Blazes lit in Melbourne's botanic gardens

A 100-YEAR-OLD pavilion was damaged and two others destroyed by an arsonist in Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens.

Firefighters were called to a large blaze in the gardens just before 6am on Saturday and arrived to find two more fires burning.

Police said the arsonist was potentially in the gardens at the same time that firefighters arrived.

"It's too early to say, but it appears that they are all linked because obviously they were all in very close time frames," detective senior constable Megan MacInnes told reporters.

Professor Tim Entwisle, chief executive of the Botanic Gardens, said two buildings were destroyed and another significantly burned.

"Some plants were damaged doing this as well, which for us in the botanic gardens is just as distressing," Prof Entwisle said.

He said the Lakeview rest house is 100 years old and had been damaged, while the William Tell rest house had been burned down.

A toilet block was also burned down.

Prof Entwisle said security patrols spotted the fire, and said it was tough to keep people from getting in at night.

"It's very hard - without putting razor wire around the Botanic Garden - to absolutely keep people out," he said.

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Attempted assault in inner Melbourne

A man has tried to sexually assault a woman in the inner Melbourne suburb of Brunswick. Source: AAP

A SEX offender has tried to assault a woman in inner Melbourne, the third such attack in the same suburb in a week.

In the latest incident, a woman was grabbed from behind by an unknown man who tried to sexually assault her in Hope Street, Brunswick, about 8pm Friday (AEST), police say.

A passer-by disturbed the offender and he ran away.

The attack comes after two similar attacks that occurred minutes apart last weekend in Brunswick, the same suburb where Jill Meagher was snatched from the street, and later murdered, in 2012.

But police say it is too early to link the latest attack to the other two, in which a man grabbed each woman from behind and dragged them down side streets.

Police said one woman, 22, had left a hotel and was walking along Sydney Road about 2.20am Saturday when the man grabbed her and dragged her to a side street.

She managed to break free and flagged down a friend who was driving past in a taxi.

The same man then tackled another 22-year-old woman from behind and wrestled her to the ground on nearby Charles Street. She was also able to break free and run away.

The offender told one of the women he was homeless and it was the first time he'd done anything like it, police say.

Both the women fought back when they were attacked.

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RBA confirms relaxed view on house prices

YOU might disagree with the RBA about the state of the housing market, but you sure can't accuse them of ignoring it.

And the central bank is sticking with its view that we aren't in the midst of an inflating housing market bubble.

The RBA's head of financial stability, Luci Ellis, repeated that view in a speech in Sydney on Thursday.

She acknowledged what many commentators have pointed out, that in the 15 years or so to around 2005 growth in housing prices outpaced the rise in incomes.

"This was in large part a transition to a new equilibrium of lower inflation and interest rates, and thus higher debt and housing prices relative to incomes," she said.

The implied explanation for that is that most financial assets, like government bonds, become more valuable in a low-inflation environment.

That's because the income streams they are expected to produce are worth more today with low inflation.

Inflation, and the risk of even more inflation, erodes the value of future income.

So the present value of income-producing assets tends to increase as an economy moves from a high inflation environment to a period of low inflation.

And, although we most often think of them as somewhere to live, houses and apartments are also income-producing assets.

If anything, the housing market's transition to a higher price level was somewhat belated compared with rallies in bonds and shares.

But, backed by charts showing both debt and housing prices stabilising as a percentage of household income for most of the past decade, Dr Ellis said the transition is now over.

And that means it won't be a one-way street for investors in housing, with housing prices fluctuating around a flatter trend, meaning there will be more times when prices are falling than there used to be, she said.

That's created a different set of problems for the RBA.

For individuals, it means there will be less chance that a rising housing market will make up for mistakes they might make by paying too much for a property.

But for the central bank, the risks are magnified.

There would be little room for another bout of the kind of "property exuberance" seen in 2002 and 2003.

"Australia managed to have its housing boom end without a major disaster," she said.

"Plenty of other countries weren't so lucky."

An overstretched household sector would be a problem if something were to go wrong elsewhere in the economy she said.

So the RBA is focusing on making sure home buyers don't become overstretched by too much debt.

It's a risk for the RBA to monitor.

But it's a different risk than having to manage exponentially rising housing prices.

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Engaged dads improve children's wellbeing

SYDNEY, May 15 AAP - Children who have positive relationships with their dads interact better with peers, have better developed social skills and cope with distress, research shows.

KidsMatter, a mental health and wellbeing initiative in early childhood education and care, is running a National Week to acknowledge the role of dads.

Research says the positive relationships with dads improve wellbeing and life satisfaction for children.

"Dads play a role in boys in terms of learning how to be a man. For girls, the father is a model of what dads should be in the community," KidsMatter psychologist Lyn O'Grady said.

But factors such as time and distance affect father-child relationships.

"Quality time spent with dads and other family members is really important for a child's development," Dr O'Grady said.

She said when fathers are not able to see their children on a regular basis, they should still keep in contact.

"Using technology such as mobile phones and Skype to make contact and let children know that they are thinking about them is very important," she said.

Dr O'Grady said spending time with male family members and friends such as uncles and grandfathers also benefit children.

"Sometimes they can't see a dad. It could be a dad or grandfather who can really play a male supportive role," she said.

"We know parenting is a challenging thing and we try to help people to find a way which works for them," she said.

KidsMatter was created in 2006 to make a positive difference in the lives of Australian children.

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Aust to donate landing craft to Tonga

AUSTRALIA is a buying a $5 million landing craft which it will donate to Tonga.

The 30-metre craft will be delivered in mid-2015 under a long-running defence co-operation program.

It will boost the Tongan military's capacity to reach remote communities for nation-building construction activities as well as in response to natural disasters such as cyclones.

The contract for construction of the vessel has been awarded to Newcastle shipbuilder Forgacs.

Forgacs is one of the shipbuilders facing the so-called "valley of death" - the period between the end of current defence shipbuilding projects and the start of new projects.

Through the defence co-operation program with Tonga, Australia will deliver a range of services in support of the vessel's operation, including engineering, technical and logistic support.

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Fury as Nauru suspends three MPs

THE Nauru government has booted three opposition MPs out of parliament for talking to foreign journalists.

Former foreign minister Kieren Keke, Mathew Batsiua and Roland Kun have been suspended until they deliver a written apology to the island nation's legislature.

The MPs have been critical of the government's decision to expel the country's chief justice, Australian Geoffrey Eames, in January and the dismissal of its only magistrate, Peter Law, who is also Australian.

Parliament demanded the MPs publicise their apology through foreign media and renounce their earlier comments as contrary to the national interest.

Mr Kun and Mr Batsiua were absent from parliament at the time.

Dr Keke refused to leave the chamber and the speaker ordered police officers to remove him, before a stand-off ensued.

Justice Minister David Adeang claimed Dr Keke had inflamed the situation and was in contempt of parliament for not obeying the order.

"These MPs have done what no other country would deem acceptable - use the foreign media to trash our international reputation," he said in a statement.

He was not surprised the first thing Dr Keke did after the parliament suspended him was to talk to international media.

Mr Adeang also accused Dr Keke of trying to incite a riot by organising a protest outside Parliament House.

Dr Keke said the Nauru government was taking the country backwards 10 years.

"The sad and frustrating thing is that my beloved island home continues to suffer at the hands of self-serving fools," he said on Facebook.

If their actions weren't so damaging, the script would actually make an amusing show, he said.

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Roads package a sham, says Labor

Labor says the government's road funding package in the Federal Budget is a sham. Source: AAP

LABOR says the government's road funding package is a sham.

Treasurer Joe Hockey's first budget on Tuesday is expected to outline how $42 billion will be spent on roads to create thousands of jobs.

It is a central plank of the Abbott government's bid to stimulate the economy as mining investment eases and reach its one million jobs target.

Labor transport spokesman Anthony Albanese says the new spend by the government is unlikely to come to more than $2 billion.

Mr Albanese says the previous government began work on $35 billion in infrastructure projects across all states and territories.

Among the most expensive were the Pacific Highway upgrades ($7.9 billion), Bruce Highway upgrades ($5.7 billion), Hunter Expressway ($1.5 billion) and Westconnex ($1.8 billion).

Labor had also set aside $4.2 billion for rail projects and studies in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Hobart, which are all expected to face the axe on Tuesday.

And a Labor government tax-loss incentive for infrastructure projects of around $5 billion was expected to leverage $25 billion in new private sector spending.

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Afghan women need Aust help: inquiry

AUSTRALIA has been urged to keep supporting Afghan women's rights so that gains the international community has helped fight for won't be lost.

Despite some minor human rights achievements over the years, Afghan women still face alarming rates of physical, sexual and psychological abuse, a public hearing in Canberra was told on Tuesday.

The backing of the international community has enabled Afghan women to play a more visible role in public life and make education and health gains.

But there was more work to be done, women's rights campaigner Zulaika Rafiq told the hearing.

"If the international community turns its backs on us now, we will be in a precarious situation," she said.

"We could see an erosion of the rights governments like Australia have helped us to fight for."

Ms Rafiq said Australian voices needed to be loud to keep pressure on its incoming new government.

In particular, she was concerned Afghanistan could approve draft laws that activists say will severely limit justice for victims of domestic abuse.

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Shorten open to talks on MP standards

OPPOSITION Leader Bill Shorten is willing to talk to the Abbott government about ways to prevent corruption.

Mr Shorten was asked during Monday's federal Labor caucus meeting in Canberra whether he supported a national version of NSW's Independent Commission Against Corruption.

The Labor leader told colleagues he was willing to talk to the government about reforms to improve the performance and standards of MPs.

But he did not elaborate on what form of new checks he supported.

The Australian Greens on Thursday will push for a vote on a bill to put in place a national anti-corruption body.

The National Integrity Commission would have three officers: a national integrity commissioner, a law enforcement integrity commissioner and an independent parliamentary advisor.

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NZ dollar gains against euro

THE New Zealand dollar has gained against the euro after European Central Bank president Mario Draghi signalled more monetary easing in the euro region.

The New Zealand dollar traded at 62.66 euro cents at 5pm in Wellington, little changed from the morning and up from 62.40 cents on Friday.

The kiwi was at 86.24 US cents from 86.16 cents at 8am in Wellington and from 86.10 cents at the New York close on Friday.

Dr Draghi said last week that Europe's recovery is "at a slow pace and it still remains fairly modest" after keeping the ECB's benchmark interest rate at a record low of 0.25 per cent.

Figures on Thursday are expected to show the euro area economy grew 0.4 per cent in the first quarter, picking up pace from a 0.2 per cent rate three months earlier.

"The euro is clearly in focus after the ECB head warned that growth is a concern," said Alex Hill, head of dealing at HiFX.

Traders will be watching New Zealand first-quarter retail sales, scheduled for Wednesday and expected to show growth slowed to 0.5 per cent from 1.2 per cent, while US retail sales probably slowed to 0.4 per cent in April from 1.1 per cent in the previous month.

Also on Wednesday, Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler is scheduled to speak after the release of the latest financial stability report and later to parliament's finance committee and traders will be listening for any insight into the pace of interest rate increases, Mr Hill said.

The New Zealand dollar traded at 92.07 Australian cents from 91.96 Australian cents at the start of the day and from 92.25 cents on Friday.

The kiwi dollar rose to 87.95 yen from 87.77 yen at the start of the day and from 87.82 yen on Friday.

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Hospitals to suffer under GP co-payment

HOSPITAL emergency wards would be inundated with extra patients under a GP co-payment system being considered by the Abbott government.

A survey, conducted just days ahead of the Tuesday's budget, has found that most Australians oppose paying any co-payment to visit a GP.

The survey of 1000 people, commissioned by the Consumers Health Forum, found 72 per cent thought a $6 co-payment would send more people to hospital emergency wards.

Sixty-nine per cent said a $6 co-payment would also discourage people from visiting their GP.

Consumers Health Forum chief executive Adam Stankevicius said another survey of almost 600 consumers found co-payments would hit the chronically ill and those on low incomes the hardest.

"If people have to pay to see a doctor, a lot of things are going to change," he said in a statement.

"If they are paying $6, then many people who are used to seeing a GP at no cost are going to put off a visit. Any introduction of a co-payment will be a clear barrier to primary health care."

There has been speculation ahead of the budget that the coalition government will introduce a co-payment for GP visits of $7.50.

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Qld police name pair in abduction case

POLICE have publicly named two people they want to question in relation to the abduction of a two-year-old girl from her father's house southwest of Brisbane.

Bella Rose Goulding was taken from a house at Willowbank, near Ipswich, on Saturday night and police say her abductors are known to the family.

Queensland police believe Lisa Maree Carroll, 21, and Michael Kenneth Winning, 42, may be able to assist their investigation but have not said how they are related to Bella.

Acting Inspector Alison Jewell said three men and a woman abducted the toddler from the home, where she was temporarily staying.

"We believe that Bella is in the company of people who are known to the family," Inspector Jewell told reporters outside Yamanto police station.

"However, we still hold concerns for her safety."

The 8pm abduction occurred on Sancroft Street, which is near a park and the Cunningham Highway.

The girl's father Steven declined to speak publicly on Sunday.

Witnesses saw the abductors in a white Holden Commodore and a silver Mitsubishi sedan.

Bella is described as Caucasian with blue eyes and blonde, curly hair. She was last seen wearing a Dora The Explorer t-shirt and grey leggings.

Insp Jewell said there weren't any specific child safety issues but declined to say if her mother was among the people who abducted the girl or with whom she lived permanently.

"We are consistently getting information from the public and we're following all those leads," she said.

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