Fuel deal a win for consumers, business

CONSUMERS should expect lower grocery prices at Coles and Woolworths in 2014 due to an agreement from the supermarket giants to limit fuel discounts.

Hailed as a win for independent supermarkets, Coles and Woolworths agreed on Friday to limit discounts to a maximum four cents a litre as part of undertakings given to the nation's competition watchdog.

The retail behemoths told the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) they would stop funding the discounts through their supermarkets division, and any future discounting would need to be covered by their fuel retailing business.

The chains made the voluntary undertakings to address ACCC concerns their discount offers would reduce competition in the fuel retail sector.

The move comes after the consumer watchdog probed the supermarkets' shopper dockets following extended periods of eight cents a litre discounts.

Coles managing director Ian McLeod said the supermarket chain didn't believe its discounts amounted to a breach of law, but he recognised the ACCC's concerns.

Woolworths, meanwhile, denied there had been a competition problem arising from the discounts.

Consumer advocate Choice said the pledge should mean lower prices at Coles and Woolworths from January 1.

"Consumers have every right to expect grocery prices will fall at Coles and Woolworths as the supermarket giants reverse the flow of subsidies away from fuel," Choice spokesman Tom Godfrey said in a statement.

He said anything less would "expose the so-called price wars as nothing more than advertising slogans".

Australian Retailers Association executive director Russell Zimmerman said the deal was "the first step in fixing serious misuse of market powers issues".

He told AAP small, independent supermarkets had been "really badly hurt" by deep fuel discounts given by Coles and Woolworths.

"It does give (independent supermarkets) an opportunity to compete on a more level playing field."

The Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association, which represents independent service stations, also backed the deal.

"It's not perfect, but we welcome it as a step towards levelling the playing field in the fuel industry," group chief executive Nic Moulis said.

He said about 1000 independent service stations had shut in the past four years, partly due to cost pressure caused by heavy fuel discounts at Coles and Woolworths.

Coles said it would continue to offer fuel discounts of four cents a litre.

Woolworths said it would offer eight cents a litre discounts to supermarket customers who spent an additional $5 on merchandise at its petrol stations.

Independent senator Nick Xenophon said the undertaking would still "lead to the widespread ripping off of supermarket shoppers and petrol station customers".

Senator Xenophon said the fuel discount limit would be offset by Coles and Woolworths "scams" like increased supermarket prices and high fuel prices at the bowser.

"Smaller independent supermarkets and service stations will still be driven out of the market by this unfair system," he added.

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Barnett won't be rushed on new WA laws

WEST Australian Premier Colin Barnett has defended the state government's efficiency at passing legislation, saying parliamentarians shouldn't be rushed to vote on bills.

The state government has come under fire for not introducing by the end of this year a planned law that would send violent home invaders straight to jail.

It was the first election pledge by the Liberals in February before they convincingly won a second term.

And parliamentary debate over some of the bills that have been introduced has become bogged down, with a proposed law to increase regulation of the taxi industry descending into filibustering.

But Mr Barnett said he wasn't going to rush, reintroducing bills when necessary.

"Given there was a significant number of new members, I was not going to simply reinstate legislation at the stage it was before the election," he told reporters on Friday.

"That would have meant you would have had a significant number of members of parliament voting or conceding, if you like, on legislation that they hadn't had the chance to see.

"So I said we would actually go back and reintroduce legislation that had not finished its passage.

"I think that was a very proper thing to do."

Mr Barnett said he hoped bills on workplace reform, amalgamation of port operators, and the merger of utilities Verve and Synergy would be passed through the upper house next week.

Thursday was the last sitting day of the year for the Legislative Assembly but the Legislative Council has another week.

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Poorer women prone to giving birth early

A study has revealed poorer women, older women and smokers are prone to having a pre-term baby. Source: AAP

POORER women, older women and smokers are at risk of having a pre-term baby, according to a new study that also highlights a danger among Aboriginal women.

Mothers from the most disadvantaged areas with the least resources face the greatest risk.

In these areas, the chance of having a baby at least three months early is 45 per cent higher than in the most privileged areas.

A third of mothers giving birth to significantly premature babies live in disadvantaged areas, but only 28.5 per cent overall live in such areas, according to the University of Sydney study published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.

The researchers analysed births in the 10 years to 2004 to assess the link between pre-term birth and low socioeconomic status.

"Our study found a strong association between socioeconomic deprivation and an increasing risk of pre-term birth," said lead author Deborah Donoghue.

The risk of having a pre-term baby was also significantly higher for older mothers and Aboriginal women, she said.

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Myanmar baby applies for protection visa

Lawyers say a Myanmar asylum seeker's baby born in Australia is entitled to a protection visa. Source: AAP

LAWYERS for a Rohingya asylum seeker's baby, who was born in Australia, have applied for a protection visa for the newborn.

Ferouz was born in a Brisbane hospital last month after his mother Latifar, his father and two siblings were transferred there from a Nauru detention centre.

The family, who come from Myanmar, do not want to return to the Pacific Island nation because premature Ferouz and his mother, who suffers from diabetes, are still very weak.

Last week their lawyers struck a deal with the Department of Immigration allowing the family to stay in Brisbane until their case was heard for "procedural fairness".

Maurice Blackburn associate Murray Watt says an application for a protection visa for Ferouz was lodged on Wednesday.

"Ferouz's family come from a persecuted minority group in Myanmar that is not recognised as citizens by the government there," Mr Watt said in a statement.

"For that reason, baby Ferouz is considered stateless and, having been born in Australia, he is entitled to apply for a protection visa.

"We strongly urge the federal government to grant this protection visa for Ferouz, and we will also be seeking protection for his family to ensure they can remain together, as any reasonable person would expect."

Mr Watt said Ferouz was likely to apply for Australian citizenship at a later date.

The family's bid to stay in the country is due to be aired in the Federal Circuit Court on March 21.

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ABC rebuked over spy stories

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has publicly rebuked the ABC for publishing stories about Australia's spy agencies, but says he has no plans to retaliate by cutting funding to the public broadcaster.

Government MPs expressed anger at the intelligence stories at a closed party-room meeting on Tuesday as the ABC's managing director Mark Scott went on television to defend the reports.

The ABC and The Guardian last month sparked a diplomatic crisis with Indonesia when they published leaked documents showing Australia had tracked the mobile phones of Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and members of his inner circle.

The documents included a power point presentation, leaked by fugitive American intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, who has sought sanctuary in Russia.

"I think the ABC was guilty of very, very poor judgment," Mr Abbott told reporters, adding he was concerned the ABC helped promote a story by The Guardian, which he described as a left-wing British newspaper.

Mr Abbott said he understood why many in the media believed the ABC had an unfair competitive advantage because it received around $1 billion a year in government funding.

But he had no plans to punish the ABC by cutting its public funding.

"It has been thus (publicly funded) for many a long year, and this government has no plans to change that," he said.

"My intention is to speak plainly and candidly with the Australian people in the hope that ABC management will see sense."

Mr Scott earlier appeared on ABC television to defend the public broadcaster's coverage of the intelligence leaks, which he called a "very important story".

"Yes, it has caused some short-term difficulty but we absolutely feel it was in the public interest," he said.

"When an important story was presented to us, were we really going to walk away from that because it was controversial?"

Mr Scott said the ABC did not have an ongoing arrangement with The Guardian on future Snowden leaks but he would not rule out further collaborations.

"It would depend on the story, and it would depend on our ability to independently verify that story, and it would depend on whether we felt that story was in the public interest," he said.

In the past, the ABC has taken part in collaborative reporting ventures with Fairfax Media.

South Australian Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi, who raised concerns about the ABC in Tuesday's government party-room meeting, suggested taxpayers could decide on whether ABC funding should be cut.

"The ABC seems to have made their choice. Maybe Australian taxpayers should be able to express their choice as to whether the ABC is worthy of their tax dollars or not," he told AAP.

Defence Minister David Johnston, meanwhile, has told a closed meeting of industry and defence experts that the government was prepared for further damaging intelligence leaks from Snowden.

"We are watching with great acuity what is happening in the space. But we must assume the worst. There is no alternative for us," Johnston told the meeting, according to The West Australian newspaper.

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Bali punch victim wakes from coma

An Australian man who suffered injuries when he was allegedly punched in Bali has woken from a coma. Source: AAP

AN Australian surfing teacher who suffered major head injuries when he was allegedly punched in Bali has woken from a coma and is able to smile, wink and nod, his family says.

Matt Scarff, 41, suffered major head injuries when he was allegedly punched by a stranger outside the Townhouse Club in Seminyak on November 15 while going to the aid of a woman in danger.

A Facebook page was set up by family members to raise money for Mr Scarff's travel expenses to return him to Australia because he did not have insurance.

He has undergone two operations since arriving in Perth.

Tony Maguire, who runs the Facebook page, posted on Monday night that his cousin had woken up.

"He is out of the induced coma but still in intensive care," he said.

"Matt is still not out of the woods but his condition is improving and he is interacting.

"He is giving us nods, winks, thumbs up, and a few of his cheeky grins."

Mr Maguire said it is hoped that in time, and with a lot of hard work, Mr Scarff will be up and about again.

He added that Mr Scarff would require further surgery at Royal Perth Hospital in the near future.

"We are still taking things day by day," Mr Maguire said.

"He is loved by so many people and we know he will get through this."

Mr Scarff runs Bali Learn To Surf - a surf school that mainly teaches southeast Asians, including orphans, and includes surf trips to Java and up the coast.

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Qld man dissolved wife's body in acid

A FAR north Queensland man has admitted causing his wife's death and dissolving her body in acid.

Klaus Andres, 70, is accused of murdering his wife, Li Ping Cao, 42, on October 30, 2011, in Cairns.

He's been charged with one count each of murder and interfering with a corpse.

His trial, set down for two weeks, began on Monday in the Cairns Supreme Court.

On Monday afternoon Andres' lawyer read out a list of 10 admissions by Andres to the jury.

Andres admits causing his wife's death on October 30, 2011, buying acid from a hardware store and putting her body in a wheelie bin to dissolve her in it.

He has already admitted to interfering with his wife's body, but denies intentionally killing her.

Andres also admitted pouring the contents of the wheelie bin down a storm drain outside the couple's house.

Only Li Ping Cao's prosthetic teeth were recovered by investigators.

Andres' lawyer told the court Andres admits pushing his wife during an argument in the couple's kitchen on October 30, 2011.

Li Ping Cao fell to the ground and blood began oozing out of her nose and ears.

Andres tried to communicate with his wife and then put a pillow under her head, but she was unresponsive.

He then panicked as he thought he'd be blamed for her death.

Andres says he pushed his wife because she had stabbed his knuckles and fingers with a fork.

He had no intention of killing her, he says.

Principal Crown Prosecutor Nigel Rees told the court Andres killed his wife to get rid of her so his mistress, who lived in Thailand, could move in with him.

Andres began a sexual relationship with the Thai woman while she was on holiday in Cairns in August 2011.

In an email penned on the day after Li Ping Cao died Andres wrote to his mistress: "Now I have good news, the other person has finally left".

Andres told police his wife had packed her things and left him, as she had on a number of occasions.

He said she had likely returned to China.

Andres fronted a media conference after Le Ping Cao's death seeking information about his wife's whereabouts.

The jury will decide whether Andres intended to kill his wife or whether it was an accident.

The trial continues.

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Sydney toddler dies after pulled from pool

A TWO-YEAR-OLD boy who was pulled unconscious from a Sydney pool on the weekend has died in hospital.

The toddler was pulled from a backyard pool at Cronulla on Sunday evening and was taken in a critical condition to Sydney Children's Hospital, police say.

On the same day, a three-year-old girl was found face down in a pool at the Sydney Aquatic Centre at Homebush.

She remained in a stable condition on Monday, The Children's Hospital at Westmead said.

NSW Ambulance Inspector Ian Johns urged everybody to take care when swimming, particularly when children are around.

"Toddlers are at risk because they are inquisitive," he said in a statement.

"They can get themselves into trouble and often can't get themselves out."

He's also reminded beachgoers to swim between the flags this summer.

"Teenagers and young adults often overestimate their ability and look for adventure which too can get them into trouble."

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PM stands by election schools promise

PM Tony Abbott has denied the government is breaking its pre-election schools funding promise. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott insists the government will keep the promise it made on school funding before the election - not the promise some people think it made.

But the Opposition's education spokeswoman Kate Ellis says that's just "clever words".

And she hasn't ruled out backing any industrial action by teachers angry at the coalition reneging on school funding deals struck between the former Labor government and a majority of the states and territories.

Before the September election, the coalition said schools would receive the same amount of funding as under the so-called Gonski model.

"We are going to keep the promise that we made, not the promise that some people thought we made or the promise that some people would like us to make. We are going to keep the promise that we actually made," Mr Abbott told Network Ten on Sunday.

The prime minister refused to repeat the promise word for word, but said schools will get "the same quantum of funding over the four years that they would have under Labor".

The coalition will fund schools as planned for 2014 before introducing a new scheme from 2015, which Education Minister Christopher Pyne is trying to nut out with state and territory counterparts.

Labor says the coalition is making excuses.

"The government is clearly determined to break their word - that's what's happening," Labor senator Penny Wong told ABC TV.

"They aren't the government they said they'd be before the election."

Ms Ellis says there's no way the government can justify its move.

"A promise is a promise," she told Network Ten.

"They were very specific in their words before the election ... a promise they have now walked away from."

Ms Ellis said teachers and parents across Australia had a right to be angry about the government's decision and didn't rule out backing industrial action.

"I would certainly support ... us fighting to make sure these huge and important reforms are not tossed aside," she said.

State and territory leaders will get the chance to eyeball the prime minister about school funding at a Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting on December 13.

"It will absolutely be an agenda item," Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings said on Sunday.

"This Gonski reform is one of the top issues."

South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill, who faces a state election in 2014, said the school funding issue may filter through to be an influencing factor.

"(The government) know that they can't be seen to break a promise so that's why they're pretending that they haven't broken a promise," Mr Weatherill said.

The Australian Education Union accused the prime minister of spinning a line on school funding.

"No school worse off over four years, promised Tony Abbott," Union deputy president Correna Haythorpe said in a statement.

"It's an insult to parents and teachers to hear the prime minister now say that this clear, unambiguous commitment from the Coalition is something 'some people' thought he said, or 'some people' would like him to have said."

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Political violence shakes Thai capital

One protester has been killed after an attack on a bus carrying government's supporters in Bangkok. Source: AAP

THAI police fired tear gas and a water cannon at protesters trying to force their way into Government House to overthrow Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, after violence in the capital left two dead and dozens wounded.

The bloodshed is the latest in a series of outbreaks of civil strife in the kingdom since royalist generals ousted billionaire tycoon-turned-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck's brother, seven years ago.

The mass street rallies, aimed at replacing Yingluck's government with an unelected "people's council", are the biggest since political violence in Bangkok three years ago left dozens dead in a military crackdown.

Protesters were amassing outside Government House on Sunday following a threat by their leader to seize the offices of Yingluck, who was overseeing the situation from an emergency base elsewhere in the city.

Police acted after protesters tried to breach barricades and cut barbed wire protecting the seat of government, which was heavily guarded by security forces including unarmed soldiers, according to an AFP reporter.

Tear gas was also fired near the city's metropolitan police headquarters several kilometres away where demonstrators were also gathering, television footage showed.

Tensions were high after violence broke out late Saturday in the area around a suburban stadium where tens of thousands of pro-government "Red Shirts" had gathered in support of Yingluck, who has faced weeks of street protests.

The circumstances surrounding the deaths were unclear but the violence came after an anti-government mob attacked Red Shirts arriving to join the rally in Ramkhamhaeng district.

"The confirmed toll is now two dead and 45 injured," an official at the city's Erawan emergency centre told AFP, amid reports of sporadic outbreaks of violence near the stadium on Sunday morning.

They were the first deaths since the mostly peaceful demonstrations began a month ago. Both sides blamed each other for attacking their supporters.

The violence prompted Red Shirt leaders to end their rally, which had drawn tens of thousands of mainly rural poor in support of Yingluck and her brother Thaksin, who lives in self-imposed exile but remains a hugely divisive figure in Thailand.

"In order to avoid further complicating the situation for the government, we have decided to let people return home," Red Shirt leader Thida Thavornseth told the crowd.

Authorities are deploying more than 2,700 troops to reinforce security in Bangkok, the first time a significant number of soldiers have been deployed to cope with the unrest.

Protests were triggered by an amnesty bill, since abandoned by the ruling party, that opponents feared would have allowed the return of fugitive former premier Thaksin, whose overthrow by royalist generals in 2006 unleashed years of political turmoil.

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