Shark victim's husband opens up

Police have found remains believed to belong to a woman killed by a shark off the NSW south coast. Source: AAP

THE husband of shark attack victim Christine Armstrong knew something was wrong when a bird swooped him in the water.

Rob Armstrong then spotted a large bronze whaler shark and swam carefully in a tight formation with the rest of his swimming group back to shore at Tathra Beach.

He did not initially fear for the safety of his wife of 44 years at the NSW south coast tourist spot, more concerned about the welfare of a 70-year-old swimming buddy.

"We thought everything was safe and we just hugged each other (on the beach) and then we found that Chris wasn't in the change rooms," Rob Armstrong said.

"We immediately got in the IRB (inflatable rescue boat), went out and very shortly we found evidence that Chris was no more.

Mr Armstrong is convinced his wife suffered a quick death at the spot south of Bega.

"She would not hold anything against what happened," he told reporters.

He wanted to assure friends she died doing something that she loved and he "is certain Chris would not have known what had hit her".

"The shark was such a size and it's consumed her basically completely - she wouldn't have even known it happened."

Mrs Armstrong's swimming cap and goggles were located on Thursday evening and police say human remains will undergo forensic testing.

The search, which is focusing on the southern end of Tathra Beach, resumed on Friday morning despite wet weather and grey skies.

"Chris only knew one way in life and that was love, and everyone loved her," Mr Armstrong said.

Divers from Sydney have arrived to assist the search along with lifesavers from nearby regions.

Patrols of Tathra Beach will start again at about 8am on Saturday, including a helicopter search of nearby beaches.

Tathra Beach will be reopened at 10am on Saturday.

"This decision is supported by the Armstrong family and the Tathra Surf Life Saving community," police media said.

The Department of Primary Industries says large schools of baitfish could soon gather near the shore, which may mean sharks will also be attracted to the area.

People who see sharks are urged to notify life savers immediately.

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NT schools to double in attendance program

AT the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Thamarrurr Catholic College in the remote indigenous community of Wadeye in the north-western Northern Territory, average school attendance rates are about 51 per cent.

But the federal government is hoping to change that, now that it has almost doubled the number of schools signed up to its Remote School Attendance Strategy.

An additional 210 school attendance officers and 60 supervisors will be employed to boost attendance rates in a further 30 schools nation-wide from Term 2, Minister for Indigenous Affairs Nigel Scullion said on Friday.

Fifteen of the new schools will be in the NT, seven in Queensland and three in Western Australia, with another five in other jurisdictions.

The schools were identified following consultation with state and territory governments, the minister said.

The Wadeye community faces numerous obstacles to getting students to school, says Principal Dr John Young, due to the 22-plus different clans based there.

"When there's fighting in the community the attendance drops pretty dramatically," he told AAP.

"There's a lot of clan conflict issues, and a lot of kids don't get the amount of sleep they should, which has a real major effect on learning."

Factors affecting children's sleep and school attendance include loud music, parents gambling late into the night and overcrowding at home, where 16 people can live in a three-bedroom house, Dr Young said.

Some of the conflict spilled into school.

"Whether people say it's payback from the old days or they're fighting because every clan here has their own country, I don't know who to blame. Why is the government putting everyone in one place when years ago they wanted to kill each other?" resident Harold Anderson told AAP.

"The generation coming through now are hearing the same stories and the violence is getting worse and worse."

Dr Young said the key attendance data measures how many students attend school at least four days out of five.

22 per cent, or 177 students are coming to school 80 per cent of the time or more, he said.

"Those kids are making very good progress; the best thing we can do is move the 111 students who come 60 to 80 per cent up to coming four to five days a week... That makes the biggest difference."

School attendance personnel are already working in more than 40 schools across Australia and some schools in the NT have reported increases in attendance of nearly 20 percentage points since the strategy was implemented at the start of school this year, Minister Scullion said.

Early data from schools involved in the scheme's first stage show encouraging signs of increased school attendance, with more than 600 more children in school this year compared to last year.

Total government funding for the strategy now stands at $46.5 million.

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M.I.A., Janelle Monae in hologram duet

SINGERS MIA and Janelle Monae have shared the stage during separate concerts on opposite coasts through the magic of holograms.

MIA performed in New York with a 3-D projection of Monae on Thursday night while Monae sang on the West Coast with MIA's likeness.

Both artists have ideas for how they might use performance holograms beyond their bi-coastal duet.

The duet was sponsored by Audi to launch its A3 model.

M.I.A. and Monae performed together in person to help create the holograms, but each saw the results for the first time onstage.

"I wish I were in the audience because I'm sure it looked cooler from the audience but it felt great," Monae said after closing her 40-minute set at Quixote Studios by singing with a hologram.

"I felt MIA's spirit up there."

A life-size hologram of the British rapper joined Monae onstage with an original addition to her song Q.U.E.E.N.

Wearing a spangled top and pants reminiscent of C-3PO, MIA appeared to dance and sing, her image at times bathed in coloured lights. Monae's hologram sang a verse of MIA's "Bad Girls" with her at New York's SIR Stage 37.

Neither artist got to see what their own hologram looked like.

"I'm going to go online and see if I could see it," Monae confessed.

But both said they'd try the technology again.

"It's definitely cool for us and it's cool for me. I could be in 10 places at once," MIA said by phone.

The technology has been prohibitively expensive and cumbersome to use on tour, she said: "I hope they get it together to the point that it's accessible."

If so, Monae has some ideas about how to apply it.

"I'd be honoured to experiment more with holograms and maybe make a whole band - but I love my band, I wouldn't want them to be holograms," she said. "I would do some experimenting with different versions of myself, playing different instruments."

Not that either artist has the time to go hologram crazy. Both are touring in support of albums released last northern autumn: MIA's Matangi and Monae's Electric Lady.

Monae also contributes the theme song to the upcoming animated film Rio 2 and covered David Bowie's Heroes for a Pepsi global ad campaign.

MIA is busy with her fashion collection for Versace and her ongoing snarl with the National Football League, which is seeking $US16 million ($A17.38 million) from the singer on claims that she ruined the league's reputation when she stuck out her middle finger during a halftime performance with Madonna two years ago.

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US Marshals take custody of Brown

US singer Chris Brown has been taken into custody ahead of his misdemeanour assault trial. Source: AAP

THE US Marshals Service has taken R and B singer Chris Brown into custody to transport him to Washington for his upcoming misdemeanour assault trial.

Marshals spokeswoman Laura Vega says Brown was transferred into the agency's custody from a Los Angeles jail on Wednesday.

She declined to say when the Grammy winner would be sent to Washington.

Brown is scheduled to go on trial later this month on the misdemeanour charge.

The singer and his bodyguard are accused of hitting a man outside a hotel in October.

Brown has been in a Los Angeles jail since mid-March, when a judge ordered him taken into custody after the singer was dismissed from a court-mandated rehab program.

Brown's attorney Mark Geragos had been seeking to block Brown's transfer into the marshals' custody.

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US store teams up with Elle Macpherson

JC Penney is hoping that some supermodel magic will win over shoppers in the lingerie department by launching an exclusive lingerie collection in the US in partnership with Australian supermodel Elle Macpherson.

The collection will be in 300 of Penney's 1100 stores starting on April 11. Penney says it will wait to see how the brand fares before deciding whether to roll it out to its other stores.

The collection, called The Body by Elle Macpherson, which refers to her nickname, offers bras and panties in mostly cotton. Its emphasis is on the smoothest, most precise fit that can be worn every day.

The collection builds on the lingerie business Macpherson founded in 1990 with the launch of an upscale collection of lacy and silk lingerie.

The Body Bras sell for around $US50 ($A54.31), while bras in the Elle Macpherson Intimates Collection can sell for as much as $US150 ($A162.92). The bras have four distinct silhouettes designed to suit varying needs and body shapes: the push up, a sporty demi-cut version, an unlined alternative and a subtle lift.

"I created this for myself, because I thought there was a gap," Macpherson told The Associated Press.

"I really wanted to address this idea of shape."

Macpherson, who is creative director for a series of fashion business ventures, said Penney offers the opportunity to design for a wider audience.

The collection comes as Penney is trying to recover from a botched transformation spearheaded by its former CEO Ron Johnson. He was fired in April 2013 after 17 months on the job. That month, Mike Ullman, Johnson's predecessor, returned to the helm and has restored frequent sales events and basic merchandise to help reverse plunging sales and massive losses.

Macpherson's collection will be at the high end of Penney's offerings. Bras are priced anywhere from $US40 ($A43.45) to $US49 ($A53.22), while panties will be priced at $US12 ($A13.03) to $US14 ($A15.21

Spargo says Penney shoppers will be able to relate to Macpherson outside of being a celebrity.

"She's a working mom. She's a business owner," she said.

Macpherson, who is based in London but travels around the world, says she's "passionate" about lingerie. It began in 1990 with her partnership with Bendon Limited Apparel, the same manufacturer that is producing the line for Penney. It marked one of the first examples of a model becoming a fashion brand.

Macpherson said she created her original collection back then because she saw a void between European-style lingerie and the comfort that American brands offered.

"As a model, I was constantly getting undressed," Macpherson added.

"I wanted to make sure I looked good."

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More double demerits for WA drivers

DOUBLE demerit penalties will now apply to West Australian motorists caught using their mobile phones while driving and running red lights during holiday periods.

Road Safety Minister Liza Harvey said the change would come into effect in time for the Easter long weekend and would be reviewed after three years.

"We know that both running red lights and using your mobile phone while driving are linked to fatal and serious crashes," she said.

"We don't want anybody to lose a loved one on our roads over the Anzac and Easter holidays."

Double demerits already apply to drink and drug driving, speeding and not using seatbelts.

Earlier this year, the Road Safety Council undertook a review of the double demerits system and advised that illegal mobile phone use and running red lights should be included.

Over the past five years, road fatalities had dropped by 30 per cent, but WA still had one of the worst road tolls in Australia, Ms Harvey said.

Double demerit penalties will be enforced between April 17 and 21, and between April 24 and 27.

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SA and Canberra closer on road plan

The SA and federal governments have held talks on Adelaide's north-south road corridor. Source: AAP

THE federal and South Australian governments have held talks aimed at overcoming disagreements on how to fully redevelop Adelaide's north-south road corridor.

The two governments had been at odds before the recent state election, with the Commonwealth wanting to start the project with an upgrade at Darlington in the city's south.

The state government maintained a section of the road further north should be the priority.

But a meeting on Thursday between federal Assistant Minister for Infrastructure Jamie Briggs and new SA Transport and Infrastructure Minister Stephen Mullighan appears to have closed the gap.

Mr Briggs said he was now more confident about the project.

"We want to get the north-south corridor upgraded in a decade," he said.

Mr Mullighan described Thursday's meeting as productive.

"We've made very clear what our priority is and they've made very clear what their priority is," he said.

"What we're working on is how we can deliver both projects."

Mr Mullighan said talks would continue.

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Safety overlooked in batts scheme rush

FORMER prime minister Kevin Rudd's "horrendous" timeline for the home insulation program denied bureaucrats adequate time to consider safety risks, an inquiry has heard.

Public servants were given five months to devise the $2.8 billion scheme.

Safety considerations were overlooked as they scrambled to have it up and running by July 1, 2009, a royal commission has been told.

Former environment department deputy secretary Malcolm Forbes, who oversaw delivery, says potential risks would have been properly considered if time wasn't so tight.

Commissioner Ian Hanger QC asked what was "so magic" about July 1, 2009.

"That's what the prime minster wanted," Mr Forbes replied.

Asked why nobody told Mr Rudd it couldn't be done, Mr Forbes said doing so would have gone against the public service culture, which was to remain positive and get the job done.

Mr Forbes said he did raise concerns about the challenging deadline with former co-ordinator general Mike Mrdak.

"We were flagging early that this was a significant challenge to us," he said.

A coronial inquest has already blamed the scheme's rushed rollout for the deaths of young Queenslanders Matthew Fuller, Rueben Barnes and Mitchell Sweeney.

NSW tradesman Marcus Wilson also died installing home insulation.

Mr Forbes said he had never, in his 33 years as a public servant, seen such a short gap between a government program being announced and rolled out, as occurred with the home insulation program (HIP).

"The HIP implementation timeline was horrendous," he said in a statement to the inquiry.

" ... some compromises were made that left risks remaining to achieve the timeline."

The scheme wasn't fully implemented until September 2009 but even then inspections were happening slowly.

While 400,000 homes had been insulated by October, only 172 roof inspections had taken place.

The inquiry resumes on Friday.

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'500 dolphins caught in WA nets' in decade

Western Australian scientists say methods to reduce dolphin bycatch are not working. Source: AAP

ABOUT 500 dolphins have been caught in the Pilbara trawl fishery in the past 10 years, West Australian scientists say.

Murdoch University PhD candidate Simon Allen and colleagues from the Cetacean Research Unit have made the claims based on independent observer data, which shows methods to reduce dolphin bycatch are not working.

"Independent observers reported bycatch rates of about 50 dolphins per year, which is double the number reported by the skippers of these vessels," Mr Allen said.

Under-reporting was not unusual around the world, especially where marine mammal capture was illegal, he said.

"This doesn't necessarily mean that skippers are deliberately under-reporting," Mr Allen said.

"Fishers are concentrating on the job at hand and may not see a dead dolphin fall out of the net on winch up."

A report by the WA Fisheries Department detailed similar findings, but instead suggested self-reporting mechanisms in place were accurate and the impact posed negligible risk, Mr Allen said.

But researchers said modified bycatch reduction devices with top-opening escape hatches could be more effective.

The scientists have also called for a reinstatement of independent observers and in-net video collection to accurately measure bycatch.

"The next step is to calculate the acceptable levels of human-caused dolphin mortality, which requires an estimate of the dolphin population size in the region," Mr Allen said.

"If the ongoing bycatch exceeds that threshold, switching to alternative, less destructive fishing methods, like trap or line fishing, should be considered."

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Second man charged on NSW double shooting

A MAN has been charged with attempted murder and several robbery offences for his part in a western Sydney double shooting that left a teenager and an innocent bystander in serious conditions in hospital.

Police had been looking for the man after he and three others ambushed three teenagers in their car last week, shooting one before running away and firing on an innocent bystander who confronted the group in the front yard of his Merrylands home.

They arrested the 23-year-old on a street corner at Guildford early on Thursday afternoon and charged him with shooting at with intent to murder, robbery armed with offensive weapon causing wounding or grievous bodily harm, assault with intent to rob while armed with an offensive weapon causing wounding and or grievous bodily harm and robbery while armed with dangerous weapon.

He was refused bail and is due before Parramatta Local Court on Friday.

After the bungled armed robbery, a 19-year-old man was rushed to hospital with chest, stomach and arm wounds and a 62-year-old man was left in a critical but stable condition from a gunshot to the chest.

Both shooting victims remain in hospital.

Police say the 19-year-old had gone to Merrylands with two mates, 17 and 18, late on the night of March 26 to buy a mobile phone advertised on a social networking site.

But they were stopped in their car on a residential street by two men.

Two more men appeared and a fight broke out.

The 19-year-old was shot after a man jumped into the teen's car allegedly demanding cash and property.

The two other suspects remain at large.

Yousiff Chami was last week also charged over the Merrylands shootings.

The 27-year-old, who's facing firearm and robbery charges, was remanded in custody until his matter appears before Parramatta Local Court on May 22.

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PM labels PUP 'one man personality cult'

Labor MP Jason Clare (pic) says the coalition will regret its pre-election attacks on Clive Palmer. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has taken another swipe at Clive Palmer, dismissing his political outfit as "a personality cult for one person".

Mr Abbott has repeatedly accused Mr Palmer of trying to buy seats in parliament in a bid to further his own interests.

And on Wednesday, he asked what it meant for democracy when candidates were "a proxy for a minor party that is a personality cult for one person".

"It's something for voters to ponder in the lead-up to Saturday," he told ABC radio in Perth on Wednesday during the West Australian Senate election campaign.

On the party's appeal, Mr Abbott said: "I think there is a certain novelty value and obviously there has been a massive, massive, massive advertising spend.

"So far, the gentleman in question has spent - presumably from his own money - far more than the combined spending from both the Liberal Party and the Labor Party," he said.

But Labor deputy leader Tanya Plibersek, also campaigning in Perth on Wednesday, said it was up to each party to determine how much was spent on a campaign.

"We believe in a democracy," Ms Plibersek said.

"As long as a political party declares all its donations, as long as it abides by the rules, they've got every right to spend the money they raise."

Despite the Greens being the second biggest spenders in the re-run WA Senate election, leader Christine Milne said the party wanted to see expenditure on campaign ads capped in light of the Palmer United Party ad blitz.

"This is the first time in Australian politics where we've had a rich individual being able to so manifestly influence the vote," she said.

Greens Senator Scott Ludlam said his party's ad spending was different to PUP's because the funds came from a large amount of small donations.

Mr Palmer said PUP's advertising cash splash was his personal money to do with what he wished.

He said he had only spent a third of what the Liberal Party did at the 2013 federal election.

"No matter how much money you spend on advertising, if you have a bad idea people won't vote for you," Mr Palmer told Network Ten.

If PUP wins a WA Senate seat on Saturday, it will have three members on the upper house crossbench after July 1.

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Cancer risk for 1000 Fukushima children

A GROUP of children exposed to higher radiation levels from the Fukushima nuclear accident faces a slightly higher risk of thyroid cancer, UN experts say.

However, there would be no measurable rise of cancer in the Japanese population overall, the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) said in its final report on the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

About 1000 children who were evacuated from the vicinity received a radiation dose of up to 80 milligrays.

"If we are honest, we must say there is a chance that a few of these children will have received thyroid doses which are high enough that sometimes in the future, thyroid cancer can develop," said German expert Wolfgang Weiss, who co-ordinated the UNSCEAR investigation.

For the study, more than 80 scientists from 18 countries analysed the radiation levels to which people in Japan were exposed, and the likelihood that the rate of cancers affecting the thyroid, blood, breasts or other organs will rise.

The Japanese people were rightly concerned, UNSCEAR chairman Carl-Magnus Larsson said.

"Based on this assessment, however, the committee does not expect significant changes in future cancer statistics that could be attributed to radiation exposure from the accident," he said on Wednesday.

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830 manufacturing jobs to leave Aust

MORE jobs are leaving Australia with 830 positions cut in just one day by three big employers.

Only hours after BP and Philip Morris announced 530 job cuts between them, Boeing on Wednesday evening said up to 300 jobs would go from its Port Melbourne site.

The aerospace giant said the jobs, mainly of contractors, would go by the end of 2014.

Philip Morris will also close its Moorabbin-based cigarette factory in Melbourne by the end of the year at the cost of 180 jobs.

BP's Bulwer Island plant in Brisbane will shrink from 380 staff to just 25 by mid-2015, while another 300 contractors could be affected.

Boeing said it would work to minimise job losses by not filling open positions and natural attrition.

"In line with a long established financial forecast, we will be releasing up to 300 people, primarily fixed-term contractors, by the end of the year," Boeing said in a statement issued on Wednesday night.

"Reducing employment on these programs is a natural part of the manufacturing cycle.

According to its website, Boeing Aerostructures Australia employs 1300 people at its Melbourne site, in design, test, certification and manufacture of advanced structures for commercial airplanes.

BP said the emergence of large low-cost oil refineries in Asia was the reason for its decision to close its Brisbane operations.

"While this decision will significantly improve our competitive position, it will result in job losses and I would like to acknowledge the enormous commitment and contribution made over many years by our staff at Bulwer Island," BP Australasia president Andy Holmes said.

Tim Wall, the managing director of the Bulwer Island refinery, said it was a sad day for all of the plant's staff.

"We will be putting measures in place to assist our affected employees, including transitional support and job placement assistance," he said.

Philip Morris is sending its cigarette production to Korea, partly blaming over-regulation in Australia for the move.

John Gledhill, PMI managing director for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, said the introduction in 2010 of reduced-fire risk requirements for Australian-made cigarettes had resulted in products that did not match consumers' preferences in other markets in the region.

"Despite the introduction of plain packaging and the continued growth in illicit trade, PML's volumes were stable in 2013," Mr Gledhill said in a statement on Wednesday.

"However, with any significant export opportunity restricted by Australian government regulations, our Moorabbin factory is significantly under-utilised, operating at less than half of its currently installed capacity."

The Australian Workers Union said it was in negotiations with the company over the shutdown.

"These are people who have done an honest job, been loyal to their employer and contributed to the life of this state. They need jobs," AWU Victorian secretary Ben Davis said.

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Artist plants fake Bieber CDs in LA stores

AN artist is making it difficult to believe there's actually a copy of Justin Bieber's latest album for sale in Los Angeles stores.

Paz, a 25-year-old electronic musician and artist, says he planted 5000 copies of an album that appears to be Bieber's Believe but actually contains a copy of his own CD at retailers on Tuesday, April Fool's Day.

"We were meticulous," said Paz, who fancies the stunt as more of a performance art piece than an April Fool's gag. "We paid a lot of attention to detail because we wanted these to stay up on shelves as long as possible."

From the outside, the wrapped CDs resemble Believe right down to the bar code and silky Bieber portrait on the cover. However, Paz's artwork is inside the back cover, and the disc itself is slathered with images of cats, pizzas and a dog stuffed inside a taco. The CD contains the 13 tracks from Paz's synth-heavy independent release From the Bottom of My Heart to the Top of Your Lungs.

The Associated Press independently verified the stunt by purchasing random copies of what looked like Bieber's Believe from widely scattered LA area locations. In each instance, the CDs were scanned and paid for as if they were Bieber CDs. But when they were opened outside the store, each contained a copy of Paz's album, not Bieber's.

Why replace Bieber?

"The world won't really miss a Justin Bieber record," said Paz.

Paz, whose full name is Paz Dylan, said he wanted to use so-called "big-box retailers" as his artistic canvas by "droplifting" his music into the hands of consumers.

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Police 'amended' Hillsborough statements

POLICE officers' accounts of the Hillsborough disaster were amended to remove comments criticising police leadership or abusive remarks about fans, an inquest has heard.

Jurors sitting on the inquest into the deaths of 96 football fans at the FA Cup semi-final on April 15, 1989 will have to consider whether the changes were part of a policy to blame fans and deflect criticism from the police, coroner Lord Justice Goldring said.

Senior ranks and lawyers at South Yorkshire Police reviewed all self-taken statements by officers present at the disaster and amended some of them before forwarding them on to West Midlands Police, who were investigating the tragic events, the inquest jury was told.

The coroner said: "Over the years between 1989 and today it has become known that a large number of statements were amended in the review. The amendments vary in type and significance.

"Some simply involve corrections of language and factual error. Others involve removing expletives.

"A number involved the removal of comments criticising the police leadership on the day of the disaster.

"Others were of deletions of passages denouncing poor and defective radio communications.

"A small number were amended to remove comments which were critical or even abusive of the fans at the match."

Lord Justice Goldring said the jurors would have to consider whether the amendments affect their view of the "reliability" of early written statements given by the officers.

He added they would have to ask why the were amended, if it was an "innocent" alteration or "part of a policy of blaming fans in order to deflect criticism from the police".

The hearing continues.

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Search for MH370 could drag on: Houston

Authorities are in a race against time to locate the black box in the Malaysia Airlines plane wreck. Source: AAP

AS Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak prepares to travel to Perth to thank those searching for Malaysia Airlines flight 370, Australia's former defence chief has warned the operation could take a long time.

Mr Najib will arrive on Wednesday and stay until Thursday, visiting the RAAF Pearce air base to the city's north, the departure point for the seven-nation search effort.

Danica Weeks - the wife of missing Perth passenger, Paul Weeks - visited the air base on Tuesday, prompting Air Chief Marshal Houston to urge the mother-of-two to come to the new Joint Agency Co-ordination Centre near the West Australian parliament for a full briefing.

He also passed on his personal phone number to her.

Air Chief Marshal Houston is leading the centre, which has taken over from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority in co-ordinating the search and distributing information about it.

He said the operation would be pursued with vigour, but with no objects pulled from the Indian Ocean identified as being from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight, it could drag on for weeks, maybe months.

"I have to say in my experience - and I have got a lot of experience in search and rescue over the years - this search and recovery operation is probably the most challenging I have ever seen," he told reporters in Perth on Tuesday.

The last known position of the plane was a long way away from the area being examined and until some debris was found to narrow down the search, it "could drag on for a long time".

"I say that because the starting point whenever you do a search and rescue is the last known position of the vehicle or aircraft.

"In this particular case, the last known position was a long, long way from where the aircraft appears to have gone.

"We've been searching for many, many days and so far have not found anything connected with MH370."

Air Chief Marshal Houston said it was not known what altitude and speed the aircraft was travelling at and authorities were relying on the best information available.

"I think at this stage that it's very important to pursue all the leads," he added, as 10 planes and nine ships, some with helicopters, resumed the search.

He also said updated information about the pilot's final words provided some "clarity".

The pilot was originally reported as signing off: "All right, goodnight".

But it emerged on Monday that he had actually said: "Goodnight Malaysian three seven zero".

"The last communication was more formal than what was reported some weeks ago," Air Chief Marshal Houston said, and declined to comment further.

Defence Minister David Johnston said about a week remained to find the plane's black box, given the satellite "pinger" had about 30 days of battery life and the aircraft vanished on March 8.

"It depends on the temperature of the water and water depth and pressure as to how long the battery power will last," Senator Johnston told ABC radio.

He said it would take two or three days for the Australian naval vessel Ocean Shield, which has been fitted with a pinger locator, to reach the search zone, some 1850km west of Perth.

A fourth Australian ship, the Seahorse Standard, left on Tuesday to assist with surface sweep operations and would take five days to reach the search zone, the Department of Defence said.

Commodore Peter Leavy said search vessels were experiencing strong winds and heavy seas but conditions were expected to ease. "The priority remains to find objects that can be linked to missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370," he said in a statement.

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Gas industry shrugs of job loss worries

The development of Australia's natural gas reserves will benefit the nation, an industry body says. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIANS should welcome the nation's looming gas boom, despite warnings it will cost thousands of jobs, a global industry body says.

Meeting in Australia this week, the International Gas Union (IGU) said Australia was on the way to overtaking Qatar as the world's top gas exporter by the end of the decade.

The comments come less than a week after Manufacturing Australia warned 10,000 jobs would be lost unless the federal government intervened to keep cheap gas available for domestic use.

IGU vice president David Carroll, who heads the Illinois-based Gas Technology Institute, said he believed liquefied natural gas exports (LNG) would benefit Australia.

"There has been independent study after study commissioned by the US department of energy that indicates the more gas we export from the US the more our economy benefits," he told reporters.

"As a net overall its a benefit to our economy and in geopolitical relations and a variety of things."

IGU president Jerome Ferrier, a senior executive at French giant Total Oil, said Australian gas exports were an exciting opportunity to supply the world's fastest growing economies in the Asia-Pacific.

The IGU supports market based principles when it comes to gas prices, but Mr Ferrier said he supported the methods employed by newly emerging gas producing African nations, where gas supplies are reserved for their poor populations.

Canada, Israel, Qatar and the US - where manufacturers are enjoying cheap energy thanks to the shale boom - all reserve gas for domestic use.

Among those to call for intervention to protect Australian gas users from soaring export-parity prices include US-based Dow Chemical chairman Andrew Liveris and the heads of Incitec Pivot, Brickworks and BlueScope Steel.

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Govt defends asylum seeker transfer

THE Abbott government has defended relocating dozens of asylum seekers in Sydney to the other side of Australia while the Villawood detention centre undergoes renovations.

A letter sent from the Immigration Department to 83 detainees says they will be moved from Villawood in Sydney's west to a facility in Curtin, thousands of kilometres away in Western Australia.

A spokesperson for Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said facilities across the detention network were "designed to be flexible and adaptive to changes".

"The detention network is not run at the convenience of asylum seeker activists and detainees," the spokesperson told AAP in a statement on Tuesday.

"It is run to optimise its management for both government and the taxpayer."

Decisions on whether people are returned to Villawood will be made at a later time.

The planned move comes a day before 16 of the Villawood group are due to have a legal challenge against the Australian government heard in court.

The 16 took legal action after the details of every asylum seeker in Australian detention was inadvertently published on the department's website last month.

Their lawyer has suggested the move could be seen as "either trying to frustrate the justice system and/or punish my clients".

But Mr Morrison's office said detainees would continue to receive the same level of services now available to them, including communication with legal representatives.

The transfers to Curtin will start this month.

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Royal Mail sold off cheaply: UK auditor

THE British government cost taxpayers millions by selling off the Royal Mail at too low a price, the country's public-spending watchdog says.

The Conservative-led government sold a majority stake in the postal service last year, putting the system under private control for the first time in its 500-year history.

The National Audit Office said on Tuesday the government sold the shares "substantially below" their actual trading price.

Shares were offered at 330 pence, but on the first day of London Stock Exchange trading in October closed at 455 pence. They traded on Tuesday at 565 pence.

Audit Office chief Amyas Morse said the government's approach "was marked by deep caution, the price of which was borne by the taxpayer."

"The government retained 30 per cent of the company," Morse said. "It could have retained even more and allowed the taxpayer to participate further in the rapidly increasing share price and thus limit the cost to the taxpayer."

The auditor also said 12 of the 16 institutional "priority investors" given the chance to buy chunks of shares sold all or part of their stake within weeks at a substantial profit, contrary to the government's expectation "that they would form part of a stable long-term and supportive shareholder base". Most of the 16 institutions have not been named publicly.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said the government had succeeded in selling the Royal Mail, "predominantly to responsible long-term investors.

"Achieving the highest price possible at any cost and whatever the risk was never the aim of the sale," Cable said.

But opposition Labour Party spokesman Chuka Umunna said the sale had left taxpayers "shortchanged by hundreds of millions of pounds."

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Claims Japan could re-work whaling program

An ALP MP says Australia should encourage Japan to conduct non-lethal scientific research on whales. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott says Japan should "appropriately reflect" on the international court's ruling about its whaling program, but insists trade remains the top priority for his trip to Tokyo.

The International Court of Justice has declared Japan's whale hunt in the Southern Ocean illegal, and Mr Abbott is facing pressure to raise the issue with his counterpart, Shinzo Abe, next week.

The court backed Australia's case that Japan's whaling program wasn't for science, and demanded it cease it with immediate effect.

The decision was celebrated in Australia and New Zealand, and while Japan expressed disappointment it insists it will abide by the ICJ ruling.

Mr Abbott, who will travel to Tokyo next week in a bid to finalise a free trade agreement with Japan, said the bilateral relationship was much bigger than any disagreement over whaling.

"It's now up to Japan to appropriately reflect on the judgement, and I'm sure that's exactly what will happen," he told reporters in Perth on Tuesday.

"Japan is an exemplary international citizen."

Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson said Japan could find a way around the ruling, and Mr Abbott should seek a guarantee from Prime Minister Abe himself that the hunt was over.

"I expect whales to be on the agenda next week, not just wheat and wagyu beef," Senator Whish-Wilson told reporters in Hobart.

But Mr Abbott said finalising the FTA remained the "absolute priority" at the moment.

Former attorney-general Mark Dreyfus, who helped bring Australia's case to The Hague, said "on paper" the judgement could leave the door open for future hunts but he believed Japan would abide the ruling.

He called on the federal government to work with Japan on non-lethal whaling research, such as using satellite trackers to monitor movements and diet.

Some international law experts have pointed out that Japan could redesign their whaling program to get around the problems identified in the ICJ judgement.

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Fortescue wants to be global safety leader

Fortescue Metals Group wants to become a global leader in mining safety, says CEO Nev Power (R). Source: AAP

FORTESCUE Metals Group wants to become a world leader in mining safety, as it examines its use of contractors following two workers' deaths.

The contractors died in separate incidents at Fortescue's Christmas Creek mine in WA in 2013, sparking multiple investigations and orders for the company to improve safety.

Chief executive Nev Power said the Pilbara iron ore miner had made a lot of safety improvements so far in 2014.

"We're committed to making a step change in our safety performance and become global leaders in safety leadership," he said.

"We're already global leaders in so many areas of the field and we want to now ensure that we're also leaders in safety."

Fortescue has reviewed its lockout and isolation procedures for workers, and is now exceeding industry standards in most cases, he said.

A review of the company's use of contractors is continuing, Mr Power added.

"We consistently and constantly review across all of our operations to determine what's the appropriate model to operate, whether that's a contracting model or a direct employment model and that process will continue into the future," Mr Power said.

Fortescue recently bought out two crushing plants at Christmas Creek which were operated by contractor Crushing Services International (CSI).

A 24-year-old man was crushed to death while carrying out maintenance work in CSI's crushing plant in August 2013.

Less than four months later a 33-year-old, employed by contractor Global Surface Mining, died while carrying out maintenance on a large piece of mining machinery at a heavy vehicle workshop.

The most recent death prompted the mining regulator to issue a special order to improve safety procedures at the mine.

At the time the WA Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP) suspended operations and ordered Fortescue to improve its safety procedures at all of its operations.

Also in 2013, a contractor had his leg amputated after a truck crash on a Fortescue site.

Fortescue has expanded rapidly on the back of strong Chinese steel demand, using a host of contracting companies to build and operate its iron ore operations in the Pilbara.

The company opened the final stage of a $US9.2 billion expansion of its Pilbara operations on Friday, lifting the company's production capacity to 155 million tonnes.

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British girl, 9, drunk on vodka

A NINE-YEAR-OLD British girl needed hospital treatment after consuming vodka, according to police.

The nine-year-old girl, who lives near Consett, County Durham in England, was found to be in a dazed state after drinking vodka with two friends who were about the same age. Her parents called an ambulance.

Medics alerted the police, who spoke to the family last month.

The shocking incident was not unusual, with officers blaming peer pressure for an increase in drinking among the very young.

Durham Police are also investigating how a 12-year-old required accident and emergency treatment over three consecutive weekends for alcohol-related injuries.

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Planes, ships in seven-nation MH370 search

Tony Abbott says Australia owes it to the world to do everything it can to aid the search for MH370. Source: AAP

ORANGE objects spotted by a plane searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet have turned out to be nothing more than fishing equipment, as prime minister Tony Abbott declared there's no time limit on the search for MH370.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said the objects had been analysed and spokesman Jesse Platts said "they have nothing to do with the missing flight."

An Australian P-3 Orion search plane spotted at least four orange objects in waters west of Perth on Sunday and were described by Orion pilot Russell Adams as the most promising lead in the search so far.

But despite yet another false alarm, Mr Abbott said the search will not be scaled down.

"I'm certainly not putting a time limit on it... We can keep searching for quite some time to come," Abbott told reporters on Monday at RAAF Pearce, the Perth military base coordinating the operation.

"We owe it to the families, we owe it to everyone that travels by air, we owe it to the anxious governments of the countries who had people on that aircraft. We owe it to the wider world which has been transfixed by this mystery for three weeks now."

The Australian naval vessel Ocean Shield conducted sea trials of hi-tech detection equipment on Monday before its 1850km journey to a tract of the southern Indian Ocean west of Perth.

The trials included a US Navy black box detector, an unmanned underwater vehicle and other acoustic detection equipment.

The Ocean Shield is expected to take up to four days to reach the huge, 319,000 square kilometre search zone, another navy ship, the frigate HMAS Toowoomba, at top speed reached the area by mid-morning on Monday after two days at sea.

It's a race against time, given the box's low-frequency acoustic beacon has a limited battery life. That has extended from an estimated 30 days to roughly 45 days, according to Captain Mark Matthews, a US Navy equipment specialist.

"These are rated to last 30 days, but that is a minimum. In my experience, they do last a little bit longer than that," Capt Matthews said yesterday.

But the operation remained an extraordinarily difficult exercise, Mr Abbott said.

"We are searching a vast area of ocean and working with quite limited information," he said after touring the Pearce base, where search planes from seven nations are being deployed, involving 550 personnel.

Defence Minister David Johnston said about 1000 sailors were looking for debris at sea - but the task was still onerous.

While each country involved was currently bearing its own costs, Australia was paying for running the co-ordination centre, which will have about 20 staff and be led by retired air chief marshall Angus Houston from Perth CBD headquarters.

Mr Abbott also said his Malaysian counterpart was not too hasty in announcing last week - before any debris had been recovered or confirmed as being from MH370 - that the plane was lost in the southern Indian Ocean and all on board were assumed dead.

"That's the absolute overwhelming weight of evidence and I think that Prime Minister Najib Razak was perfectly entitled to come to that conclusion," he said.

In China, home to 153 people on board the flight, a comment piece in the China Daily newspaper called for "rationality" among relatives - some of whom insist their loved ones could still be alive.

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Search for fishing boat suspended

A SEARCH has been suspended for a fishing vessel believed to have got into trouble off Antarctica, with authorities saying it's unlikely anyone survived.

An RAAF P3 Orion aircraft and a civilian jet were on Sunday sent to look for the 75-metre long boat after an emergency beacon was set off in the southern Indian Ocean about 3200km southwest of Perth and 648km north of the Antarctic mainland.

"The vessel was not located but debris was seen in the location of the beacon signal. There were no signs of a life raft or people in the water," the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said on Monday.

"Based on expert medical advice ... in the current weather conditions there is no prospect of survival."

It's believed the vessel may have been illegally fishing.

Foul weather, with swells up to seven metres, winds of up to 70km/h and water temperatures as low as zero degrees celsius, has led investigators to conclude there were two possibilities.

Either equipment, including the vessel's EPIRB (emergency position indicating radio beacon), were swept overboard in rough weather and the boat continued on its course or the vessel foundered and all the crew drowned.

"Due to discrepancies in the ship's records AMSA has been unable to establish an owner, flag state, or what the vessel's purpose was in this area," AMSA said.

"Indications are the vessel may have been involved in illegal fishing activities."

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Whale verdict won't hurt Japan: Brandis

Peter Garrett has welcomed the court verdict that Japan's annual whaling hunt is not scientific. Source: AAP

THE federal government doesn't believe a decision in Australia's favour in the UN's top court to ban Japan's whale hunt will affect ties between the nations.

The International Court of Justice on Monday evening ruled that Japan's whale hunt in the Southern Ocean was not scientific and it should cease the program "with immediate effect".

The decision comes less than a week before Prime Minister Tony Abbott heads to Tokyo in a bid to finalise a free trade agreement with Japan, Australia's second-largest trading partner.

When asked if he thought the outcome would affect negotiations between Australia and Japan on the long-awaited trade deal, Attorney-General George Brandis said: "I'm sure it wouldn't".

Senator Brandis said the fact Australia and Japan could differ on this "narrow" issue but remain close was testament to the "endearing" nature of the relationship.

"The relationship between Australia and Japan is an excellent relationship," he told reporters in Perth on Monday.

Senator Brandis said he had been briefed by Australia's solicitor-general at The Hague, and understood the effect of the court was "to stop the existing program".

Labor welcomed the historic decision, saying a program that had killed thousands of whales over the years would finally come to an end.

Deputy Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek said Australia's opposition to whaling had been vindicated and in the process they'd successfully held Japan to account on its legal commitment.

"The court has now upheld our arguments, and the international rule of law will be stronger for the action we have taken," she said in a joint statement with shadow ministers Mark Dreyfus and Mark Butler.

Both nations had agreed to abide by the court's decision so it was now time for the federal government to take up discussions with Japan on non-lethal methods of whaling research, she added.

Former environment minister Peter Garrett said he felt vindicated over Labor's decision in 2010 to pursue the case in The Hague against so-called "scientific whaling".

"I'm absolutely over the moon, for all those people who wanted to see the charade of scientific whaling cease once and for all," the former Midnight Oil singer told ABC Radio on Monday evening.

Greens leader Christine Milne paid tribute to the "champions" at Sea Shepherd, calling the ICJ verdict "justice at last".

Sea Shepherd Australia chairman and former Australian Greens leader Bob Brown congratulated the captain of the fleet that made its name in daring clashes with Japanese whalers in Antarctica.

"A whale of a win! Paul Watson is a global hero and Australians can all feel proud. Sea Shepherd Australia chairman," Mr Brown posted on Twitter.

Australian Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson said Australia had shown it could be a "powerful force" for nature on the world stage, and it was vital the job was seen through to the end.

"When Tony Abbott visits Japan in just over a week, whales must be top of the agenda," he said in a statement.

ANU professor of international law Don Rothwell said the ICJ decision provided "significant guidance" for the first time on how a legitimate whaling program could be run in the future.

"This could provide Japan with a basis to undertake future whaling programs consistently with its international legal obligations," he said in a statement.

Sea Shepherd Australia Managing Director Jeff Hanson said the court decision vindicated Sea Shepherd for not only upholding Australian federal laws but also international laws in defending the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary "for the whales and for future generations".

"In the absence of law enforcement in the Southern Ocean, Sea Shepherd has been the only organisation upholding the law in defence of the International Whale Sanctuary," he said in a statement.

Greenpeace Oceans campaigner Nathaniel Pelle said the ruling confirmed Japan's whaling program was an "illegal and unnecessary hunt of protected species" and it was high time the industry was "consigned to the history books".

"We're calling on the Japanese government to immediately abide by this decision, scrap the Nisshin Maru factory ship, and cease all future attempts to continue commercial whaling."

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UK army cuts 'hell of a risk': general

A senior UK general says Russia has now become a "strategic adversary" of NATO. Source: AAP

RESTRUCTURING the British army is "one hell of a risk" that will weaken the armed forces, one of the country's most senior generals has warned.

General Sir Richard Shirreff warned that the "jury is out still" on plans to slash numbers in the regular army and substitute them with reservists, saying if the idea is going to work "the nation needs to get behind" it.

The general said defence cuts had "hollowed out" the armed forces, particularly the Royal Navy, which have been "cut to the bone" and left unable to take part in NATO maritime operations.

Russia's takeover of Crimea meant it was imperative for the UK to protect its defence budget, he said, even if that meant other departments suffered.

The general, the army's third most senior officer, stepped down from his post as NATO deputy supreme commander on Friday and will leave the army in August.

His warning, in an interview with the Sunday Times, comes days after MPs warned Prime Minister David Cameron against any further cuts to Britain's armed forces after Russian's annexation of Crimea.

The government is cutting the regular army from 102,000 to 82,000 by 2020, while the newly-renamed Army Reserve - formerly the Territorial Army - is being expanded from 19,000 to 30,000.

General Shirreff said those implementing the changes had "made a pretty good fist of a very difficult hand of cards", but added: "I wouldn't want to let anybody think that I think that Army 2020 is good news, it's not.

"The sort of defence cuts we have seen ... have really hollowed out the British armed forces and I think that people need to sit up and recognise that."

He told the newspaper his biggest concern was the impact of cuts on the navy, which have left it without an operational aircraft carrier until 2020 and a fleet of just 19 frigates and destroyers.

The general said the Royal Navy's ability to participate in NATO naval maritime operations have been compromised, which affected how people think about the UK.

He said: "A hollowed-out navy means you can't project power. I've heard this said in the Ministry of Defence: 'The yardstick by which we measure ourselves is our ability to punch above our weight'. You can't do that now. By that yardstick, therefore, we're failing."

General Shirreff warned the question of whether the army being more dependent on reserves would work or not was still unanswered, but he said it was "one hell of a risk".

He said it would need a "complete shift in culture" and support from the wider public and employers if it is to succeed, saying: "... the nation needs to get behind this. It's not just the armed forces - this is everybody's business."

The general, who has been co-ordinating NATO's response to the crisis in Crimea and Ukraine, warned of further aggression by Russian president Vladimir Putin, the Sunday Times said.

After Russia's "armed illegal aggression", the country has now become a "strategic adversary" of NATO, rather than a "strategic partner", General Shirreff said, and he argued that the UK and other European countries now need to protect their defence budgets to deter Russia, meaning cuts to other Whitehall departments.

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Plane diverted from MH370 search

AN Australian air force plane has been diverted from the search for Malaysia Airlines flight 370 to respond to a fishing boat's emergency distress beacon near Antarctica.

The P3 Orion was on Sunday afternoon sent from the Indian Ocean search zone to look for a fishing boat in trouble about 3240km southwest of Perth and 650km north of the Antarctic mainland, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said.

"The rescue coordination centre was unable to establish communications with the vessel and the nature of distress is unknown," AMSA added.

Authorities sent the P3 as it is capable of dropping survival equipment.

"A broadcast to shipping has been issued, however due to the remoteness of the location it is unlikely that any other ships will be near the area," AMSA said.

"The weather forecast for the area is extremely poor with low cloud, rain, snow and a water temperature of 2 degrees Celsius."

The beacon is registered to a fishing vessel, but no details of the nationality, crew or size of the vessel have been released.

To replace the Orion in the search for MH370 a civilian jet has been dispatched from Melbourne.

That jet is expected to take five hours to travel nearly 4000km to the search zone, where it can fly for a further two hours before having to turn back.

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20 rescued from broken Perth chairlift

EMERGENCY workers have rescued 20 people trapped on a chairlift at a Perth adventure park.

WA's Department of Fire and Emergency Services were called to Adventure World in Bibra Lake on Sunday afternoon, after the chairlift ground to a halt with almost two dozen people on board.

After almost three hours, the last of them was rescued, with 12 firefighters using a cherry picker to free the stranded patrons.

The trapped riders have been provided with water while work continued to free them.

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Increased fines for misbehaving drunks

On-the-spot fines for misbehaving drunks is set to rise in NSW from from Monday. Source: AAP

MISBEHAVING drunks will be slapped with fines up to $1100 after the NSW government dramatically increased the penalties as part of its crackdown on alcohol fuelled violence.

The fine for swearing and offensive behaviour will rise from $150 to $500 from Monday.

People who continue to act disorderly after being moved on by police will attract a $1100 fine, up from $200.

The increased on-the-spot fines, which Labor and the Greens opposed, are part of NSW's package of drunken violence measures.

"The message to drunken thugs is clear: violent, offensive and anti-social behaviour simply won't be tolerated," Attorney-General Greg Smith said in a statement.

"Anyone ignoring that message should prepare to learn a very expensive lesson."

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Drunk crash driver had 3yo in car: police

AN allegedly drunk Melbourne woman who crashed into two parked cars had an unrestrained toddler on board, police say.

Officers were called after a Holden sedan hit two parked cars in Clifton Hill on Sunday evening.

Officers allegedly found the 41-year-old female driver drunk with an unrestrained three-year-old in the car.

No one was injured.

The woman was allegedly found to have a blood alcohol reading of 0.154 per cent, more than three times the legal limit.

The Clifton Hill local had her licence suspended and is expected to be charged on summons with traffic-related offences including drink driving and careless driving.

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