Call to identify unconscious jogger

CANBERRA Hospital is trying to identify an unconscious male jogger.

The man passed out on Carbeen Street in Rivett between 9am and 10am on Saturday.

ACT Health says he's aged in his late 30s to early 40s and is about 175 centimetres tall with a slender build.

He has dark brown hair, a trimmed beard and was wearing a Tuggeranong Soccer Club jumper and blue and silver shorts.

A small black and white terrier dog was with him.

The unknown man is being cared for at Canberra Hospital.

People who might know his identity should ask the man's family to contact the hospital on 6244 3300.

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SA horse racing carnival draws protest

JUMPS racing will never be made safe in South Australia and horses are being killed purely for human entertainment, an animal rights activist says.

Campaigner Elio Celotto is one of about 50 protesters calling for an end to jumps racing at the opening of the Oakbank Easter Racing Carnival this weekend.

The death of Black Moon at the racecourse last Monday has spurred the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses to remind racegoers of the dark side of horse racing.

Mr Celotto said it's appalling how seriously injured fallen horses can be euthanased right there on the track.

"Even if they don't fall we've seen many horses stumble and then never reappear again," Mr Celotto told AAP on Saturday.

"We are hoping to draw attention to the fact that jumps racing can't be made safe and that horses are killed for human entertainment.

"It's akin to bull fighting where the competitors are treated as disposable objects."

Mr Celotto said the number of people attending the Oakbank carnival had dwindled in the last five years as more and more people turned against the sport.

Protester Ward Young says the real gamble is not on reaching the finish line first but whether the horse lives or dies.

"Jumps racing is intrinsically cruel and dangerous - and the racing industry knows this, they just don't care," he said.

"It's time to kill the sport not the horses."

RSPCA chief executive Tim Vasudeva said that since 2009, 15 horses had died as a result of jumps racing in South Australia and that since 2010, five horses had died at Oakbank.

"We are hoping no other horses join Black Moon on Oakbank's death roll this Easter," he said.

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NSW cabinet decided over Easter break

NSW's new premier Mike Baird has pledged to clamp down on lobbyists and donations. Source: AAP

WHILE most of NSW enjoys a break from work, the state's new premier Mike Baird will spend the Easter weekend deciding on a cabinet he says will be based on merit.

After being voted leader of the NSW Liberal Party unopposed on Thursday, Mike Baird spent a busy Good Friday rushing between meetings, church and media engagements.

His new title also gave him a ticket to meet the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge when they visited Manly on Friday afternoon.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Baird, who's still shocked by his predecessor Barry O'Farrell's resignation, said no final decision on the line-up of his new cabinet had been made.

"We're considering that over this weekend," he said at Manly Wharf in his Northern Beaches electorate.

"The team that we take will be a team that's experienced, it will be a team that's visionary and it will be a team that is up for the fight."

The former treasurer, who supports the sale of the state's $30 billion "poles and wires" electricity infrastructure, said decisions to liquidate government assets would be "done with a mandate".

"In terms of our asset recycle program, we are considering potential other options in the lead-up to the election but it will be done with a mandate and it will be done with the full endorsement of cabinet and the party room."

Mr Baird will also decide whether, as premier, he keeps the portfolio of Western Sydney, as Mr O'Farrell did in office.

He supported Mr O'Farrell's decision to stay in his seat and reconsider his position at the next election.

Mr O'Farrell resigned after giving misleading evidence to the corruption watchdog about a gift of a $3000 bottle of wine.

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Road toll claims more lives in WA

THREE fatalities on West Australian roads and the death of a Chinese tourist in Tasmania have taken the Easter holiday road toll to four.

A 17-year-old boy died on Thursday after being thrown from a car which rolled several times on the Gnaraloo-Quobba Road near the WA town of Carnarvon.

Police said the East Carnarvon boy was a passenger in a Nissan Patrol when the driver lost control of the vehicle on Thursday afternoon.

People who had been following the vehicle stopped and performed CPR on the boy until ambulance crews arrived. He was taken to Carnarvon Regional Hospital but was unable to be revived.

The 17-year-old male driver was treated for cuts and bruises.

Hours later, a 20-year-old man was killed when a Ford Falcon ute he was driving hit a tree on the Collie-Williams Road near Collie at about 3pm (WST). His passenger, a 22-year-old man from Bunbury, was knocked unconscious and taken to hospital after a passing motorist pulled him from the burning wreckage.

Also on Thursday evening, a 19-year-old Bruce Rock man died after his car hit a large tree on Narembeen Rd near Bruce Rock east of Perth.

A tourist died in Tasmania on Thursday afternoon after a head-on collision between a Hyundai delivery van and a Volkswagen hatchback on the Bass Highway, west of Port Latta.

Two Chinese nationals in the hatchback, a 30-year-old male driver and his 32-year-old wife, were taken to the North West Regional Hospital, where the woman died. The man has undergone multiple surgeries and is in a serious condition.

A 31-year-old Burnie man who was driving the van suffered minor injuries but has been released.

(EDS: The Easter road toll figures are for the period 0001 April 17 to 2359 April 21)

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Adelaide Zoo welcomes endangered baby

A critically endangered white-cheeked gibbon has become the third born at Adelaide Zoo in 130 years. Source: AAP

ADELAIDE Zoo is celebrating the birth of a critically endangered white-cheeked gibbon.

The baby, whose sex is not yet known, was born on April 13 to proud parents Viet and Remus.

The newcomer is one of only three white-cheeked gibbons born at the zoo in its 130-year history.

A zoo spokeswoman said the infant was very important to the genetic diversity of the Australasian population, as there were only 18 of them in five zoos throughout the region.

The primate species is in serious decline in its natural habitat of Laos, Vietnam and Southern China due to deforestation and poaching for the wildlife trade.

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Mike Baird set to become NSW premier

Mike Baird (pic) looks set to become NSW Premier, with Gladys Berejiklian to stand for deputy. Source: AAP

NSW Treasurer Mike Baird is expected to replace Barry O'Farrell as premier.

The Liberal Party room will meet at 3pm on Thursday when it is expected Mr Baird will be elected unopposed as the state's 44th premier.

After Mr O'Farrell on Wednesday spectacularly announced his resignation from the top job, Mr Baird and Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian emerged as favourites to replace him.

Liberal sources said Ms Berejiklian had the slight edge over her rival in the party room, but in the end, she decided to run for deputy leader on a joint ticket with Mr Baird.

Her decision avoids a messy factional fight between the party's left, who are strongly backing Ms Berejiklian, and the right, who were lining up behind Mr Baird.

Health Minister Jillian Skinner and western Sydney MP Stuart Ayres have publicly thrown their support behind the Baird/Berejiklian ticket.

Community Services Minister Pru Goward pulled out of the running for the deputy position, only hours after saying she would nominate.

At Thursday's meeting, Liberal MPs will formally accept Mr O'Farrell's resignation and confirm the new premier.

If Mr Baird is successful, he will become the state's sixth premier in almost 10 years.

Mr Baird said earlier that maintaining party unity was important.

"It is important that we all come together, clearly unity has been a hallmark of what we have been about in the past few years," he told the Seven Network.

Mr O'Farrell has previously named Ms Berejiklian as the best candidate to succeed him.

But Mr Baird has the backing of right faction MPs, who have been impressed with his aggressive push to privatise the state's assets.

Mr Baird is the son of Bruce Baird, who was a lower house federal MP in John Howard's government, and represents the northern beaches electorate of Manly.

Ms Berejiklian is the daughter of Armenian immigrants and holds the north shore electorate of Willoughby.

After the ballot, a ministerial reshuffle will be on the cards.

But, in line with a coalition agreement, the role of deputy premier will still be held by Nationals MP Andrew Stoner.

Mr O'Farrell resigned after giving misleading evidence to the Independent Commission Against Corruption about a $3000 bottle of wine.

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Aussies worried about foreign firms: Joyce

Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce says Australians are concerned about overseas investments. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIANS are naturally concerned about foreign government-owned firms buying local assets, Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce says.

And the Nationals MP says he will make a case to block any sales that aren't in the national interest.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has flagged easier access for Chinese state-owned enterprises investing in Australia on a recent visit to Shanghai.

He has floated the idea of raising the cap on Chinese investments from $248 million to $1 billion before it came under investment scrutiny.

But there would be limits on agribusiness buyouts of $15 million before it came up for the Foreign Investment Review Board's scrutiny.

However, Mr Joyce said Australians were naturally cautious about foreign government-owned firms buying local assets because they held the interests of their own governments.

It would be arrogant of politicians to disavow people of those concerns.

"I'm always going to stand up for where I believe our national interest needs protection or where there are sensitivities that should be taken on board," he told Sky News on Sunday.

Unsurprisingly, the Nationals MP had reservations about foreign state-owned firms buying prime agricultural farmland.

"That's where I think you have to be guided by a sense of pragmatism," he said.

Mr Joyce said the prime minister's comments were general proposals that would be discussed further in cabinet.

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Retirement age of 70 on radar: Hockey

Generation X Australians should be prepared to work until age 70, Treasurer Joe Hockey says. Source: AAP

GENERATION X Australians should be prepared to work until age 70.

In a strong indication that the nation's workers face an increased retirement age, Treasurer Joe Hockey, 48, admits his contemporaries will likely have to keep working until they reach their eighth decade.

"It may be the case that my generation has to work for an extra three years," Mr Hockey told ABC TV on Sunday.

The previous Labor government raised the retirement age from 65 to 67 from 2023, but the treasurer said other countries, including the United Kingdom, are already eyeing later retirement.

"It will affect my generation. This doesn't happen overnight."

As life expectancy continues to grow so too must time at work to provide financial security in retirement while not draining the country's coffers, Mr Hockey said.

He again called for a sensible discussion about funding the future quality of life for Australians as the government looks at a redesign of systems.

Opposition finance spokesman Tony Burke said blue-collar workers would be hit hardest if they are forced to work for longer.

A shift in the retirement age would be a "very big deal" for pensioners required to do physical labour for longer while sitting on small super savings.

Mr Burke told Sky News on Sunday the Abbott government faced harsh judgment if it raised the pension age, breaching a pre-election promise.

However, asked to provide the opposition's solution to the problem, Mr Burke said it was not for Labor to provide an alternative as it awaited the government's first budget.

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