londonderry, in Sydney's west.

It took police two days to sift through the large quantity of drugs discovered at the property.

Drugs manufacturing equipment, a sawn-off shotgun, ammunition, mobile phones and an estimated $1.5 million in cash were also seized at the home.

Additional search warrants were executed at six properties in Sydney and Perth, and altogether police seized nearly 100kg of methamphetamine, ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and precursor chemicals.

The two arrested men were charged with attempting to traffic commercial quantities of controlled drugs and they appeared in Sydney and Perth courts on Monday.

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Blast on Indian train kills one

Twin blasts on a passenger train at a southern Indian railway station have killed a woman. Source: AAP

TWIN bombs planted on a train killed one person and wounded at least nine others in the southern Indian port of Chennai.

In the latest attack during ongoing national elections, the low-intensity blasts occurred in carriages of an overnight train from Bangalore as it pulled into Chennai central station after 7am (0130 GMT).

A 22-year-old woman working at IT outsourcing firm TCS was killed when one of the devices that had been placed underneath her seat exploded, said Rakesh Misra, general manager of the southern region for Indian Railways.

"At least two people have suffered grievous injuries and seven have minor injuries," Misra told reporters at the scene.

"Civil police ... are investigating what kind of bomb it was and why anyone would have placed the bomb."

Security forces cordoned off the blood-splattered platform where a large crowd of onlookers and delayed passengers gathered, while searches by bomb detection teams were stepped up in other stations.

Chennai police chief JK Tripathi said they were yet to detain any suspects, despite media reports of one or two people being questioned over the crude explosives.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the attack, saying "such barbaric acts targeting innocent men, women and children only highlight the desperation and cowardice of those responsible".

Multiple low-intensity explosions are typically the hallmark of the Indian Mujahideen, a home-grown militant network thought to have been weakened by the recent arrests of senior figures.

Sixteen people were killed in February 2013 when bombs strapped to bicycles exploded in the southern city of Hyderabad in an attack blamed on the network.

India's election, which ends on May 16, has seen repeated attacks by Maoist rebels based in the forests of central India who have killed at least 25 so far, according to an AFP tally.

One panic-stricken passenger told the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency that he saw three to four people "writhing in pain" after the blast on the train, which was set to terminate in the remote northeastern city of Guwahati.

The injured have been taken to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai.

The dead woman was identified as an employee of Bangalore-based TCS. The company said it was "deeply shocked and saddened at this unfortunate loss of life of our colleague in this tragic incident".

Her grandmother, named as Rajalakshmi, told PTI she was travelling home and was set to marry in another two months.

"She was to come home today. But now only her body is coming", she was quoted as saying.

Security has been tightened across India as the country holds its six-week general election.

Voting has already taken place in most major cities, including Chennai, which went to the polls last week.

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New list ranks Grange as top wine

A new classification of Australian wines has listed Penfolds Grange as the nation's top drop. Source: AAP

WHILE the thought of a bottle of Penfolds Grange may now leave a bitter taste in the mouth of former NSW premier Barry O'Farrell, a new list ranking Australia's best drops has given the wine top billing.

Online wine marketer Langton's has released its sixth classification of local wines which includes 139 of the country's best performing and most prized labels.

The list includes 21 wines ranked exceptional including Grange, Henschke's Hill of Grace Shiraz, Jim Barry's The Armagh Shiraz and the John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon from Wynns Coonawarra Estate.

Other wines included in the classification are listed as outstanding or excellent.

Penfolds Grange has long been renowned as a great drop, and made headlines last month when Mr O'Farrell was forced to resign as NSW premier after misleading a corruption inquiry about whether he received a 1959 bottle of the fine wine.

Langton's head of auctions Tamara Grischy said it was no surprise that the iconic Grange had again topped the rankings.

But she said the latest list had also unearthed some new and different styles that were making their mark on the fine wine world.

"Our winemakers have driven the transformation of Australian chardonnay, from bold and oaky to refined and elegant," she said.

"The demand for this style is clear to see, with a number of Chardonnay wines being recognised."

Ms Grischy said winemakers were also taking inspiration from the past with sparkling shiraz labels returning to the classification.

The first Langton's classification was released in 1990 and featured just 34 wines.

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Gold dazzles at refurbished Perth Mint

Perth Mint has opened a new exhibition with the most valuable coin in the world as its centrepiece. Source: AAP

THE biggest, heaviest and most valuable coin in the world is the centrepiece of a new permanent exhibition at the refurbished Perth Mint.

The colossal coin is one tonne of 99.99 per cent pure gold, worth more than $50 million.

Measuring 80 centimetres in diameter and more than 12cm deep, it depicts a red kangaroo surrounded by rays of sunlight.

And it sits atop its very own vault, which swallows it up each night when the mint closes.

West Australian Premier Colin Barnett said the coin would be a big drawcard for the Mint, which has undergone a $5.5 million redevelopment in two stages, the biggest revamp it has had since it was founded 115 years ago.

Mr Barnett said he expected visitor numbers, which already nudge 80,000 a year, would rise dramatically.

The coin was recently exhibited around the world and has increased already strong sales of bullion coins from the Mint.

"It achieved its objective - we are selling more gold bullion coins," chief executive Ed Harbuz said.

Also on display at the mint are massive gold nuggets, including the world's second biggest, Newmont's Normandy nugget.

Perth Mint was established as a branch of Britain's Royal Mint in 1899.

Its primary functions of refining gold from WA's eastern goldfields and striking gold coinage continues today but at its refinery near Perth Airport, with precious metal coins struck onsite at the Mint.

The Mint also issues Australia's official bullion and commemorative coins.

In 2012/13, it refined more than 300 tonnes of precious metals, reported close to $3 billion worth of holdings in its depository, and sold 4.3 million gold, silver and platinum coins.

It is one of only four mints in the world that produces bullion coins.

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Gonski steps up as ANZ chairman

Respected businessman David Gonski (pic) is set to replace John Morschel as ANZ chairman on May 1. Source: AAP

RESPECTED businessman David Gonski takes control in ANZ's boardroom on Thursday, replacing the bank's chairman of four years John Morschel.

Mr Gonski was appointed to the ANZ board in December with the view to taking over from Mr Morschel when he retired on April 30.

"It has been an honour to have served as an ANZ director since 2004 and to have been chairman of ANZ over the past four years," Mr Morschel said.

Mr Gonski, a former chairman of the federal government's Future Fund, previously served as a director for ANZ between 2002 and 2007.

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Tenants sign on for Barangaroo tower

Two firms have signed up as tenants for the tallest building at Sydney's Barangaroo development. Source: AAP

PLANNING for the tallest office tower at Sydney's Barangaroo development will commence after the developer secured two tenants for the 49-storey building.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Australia will take 12 floors of the tower and HSBC Bank Australia three and a half floors, under new leases signed with developer Lend Lease.

Lend Lease will now commence development and funding of the building, and intends to introduce co-investors into the tower "at an appropriate time in the future", it said in a statement on Wednesday.

Construction is expected to begin in the second half of 2014, and is expected to be completed in the 2016/17 financial year.

Barangaroo South is planned to be a major financial district of Sydney's CBD, and will include an exclusive casino and hotel to be operated by Crown Resorts.

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Tunisia uses Star Wars to rescue tourism

IMPERIAL stormtroopers are set to march through Tunisia's capital as part of a new effort to attract tourists and burnish the image of the North African country.

Tunisia's national tourism office is collaborating with the local Star Wars fan club to hold a convention starting on Wednesday in the country, which boasts sets from the popular science fiction film franchise deep in the desert.

The campaign also features a Star Wars-themed online video set to the tune of Pharrell Williams' popular hit Happy, involving characters from the films.

Tunisia's beach resorts were a popular destination for European tourists but many stayed away after the 2011 overthrow of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Tourists have been slowly returning and the new campaign seeks to promote lesser-known Tunisian attractions.

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Two MPs allege Palmer approach

A Queensland MP has told police an envoy for Clive Palmer offered him an inducement to jump ship. Source: AAP

TWO Queensland government MPs have accused Clive Palmer's team of trying to lure them away from the Liberal National Party.

Mr Palmer says the claims made by MPs Michael Hart and Jason Costigan were made up by premier Campbell Newman, while police have looked at one of the accusations and will take no action.

Mr Newman, however, has stepped up his war with the mining magnate turned federal MP, arguing he needs to reveal the full truth.

Mr Hart on Tuesday alleged a Palmer United Party envoy tried to entice the Burleigh MP with financial sweeteners - an assertion refuted by the party's state leader Alex Douglas.

Also on Tuesday, Whitsunday MP Mr Costigan said a PUP member approached him a week later on April 16, but without a financial incentive.

"They said they could ... help me with my campaign if I was their candidate and rambled on how they needed one more MP to form the official opposition," he told AAP.

Mr Hart took his claims to police who said they had "concluded that, based on current available information, no further action will be taken".

Mr Hart said he cut short a conversation with a PUP official after being made an offer to become one of the party's leading candidates at next year's Queensland election.

"The words that were used I took as a form of inducement or that there was about to be an inducement. I didn't want that to happen," he told AAP.

Mr Hart's allegation has escalated the bitter feud between Mr Palmer and the LNP, with the mining magnate accusing Mr Newman of inventing the story.

"This is just concocted by the premier because he's going to be sued by me," Mr Palmer told AAP.

"He's just trying to mislead the press."

But a spokesman for Mr Newman says Mr Palmer is the one who needs to come clean after Dr Douglas confirmed the party approached Mr Hart.

"Mr Palmer denies inducements were offered to Mr Hart, but Alex Douglas has confirmed that Mr Hart was told that 'we would look after him if he joined us'," the spokesman said.

Dr Douglas says while contact was made, claims about any inducement are entirely false.

"It was basically to say: 'Michael we know you're not going to be preselected or endorsed by the party and if you want to have a career you are welcome to come and discuss that with us'," he said.

The latest claims follow Sunday's allegations by Mr Newman that Mr Palmer had tried to "buy" his government, and had offered inducements to successfully entice three renegade Northern Territory MPs to join his party.

Comment has been sought from Dr Douglas about Mr Costigan's claim.

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Plane catches fire at Perth Airport

A plane has made an emergency landing in Perth after flames were spotted coming from its engine. Source: AAP

A PLANE has made an emergency landing at Perth Airport after a suspected engine fire erupted shortly after take-off.

The Cobham Aviation flight landed safely after the mid-air incident on Tuesday, a Perth Airport spokeswoman confirmed.

Witnesses have reported seeing the flames coming from the right engine.

The Perth Airport website shows that a Cobham Aviation flight was scheduled to depart at 10.45am for Barrow Island.

Pictures have emerged on social media of a plane with an engine appearing to be on fire, but it has not been confirmed as the plane involved in the emergency.

The aircraft is currently being assessed at the airport.

Cobham operates aircraft on behalf of Qantas regional subsidiary QantasLink.

A spokesman for the regional carrier said a statement would be issued later on Tuesday.

Cobham Aviation Services said the engine fire occurred soon after take-off and that the four-engine BAE 146 jet was bound for Barrow Island.

A spokesman said the pilot and crew safely returned the jet to Perth Airport at 10.53am (WST).

"The aircraft was climbing after take-off when the fire occurred in engine No.2, which is on the inner port side of the aircraft," he said.

"When the fire was detected, the engine was shut down and the fire extinguished.

"There were no injuries among the 92 passengers or two pilots and three cabin crew."

The incident is being investigated and regulatory authorities have been informed, the spokesman says.

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