Canada to deport Aust killer mum: report

Allyson McConnell is being deported to Australia after serving 10 months for drowning her sons. Source: AAP

ALLYSON McConnell, the Australian mother convicted of drowning her two young sons in Canada, will be deported to her homeland next week, a report says.

McConnell's jail term ended on Thursday (Friday AEDT) after she served 10 months of her 15-month sentence in an Alberta hospital.

Albertan authorities had been expected to ask the Canadian government to stop the deportation so that appeals could be heard.

But Canada's federal Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews said Alberta's justice minister was too late in asking for the stay of deportation when McConnell's case was reviewed by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada on Friday (Saturday AEDT), local CBC news reported.

The review follows protests by McConnell's former husband, Curtis McConnell, and Alberta authorities who lodged appeals against what they deemed was the Australian's lenient sentence and conviction for manslaughter, rather than murder.

They wanted the appeals to be heard before she leaves Canada.

On Friday, the deportation review scheduled McConnell to leave on Monday (local time) for Australia, CBC reported.

Until then, 34-year-old McConnell would remain in the Edmonton psychiatric hospital.

Meanwhile, Alberta Justice Minister Jonathan Denis said the prosecution service would press ahead with its appeals, CBC reported.

"Whether or not Ms McConnell remains in Canada, Albertans can be assured that the prosecution service is pressing ahead with these appeals and will continue to seek justice in this case," Denis said in a statement.

McConnell, who suffered depression, drowned 10-month-old Jayden and two-and-a-half-year-old Connor in the bathtub of their family home in Millet, Alberta, in 2010.

The judge who convicted McConnell of the lesser charge of manslaughter found she did not have the requisite intent for murder.

McConnell moved to Canada in 2005 from her home on the NSW Central Coast, met Curtis McConnell and they married.

However, the marriage soured and the McConnells were engaged in a bitter divorce before the deaths, with McConnell desperate to take her boys back to her home town of Gosford.

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ACTU boss warns of Thatcherism

Key labour figure Ged Kearney says she fears an Abbott-led government would champion "big society". Source: AAP

THE Australian labour movement will wage a pre-emptive strike against the federal opposition as the election nears, ACTU boss Ged Kearney says.

In a candid address to a NSW Teacher's Federation conference in Sydney on Saturday, Ms Kearney indicated the ACTU was bracing for a coalition win on September 14 and a royal commission into union corruption.

"They are going to come for us," she told the room of union members.

She said any coalition anti-union push would be "smarter than having dogs and men in balaclavas on the docks", a reference to the 1998 waterfront dispute.

"The royal commission is coming - because of the HSU, because of the whole slush fund stuff, they will come at us with lawyers and barristers and queen's counsels and they will try to send us broke," she said.

The former nurse told the crowd the ACTU would launch a major campaign this week to warn Australians of a move towards Thatcher-style rhetoric and conservative UK "big society" policy under a Tony Abbott-led government.

"(Big society) is about privatising, it's about outsourcing, it's about turning people's rights as civilians and citizens into charity," Ms Kearney said.

Her address echoed concerns voiced by Labor frontbenchers in parliament last month, with then-human services minister Kim Carr claiming the British Tories were a "guiding light" for the Australian opposition.

Ms Kearney on Saturday told AAP the ACTU campaign would focus on insecure work, the casualisation of the labour market and workplace safety.

"I think Australians inherently think unions are necessary," she said.

Union membership in Australia was only about 20 per cent but she still believed workers would rally around the movement over the coming months.

"What I fear is that what Tony Abbott will do is use individual instances like the HSU to demonise an entire movement," she said.

"He can try to do that, but we will be ready."

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Sundance concluding Hanlong talks

SUNDANCE Resources says it is concluding talks with suitor Hanlong Mining.

The Africa-focused iron ore hopeful released a statement saying it is "concluding and documenting outcomes of its good faith consultations with Hanlong".

Under a Scheme Implementation Agreement (SIA) between the two parties, Hanlong proposed to acquire all the issued share capital of the company, Sundance said.

The company said documents would be drafted, signed and translated into Chinese by Monday April 8.

The development comes a day after Sundance said it had not received $5 million in funding, which Hanlong Mining was due to provide under a convertible note facility by April 3.

Hanlong was unable to meet Wednesday's financial deadline for the $1.3 billion takeover of Sundance.

Shares in the company are expected to remain in a trading halt until Tuesday April 9.

Investors have already priced in the likelihood of the deal falling over, with shares in Sundance last trading at 21 cents, due to Hanlong's inability to secure finance and serious leadership problems.

Sundance was placed in a trading halt on March 20.

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Labor reveals superannuation changes

Treasurer Wayne Swan says about 16,000 individuals will be impacted by an increase in earnings tax. Source: AAP

THE federal government has moved to end damaging pre-budget speculation over the nation's retirement nest eggs, announcing a series of measures to promote the sustainability of the superannuation system.

Past and present Labor stalwarts were quick to support the changes that will potentially hit future super earnings of an estimated 16,000 people.

The coalition, however, said it was a raid on people's retirement funds, while the Australian Greens said the measures don't go far enough.

A key proposal announced by Treasurer Wayne Swan on Friday - six weeks before his pre-election budget - is for super pension and annuity earnings greater than $100,000 to be taxed at 15 per cent, instead of being tax free.

This impacts those with superannuation assets worth more than about $2 million.

Mr Swan argued a government-funded tax break was flowing to a select few, giving "excessive support to people with millions in their superannuation account".

"Why should someone who has millions of dollars in a superannuation account pay no tax on their earnings, while someone on $80,000 a year pays a marginal tax rate of 37 cents in the dollar on every additional dollar they earn?" he said.

Superannuation Minister Bill Shorten said the reforms would not impact most retirees.

"All the scare stuff you heard, it's wrong," he told reporters in Canberra.

But Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said he would "fight ferociously" changes that would play havoc with people's retirement plans.

"Every time a government raids people's funds, there are shades of Cyprus about it," he told a community roundtable in Melbourne.

Greens leader Christine Milne said the changes didn't go far enough.

"Labor is clearly not serious about facing the revenue challenge Australia confronts," she said in a statement.

Former Labor leader Paul Keating, the founder of Australia's superannuation system, said the changes struck a reasonable balance and went some way to correcting "unsustainably generous" tax measures introduced by former Liberal treasurer Peter Costello.

Federal backbencher Simon Crean, who was recently sacked from the ministry by Prime Minister Julia Gillard for his involvement in an aborted leadership coup, gave the new proposals his blessing after earlier expressing concern that changes could be retrospective.

"I do not have a problem with those announced changes," he told reporters in Melbourne.

"They are fair, they are reasonable, but the most important thing is, it is building on the great Labor legacy which has seen superannuation available for all members of the workforce."

Retirement groups were relieved the changes were not as severe as feared.

Financial associations, while not happy with the new tax treatment, said they understood the changes were needed to support the sustainability of the super system.

Labor's other changes include the establishment of a council of superannuation custodians - made up of community, industry and regulatory representatives - to ensure any future super changes are consistent with an agreed charter.

"We want to take superannuation above politics," Mr Shorten said.

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Shell Geelong workers reel from sale news

SHELL workers face an uncertain future and fear shattering job losses, after the company announced it is selling its Geelong refinery.

The global oil giant plans to sell the refinery with a view to keeping it open, but says it may convert it to a fuel import terminal if a buyer isn't found by the end of next year.

Shell worker Kent Staines says his family, who moved to Geelong so he could work at the site, may be forced to move.

"If the job finishes the lifestyle here finishes too," he told AAP.

"They'll be a bit shattered if they have to move as well."

Mr Staines said Thursday's announcement was bad news for the region and came out of the blue to workers.

"A lot of people are resigned to it. Some people see it as inevitable and others are quite shocked I think," he said.

"It's still sinking in for many people."

A Shell contractor who did not want to be named said he hoped it was possible someone could buy the refinery and take the workers on.

"It's the $60 question - will it go or won't it go? Time will tell," he said.

"Until the final death knell it's all speculation."

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Aust shares close weaker

THE Australian share market finished almost one per cent lower due to weaker offshore leads and lower commodity prices.

RBS Morgans director of equities Bill Chatterton said the local market had followed US markets down after weak US economic data prompted investors to head for the door.

Lower commodity prices, particularly gold, were also weighing on the local mining sector.

"The weakness is across the board," Mr Chatterton said.

"Mostly the falls have come from weak offshore leads but, locally, uncertainty surrounding superannuation is having an impact.

"Rightly or wrongly, it's probably creating negativity in the market."

The resources and financial sectors led the market lower, with global miner BHP Billiton 48 cents down at $31.75 and Rio Tinto surrendered 78 cents to $54.60.

Fortescue Metals shed 12 cents to $3.55 while shares in gold miner Newcrest were $1.01 lower at $18.49.

The major banks all fell, with National Australia Bank 11 cents weaker at $31.00, Commonwealth Bank lost 35 cents to $68.10, Westpac dipped 36 cents to $30.79, and ANZ gave away 24 cents to $28.03.

Among other stocks, Fairfax Media shed one cent to 61 cents after announcing a reorganisation of its operations into five business arms as part of its ongoing restructure program.

Troubled retailer Billabong asked for an indefinite suspension of its shares, which last traded at 73 cents, while it continued takeover talks with two potential suitors.

KEY FACTS

* At the close on Thursday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 44.2 points, or 0.89 per cent, down at 4,913.5.

* The broader All Ordinaries index was 47.1 points, or 0.95 per cent, weaker at 4,919.3. .

* The June share price index futures contract was 43 points lower at 4,911, with 25,822 contracts traded.

* National turnover was 1.93 billion securities worth $4.56 billion.

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Govt 'racist' on foreign workers: Bishop

Rupert Murdoch has labelled the government's language on 457 visas as "disgraceful and racist". Source: AAP

THE federal opposition has joined media mogul Rupert Murdoch in labelling the Gillard government's language about foreign workers as racist.

Senior coalition MPs accused Labor of hypocrisy after it emerged ALP national vice-president Tony Sheldon has hired overseas workers on 457 visas.

Deputy opposition leader Julie Bishop went a step further, accusing federal Labor of "ramping up racist warfare against foreign workers" - echoing a claim made by News Corporation chairman Mr Murdoch on Tuesday.

Mr Sheldon, who is also national secretary of the Transport Workers Union, told The Australian newspaper that his chief of staff at the union, Dermot Ryan, media officer Barry Dunning and senior organiser Celia Petty were employed on 457 visas.

Mr Sheldon and other Labor officials have accused some employers of misusing the visas.

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said Mr Sheldon's practices showed Labor's claims that the 457 visa program was being rorted were a stunt.

"It's not just the hypocrisy in the union movement, it's hypocrisy in the prime minister's own office," he told Sky News on Wednesday, referring to Prime Minister Julia Gillard's communication director John McTernan, who is also on a 457 visa.

Mr Sheldon said in March that 457 visa holders had no real right to join a union unless their employer had sacked them, and once fired they could be deported within 28 days unless they found another job.

It was "no exaggeration" to say that for some workers, the 457 visa was a form of slavery, he said.

Mr Morrison said the comments were a stunt.

"It's absurd and it's rank hypocrisy," he said.

Ms Bishop said Labor's "attack" on overseas workers was always intended as a diversion away from allegations of union corruption and the ICAC inquiry in NSW.

"(This) has exposed the hypocrisy and also the danger of Labor ramping up a racist warfare against foreign workers," she told Sky News.

"Tony Sheldon wants us to believe that there was no one in Australia who is capable of managing his media profile other than getting somebody from overseas."

Ms Gillard has declined to comment on claims her government was using racist language, saying her job was to make sure Australians had their job opportunities put first.

"People can say whatever they like in response to that," she told ABC radio.

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Macdonald's department opposed licence

FORMER NSW mining minister Ian Macdonald's own department was against him granting the controversial Doyles Creek coal exploration licence directly to a group including former union boss John Maitland, an inquiry has heard.

The department's position was made clear in a briefing note tendered on Wednesday to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in Sydney.

"There would be major policy difficulties, potential probity issues and environmental sensitivities" involved if the licence was allocated directly rather than going through a tender process, the department advised.

"Without the support of major industry players, it is unlikely the proposal would be successful," it added.

Mr Macdonald's former chief of staff, Jamie Gibson, told the hearing the minister was "always very enthusiastic" about the proposal for the Doyle's Creek training mine in the Hunter Valley, talking up the benefits it would bring for training and the University of Newcastle.

"He always talked about it in glowing terms," Mr Gibson said.

But the department was not in favour of a direct allocation because it would "exclude other interested industry parties".

He recalled Mr Maitland being the "key advocate" and the "face" of the proposal, but said he was not initially aware Mr Maitland was a shareholder and chairman of the company behind it.

The ICAC is probing a licence Mr Macdonald granted to Mr Maitland's entrepreneurial group in 2008.

The hearing into Doyles Creek follows months of testimony about other coal licence grants that were approved under Mr Macdonald and benefited former fellow Labor minister Eddie Obeid.

Mr Gibson said when Mr Macdonald decided to grant the licence without a tender, he wanted the approval paperwork prepared "quickly and in-house".

Mr Gibson said he thought the paperwork should "rightly" be prepared by the department.

He said it was "quite possible" Doyles Creek documents, including departmental concerns about the proposal, were destroyed when former Premier Nathan Rees dumped Mr Macdonald as a minister in 2009.

But this was government standard for internal memos.

Mr Gibson agreed his association with Mr Macdonald had caused difficulties in obtaining employment since he left the department a year ago.

Mr Macdonald's barrister Tim Hale, SC, asked him: "Until you are cleared no one wants to touch you with a barge pole, as you see it?"

He replied: "Yes."

But he did not agree he had sought to distance himself from decisions made by Mr Macdonald, or that his evidence had been coloured by a desire to distance himself.

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SA premier says budget will be a challenge

SOUTH Australian Premier Jay Weatherill says he understands he won't be able to please everyone when he delivers his first budget as state treasurer in June.

Mr Weatherill said he was excited at the prospect of delivering a fiscally restrained budget at such a challenging time.

"That's life in politics," the premier told reporters on Tuesday.

"There are more demands than there are resources.

"So the question is how you meet the demands. It's always a question of making choices, trying to balance the public interest."

Mr Weatherill said the paradox with the SA budget was that while the state's economy was generally strong, the funds available to the government had been cut, through lower GST returns and property taxes.

"We have a strong economy, but our finances are under pressure because the parts of the economy that are doing it toughest are the parts where we raise our revenue," he said.

"So that's a challenge putting together a budget in a strong economy, but with revenues that are weak and community demands still high."

Mr Weatherill will deliver the SA budget on June 6.

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Booze tax isn't meeting costs of abuse

A new study says alcohol abuse costs the community more than double the revenue raised by taxes. Source: AAP

ALCOHOL abuse cost the community more than $14 billion in lost productivity, costs on the health and criminal justice systems, and traffic accidents.

That's double the revenue raised from taxes on alcoholic products, says a new study that looked at the costs for 2010.

The paper, released by the Australian Institute of Criminology, says that figure doesn't take into account the cost of pain and suffering arising from alcohol abuse - which could conceivably be more than double the cost estimates.

In the study, researchers from Griffith University collated data from various agencies including police and the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

They concluded the commonwealth raised $7.057 billion in revenue from excise and consumption tax on alcoholic products.

But alcohol-related problems cost the community $14.352 billion on conservative estimates.

The greatest cost was more than $6 billion in lost productivity, followed by $3.66 billion from traffic accidents, $2.95 billion for policing, courts and prisons, and $1.68 billion for the health system.

Lost productivity was calculated as the sum of reduced workforce and household labour from premature death, sickness and absenteeism.

The study said more alcohol revenue should be directed to diversion and prevention strategies, rather than relying on charitable organisations such as Lifeline, the Salvation Army and Mission Australian to deal with a significant proportion of the effects of alcohol abuse.

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WA's first indigenous minister dies

All sides of politics paid tribute to politician Ernie Bridge who lost his battle with mesothelioma. Source: AAP

TRIBUTES are flowing for Australia's first indigenous cabinet minister Ernie Bridge, who has died of mesothelioma just days after launching a bid to sue the West Australian government over his illness.

Mr Bridge, the Kimberley MLA from 1980 to 2001, died in Perth on Sunday aged 76.

He recently lodged a Supreme Court writ seeking damages from parties including companies run by two of the nation's richest women, Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting and Angela Bennett's Wright Prospecting, claiming he was exposed to asbestos while overseeing the closure of mines and withdrawal of government services from Wittenoom in the late 1980s.

Mr Bridge, a country-music singer and guitarist, was a pastoralist before entering politics, serving as minister under WA Labor leader's Brian Burke and Peter Dowding.

The Order of Australia member and Centenary Medal recipient was lauded for his commitment to Aboriginal affairs, and was well known for promoting the concept of piping water from the Kimberley to Perth via Kalgoorlie.

Federal resources minister Gary Gray said he was known as Mr Kimberley.

"Mr Bridge was a visionary who never stopped working for the people of the north," Mr Gray said.

He had a deep commitment to Aboriginal representation and I believe made a significant contribution to democracy and Aboriginal enfranchisement.

Former WA Attorney-General Jim McGinty told ABC radio on Monday that Mr Bridge was loved by both sides of politics, and recalled an occasion where he sang a song in parliament with guitar accompaniment to underline a point he was making.

Mr Bridge was a royal commissioner for an inquiry into a dark chapter in WA's history, the treatment of Aboriginal people by police at Skull Creek.

"That royal commission led to a significant change in the way in which policing of Aboriginal people was conducted across the length and breadth of the country," Mr McGinty said.

Federal opposition indigenous affairs spokesman Nigel Scullion described Mr Bridge as one of the nicest people in politics and life.

"Mr Bridge understood the importance of a job being the best way out of poverty," he said in a statement.

"His work on trailblazing employment and health and diabetes projects saw him regularly in the halls of Parliament House in Canberra advising ministers and gathering support for his hands-on work."

Senator Scullion gave his condolences to Mr Bridge's children, Kim, Noel, Cheryl and Beverly.

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Two found dead in Silverwater jail cell

Police are investigating the deaths of two prisoners at Sydney's Silverwater jail. Source: AAP

TWO prisoners have been found dead in a cell at Silverwater jail in Sydney's west.

The bodies of the two men were found at the jail's Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre during an inspection early on Monday.

A Corrective Services NSW spokeswoman said staff discovered the pair, aged 41 and 47, around 6.15am (AEDT) during the morning head count.

"A crime scene was established and the NSW Police Force immediately notified," she said in a statement.

A NSW Police spokeswoman told AAP that post-mortem examinations would help detectives establish the chain of events that led to the deaths.

An Ambulance Services of NSW dispatch report listed "cardiac or respiratory arrest" as the medical conditions of both deceased, Fairfax media reported.

The Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre at Silverwater is a maximum security facility housing about 900 male inmates who are awaiting their trials.

Investigators will prepare a report for the NSW Coroner.

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Six Qld doctors face criminal charges

SIX Queensland doctors could face criminal charges for medical malpractice but a whistleblower is surprised there aren't more under investigation.

Health Minister Lawrence Springborg announced the police investigation on Sunday, saying up to 11 allegations have been made against one practitioner alone.

The investigation is one of four recommendations in a report from top criminal law specialist and former crown prosecutor Jeffrey Hunter SC.

The report was sparked by former medical board investigator turned whistleblower Jo Barber, who lifted the lid on the issue last year.

Ms Barber claimed to have evidence of a doctor murdering a patient, manslaughter, and doctors with alcohol or drug addictions.

She said she was surprised only six doctors had been referred to the police, given the amount of information she had provided to authorities.

"I worked at the medical board and I am familiar with the files there and there are many, many more than six doctors that should be investigated for criminal offences," she told ABC Radio.

"My view is that these six are the patsies - let's give them a couple of scalps, let's keep the public happy and then we can just leave the system alone."

A police spokeswoman was unable to provide details of the investigation on Sunday.

Mr Springborg says Mr Hunter's report will spur legislative change over how malpractice allegations are handled.

"Mr Hunter's findings highlight the need to strengthen control and responsiveness at the state level," he said in a statement.

Medical negligence lawyer Sarah Atkinson said any move towards law changes would help increase patient safety.

"This is also important for medical practitioners," the Maurice Blackburn lawyer said.

"The majority of health staff do a very good job, but it's essential that systems to protect patients are as strong as possible to ensure that those putting patients at unnecessary risk are identified as quickly as possible."

Mr Springborg has not revealed details of the allegations referred to police.

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Hopes fade for trapped miners in Tibet

HOPES are fast fading that Chinese search and rescue teams will find survivors two days after a huge landslide crashed down a Tibetan mountain, burying scores of mine workers.

Around 3,500 rescuers were searching for survivors and 300 pieces of large machinery had been mobilised, state media reported early on Sunday, with many workers said to be digging with their bare hands while battling snow and altitude sickness.

A total of 82 miners remain trapped after one body was found on Saturday, almost 36 hours after the massive landslide buried the workers under two million cubic metres of earth.

The disaster struck when a huge section of land tumbled onto a mine workers' camp in Maizhokunggar county, east of the Tibetan capital Lhasa, on Friday morning.

The first body was found on Saturday afternoon.

"The rescuers are conducting an inch-by-inch search, but they still cannot locate the missing miners," said Wu Yingjie, deputy secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee of the Communist Party of China, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.

Wu said that, given the scale of the disaster, the miners' survival chances were slim.

Xinhua, citing its reporters, said many workers were digging with their "bare hands" because damage to narrow local roads had kept much of the large-scale rescue machinery from getting to the site.

The chance of further landslides heightened safety concerns after cracks were reported on the mountain and others nearby.

Wu said a crack, measuring one metre wide and 15 metres long, had formed at the top of the mountain.

"The two rescue priorities for now are searching for the buried and preventing subsequent disasters," Wu said.

Teams using sniffer dogs and radar combed the mountainside Saturday, battling bad weather, altitude sickness and further landslides.

The disaster zone is located 4,600 metres above sea level.

Mountainous regions of Tibet are prone to landslides, which can be exacerbated by heavy mining activity.

The victims worked for a subsidiary of the China National Gold Group Corporation (CNGC), a state-owned company and the nation's biggest gold miner by output.

According to the Chinese government, the mine produces copper as well as other metals.

Almost all those buried were Han Chinese, the national ethnic majority, with only two ethnic Tibetans, Xinhua said.

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