NSW must act on Gonski reforms: unions

AROUND 60 parents, teachers and principals have gathered in Sydney to pressure the NSW government to act on the recommendations of the Gonski review.

The action is part of the Australian Education Union's (AEU) national campaign, involving television and newspaper advertising and sponsored green-coloured Gonski buses which are running in western Sydney, the Central Coast and Brisbane.

The AEU wants the states and the commonwealth to agree on a funding model for the Gonski reforms before the next Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting in April.

"We're calling on the state government and Premier Barry O'Farrell to put politics aside and start negotiating for funding reform," AEU president Angelo Gavrielatos told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.

"Let the negotiations commence against a backdrop of commitment to invest, which thus far has been lacking from Barry O'Farrell.

Federal Minister for School Education, Peter Garrett, joined the rally in Sydney, to back calls for an urgent deal.

"We have had slow negotiations with the states around identifying those details of a national plan for school improvement," Mr Garrett told reporters.

"We need to see states coming to the table to deliver and commit," he said.

Mr Garrett said the federal government is also prepared to allocate additional funding for education to the states, as long as they commit to the funding model for the Gonski reforms.

"If we don't successfully negotiate, Australian students around the country will be worse off."

The Gonski review outlined a new model for funding schools and set an ambitious goal of increasing spending on education by about $6.5 billion.

Victoria and Western Australia say the plan lacks details, which is a threat to achieving education reforms.

NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli says his state remains strongly in favour of Gonski but he is furious the Commonwealth and unions have politicised the issue.

"The Commonwealth is obviously intent on turning school funding into a political football during an election year," Mr Piccoli said in a statement on Sunday.

He said Mr Garrett had no additional details to share when he called education ministers to Sydney on February 1, to discuss Gonski.

Mr Piccoli said the federal government had been stalling on the issue for over a year and it was time the states were given more details on the funding arrangements.

"Minister Garrett should spend more time working on an offer and less time staging bogus political stunts," he said.

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Two die after car flips into Qld creek

A WOMAN and a young boy have died and two people are in hospital after a car flipped and crashed into a creek in north Queensland.

Police say four people were travelling in the car on the Bruce Highway, north of Proserpine, about 7.20am (AEST) on Sunday.

The car skidded off the road before flipping over and landing on its roof in Greta Creek.

A woman, aged 50, died at the scene and three other passengers were taken to hospital.

A four-year-old boy died later in hospital.

Two other passengers, a man aged 40 and an 18-year-old woman, are receiving treatment.

A report will be prepared for the coroner.

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Gillard has a bite of bet-losing NZ apple

UPHOLDING her end of a two-year-old bet on the Rugby World Cup has left a bitter taste in the mouth of Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Ms Gillard made a bet with New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key on the outcome of the 2010 Rugby World Cup - a deal that would see the leader of whichever country lost eat an apple from the winning country.

Luckily for Mr Key, the All Blacks reigned supreme.

The bet was symbolic of the end of Australia's 90-year ban on New Zealand apples, following a World Trade Organisation ruling that it must allow imports.

Ms Gillard finally honoured the bet during dinner with Mr Key, his wife Bronagh, and Ms Gillard's partner Tim Mathieson in Queenstown, New Zealand, on Friday night.

"I'd have to say, of course, Australian apples are better," Ms Gillard said.

She added that Mr Key had tried to serve her New Zealand apples on multiple occasions.

The two leaders laughed over the bet when they posed with the Cricket World Cup trophy in Queenstown on Saturday.

The two countries will share hosting rights to the event in 2015.

Despite the New Zealand Black Caps' poor performance of late, Mr Key said he was hopeful they could take out the cup in two years' time, but admitted Australia was in a stronger position.

While Ms Gillard was backing the Aussie side, she said she would not be making any more bets on sport with Mr Key.

"I think I've learnt my lesson," she told media, with a laugh.

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'Unbalanced' woman vandalises Delacroix

FRENCH police are holding a mentally "unbalanced" woman after an attack on one of France's most iconic paintings, Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People.

The incident happened at the recently opened northern satellite of the Louvre museum, in Lens, northern France, when a visitor scrawled on the painting with a black marker.

It was not believed to have caused any permanent damage.

Prosecutors in the town said that after having received a psychiatric report on the 28-year-old woman, they would probably have her committed on Saturday.

The attack on the painting happened on Thursday evening, just before the 6pm closing time.

A security guard apprehended the woman with the help of a visitor to the museum.

The attacker scrawled "AE911" on the painting.

Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth (AE911Truth) is a US group that supports a conspiracy theory that New York's World Trade Center collapsed as the result of a controlled demolition after the September 11 attacks of 2001.

Local prosecutor Philippe Peyroux said: "We are leaning towards hospitalising her immediately in a psychiatric facility given that the psychiatrist appointed by the prosecutors concluded that she is not criminally responsible."

The Louvre said specialists had already been able to completely remove the approximately 30-centimetre mark on the bottom right of the painting.

"The integrity of the work has not been affected, as the inscription was superficial and remained on the varnished surface without reaching the layer of paint," the museum said in a statement.

In the United States the founder of the AE911Truth group, Richard Gage, told AFP: "I was shocked and horrified to learn of this senseless act of vandalism.

"I sincerely hope that this unbalanced person is not in any way associated with our numerous volunteers in France."

The painting by Eugene Delacroix commemorates France's July Revolution of 1830.

It shows a bare-breasted woman personifying Liberty leading the people forward over the bodies of the fallen, holding the French tricolour in one hand and a bayoneted musket in the other.

The wing housing the painting was closed on Friday but expected to reopen Saturday.

The woman would have faced up to seven years in prison and a 100,000 euro ($A131,000) fine if found criminally responsible and convicted of defacing a cultural object.

Prosecutors did not release the woman's identity, but said she was unemployed, had a master's degree and did not have a criminal record.

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'Horse lasagne' sparks new UK food scare

Testing on Findus lasagne in the UK has revealed that some of the ready meals contain horsemeat. Source: AAP

BRITISH authorities have warned the public not to eat beef lasagne sold by the Findus brand and made in France after tests found it contained up to 100 per cent horse meat.

In the latest in a string of food scares in Britain, the Food Standards Agency said that "criminal activity" was likely to blame and ordered further tests on the meat for a veterinary drug.

Findus tested 18 of its beef lasagne products manufactured by supplier Comigel in France and found 11 meals containing 60 per cent to 100 per cent horse meat, the agency said.

"Findus withdrew the beef lasagne products after its French supplier, Comigel, raised concerns about the type of meat used in the lasagne," the agency said in a statement.

The agency said tests on the lasagne were ordered "as part of its ongoing investigation into mislabelled meat."

"We have no evidence to suggest that this is a food safety risk."

But it said it had ordered further tests on the suspect lasagne for the veterinary drug phenylbutazone, as animals treated with it are not allowed to enter the food chain in Britain.

The agency's chief executive Catherine Brown said it was an "appalling" situation".

"I have to say that the two cases of gross contamination that we see here indicates that it is highly likely there has been criminal and fraudulent activity involved," she told BBC news.

She added: "We are demanding that food businesses conduct authenticity tests on all beef products, such as beef burgers, meatballs and lasagne, and provide the results to the FSA.

"The tests will be for the presence of significant levels of horse meat."

Findus UK apologised to customers.

"We understand this it is a very sensitive subject for consumers and we would like to reassure you we have reacted immediately. We do not believe this to be a food safety issue," a spokesman said.

The spokesman added that "fully compliant beef lasagne will be in stores again soon."

It is the latest horsemeat-related scare after horse DNA was found two weeks ago in beefburgers in Britain and Ireland, countries where horse meat consumption is generally taboo.

Two weeks ago, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) had revealed that up to 29 per cent of the meat content of some beefburgers was in fact horse, while they also found pig DNA.

The frozen burgers were on sale in high-street supermarket chains Tesco and Iceland in both Britain and Ireland, and in Irish branches of Lidl, Aldi and Dunnes Stores.

The consumption of horse meat is more common in parts of Europe including France and in central Asia, China and Latin America.

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Coal trains halted as workers walk off job

HUNDREDS of coal haulage workers have walked off the job for 48 hours after union negotiations with Pacific National over a new enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA) collapsed.

Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) members employed at Pacific National, Australia's largest private rail freight business, stopped work at noon (AEDT) on Friday for 48 hours.

About 800 staff, including train drivers and terminal operators, are striking after EBA negotiations between the RTBU and Pacific National broke down.

The union has been negotiating with Pacific National for more than 12 months.

RTBU national secretary Bob Nanva said the company had forced the union into taking the industrial action.

"Pacific National have refused to budge despite 290 days having passed since negotiations began," Mr Nanva told AAP.

"This is about more than just the EBA, this is about the right of these men and women to collectively bargain and have their voices heard."

A spokesman for the union said that about 200 Pacific National employees were currently rallying outside the company's Newcastle site.

Pacific National director David Irwin has previously told AAP that the company will not change its offer.

The company's major customers include Xstrata and Whitehaven Coal, who have cut workers recently and are considering legal action against the union if the strike affects income.

Pacific National hauls 70 per cent of the state's coal, but other rail companies and coal producers will also be affected by trains standing idle on lines.

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Carr wants to lift sanctions on Zimbabwe

AUSTRALIA has a three-stage plan to relax its long-standing sanctions against Zimbabwe.

Foreign Minister Bob Carr says the federal government wants to peel back its sanctions, which include travel and financial restrictions against 153 individuals and four entities, and an arms embargo.

But he says the Zimbabwean government must first set a date for a constitutional referendum, hold that referendum and then stage free and fair elections.

"We're eager to do it. I want normal relations with Zimbabwe," Senator Carr told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.

Australia first levelled sanctions against Zimbabwe in 2002 as President Robert Mugabe trampled human rights and brutally suppressed the country's political opposition, led by Morgan Tsvangirai.

Mr Tsvangirai formed a power-sharing government with the Mugabe, now aged 88, in 2009. He called on Australia to suspend its sanctions against his country when he visited Canberra in July last year.

Zimbabwe failed to hold a promised constitutional referendum last year. It's due to hold general elections later this year.

Senator Carr also confirmed he has been lobbying the European Union to lift its sanctions against Myanmar, formally known as Burma.

Senator Carr says the EU's current sanctions suspension did not give potential investors enough certainty.

"We want to see that investment, ethical investment, in the country," he said.

"We want Myanmar to get on that trajectory of economic growth."

But the Australian Greens warned that Senator Carr's stance was dangerous, given how far Myanmar still had to go down the road of democratic reform.

"Unless the persecution of ethnic minorities ceases and until there is a free and fair general election in Burma, the indecent rush to squeeze profit out of the country will serve to actively encourage repression and the abuse of power," Senator Scott Ludlam said in a statement.

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City circle trains closed on the weekend

INNER Sydney train stations including Central, Town Hall and Circular Quay will be shut down over the weekend for trackwork.

RailCorp says major cleaning work will take place at Redfern, Central, Town Hall, Wynyard, Circular Quay, St James and Museum stations on February 9 and 10.

RailCorp will also complete infrastructure upgrades including the installation of new track, signals and overhead wiring.

Buses will replace trains on the City Circle and Airport lines, while other lines have been modified.

Commuters are urged to allow for extra travel time and to check CityRail's website for information.

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China radar-lock on Japan ship 'dangerous'

THE radar lock that a Chinese frigate put on a Japanese warship is "dangerous", Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says, as tensions in a territorial row heighten.

"It was a dangerous act that could have led to an unpredictable situation," Abe told parliament on Wednesday.

"It is extremely regrettable. We strongly ask for their self-restraint in order to avoid an unnecessary escalation."

Abe's comments come a day after his defence minister announced weapon-targeting radar had been directed at the Japanese vessel in international waters of the East China Sea last week.

The move marks the first time the two nations' navies have locked horns in a dispute that has some commentators warning about a possible armed conflict.

US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the US was "concerned".

"With regard to the reports of this particular lock-on incident, actions such as this escalate tensions and increase the risk of an incident or a miscalculation, and they could undermine peace, stability and economic growth in this vital region," she said.

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Flat retailing trend confirmed by data

RETAIL spending flattened out over the second half of 2012.

It's hardly a controversial observation, but figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Wednesday confirm the plateau extended through to the end of the year.

The figures won't surprise the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), which on Tuesday said "a return to the very strong growth (in consumer spending) of some years ago is unlikely".

The value of turnover in retail establishments - which excludes motor vehicle and fuel sellers but includes on-line sellers registered in Australia - fell by 0.2 per cent in December, after adjustment for regular seasonal variations.

It was the third small fall in a row; the first three-in-a-row since the summer of 1999-2000.

With these monthly estimates a fall could always be the result of changes in prices.

But the quarterly estimates which adjust for price changes suggest otherwise.

In real terms, turnover rose by an inconsequential 0.1 per cent in the three months ending December 31 after a 0.2 per cent fall in the previous quarter.

In other words, there was a fall in the volume of goods and services sold by retailers turnover over the second half of 2012.

This represents a rather abrupt halt after a rise of 2.8 per cent, well above the historical average, in the first half of the year.

There is more than one likely contributor to the pause.

One is slow employment growth, with the latest trend estimates from the ABS showing very slow monthly growth of 7,000, compared with a recent peak of more than 19,000 a month early last year.

Slower growth in jobs means slower growth in disposable income.

Another is the decline in housing construction, particularly in the volume of work done on alterations and additions, over the second half of 2011 and the first half of 2012.

Housing activity tends to feed into retail spending.

Then there is the emergence of more conservative spending habits, including a preference to reduce debt, among households since the global financial crisis that came to a head in 2008.

Each of these factors probably plays a role in the flat trend in retailing since mid-2012.

And, because they all still apply to a significant extent, it's unlikely that retailing will pick up strongly in the first half of 2013.

Even so, a firmer share market and signs of a rally in housing prices, along with a likely ongoing impact of recent interest rate cuts, suggest some scope for growth rather than the flatlining now evident in the data.

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