NZ govt set to approve Pike River plan

THE New Zealand government is understood to have approved a plan to re-enter Pike River mine and will brief families of the mine's 29 victims.

Two Australians, Joshua Ufer and Willie Joynson were among those who died.

NZ Energy Minister Simon Bridges is set to formally announce cabinet's decision on the re-entry plan on Tuesday morning.

Speaking at his post-cabinet press conference on Monday afternoon, NZ Prime Minister John Key did not say which way cabinet had voted on the plan, put up by the families, but said he believes they will be relieved by the decision.

He said there was a lot of discussion, but also consensus, within cabinet on the decision.

Last week the Solid Energy board approved a staged re-entry proposal formulated by families of the victims of the November 2010 explosions with help from experts.

The plan also has be signed off by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's high hazards unit.

It involves a seal being put in, allowing a team to go 2km up the mine's drift to the point where it collapsed.

It's thought most of the bodies are beyond that point, but families' spokesman Bernie Monk has previously said it's hoped some can be recovered.

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Abbott says trust me on climate action

Kevin Rudd will begin the fight of his life, entering the final days of the campaign the underdog. Source: AAP

OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott is standing by his claim greenhouse gas emissions will fall by five per cent under his Direct Action plan, despite a lack of any internal modelling.

Mr Abbott used an address to the National Press Club in Canberra on Monday, five days out from the federal election, to mount an economic argument for abolishing Labor's carbon tax.

Australia faces a cumulative loss of $1 trillion in gross domestic product between now and 2050 if the carbon pricing regime introduced last year isn't scrapped, he said.

"It's as if the entire country were to stop work at some stage over the next 40 years for the best part of a year," Mr Abbott said.

"Without a carbon tax, an economy that's three per cent bigger or $40 billion a year wealthier could much more readily afford the Gonski school changes and the national disability insurance scheme."

Mr Abbott insisted the coalition would meet its target to cut carbon emissions by five per cent by 2020 without a carbon tax.

The $3.2 billion Direct Action plan, which includes using soil and trees to soak up emissions, would be enough to meet the target, despite two earlier studies by Monash University and Sinclair Knight Merz suggesting it could cost much more and still not do the job.

"We will get as much environmental improvement, as much emission reduction, as we can for the spending we have budgeted and we are very confident we will achieve the five per cent," Mr Abbott said.

Asked whether the coalition would offer economic and scientific modelling to confirm this, Mr Abbott said: "I think I've answered the question."

The opposition leader also reiterated he did not think any companies would pay the Direct Action plan's in-built "penalty" for increasing emissions.

However, Climate Change Minister Mark Butler said emissions data shows the penalty would raise as much as $350 million a year and could be passed on by business to consumers.

"Mr Abbott's climate plan is environmentally ineffective," Mr Butler said.

"It remains an expensive joke and a fraud on the Australian people."

The coalition could win government on September 7, according to the latest Newspoll showing Labor's primary vote has dropped to 33 per cent - its lowest since Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was returned in June.

Mr Rudd said he wasn't giving up and expected to prevail on Saturday.

The prime minister campaigned in southeast Queensland on Monday and announced a jobs plan for his home state that effectively repackaged programs revealed earlier in the election campaign.

Mr Abbott also on Monday launched the coalition's defence policy at Sydney's Holsworthy Army Barracks and repeated a pledge to quarantine the sector from cuts and lift spending to two per cent of gross domestic product within a decade.

Mr Rudd is expected to continue campaigning in Queensland on Tuesday while Mr Abbott's due to be out and about in Adelaide.

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Labor and Libs enter final week

PM Kevin Rudd is likely to play the underdog card amid new polls, as he campaigns in the NT. Source: AAP

LABOR and the coalition are entering the crucial final week of election campaigning with neither side prepared to give up.

Labor vowed to "fight, fight, fight" despite poor polls on Saturday as Prime Minister Kevin Rudd prepared to officially launch his campaign in Brisbane on Sunday.

"I've seen a range of polls both public and private which suggest to me this election will end up a little closer than you think," Mr Rudd told reporters in the Northern Territory.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says he expects plenty of "low" politics from Labor in the countdown to September 7 but played down polls showing a coalition victory.

He plans to run a steady campaign during a tough last week, knowing the last few yards are when "the most can go wrong".

"Lots of people have said to me over the course of the last three or four weeks that we are desperately hoping for a change of government and if it doesn't happen you, Abbott, are going to be held responsible," he told reporters on Saturday.

"The last thing I want to do over the next seven days is give anyone an excuse to vote against the coalition."

Mr Rudd, who will promote Labor's message of jobs and growth at Labor's launch on Sunday, had another bad day on the campaign trail.

Journalists travelling with him were prevented from touring a GP superclinic in the marginal Country Liberal seat of Solomon by the conservative Northern Territory government.

Mr Rudd called it "base politics" by the NT government.

But the NT government made no apologies for putting the needs of patients and health staff ahead of politicians "hot on the campaign trail".

Mr Rudd used his visit to re-commit $110 million to build a second hospital in Palmerston.

During his press conference, he was loudly heckled by a man who shouted "You fool! Get out of here! Stop spending!"

Mr Abbott also had a heckler but it was not so loud or unfriendly.

Deep in the heart of beef country in the Queensland seat of Flynn, Mr Abbott said regional Australia would be a focus of a coalition government.

"It better be," a local called out.

Earlier in Townsville, Mr Abbott pledged $20 million for flood-proofing a local road as his shadow Immigration Minister Scott Morrison announced the scrapping of free government legal advice which he said will save $120 million over four years, and deter people from getting on boats.

Elsewhere on the campaign, Treasurer Chris Bowen was insisting the coalition was hiding by not releasing its full list of election promises and costs - and that amounted to deception.

Liberal Senator Arthur Sinodinos said the coalition had already released most of its costings.

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Public transport NSW police blitz nabs 69

A two-day police crackdown on antisocial behaviour on NSW transport has resulted in 69 arrests. Source: AAP

A TWO-DAY police crackdown on antisocial behaviour on NSW trains, buses and ferries has resulted in 69 arrests and 95 charges laid.

Officers patrolled more than 780 trains and 180 buses across Sydney, the Illawarra and central coast on Thursday and Friday as part of Operation Fusion 1.

The operation, which was led by the Police Transport Command with involvement from Transport for NSW, Sydney Trains and the State Transit Authority, also targeted anti-social behaviour and criminal offences at transport hubs.

Police Transport Commander Assistant Commissioner Max Mitchell said the officers had their work cut out for them on Friday night as people boarded public transport to get to sporting venues.

"Over the two days officers arrested 69 people with 95 charges laid for offences including drug possession, robbery, and graffiti," he said.

"Twelve people were arrested on the network for outstanding warrants and breach of bail and will appear in court."

The arrests included a 13-year-old at Bankstown train station who was accused of seven offences.

The boy, from Kooringal, was charged with having custody of a knife in a public place, possessing a prescribed restricted substance, possessing a graffiti implement with intent to damage, going into a restricted area, behaving in an offensive manner, smoking in or on a public passenger vehicle and possessing equipment for administering a prohibited substance.

He was refused bail to appear in Parramatta Children's Court on Saturday.

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Drillsearch ups oil and gas forecasts

DRILLSEARCH shares have jumped as the oil and gas producer doubled its production target for the year ahead.

The company also made a record profit of $45 million in the 2012/13 financial year, on the back of its new operating oil pipeline in South Australia's Cooper Basin.

The profit was more than four times higher than $10 million in the previous year.

Managing director Brad Lingo said he had changed the ringtone on his mobile phone to AC/DC's Back in Black to mark the company's recent performance.

"That's the theme for our financial results this year," Mr Lingo told analysts.

"Drillsearch is in the black."

The company says it will boost production to between 2.3 million and 2.5 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) in the 2013/14 financial year.

"The major driver for the increase in production is the continued development of the Bauer oil fields," chief financial officer Ian Bucknell said.

"This more than doubling in production is driven by the annualising of the current high rates of production on the western flank oil production and assuming that minimum wet gas contract levels will be produced."

Drillsearch achieved production of 1.1 mmboe in the 12 months to June 30.

Oil production now makes up almost 90 per cent of the company's revenues, and higher oil prices have boosted its profit.

The company plans to increase capital expenditure to between $90 million and $110 million in the 2013/14 financial year, up from previous estimates of between $75 million and $100 million.

Drillsearch shares gained four cents, or three per cent, to $1.375.

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Seven defends PNG corruption story

THE Seven Network has defended a story which linked Australian aid to corruption in Papua New Guinea, after Prime Minister Peter O'Neill called for the network to apologise and a reporter to be sacked.

In a statement, Seven said it did not not allege $A1.7 billion in Australian aid money had been stolen in PNG in a story aired on current affairs program Today Tonight on Monday.

"Rather, the story stated that about half of PNG's total budget - $1.7 billion - is lost to corruption every year, and that some of this stolen money is laundered in Australia by corrupt officials," the network said in a statement on Thursday.

"The allegations were based on interviews with the head of PNG's Anti-Corruption Task Force, Mr Sam Koim - who was appointed by Prime Minister O'Neill himself - and Professor Jason Sharman from Griffith University, one the world's foremost experts on corruption and money laundering."

Prime Minister O'Neill on Wednesday night issued a statement calling for an apology from Seven, and said journalist James Thomas should be sacked.

"I can say without fear or favour that the Channel 7 TV report alleging $A1.7 billion of Australian aid money being stolen from PNG's budget annually is the Australian media's most ill-researched, mischievous and misinformed piece of journalism coverage on PNG affairs," Mr O'Neill said.

"No one has stolen Australian taxpayers' precious $A1.7 billion because that amount of Australian money has never featured in any of our national budgets to date."

Mr Koim told Radio Australia the next day that PNG loses about 40 per cent of its national budget annually to corruption, waste and mismanagement.

In the report, Prof Sharman suggested the amount of money being stolen from PNG could cause the country to collapse, sparking a refugee crisis with direct implications for Australia.

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NSW sports minister becomes Titans CEO

NSW Sports Minister Graham Annesley has quit parliament to take up a job as the CEO of the Gold Coast Titans.

It comes just over two years after he entered Macquarie Street, and makes him the second minister to depart the government this month.

Speaking to parliament after question time on Wednesday, he said he was aware his decision to take the Queensland-based job would "attract criticism".

But, he explained, "I am not a career politician".

"I have never really considered myself to be a politician ... more of a sports administrator," he said, as he was reduced to tears.

"I don't consider myself to be a very good politician, in fact, there are many aspects of politics that I don't really care for."

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Rudd retreats to safety of Brisbane

PM Kevin Rudd has warned his critics not to write off his chances in next week's election. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd was back in his home state of Queensland and the relief showed on his face.

"We're all Queenslanders here!" he told a crowd of about 100 construction workers at a union rally in his Brisbane seat of Griffith.

Mr Rudd holds Griffith on a margin of 8.5 per cent but recent polling suggests he risks losing it to the coalition.

The mobile phone selfies were back and so, it appeared, was Mr Rudd's mojo.

Mac McLaggan, a 58-year-old construction worker, was impressed.

"I don't like the other bugger at all," he told AAP, referring to Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.

The supportive home crowd was a world away from the unfriendly welcome he received the day before in Sydney when a finger-wagging NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell confronted the PM over his plan to move a navy base out of his state.

Mr O'Farrell was on the warpath again on Wednesday, this time taking to Twitter to accuse Labor of not consulting on sites for its national disability insurance scheme (NDIS) roll-out in the state.

"Fed ALP dumps bipartisanship on disability by unilaterally announcing rollout of additional NSW NDIS sites despite our 'partnership'. Shame!" Mr O'Farrell tweeted.

But Mr Rudd didn't let that derail his Brisbane tour.

"Mr O'Farrell, I think, is doing everything Mr Abbott asks him to do in an election campaign," he told reporters.

His next stop was the offices of the Queensland Teachers Union in the seat of Brisbane, where he spruiked Labor's school funding reforms - developed under his predecessor Julia Gillard.

Mr Rudd asked the room full of teachers if they had federally funded multi-purpose facilities built in their schools.

"Has it been a good thing?" he asked.

"Yes, prime minister," the teachers dutifully replied.

In a warning to his critics not to write him off, Mr Rudd told the crowd the federal election for Labor could be a repeat of 1993, when Paul Keating prevailed over Liberal Leader John Hewson against the odds.

"You know something? The Australian people in the last couple of weeks in that campaign all scratched their heads and said 'I don't think we can afford this bloke'," Mr Rudd said.

"And that's where we're up to right now in this campaign."

He conceded he was behind, but also said he was "within reach" of the opposition.

"This is going to be a tough last 10 days of the campaign," he said.

Mr Rudd later signed a hand-written letter from year one student Ruby Melville, from Tivoli State School in Ipswich.

"Do you know about the solar system?" she asked in the note handed to Mr Rudd by her mum.

"Yes, but not as much as you," he wrote back.

Mr Rudd will on Wednesday night be at the Rooty Hill RSL in Sydney's west for a third leaders' debate against Mr Abbott.

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Floods leave 22 dead in the Philippines

THE Philippines is bracing for more rain as a tropical depression moved towards it one week after severe floods killed 22 people and affected nearly three million people.

The storm, packing maximum winds of 45km/h, was moving 13km/h north-northwest and would bring heavy rain over the north-eastern Philippines, the weather bureau said.

The national disaster risk management agency ordered local precautionary measures including pre-emptive evacuations of low-lying and mountainous areas.

Last week's typhoon dropped heavy rain that flooded Manila and forced the closure of schools, government offices and financial markets.

Floods in some northern provinces were still rising as rivers and dams overflowed, affecting 2.8 million people, including 94,215 staying in evacuation centres.

Damage to agriculture and infrastructure has been estimated at 14.72 million dollars, the national disaster risk management agency said.

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Rudd kitchen saga distracts from Syria

PM Kevin Rudd has rejected claims he delayed a national security briefing to film a cooking show. Source: AAP

KEVIN Rudd wanted to focus on the unfolding Syrian crisis but found himself being questioned about a filming engagement, the carbon tax and his record.

An irritated prime minister on Sunday was forced to reject reports he had pushed back a briefing on Syria to pre-record an episode of the ABC Television hit Kitchen Cabinet in Brisbane on Saturday.

Later on Saturday night Mr Rudd met with Foreign Minister Bob Carr, junior defence minister Mike Kelly and senior officials in his Parliament House office.

He dismissed suggestions he should have returned to Canberra sooner, saying his department head had advised him the earliest a briefing could be held was Saturday night or Sunday morning.

"I said the best thing to do was do it as soon as possible," Mr Rudd told ABC's Insiders program.

"The bottom line is if I hadn't taken the opportunity to alert the Australian people as to what was going on I would have been criticised for that."

News Corp Australia had reported Mr Rudd used a taxpayer-funded VIP jet to fly from Sydney to Brisbane on Saturday to appear on the program, rather than to Canberra for the briefing.

The prime minister said The Sunday Telegraph's claim he delayed the briefing was wrong.

"Had the newspaper bothered to contact my office, they would have known it was 100 per cent false," he said.

"I don't think it could be any clearer in terms of what has happened here."

Mr Rudd also on Sunday agreed Labor did not have a mandate to introduce a carbon tax after the 2010 election, effectively putting him in agreement with the coalition which plans to scrap the impost if it wins government on September 7.

"I don't think our actions on the carbon tax were right, that's why I changed it to move towards a floating price," he said.

"The core element here is that we believe climate change is real."

Mr Rudd was also asked if he was pleased his predecessor Julia Gillard had chosen to stay out of the political limelight, rather than take part in the election campaign.

"I said from the point at which I returned to the prime ministership, I would not be engaging in any negative commentary in relation to Julia's prime ministership," he said.

Was he grateful her supporters had not sabotaged his campaign, as his supporters did to her in 2010?

"I am not going to go to internal debates ... within the Labor party either at that time or on this occasion," he said.

"I respect Julia Gillard's contribution.

"She has made great contributions, they should be respected."

Mr Rudd flew to Sydney on Sunday, where he is expected to spend a few days campaigning.

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