Baillieu to respond to ombudsman on IBAC

Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu says he will respond to the ombudsman, who has criticised the IBAC. Source: AAP

VICTORIAN Premier Ted Baillieu says he will respond to the ombudsman over a leaked letter in which the watchdog criticises the government's proposed new anti-corruption regime.

In a letter Mr Baillieu received on Monday night, Ombudsman George Brouwer expressed grave concerns about the new integrity regime, which would see him oversighted by a new body called the Victorian Inspectorate.

"I consider that the scheme is poorly designed (and) that enacting the bills will be a significant backward step for public-sector accountability," Mr Brouwer said in the letter, obtained by Fairfax Media.

The ombudsman would lose his role as a clearing house for whistleblower complaints, which would be transferred to the Independent Broad-Based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC).

Mr Brouwer wants the government to delay debate on the remaining integrity bills before parliament so he can prepare a report on the proposed regime.

Mr Baillieu said he had received Mr Brouwer's letter and would respond appropriately.

"We certainly don't necessarily agree with his commentary but we respect the ombudsman," he told reporters on Tuesday.

Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews said Labor would move amendments to the legislation but ultimately the government had a mandate to overhaul the integrity regime.

He said Labor was concerned some potentially corrupt conduct would be beyond the reach of both the ombudsman and the IBAC.

"We will seek to insert the offence of misconduct in public office," Mr Andrews told reporters.

"There are significant gaps in this model.

"Whether you like the ombudsman or not, he's the ombudsman; he's an officer of this parliament, and when he makes these sorts of stinging criticisms, the premier ought to respond to them."

Mr Andrews said Labor would refer to the IBAC the saga concerning conflicting evidence from Deputy Premier Peter Ryan and his former police secretary Bill Tilley about a plot to replace Simon Overland with his deputy, Sir Ken Jones, as chief of police.

Labor also plans to refer Mr Baillieu's former chief of staff Michael Kapel and Mr Ryan's former adviser Tristan Weston to the IBAC over the Overland affair.

11.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sarkozy calls for new vote

Ex-French president Nicolas Sarkozy called for a vote to resolve the leadership battle in the UMP. Source: AAP

EX-PRESIDENT Nicolas Sarkozy has called for a fresh vote to resolve the bitter leadership battle that has left France's main right-wing opposition party, the UMP, on the verge of collapse, party officials say.

The UMP, the political heir to the party founded by Charles de Gaulle after World War II, is in turmoil after accusations of vote-rigging tarnished a leadership vote pitting former prime minister Francois Fillon against hardline rival Jean-Francois Cope.

At a peacemaking lunch Monday with Fillon, Sarkozy said holding a new vote would "avoid an escalation of the conflict", a party source told AFP - an account confirmed by both Fillon and Cope loyalists in the party.

Still reeling from its loss of the presidency and parliament this year, the UMP is facing the spectre of an unprecedented split as both rivals have refused to back down in the increasingly angry dispute.

The ridicule foisted on the party over the leadership debacle has done serious damage to its image, benefiting Socialist President Francois Hollande as he struggles with a flat economy and dropping popularity.

Some UMP deputies were already raising the prospect on Monday of breaking away from the party's parliamentary faction - a move that would deprive it of crucial public funding.

Sarkozy flew in early Monday from a conference in Shanghai for his lunch with Fillon, which lasted more than hour in Sarkozy's office in central Paris.

A party heavyweight who earlier failed in a mediation bid had urged Sarkozy - still enormously popular with the UMP rank-and-file despite his loss to Hollande in May's presidential vote - to intervene.

"Clearly (Sarkozy) is the only one today to have enough authority to propose a way out," former foreign minister Alain Juppe told RTL radio.

Fillon, 58, and Cope, 48, have traded accusations of fraud and ballot-rigging since last Sunday's election for a party president ended with Cope ahead.

Speaking at UMP headquarters, Cope called on the party to choose "forgiveness over division" and "the future over bitterness".

He said the party needed Fillon and urged him to join a proposed team for reconciliation.

11.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

China in first aircraft carrier landing

China has successfully landed a fighter jet on its new aircraft carrier during military exercises. Source: AAP

CHINA has conducted the first landing of a fighter jet on its new aircraft carrier in a move that extends Beijing's ability to project its growing military might in territorial disputes.

The Chinese-made J-15 made the successful landing on the Liaoning, a former Soviet carrier, during recent exercises, the defence ministry said in a report on Sunday on the flight tests.

The Liaoning went into service in September in a symbolic milestone for China's growing military muscle that comes at a time when Beijing is increasingly embroiled in a series of territorial disputes with its neighbours.

"The successful landing ... has always been seen as a symbol of the operating combat capability for an aircraft carrier," Zhang Junshe, a vice-director at the military's Naval Affairs Research Institute, told state television.

"This is a landmark event for China's aircraft carrier ... and (moves it) one step closer to combat readiness."

Video carried by China Central Television showed a tail hook on the rear of the J-15 catching hold of a cable on the deck of the aircraft carrier as the jet landed and slowed to a halt.

China had not previously announced that its navy possessed such highly technical cable landing technology.

The J-15 had also successfully taken off from the aircraft, the ministry said.

The J-15 is a Chinese designed multi-purpose carrier-borne fighter jet based on Russia's Sukoi 33, equipped with Russian engines and capable of carrying precision-guided bombs, press reports said.

Since the carrier entered service, the crew have completed more than 100 training and test programs, the ministry said.

China bought the stripped-down 300-metre carrier from Ukraine nearly 10 years ago and refurbished it at the northeastern port of Dalian.

Construction of the vessel, formerly known as the Varyag, was commissioned by the former Soviet Union more than 20 years ago, but work halted with the sudden collapse of the Soviet bloc.

The Liaoning - named for the northeastern province that includes Dalian - is not expected to be fully operational for another three years at least.

Over the past year, China has become increasingly assertive over its long-time maritime territorial claims as its economic and military power have expanded, causing rising anxiety among its neighbours.

Tensions in the East China Sea have risen dramatically in recent months over islands known as the Diaoyus to Beijing and claimed by Tokyo as the Senkakus.

China is locked in a similar row with Vietnam and the Philippines in the South China Sea.

At a key Communist Party congress earlier this month, outgoing President Hu Jintao urged the nation to push forward fast-paced military modernisation and set the goal of becoming a "maritime power".

11.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Keli Lane set to appeal against conviction

Keli Lane, jailed for killing her newborn baby, is set to appeal against her conviction. Source: AAP

LAWYERS for Keli Lane, who has been jailed for killing her newborn baby, are reportedly set to appeal against her conviction.

Former water polo champion Lane was jailed last year for at least 13 years and five months for murdering her second baby, Tegan, on September 14, 1996, after they left a Sydney hospital and before she went to a wedding.

But Lane's solicitor Ben Archbold told Fairfax she "maintains her innocence".

He said he had been working on an appeal against her conviction and hoped to lodge the papers this week.

"She absolutely did not kill her daughter and will continue to fight for acquittal," Mr Archbold said.

The comments come after the judge at Lane's trial, Justice Anthony Whealy, told Fairfax he was not convinced the crown had proved its case against Lane.

While handing down the sentence in April last year, Justice Whealy said Lane committed the crime out of desperation arising "from a sense of entrapment and isolation".

The 37-year-old, who had two terminations as a teenager, kept three pregnancies and births secret.

She adopted out two babies, but was convicted of murdering Tegan, whose body has never been found.

Lane claimed she handed Tegan over to the infant's father, a man with whom she said she had a brief and secret affair.

But the crown contended she murdered the baby as she had not wanted to be burdened with a child because she wanted to pursue her sporting, sex and social life.

Justice Whealy set a maximum term of 18 years with Lane eligible for parole in May 2023.

Barrister Winston Terracini SC is reported to be appearing for her appeal.

11.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bangladesh factory death toll rises to 121

At least nine people have died after a blaze tore through a garment factory in Bangladesh. Source: AAP

THE death toll from a fire at a Bangladeshi clothes factory has soared to at least 121 as rescue workers recovered 112 bodies.

"We've found 112 dead bodies this morning," fire brigade director general Brigadier General Abu Nayeem Mohammad Shahidullah told AFP on Sunday, adding the toll did not include the nine initially reported killed overnight.

"We resumed our search this morning and found the bodies lying on different floors of the factory building."

Police inspector Mostofa Kamal said many workers jumped from the Dhaka factory's upper floors to escape the raging fire before firefighters arrived to put the blaze out on Saturday night.

Fatal fires are common in Bangladesh's large garment manufacturing sector.

Lax safety standards, poor wiring and overcrowding are blamed for causing several deadly factory fires every year.

It is still unclear what caused the blaze.

In December 2010, a similar fire in another clothes factory in the same industrial zone killed at least 25 people and was caused by a wiring problem.

There are around 4500 factories in Bangladesh, employing more than two million people.

Clothes account for up to 80 per cent of Bangladesh's $US24 billion ($A23.23 billion) annual exports.

11.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Vic rolls out CCTV at housing estates

VICTORIA will expand its CCTV network at public housing estates after a one-year trial pointed to reductions in crime and drug use.

Premier Ted Baillieu says overall crime around public flats at Richmond in inner Melbourne has dropped by 20 per cent since live-streaming security cameras and a police command post were set up last year.

"We're very pleased with these results," Mr Baillieu told reporters on Sunday.

Public housing estates in Collingwood and Fitzroy will now have live-streaming cameras installed during a one-year trial while the Richmond site, home to 2500 people, will continue to have such technology for another two years.

A review of the program will then determine if cameras should be rolled out elsewhere.

"After those reviews take place we'll obviously look at what other opportunities there are," Mr Baillieu said.

Police say there has been some displacement of crime and injecting drug use to other areas since the cameras and command post were set up.

But Assistant Commissioner Andrew Crisp said the security cameras had led to several arrests while officers had also helped addicts get the help they needed.

"We've seen a turnaround ... but we've still got some way to go," Mr Crisp said.

The state government continues to reject calls to open a safe drug injecting site similar to the one running in Sydney.

11.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Pro-choice rally supports Melb clinic

PRO-CHOICE advocates have rallied outside a Melbourne abortion clinic, saying they're fighting back against pro-life activists who regularly harass the clinic's patients.

Around 100 members of the Melbourne Feminist Action group gathered outside the East Melbourne Fertility Control Clinic on Saturday to condemn the tactics of "intimidation and degradation" which its patients face almost daily, the group says.

Group spokeswoman Stephanie Convery said a variety of religious groups photograph and film women as they enter and exit the clinic, hurl abuse and hand out offensive literature.

"We need to give some support to the pro-choice movement in Melbourne and the women in the clinic," she said.

"Who wants to be bullied for making personal decisions about their own body, who wants to be told they don't know themselves, they don't know their own minds and they're making the wrong choice when they've thought long and hard about it."

A small crowd from pro-life group Youth for Life gathered opposite the rally, which was monitored by police.

Stephanie Ross, from Youth for Life, said members of her group regularly gathered outside the clinic but denied they harassed patients.

"We come to pray and witness, to be with the unborn in their last moments," she said.

The East Melbourne Fertility Control Clinic was opened in 1972 and was one of the first of its kind in Victoria.

11.27 | 0 komentar | Read More