Govt calls for views on financial system

THE federal government is seeking submissions for its inquiry into the nation's financial system, the first in 16 years.

The Department of Treasury says the inquiry will lay out a blueprint for the financial system for the next decade.

The department on Thursday said that while the financial sector had served Australia well, it had been transformed by domestic as well as international economic forces.

There had also been a substantial regulatory reform agenda and growth in superannuation, as well as changes in the structure of the industry, technology, innovation and broader macro-economic trends, it said.

Submissions are due by March 31.

The financial system inquiry, chaired by former Commonwealth Bank of Australia boss and Future Fund chairman David Murray, will provide an interim report by midyear and a final report in November.

Previous financial system inquiries include the Campbell report in 1981, which led to the floating of the Australian dollar and the deregulation of the financial sector.

The Wallis Report in 1997 led to streamlined financial services regulation, the creation of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and the current structure of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

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Billabong warns of long road ahead

BILLABONG says its work to turn around the business is yet to improve its performance, as shareholders approved another aspect of its refinancing deal with two US investment firms.

A placement of $135 million in Billabong shares to Centerbridge and Oaktree was approved at a meeting on Thursday, as well as a $50 million rights issue.

Chairman Ian Pollard told the meeting approval from shareholders would give Billabong the financial flexibility it requires to continue with its turnaround.

But he also said the company still faces many hurdles, and the current year's financial results would include more costs from restructuring the business.

"There remains much work to be done and few of the elements of the turnaround are as yet impacting on the company's financial performance," he said.

Billabong shares dropped 2.5 cents to 59.5 cents.

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Two arrested in Rebels bikie gang raids

NSW and Queensland police have raided Rebels bikie gang properties to bust a drug-running operation. Source: AAP

THE alleged vice-president of a Rebels bikie gang chapter has been arrested in a cross-border crackdown for NSW and Queensland.

Ballina detectives launched an investigation into alleged drug trafficking last November focusing on members of the Ballina chapter of the Rebels motorcycle gang.

Police allege the northern NSW chapter was moving drugs across the border to be sold to buyers on the Gold Coast.

On Wednesday local police, along with Queensland's Taskforce Maxima, raided properties on the Gold Coast, in Goodna and in Bangalow, near Byron Bay.

A 31-year-old man was arrested in Bangalow after police allegedly discovered $14,000 worth of amphetamines.

Police believe he is a patched member of the Rebels and vice president of the Ballina chapter.

He was charged with a string of offences, including drug trafficking and participating in a criminal organisation.

A 19-year-old alleged Rebels participant from Carrara in Queensland was charged with participating in a criminal organisation.

The duo were due to appear in Southport Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

Taskforce Maxima Detective Inspector Brendan Smith said outlaw motorcycle gangs used state borders to hamper police efforts.

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PNG PM visits Bougainville

PAPUA New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has apologised to the people of Bougainville for the civil war that left thousands dead.

Mr O'Neill also performed a reconciliation ceremony with the autonomous region's president, John Momis, and visited the site of the Panguna Copper mine which sparked the civil war.

"Following custom, I'd like to say we are truly sorry for all the bad things that happened in your communities in Bougainville and our country Papua New Guinea," the Port Moresby based The Post Courier reported Mr O'Neill as saying on Tuesday.

Mr O'Neill made the comments at Bel Isi Park in Buka, where he and Mr Momis broke an arrow in a symbolic gesture of peace.

Mr Momis told a crowd of hundreds Mr O'Neill's visit meant a new beginning for PNG and Bougainville.

"This means a new beginning and cooperation and collaboration to continue the work for development," he said.

Mr O'Neill unveiled Kina 1.5 million ($A720,000) in development funds for Bougainville.

His visit marks the second by a PNG prime minister since Bill Skate in 1998, when both sides of the conflict brokered a peace deal.

Mr O'Neill brought with him the PNG Government's chief secretary, Public Enterprises Minister Ben Micah and Mining Minister Byron Chan.

Mr Chan is the son of civil war prime minister Sir Julius Chan, who along with Mr Momis is considered one of PNG's founding fathers.

Bougainville is due to hold a referendum to decide if it will become an independent country between 2015 and 2020.

Australian Strategic Policy Institute analyst Karl Claxton said there is a wide expectation Bougainville will vote to become independent.

"(Mr O'Neill's) visit is definitely a welcome increase in focus and it's exactly what's needed, dialogue between the national government and the ABG (Autonomous Bougainville Government).

"I would call it a very significant step indeed."

Mr O'Neill on Wednesday is expected to visit the site of the Panguna Copper mine near Bougainville's capital, Arawa.

At the time of its closure due to the civil war in 1989 the mine was the largest open cut copper mine in the world.

The reopening of the mine is still a hot issue in Bougainville, with landowners living around it opposed to its reopening.

However some argue it is a vital potential revenue stream for an independent Bougainville.

Mr Claxton said there is room for Mr Momis to stretch out the independence vote until 2020.

"To build consensus," he said.

"There is very little understanding of what autonomy means and how much is needed to make either of those things (autonomy or staying with PNG) work.

"Independence will need a big income stream."

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We can't force equal treatment: Key

NZ Prime Minister John Key says it's risky to demand equal treatment for Kiwis in Australia. Source: AAP

THE cost of pushing Australia to treat New Zealanders equally across the ditch could be free labour access to the country, NZ Prime Minister John Key says.

Mr Key won't be using his impending trip to Australia to pressure Prime Minister Tony Abbott into equal treatment for New Zealanders across the Tasman, saying he knows the Australian government is not likely to move.

Tax-paying Kiwis on special category visas in Australia are denied some key benefits of permanent residency, such as disability care, welfare and social housing.

Australians in New Zealand are eligible for all benefits afforded to Kiwis.

"Of course we'd like to see more New Zealanders treated fairly and equally in Australia but that's ultimately an issue for the Australian government," he told reporters.

"There is a risk that the Australian government says 'OK we'll treat everybody the same', but the cost for that is that New Zealanders don't get the free access across the Tasman."

The New Zealand prime minister will next week announce details of his trip across the Tasman for the annual leaders' meeting.

"The issue here is whether ultimately the cost of forcing a change would be worth it," he said.

"You're not going to force them to change their mind."

Restrictions on benefits for Kiwis in Australia were brought in under a joint agreement between Australia's Liberal government and Helen Clark's Labour government in 2001.

Some had hoped a recently-elected Mr Abbott might soften the stance on benefits for Kiwis, given he's married to one.

As yet there hasn't been any indication that will be the case.

"In our view they should be treated fairly and equally," Mr Key said.

"But Tony Abbott doesn't run our policy-making over here in New Zealand and I don't run theirs over there."

Mr Key said he believed migrating Australians make New Zealand a better country, and in his opinion that is reciprocated.

"In the end, they run their own country. It's up to them to decide if they would be worse off if those New Zealanders came back."

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Mine company says not deterred by protest

A coal company developing a new mine in NSW says protesters won't stop the project going ahead. Source: AAP

A COAL company developing a new mine in northern NSW says protesters blocking access roads are a "nuisance" but will not stop the project going ahead.

More than 120 people on Tuesday morning blockaded entries to Whitehaven Coal's $767 million Maules Creek project, near Boggabri, and attached themselves to bulldozers.

Protesters said just before midday that one of their group had been arrested by police.

"We need to remain here to stop Whitehaven and their contractors getting access to the forest to clear it," spokeswoman Georgina Woods told AAP.

Clearing the forest for a road and railway line to service the open-cut coal mine would destroy valuable forest, animal habitat and Aboriginal sites, she said.

Australian Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon, who is at the protest, said federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt needed to act and withdraw his approval of the Maules Creek mine.

"No environment minister should have approved this level of habitat removal for any project let alone a coal mine with all the other associated problems," Senator Rhiannon said.

Protesters said they had stopped construction work at the mine but it's understood workers for the principal contractor, Leighton Contractors, were on a rostered day off on Tuesday.

A Whitehaven Coal spokesman said the protests had not stopped plant work at the mine despite protesters' claims.

"Protests are a nuisance, mostly for the police, but they will not deter Whitehaven from getting on with building Maules Creek and delivering substantial benefits to the region," he said.

The company spokesman said protesters should respect the fact that the mine was an approved project that had passed the highest environmental approval standards.

Protesters should also honour commitments made under the Brigalow and Nandewar Community Conservation Act which zoned the Laird State Forest for forestry and mining, he said.

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New Zealand shares follow Asia lower

NEW Zealand shares have fallen as Asian markets continued a downturn due to anxiety over global economic recovery.

The NZX 50 Index fell 19.899 points, or 0.4 per cent to 4,853.799 on Monday.

Within the index 22 shares fell, 13 rose and 15 were unchanged. Turnover was $60.3 million, with light trading due to public holidays in Auckland and Australia.

Markets across Asia fell after stocks in the US closed lower last Friday. New Zealand is the first market to open after the weekend and felt the sting of nervous investors during early trading with the NZX 50 falling as much as one per cent before paring the decline.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Index was down 2.1 per cent in afternoon trading, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell about 2.1 per cent and South Korea's KOSPI 200 Index was down 1.5 per cent.

The Australian market was closed because of Australia Day.

"It's not the complete carnage that some people might expect," Andrew Bascand managing director at Harbour Asset Management said.

"The markets have opened down, but there hasn't been the fallout."

Wellington-based accounting software company Xero led the day's decliners, sliding 4.3 per cent to $40.

Fellow tech stocks, which have seen big gains this year, also dropped as investors took the opportunity to take profit.

Security-software company Wynyard Group sank 6.7 per cent to $2.65, and SLI Systems, makers of retail website search engines, fell 3.5 per cent to $2.50.

Retirement village operator Summerset fell 3.1 per cent to $3.42. Auckland-based lines company Vector slid 2.7 per cent to $2.51 and New Zealand's biggest listed company, Fletcher Building, slipped 0.3 per cent to $8.85.

Gold miner OceanaGold was the biggest gainer, rising 1.4 per cent to $2.25. Gold has been a beneficiary of the risk-averse market.

Air New Zealand and Sky Network Television both rose 1.2 per cent, to $1.74 and $5.89 respectively.

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Ex-Marlboro Man dies from smoking disease

ERIC Lawson, who portrayed the rugged Marlboro man in cigarette ads during the late 1970s, has died. He was 72.

Lawson died on January 10 at his home in San Luis Obispo of respiratory failure due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, his wife, Susan Lawson said on Sunday.

Lawson was an actor with bit parts on such TV shows as Baretta and The Streets of San Francisco when he was hired to appear in print Marlboro ads from 1978 to 1981.

His other credits include Charlie's Angels, Dynasty and Baywatch.

His wife said injuries sustained on the set of a Western film ended his career in 1997.

A smoker since age 14, Lawson later appeared in an anti-smoking commercial that parodied the Marlboro man and an Entertainment Tonight segment to discuss the negative effects of smoking.

Susan Lawson said her husband was proud of the interview, even though he was smoking at the time and continued the habit until he was diagnosed with COPD.

"He knew the cigarettes had a hold on him," she said.

"He knew, yet he still couldn't stop."

A few actors and models who pitched Marlboro brand cigarettes have died of smoking-related diseases.

They include David Millar, who died of emphysema in 1987, and David McLean, who died of lung cancer in 1995.

Lawson was also survived by six children, 18 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

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Gunman kills two in US mall shooting

Three people including the presumed gunman have been shot dead at a shopping mall in the US. Source: AAP

A GUNMAN in the US carrying homemade explosives has shot dead two people at a popular shopping mall near Washington before killing himself.

Investigators were grappling for a motive but said that they had "tentatively identified" the gunman, who had "a large amount of ammunition" still on and around him when officers found his body in a store alongside the two victims at the upscale Columbia Mall in Maryland.

"Because of concerns about any other weapons he may have or explosives, we are approaching this with an abundance of caution," Howard County Police Chief Bill McMahon said.

"We're getting assistance from some of our federal partners and making sure there are no explosives on the body of the deceased."

Police later tweeted that a search of the gunman's bag turned up two crude devices "that appeared to be attempt at making explosives. Both disabled."

They did not immediately reveal the identity of the gunman - who they said appeared to have killed himself with a shotgun - and special units continued to comb the mall late into the night.

Emergency workers were alerted to mid-morning gunfire at the mall, a favourite weekend spot for young families about 45 minutes outside downtown Washington, by a police call indicating shots had been fired inside the two-story shopping centre.

Badly shaken shoppers described how they fled in panic or cowered in store doorways. Some made frantic calls to loved ones, as the United States reeled from the latest in a slew of gun-related rampages.

"#HoCoPolice responded to 911 call in less than 2 minutes. Found victims and suspect dead from gunshots upon arrival," the Howard County Police Department tweeted.

Police identified the victims as Brianna Benlolo, 21, of College Park, Maryland, and Tyler Johnson, 25, of Ellicott City, Maryland. Both were employees of skateboard store Zumiez.

Howard County General Hospital said all five injured shooting victims have been treated and released. One had suffered a gunshot wound to a foot.

"The other four were either medical conditions or twisted ankles, things like that as people were moving away from a very, very chaotic and dangerous situation," McMahon said.

The mall of about 200 stores, which has an indoor carousel and play area, is a favoured weekend destination for young and old alike.

Many people living in Columbia, a planned community replete with parks and good schools, work in either Washington or Baltimore.

The most notorious shooting in recent US history took place in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012, when a young gunman entered a primary school and opened fire. In 10 minutes, the 20-year-old shot and killed 26 people before taking his own life.

The Newtown attack briefly reignited the US gun control debate, triggered every time there is a major shooting, although attempts to pass tougher laws have made little headway in the US Congress.

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Indon navy ramp up good: Morrison

INDONESIA'S beefing up of its naval maritime patrols will help stop asylum seekers making the journey to Australia by boat, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison says.

Indonesia stepped up its naval presence monitoring its southern border after Mr Morrison admitted last week Australian vessels strayed into its northern neighbour's territory.

"I would welcome Indonesia having patrols in that part of their waters and I'm sure it's a great deterrence for people trying to get to Australia illegally by boat," Mr Morrison said on Sunday.

"I welcome the fact the Indonesian government has decided to put their own vessels on the southern coast of Java. I think that provides a very strong deterrence to people smugglers."

Mr Morrison did say not in response to a question whether he thought it would be harder to turn back boats because of the beefed-up naval presence.

He said the government will continue to take a hard line on people smuggling.

"People who come to Australia illegally by boat risk their own lives and they risk the lives of those who are called upon to rescue them as well," he said.

"It's dangerous and it's not the way that Australians expect people to come to this country.

"That's why the government has such tough policies to thwart that type of behaviour."

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