Baird forced into another reshuffle

Premier Baird has made another tweak to his ministerial line-up amid an ongoing corruption probe. Source: AAP

HE has been in charge of NSW for less than three weeks but Premier Mike Baird is quickly becoming an expert at reshuffles.

Mr Baird tweaked his ministerial line-up for the second time since taking the reins in April by unveiling the inexperienced Stuart Ayres as the new police minister.

The 33-year-old western Sydney MP replaces Mike Gallacher, who resigned on Friday over corruption allegations.

But Mr Baird dodged questions about whether this was the team he would take to the 2015 election.

"I can guarantee you that this team will do everything possible to improve the people of NSW's lives - that's our challenge," he said.

Mr Baird's reluctance to give a guarantee is understandable, having witnessed five Liberal MPs, including two ministers, being sidelined amid serious corruption allegations.

Mr Ayres also takes over Mr Gallacher's emergency services portfolio.

In his first question time as premier, Mr Baird told parliament he would leave no stone unturned to stamp out corruption after damning revelations at the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

"All corruption in public office must be condemned," he said.

"If you are doing wrong, we will find you and you will face the full consequences of your actions."

Labor used question time to press Mr Baird on donations he received in past election campaigns.

But Mr Baird said he wouldn't be "lectured" by Opposition Leader John Robertson, who himself failed to report a $3 million bribe he was offered and turned down.

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PM's call puts Aust-Indon ties on track

A group of 20 asylum seekers claim they were turned back to Indonesia by Australian authorities. Source: AAP

INDONESIA'S president has told Prime Minister Tony Abbott he hopes the two countries can heal the rift left by last year's spying scandal by August.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's optimism came even as Australia sent a boatload of asylum seekers back to Indonesian territory with a new tactic that has added to Jakarta's concern over the border protection policy.

Dr Yuhoyono's office says he received a call from Mr Abbott on Tuesday afternoon, in which the prime minister conveyed his regret for having to miss a Bali forum, where the two were set to meet.

"President SBY stated that he could understand the reason for PM Abbott not attending in Bali regarding the discussion of budget in the parliament," the statement read.

The leaders discussed progress in the negotiations for a new code of conduct after revelations in 2013 that Australia had tapped the president's phone, his office says.

"President SBY stated that it is his hope for a code of conduct to have been agreed on at least by August 2014."

According to the statement, the leaders also set tentative dates to meet face-to-face.

Dr Yudhoyono welcomed Mr Abbott's suggestion he visit in June, and the president was invited to view the Indonesia-Australia Centre in Melbourne either during his remaining time in office or after.

Mr Abbott's office confirmed the warm exchange.

"In a very cordial conversation, both leaders agreed on the importance of the bilateral relationship between Australia and Indonesia," a spokesman said.

"They committed to continue the progress that has been made to resolve current issues and to strengthen the relationship further."

When Mr Abbott postponed his Bali trip, it seemed to dash hopes of a breakthrough in the talks with Indonesia, which made the new code a precondition to lifting a temporary ban on people smuggling and other co-operation.

But Dr Yudhoyono, who has always taken pride in close relations with Australia, is likely motivated by his term ending this year.

The government said Mr Abbott was forced to remain in Australia due to the coming budget.

But it was believed the trip was canned because Australia was in the process of turning back asylum seekers.

Indonesian navy officers found a group of 20 stranded on an island on Sunday, and claim they were originally on two separate boats.

One boat carrying 18 asylum seekers - first reported as Indian and Nepalese, but now believed to be Iranian and Nepalese - was met by two Australian vessels near Ashmore Reef on Sunday.

Indonesian officials believe three more people - an Indonesian and two asylum seekers from either Nepal or Albania - were intercepted in a second boat and then added to the first.

"There were two boats," the spokesman for Indonesia's Co-ordinating Ministry for Politics, Law and Security, Agus Barnas, told AAP.

"The bigger one left from Makassar and the smaller one left from Rote Island. The smaller one then caught by Australia, then the boat was burnt."

Then, Mr Barnas said, the larger boat was intercepted and all were sent back in it.

Indonesia's Foreign Minister, Marty Natalegawa, said it was worrying.

"If confirmed, obviously this is a very serious development," he told reporters in Bali on Tuesday.

"As I've said from the very beginning, we are risking a slippery slope."

Further, it showed Operation Sovereign Borders wasn't working.

"The policy of his government to push, unilaterally forcing asylum seekers - which is threatening and violating their human rights - it's not yielding (success) because such efforts are still being conducted," Dr Natalegawa said.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison wouldn't comment on "on-water" matters for "operational security reasons".

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Mixed reaction for big-spending Vic budget

The Victorian government will unveil a string of record surpluses from 2015/16 in its budget. Source: AAP

THE Victorian government will stake its November re-election bid on its record infrastructure splurge but the opposition has accused it of ignoring basic services.

The government has outlaid $27 billion on new infrastructure in the 2014/15 budget and forward estimates period of four years, including $24 billion on transport infrastructure.

In addition to the major infrastructure outlay, the government will go to the November election with a string of hefty back-to-back surpluses.

A $1.3 billion operating surplus is forecast for 2014/15, growing to $3.3 billion by 2017/18.

Victoria is likely to be the only state to forecast back-to-back surpluses over the next four years, Treasurer Michael O'Brien said.

An $11 billion Melbourne rail link to the airport forms part of a big pre-election budget cash splash on major Victorian road and rail projects, which includes $10 billion in state funding to finish the second stage of the East West Link road project.

Mr O'Brien said the Napthine government's tight rein on spending meant that it was the only state government that could talk of a substantial and growing surplus.

"Because of this economic management, we are able to deliver this sort of transformational, job-creating infrastructure projects that Victoria needs," he told reporters.

But Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews says the budget does nothing for ordinary people and does not focus on basic services.

Mr Andrews said there was nothing to fix the crisis in TAFEs, over-crowded emergency departments and the ambulance service.

Mr Andrews says infrastructure projects announced in the budget would take years to come to fruition and it does nothing to improve basic education, health and emergency services.

"This is a panicked budget from a panicked and desperate premier, someone who is petrified that he will lose the election at the end of the year."

State coffers will be bolstered by the privatisation of Victoria's rural finance lender, expected to net the government $400 million, and the sale of a 40-year lease of the Port of Melbourne.

From July 2015, a new levy will also apply to planning permit applications in metropolitan Melbourne for $1 million-plus developments.

There will be a $32 hike in car registrations and a rise in vehicle stamp duty.

In a sweetener for businesses, the payroll tax will be cut to 4.85 per cent from July, saving employers $234 million over four years.

The Melbourne rail link will get under way in mid-2016, creating 3700 jobs at the peak of construction.

The rail route is different to what has previously been proposed as part of the Melbourne Metro Rail project.

Mr O'Brien said the latest route would have greater capacity, its construction would be less disruptive to the CBD and included the airport rail link, offering a 25-minute journey between Melbourne Airport and Southern Cross station.

But Mr Andrews said it fell short of the project ranked by Infrastructure Australia as Victoria's number one transport priority.

The Victorian Council of Social Service says the infrastructure splurge will help turn around the jobless rate in a sluggish economy while the Australian Industry Group said the projects will boost the building industry.

But the Victorian Trades Hall Council attacked the budget for lacking a jobs plan, saying the jobless rate was at its highest level in a decade.

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Westfield sweetens local split plans

Westfield Group has altered its planned split of Australian and NZ assets from its global business. Source: AAP

SHOPPING centre giant Westfield Group has sweetened its plan to split its Australian and New Zealand assets from its international operations.

Westfield's Australian and New Zealand assets, which includes 47 shopping centres, are set to merge with Westfield Retail Trust, a joint owner of the Australian shopping centres.

The merged entity will be called Scentre Group, and under new changes to the proposal, Scentre Group will now carry $300 million less in debt than originally planned.

Westfield chairman Frank Lowy said key investors supported the merger, but the new debt arrangements were made to address some concerns raised.

Security holders are due to vote on the split on May 29.

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Pistorius introduced Steenkamp as fiancee

A neighbour has testified that Oscar Pistorius was "torn apart" after shooting his girlfriend. Source: AAP

OSCAR Pistorius introduced Reeva Steenkamp as his fiancee just a week before he shot her, a neighbour has testified, as the defence said it may close its case within a week.

Defence lawyer Barry Roux said on Tuesday that he could deliver his closing arguments within a week, potentially brining to an end a trial which began on March 3 and was originally slated to run for three weeks.

The prosecution closed its case only on March 25.

"I even believe we may end the defence case by Tuesday next week," Roux told the court.

On Tuesday, testimony returned to the shouts and loud bangs that woke up neighbours in the pre-dawn hours that day.

The sequence of events, and who actually cried out, are key to establishing what happened on February 14, 2013.

Next-door neighbour Michael Nhlengethwa said that Pistorius had introduced the 29-year-old model as his wife-to-be, apparently supporting the athlete's claim he was in a serious and loving relationship.

Pistorius said "please meet my fiancee, Reeva," Nhlengethwa testified.

The Paralympic and Olympic athlete, nicknamed the "Blade Runner", is accused of shooting Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine's Day 2013 after a row, a charge he denies.

In emotional testimony Nhlengethwa, Pistorius's closest neighbour, described going to the sprinter's home to investigate sounds of crying and saw Steenkamp being taken out of the house on a stretcher.

"At that moment I knew she was no more," he said.

Earlier, he had woken up to a man's cries.

"A man was crying very loud," he said, "it was crying when you were in danger, when you need help."

Roux asked the witness if the voice was low - or high-pitched.

"You said a man's voice, was it a low pitch?" asked Roux.

"It was a very high pitch voice," replied Nhlengethwa.

The defence claims that Steenkamp never screamed the night she was shot, alleging witnesses heard Pistorius screaming like a woman under the effect of stress.

The sprinter fired four bullets through a locked lavatory door, killing Steenkamp who was in the cubicle inside his house in the capital Pretoria.

Nhlengethwa's wife, Eontle, said she woke up after hearing a "bang" in the night, followed by a man crying and shouting "help, help, help!"

"Is it possible you could make a sound to resemble it?" said Roux.

She then made a haunting, shrill wail from the witness stand.

Pistorius, who has retched and sobbed in court, kept his head in his hands as he listened to his neighbours' testimony.

He faces up to 25 years in prison if found guilty of premeditated murder.

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Greece-bound migrant boats sink, two dead

AT least two people drowned and about 30 are missing after two boats crammed with immigrants bound for Greece sank in the eastern Aegean Sea before dawn Monday in the third fatal accident of the sort this year, authorities said.

The vessels with immigrants seeking to enter Greece illegally foundered about 4 miles north of the island of Samos near the Turkish coast, the Greek coast guard said. It said 36 people were rescued from the sea.

According to survivors, up to 65 people were on the two vessels, the coast guard said.

It said the circumstances of the twin sinking were unclear as weather conditions in the area were not severe.

Coast guard vessels, fishing boats and two search and rescue helicopters were combing the area for more survivors. A cruise ship that participated for several hours in the operation was later cleared to continue its journey.

The nationalities of the migrants were unknown.

Greece is a major entry point for people from poor or war-torn parts of Asia and Africa seeking a better life in the European Union. Fatal accidents are frequent as migrants risk the dangerous sea crossing from Turkey.

Another 21 people have drowned in two accidents since the beginning of the year. Over the weekend Greek coastguards rescued about 250 immigrants from the sea.

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Forrest hands $12m to uranium explorer

Iron ore magnate Andrew Forrest has injected $12 million into a WA uranium exploration company. Source: AAP

MINING magnate Andrew Forrest has invested $12 million in a prospective West Australian uranium miner aiming to be in production by the end of 2016.

Mr Forrest has paid Energy and Minerals Australia (EMA) $12 million for a 28 per cent stake in the company, which owns land in central Western Australia containing four deposits of uranium.

The company has also reached agreement with its lenders to remove $24.5 million of debt, and it says the two deals will help set it up to get its Mulga Rock project underway.

EMA is run by Julian Tapp, a former executive at Mr Forrest's Fortescue Metals Group, and former BC Iron boss Mike Young.

"My investment is a strong vote of confidence in the executive management team of Mike Young and Julian Tapp with whom I have had a long and successful working relationship," Mr Forrest said.

Mr Forrest, who has a net worth of an estimated $5.7 billion, last week paid $40 million for Harvey Beef, which processes beef for local and overseas markets.

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Katie Price pregnant with fifth child

British model Katie Price is reportedly pregnant with her fifth child. Source: AAP

BRITISH model Katie Price is reportedly pregnant with her fifth child.

Britain's The Sun on Sunday reports Price discovered she is pregnant after falling ill with stomach pains while on holiday in the Caribbean with her third husband Kieran Hayler and her other children.

After visiting doctors when she returned to the UK, Price was reportedly told she had been carrying the child for around six months after getting pregnant late last year.

The news comes just eight months after the model-turned-reality TV star gave birth to her son Jett, who was born in August last year.

A source tells the newspaper, "It's not something they had planned this soon after Jett, but they're still delighted."

The Daily Mail reports Price and Hayler were spotted shopping in Mothercare in Brighton on Wednesday and picked up several items for the impending arrival.

Price is already mum to Junior, eight and six year old Princess Tiaamii from her marriage to Australian pop star Peter Andre. She is also mum to Harvey, 11, from a previous relationship.

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Son of IRA victim in 'backlash' claim

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams (pic) says his arrest over the murder of Jean McConville is wrong. Source: AAP

A SON of IRA murder victim Jean McConville says Gerry Adams threatened him with a "backlash" if he released the names of those he believed responsible.

Michael McConville has said his family's fight for justice will go on after the Sinn Fein president was freed, but has maintained he could be shot if he disclosed the identities of suspects to police.

Mr Adams, 65, was released from Antrim police station, pending a report being sent to prosecutors, after four days of questioning about the notorious 1972 killing of the mother-of-10 and other alleged links with the IRA.

Mr McConville told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Gerry Adams says to me 'Michael, you are getting a letter of support from the republican people'. He says 'if you release the names I hope you are ready for the backlash'.

"I took it as a threat."

Mr Adams has vehemently rejected allegations made by former republican colleagues that he ordered the abduction and killing under investigation - denials he repeated again last night.

The decision whether to charge him with any offence will be made by the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) at a later date after reviewing evidence presented by police.

Mr McConville alleged the "threat" was made around the time a report being drawn up by Northern Ireland's then police ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan, into claims that his mother was an informer was close to being finalised.

The Sinn Fein president had brokered a series of meetings between him and members of the IRA.

Mr McConville said he used to tell Mr Adams what had happened in the meetings and warned him that he would release the names of those involved if Ms O'Loan's report was disputed.

At that point he said the backlash was mentioned.

Mr McConville said that "could" have meant a backlash against the peace process but said he took it to mean the "backlash from republican people".

Mr Adams will refocus on election campaigning today as the political fall-out from his release from police custody continues to reverberate around Stormont and beyond.

The republican party is holding a European election rally in Belfast, with a similar event planned in Dublin, as Mr Adams resumes the canvassing activities he claims his detention was designed to thwart.

The rapturous welcome Mr Adams received in a west Belfast hotel on his first public appearance was in marked contrast to the angry scenes outside the police station as loyalists protested at the decision to free him.

There was disorder in the loyalist Sandy Row area of Belfast, with petrol bombs and stones thrown, though no one was injured.

The former MP for west Belfast and now representative for Co Louth in the Irish Dail criticised the police's handling of his arrest but moved to dispel any suggestion that Sinn Fein's commitment to policing had wavered in the wake of the affair.

His arrest on Wednesday triggered a bitter political row at Stormont, with Sinn Fein accusing an "anti-peace process rump" within the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) of orchestrating the detention with the aim of damaging the party ahead of the European and local government elections.

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Target CEO Steinhafel resigns

TARGET says Chairman and CEO Gregg Steinhafel is out, nearly five months after the retailer disclosed a massive data breach that hurt its reputation.

The US's third-largest retailer said on Monday Steinhafel had agreed to step down as the company's chairman, president and CEO, effective immediately.

He has also resigned from its board of directors.

Target, based in Minneapolis, says Chief Financial Officer John Mulligan has been appointed interim president and CEO.

Roxanne S. Austin, a member of Target's board, has been named as interim nonexecutive chair of the board.

Steinhafel, a 35-year veteran of Target, will serve in an advisory capacity during the transition.

Target said in December hackers stole credit and debit card information on tens of millions of customers.

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