End failure mentality, PM tells Tasmania

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says Tasmania has to stop programming itself to fail. Source: AAP

TASMANIA needs to stop programming itself for failure, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has told the ailing island state.

In a clear reference to environmental standards, Mr Abbott has told Liberal members at the party's state conference Tasmania has set the bar too high.

"All too often, particularly here in Tasmania, we have programmed ourselves to fail," the prime minister said on Saturday.

"We have burdened ourselves with unnecessary taxes and regulations.

"We have set standards of perfection which no one can achieve instead of getting on with a reasonable job with a reasonable prospect of success."

Mr Abbott reminded members the state had the country's highest unemployment, lowest wages and lowest life expectancy.

"All that simply has to change," he said.

The prime minister received a standing ovation from around 200 members in a celebratory mood on his first visit to Tasmania since his election in September.

The state delivered massively for the coalition, dumping ALP members from three of its five seats in an 11.3 per cent swing against the government, the biggest of any state.

"It is so good to be here to savour success," Mr Abbott said.

The party looks likely to savour more success in a state election due next March.

Opposition leader Will Hodgman is riding high in the polls after 15 years of Labor government, the last four in coalition with the Greens.

Mr Abbott gave Mr Hodgman, the son of the late former federal minister Michael Hodgman, a ringing endorsement.

"What we need here in Tasmania is new will and new leadership and that's what is sitting right here beside me," the prime minister said.

Mr Hodgman will address the conference on Sunday.

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Iran hangs 16 in reprisal for border clash

GUNMEN have killed at least 14 Iranian guards on the Pakistani border, in a rugged area used by drug traffickers, prompting Tehran to retaliate by hanging 16 "rebels," reports say.

The ambush on the porous border happened on Friday night in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan, home to a large community of minority Sunni Muslims, unlike the rest of Shi'ite-dominated Iran.

"Fourteen border guards were killed during armed clashes in the region of Saravan, and five others were wounded," the official IRNA news agency said on Saturday, citing what it called an informed source.

The unnamed source identified the gunmen as "bandits or rebels opposed to the Islamic republic".

In retaliation for the attack, the Iranian authorities said that on Saturday they executed 16 "rebels" held at a prison in the region.

"Sixteen rebels linked to groups hostile to the regime were hanged this morning in the prison of Zahedan in response to the death of border guards in Saravan," Mohammad Marzieh, attorney general of Sistan-Baluchestan, was quoted as saying by Fars news agency.

"We warned the rebel groups that any attack targeting civilians or members of the security forces would not go unanswered," he added.

Deputy Interior Minister Ali Abdollahi said that the guards had been killed during the ambush set by Iranians who were "members of hostile groups".

He added that "three soldiers have been taken hostage and taken to the other side of the border in Pakistan," without giving further details.

The region has seen bloody clashes over the past few years and officials say that more than 4000 police officers and soldiers have been killed in three decades of fighting with drug traffickers.

Iran is a major transit route for drugs that originate in Afghanistan and is trafficked across its territory, with much of it bound for Western countries.

People smugglers also use the route to traffick illegal immigrants to Europe, via Iran and Turkey.

The Islamic republic says it is fighting a deadly war against drug traffickers who make up half its prison population.

But Sunni militant group Jundallah (Soldiers of God) has also launched attacks on civilians and officials in Sistan-Baluchestan, including a December 2010 suicide bombing in the city of Shabahar that killed 39 people.

The Iranian authorities hanged 11 suspected members of Jundallah at Zahedan prison in December 2010 in response to the deadly bombing of the Shi'ite mourning procession in Shabahar.

Jundallah, whose leader Abdolmalek Rigi was hanged in June 2010, has been waging a deadly insurgency in southeastern Iran for almost a decade.

The group says it is fighting for the rights of the ethnic Sunni Baluchis who make up a significant part of the province's population.

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Obama vows to fix healthcare website

The White House says the bug plagued website for Obamacare scheme will be fixed by end of November. Source: AAP

US President Barack Obama has acknowledged problems with the rollout of a key health website, adding he had people "working overtime" to fix the glitches.

Obama has faced a flood of criticism over this month's sputtering debut of healthcare.gov, through which millions of Americans are expected to buy insurance.

Customers have had trouble signing on, getting accurate cost estimates, and completing enrolment.

"As you may have heard, the site isn't working the way it's supposed to yet," Obama said in his weekly broadcast address on Saturday.

"That's frustrating for all of us who have worked so hard to make sure everyone who needs it gets health care."

Obama said the site had been visited more than 20 million times, and nearly 700,000 people have applied for coverage - proof, he said, of the high demand for "quality, affordable health care choices".

"And that's why, in the coming weeks, we are going to get it working as smoothly as it's supposed to. We've got people working overtime, 24/7, to boost capacity and address these problems, every single day."

Obama's Republican opponents, who have long opposed his health insurance reform, seized on the website's failed launch as a chance to slam the administration.

At a House hearing Thursday, Republicans took turns bashing the administration and demanding accountability for the flawed website debut.

It was "interesting to see Republicans in Congress expressing so much concern that people are having trouble buying health insurance through the new website", said Obama on Saturday.

"Especially considering they've spent the last few years so obsessed with denying those same people access to health insurance that they just shut down the government and threatened default over it."

Obama said he would work with opponents to improve the law - formally known as the Affordable Care Act - but that "it's well past the time for folks to stop rooting for its failure."

Some people "have poked fun at me this week for sounding like an insurance salesman", Obama said. "And that's okay. I'd still be out there championing this law even if the website were perfect."

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US citizen drowns off Tasmania

A UNITED States citizen has drowned while diving off Tasmania.

The woman was diving off the Tinderbox Marine Reserve south of Hobart when she was reported missing at about 1.15pm (AEDT) on Saturday.

Her diving companions located her a short time later lying in 12m of water.

Attempts to resuscitate her by her diving companions, police and paramedics were unsuccessful.

She was pronounced dead on arrival at Royal Hobart Hospital.

The diver was a 48-year-old United States citizen who was visiting Tasmania.

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NSW bushfire crisis refuses to let up

The RFS Commissioner became emotional as he spoke of the firefighter pilot who was killed in NSW. Source: AAP

A FIREFIGHTING pilot has become the second fatality of the NSW bushfire crisis as the biggest blaze in the state edged closer to homes.

The 43-year-old pilot was killed when his fixed wing waterbomber crashed in rugged country on the south coast on Thursday morning as he fought a blaze near Ulladulla.

Fires prevented rescue crews retrieving his body from the difficult terrain.

A day after lauding the great work of firefighters who averted the greatest threat of the week-long crisis on Wednesday, Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons became emotional as he spoke of tragedy.

"We've suffered a huge tragedy on one of our firegrounds today," said Mr Fitzsimmons, who lost his own father fighting a fire 13 years ago.

"It's a tragedy for the fire fighting community but first and foremost it's a tragedy for this man's family.

"He's a husband with young children and we're all acutely aware that there's a family suffering today because their dad didn't come home."

Mr Fitzsimmons said the father of three, who was a contractor for the RFS, was doing extraordinary work and "making a real difference to his community."

"It's a sober reminder just how dangerous fire fighting can be."

Some 60 bushfires continued to burn across NSW and tiny bush communities on the fringes of the Blue Mountains spent much of the day on emergency notice as the massive State Mine Fire flared up.

The State Mine Fire has burned through nearly 50,000 hectares since it was sparked during an army explosives training operation near Lithgow last week.

Waterbombing operations in the area have helped crews gain the upper hand and the fire was downgraded back to watch and act early on Thursday evening.

Mr Fitzsimmons said the tiny communities of Mount Irvine and Mount Wilson had been forced to shelter in place because fire had blocked major access roads, while residents from Berambing and Mount Tomah were able to flee east towards Bilpin.

The Department of Defence apologised on Thursday for starting the State Mine Fire, which has already destroyed three homes.

Acting Chief of Defence, Air Marshall Mark Binskin, said a small fire that started during a routine training exercise at Marrangaroo on October 16 was responsible for the blaze.

"I do apologise, because it has been identified that this fire was the start of this mine fire," he told reporters at RFS headquarters in Sydney on Thursday.

Defence has launched its own investigation into the incident.

Defence personnel acted quickly after an explosion sparked a small blaze but were hampered by the live ordnance around them.

"This was not deliberately starting a fire, this was an accident as part of a training activity on a day there wasn't a fire ban," Air Marshall Binskin told reporters.

He said Defence was "not shying from our responsibilities" but stopped short of offering compensation to those affected by the bushfire.

An RFS spokesman has warned there will be little respite for communities who have been on edge for over a week and for the 1400 firefighters still on the job.

He told reporters late on Thursday that high fire danger weather was likely to linger for at least the next three or four days.

He conceded any residents who are asked to leave their homes yet again may become "frustrated" but he's urged people in bushfire areas to continue to heed official warnings, saying the danger remains real.

Governor General Quentin Bryce will tour bushfire hit parts of the mountains on Friday.

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Former fiery killed in Vic plane crash

A FORMER senior Victorian firefighter who died in a light plane crash in the state's north has been remembered as a much-loved community member.

Peter Brereton from Euroa in north-east Victoria has been identified as the pilot who died after his light plane crashed in Victoria's alpine region.

The wreckage of the single-engine Cessna was found by a search helicopter about 20km west of Mt Hotham on Thursday morning.

Mr Brereton had been in the Country Fire Authority (CFA) for 39 years and was a former officer in charge of the Shepparton fire brigade.

He was on long-service leave pending retirement at the time of the crash, where he was understood to be doing private work to help out with the NSW bushfire effort.

CFA regional director for the Hume region, Peter O'Keefe, said Mr Brereton was highly regarded among his colleagues.

"He was one of our much respected senior officers in the CFA," Mr O'Keefe said.

"Peter was a very capable, thorough and much respected crew member, greatly experienced and a very thorough and thoughtful person.

"By virtue of his job, he was well known, well respected, much loved and he'll be sadly missed."

Mr O'Keefe said one of Mr Brereton's passions was flying and he was an experienced pilot.

"He did have that passion. He'd flown planes all around Australia," he said.

Mr Brereton's plane went missing after it took off from Moruya on the far south coast of NSW at 8.15am (AEDT) on Wednesday and never made it to its destination at Mangalore Airport, about two hours north of Melbourne.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating.

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Don't play politics with RBA, Wong says

The opposition has accused Treasurer Joe Hockey of playing politics with the Reserve Bank. Source: AAP

THE opposition has accused Treasurer Joe Hockey of playing politics with the Reserve Bank of Australia, while a former RBA board member says the treasurer's predecessor, Wayne Swan, is guilty of economic vandalism.

Mr Hockey this week announced a one-off $8.8 billion grant to the RBA to buffer it against what he said was an volatile economic environment.

The treasurer described it as a necessary measure that should have been taken by the former Labor government, which instead withdrew "extraordinary" dividends from the RBA and weakened its position.

That sparked an angry response from former finance minister Penny Wong on Thursday, who accused Mr Hockey of playing politics with the RBA.

The central bank should be above politics, she said.

"It really demonstrates that Joe hasn't quite made the transition from opposition to being the treasurer of the Commonwealth of Australia," Senator Wong told Sky News.

"The suggestion that he made that this was because, that Labor somehow had been asked for this, or that Labor had somehow done something wrong in relation to the RBA isn't correct."

Warren McKibbon, whose 10-year tenure on the RBA board was not extended by Mr Swan in July 2011, later told ABC's 730 on Thursday that the year his term expired the RBA had made a large loss due to the high Australian dollar.

The following year there was a small profit of over a billion dollars, he said.

"The treasurer was requested not to extract that from the balance sheet of the bank," he said.

"He ignored that request and took half a billion dollars so that he could reach the budget surplus in 2012/13.

"That to me is economic vandalism."

Mr Swan, who was judged by Euromoney magazine in 2011 as the world's greatest treasurer, told 730 he was not surprised by Mr McKibbon's criticism after not reappointing him to the RBA board.

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Mackenzie backs BHP's green credentials

Andrew Mackenzie has defended BHP's environmental credentials in the face of criticism. Source: AAP

BHP Billiton boss Andrew Mackenzie has defended the resource giant's environmental credentials in the face of criticism from a former chairman of the Australian Coal Association.

Ian Dunlop, now an environmental campaigner, is standing for election to the company's board claiming BHP doesn't understand the threat posed by dangerous climate change.

"Climate change is relevant to us all," Mr Mackenzie said on Thursday at the company's AGM in London.

"As a significant user of energy, we are working to drive down our greenhouse gas intensity and we are seeing results.

"Our current emissions are below our 2006 baseline despite the substantial growth of our business since then."

Mr Mackenzie, addressing his first AGM as chief executive after replacing Marius Kloppers earlier this year, insisted "we are environmentally responsible".

BHP is Melbourne-based, but is listed in both Australia and London. The Australian AGM will be held in November in Perth.

The company is urging shareholder's to vote against Mr Dunlop's bid.

Chairman Jac Nasser on Thursday told the AGM that BHP looked out at least five years when planning for board succession.

"We are confident that our board renewal process ensures that we have the right blend of skills, experience and perspectives critical to the effective oversight of BHP Billiton on behalf of shareholders," Mr Nasser said.

BHP's net profit plunged by 30 per cent in the 2012/13 financial year to $US10.9 billion ($A12.03 billion).

Weaker commodity prices were the main cause and the company is slashing costs and capital expenditure in response.

However, Mr Nasser said in London that BHP continues to expected the Chinese economy to grow at more than seven per cent next year.

"China, and other emerging economies, will be the major drivers of economic growth in the long term which could deliver up to a 75 per cent increase in demand for some commodities over the next 15 years."

The chairman said the company was "confident" of continued recovery in the United States while conditions in Europe "remain challenging".

Mr Mackenzie said while the 2012/13 financial year was challenging "we are already seeing signs of recovery in the global economy".

"Our focus on productivity is extracting more value from existing operations," the chief executive said.

Mr Mackenzie said that in terms of write-downs there had been a prolonged period of low levels of profitability and price in both nickel and aluminium "and that has had to be recognised in the value of the assets".

The BHP boss said he'd need a crystal ball to say if there'd by any future write-downs in those sectors.

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Environment Dept to slash 150 jobs

THE Environment Department will slash 150 jobs before Christmas and more may go as part of the Abbott government's plan to shed 12,000 public sector jobs.

Staff were sent a notice on Wednesday telling them that as a result of the department's immediate budgetary pressures it was preparing to run a voluntary redundancy round of about 150 positions over the next two months.

Department Secretary Gordon de Brouwer said they faced existing savings measures as a consequence of the former Labor government's efficiency dividend including savings in relation to staff in the budget, reduced program funding and the termination of some specific spending associated with program cuts.

"The department will also need to find separate savings in the future, as part of our contribution to the upcoming additional APS-wide 12,000 person reduction in staffing," he said.

"We may also face further savings in the 2014-15 Budget as a result of the commission of audit."

He announced a review that would "inform" the commission of audit of the department's core objectives and any activities that could be wound back or axed.

In the meantime recruiting would be placed on hold, he said.

CPSU director Beth Vincent-Pietsch said the staff were upset and shocked at the cuts that were announced a day after the "bombshell announcement" around the commission of audit.

"All they can see ahead is a very uncertain future where cuts will be a factor of life," she said in a statement.

"The question that needs to be asked is following the cuts whether the department can continue to do its important work such as enforcing environmental protection legislation and patrolling our national parks."

Greens environment spokesperson Senator Larissa Waters said slashing environment advisers, with many more jobs likely to be lost, will leave the environment further exposed to threats, and communities even more under-prepared to respond to extreme weather events.

"When Tony Abbott brings his slashing machine through the public service it will be the Greens who will stand up in the Senate to stop him," she said in a statement.

Comment was being sought from Environment Minister Greg Hunt.

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Carr wishes Kelly could have his seat

BOB Carr has used his last stand as a senator to endorse vanquished Labor MP Mike Kelly for his job.

The former NSW Labor premier was parachuted into the Senate and the plum jet-setting role of foreign minister 18 months ago by then prime minister Julia Gillard.

He has quit just six weeks after actually winning his seat in the election that dumped Labor into opposition.

"I was very high spirited about taking this job but my enthusiasm probably got ahead of a more calculated approach," he said on Wednesday.

He told the ABC he would "love" to stay but didn't want to "hog" the job.

He said replacing a new senator was quite cheap, and it would be good for Labor to give Tanya Plibersek a shot at being shadow foreign affairs minister.

Senator Carr made his final speech as a politician to the United Nations Association of Australia in Canberra, where he endorsed Labor MP Mike Kelly for his vacated seat.

Dr Kelly says if he wins Labor's preselection for the senate spot next week, he'd only occupy the upper house benches for three years and try to win back at the next election his recently lost lower house seat of Eden-Monaro.

Dr Kelly's pitch for the job includes six years of ministerial experience, expertise in defence and security policy, and regional representation.

Other likely candidates are Deborah O'Neill, who lost the central coast seat of Gosford on September 7, and Senator Carr's former staffer Graeme Wedderburn.

At the UN function, Senator Carr called Dr Kelly, who was there, his esteemed parliamentary colleague.

"I wish I could hand my Senate seat over to you," Senator Carr said in opening his speech.

He lamented that Dr Kelly was no longer in the parliament to carry on the fight for aid spending and the UN's work.

"He's someone who's been involved in the frontline of peace building and peace keeping around the world," Senator Carr said.

"I hope his talents can be edged back into that parliament as soon as possible."

Senator Carr lashed out at the coalition's plans for refocusing aid programs.

"I don't like this idea that our aid program ought to follow trade," he told the UN Day function.

"Because there's no trade interest involved in the Solomons - we sell virtually nothing to them, they sell virtually nothing to us.

"It would be a very sad thing if we end up saying to the Solomons you have to push out to 2025 the goal of getting rid of malaria because we're going to cut back on this."

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Liberals seek Senate voting system change

A PARLIAMENTARY committee will seek public input on the federal election as the Liberal party urges Labor to support an overhaul of the Senate voting system.

Liberal federal director Brian Loughnane has called for parliament's joint standing committee on electoral matters to launch a broad review of the 2013 election.

"It has become increasingly clear in recent elections that parts of our electoral system are not functioning as they should," Mr Loughnane told the National Press Club on Wednesday.

"There are some warning signs which should give concern and which should be honestly examined."

He said there was "confusion" for voters with 529 candidates nominated for 40 Senate vacancies, including 110 in NSW and 97 in Victoria.

Preference deals between micro parties - put together by a new breed of electoral "entrepreneurs" - had distorted the Senate result, Mr Loughnane said.

Party insiders believe the Liberal Democrats' 9.5 per cent vote in the NSW senate - a far cry from the 2.3 per cent achieved in 2010 - was due to voter confusion about the name and the party's first-place position on the ballot paper.

The laws governing enrolment and voter identification, which currently has a lower requirement than signing up to a DVD library, should also be examined, he said.

Mr Loughnane also wants the parliamentary committee to look at advertising spending, having estimated billionaire Clive Palmer was outspending the Labor party towards the end of the campaign.

"The fact that somebody can lob in and spend $15-$20 million has an impact," he said.

Palmer United Party federal leader Clive Palmer urged Prime Minister Tony Abbott to discipline Mr Loughnane for suggesting the Liberals collude with Labor to counter the minor parties in the Senate.

"This is just an attack on democracy and highlights how the major parties want Australia to be run by a duopoly dictatorship," he said in a statement.

He said Australians showed their disappointment with the major parties at the election, which is why his party did so well in its election debut.

Mr Palmer also denied claims that his party had spent more than the ALP during the final week of the election campaign.

Special minister for State Michael Ronaldson says he will ask the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters to inquire into the conduct of the 2013 federal election.

"Members of the community are entitled and encouraged to make a submission to the Committee," he said in a statement.

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Robber artist wins richest Aust art prize

A PAINTER jailed for holding up a convenience store has won Australia's richest art prize.

Nigel Milsom was awarded the $150,000 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize for his work, Uncle Paddy, in Sydney on Wednesday.

As Milsom is serving a prison sentence for holding up a Sydney convenience store, the prize was collected on his behalf by Kerry Crowley, of the Yuill Crowley Gallery in Sydney which represents Milsom.

She said he would be "thrilled" at news of the win.

Judge David Thomas says his fellow judge Ben Quilty knows Milsom and describes him as a sweet, gentle person.

Thomas, a leading figure in the Australian art scene, says he didn't mind awarding such a handsome sum to an inmate, given the supreme quality of Milsom's work and the positive effect the prize could have on his life.

"Even someone who has gotten into some state of punishment for whatever he did could come good," he says.

"So that's how I reconciled myself with Milsom getting that money."

Milsom's Uncle Paddy portrait features cubist-like brush strokes in his subject's face, which soften in his shirt.

"He has an extraordinary refined technique, the brushwork, so smooth, so delicate," Thomas says.

He says even more than the technique he admired the imagery in the portrait.

"It's a very old-fashioned Australian face," Thomas says.

As part of entering the prize, artists had to provide a description of their work.

In his statement, Milsom wrote that his portrait was of his grandfather's friend Paddy, who used to have beers at a NSW leagues club every Saturday night.

Paddy was one of the few non-family members to attend Milsom's grandfather's funeral.

"I knew that Paddy's Saturday nights would never be the same," Milsom said.

"There is a quiet sadness about Paddy that seems to stem from the realisation that death will be visiting him soon too.

"When I painted his portrait I got a sense that he has learnt to sit with this feeling of sadness which has given him a greater strength and wisdom."

Photographer and filmmaker John Janson-Moore took out the $50,000 Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize for his work Nyirripi Girl With Finger.

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Debt ceiling lifted as audit announced

Treasurer Joe Hockey will ask parliament to lift the cap on borrowings to $500 billion. Source: AAP

TREASURER Joe Hockey will ask parliament to lift the cap on borrowings to $500 billion to give the federal government room to cope with global economic uncertainty.

The federal cabinet decision comes as Mr Hockey announced that Business Council of Australia president Tony Shepherd will head a wide-ranging commission of audit to ensure spending is controlled and the debt ceiling is not breached.

The audit, which mirrors that undertaken by John Howard after he won the 1996 election, will look for ways the government can save money, remove duplication and raise extra revenue to balance the books.

Mr Hockey said he's been advised the existing debt limit of $300 billion would be reached on December 12 and was projected to exceed $400 billion by 2015/16.

"We need to move quickly to deal with this, particularly in the wake of what has been revealed in the United States in recent times," Mr Hockey said.

"This is a significant issue and we need to put it beyond any doubt so we do not have to revisit this issue again."

The government wants a buffer between $40 billion and $60 billion for "unanticipated events".

Mr Hockey said the commission of audit would help fix the "legacy of a bad Labor government".

Assisting Mr Shepherd will be former Howard government minister Amanda Vanstone, NSW prices watchdog chairman Peter Boxall, former Treasury secretary Tony Cole and former trade official Robert Fisher.

The commission will report on its initial work by January and finalise its report by the end of March.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann says the previous Labor government had boosted government spending by $120 billion over the six years from 2007/08 - a real increase of more than four per cent a year.

The audit will look at whether the states, local councils, charities or the private sector can take on some of the roles now played by the commonwealth.

It will also examine the use of new technology to streamline services, privatising assets, new charges for services, merging agencies and the wide-ranging "anything that is reasonably necessary or desirable to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government generally".

Senator Cormann said the only asset the government currently intended to sell was Medibank Private, with details released soon.

The commission is to find savings equal to one per cent of gross domestic product before 2023/24 and its findings will be adopted in the 2014/15 budget.

Opposition finance spokesman Tony Burke said the government was already breaking election promises.

"They have a commission which is aimed at cuts which will go all the way across all areas - areas we were told were immune are not immune," Mr Burke said.

"And the party that said they were all about turning around debt has now asked for permission to go to half a trillion dollars."

He said Labor would want to see updated budget projections before voting but would deal with the debt ceiling legislation "responsibly".

Public sector union boss Nadine Flood said such audits were a "shopping list for razor gangs".

Business Council chief Jennifer Westacott said the community should welcome the review as an act of a responsible government.

Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia chief Lee White said the commission needed to adopt a return-on-investment approach to cost savings to ensure savings in the long term.

"One of the central mandates of the commission should be to assess which policies and programs deliver a strong return on investment versus those that underperform," he said.

"Some savings measures could unintentionally have an adverse affect on our economic outlook, so they need to be talked through with experts and other stakeholders in the relevant industries to ensure they are structured correctly," he said.

Mr Hockey said the government's pre-election promises of paid parental leave and not making cuts to the budgets of health, education, defence and health and medical research would remain.

"But it doesn't mean that you can't identify waste in those areas and reallocate it to other priorities in the same portfolio," he said.

"The suggestion that there isn't waste in budgets of tens of billions of dollars is absurd. So what we've got to do is prioritise the expenditure in those areas but overall the envelope of committed expenditure in those areas will continue."

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Thailand mulls tourist medical fee

Thailand is set to impose a $A16.60 entry fee on tourists. Source: AAP

THAILAND is mulling slapping a 500-baht ($A16.60) entry fee on tourists to help cover foreigners' unpaid medical bills at hospitals, officials say.

"The policy is the result of foreign tourists who have accidents or fall sick in Thailand and seek treatment at our hospitals but then can't pay their bills," the Health Ministry's Deputy Permanent Secretary Charnvit Phrathep said on Tuesday.

Foreign tourists' unpaid hospital bills cost the state about 700 million baht ($A23.25 million) per year, according to the ministry.

"We try to send the bills on to the respective embassies but they always say they have no budgets," Charnvit said.

"We will be the first country to implement such a policy, but Britain and Cambodia are considering something similar."

The Interior Ministry, Health Ministry and Tourism Ministry had agreed on the policy, Health Minister Pradit Sintavanarong said in an interview with the Bangkok Post over the weekend.

The ministries were to try to draw up a regulation that would not require new legislation, and implement it from January 1.

The new policy might help prevent "trash" tourists from entering the country, Pradit was quoted as saying.

The 500-baht fee would apply to air arrivals. Tourists entering by land would pay a fee of 30 baht per day spent in the country.

Charnvit acknowledged that most Western tourists had health insurance, but said they would still have to pay, and would benefit from the policy.

"In the longer term it will add value to the tourism industry," he said. "We think most foreigners can afford 500 baht and if they come here and have a heart attack they will be happy to know they can get treatment at the nearest hospital with no questions asked."

But representatives of the tourism sector were less enthusiastic, and warned of a possible deterrent to tourists.

The chairman of the Pacific Asia Travel Association, Martin Craig, told AAP the fee would drive travellers elsewhere.

"It's a sledgehammer to crack a nut and it doesn't smell right to me."

He said the fee would include a large number of Australian arrivals, now approaching one million a year. Samphan Panphat, adviser to the Thai Hotels Association, said most foreigners who came to Thailand on tours "already have medical insurance so this fee would be redundant".

"And there are questions about the transparency of the scheme.

"If Thailand does something strange like this, there could be a long-term negative impact on the whole industry," Samphan said.

Thailand last year attracted 22 million tourists, earning the country $US32 billion ($A33.22 billion) in foreign exchange revenues.

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China faces human rights scrutiny in UN

FACED with a United Nations review of its human rights, China has acknowledged it still faces shortcomings but insists it has reduced poverty, deepened judicial reforms and protections of ethnic minorities.

China put its pride and promise to better itself on display on Tuesday at the UN's Human Rights Council, which reviews each nation's record once every four years.

But at the same time human rights groups and activists called attention to what they described as serious abuses and violations of international protections such as crackdowns on human rights defenders and ethnic Tibetan and Uighur populations.

A special envoy for China's foreign ministry, Wu Hailong, launched the three-hour session in the 47-nation Council with a speech that the nation has made many improvements but acknowledged the difficulties of a big, fast-growing country with more than 1.3 billion people and 56 ethnic groups.

Other nations called for better treatment of women, disabled people, and ethnic minorities and for a wide range of judicial improvements, such as an easing in death penalty cases and detentions of human rights defenders.

China said that since the last such review in 2009, when it accepted 42 recommendations by other countries, the country had reduced poverty, deepened reforms of the judicial systems and protections for ethnic minority groups, along with helping to spread "the right to development" among other developing countries.

"We are soberly aware that China still faces many difficulties and challenges in promoting and protecting human rights," Wu told the Geneva-based Council.

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WA mosquito warning over Ross River virus

PEOPLE in Western Australia's South West region are being warned to avoid mosquito bites after this season's first detection of Ross River virus in the insects.

People in Western Australia's South West region are being warned to avoid mosquito bites. Source: AAP

PEOPLE in Western Australia's South West region are being warned to avoid mosquito bites after this season's first detection of Ross River virus in the insects.

The Health Department says its mosquito and virus surveillance program has detected the virus at coastal mosquito breeding sites in the region.

Symptoms include painful or swollen joints, sore muscles, skin rashes, fever, fatigue and headaches.

The department says symptoms can last for weeks or months, and the only way to properly diagnose the virus is by having a specific blood test.

Michael Lindsay, the managing scientist of environmental health hazards at the Health Department, says there is no cure for Ross River virus so it is important that people take care to prevent bites.

"Above average rainfall this spring has enabled breeding of mosquitoes in large numbers in many coastal and inland areas of the South West and Wheatbelt", he said.

Dr Lindsay says activity could spread to other regions where mosquito populations had already established after recent rain.

He says local government mosquito management programs had been under way since August in some areas and would continue in regions at risk of the virus, but could not be solely relied upon.

The warning comes as experts from around Australia gather in Mandurah, south of Perth, this week for a mosquito management course.

The course will provide participants with knowledge and skills required to develop and implement mosquito management programs in their own areas.

Topics covered include mosquito biology, mosquito-borne diseases and methods of controlling mosquitoes.

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Opera House celebrates 40 years

More than 16,000 people gathered at the Sydney Opera House on Sunday to celebrate its 40th birthday. Source: AAP

WHEN architect Jon Utzon designed the Sydney Opera House, his family didn't foresee how iconic it would become for Australia.

Now, more than 40 years later his son Jan Utzon joined 16,000 people at its steps to celebrate its birthday on Sunday.

Mr Utzon said it was wonderful to see so much enthusiasm for his father's creation.

"It's wonderful to be here," he said in a statement.

"My family had no idea that the Opera House would be such a fantastic icon for the city of Sydney."

Speaking at the event - which included a performance by Jimmy Barnes and the presentation of an oversized cupcake - Minister of Tourism George Souris said the house's value was incalculable, attracting 8.2 million visitors each year and providing an epicentre to the nation's performing arts.

"It is the people's house. It is not only the people's of Australia, it belongs to the world," he said.

The CEO of the house Louise Herron said they were now working on turning the next decade into something just as memorable as the last 40 years.

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Interstate fire crews sent to help NSW

FIREFIGHTERS across Australia are being deployed to aid NSW in its state of emergency.

With deteriorating weather conditions feared to return to the state on Monday, a 120-strong replacement crew will head from Victoria to NSW.

Victoria's fire services commissioner Craig Lapsley says the crew will replace the team they sent last week.

NSW will then let Victoria know if it needs more back up.

"This week in NSW there's a critical couple of days," Mr Lapsley said.

"Tuesday and Wednesday is the real critical fire weather. There could be a chance NSW could ask for more."

South Australia has also chipped in, sending a crew of 51, while Tasmania has sent a team of 20. ACT Rural Fire Service has sent two teams to the Blue Mountains, where several ferocious fires are scorching the countryside.

A team of eight firefighters has also been sent from Queensland, with two more crews on standby.

New Zealand fire crews across the ocean are on the ready if NSW makes a call for help.

Earlier this year, New Zealand fire crews were deployed to help fight bushfires in both Tasmania and Victoria.

In 2009, a team of 109 Kiwi firefighters was sent to tackle massive bushfires in Victoria.

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Indian death toll from toxic liquor 42

Another 10 people have died after drinking toxic bootleg liquor in northern India. Source: AAP

ANOTHER 10 people have died in hospitals after drinking toxic bootleg liquor in northern India, raising the death toll to 42 in the past three days.

District Magistrate Neena Sharma says another 40 people are being treated in hospitals in Uttar Pradesh state.

Police arrested 32 people for illegally brewing and selling the toxic drink to the villagers, who were celebrating the Hindu "Dussehra" festival in Azamgarh district last week, Sharma said on Sunday.

The region is 300 kilometres southeast of Lucknow, the state capital.

Deaths from drinking illegally brewed alcohol are common in India because the poor cannot afford licenced liquor.

Illicit liquor is often spiked with chemicals such as pesticides to increase potency.

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Khloe Kardashian to return to Australia

Khloe Kardashian will reportedly travel to Australia next month to promote the family's new line. Source: AAP

KHLOE Kardashian must be having mixed feelings about returning to Australia in November.

Last time she visited, in 2011, she and her older sister Kim flew into a media storm. They arrived in Australia in the wake of Kim's announcement that she was divorcing her husband Kris Humphries, a mere 72 days after their much-hyped wedding.

Now News Corp Australia is reporting Khloe will return to Australia in November to promote the Kardashian family's fashion empire.

Khloe, 29, has been the subject of recent headlines about the state of her own marriage, to basketballer Lamar Odom.

The trip follows the launch of the Kardashian Kollection's ready-to-wear Spring/Summer line at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Festival in Sydney in August.

Khloe and Kim, who rose to fame with the TV show Keeping Up With the Kardashians, visited Australia in 2011 to promote their handbag line.

Hundreds of fans, journalists and photographers followed the stars on their two-day visit. The sisters cut short the trip and cancelled their scheduled appearance at the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

Khloe's November visit is likely to be more subdued.

It's unlikely Odom will join his wife in Australia.

The couple are reportedly estranged amid rumours the basketball player is battling addiction to cocaine.

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