Qld man charged over fire truck joyride

A MAN has been charged after a fire truck was stolen and used on a joyride south of Brisbane.

Police say the 25-year-old man, from Wynnum West, stole the specialist vehicle from Beenleigh Fire and Rescue Station about 9.20am (AEST) on Saturday.

Officers were able to use the truck's GPS to track it to Tamborine Mountain Road, more than 20km away, and put the 30-minute joyride to an end by deploying tyre-deflating stingers.

The man has been charged with unlawful use of a motor vehicle and unlicensed driving.

He's due to appear in Beenleigh Magistrates Court on May 19.

No-one was injured and only the truck's tyres were damaged due to the stinger deployment.

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Police probe Vic woman truck jump

ANYONE who saw a woman jump from a moving truck on a Melbourne freeway, causing her serious injuries, is being urged to contact police.

The 30-year-old woman jumped out of the moving white 2002 Mitsubishi single cab tray truck on the Eastern Freeway in Kew on April 12, police say.

They believe she was travelling with a 35-year-old man about noon toward the city, when she jumped from the vehicle about 500 metres before the Chandler Road exit.

She was taken to the Royal Melbourne hospital for serious injuries.

Anyone who saw the truck, with JT Fencing signage, driving in the area prior to the incident should contact Crime Stoppers.

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Tinkler relaxed in ICAC witness box

NATHAN Tinkler has told the NSW corruption watchdog he donated thousands to the Nationals because of his devotion to the party even though he thought they were a "bunch of p****s".

But counsel assisting the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), Geoffrey Watson SC, says the former coal mogul considered his donations the price that had to be paid to win political support for a lucrative coal loader on the Newcastle foreshore.

The ICAC has obtained an email sent by Mr Tinkler after his business lieutenant Troy Palmer sent him a newspaper article suggesting the coal loader proposal had picked up traction.

In his note, sent shortly after the 2011 state election, Mr Tinkler wrote: "this is just to pacify me because I donated to the nats and they are doing f*** all about it ... we had a bunch of deadbeats before and now we have a bunch of p****s scared to make a decision".

Mr Tinkler agreed this was a reference to the coalition government replacing Labor but said all he wanted from the government was a fair hearing.

"Do you often donate money to a bunch of p****s?" Mr Watson asked on Friday.

"I've given more to worse people, yeah," Mr Tinkler laughed from the witness box.

It's alleged the embattled businessman offered a bribe to the ALP's ousted member for Newcastle, Jodi McKay - and when she turned him down, he helped ex-MP Joe Tripodi run a secret campaign against her.

Her replacement in parliament, Tim Owen, told reporters last week he was quitting politics after learning prohibited donors were "highly likely" to have contributed to his election campaign.

An emotional Ms McKay has previously told the inquiry she always suspected Mr Tinkler had been part of a plot to unseat her.

But Mr Tinkler has accused her of crocodile tears, telling the ICAC on Friday he had only broached the coal loader proposal with Ms McKay in a single two-minute conversation.

"I never took this to her, I never asked for her support," he said.

He has also denied arranging for two employees and their partners to make $5000 donations to the Nationals to sidestep electoral donation cap laws.

"That's ridiculous," Mr Tinkler said.

Despite a handful of tense exchanges with counsel assisting, Mr Tinkler appeared relaxed in the witness box, smiling and even earning laughs from the lawyers in the hearing room.

"I'm starting to see why this has been going for three weeks," he quipped at one point, after Mr Watson apparently rephrased a question one too many times.

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Cabin crew 'attacker' refused bail

AN Adelaide man has been refused bail after allegedly attacking a cabin crew attendant on a flight to Sydney.

Andrew Nankivell, 30, is accused of launching the drunken assault during a flight from the Gold Coast on Thursday night.

The incident caused the pilot to send an emergency radio transmission and police arrested Nankivell at Sydney domestic terminal after the aircraft landed as scheduled.

The butcher and father of one from Findon, in Adelaide's west, appeared at Sydney's Central Local Court on Friday afternoon charged with assaulting the cabin crew staffer, endangering aircraft safety and offensive behaviour on an aircraft.

The offences, if proved, carry a combined jail term of more than 20 years.

Federal police allege Nankivell became intoxicated and abusive before attacking the flight attendant.

Magistrate John Bailey heard that he has a number previous convictions for alcohol and violence-related offences.

He refused a bail application that would have allowed Nankivell to travel back to Adelaide, where he has joint custody of his six-year-old daughter.

"The accused has been charged with some serious offences," Mr Bailey told the court.

"Acting like that within an aircraft puts other people at some risk and it's a matter of some great concern.

"I've no doubt this came about because of the intoxication of the accused.

"If we look at his record interstate there are matters of violence on his record, there are also matters in relation to alcohol."

The case was adjourned until June 25.

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Rudd accepts batt deaths responsibility

KEVIN Rudd has accepted "ultimate responsibility" for the "deep tragedy" caused by his home insulation scheme.

Queenslanders Matthew Fuller, Rueben Barnes, Mitchell Sweeney, and Marcus Wilson from NSW, lost their lives working under the then-Labor government's $2.8 billion scheme.

The former prime minister has told a royal commission into the program he had to accept the "good and bad" outcomes of his government's policies in 2009 and 2010.

"For those reasons, as I've said repeatedly before, I have accepted ultimate responsibility for what was not just bad, but in this case a deep tragedy, as it affected the lives of the families concerned," he told the commission on Thursday.

During his evidence, Mr Rudd said public servants should have requested more time to address safety concerns.

But none of them can be held personally responsible.

"I cannot point to any of the public servants involved or any of the ministerial or parliamentary colleagues involved and say 'this person is ... a negligent person'," he said.

"The public servants that I have known in this process are of the finest quality."

Mr Rudd said several oversight mechanisms, including appointing Mike Mrdak as coordinator general and senator Mark Arbib as parliamentary secretary, were put in place but it was clear some didn't work.

He said the relatives of the four men who died deserved to know what processes failed them.

"They have bore the brunt of this in terms of what's happened to them and their loved ones," he said.

"Therefore, it's important to understand which of these levels of implementation and oversight failed to deliver or which number of them."

Former environment minister Peter Garrett has already told the royal commission he bore ultimate responsibility as the minister in charge of the stimulus measure.

Lawyers representing the families of the four young men have begun cross-examining Mr Rudd.

Earlier, the father of a dead insulation installer, Malcolm Sweeney, told the inquiry no family should have to endure what his did, when his son Mitchell was electrocuted laying sheeting in February 2010, at a home in far north Queensland.

The home insulation program was cancelled after Mr Sweeney became the fourth fatality.

The inquiry continues.

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Abbott, Hockey stand by budget

Prime Minister Tony Abbott is confident he can get controversial budget measures through parliament. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott is confident his first budget can survive a two-pronged attack from state premiers and the Senate.

State and territory leaders have organised a meeting for this Sunday to discuss concerns over the federal budget's $80 billion cut to school and hospitals funding.

Labor and the Greens are poised to block many of the budget measures, with the government left to horse-trade with new Senate cross benchers after July 1 to pass a new Medicare co-payment and pension and welfare changes.

Mr Abbott does not believe the Senate will frustrate the budget, but he is open to negotiations.

"I'm not going to be absolutely unreasonable," he told Sky News on Thursday.

However, the prime minister put the responsibility in Labor's hands, arguing the previous government created the budget mess and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten needed to offer his own solutions if he did not accept those of the coalition.

Mr Abbott said Labor previously had supported co-payments for health services while pensioners would have more money in their pockets after the carbon tax was abolished.

Offering an olive branch to the states, Mr Abbott said he had indicated to the premiers the government would fund schools and hospitals based on rises in line with inflation "plus population factor".

Treasurer Joe Hockey says the states will still receive $400 billion in the six years from 2017 for schools and hospitals, once the agreements signed with the previous Labor government expired.

"It is not cost-shifting because we don't run the schools or hospitals," he told ABC TV.

Asked whether he was prepared to horse-trade with senators, Mr Hockey said any changes to the budget would mean debt and deficit would be reduced at a slower rate and medical research would not receive extra funding.

Mr Shorten, who will deliver his budget-in-reply speech on Thursday night, said the budget cuts would rip $5000 a year out of the average family budget.

"I've got some advice for Tony Abbott ... why don't you horse-trade away your paid parental leave scheme ... and perhaps leave the pensioners alone."

Labor has yet to decide whether to support a temporary income tax rise for people earning more than $180,000 a year, but it will oppose the Medicare co-payment, pension changes and the fuel tax lift.

Mr Hockey said the $7 Medicare co-payment was only about the cost of two "middies" of beer and much less than the $22 cost of a packet of cigarettes.

Mr Shorten said the treasurer's comments showed he was out of touch with ordinary Australians.

The Greens will support the fuel tax rise.

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Axed minister now free to criticise:Newman

THE Queensland premier says his sacked assistant health minister will now be free to criticise government policy - from the backbench.

Campbell Newman sacked Dr Chris Davis just before the federal Budget was handed down on Tuesday night.

He said Dr Davis had breached the convention of cabinet solidarity after he publicly aired concerns about the government's changes to the state's crime and corruption watchdog and new work contracts for doctors.

Mr Newman has told reporters Dr Davis is a man of integrity and he hopes he remains in the Liberal National Party and is re-endorsed to stand again for the party in Stafford.

He said Dr Davis would now be free of the rules that govern cabinet ministers.

"He's not bound by that rule anymore," Mr Newman told reporters on Wednesday.

"And I think he'll be liberated by that, and that's a good thing."

He said he was yet to determine who would take over as assistant health minister.

Earlier, Treasurer Tim Nicholls and Transport Minister Scott Emerson said the premier did the right thing in sending a message about what was expected of ministers and assistant ministers.

"In those circumstances where the premier did clearly ask him whether he understood he'd stepped outside those boundaries ... it really left the premier with no alternative but to terminate his appointment as assistant minister," Mr Nicholls told the ABC.

He said Dr Davis had admitted he'd breached the convention, and had apologised for doing so.

Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk said the timing of the announcement was clearly designed to limit political damage.

"It shows how weak the premier is, and it also shows this premier will not tolerate anyone's views other than his own," she said.

Independent MP Peter Wellington said the premier clearly couldn't stand anyone expressing an independent opinion.

"I think he's using Dr Davis to send a message to all his backbenchers - and some of them certainly are nervous and a bit anxious at the moment - don't dare speak out, or look out," Mr Wellington told the ABC.

Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk believes the sacking will be followed by a wider cabinet reshuffle ahead of next year's state election.

"Unfortunately Chris Davis has felt the brunt of Campbell Newman when Campbell Newman has stood by other ministers in the past, it doesn't add up, it doesn't stack up," she told reporters.

"It begs the question,'why now?'

"Obviously a reshuffle is on the cards."

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Fresh violence in Ukraine ahead of talks

SEPARATIST rebels have killed seven Ukrainian soldiers in a bloody ambush in the restive east, rattling efforts by Europe to step up a diplomatic push to resolve the escalating crisis on its doorstep.

The violence flared as German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was in Ukraine to push Kiev and pro-Moscow rebels to come together at the negotiating table after the East-West security body OSCE drew up a roadmap aimed at easing tensions.

But the battle lines remained drawn, with fears Ukraine could be threatened with collapse following weekend independence referendums in the eastern industrial provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk that have been rejected by Kiev and the West.

"In the next few days or weeks, the fate of the Ukrainian state will be decided," Prime Minister Donald Tusk of neighbouring Poland told reporters in Warsaw, adding that the EU must "concentrate on the kind of help that will allow Ukraine to hold elections on May 25th".

Russia, despite expressing support for the "extremely important" roadmap, said Kiev must halt its military operation in the east if rebels are to comply with the peace initiative.

And it accused Ukraine's pro-West authorities of refusing "real dialogue" with the separatists.

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said the initiative focuses on "restraint from violence, disarmament, national dialogue, and elections".

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for round-table talks in crisis-hit Ukraine to be as "representative" as possible, but warned there was no place for those who use violence.

Kiev is hosting a meeting on Wednesday involving the government, parliament and regional leaders - but notably not any separatist representatives.

On the ground, the Ukrainian military suffered one of its bloodiest single days since the separatist insurrection in the east erupted.

Kiev said seven soldiers were killed in an ambush by rebels armed with heavy weapons between the insurgent strongholds of Slavyansk and nearby Kramatorsk, bringing to 16 the number killed since mid-April.

Rebels in Lugansk claimed their self-styled governor Valery Bolotov survived an "assassination attempt" on Tuesday after assailants opened fire on his car with automatic rifles.

Violence has raged for weeks in eastern Ukraine as government troops carry out what it describes as "anti-terrorist" operations against well-armed rebels who seized cities and towns in the chaos that followed the ouster of Ukraine's pro-Russian leader Viktor Yanukovych in February.

Interim President Oleksandr Turchynov insisted on Tuesday that the offensive would continue despite the Kremlin's demands.

There had been fears that Putin would move quickly to annex the territories of Lugansk and Donetsk as he did with Crimea in March, despite Western outrage.

And while urging rebels to sign up to the OSCE roadmap, Moscow has also kept up the pressure on Kiev, insisting that negotiations on regional rights must take place before the country's planned presidential vote on May 25.

The crisis has plunged the West's relations with Russia to their lowest point since the Cold War and raised European concerns about the vital supply of Russian gas, much of which flows through Ukraine.

And with the rhetoric still running high, Ukraine's interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk accused Russia of stealing the country's gas.

Yatsenyuk, in Brussels to seek EU support for his beleaguered government, threatened to take Russia to the international arbitration court if it rejected proposals to settle their dispute over gas contracts and prices.

Russia has threatened to cut supplies from June 3 if Ukraine does not settle a $US1.66 billion ($A1.80 billion) bill.

Steinmeier, who travelled to both Kiev and Odessa, said the situation in Ukraine remained "very threatening" but called for "a national dialogue".

Wednesday's round-table discussions, to be moderated by veteran German diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger, "are of course only a start", Steinmeier conceded.

In Moscow, the foreign ministry said it "expects" Ukraine rebels to comply with the OSCE roadmap, as long as Kiev does - and called on Ukraine's leaders to agree to talks in the near future.

The Russian ministry also said Kiev had to immediately stop "reprisal raids" in the east - using a term that refers to a Nazi massacre in 1943 - and pull back troops from the encircled cities and towns.

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Vic police deny stations are in crisis

THE police union wants more officers on the beat, arguing stations are stretched and struggling, but Victoria Police denies there is a crisis.

Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Lucinda Nolan said there had been an unprecedented increase in police resources, but the extra officers hadn't necessarily gone directly into stations.

The state is on track to meet the existing government target of 1700 new police by November and there is "definitely no crisis", Ms Nolan said.

"We put our resources in where we can get the most sustained and effective response in that area," she told Fairfax Radio on Tuesday.

"Some of the resources have gone into highway patrol, some have gone into investigation."

Police Association secretary Ron Iddles cited a union audit of new police officers allocated since the last election to call for both parties to commit to increasing police numbers by 1700.

He said of the 1300 additional officers recruited since 2010, only 456 had hit the front line.

"We are struggling, we're not coping," Sen Sgt Iddles said.

He said officers had insufficient time to do their paperwork and officers who went off sick sometimes couldn't be replaced.

Ms Nolan said there had been a confusion about where the resources have actually gone.

"We put them where they're best housed in the accommodation available," Ms Nolan said.

"For Dandenong, they've got 90 more staff than they did at the start of this process but not necessarily all in the Dandenong Police Station."

Police Minister Kim Wells said it was the chief commissioner's decision where additional officers were allocated.

Mr Wells said there were another 1525 police since the coalition came to power in November 2010.

Opposition police spokesman Wade Noonan said police cells were overflowing and the Napthine government had forced the chief commissioner to find so-called savings from his budget of more than $100 million.

The Community and Public Sector Union says the government has cut 400 support personnel since 2011 leaving operational police to undertake property and other admin functions.

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Aust housing boom winding down, data show

AUSTRALIA'S housing boom is starting to pull back, making way for more sustainable growth in the property market.

Disappointing home loan and house price data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday showed the housing market was still looking good but had pulled back from the boom seen late last year, JP Morgan economist Tom Kennedy said.

The number of home loans approved in March fell 0.9 per cent, weaker than economists' expectations of a 0.5 per cent rise.

Australian capital city house prices continued to rise in the March quarter, by 1.7 per cent, softer than the 2.9 per cent rise economists were expecting.

"We saw very, very solid growth in Sydney and Melbourne, and most other major property markets, and what we're seeing now is a pull back," Mr Kennedy said.

"Over the past few months, there's been quite a slowdown and deceleration from the euphoria that we saw in the second half of last year."

But that growth had been unsustainable, Mr Kennedy said, and "prices are now growing at levels that are perhaps more sustainable over the long term".

Other data such as auction clearance rates and building approvals were also pointing to a wind down in the housing market, he said.

Westpac senior economist Matthew Hassan said the housing market was moderating and would continue to do so this year after a very strong finish to 2013.

Rising prices had dampened consumer sentiment around buying a property, he said.

"It's just becoming more difficult for owner occupiers to get into the market," Mr Hassan said.

"What we're seeing from our consumer sentiment survey is a pretty clear turning point in assessments around time to buy a dwelling that indicate price gains are starting to impact buyer perceptions and point to a slowing in price growth by the middle of the year."

UBS economists said housing would remain solid, despite "cooling" off.

"This cooling followed a period of 'heat', such that housing activity will likely remain solid and still add to overall growth this year, supported by ongoing record low interest rates," they said.

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Union slush fund inquiry starts in Sydney

THE royal commission into union governance and corruption is set to open in Sydney with evidence from a man linked to the slush fund scandal that dogged former prime minister Julia Gillard.

Over the coming months the inquiry will investigate alleged slush funds in relation to the Australian Workers Union, Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union, the Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union, Health Services Union and Transport Workers Union of Australia among others.

Former AWU official Ralph Blewitt will be the first witness to appear before Justice Dyson Heydon on Monday, after flying in from his home in Malaysia for the hearing.

In the early 1990s Mr Blewitt and another AWU official Bruce Wilson established the AWU Workplace Reform Association, with the help of Ms Gillard, a lawyer with Slater & Gordon and Wilson's girlfriend at the time.

The fund was allegedly put to a range of personal uses.

Ms Gillard has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

During opening remarks at a preliminary hearing in Sydney last month Justice Heydon laid out tough penalties for bribing commission witnesses or obstructing the inquiry, including fines of up to $20,000 and up to five years' imprisonment.

The commission is expected to deliver its final report to the federal government on December 14.

"The terms of reference rest on certain assumptions which are not hostile to trade unions," Justice Heydon said.

"The terms of reference do not assume that it is desirable to abolish trade unions. They do not assume that it is desirable to curb their role to the point of insignificance.

"Instead, they assume it is worth inquiring into how well and how lawfully that role is performed. They assume that it is desirable for that role to be well performed and lawfully performed."

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Buswell light rail report light on insight

FORMER West Australian treasurer Troy Buswell's light rail report from a taxpayer-funded trip across Europe is so paltry it could have been compiled in his office, the state opposition says.

Mr Buswell came away from the trip to Europe and China with six key findings about light rail as he planned a network for Perth.

Mr Buswell, now a backbencher after quitting cabinet following a car crash controversy in March, visited Switzerland, Germany and France in August and September last year to study light rail systems.

Before making the trip, Mr Buswell had said non-essential government travel would be temporarily banned and instructed the public service to tighten its belt amid spiralling state debt.

And in December, the state government shelved its MAX light rail project due to WA's ailing finances.

A 20-page report since submitted by Mr Buswell on the trip contained six insights about light rail, with the fact it could be a "very effective, embedded and highly valued component" of a public transport system split over two bullet points.

Mr Buswell also used two bullet points to report that trams could operate effectively in confined urban settings at sensible speeds and with clear community awareness of the operation.

His other points were that right of way for light rail in congested parts of a city was important and that a tram system could be delivered effectively via a public-private partnership, particularly in a greenfields environment.

Opposition transport spokesman Ken Travers said Mr Buswell could have compiled the light rail report from his Perth office and saved taxpayers money.

In China, Mr Buswell met with state-owned conglomerate CITIC and Industrial Bank of China about investment opportunities including Perth Stadium and the long-awaited Oakajee port.

And with his then-fisheries minister hat on, he also held several meetings about artificial reefs, shark barriers and seafood trade.

The total cost of the trip is expected to be tabled in parliament in coming weeks.

On his return to parliament as the Member for Vasse last week, Mr Buswell told reporters it was "entirely appropriate" for ministers to travel for work.

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