Electricity bills to stabilise: Ferguson

Federal energy minister Martin Ferguson says household electricity bills will stabilise mid 2013. Source: AAP

HOUSEHOLD electricity bills are set to stabilise from mid-2013 as the need of utilities to upgrade and replace infrastructure eases, federal energy minister Martin Ferguson says.

Mr Ferguson told a conference in Sydney there was no quick fix for current electricity costs, which have risen by about 40 per cent across the nation over the past four years.

But while bills had risen substantially, the impact of network investment was easing.

"The bulk of investment in networks for this regulatory period has already occurred, with smaller increases in network charges expected in the final year of the regulatory period," Mr Ferguson told the Australian Institute of Energy conference on Tuesday.

"That means household consumers are expected to see a stabilisation in the price they pay for electricity from July 2013."

Network charges are the main component of electricity bills, ahead of wholesale energy charges.

However, Mr Ferguson said a decrease in demand for electricity would also help stabilise prices.

"While the network investment cycle appears to be nearing its peak and market forces are reducing the wholesale cost of electricity, further reforms are underway to ensure consumers are not paying more for electricity than is necessary," he added.

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Obama presses Cambodia PM on rights

US President Barack Obama has pressed the Cambodian PM over the country's human rights violations. Source: AAP

US President Barack Obama has told Cambodia's prime minister in a "tense" meeting that his government's human rights violations are "an impediment" to better bilateral ties, a US official says.

Newly re-elected Obama, fresh from a historic jaunt to Myanmar (Burma), met Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen for talks in Phnom Penh ahead of joining an East Asia Summit.

"He began by expressing that his trip to Burma demonstrated the positive benefits that flow from countries moving down the path of political reform and increasing respect for human rights," said US deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes.

Obama brought up the need for fair and free elections in Cambodia, and the need for the release of political prisoners, Rhodes added, agreeing that the meeting was "tense".

"He said that those types of issues are an impediment to the United States and Cambodia developing a deeper bilateral relationship."

Obama, the first US president to visit Cambodia, and Hun Sen shook hands before their meeting but the American did not smile during the greeting.

The Cambodian government has faced mounting criticism from rights groups in recent years for what they claim is a growing crackdown on dissidents and protesters in cases that are often linked to land disputes.

Dozens of Cambodian villagers faced with eviction staged several small protests ahead of Obama's arrival with "SOS" messages urging the president to help press the government on land rights issues.

During the talks, Rhodes said Obama highlighted the case of prominent government critic and radio station owner Mam Sonando, 71, who was jailed for 20 years in October for an alleged secessionist plot in a verdict that dismayed human rights groups.

Hun Sen, 60, has been in power since 1985 and has vowed to rule until he's 90.

The country's main opposition leader, meanwhile, lives in self-imposed exile abroad to avoid a jail term for what critics say are politically motivated charges.

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Obama makes history with Myanmar visit

US President Barack Obama is heading to Myanmar for an historic visit aimed at encouraging reforms. Source: AAP

US President Barack Obama has arrived in Myanmar (Burma) for an historic visit aimed at encouraging dramatic political reforms in the former pariah state.

Obama is the first serving US president to set foot in the country, in the starkest illustration yet of its emergence from a long period of isolation and repression.

Air Force One touched down in Yangon on Monday, where Obama hopes to embolden President Thein Sein to deepen the country's startling march out of decades of iron-fisted military rule.

Obama will use a major speech at Yangon University to hail "the flickers of progress" in Myanmar, the White House said.

"Today, I have come to keep my promise, and extend the hand of friendship," Obama will say, according to excerpts of his address. "But this remarkable journey has just begun, and has much further to go."

The setting for the speech will be rich in symbolism as the university was the scene of past episodes of pro-democratic student unrest, including mass demonstrations in 1988 that ended in a bloody military crackdown.

"Instead of being repressed, the right of people to assemble together must now be fully respected," Obama will say. "Instead of being stifled, the veil of media censorship must continue to be lifted."

In a nod to a recent wave of deadly sectarian violence in western Rakhine state, Obama will urge Myanmar to "draw on diversity as a strength, not a weakness".

In a scene that would have been unthinkable until recently, Obama will stand side-by-side with democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi at the lakeside villa where his fellow Nobel laureate languished for years under house arrest.

The White House hopes Obama's visit to Myanmar will boost Thein Sein's reform drive, which saw Suu Kyi enter parliament after her rivals in the junta made way for a nominally civilian government - albeit in a system still stacked heavily in favour of the military.

US officials said Obama would announce a $US170 million ($A165 million) development aid pledge to Myanmar to coincide with the formal opening of a US Agency for International Development (USAID) mission in Myanmar, which was suspended for years over the junta's repression of the democracy movement.

The money, spread over a two-year period, will target projects in civil society designed to build democratic institutions and improve education.

Some human rights groups said Obama should have waited longer to visit, arguing that he could have dangled the prospect of a trip as leverage to seek more progress such as the release of scores of remaining political prisoners.

Myanmar unveiled new pledges on human rights on the eve of the visit, saying it would review prisoner cases in line with "international standards" and open its jails to the Red Cross, as part of efforts to burnish its reform credentials.

The United States on Friday scrapped a nearly decade-old ban on most imports from the country, after earlier lifting other sanctions.

But it continues to call for the release of scores of political prisoners still in Myanmar's jails, as well as an end to sectarian bloodshed between Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine state.

Obama fever has swept Myanmar's biggest city Yangon, with his image emblazoned on T-shirts, mugs and even graffiti-covered walls.

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Palmer weighs in on RTI debate

Mining magnate Clive Palmer has accused the Queensland government of wanting to water down RTI laws. Source: AAP

BILLIONAIRE Clive Palmer has launched another attack on the Newman government, accusing it of wanting to change laws so it can "operate in secrecy".

Queensland's Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie is conducting a statutory review of the state's Right to Information (RTI) laws.

But Mr Palmer seized upon media reports which suggested Mr Bleijie wanted the laws changed because intense public scrutiny was deterring would-be politicians from entering public life.

Mr Palmer is urging politicians from both sides to ensure proper transparency is maintained.

"This is an outrageous suggestion that attacks the freedom of all Queenslanders and attempts to stifle political debate," the outspoken mining magnate said in a statement on Monday.

He asked what was really going on behind closed doors with the government "if it wants to operate in secrecy".

"Reviewing RTI legislation to protect politicians sends a warning signal to all Queenslanders that there is something terribly wrong with the system."

However, Mr Bleijie said the review was routine and a discussion paper would be released in coming weeks on which the public could make submissions.

"The government has no intention of winding back or scrapping the RTI Act," he told AAP.

"This government has shown a commitment to openness and accountability that has been lacking in Queensland politics for many years."

Mr Palmer's comments are the latest in a string of attacks on the Newman government that have seen him suspended from the Liberal National Party (LNP).

The LNP executive will decide whether the life member will remain in the party at its next meeting to be held on Friday.

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Share market tipped to open higher

THE Australian market is set to open higher on Monday following gains in US stocks on Friday and some positive comments by political leaders about tackling the fiscal cliff and deficit.

The December share price index on the ASX 24 indicates the market will open 12 points (0.28 per cent) higher on Monday.

The Australian dollar was trading at 103.45 US cents on Sunday afternoon.

AMP Capital's chief economist Shane Oliver said US stocks seemed to get a boost out of talks on Friday between President Barack Obama and Democrat and Republican party leaders regarding the so-called "fiscal cliff".

The cliff refers to large tax hikes and spending cuts that will automatically come into force on January 1 unless legislation is changed.

The Dow Jones closed up 0.37 per cent at 12,588.30, the broader S&P 500 was 0.48 per cent better at 1,359.88 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq improved 0.57 per cent to 2,853.13.

Global markets have been dominated in recent weeks by talk about the cliff, which is expected to send the world's largest economy back into recession if political opponents can't reach a compromise.

"The key person there, the Republican House of Representatives leader John Boehner, described talks as constructive, providing a bit of confidence that there will be some sort of solution to the fiscal cliff," Dr Oliver told AAP.

"It looks like we'll have a reasonable start to trading on Monday with futures trading up 12 points or 0.3 per cent, suggesting a gain 10 to 15 points at the start.

"Then it will probably remain another nervous week, waiting for more news regarding the so-called fiscal cliff in US ... I think it's more of the same."

With the Thanksgiving holiday in the US later in the week, trade was expected to be thin, and a resolution on the cliff was not expected until December, Dr Oliver said.

The outbreak of violence in the Middle East is also making markets nervous, with oil prices rising on Friday on concerns about supply.

The Australian share market closed lower on Friday, with the S&P/ASX200 index down 12.4 points (0.28 per cent) at 4,336.8 - a loss of 2.8 per cent for the week - while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 10.5 points (0.24 per cent) at 4,360.1.

on Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia will release minutes of its last board meeting, which are expected to reveal a mild easing bias.

Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens will deliver a speech on the same day.

CommSec chief economist Craig James said if Mr Stevens wanted to send a message on the Aussie dollar, wage growth or views on the global economy, this would be the opportunity.

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Iran denies supplying rockets to Gaza

Iran has denied supplying the long-range Fajr 5 rockets fired into Israel by Gaza militants. Source: AAP

A SENIOR Iranian official has denied his country supplied the Fajr 5 missiles which Palestinian militants have been firing at Tel Aviv, Iran's Al-Alam television reports.

"We deny having delivered the Fajr 5 to the Palestinian resistance. The aim of such accusations is to portray the resistance as weak whereas it is perfectly capable of producing the arms it needs," said Allaeddine Boroujerdi, head of parliament's foreign affairs committee, on Saturday.

Islamic Jihad claimed its militants fired a Fajr 5 which crashed into the sea off Tel Aviv on Thursday, in the first such attack on the heart of Israel since Saddam Hussin's Iraqi regime fired Scud missiles during the 1991 Gulf war.

Sirens went off in Tel Aviv again on Saturday for a third straight day, sending people scuttling for cover, a day after a rocket crashed into the Mediterranean near the city centre, AFP correspondents said.

The latest rocket was intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome defence system.

The armed wing of the Islamist Hamas movement, which rules Gaza and which like Islamic Jihad is supported by Tehran, claimed the latest Fajr 5 fire.

The Fajr 5 rocket has a far greater range than the home-produced Qassam rockets normally used by Palestinian militants in Gaza to target Israel, but neither are very accurate, defence analysts say.

Fajr 5 rockets can be fired from the back of a 6x6 truck to hit targets up to 75 kilometres away. This compares to a range of between four and 13 kilometres for the Qassam rockets.

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'Do Not Track' privacy at crossroads

A MOVEMENT by privacy activists to curb tracking of internet users' browsing habits scored a major victory last month when Microsoft launched its new browser with "do not track" as the default, or automatic setting.

But some advertisers are in revolt against the move, certain websites are skirting the Microsoft effort and the debate over online privacy and tracking is heating up.

The controversy stems from practices used by websites and marketing partners to track browsing activity to be able to deliver ads targeted to individuals.

The ad industry argues that tracking is done anonymously without violating privacy, but some say it is easy to connect the person's anonymous IP address or mobile device to a real person.

"It is trivial to make those connections," says Jim Brock, a former Yahoo! executive who now heads a venture called PrivacyFix which offers browser plug-ins for privacy and other services to consumers and businesses.

Websites and mobile device use a variety of software to determine a user's browsing habits. Marketers can then use that data for "behavioural ads" designed with people's habits in mind.

In some cases, these electronic tags can predict if a consumer is price-sensitive, allowing sellers to charge more or less for a product or service.

Privacy activists say a simple web search can make consumers a target for marketers, and that viewing certain websites may identify them as homosexuals, AIDS patients or suffering from another disease.

"That is one of the scariest things, and it shakes people's faith in the marketing industry," Brock said. "There is very little protection for targeting based on health conditions. This is information that can get in the hands of insurance companies and employers who might not use it in a way we would expect."

Most web browsers allow users to activate a "do not track" privacy feature, and Microsoft designed its internet Explorer 10 with the feature as the default setting.

"We believe consumers should have more control over how data about their online behaviour is tracked, shared, and used," Microsoft chief privacy officer Brendon Lynch said in announcing the move.

Advertisers see the issue differently, arguing that Microsoft should not make the decision for consumers.

The Digital Advertising Alliance, a consortium of the largest US media and marketing associations, told its members they can ignore or override the default settings in Microsoft or other browsers.

"The trade associations that lead the DAA do not believe that Microsoft's IE10 browser settings are an appropriate standard for providing consumer choice," said the alliance, which includes the Better Business Bureau.

"Machine-driven do not track does not represent user choice; it represents browser-manufacturer choice."

Yahoo! has also broken ranks with Microsoft, saying it "will not recognise" the "do not track" settings by default.

A Yahoo! blog post said Microsoft acted "unilaterally" and that "this degrades the experience for the majority of users and makes it hard to deliver on our value proposition to them."

Representatives Edward Markey and Joe Barton, who head the House privacy caucus, expressed disappointment over the actions by advertisers and Yahoo!, saying they highlight the need for better privacy laws.

"If consumers want to be tracked online, they should have to opt-in, not the other way around," the two lawmakers said in a statement.

Some analysts argue that wiping out all online tracking would undermine the economic model of the internet.

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a Washington think tank, recently modified its website to warn visitors with "do not track" enabled with a pop-up message which asks them to enable tracking.

ITIF analyst Daniel Castro said most consumers do not object to online tracking if they understand that ads support the websites they visit.

"You can't say you don't want targeted advertising but you do want free access to websites," Castro said.

"People like free content and they are willing to make some tradeoffs."

Richard Frankel, president of the ad technology firm Rocket Fuel, said that even though "everyone claims to hate online advertising" there would be very little content on the internet without it.

Frankel said that imposing tracking restrictions would cut revenues and thereby "would stifle investigative reporting, dissuade open discussion and commentary, and muffle free speech."

Brock acknowledges that revenue will be lost if without behavioural ads, but that the industry has failed to persuade consumers of their value.

"There will be less data to monetise," said Brock, who describes himself as "a former tracker."

"But what the industry has not done is to explain why we benefit from targeted advertising."

Brock argues that with industries unable to reach agreement on privacy standards, consumers may face confusion and it may be time for the government to step in with legislation.

"I believe in ad-supported media, but the industry is giving us no choice," he said. "They need a kick in the butt from the government."

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