Ice addict thief spared extra jail time

A HOMELESS ice addict who went on a $20,000 spending spree across Sydney using credit cards stolen from mailboxes has been spared extra time in prison.

Kayla Hemmings, 25, received a minimum sentence of 18 months at the NSW District Court on Tuesday for deliberately lighting a fire at the historic Sydney pub, the Lansdowne Hotel, which caused $2 million damage.

Magistrate Eve Wynhausen said she took Tuesday's punishment into account at Central Local Court on Wednesday when she sentenced Hemmings to concurrent sentences, the longest a nine-month jail term, for a string of offences including credit card theft.

Ms Wynhausen said Hemmings had shown remorse for the two-week spending binge in October 2013, which was funded by bank cards stolen from mailboxes on Sydney's north shore.

By the time Hemmings was charged on October 31, 2013, her spending included 48 separate transactions on a credit card totalling just under $5000 and using a David Jones store card to buy two Apple Mac Pro laptops worth more than $5000.

Hemmings' counsel, Mary Underwood, told the court at her sentencing on Wednesday that her client had been using the drug ice at the time and under the influence of her boyfriend.

"I am not excusing her actions, but she did not have a serious criminal record ... until she was in a relationship with someone that amplified this behaviour," Ms Underwood said.

The lawyer said Hemmings was introduced to amphetamines as a teenager by her mother.

"Unfortunately, she's had a number of converging events," Ms Underwood said.

"There's been abuse, physical and sexual, she got pregnant and was abandoned, she was introduced to ice and got mixed up with domestic violence."

Ms Wynhausen said Hemmings' offending had cost the community tens of thousands of dollars.

"I hope that once she is released from custody, she gets her life in order," she said.

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Row over green reforms derails debate

A STRAIGHTFORWARD proposal to change the way fees are managed under national environment law has been sidetracked by a lengthy debate about the Abbott government's green credentials.

The non-controversial bill allows for cost recovery for environmental impact assessments, and on Wednesday cleared the first hurdle of parliament with bipartisan support.

But Labor's environment spokesman Mark Butler used the occasion to move an amendment condemning the government's plan to create a "one-stop-shop" for environmental approvals.

"In eight short months... this government has shown itself to have scant regard indeed for its responsibilities to protect and nurture Australia's environment," Mr Butler told the chamber.

Critics claim the proposal will erode environmental protections by handing federal powers to the states but the government argues it will deliver faster approvals and reduce regulatory duplication.

The amendment failed, and Environment Minister Greg Hunt pushed the bill through in a vote.

He said almost all state governments - Liberal and Labor - strongly supported the reforms on the table.

"The only people opposed to this reform are the current members of the federal opposition," he said.

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Elder's 'stolen wages' claim dismissed

AN Aboriginal elder's claim for wages he says were stolen by the state has been thrown out of court due to a lack of evidence.

Conrad Yeatman, 74, was seeking $35,000 for wages he said were never paid to him when he worked as a carpenter and labourer in north Queensland in the 1950s.

Under the Aboriginals Preservation and Protection Act 1939 part of his wages were placed in the trust of the superintendent of the Yarrabah mission where he lived.

Mr Yeatman's District Court claim said that while some of his earnings were paid out when he became exempt from the law in 1958, 70 pounds that he earned working on a station was never recovered.

However, Justice David Andrews granted a state bid to put the case on hold permanently after exhaustive searches found almost no financial documentation, and that potential witnesses were dead.

"The defendants have effectively no evidence whatsoever to test these claims," the judge said.

Justice Andrews said it wasn't disputed that Mr Yeatman's savings had been managed by the superintendent but the money could have been withdrawn on his behalf for food or other reasons.

There was some evidence money had been spent on the indigenous teen for clothes, medical expenses and trips.

"I don't accept Mr Yeatman is capable of giving a useful account of the number and amounts of payments made for and on his behalf," the judge said.

Mr Yeatman, whose claim was seen as a test case and was backed by the Queensland Council of Unions (QCU), must also pay the state's legal costs.

His lawyer Charles Massy said it was an immensely disappointing outcome and the team was considering an appeal.

In 2002, former premier Peter Beattie acknowledged that as much as $500 million may have been stolen from Aborigines' wages.

Mr Beattie offered $55 million in compensation, and a reparation scheme subsequently paid out about $35 million to 7000 applicants.

Mr Yeatman was offered the maximum $7,000 reparation but knocked it back as inadequate.

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HK man charged over undeclared $A300,000

A HONG Kong national has been charged after attempting to leave Australia with $300,000 in undeclared cash he had stashed in his luggage.

The 31-year-old man was picked up at Melbourne's International Airport after customs officers found the money on Tuesday.

The officers also retrieved the man's customs declaration, which confirmed he had not declared he was exporting excess currency.

Federal police stopped the man leaving Australia on a Hong Kong-bound flight.

After his arrest, he faced charges of money-laundering and dealing with money suspected of being the proceeds of crime.

He is expected to appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court at a later date.

Victorian regional commander Graham Krisohos of the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service said there was no limit to the amount of currency that could be brought in or out of Australia.

However, "if you have more than $10,000 of currency, you must declare it to a Customs and Border Protection officer before you enter or leave the country", Mr Krisohos said.

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BHP may axe dozens of alumina jobs

BHP Billiton may cut jobs at its Worsley Alumina operations in Western Australia. Source: AAP

BHP Billiton may soon start axing jobs at its Worsley Alumina operations in Western Australia.

The mining giant says Worsley had moved into a stabilisation phase after completing a major expansion of its operations last year.

"With no new projects planned for the next five years, the organisational structure of Worsley is under review," a BHP spokesman said.

"There may be some impact on jobs in some areas."

There are about 2,500 workers at Worsley.

BHP will review the nature and number of roles needed to support production and ensure Worsley has a sustainable future, the spokeswoman said.

She said no operational disruptions were anticipated during the review.

The cost of expanding BHP's Worsley alumina refinery blew out due to factors including inflationary pressures and the stronger Australian dollar.

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MPs called 'cowards' in abortion debate

VICTORIAN balance of power MP Geoff Shaw has called his fellow MPs "moral cowards" for their refusal to debate abortion laws.

The former Liberal MP who took the balance of power in Victoria's lower house when he turned independent last year, is planning a private member's bill to introduce radical changes to state abortion laws, including outlawing gender-selection and late-term abortions.

Both Premier Denis Napthine and Labor leader Daniel Andrews have previously said they would not support any debate on or changes to the state's abortion laws.

Mr Shaw accused Dr Napthine of "closing down debate" on the issue and said government MPs were moral cowards.

"I think they should be taking the lead on the debate and not being moral cowards," Mr Shaw told reporters.

"I think some of the MPs are a bit gutless and more concerned about their seats instead of doing what's right."

Mr Shaw has just returned from a trip to the US where he said he studied US abortion laws.

Dr Napthine has told parliament he met the independent MP on Tuesday for about 10 or 15 minutes where the pair discussed Mr Shaw's US trip.

Dr Napthine said the pair discussed public transport and a privileges committee probe into Mr Shaw, following a newspaper report on Tuesday.

The committee is investigating Mr Shaw for alleged misconduct after the ombudsman found he used his parliamentary car for his own hardware business.

Dishonesty charges relating to the allegations against Mr Shaw were dropped in December.

Dr Napthine said he told Mr Shaw he knew nothing about the committee's deliberations nor when its report would be released.

"I told him that I knew nothing about these matters," the premier told parliament.

"I'm not privy to the deliberations of the privileges committee. I'm not privy to their discussions and their timing."

There is speculation the privileges committee report on him will be released publicly this week.

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Energy target review questions mount

THE Abbott government review of the renewable energy target has come under further scrutiny, with questions being asked about a consultancy firm hired to advise the panel.

An inquiry has been told ACIL Allen won the sole government contract to advise the RET review despite cheaper proposals from competing firms.

The government has asked the review to consider the appropriateness of the bipartisan clean energy scheme and its impact on power prices.

The RET mandates that 20 per cent of all electricity come from renewable sources by 2020, but critics have called for this to be watered down or scrapped.

A top public servant involved with the review admitted ACIL Allen's pitch wasn't the cheapest but said it did represent the best value for money out of the nine firms that tendered.

"They were found to have submitted the best proposal in response to the request of the electricity market work," first assistant secretary Brad Archer told a Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday.

"It's not exclusively about price."

But ACIL Allen's extensive modelling work for the traditional energy market has led some renewable power supporters to ask questions.

Greens senator Scott Ludlam asked how "analysts for the coal industry" could be expected to deliver fair advice.

"Does it worry you that they might tilt or kink their models in favour of black power generators?" he asked.

The inquiry also heard that stakeholders weren't happy with the review's decision not to consider any scenarios with a carbon price or emissions reduction policy until 2030.

Mr Archer said the panel was actively considering including such modelling in its review process.

It's not the first time the review process has come under scrutiny.

The government was heavily criticised over its decision to appoint Dick Warburton - a former head of Manufacturing Australia and sceptic of man-made climate change - to head the panel.

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G4S hasn't identified Barati killers

A local MP says Manus Islanders are happy with the Australian-run detention centre there. Source: AAP

SECURITY company G4S insists it does not know which of its staff may have been involved in the fatal bashing of an Iranian asylum seeker during riots at the Manus Island detention centre.

Papua New Guinea police investigating Reza Barati's February 18 death suspect three G4S guards, two local PNG men and an expatriate.

G4S admits there are allegations but says it hasn't identified perpetrators, just passed all information to PNG police.

"Of course we are saddened by the events of that night," G4S managing director of immigration services, Chris Manning, told the ABC on Tuesday.

But it was not for G4S to sift the evidence, its role was to support the police inquiry "to ensure that anybody who has broken the law in this brutal and horrific way is brought to justice," he said.

An independent review into the riot has found a PNG man employed by the The Salvation Army led the brutal beating that killed Mr Barati, whose head was crushed by a rock.

The investigation, by former public servant Robert Cornall, found no particular factor caused the violence.

That report's release before they finished their investigation has angered PNG police.

They say a request by PNG police to involve Australia Federal Police in the investigation was accepted by officers on the ground, but later rejected by Canberra.

"We were frustrated by the lack of co-operation by the Australian government, the security service provider G4S and asylum seekers," a PNG police spokesman said on Tuesday.

"They have been frustrating our efforts, and have been since day one.

"We can't even interview suspects. They flew them to Australia, then back again without telling us."

The PNG police spokesman conceded local investigators have yet to conclude if PNG police entered the camp, but says the PNG courts cannot rely on the Cornall report.

"It's a private investigation, as far as we're concerned," the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Mr Manning also denied G4S had finalised any plans to hand control of the Manus Island centre to PNG police if riots occurred.

"No, it is absolutely not correct.. and I would emphatically deny that," he told the ABC.

"What we did have was a draft protocol for the joint management of incidents, which had been passed to the police for consideration."

Earlier G4S had insisted a recording obtained by the ABC of a G4S briefing discussing such plans had been taken out of context.

In the recording, acting regional manager John McCaffrey is heard apparently making plans to hand over control to PNG's police mobile squad in the event of major violence.

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Labor senator 'spied on', committee hears

Labor senator John Faulkner may have been spied on in parliament house, a hearing has been told. Source: AAP

A PARLIAMENTARY official may have wrongfully accessed security camera footage of another official talking to veteran Labor senator John Faulkner.

Senior officers in the Department of Parliamentary Services accessed nine minutes of security camera footage while investigating a code of conduct case against an employee.

Department secretary Carol Mills has told a Senate estimates hearing the footage was properly released under guidelines which allowed its use in cases where it was needed to "provide evidence upon which to take criminal and civil proceedings".

However Ms Mills told the hearing on Monday that while the footage, which had been sought by human resources officers, was being examined, there may have been an "inadvertent breach of the statement of purpose".

She said the part of the footage in question involved a person "doing other activities in the building other than that for which the CCTV footage was released".

While she declined to say what those activities were, Senator Faulkner asked whether the footage involved someone giving information to him.

"It may do," Ms Mills said.

Senator Faulkner said it was a "serious issue of parliamentary privilege" and he would seek an investigation.

"That a senator in this parliament is being spied on as they go about the proper conduct of their duties - no one in this place is ever going to accept that," he said.

The committee went into a private session to discuss the issue further.

In 2011 Senator Faulkner led an inquiry into the DPS, which he described as "the worst administered government department" he had ever come across.

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Letter bid to block Vic child abuse bill

ANTI-VIOLENCE groups want three Nationals MPs to block new Victorian laws that they fear will turn women who fail to report child sexual abuse into criminals.

Opponents say they broadly support the child protection bill's aim but one clause risks criminalising women who fail to report child abuse in their family out of fear for their own safety.

With the Legislative Council set to debate the bill this week, leaders from nine organisations have jointly written to the three National MLCs - Danny O'Brien, David O'Brien and Minister for Sport, Recreation and Veterans' Affairs Damian Drum - asking them to vote it down.

Dr Chris Atmore of the Federation of Community Legal Centres said the bill ignores previous research and best practice in the field of domestic violence.

"We hope that at least one Nationals MP will vote based on the evidence and not political expediency," she told AAP.

"We have had very little in the way of a response to our concerns from government MPs but in contrast we have had a fair amount of discussion with the opposition and the Greens, who are concerned about reducing domestic violence but seem to understand our concerns with (the) clause."

A spokesperson for the Nationals said a bi-partisan committee had strongly recommended that all adults have a duty to tell police about child sexual abuse.

"The legislation makes clear that a person does not commit an offence if they have a reasonable fear for their own or someone else's safety and if it is reasonable for them not to inform police in the circumstances of family violence they face."

Labor and the Greens hold 19 seats in the 40-seat Legislative Council and are likely to vote against the bill.

The Liberals have 18 seats and their coalition partner the Nationals hold three seats.

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