Caltabiano steps aside on ethics issue

Transport and Main Roads Director-General Michael Caltabiano appears at the Estimates Committee Hearing. Picture: Philip Norrish Source: The Courier-Mail

A letter from Transport and Main Roads minister Scott Emerson to the Speaker, Fiona Simpson. Source: Supplied

A letter from Queensland Speaker Fiona Simpson regarding a matter of privilege involving Michael Caltabiano. Source: Supplied

CAMPBELL Newman's most controversial public servant, Michael Caltabiano is under investigation for allegedly misleading State Parliament about his work history.

The Courier-Mail can reveal the Transport and Main Roads' Director-General has been referred to the Ethics Committee by Speaker Fiona Simpson, regarding statements Mr Caltabiano made to the budget estimates hearing.

Ms Simpson was reacting to a letter from Transport Minister Scott Emerson raising concerns Mr Caltabiano may have misinformed the committee.

At 4.30pm today, Mr Emerson said Mr Caltabiano was being stood down on full pay until the matter was resolved.

Read the Minister's statement below

The referral follows The Courier-Mail's reporting about Mr Caltabiano's association with lobbying firm Entree Vous which had previously been part-owned by current departmental liaison officer Ben Gommers. 

Mr Caltabiano told estimates last week, he had "no previous professional working knowledge or experience" of his departmental liaison officers, but said he knew him personally.

In his letter, Mr Emerson cited reports put forward by The Courier-Mail as raising a "prima facie case that Mr Caltabiano may have misinformed the committee".

"Reports have indicated that Mr Caltabiano was listed on a website for lobbying firm Entree Vous along with Mr Gommers in the past," he wrote.

"I am writing to you to request you refer the matter to the Ethics Committee for investigation," Mr Emerson said.

In response, Ms Simpson said she had considered the information and was satisfied that "there is sufficient evidence to refer the matter tot he attention of the Ethics Committee".

A spokeswoman for Mr Caltabiano has previously said it would be 'incorrect and inaccurate to assert he worked for the company, and incorrect, inaccurate and misleading to assert he worked with Mr Gommers'.

"He advises he never received any payment for services provided to the company.  He advises it would be incorrect and inaccurate to assert he worked for the company."

If found guilty of lying to Parliament, Mr Caltabiano could potentially face criminal charges under changes to the law reintroduced by the Newman Government.

Transport and Main Roads Minister Scott Emerson and Director-General Micahel Caltabiano appear at the Estimates Committee Hearing. Picture: Philip Norrish Source: The Courier-Mail

The Statement by Transport and Main Roads Minister Scott Emerson:

Following recent media reports I have written to the Speaker requesting she refer statements by Transport and Main Roads Director-General Michael Caltabiano to the Parliamentary Ethics Committee.

During the Transport and Main Roads Estimates Hearing (October 18) Mr Caltabiano said he had known a staff member personally, not professionally.

I've been assured by Mr Caltabiano that this is the case.

However, I believe this is a matter requires the appropriate scrutiny by Parliament's Ethics Committee.

During this period, Mr Caltabiano will be stepping aside as Director-General of Transport and Main Roads on full pay, under standard arrangements.

Deputy Director-General Neil Scales will be acting Director-General during this period.

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Qld close to apology over forced adoptions

THE Queensland government says it is close to joining the growing list of states and territories that have apologised to victims of forced adoption.

Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu on Thursday apologised in parliament for the practice, which was widespread across Australia from the 1950s to the 1970s.

An estimated 150,000 babies around the country were taken from their mothers, who were mostly young and single.

NSW, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and the ACT have formally acknowledged the hurt caused by forced adoptions.

Queensland Communities Minister Tracy Davis says her government will announce the date of its apology in coming weeks.

"Public submissions are being carefully considered and event planning around the apology is under way," Ms Davis said in a statement to AAP.

The acknowledgement will be read out during a sitting of the Queensland parliament.

All those affected by forced adoptions will be invited to attend but Ms Davis said seats would be limited.

People will also be able to watch the occasion live online.

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Japanese man nabbed for lizard smuggling

A 36-YEAR-OLD Japanese man has faced a Perth court after he allegedly attempted to smuggle nine shingleback skinks, also known as bobtail lizards, out of Australia.

The man was stopped by Customs and Border Protection officers at Perth International Airport on Monday after x-rays indicated there were lizards in his baggage.

The officers found the skinks in two plastic containers in very cramped conditions.

The court was told the lizards were collected from City Beach in the city's western suburbs last weekend with the intention of exporting them to sell in Japan, where they can fetch as much as $6000 each.

Department of Environment and Conservation senior wildlife investigator Rick Dawson said the native skinks - often called pine cone lizards in Japan - were protected in Western Australia under the Wildlife Conservation Act.

The man was charged with attempting to export a regulated native specimen and subjecting a protected species to cruel treatment.

The maximum penalties for such offences are 10 years imprisonment or a fine of $110,000, or both.

The man was remanded in custody to appear in court next month.

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Fake real estate agent charged over fraud

A FAKE real estate agent has allegedly swindled almost three-quarters of a million dollars from a Sydney home buyer.

Police in Sydney's southwest on Wednesday charged a 36-year-old man over the allegations relating to the purchase of a property in Edmondson Park.

They say between April 2007 and January 2010, a 52-year-old Hinchinbrook man deposited $730,000 into an account belonging to a man claiming to be a real estate agent who was representing the owner of the property.

The man has been charged with obtaining benefit by deception and will appear in Campbelltown Local Court on November 14.

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Obama's 'horses and bayonets' go viral

CAVALRY comments galloped online as a shot by President Barack Obama about "horses and bayonets" became the most talked about moment of the final presidential debate on Twitter.

Online sparring between supporters of Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney spiked during Monday's debate after Romney derisively remarked that "our navy is smaller now than (at) any time since 1917".

Obama countered that Romney didn't understand the modern military, saying "we also have fewer horses and bayonets" to laughter from the audience.

"We have these things called aircraft carriers where planes land on them. We have these ships that go underwater, nuclear submarines," he said, adding that analysing military capabilities was not "a game of Battleship".

The exchange quickly trended on Twitter as #horsesandbayonets and within minutes of the debate's close a CavalrymenForRomney.com website featured a forlorn warrior on horseback holding a Romney banner on a pike.

"So much sass I was not ready to handle," one online comment read. "OMG, that's a double burn."

Obama's shot echoed at Tumblr.com where artists posted cartoons and playfully doctored images poking fun at a Romney military based on outdated equipment like horses.

A freshly-launched "Horses and Bayonets" page at Facebook with a charging US cavalry photo bore the mocking message: "I stand with Mitt Romney. We must buy more horses and bayonets to strengthen our military."

The Facebook page racked up more than 3500 "likes" shortly after launch.

Obama's "horses and bayonets" barb caused Twitter message volume during the debate to hit a peak of 105,767 tweets, according to the popular San Francisco-based micro-blogging service.

"While it was a busy evening with several events competing for viewers' attention, the political conversation on Twitter remained strong, with 6.5 million tweets sent about the 90-minute debate," the firm said in a blog post.

A Twitter user thrilled that hashtag #horsesandbayonets caught on quickly as a trending topic and said she was eager to see what parody was in store at US television comedy show Saturday Night Live.

"Bayonets and horses will go down in the history books," Golden Globe winning actress Bette Midler said in a tweet.

Another message spoke of the potential for "a dressage-based foreign policy: equestrian fetishism in the Romney White House", referring to the horse-dancing Olympic event that a mare owned by Romney's wife Ann takes part in.

A social networking denizen chimed in to say that his family still has his great-grandfather's bayonet from serving in the US cavalry during World War I and that the government could have it back if it was needed.

Someone with the screen name ifdreamstherebe insisted that the jokes obscured the larger point.

"Sure, we can arm all of our military forces to the hilt, with any and everything they could possibly need... But, do we have to?"

Other users saw Obama's comments as a rare "smackdown" moment in the debate, with one joking that the president should have "picked up a mic and dropped it" after delivering the line.

Some users felt Obama's response was too sarky, with Charles Lane saying the president had a "mocking and belittling tone".

"I still like my bayonet. But what do I know. I only served in two wars," wrote Kurt Schlichter.

Other critics pointed out that Marines are still issued bayonets and tweeted pictures of modern-day US soldiers armed with them.

"To Republicans countering Obama's bayonet lines by talking about how Marines still use bayonets: Stop. You're embarrassing yourselves," tweeted one user.

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$A treading water ahead of inflation data

THE Australian dollar is marking time ahead of the release of key inflation data.

At 1700 AEDT on Tuesday, the Australian dollar was trading at 103.19 US cents, down slightly from 103.26 cents at the end of Monday's local session.

Since 0700 AEDT on Tuesday, the currency has traded in a tight range of between 103.14 US cents and 103.40 cents.

National Australia Bank currency strategist Emma Lawson said a lack of major economic data on Tuesday meant traders were staying on the sidelines, awaiting the release of September quarter Australian consumer price index data (CPI), a measure of inflation.

"There isn't a great deal to say, there hasn't been a lot in terms of new information today," she said.

"That leaves the Aussie dollar a little bit lacklustre awaiting tomorrow's CPI."

The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release the CPI data on Wednesday.

If the data shows inflation remains at, or below, the bottom end of the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) two to three per cent annual target, it may increase the chance of an official interest rate cut in November.

Ms Lawson said traders would be looking for a September quarter inflation figure of around 0.6 per cent to justify expectations of a rate cut by the RBA.

"Traders will be looking for a 0.6 (per cent) or lower number to validate what has already been priced in, but if it comes in higher than expected then that will be a strong positive for the currency."

At 1700 AEDT, the Australian dollar was at 82.44 Japanese yen, up from 82.16 yen on Monday, and at 79.08 euro cents, up a notch from 79.07 euro cents.

Meanwhile, Australian bond futures finished lower on Tuesday.

At 1630 AEDT on Tuesday, the December 10-year bond futures contract was trading at 96.900 (implying a yield of 3.100 per cent), down from 96.935 (3.065 per cent) on Monday.

The December three-year bond futures contract was at 97.470 (2.530 per cent), down from 97.540 (2.460 per cent).

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Federal govt to continue belt tightening

THE latest round of budget cuts probably won't be the last if the federal government is intent on returning a surplus in the 2013 election year.

Treasurer Wayne Swan announced on Monday an extra $16.4 billion of budget savings over the next four years to keep its promised surpluses largely intact, after a troubled global economy took a further toll on tax receipts.

Mr Swan's mid-year budget review predicts a $1.1 billion surplus in 2012/13, down from the $1.5 billion surplus forecast in the May budget.

But it would still be a massive turnaround from a final $43.7 billion deficit for 2011/12.

The economic growth forecast for this financial year in the mid-year economic and fiscal outlook (MYEFO) was also marked down to three per cent, from the 3.25 per cent trend pace previously.

"It's pretty obvious to all that ... this mid-year review has been put together amid storm clouds which are hanging over the global economy," Mr Swan told reporters in Canberra.

"This lower global growth outlook has had another very big whack at government tax revenues and has made it harder to deliver a surplus."

The latest round of savings includes a cut in the baby bonus from $5000 to $3000 for second and subsequent children from mid-2013, further changes to the private health insurance rebate and increased visa application costs.

"Our savings send a very clear message to the world that we have world-beating public finances," Mr Swan said.

"That is very important given global economic uncertainty."

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said all the "incredible shrinking budget surplus" showed was that Labor's economic management was a failure.

"This is a government that will never, ever deliver an honest budget surplus," Mr Abbott told reporters in Canberra.

Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia head of leadership Yasser El-Ansary said the budget forward estimates for revenue collections were probably still too optimistic.

"In early 2013, the government's razor gang is probably going to have to do some more work on spending cuts and tax increases if they want to deliver a budget surplus," Mr El-Ansary said in a statement.

Business groups were unhappy about the surprise announcement that companies will progressively shift to remitting taxes to the government each month, instead of quarterly, starting from 2014.

This will deliver a revenue gain of $8.3 billion over four years and make the system "more accurate, more timely and more clear", Mr Swan said.

"It's not an increase in tax. It's simply a change in the timing of it."

But the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry saw this as business having to do the "heavy lifting" again to get the budget back to surplus.

The chamber's director of economics and industry policy, Greg Evans, told reporters this came as a "double blow", after business missed out on a tax cut in the May budget.

The Tax Institute's tax counsel Deepti Paton said the change would result in an artificial spike in revenue and deliver minimal long-term benefits.

"Such tinkering is a missed opportunity for real, necessary tax reform," Ms Paton said in a statement.

"For some businesses, the measure will increase compliance costs and cause cash-flow difficulties in an already difficult economic environment."

Economists expect the MYEFO outcome will put a greater onus on the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to lower interest rates to underpin economic growth.

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Cup Day rate cut now more certain

THE onus on the central bank to keep the economy growing, and prevent the jobless rate spurting higher, just got heavier.

Faced with a still-turbulent global economy, which has hit forecasts for tax revenues and trimmed domestic growth expectations, the federal government turned the fiscal screw even tighter with another round of savings in its mid-year economic and fiscal outlook (MYEFO) on Monday.

But Treasurer Wayne Swan is doggedly sticking to his aim of returning a budget surplus in 2012/13, and at least over the next three financial years, albeit slightly smaller than predicted five months ago.

One economist described it as a "crazy-brave goal" of delivering a surplus this financial year, despite delivering a whopping $43.7 billion deficit in 2011/12, the third-largest deficit in Australia's history.

However, at $1.1 billion rather than $1.5 billion, the predicted surplus has become even more wafer-thin.

The surplus prediction comes while domestic economic growth is expected to shift slightly below trend, commonly seen at 3.25 per cent, but the jobless rate is seen at 5.5 per cent both this financial year and next, and only just above where it is now.

That suggests the government is relying on the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to do the heavy lifting.

The chance of a Melbourne Cup Day rate cut at the RBA's board meeting in November has grown that more certain, even before key inflation numbers for the September quarter are released on Wednesday.

And beyond November, financial markets are now fully pricing in a further two 25-basis-point reductions by mid-2013, which would take the cash rate to 2.5 per cent.

Business believes it is also doing the heavy lifting in helping return the budget to surplus through changes to tax payments from quarterly to monthly, raising $8 billion.

That said, and despite the brouhaha over the mining tax, the revenue take from the super profits from iron-ore and coal miners has become even smaller amid falling commodity prices.

The minerals resource rent tax will now rake in $9.1 billion instead of $13.4 billion over the forward estimates.

And this is clearly only an estimate, because the 30 per cent impost only started on July 1, and the first receipts were only being paid on Monday.

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Japan saves 64 Chinese seamen

JAPAN'S coast guard has saved 64 Chinese seamen from their burning cargo ship despite the two nations remaining locked in an acrimonious dispute over contested islands.

The coast guard was alerted by Taiwanese authorities late on Saturday about a fire on the 12,700-tonne Ming Yang and sent patrol vessels and aircraft to the scene, about 150 kilometres southeast of Okinawa.

By 2.30am on Sunday (local time), a Japanese coast guard ship had saved 21 people who escaped on a life raft, while 43 others remained on the deck of the burning freighter, registered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

All of the Chinese seamen were rescued by 3:47am, with three of them suffering minor injuries, the coast guard said.

It said the ship's chief engineer had reported hearing sounds resembling an explosion from the main engine on Saturday evening.

The Japanese coast guard has been busy kept busy monitoring waters around disputed islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, far to the west of the burning freighter.

The coast guard said four Chinese official vessels were in contiguous waters around the islands on Sunday.

Such vessels have been spotted in waters off the islands as the dispute escalated over the past two months, with the boats at times entering a 12-nautical-mile territorial zone.

Tensions between the two nations peaked in mid-September after the Japanese government bought a number of the disputed islands.

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Girl, 7, suffers burns from campfire

A YOUNG girl has suffered serious burns to her legs and feet after falling onto a smouldering campfire northwest of Sydney.

The seven-year-old was enjoying a day out with her family at Lower Portland, on the banks of the Hawkesbury River, when the accident happened just after 2pm (AEDT) on Sunday.

The youngster, from Clovelly in Sydney's eastern suburbs, was running through parkland when she fell onto the smouldering remains of the fire.

She was flown to the Children's Hospital at Westmead with burns to her legs and feet.

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