Farmers want fair deal from Japan FTA

Australia's peak farming body says a FTA with Japan needs to benefit the whole agriculture sector. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIA'S peak farming body is urging the federal government not to be pressured by Japan's powerful agricultural lobby as it enters the final stage of negotiations for a free trade agreement.

The federal government is rumoured to be close to finalising a broad deal to liberalise trade and boost market access to Japan, Australia's second-largest trading partner.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has promised to sign an FTA with Japan by September, and is expected to advance talks significantly during a trip to Tokyo next month.

But the National Farmers Federation is concerned there could be carve-outs in the deal to appease influential Japanese groups determined to protect their key agricultural commodities from competition.

NFF president Brent Finlay said in his experience all meetings with Japanese trade groups - including a major delegation in Canberra this week - started the same way.

"They are very quick to reinforce the importance of their key five ag (agricultural) commodities, and that their government will not move on those ag commodities," Mr Finlay told AAP on Thursday.

Japanese agriculture groups have traditionally fought hard - and often successfully - to protect their rice, sugar, beef, diary, grain and pork sectors.

Mr Finlay said this wasn't surprising given the influence of massive agricultural lobby firms in Japan like JA Zenchu, worth an estimated $40 billion.

"That gives you an indication of the power that they wield," he said.

The NFF wasn't happy when rice was carved out of a recent FTA deal with South Korea, and expects more concessions being made to the Japanese as the Abbott government tries to wind up seven years of talks.

"We're saying to them not to pursue it at all costs," Mr Finlay said.

The federation says the tariff regime remains a "significant point of conjecture" with the Japan negotiations, and they want all Australian sectors - including rice and beef - to get improved market access.

Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said he was confident gains could be made on beef, but the Japanese delegation wasn't giving anything away in meetings this week.

"The Japanese, the one thing they are is extremely astute in their commentary," he told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.

Japanese trade with Australia was worth $71.1 billion in 2012, and if successful the deal is forecast to add $39 billion to Australia's economy over 20 years.

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Nine killed in Turkey crash

Nine people are dead in a crash involving a passenger train and a minibus in southern Turkey. Source: AAP

AT least nine people are dead and five others have been left injured after a passenger train crashed into a minibus carrying workers to a factory in southern Turkey.

Local governor Basri Guzeloglu said on Thursday the train slammed into the vehicle at a level crossing near the Mediterranean port city of Mersin.

All the dead were in the vehicle. Three of the injured were said to be in a serious condition.

Guzeloglu said the cause of the accident would be investigated but media reports suggested a signalling fault that saw the crossing's barrier arms up at the time of the accident.

No one aboard the train, travelling from the southern city of Adana to Mersin, was hurt.

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NGA director Ron Radford retires

Director of the National Gallery of Australia, Ron Radford, has announced his retirement. Source: AAP

THE National Gallery of Australia's director has announced his retirement.

Ron Radford will have served close to a decade in the gallery's top job when he leaves at the end of September.

During his time as director, Dr Radford has overseen an extension of gallery buildings, appointment of indigenous curators, the transformation and revival of Asian and Pacific collections, and is credited with initiating numerous blockbuster exhibitions.

There is no link between his retirement and controversy surrounding the purchase of a bronze sculpture, titled Shiva as Lord of the Dance (Nataraja), dating from 11th-century India.

The gallery paid $US5 million in 2008 for the statue and in 2014 has launched legal action in the United States against the selling dealer, amid allegations the artwork was stolen.

"If we are a victim of fraud then we will act," Dr Radford has said.

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Man wedged between car and wall critical

A man who became wedged between his car and a wall in Sydney is in a critical condition in hospital. Source: AAP

A MAN is in a critical condition in a Sydney hospital after becoming wedged between his car and a brick wall.

The 50-year-old had been reversing from a driveway at a unit block on Shadforth Street, Wiley Park when he got stuck on Thursday morning.

CareFlight director Ian Badham told AAP a passerby rushed to the man's aid and pushed the car back about half a metre to relieve the pressure until emergency services arrived.

A doctor performed emergency surgery while NSW Fire and Rescue worked for 40 minutes to free the man, Mr Badham added.

He was taken to Liverpool Hospital with severe head and chest injuries and fractures.

A hospital spokesman said on Thursday night he was in a critical but stable condition.

Witness Moshi Ali told Network 10 he saw the incident unfold.

"I just heard a big bang then I looked from my balcony and I saw this guy trapped," he said.

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Asylum seekers unaware of rights: inquiry

ASYLUM seekers have told a Papua New Guinea court they were not made aware of their right to free legal representation, as the judge refused to allow an Australian lawyer to represent 75 detainees at the inquiry.

However, Justice David Cannings granted Amnesty International leave to join the case as an interested party, and ruled that media be given access to the centre on Friday.

During the fourth day of hearings into human rights obligations at Australia's detention centre on Manus Island, the court has heard transferees were not told of their right to free representation under PNG law.

A 26-year-old Burmese asylum seeker told the court he had not spoken to a lawyer in six months.

"I was not told I could have a lawyer," he said on Thursday.

Under PNG law, anyone who is locked up has the right to free legal advice.

He said he had one interview with an Australian lawyer and two with immigration officials shortly after arriving on Manus Island in August or September.

But he said he had heard nothing since.

At the time, an Australian lawyer at the centre took his statement.

"She said she would do the processing (of his asylum claim)," he said.

Justice Cannings on Thursday refused Sydney lawyer Jay Williams' request to represent 75 asylum seekers detained at the Manus facility.

Mr Williams argued that under PNG's constitution and the Lawyers Act of 1986, judges had the power to admit anyone they wished under exceptional circumstances.

"We have made many requests to the migration officer to visit my clients but those requests have been delayed, frustrated or refused," Mr Williams said.

While Justice Cannings agreed PNG's constitution granted the right of representation, he would not grant Mr Williams' request because the circumstances were not exceptional.

But he did grant Mr Williams' request to visit his clients on Friday.

Justice Cannings also accepted an application by Amnesty International to join the case as an interested party.

Amnesty is expected to tender its recent, highly critical report of the centre as evidence.

So far, 11 asylum seekers have appeared at the inquiry in Lorengau, the Manus capital.

In each of the men's affidavits, the court struck out mention of the February 17 riot that claimed the life of 23-year-old Iranian asylum seeker Reza Berati.

Many of the transferees who have appeared in the past two days have indicated the riots made them feel less safe.

A 22-year-old Iranian man told the court he felt as if he was in a prison, and had almost forgotten his name after months of being referred to by his identification number.

He said he felt terrorised by some staff at the centre.

"The expats always tell us the people here are poor and cannibals," he said.

"That's how they terrorise us."

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Horse with Hendra virus put down in Qld

A horse has been put down in the Queensland town of Bundaberg after contracting the Hendra virus. Source: AAP

A HORSE has been put down in the Queensland city of Bundaberg after contracting the Hendra virus.

It's the first Hendra virus incident in the state this year.

The horse fell ill during the weekend and was put down on Monday.

Late last night, test results confirmed it had the bat-borne virus.

Queensland chief veterinary officer Rick Symons said the site had been quarantined and would remain that way for several more weeks.

Biosecurity Queensland is still deciding what to do about a neighbouring property.

"We understand that it's one neighbouring property that has, we're told, seven horses and so we assess the contact of that horse, those horses with the infected horse," he told reporters on Wednesday.

"Then we make an assessment whether we need to test those horses and whether we need to quarantine that property.

"We haven't got to that stage yet."

Dr Symons urged horse owners to vaccinate their animals.

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Motorcyclist killed in fiery highway crash

A motorcyclist has died after he was thrown from his bike in a crash on the NSW mid-north coast. Source: AAP

A MOTORCYCLIST has been killed after he was thrown from his bike in a fiery crash on the NSW mid-north coast.

A number of witnesses rendered first aid after the head-on crash with a Holden Commodore on the Pacific Highway at Korora, near Coffs Harbour, on Wednesday afternoon.

But the man, aged in his 50s, died at the scene.

Other bystanders extinguished the man's motorbike, which burst into flames from the crash.

Police said the Commodore driver was uninjured but taken to hospital for mandatory blood and urine tests.

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Trauma study targets 300 Vietnam veterans

300 Vietnam veterans will take part in a Queensland-based study into post-traumatic stress disorder. Source: AAP

HAUNTED by images of mangled bodies, Vietnam veteran Tony Dell hasn't slept for more than four hours a night during the past 40 years.

When he returned home in 1968 after serving a year in Vietnam he became introverted, edgy, angry, had difficulty sleeping and his marriage broke down.

It wasn't until 2008, when he began talking about the war, that he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

"I still get flashbacks ... bullets whizzing over your head and mangled up bodies," the former Australian Test cricketer told AAP from his home on the Sunshine Coast.

"The problem is it sinks into your subconscious and stays there and it ferments and eventually it comes out as PTSD."

Keen to create more awareness around the disorder which affects five to 10 per cent of Australians, Mr Dell on Wednesday became the first of 300 Vietnam veterans to take part in a new Queensland-based research project into PTSD.

The Gallipoli Medical Research Foundation and RSL Queensland study will look at the health risks of PTSD such as heart disease and cancer, and the role genetics plays.

"We think that stress is interacting with genes that predispose people to these diseases," lead researcher Queensland University of Technology Professor Ross Young told AAP.

Of those veterans involved in the study, half suffer from PTSD.

Prof Young is hopeful the year-long study will improve diagnosis, treatment and potentially prevention.

Mr Dell treats his symptoms by exercising and talking about his war experience, and has spent the past several years encouraging others to speak to out.

"If I'd talked about the war when I first got home things wouldn't have been so tough," he said.

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McCann police seek lone intruder

BRITISH detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are looking for a lone intruder who sexually abused five girls during break-ins at holiday homes in Portugal.

The tanned, dark-haired man is suspected of breaking in to 12 properties where British families were staying in the Algarve between 2004 and 2010.

In five of the incidents, girls aged between seven and 10 years were sexually assaulted.

These attacks happened between 2004 and 2006, before Madeleine vanished in 2007.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood said tracing the man, said to have "an unhealthy interest in young white female children", was one of his priority lines of inquiry.

His team has 38 people classed as "persons of interest" to the inquiry, and is also sifting through details of 530 known sex offenders whose whereabouts cannot be accounted for.

Of those, 59 are classed as high priority, and some are British.

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Comedians join anti-cage eggs campaign

Comedian Carl Barron features in a TV campaign urging consumers to shun battery cage eggs. Source: AAP

LAUGHTER is a useful tool for getting across a message on an unpleasant topic.

That's the tack Animals Australia has taken in its latest television campaign urging consumers to shun battery cage eggs, featuring comedians including Arj Barker, Carl Barron, and Kath and Kim's Peter Rowsthorn.

Mick Molloy is seen tenderly cradling a rescued battery hen, saying: "That ain't no way to treat a lady."

Rowsthorn says: "Think about it if you got caught on a really crowded train and the doors shut, and there you were, for the rest of your life. That's not good."

The advertisement follows the Make it Possible campaign by the animal welfare group in October when Woolworths pledged to phase out all cage eggs by 2018.

The move angered farmers, with the Victorian Farmers' Federation saying egg suppliers had five years earlier invested in new cage systems that met industry requirements, and that they would not be compensated for Woolworths' pending ban.

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