Labor claims first home buyers locked out

The NSW opposition says investors are receiving more help to buy property than new home buyers. Source: AAP

INVESTORS are receiving NSW government help to buy property at nearly twice the rate that new home buyers are, the state's opposition says.

NSW Labor says statistics from the Office of State Revenue show that in the last year 9802 New Home Scheme grants have been paid to property investors and existing home owners buying a new home or block of land.

But only 5375 first home buyer grants have been paid out to first-timers buying a new home or block of land over the same period, Labor says.

These property debutants are eligible for a $15,000 grant when they purchase a new home, home off the plan or land that they intend to build on.

The New Home Grant scheme is open to people who already own property to do the same, but is worth $5000.

Opposition Leader John Robertson said on Saturday that offering grants to existing homeowners to buy more property was making it harder for first home buyers to gain a foothold.

"It is one thing to help first home buyers get that important first step into the housing market, but something entirely different to be doling out taxpayer-funded cash grants to property investors buying up multiple properties across the city," he said in a statement.

"All the O'Farrell government is doing is locking more and more first home buyers out of the housing market and putting the great Australian dream of owning your own home out of reach for many."

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President Obama meets Malala

US President Barack Obama (R) has met in Washington with Pakistani advocate Malala Yousafzai. Source: AAP

US President Barack Obama has met with 16-year-old Malala Yousafzai, an advocate for girls' education and the target of a Taliban assassination attempt who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Obama met with Malala on Friday, the same day the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The Pakistani teen had been considered a front-runner for the prize and was in Washington to speak at two events.

The teen said in a statement after the meeting that she was honoured to meet with the president, who is a Nobel Peace Prize recipient.

"I thanked President Obama for the United States' work in supporting education in Pakistan and Afghanistan and for Syrian refugees. I also expressed my concerns that drone attacks are fueling terrorism. Innocent victims are killed in these acts, and they lead to resentment among the Pakistani people. If we refocus efforts on education it will make a big impact," she said.

She called for greater cooperation between the governments of the United States and Pakistan.

The White House said in a statement that Malala met with the president and first lady in the Oval Office where the president signed a proclamation to mark Friday as the International Day of the Girl.

The proclamation says in part that "on every continent, there are girls who will go on to change the world in ways we can only imagine, if only we allow them the freedom to dream."

Malala was shot in the head in October 2012 while she was going home from school. She was flown to a hospital in Britain, where she now lives. Her memoir "I am Malala" was published on Tuesday.

On Friday she spoke at a World Bank event and was scheduled to speak at a book event at the Sidwell Friends School, which Obama's daughters attend.

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Gun seized after Vic woman shot dead

POLICE have seized a firearm and are questioning a 34-year-old man after a young woman died of a gunshot wound at a Melbourne house.

In a bizarre twist, the bodies of two women were found in a house in the same street soon after the shooting, but their deaths are not being treated as suspicious.

Paramedics were called to a house in Meadowbank Drive in Sunshine North about 9am (AEDT) on Friday to treat a woman for upper body wounds, but were unable to enter until police declared the scene safe.

By the time they reached her in a rear bedroom of the home, the woman had died.

Detective Senior Sergeant Stephen McIntyre said the Sunshine North man, who is known to police, is believed to have known the woman but was unable to say how.

"The exact extent of their relationship is yet to be determined," Det Sen Sgt McIntyre said.

He said the man was assisting police and no charges had been laid.

However, police are in possession of a firearm.

Police have not revealed how many shots had been fired or how many wounds the woman, who is yet to be identified, sustained.

Det Sen Sgt McIntyre said he was unsure how long paramedics had to wait before they were able to enter the house.

"The scene had to be made safe prior to their entry," Det Sen Sgt McIntyre said.

"Given the fact that there was a firearm involved in this incident they obviously had to wait for police to attend."

The homicide squad is investigating.

Not long after the shooting, the bodies of an elderly woman and a middle-aged woman were found inside another house in the same street.

Police said their deaths were unrelated to the shooting.

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FTAs threaten cigarette packaging: Greens

TOBACCO companies will have the green light to sue Australia over plain packaging if the government fast-tracks free trade agreements, Greens leader Christine Milne says.

Senator Milne has warned Prime Minister Tony Abbott not to rush into the mooted Trans-Pacific Partnership with 12 regional countries.

Mr Abbott also wants to overcome years of stalemate to secure an Australia-China free trade agreement within 12 months.

But Tasmanian Senator Milne says Australia should not accept a weakened dispute resolution process she believes would lead to tobacco companies seeking to recoup lost profits.

The Greens leader said food multinationals like Monsanto could also challenge Tasmania's genetically modified crop free status.

"Tony Abbott is considering allowing cigarette companies to sue the Australian government because we have plain packaging legislation," Senator Milne told reporters in Hobart.

"It would mean that Monsanto could sue the Australian government because Tasmania is GMO-free."

Senator Milne said rushed agreements could mean greater foreign ownership of agricultural land and water.

"Everybody knows the Chinese say absolutely they won't tolerate any kind of strengthening of our foreign investment laws," she said.

"So what's it to be - Monsanto, cigarette companies, selling out the farm in Australia simply to fast-track these free-trade agreements or are we going to get what we would regard as fair trade?"

Senator Milne said environmental care costs and labour standards should be built into any FTA.

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WA's top cop rejects raising drinking age

NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch has backed a call by Australian of the Year Ita Buttrose for an increase in the drinking age.

Ms Buttrose said this week that a trial rise of the drinking age to 21 was worth exploring as she was alarmed by the number of children who end up in hospital because of alcohol abuse.

Mr Murdoch says the idea is "useful" and can "add an edge to the debate about the appropriate use of alcohol".

"No commentary in that regard is wasted," he told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.

"It's valuable and almost certainly it is a conversation we need to have as a community, as a society, to get to the bottom of this problem because what we are doing currently is making a difference but it is very much incremental progression.

"We need some really robust conversation to get some transformational change."

Mr Murdoch was launching the sixth annual NSW Police operation to deal with drunks who ruin summer festivities in central Sydney.

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Collision system failed on Qantas plane

QANTAS says two jets that had a near miss over Adelaide were never on a crash course, despite coming within 3km of each other and a collision avoidance system on one of the planes not working.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) began an investigation into the September 20 incident after a "loss of separation" between Airbus A330 VH-EBO (EBO), travelling from Sydney to Perth and Airbus A330 VH-EBS (EBS), travelling from Perth to Sydney.

EBS was cruising at 39,000 feet when the EBO pilot was cleared to climb to 40,000 feet, but the controller soon cancelled the clearance and the aircraft descended back to 38,000 feet.

The EBS crew received an alert from their traffic collision avoidance system but EBO's flight crew did not receive any indication on their system about EBS, the ATSB said.

Data from the two aircraft showed the minimum vertical separation was 650 feet when they were 8km apart laterally.

The minimum lateral separation was 3km when the aircraft were 870 feet apart vertically.

A Qantas spokesman said the traffic collision avoidance system failure mid-flight was not a contributing factor in the near miss because planes could function for a short time without it, due to other safety measures built into aviation systems.

"The aircraft were on diverging one-way routes and were never going to cross paths," he said.

Qantas also said the aircraft was compliant with Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) regulations and it continued to provide accurate positional information to air traffic control and the other aircraft.

The faulty system has also been replaced.

ATSB's interim report noted that although all air transport aircraft were required to have a traffic collision avoidance system, it rarely failed.

In such situations, a flight crew is usually provided with a fault message, and the flight crew must advise the controller.

The ATSB investigation is continuing and will include examining radar and audio data, analysing the controller's actions, examining the traffic collision avoidance system computer and related components from EBO, and a review of the reliability and availability rates of traffic collision avoidance systems.

The ATSB expects to complete its investigation by September 2014.

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Trade above US gridlock: expert

AN international trade expert does not believe the political upheaval in the United States will have an impact on the country's trade policy despite the obvious major differences between its two major parties in other areas.

US President Barack Obama was forced to withdraw from the APEC summit in Bali this week because of the political gridlock at home that has partially shutdown its government and risks defaulting in nine days time if an agreement to lift the debt ceiling is not reached.

The president is a strong advocate of a 12-nation regional trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that was due to be completed this year, and an agreement that would include Australia.

Ed Gresser, executive director of Progressive Economy, - a trade and globalisation network - says there is a bitter gap between his country's political parties.

But the visiting trade scholar says that since 2005 both parties have been moving more and more to a free-trade or pro-trade agreement view of the world.

"Somehow or other trade has remained insulated from this more general polarisation of politics and difficulty in policy making," Mr Gresser told AAP on Wednesday.

"I don't see why that would change."

He expects the political standoff will go to the wire because at the moment the Republicans don't have anywhere to go "except backwards".

So while its impact will be felt for another week or so, he doesn't feel it will make trade policy any harder, "but you can't 100 per cent rule it out".

"It's a question of wait and see, optimistically."

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ACT offers $5000 rewards for illegal guns

THE ACT government is offering up to $5000 for information about illegal guns following a series of shootings in Canberra.

The crackdown, aimed at criminal gangs, follows shootings in Canberra's north in August, including a drive-by attack in which shots were fired at a tattoo parlour.

ACT chief police officer Rudi Lammers said significant police activity had been directed at motorcycle gangs throughout Australia in recent weeks.

"We want to make sure the ACT is not a safe haven for criminals who choose to use illicit firearms," he told reporters.

Assistant Commissioner Lammers said this was not an amnesty directed at people who had unregistered guns.

"This is specifically targeted at criminal activity, at criminals who hold and use illicit firearms," he said.

He said those giving information would be assured of anonymity.

ACT police minister Simon Corbell said the ACT was a safe city and there had been a 34.3 per cent fall in gun crime incidents over the last five years.

"These are good figures for our city but there is no room for complacency," he told reporters.

"This is a very important step for us to be taking to assist police in keeping the level of gun-related crime at low levels."

People with information about illegal guns can call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or through the website www.crimestoppers.com.au. The reward program will run up to next January.

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Early intervention key to saving Aust kids

NICOLE Anderson's memories of her childhood are patchy and marred by the trauma of her mother's struggle with paranoid schizophrenia.

It was only when she received treatment for postpartum depression that the now 46-year-old remembered being taken from her mother when she was four years old.

A new report by the Benevolent Society has found such childhood trauma can have lifelong consequences, for the person involved and for the entire community.

Early intervention can help turn around lives like Ms Anderson's and prevent an entrenched cycle of adversity, but the report says more needs to be done to support disadvantaged kids.

It found one in seven children have emotional or behavioural problems, yet fewer than half of those in need of mental health treatment get it.

One in six live below the poverty line and one in five are vulnerable to falling behind when they start school.

Early intervention is critical, Benevolent Society chief executive Anne Hollonds said.

"This is not just about kids, this is about all of us."

With the help of a counsellor Mrs Anderson was able to climb out of the "black hole" of depression.

She says getting treatment hasn't just helped her get on with her life - it's helped her break the cycle of illness for her own two young daughters, Sienna and Meika.

"It's made me a better mum," she told AAP.

"If I do get sad or angry, anxious, I can explain what I was never explained ... as a child."

"Mummies do get sad."

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Vic protesters vow to block East West Link

PROTESTERS have vowed to follow drill rigs from site to site in a bid to stop the completion of preliminary work for Melbourne's $8 billion East West Link tunnel and tollway.

The ongoing demonstrations, which halted drilling tests for several days during September, became heated on Monday as protesters clashed with police.

Police and construction workers arrived at the site by 5am (AEDT) on Tuesday, thwarting the 100-strong group's attempt at staging another blockade.

But Anthony Main, an activist who is leading the protests, says the group is determined to stop the testing and prevent the contracts from being signed before the state election next November.

"We're vowing to continue to stop all aspects of this drilling," Mr Main told AAP.

"We're going to be chasing these drill rigs."

He said the coalition of anti-East West Link groups included local residents who were monitoring the sites.

More than 800 people have signed petitions pledging to protest the tunnel, he said.

"There is a growing number of people who are prepared to put their bodies on the line," he said.

The group wants the state government to scrap the East West Link project and invest the money in public transport.

Mr Main says the government doesn't have a mandate to build the tollway, which would link the Eastern Freeway and CityLink.

"We see no reason why we should allow them to carry through with the project," he said.

Last week the Victorian government revealed a shortlist of building consortia which had submitted bids to build the tollway.

Treasurer Michael O'Brien at the time said the calibre of bidders would support the project moving to the construction phase next year.

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Teen leads police on east Sydney chase

A TEENAGER had three young passengers on board when he allegedly led police on a chase through Sydney's east.

Police say officers patrolling Bellevue Hill in the early hours of Monday tried to stop a Subaru Impreza for a random breath test.

It's alleged the driver ignored police directions to stop and sped off.

A few minutes later, police spotted the car at Point Piper and initiated a pursuit that ended with a 19-year-old male driver arrested at a no-through road at Watsons Bay.

Police allege that the P-plate driver had three passengers under the age of 21 on board, and that the car's registration plates were stolen.

The teen has been charged with the pursuit, goods in custody and conveying more than one passenger under 21 after 11pm.

He was granted bail and is due to appear before Waverley Local Court on November 5.

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Qld nurse in dash to survive viper bite

A BRISBANE nurse survived a week with life-threatening poison running through her veins after being bitten by a snake in Nepal.

Delmae Ryan stepped on an Asian Pit Viper in Pokhara on September 28 but found Nepal's hospitals did not stock the anti-venom and had to wait three days before being medically cleared to take the 20-hour flight home to Brisbane with a painful and swollen right leg.

Without the anti-venom, she risked bleeding to death from the snake's haemotoxic venom which destroys blood cells and tissue.

Once doctors in Brisbane identified the snake, they began a marathon effort to find the antidote, calling zoos, universities, research labs and anti-venom manufacturers across the country.

The anti-venom was eventually located at Melbourne's Monash University and administered to Mrs Ryan on Sunday, a week after she was bitten.

"I feel very, very lucky. If there's not someone passionate enough to fight for your cause I don't know where I would be," she told reporters from her hospital bed on Monday.

Mrs Ryan, 49, said she feared the worst.

"Before I flew out, I thought the flight may be bad for it," she said.

"It was very scary. I did fear for my life.

"However, I did get a bit complacent when I arrived home.

"I could see the redness on the leg was less. In my mind it was improving."

But tests showed her blood was thinning and she was at serious risk of bleeding to death.

Her blood's ability to clot was "completely off the scale", Princess Alexandra Hospital's emergency physician Dr Colin Page said.

"This is measured in seconds; 10 or 20 seconds (is normal) but her (blood's ability to clot) was greater than 200 seconds."

Ms Ryan said she was throwing herself around trying to move on one leg during the flight and the days before she was admitted into hospital.

All it would have taken is one fall and she could have bled to death, Dr Page said.

"At any one of those times she may have fallen over, hit her head, and potentially suffer a life-threatening haemorrhage in the brain," Dr Page said.

Even one light cut could have led to extensive blood loss.

She is now on the mend and is expected to be back on her feet within a fortnight.

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Small plane crashes in Bundaberg

A 60-YEAR-OLD pilot has been seriously injured after his plane crashed into bush in southern Queensland.

Emergency services found him trapped inside the wreckage of the ultra-light plane off Moore Park Road, Bundaberg on Sunday morning.

It took them nearly an hour to free the man, who was the only occupant.

He was taken to the Bundaberg Hospital unconscious and with injuries described as serious.

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UK warship opens to public in Sydney

SHE is the envy of sailors around the world.

Her modern exterior and state-of-the-art technologies have turned heads ever since she entered Sydney Harbour for the International Fleet Review.

Now the public has the chance to enter the belly of the Royal Navy's HMS Daring.

The $1.6 billion defence destroyer is one of the United Kingdom's most advanced warships having been commissioned only in 2009.

About 230 personnel are halfway through a nine-month deployment and are currently anchored at Barangaroo, much to the delight of 50,000 people who have bought tickets to tour the vessel on Sunday and Monday.

The tour has proven to be extremely popular as all the tickets have sold out.

The ship's commanding officer Commander Angus Essenhigh said the Type 45 destroyer's job was to sit close to high value ships and provide blanket security.

"So defending them from planes and missiles and the like," he said.

"It's a $1.6 billion ship so its quite expensive and not something you want to crash.

"I think the other navies look to it and say well that's the next step."

Twenty-seven-year-old fighter controller Lieutenant Duncan Stradling has the heavy task of driving the 8000-tonne ship.

He and five other controllers and captains rotate on four hour shifts, 24 hours a day.

Laughing off a suggestion the task is akin to driving a bus through honey, Lt Stradling said HMS Daring was actually quite nimble.

"Warships are designed to be less stable than commercial ships which is why essentially you might get a bit more sea sick but that means they do manoeuver very quickly," he said.

Inside the ship's maze of manholes and control rooms lies a vital organ - the kitchen.

Loaded up with 960 shopping trolley's worth of food, the kitchen can satisfy the contingent of hungry sailors for 45 days.

And it's not all canned soup and baked beans.

"Last night we had steak and sweet corn and potatoes so its just as you would expect," Cmdr Essenhigh said.

"We also have pet favourites the ship company like to eat so on Friday it's fish and chips, Wednesday we have curry night, so its a pretty diverse menu.

"Although as you get further away from land things like fresh milk run out a little bit.

"But it's nice to get back on the harbour and get some fresh and crunchy vegetables."

Working away in the ship's control room on Sunday was 22-year-old communication information and systems specialist Kirsty Truesdale.

Ms Truesdale rallied off a seemingly endless list of countries she had seen through her five year stint with the Navy.

But one place stood out for her.

"I would say Sydney (was the highlight). I have to say that haven't I?"

HMS Daring will head to Adelaide and Perth after Sydney.

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