Abbott's plea to WA voters

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has pleaded for Western Australian voters to back Liberal candidates. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has made a last-ditch plea to West Australian voters as they head to the polls for a Senate election re-run.

Before jetting out of the country to Asia on Saturday, Mr Abbott recorded a message saying Labor and the Australian Greens in the Senate were standing in the way of his government's plan to repeal the mining tax and carbon tax.

"If you want to get rid of these anti-West Australian taxes ... that means voting Liberal," Mr Abbott said.

He said coalition candidates are "absolutely committed" to scrapping the taxes and the government hoped to get the numbers in the upper house from July to pass the repeal legislation.

"Send a strong message to Canberra, send a strong message to the Labor Party," Mr Abbott said.

"You can't say one thing in Perth and do the opposite in Canberra.

"That's my plea."

The outcome of Saturday's election is important for Australia's future, the prime minister added.

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Boy's parents located

POLICE have tracked down the parents of a young boy who was found wandering alone through suburban southwest Sydney.

Residents of Claymore called police after spotting the boy in the street wearing pyjamas about 7.30am Saturday.

Estimated to be aged two or three years old, the boy was cared for by officers until his parents were located and the search was called off.

The police thanked and updated the public about 2pm.

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ACCC won't block Transurban-led Qld bid

The competition watchdog won't oppose Transurban's bid for government-owned toll roads in Brisbane. Source: AAP

THE competition watchdog will not oppose the proposed purchase of several government-owned Brisbane roads by a consortium led by toll roads owner Transurban.

The consortium has bid for Queensland Motorways Group, which operates a 70 kilometre network of tolled roads in Brisbane including the Go Between Bridge, Clem Jones Tunnel and the Gateway and Logan motorways.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on Friday said it would not oppose the acquisition if Transurban's bid succeeds.

"The ACCC concluded that the acquisition of QM Group's toll road operations in Queensland would be unlikely to substantially lessen competition," chairman Rod Sims said in a statement.

That was largely because Transurban currently has no assets in Queensland.

Transurban owns Melbourne's CityLink, and Sydney's M2, Lane Cove Tunnel and Cross City Tunnel.

It also has interests in other Sydney toll roads.

The proposed acquisition would increase Transurban's electronic tag base nationally, but would not increase Transurban's ability to raise "roaming" fees because interstate travel by motorists was fairly limited, the ACCC said.

Transurban's bid for QM Group was also unlikely to substantially lessen competition for the supply of electronic tolling services to toll road owners and operators, it said.

There remained alternatives to Transurban, including in-house development of an electronic toll collection system and international market participants operating similar systems offshore, the ACCC said.

The consortium led by Transurban also comprises AustralianSuper and Tawreed Investments.

Queensland Motorways Group is being sold by the state-owned Queensland Investment Corp.

Transurban securities were up four cents at $7.30 at 1450 AEDT.

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Labor defends WA senate candidate

A WA Labor senate candidate called members of his own party "mad", the Australian reports. Source: AAP

LABOR has gone on the defensive over a last-minute campaign to undermine the credibility of its lead senate candidate in Western Australia.

Joe Bullock, the secretary of the conservative Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association, was leapfrogged over sitting Labor Senator Louise Pratt for the top spot on the ticket for the WA Senate election re-run this Saturday.

This week has seen media reports of Mr Bullock's 1996 conviction for assault, his record of voting for the Liberal party and a 2013 speech in which he railed against the dangers of Labor following "every weird leftie trend".

Prime Minister Tony Abbott weighed into the debate on Friday, saying there was "division and dysfunction at the heart of the West Australian Labor senate team".

"It's proof from deep within the Labor Party that the Labor Party is simply not up to the job of government," Mr Abbott told reporters in Canberra.

"I'm hoping that the voters of Western Australia are sufficiently engaged to be paying attention to this."

Mr Bullock told reporters in Perth he did not vote Labor in 1975, but since joining the party three years later he had voted Labor.

He said the assault conviction had nothing to do with his union work and he regretted it.

"It was a long while ago. It's not something of which I'm very proud."

Mr Bullock said he was on the public record as opposing gay marriage - an issue strongly supported by Senator Pratt - and would exercise a conscience vote against it if legislation came to parliament again.

"These matters are conscience matters and the Labor party is a very insightful party in according its members the right to vote in accordance with their consciences."

Senator Pratt said the ALP was big enough to cope with philosophical differences.

"Joe and I are members of the Labor party for good reason - we've got a lot more in common than we would ever have that is different because we both want to champion the rights of working West Australians," she said.

Senator Pratt was not concerned for herself if she lost.

"What I don't want to see is Tony Abbott having unfettered control over the Senate."

Senior Labor MPs defended Mr Bullock as someone who had spent his life standing up for working people.

Frontbencher Anthony Albanese said the right-wing union official was a colourful character.

"I know Joe. He is very sincere in the view that he holds," Mr Albanese told ABC radio.

"I know that if he is elected to the Senate tomorrow, as I expect him to be, he will stand up for working people in the national parliament."

West Australians head back to the polls because 1370 votes went missing during a recount at last year's federal election.

Mr Abbott said he expected a "much better performance" from the Australian Electoral Commission this time.

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RBA warns on rise and fall in real estate

RBA governor Glenn Stevens has warned home buyers a boom is usually followed by a fall. Source: AAP

THE head of the Reserve Bank has warned Australians to be careful when borrowing and making investments in housing, as boom times don't last forever.

RBA Governor Glenn Stevens says a rise in house prices, as the market is currently experiencing, is usually followed by a fall.

Speaking to a business lunch in Brisbane, Mr Stevens used the recent experience in south east Queensland's housing market to warn of fluctuations in real estate.

"Part of the story here is that in an earlier environment of fairly easy access to credit, dwelling prices rose too high relative to incomes in some areas," he said.

"There was also perhaps, in some instances, too much construction of the wrong sort of dwelling.

"Even if a full-blown crisis does not eventuate, as was true of Australia, overdoing it on housing on the way up is usually followed by a fairly extended period of working off the problems."

Mr Stevens said the price of a Brisbane dwelling was historically about 60-65 per cent of those in Sydney, but at its peak a few years ago Brisbane prices were up towards 85 per cent of Sydney levels.

They have now fallen back to the 60-65 per cent of Sydney levels.

"The cycle has taken about a decade," Mr Stevens said.

"That the cycle can be so drawn out is a salient lesson, including for those outside Queensland.

After growing at an annual average pace of 12 per cent between 2002 and the peak in late 2009, house prices in Brisbane fell when credit conditions tightened during the global financial crisis, and remain around five per cent below their peak, he said.

"At present there are welcome signs that the Queensland housing sector is now lifting off the bottom. But this has been a long cycle," Mr Stevens said.

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Abuse 'only' in Aust, Salvos' victim told

A MAN brutalised in a boys' home says he was told by the global head of the Salvation Army that abuse only happened in Australia.

Jim Luthy, president of Care Leavers Australia Network (CLAN), told a royal commission hearing he wrote in 2010 to Shaw Clifton, then general of the army based in London, suggesting he issue a worldwide apology to abuse victims.

Mr Luthy did so because the Pope was apologising for abuse by Catholic clergy at the time and he thought the Salvationists should as well.

"I think it was pretty crook when you have got to ask for your own apology", said Mr Luthy.

He said Mr Clifton responded with "abuse only happened in Australia, nowhere else".

Mr Luthy said it too was "an abuse statement" and a bit rich because there were complaints of abuse in New Zealand at the time.

The Salvation Army did make a public apology to Australian abuse victims and in it Mr Clifton thanked Mr Luthy for initiating the request.

Mr Luthy is giving evidence on the second week of a hearing into how the Salvation Army responded to abuse complaints from former residents of their homes.

On Thursday, he said he constantly tried to build bridges with the Salvation Army from the time he first reported the abuse he suffered while a resident at Gill Memorial Home in Goulburn, NSW.

"I constantly thought we had arrived, (built a bridge) but I feel we were lied to and deceived."

He told of broken promises and the army's failure to take disciplinary action against certain officers who were alleged abusers.

Mr Luthy said he took it as a personal affront that the Salvation Army talked about regaining trust in "the brand", because it implied he was an end product.

"I am not a product. I am a person."

He said he was particularly offended when he heard one army officer talk to a woman who had been in care and joke about abuse.

"I am deeply offended and distressed ... some people find it is a bit of a joke."

Mr Luthy concluded by referring to a biblical quote used regularly by the army: "Let justice run down like water and enlightenment like a mighty stream."

"I decided to check it out ... the prophet Amos was talking about a corrupt church, religious group who were unethical in their behaviour and judgment was about to fall on them," he said.

"I think that was a prophetic statement," he said.

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Gunmen on loose in western Sydney

A woman has recounted hearing gunshots before a man cried for help outside her western Sydney home. Source: AAP

A SHAKEN mother heard five gunshots ring out in her southwest Sydney street before a bloodied man stumbled up her driveway.

At least two gunmen are on the run following what police believe was a targeted shooting in Yagoona late on Tuesday night.

Lilian Dalger said she heard a man pleading for help outside her home before he walked up her driveway, clutching his torso.

"His shirt, everything had blood," she told AAP.

"He was in a lot of pain, he couldn't move by himself."

Ms Dalger gave the man a chair to sit on until paramedics arrived.

The 34-year-old man, who is well known to police, was shot in the arm, stomach and leg and is recovering in Liverpool Hospital in a stable condition.

Despite his serious injuries, police say he is not prepared to help them find his attackers.

"He had lost a lot of blood ... what was going to happen to him was unknown but he still didn't want to assist us," Bankstown Police Detective Inspector Glen Fitzgerald said.

"(It's) pretty obvious how frustrating that is."

Insp Fitzgerald believes the victim knows why he was shot or who was involved.

He is understood to have a chequered criminal history.

Insp Fitzgerald said it is too early to determine any gang links.

Bullet casings had been found at the suburban crime scene and it's believed a small pistol was used, police say.

Blood was still visible on the street on Wednesday morning as police scoured the gutters and footpaths for evidence.

Ms Dalger and her husband were left to wash away the trail of blood leading from the road to their back door.

Meanwhile the NSW opposition has used the shooting, the 36th this year in Sydney, to call for the state government to act on anti-gang laws.

Shadow police spokesman Michael Daley said Premier Barry O'Farrell had the toughest gang legislation available to him.

"One year ago, the Attorney-General Greg Smith said 'we are ready to go with this tough legislation'," he told reporters.

"For one year Barry O'Farrell has been sitting on this legislation."

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Asset sales, cuts or tax to fund Qld dams

ASSETS will have to be sold, taxes raised or services reduced if southeast Queenslanders want their homes protected from floods.

Premier Campbell Newman has ruled out borrowing any more money to fund a new suite of flood-mitigation projects announced on Wednesday.

Up to eight new dams could be built and the wall of the Wivenhoe Dam, upstream of Brisbane, could be raised.

He says if Queenslanders want the projects, they have to choose between the three options.

"If Queenslanders give us the green light, the nod, we will make this happen, but there are some big choices to make because we cannot borrow any more money," Mr Newman said.

"We can do these things if Queenslanders give us a clear path, and support one of these options.

"We're having a very open conversation about the fact that Queensland needs billions of dollars' worth of infrastructure."

If Queensland signs up to asset sales by 2016, federal Treasurer Joe Hockey has said it would receive cash payments from the Commonwealth.

"The time frames put up by Mr Hockey would work with the conversation that we're having with Queenslanders," the premier said.

Shadow Treasurer Curtis Pitt said the government has been saying for the past two years that asset sales were to pay down debt.

But their tune has changed, he said - the sales will be used to fund election promises.

"They are going around the state promising a range of different things, akin to political bribery," Mr Pitt said.

"The LNP believes that a magic pudding exists, and for them that's asset sales."

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Obeids 'thought they were running NSW'

Banker Gardner Brook has told ICAC the family of Eddie Obeid "thought they were running the state". Source: AAP

THE family of ex-NSW MP Eddie Obeid "thought they were running the state" and stood to earn a "bucketload" from an allegedly corrupt water deal, an inquiry has heard.

Former Lehman Brothers investment banker Gardner Brook turned star witness in last year's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) probe into the Obeid family's dealings over a coal tenement at Mount Penny, which culminated in a corruption finding against Mr Obeid.

He was back in the ICAC witness box as the watchdog continued its investigation into another company with alleged Obeid links, Australian Water Holdings.

Mr Brook has testified that Mr Obeid's son Moses Obeid came to him in mid-2008 with a business opportunity - a water and sewerage venture that was going to bring in "a bucketload of money".

"(Moses) represented to me that the water deal eclipsed the coal deal," Mr Brook told the inquiry.

"Did he talk about a sum?" counsel assisting Geoffrey Watson SC asked.

"Over $100 million," Mr Brook replied.

Mr Brook told the commission he met with Mr Obeid, his son Moses, and former Labor MP Joe Tripodi in August 2008.

As the businessmen sat down, Moses told him: "This meeting is not happening."

"I felt very uncomfortable about that statement," Mr Brook said on Tuesday.

He added that he didn't understand it at the time - but has since figured it out.

"It's fairly obvious that these people thought they were running the state of NSW," Mr Brook said.

During an afternoon of heated cross-examination, a lawyer representing Moses Obeid suggested Mr Brook was suffering memory loss as a result of an accident in 2010.

But Mr Brook stood by his testimony.

"I am on the ball," he said.

"My recollection is sharp. Razor-sharp."

Mr Brook has also made a statement alleging Moses Obeid told him "he and his family had an ownership in Australian Water (Holdings) and that they had great influence over it".

The inquiry continues.

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Palmer says carbon tax bill has been paid

Clive Palmer says Queensland Nickel's $36 million carbon tax bill has been paid. Source: AAP

CLIVE Palmer has rejected claims that one of his companies, Queensland Nickel, is at risk of being shut down by federal authorities for failing to pay a $36 million carbon tax bill.

A report in The Australian newspaper said government agencies were moving to force the company into insolvency if it could not pay the bill.

But Mr Palmer said Queensland Nickel had already paid the bill to the Clean Energy Regulator, well before the April 5 deadline.

"It was authorised to be paid this week," he told reporters in Perth on Tuesday.

"It was well before the due date."

Mr Palmer said he did not know exactly when the authorisation was made because he had been in Perth since Sunday, but denied the bill was paid last minute.

"Do you pay your tax months in advance?" he said.

"Most people will pay their tax just before it's due and that's what our company's decided to do."

Asked if it was related to the media inquiry that prompted the newspaper article, Mr Palmer said he had not received an inquiry from the media.

He added that Queensland Nickel would continue with its High Court challenge to the legal validity of the carbon pricing scheme.

A spokesperson for the Clean Energy Regulator told AAP on Tuesday the agency had been advised by Queensland Nickel that the company had "made a payment towards the outstanding debt" to the CER.

"However, at this stage we cannot confirm that we have received any payment from Queensland Nickel," the regulator said.

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New home sales at near three year high

NEW home sales are at a near three year high, driven by a boom in detached house sales.

Detached house sales jumped 6.9 per cent in February, according to data from the Housing Industry Association.

That led to an increase in total new home sales of 4.6 per cent, seasonally adjusted - the highest level since May 2011.

Sales of multi-units fell 6.8 per cent.

The construction of detached houses creates more jobs than multi-units.

"Both sales and building approvals for detached housing are signalling faster momentum ahead for this component of new dwelling construction, compared to what was evident in the first phase of the recovery," HIA chief economist Harley Dale said.

"This signal suggests more balanced growth ahead in the composition of new home building and adds a further positive dimension to the recovery for many of Australia's manufacturers and suppliers."

Dr Dale said the housing recovery was spreading across the country, having previously been dominated by NSW and Western Australia.

In the three months to February, detached house sales in South Australia were up by 32.5 per cent and by 19.8 per cent in Queensland.

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SA still on target for surplus in 2015/16

NEWLY returned South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill says his government still expects to return the state budget to surplus in 2015/16 - it's just not a promise.

Mr Weatherill says the government's finances are on track but achieving budget forecasts ultimately depends on the economic conditions at the time.

"Of course it's a forecast and we expect to achieve it," Mr Weatherill told reporters on Monday.

"But we're not going to elevate it to the status of a promise. It depends on the circumstances that we find ourselves in.

"All the advice is that we're tracking well to achieve it. As we get closer to it, it becomes even more likely that we will achieve a surplus in that year."

Mr Weatherill made the commitment to a surplus when he delivered his only state budget as treasurer last year.

After the government was narrowly returned at the March 15 state election, he handed the treasurer's job to Tom Koutsantonis.

Mr Koutsantonis will hand down his first budget on June 19 when the final cost of the Adelaide Oval redevelopment will be revealed.

The premier says the stadium, which was budgeted to cost $535 million, will actually come in under that figure.

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Mormons join Holi colour festival in US

Thousands of Mormon students are taking part in Holi Festival of Colours in the US state of Utah. Source: AAP

TENS of thousands of people have gathered at a Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork for the start of an annual two-day festival of colours in the US state of Utah.

Revellers danced to music, practised yoga and threw coloured corn flour in the air once every hour during the all-day Holi Festival of Colours.

The large majority of participants are not Hindus, but Mormons, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

Thousands of students from nearby Brigham Young University take part in the festival, which is expected to draw 70,000 people.

The event stems from a Hindu tradition celebrating the end of winter and the triumph of good over evil.

"It's an opportunity for young LDS (Mormon) kids to come and celebrate their spirituality without alcohol or drugs," said Caru Das, the temple's priest.

Das said the event feels more like a rock concert than a religious ceremony, particularly with live music.

He appeared frequently on stage, exhorting crowd members to give hugs to strangers and not to think of themselves as ordinary.

"Each and every one of you is lovely and brilliant. No exceptions," he said.

"This festival is to remind you who you are."

The festival gives participants a chance to gain exposure to Hindu chants and beliefs while plastering others with dust of many vibrant colours that costs $US3 ($A3.25) per bag or $US12 for five bags.

The hourly throwing of rainbow-hued corn flour leaves participants drenched in colour.

"It's a place for your inner child to come out," Robynn Kirkham, a Pleasant Grove accountant who runs a construction company, told The Tribune.

Ranjan Khurana and his wife, Anu, came from Boise, Idaho, because friends in the Spanish Fork Hindu congregation raved about how electrifying the event has become.

"It's vibrant, and everybody is just so cheerful," Anu Khurana said. "It's a blessing that so many people are here celebrating the colours."

Student Haylee Buchanan said she has attended the event with friends and likened it to a big party.

"I wish that I could have read information on why and what they are celebrating," she said, "because it was fascinating."

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ALP-union member rules 'crazy': Plibersek

Deputy leader Tanya Plibersek says the Labor Party should not be putting up barriers to members. Source: AAP

DEPUTY Labor leader Tanya Plibersek says the party should in some circumstances open up its membership to those not in a union, saying it would be "crazy" not to welcome them.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten has said he wants to double the ALP's membership from 44,000 to 100,000, and according to News Corporation will soon announce changes to the party's membership rules.

He wants to scrap rules - often ignored by the party's branches - which restrict membership to those who belong in a union.

The largely symbolic reforms would further limit the party's links to a union movement, soon to be subject of a royal commission into governance and corruption.

Ms Plibersek said the ALP needed to recognise that for the likes of the self-employed, retirees and the unemployed there was no natural union in which they could be members.

"If the only barrier to someone joining the Labor Party is that there's not a natural union for them to join, then that's a crazy reason for not welcoming them into the Labor party," she told Sky News on Sunday.

"We're interested in increasing membership, opening up to people."

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