Australia close to FTA with China: Bishop

AFTER eight years of negotiations, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says she is hopeful of clinching a free trade agreement with China within months.

Ms Bishop was in Beijing this week for high-level talks with Chinese officials including Vice-President Li Yuanchao.

She told a press conference China, Australia's biggest trading partner, had expressed enthusiasm for a free trade agreement (FTA) days after a similar deal was inked between South Korea and Australia.

"There are many opportunities for our economic relationship to be broader and deeper and more diversified and the potential for a Free Trade Agreement was discussed," Ms Bishop told reporters in Beijing on Saturday.

"Indeed, the Vice-President indicated that he thought we had the opportunity to conclude a Free Trade Agreement in the very near future."

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has previously pledged to secure three FTAs in his first 12 months as prime minister.

The third hoped-for agreement would be with Japan.

Ms Bishop said Australia was still hopeful of reaching a deal with China within a year.

"We didn't put a time-frame on it, that's Australia's aspiration. But most certainly the Vice-President was very positive about the conclusion of an agreement within a short period of time," she said.

"We have been negotiating a free trade agreement with China for eight years now and the high quality, comprehensive agreement that we were able to conclude with South Korea gives us hope that we will be able to do something similar with China."

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Motorcyclist dies after toy run event

A 58-YEAR-OLD man is dead and a teenage girl is in hospital after a motorcycle crash on the Brooker Highway in Hobart.

Police say the motorcycle, which had earlier been involved in a toy run event, was travelling north when it crashed about 200m south of the Claremont Link Road off ramp.

The driver, from Old Beach, died at the scene, while his passenger, a 17-year-old girl, was taken to Royal Hobart Hospital in a stable condition.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Blue Mountains families want repair action

SOME 70 Blue Mountains families who lost everything in the October bushfires are on track to have their blocks cleared, ready for rebuilding, just in time for Christmas.

NSW Services Minister Andrew Constance on Thursday night fronted residents who lost their homes seven weeks ago when flames ripped through bushland communities west of Sydney, promising 60 blocks will be cleared by late January.

But he told AAP the clearing operation could come earlier - December 23 - for about 70 NRMA-insured families.

Local councillor and teacher Brendan Luchetti says for those residents who lost their homes, a fresh start is "the Christmas present they really want".

More than 200 homes were lost in the fires, but locals say despite promises of a speedy response from government at the height of the fire emergency, not a single block has yet been cleared.

Mayor Mark Greenhill wants an apology from the O'Farrell government, which has been negotiating with insurers.

He says the government could have moved faster by engaging a single contractor to clear up fire-affected properties and reconciling costs with insurers later.

"It's a hodge-podge, piecemeal approach," he told AAP.

"I think possibly there was a bit of penny-pinching going on; looking for a cheaper option, rather than the faster option."

Mr Constance, who on Monday was handed oversight of the Blue Mountains clean-up, which is being coordinated by ex-Rural Fire Service boss Phil Koperberg, acknowledged locals were hurting.

"Obviously I'm very sorry that the delays occurred," Mr Constance told AAP.

"My hope is now that we are moving through and I'm optimistic that we will see this progress incredibly quickly."

There were emotional scenes as locals spoke of their distress at waiting for burned-out homes to be cleared away.

"I'm one of the ones where people say, 'You're one of the lucky ones', because my house is still standing," Winmalee resident Fran Elston said.

"I don't feel like I'm one of the lucky ones ...

"Seven weeks is a long time when you have lost everything.

"Seven weeks is a long time when I hate walking out the front door, because all I see is ash."

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Shark blamed for NSW surfer's injuries

A SURFER who showed up at a NSW mid-north coast hospital with cuts to his hand and leg has received a surprising diagnosis: shark attack.

Police say the 26-year-old was in the water at Port Macquarie about 6.15pm (AEDT) on Thursday, when he felt something hit his right hand.

When the man discovered cuts to his right hand and blood on his leg he took himself to Port Macquarie Hospital, where doctors told him his wounds were consistent with a shark bite.

"He did not see a shark and was unaware at the time that he could have been bitten by one," NSW police said in a statement.

The man was treated for puncture wounds to his hand and a laceration to his leg, but was expected to be released.

Police said the northern end of Shelley Beach, where the suspected attack happened, was isolated and not widely used.

Officers could not find anyone else in the water when they visited the beach.

An expert is now set to visit Port Macquarie to try to identify the species of shark involved.

The suspected attack came just five days after Port Macquarie teenager Zac Young was killed by a shark while body-boarding further up the NSW coast.

The 19-year-old was in the ocean with three friends at Riecks Point, near Coffs Harbour, on Saturday when a shark bit off his legs.

He died shortly after his friends managed to drag him to shore.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Manufacturing decline is limited: report

AUSTRALIA'S manufacturing sector has faced difficult economic conditions over the past decade but new research has pin-pointed a sharp downturn in overall productivity to just three key areas.

A staff working paper by the Productivity Commission found that while investment in manufacturing has risen over the long term, hours worked and employment in the sector have declined.

The report found no "overarching systemic reason" for the decline in manufacturing's rate of multi-factor productivity growth.

It declined by 1.4 per cent a year between 2003/04 and 2007/08 compared with 1.3 per cent productivity growth a year between 1998/99 and 2003/04.

"However, three of its sub-sectors - petroleum and chemicals, food and beverages, and metal products - collectively accounted for two-thirds of this decline between cycles," the report released on Friday shows.

One influence has been from the appreciation of the Australian dollar and changing competitive conditions.

It also noted that there has been a lag between new capital investment in these sub-sectors and the output from that investment.

In particular, additional investment in petroleum refining to meet new environmental standards, while improving the quality of outcomes, did not raise output.

Changes in consumer preferences have also had an impact on productivity, such as significant growth in smaller-scale bakeries that use more labour-intensive processes.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Trade not aid key to Asian support: Abbott

TRADE, not aid, should be Australia's policy when it comes to assisting Asian neighbours, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said, as the opposition called for an inquiry into his government's $4.5 billion aid program cuts.

Speaking in Melbourne on Thursday night, Mr Abbott said foreign aid should be better targeted and Australia should help developing nations stand on their own feet.

He said the growing economic strength of the region needed to be matched in Australia by strengthening of the economy.

Australia's international clout doesn't rest on the size of its aid budget, but on the size of its economy, Mr Abbott said.

"As far as possible, Australian aid should be designed to enable other countries to stand on their own two feet as quickly as possible," Mr Abbott said.

"Trade, rather than aid, is the best way to sustainably boost poor countries' prosperity."

He said reducing the rate of increase in the aid budget would enable the government to ensure it was being targeted effectively.

His comments followed an announcement by Labor senator Ursula Stephens the opposition would be referring plans for $4.5 billion of cuts to Australia's international aid program to a Senate Committee for inquiry.

The matter will be moved in the Senate on Monday.

Deputy Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek said Australians deserved to know why the government had decided to slash aid funding and where the cuts would be made.

"We know Australians support a strong international aid program. Australia is a rich, generous country that can afford to lend a helping hand," Ms Plibersek said.

Mr Abbott also spoke about the importance of fostering strong relationships with the booming economies of China, India and Japan and in particular, Indonesia, which he said was Australia's, "important overall relationship."

He said the media made the relationship with Indonesia difficult.

"Being Indonesia's "trusted partner" is easier said than done, given the media's tendency to play to stereotypes and past disagreements over East Timor," Mr Abbott said.

On Thursday, the government agreed to a six-point plan aimed at repairing relations with Indonesia two weeks after the suspension in co-operation on November 26.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Boy dies in Queensland road accident

A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD boy has died in hospital in north Queensland after his bike and a car collided.

He was riding at the intersection of Hans Christian Street and Brownsey Court at Sarina on Thursday afternoon when the accident happened.

He was taken to the Mackay Base Hospital, where he died a short time later, police say.

The woman driving the car wasn't injured.

Investigations are continuing.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More