PM sympathetic to Egypt, supports Greste

PM Tony Abbott has reached out to Egypt in the case of Australian journalist Peter Greste (pic). Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has told the Egyptian president that detained Australian journalist Peter Greste was simply doing his job, while also expressing sympathy for the strife-torn country as it grapples with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Greste, a reporter with the Al Jazeera television network, was arrested in Cairo on December 29 along with two colleagues with the trio accused of spreading false news and supporting the black-listed group.

Mr Abbott on Saturday revealed details of his call to interim Egyptian President Adly Mansour on Thursday night, saying he had conveyed that he had a lot of sympathy with the Egyptian government and that in Australia's view, the Muslim Brotherhood was linked to terrorism.

"Second point I made was at least from this distance, Peter Greste was doing his job," he said.

"He wasn't taking sides.

"He was simply doing his job and it is the job of a free media to report the facts as they find them and that is what he was doing."

Mr Abbott said the president conceded he couldn't interfere in his country's justice process but was confident the matter would be resolved swiftly.

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Ford CEO's pay up 11% to $US23.2 million

FORD chief executive Alan Mulally's compensation rose 11 per cent to $US23.2 million ($A25.12 million) in 2013, as the company reported record profits in North America and Asia.

Mulally earned $US2 million in salary, the same as 2012.

But he earned more in bonuses, at $US5.9 million, and in stock and option awards, which totalled $US14.6 million.

The company's board noted that Mulally helped keep the company's European restructuring on track.

It said Ford exceeded internal profit and cashflow targets, and noted that the Michigan-based company doubled its dividend in 2013. But the board said Ford missed internal targets for market share increases and quality improvement.

Ford earned a record pre-tax profit of $US8.8 billion in North America and a record profit of $415 million in Asia last year.

Ford saw strong demand worldwide for small SUVs such as the Escape, EcoSport and Kuga last year. In the US, sales of the F-Series pick-up truck jumped 18 per cent as the economy continued to improve.

Mulally's compensation included $232,153 for personal use of private planes.

Mulally, 68, announced in January that he would stay at Ford at least through the end of this year, putting to rest rumours that he might leave to become chief executive of Microsoft.

Mulally has made $197.65 million since joining Ford in 2006, according to the AP's calculations. He led a major restructuring at the automaker, cutting costs by closing factories and globalising its product offerings worldwide. Ford has earned $42.4 billion since returning to profitability in 2009.

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Vic gaming venues win concessions

VICTORIAN gaming machine venues have received some concessions in a deal reached between balance-of-power MP Geoff Shaw and the state government.

Treasurer Michael O'Brien says the government has made a deal with Mr Shaw to address concerns raised by poker machine operators in his Frankston electorate over government plans to hike the poker machine tax grab.

The measures agreed with the independent MP cost under $10 million, he said.

They have been put in place to ensure the bill - opposed by Labor - has a secure passage through parliament with Mr Shaw's backing, he said.

Mr O'Brien says the bill fixes a costly problem by the former Labor government that sets tax rates for gaming venues too low.

The concessions won by Mr Shaw include deferring the start date of the gaming machine tax changes by one month to May, saving clubs and hotels about $6 million this financial year.

The government earlier withdrew the bill after Mr Shaw, whose vote the government depends on, indicated he would not support it.

Mr O'Brien says the changes will deliver about $500 million to state coffers over four years.

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WA police narrow search for fisherman

THE discovery of fishing gear has led West Australian police to narrow a search for a missing fisherman to a stretch of rocks where he may have fallen.

Jan Zapatocky, 68, is missing from Gracetown in the state's South West region.

The Bunbury man has not been seen since Friday when he went to Gracetown to go fishing, and was reported missing by his niece on Wednesday.

He has not made any contact with family or friends since then, and police have concerns about his welfare.

Police found his white Holden Commodore abandoned in the car park of Canal Rocks in Yallingup on Wednesday.

Water police divers are on standby.

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Pell worried by US abuse payouts

Cardinal George Pell has given evidence at the royal commission into child sexual abuse in Sydney. Source: AAP

CARDINAL George Pell was worried by sexual abuse case payouts that had bankrupted some US churches and wanted to prevent similar payouts in Australia, an inquiry has heard.

Dr Pell, the former archbishop of Sydney, told the royal commission into child sexual abuse that he had been concerned by verdicts in US courts where large payouts to victims had bankrupted some dioceses.

He denied, however, that he wanted sexual abuse victims to go through the Catholic church's internal system, Towards Healing, rather than the courts, so that the church could control the size of payouts.

Under questioning from Commission chair Justice Peter McClellan, Dr Pell agreed that, since his time as archbishop of Melbourne, he had been concerned about the US payouts to victims.

He did not want a similar situation in Australia because "Australia is not America" where there are "an enormous number of lawyers".

But Dr Pell also did not want the church to be treated differently to any other Australian institution in answering claims of sexual abuse.

"I did not want that to happen just to us," he said.

The commission was shown a 2007 letter to the archdiocese from its lawyers that described a court ruling that the church's trustees could not be sued as a significant and favourable outcome.

The lawyers said the court's ruling "places a significant number of obstacles" that would have to be overcome by claimants pursuing abuse cases through the courts rather than through Towards Healing.

Earlier, Dr Pell said he instructed lawyers to vigorously defend the case against abuse victim John Ellis to make other potential complainants reconsider going to court.

Counsel assisting the commission, Gail Furness SC, asked Dr Pell if he had wanted to make plaintiffs "think twice" about suing the church.

Dr Pell said he wanted them to "think clearly".

"They should consider the advantages in not going to litigation," he said.

He admitted the church didn't deal fairly with Mr Ellis "from a Christian point of view", but in a legal sense it did nothing improper.

Dr Pell said he was consoled by a legal ruling protecting the church's property trustees from being sued.

The commission has heard the archdiocese of Sydney has property and cash worth $1.2 billion.

Mr Ellis sued the church over the abuse he suffered at the hands of a priest between the ages of 13 to 17 in the 1970s, but lost the case in 2007 when a court ruled the trustees weren't liable.

Lawyers disputed in court that the abuse had occurred, cross-examining Mr Ellis over a number of days, despite the church having previously accepted that it had happened.

Dr Pell said he regretted the action.

"I regret that. I was told that it was a legally proper tactic," he said.

The church subsequently pursued Mr Ellis for $550,000 in costs, despite a psychiatrist assessing Mr Ellis as being in a fragile mental state.

The inquiry continues.

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Christian bikies back Qld court challenge

QUEENSLAND'S anti-bikie laws go against the Bible and Christian beliefs about justice, the Brotherhood Christian Motorcycle Club says.

Queensland's outlaw motorcycle gangs have found an unlikely ally in the Brotherhood, which will help bankroll their High Court challenge against the laws.

"We'd hope to raise at least $2000, maybe more," spokesman Greg Pendlebury told AAP on Wednesday.

The club has written to the Queensland parliament asking for the laws to be repealed.

It's also contacting churches, asking them to compare the laws with the Bible's teachings and consider contributing funds.

The club has spoken out against anti-association laws in NSW and other states in the past, but considers the Queensland laws to be the most menacing.

The laws go against Christian principles by changing the nature of crime from "what you do" to "who you talk to", the club says.

Other criticisms include that the laws remove the intent of the justice system to correct behaviour, and the prospect of innocent people being punished because of their associations.

"Punishing the innocent is contrary to the Bible's mandate for government," Mr Pendlebury said.

"The new laws mean that an activity as innocent as a family picnic may be an offence."

Fourteen of the state's bikie gangs, which were declared illegal organisations in October, as well as recreational riders, launched the High Court challenge last week.

They'll argue that more than a dozen sections of the new laws are unconstitutional.

The reforms were introduced after a violent brawl at a Gold Coast restaurant in September 2013, which involved dozens of bikies wearing club colours.

The legislation imposes mandatory jail terms of between 15 and 25 years for anyone found guilty of gang-related crimes, with the punishment to be imposed on top of the usual sentence.

And it is illegal for three or more gang members to knowingly meet in public.

Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie said the laws are firm but fair.

"Everyone has the right to fund a legal challenge but that money could go towards helping victims of crime, disadvantaged Queenslanders and not organised criminal gangs," Mr Bleijie told AAP.

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Labor says it has a mandate in SA

RETURNED South Australian Labor Premier Jay Weatherill has rejected suggestions his government is "illegitimate".

Mr Weatherill will lead Labor into a fourth consecutive term after independent MP Geoff Brock agreed to support the party to form a minority administration.

That provided Labor the 24 votes it needs in the state's House of Assembly after the March 15 election delivered a hung parliament.

The premier said Labor had a mandate to govern because it won more seats than the Liberal opposition.

"We've formed a majority of seats on the floor of the House of Assembly which is the way governments are made and unmade," he told ABC radio on Monday.

"We've secured more seats than the Liberal Party, which is the contest."

However, both state Opposition Leader Steven Marshall and federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne have questioned the legitimacy of Labor continuing in office after the Liberals clearly won the popular vote.

Mr Pyne said the result showed that the state's electorate boundaries were drafted in such a way that Labor could win with just 47 per cent of the two-party vote.

"That needs to be closely looked at," he said.

"Jay Weatherill's government is an illegitimate government."

Mr Marshall said he was disappointed at Mr Brock's decision which he believed was not in the best interests of South Australia.

He said the decision might bring short-term stability but would end up delivering long-term disaster for the state.

"I think this is a death wish for South Australia," he said.

But Mr Brock reaffirmed that he made his decision to prevent South Australia returning to the polls or operating with a caretaker government for the next few months until it was clear who fellow independent Bob Such would support.

Dr Such is in hospital ahead of surgery this week and is expected to be away from parliament for at least the next two months.

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Sinodinos warned about 'company he kept'

A SENIOR NSW bureaucrat warned Arthur Sinodinos about his new business bedfellows after the Liberal senator became chairman of a company with alleged links to the Obeid family.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is probing claims infrastructure company Australian Water Holdings (AWH) charged state-owned Sydney Water for limousine rides and Liberal Party donations.

It has also been alleged the family of corrupt former Labor minister Eddie Obeid had a secret 30 per cent holding in AWH.

Shortly after Senator Sinodinos was made chairman of the company, the ICAC heard on Monday, he met with former Sydney Water managing director Kerry Schott and another public servant.

"We suggested to Mr Sinodinos he might be careful about the company he was keeping," Dr Schott said.

"We thought that they may be dishonest ... There was no reaction to that."

She says she also raised concerns with Mr Sinodinos about ballooning expenses at AWH.

Counsel assisting, Geoffrey Watson, has told the inquiry that Senator Sinodinos, who is due to give evidence to the ICAC next week, was paid $200,000 plus bonuses for "a couple of weeks' work" for serving as an AWH director.

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NSW urged to get flu-ready

PREGNANT women and the elderly are being urged to prepare for winter and get a flu shot following an "unusually high" level of influenza in NSW this summer.

The Director of Health Protection NSW, Dr Jeremy McAnulty, said the northern hemisphere had experienced widespread influenza over the past months, with influenza A(H1N1) pandemic strain, A(H3N2) and influenza B circulating to different extents in different countries.

An unusually high level of influenza had also been seen in NSW over summer, he said.

He and other health professionals are now urging people, especially the elderly and pregnant women, to prepare for winter.

"The Australian flu vaccine has been updated to more closely match the influenza strains likely to circulate in NSW this year.

"So get a shot in preparation for this season," Dr McAnulty said on Sunday.

He said the seasonal flu shot continues to be the best defence for pregnant women and has the added advantage of protecting babies during their first six months when they are too young to have the vaccine.

NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner said the government's Be Winter Wise campaign, launched on Sunday, was focusing on pregnant women, the elderly and people with chronic medical conditions.

"Although we are still experiencing warm weather, people should not be complacent when it comes to the dangers of the flu," she said in a statement.

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One-punch killers to face life in Qld

One-punch killers will face life imprisonment under proposed changes to Queensland laws. Source: AAP

ONE-PUNCH killers would face life imprisonment under proposed changes to Queensland laws.

The Newman government's draft plan to tackle alcohol-related and drug-related violence, released on Sunday, would create an offence - unlawful striking causing death - to deal with one-punch killers.

If convicted, defendants would be required to serve at least 80 per cent of their life sentence behind bars before being eligible for parole.

"We have all seen the devastating and often tragic effects of coward punches not just in our state but across the nation," Premier Campbell Newman said in a statement.

"The Queensland government is determined to counter this dangerous trend and make Queensland the safest place in Australia for people to go out and enjoy themselves."

Under the plan, the maximum penalty for aggravated serious assaults on ambulance officers would rise from seven to 14 years' imprisonment.

Drunkenness would no longer be a viable excuse to mitigate an offender's sentence and courts would have the power to ban people from licensed premises for life.

ID would be installed in all licensed venues trading after midnight to keep out problem patrons and banned people.

The government would also set up 15 "safe night precincts" across the state where there would be late-night lockouts and more police on the beat.

Police would be given the power to detain people for their own safety if they were unduly intoxicated and at risk of serious harm, or behaving in a potentially violent or antisocial manner.

The government would also introduce a compulsory drinking awareness plan for all students between years 7-12 as part of the school curriculum.

The public has been asked to comment on the draft policy before April 21.

The opposition called on the Newman government to introduce a blanket 1am lockout across the state.

"If you don't tackle trading hours you don't tackle alcohol-fuelled violence. It's that simple," Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk said in a statement.

"Unfortunately we have a premier too scared to act and showing no leadership."

Opposition police spokesman Bill Byrne questioned whether the government had failed to introduce a lockout because it was beholden to vested interests.

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