AN 87-year-old man who was missing in north Queensland bushland has been found.
He was clearing bushland, about 40km west of Ingham, with another man when they became separated about 9am (AEST) on Monday.
An extensive air and land search was launched and a helicopter spotted the man in the Mount Fox area about 1pm on Tuesday.
He is being treated at the location and will be taken to hospital after suffering from exposure.
THE number of councils in Perth will be halved after the West Australian government finalised its restructuring plans.
After initially proposing 14 metropolitan councils across the WA capital, Local Government Minister Tony Simpson has suggested a reduction from 30 to 15 authorities.
The main change to July's original plan will be to keep Fremantle and Melville separate.
But a super council made up of seven local governments in Perth's affluent western suburbs remains.
Mr Simpson says the tweaking of the plan proved the government listened to the community, but admitted not everyone will be happy.
"The easiest option is to do nothing. But with our population set to grow by 500,000 in the metropolitan area over the next 13 years, we must, no question about it, strengthen our councils," Mr Simpson said.
Cockburn council, which will merge with Kwinana, immediately voiced disappointment.
"If the government's changes go through, there will be substantial rates increases of up to 15 per cent, with businesses that fall under Kwinana set to pay around 10 per cent more in their rates," mayor Logan Howlett said.
In the face of opposition, Premier Colin Barnett has temporarily shelved a plan to override the existing 'Dadour provision', which currently gives public the power to veto any council mergers or boundary changes via a referendum.
The overall plans will be submitted to the Local Government Advisory Board, which will conduct a review and make final recommendations next year.
NECK and back pain are the main reasons Australians visit chiropractors, according to a study published in Medical Journal of Australia (MJA).
The vast majority are adults, and one per cent are aged under one year, according to the study of 4464 patient encounters over about two years until September 2012.
This is the beginning of chiropractors documenting what they do in clinical practice, says Dr Simon French, leader of the Victoria-based study.
A range of conditions are managed by chiropractors, but these are usually musculoskeletal-related, he says.
Chiropractors also commonly provide care for people who have no specific complaint. "This is called wellness or maintenance care by the chiropractors in the study," says Dr French.
About three million Australians visit a chiropractor at least once a year, according to an MJA article about the study.
"This research is about documenting what chiropractors do. It's not about whether it is effective or not," says co-author Professor Jane Gunn, of the University of Melbourne's general practice and primary health care centre.
"People pay for this treatment either from their own pocket or private health insurance," says
"We did not review outcomes, but it is interesting that people pay for it themselves."
The findings of the study are not a surprise, says Andrew McNamara, CEO of the Chiropractors Association of Australia.
"But it is worthwhile to get a handle on what people are seeking from chiropractors."
He says there is strong evidence in relation to neck, back and headache treatment.
But there are other areas that are not so well understood, and the association is funding further research that will track a large group of patients over a number of years.
"There is also a need for more research into the benefits or otherwise for children.
"The fact that we have parents and practitioners reporting good clinical outcomes for kids with colic for example does not mean the question is settled. There is a need for more evidence," he says.
Chemicals company Orica has posted a full year profit of more than $600 million. Source: AAP
EXPLOSIVES and chemicals supplier Orica expects higher profits in 2014 as key North American coal markets improve, and the company sells more sophisticated explosives and blasting systems.
The North American coal sector - one of Orica's biggest markets for explosives - built up stockpiles of coal over 2012, but those stockpiles had since diminished, chief executive Ian Smith said.
"What we're seeing in North America is coal volumes starting to come back, and we'll see a progression, hopefully, over the 2014 year to normal levels," Mr Smith said.
Orica would benefit, should prices for thermal coal rise.
Mr Smith said it would be hard for Orica to maintain its sales volumes should the Australian dollar remain too high, and if prices of thermal coal were to drop.
But he said that by the end of 2014 Orica could be a position to return more cash to shareholders via capital management initiatives.
There were also signs of improvement in the quarrying and construction markets in Europe, Mr Smith said.
Orica expects net profit in 2013/14, before material items, to exceed the $602 million it made in the 12 months to September 30, 2013.
But it said market conditions were still volatile.
Shares in Orica were up $2.07, or 10.6 per cent, at $21.61 at 1510 AEDT.
Orica's 2012/13 profit was up more than 49 per cent from the previous year's $403 million, which was skewed by $247 million in writedowns.
The 2012/13 profit was down $48 million on the prior year, if the writedowns are excluded.
Revenue grew by 3.4 per cent to $6.9 billion despite weakness in demand for Orica's ground support products and services, which provides specialist bolts, resins and powders.
Explosives generated more revenue in all regions as Orica provided more sophisticated and more profitable products, such as emulsion explosives, which could be used in a wider range of operational environments, such as wet weather and blastholes with water in them.
Orica said it was adding services to product sales - such as new blasting techniques - which was attracting new customers.
Mr Smith said ground support services experienced weaker demand as users chose cheaper, less sophisticated ground support systems.
But Orica had restructured the ground support services business - cutting jobs, closing plants, writing off stock and discontinuing unprofitable products - and the business was now set for improvement as the US coal market improves.
BILLIONAIRE federal MP Clive Palmer could call in sick for his first week of parliament after coming down with a cold.
The eccentric mining magnate failed to front for a scheduled interview with Network Ten's Meet The Press on Sunday morning.
When contacted by AAP for the reason behind his no-show, an ill-sounding Mr Palmer advised he had a cold.
Mr Palmer said he couldn't guarantee he would be in Canberra for his first day of federal parliament on Tuesday, saying he would see a doctor in the meantime.
Asked if he intended to attend every day of parliament over the coming weeks, Mr Palmer replied: "I'll meet my requirements".
Late last month Mr Palmer won the Sunshine Coast seat of Fairfax after a recount with a final margin of 53 votes, almost eight weeks after the federal election.
New MPs are due to be sworn in at 10.55 (AEDT) on Tuesday.
An Australian man, believed to be a former priest, has been killed by a typhoon in the Philippines. Source: AAP
AN Australian man is among the hundreds killed by a super typhoon in the Philippines.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed the death of a 50-year-old NSW man in Typhoon Haiyan.
"Consular officials are providing assistance to his family," a DFAT spokesperson said.
It's believed the man was former Australian priest Kevin Lee but DFAT has declined to confirm his identity.
Mr Lee, a whistleblower about child sex abuse in the Catholic church, has been living in the Philippines with his wife.
Officials fear the death toll in the Philippines could reach 10,000 people after Haiyan tore into the eastern islands of Leyte and Samar on Friday.
Sustained winds of around 315km/h made it the strongest typhoon in the world this year and one of the most intense ever to hit land.
The Abbott government has pledged nearly $400,000 worth of emergency aid to devastated communities and says it stands ready to do more.
DFAT says it is monitoring the situation closely.
"We are working with our partners, including in the Philippine government, to obtain more information on the extent of damage caused," the spokesperson said.
Two Australian disaster experts are already on the ground assisting the Philippine government and United Nations to assess needs.
DFAT says Australians concerned for the welfare of family and friends in the region should first attempt to contact them directly.
If unsuccessful, they should call DFAT's 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre on 1300 555 135 or +612 6261 3305.
MORE police on the beat and public transport throughout Sydney's Friday and Saturday night hot spots are initial steps in battling alcohol-related violence, the NSW Opposition says.
The call for action to tackle drunken violence on Sydney streets comes after Kieran Loveridge was sentenced for delivering the king hit that killed a teenager in Kings Cross.
Loveridge was sentenced to serve four years behind bars for Thomas Kelly's manslaughter in July 2012 - a sentence Mr Kelly's family labelled a joke.
The sentence has reignited debate over how the NSW Government can deal with alcohol-related violence on Sydney's streets.
Opposition leader John Robertson said everything should be on the table.
He said George St in the CBD and Kings Cross needed to be treated as "major events" on Friday and Saturday nights.
"The second thing you do is you put more police on the streets and the third thing you do is you increase public transport options to get young people out off those streets," he told reporters on Saturday.
A CIVIL aviation official in the Philippines says he's received a report that more than 100 bodies are lying in the streets of a central city ravaged by Haiyan.
A PETROL station and a church were saved from a roaring inferno that destroyed a neighbouring shop in Sydney's east this morning. SEE IT IN PICTURES
"Nothing should be ruled out and everything should be on the table because we just can't allow these sorts of tragedies to continue."
While sentencing of those behind alcohol-fuelled violence was important, the government needed to be proactive, Mr Robertson said.
He labelled Loveridge's sentence as "appalling".
NSW Attorney-General Greg Smith said on Friday he had asked the DPP to consider appealing the manslaughter sentence.
Earlier this month a Brazilian man died in hospital after he was punched in the head outside a bar in Haymarket.
