Carr critical of DFAT over Zygier case

Foreign Minister Bob Carr says his department's handling of the Ben Zygier case was unsatisfactory. Source: AAP

FOREIGN Minister Bob Carr has criticised his department's handling of the shadowy case of Melbourne man and suspected Israeli spy Ben Zygier.

Senator Carr last month ordered a review of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's (DFAT) handling of the case, shortly after Mr Zygier was named as Israel's mysterious "Prisoner X".

Mr Zygier, a dual citizen of Australia and Israel, was detained for alleged Israeli national security offences in February 2010 and died in a supposedly suicide-proof cell 11 months later.

It's believed he worked for Israeli spy agency Mossad.

Senator Carr says the DFAT review found Mr Zygier was granted regular access to a lawyer and more than 50 visits by family members during his detention.

But he criticised a lack of clarity in government decision-making over consular responsibilities.

"The Zygier case was complex and outside the normal bounds of consular activity," Senator Carr said in a statement on Wednesday.

"However it is unsatisfactory that there was a lack of clarity over the exercise of consular responsibilities."

Senator Carr says it's also unsatisfactory that details of assistance provided by Israeli authorities to Mr Zygier were not sought by or provided to DFAT until he ordered the review.

"I acknowledge DFAT's contemporaneous assessment that Israel would not have granted direct consular access to Mr Zygier," he says.

"However it would have been preferable for follow-up information to have been sought in 2010."

Senator Carr admitted for the first time Mr Zygier was an "employee of the Israeli government".

But the minister could not confirm or deny Mr Zygier worked for Mossad.

He also revealed then-prime minister Kevin Rudd and then-foreign minister Stephen Smith were not told of Mr Zygier's arrest.

The DFAT report notes it would have been "prudent" for Australian intelligence agencies - who knew about Zygier's arrest within days - to consult with Australia's ambassador in Tel Aviv about the likelihood of officials being granted consular access to him.

"A more coherent system for handling intelligence information on individual consular cases would have assisted management of issues around Mr Zygier's circumstances," Senator Carr said.

The report recommends any Australian agency that becomes aware of the detention of an Australian citizen tell the relevant ambassador or high commissioner, unless the foreign minister grants an exemption.

The report also recommends DFAT lead the development of a protocol for dealing with individuals detained on intelligence-related matters.

A better system should be developed to ensure senior consular officers can access written records, including intelligence, of sensitive cases, the report adds.

It also calls for a further review into the consular services that should be provided by Australia to dual nationals, like Zygier.

"I have directed that these recommendations be implemented," Senator Carr said.

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2 dead, 2 critical after Qld minibus crash

Two people have been killed in Qld after a minibus and a four wheel drive crashed south of Townsville.

TWO people are dead and another two are in a critical condition after a minibus and a 4WD collided south of Townsville.

The Department of Community Safety (DCS) says nine people were involved in the accident about 3.30pm (AEST) near Barratta Creek between Giru and Ayr on the Bruce Highway.

Police say two women died at the scene.

Late on Tuesday, two people were in a critical condition while five were being treated for non-life threatening injuries.

Authorities could not say whether children were among those hurt.

DCS said four patients had been taken by ambulance to Ayr Hospital while others had been transported to Townsville Hospital.

The Bruce Highway was closed between Ayr and Giru for several hours, but reopened on Tuesday night.

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2008 Penfolds Grange shiraz scores 100

The latest vintage of Australia's Penfolds Grange shiraz has been awarded a rare perfect score. Source: AAP

IS the 2008 Penfolds Grange shiraz the perfect wine?

After the wine scored an unsurpassable 100 points in a review last week in one of the world's most influential wine journals, The Wine Advocate in the US, one might say yes.

But Penfolds chief winemaker Peter Gago says no.

"The subjective nature of scoring and accolades is exactly that," Mr Gago said on Tuesday.

"But in terms of ratings in the world of wine it really doesn't come any better than such a score (100) in The Wine Advocate.

"It's a bit like the Academy Awards or the BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) awards."

The last time a bottle of Grange scored 100 points in The Wine Advocate was in 1981, when the 1976 vintage was released.

Mr Gago said there had been wines over the years from Australia and overseas that had scored 100 in The Wine Advocate, but such a score was rare, especially recently.

"If critics give high scores willy-nilly, they lose their credibility," he said.

Wine enthusiasts around the world would take note of The Wine Advocate's score for the 2008 Grange.

Mr Gago had received congratulations from people in Canada, Japan the United Kingdom and elsewhere within an hour of the review in The Wine Advocate being published.

The latest vintage of Grange will be released to the public in May, selling at around $685 per bottle.

But an "Imperial", the equivalent of eight bottles and one of only six Imperials to be released, will be auctioned at the Barossa Valley Vintage Festival in April.

Mr Gago said the 2008 Grange shiraz was created mostly from grapes picked from low-yielding old vines in the Barossa Valley, ahead of a heatwave that hit South Australia in early March 2008.

The 1976 vintage of Grange can still be bought at auction for around $1,000 a bottle.

Mr Gago said the 1976 vintage had improved with age.

A great test for highly-scored wines was to have them re-assessed decades after their release.

"Wines are living things," Mr Gago said.

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Don't oppose Chinese investment: Emerson

Trade Minister Craig Emerson says Australia could become a world superpower in green food exports. Source: AAP

TRADE Minister Craig Emerson says Australia could become a world superpower in clean, green food exports, but it won't happen without Chinese investment.

Dr Emerson told delegates at an agricultural conference in Canberra it was "absolutely stupid" to suggest Australia's farming sector could reach its full potential without foreign investment.

"It would be a betrayal to Australia's national interest if any political party sought to put up the shutters to foreign investment in Australian agriculture and the great opportunities that provides," he told the Australian Bureau of Agricultural Research Economics and Sciences (ABARES) conference on Tuesday.

Wheat, wool and beef would continue to be traditional cornerstones of Australia's agricultural exports.

But farmers had a "once in a generation" opportunity to become world leaders in premium products that command a high price and could "jump the hurdle" presented by the ongoing high Australian dollar.

Asia's exploding middle class - expected to tip three billion by 2030 - would pay big dollars for quality Australian products and that demand would eventually break down trade barriers and open new markets for exporters, Dr Emerson said.

"To imagine that this can be achieved without foreign investment is stupid," he said.

"We cannot have unchallenged the debate going on in Australia that there should be a stop sign put up to Chinese investment in Australian agricultural production."

Any investment needs to pass a national interest test, but for the coalition to suggest Chinese investment would simply not be welcome threatens the future of Australian farmers.

Dr Emerson said Chinese investment was the "next generation" to follow British, American and Japanese interests in Australia.

This month Australia gained permission to export lamb to India and improved market access for fruit into the Philippines.

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Gillard backs 457 visa 'crackdown'

Prime Minister Julia Gillard is backing plans to tighten the temporary foreign worker program. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard says further changes to the 457 visa scheme will get the "out of control" system back on track.

Labor and unions are concerned the temporary foreign worker program is being abused by employers and Australian workers are missing out on jobs.

The ACTU estimates in the construction sector alone there has been a 38 per cent rise in 457 visas issued, while jobs in the sector are declining.

Ms Gillard says Labor inherited a Howard government system which was "out of control".

"Every step of the way we have been putting in place new conditions to crack down on the rorts," she told reporters in western Sydney on Monday.

"We've done that in the past and we will continue to crack down as necessary."

Ms Gillard said she understood there were times that businesses faced skills shortages and needed to source labour from overseas.

"But what I also understand is there have been too many times where people have got the skills to get the job and they don't get the job and in those circumstances I want to make sure that Australian workers are coming first," she said.

Job security is emerging as a key issue in the lead-up to the federal election in September.

The government is proposing employers will be required to show they are nominating a position where there is a genuine shortage of workers.

Compliance and enforcement powers would also be boosted to stop employers rorting the program.

The federal opposition says the 457 visa program accounts for only 0.7 per cent of the Australian labour force, and more than 80 per cent of employer-sponsored permanent skilled visas are granted to people already in Australia.

They argue the system enables flexibility in dealing with skill shortages in critical sectors, such as health care.

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Jobs ad rise for a 2nd consecutive month

Jobs advertisements in newspapers and on the internet have risen for the second month in a row. Source: AAP

JOB advertisements rose in February to their highest level since October 2012, a leading employment survey says.

The ANZ Job Ads survey, released on Monday, showed the total number of ads was up 3.0 per cent in February for a second consecutive month, after a rise of 0.6 per cent in January.

The number of job ads on the internet was up 3.3 per cent February, in seasonally-adjusted terms, while those placed in newspapers fell 2.9 per cent in January.

ANZ head of Australian economic and property research Ivan Colhoun said the employment market was showing signs of improvement.

"In early 2013, there are again early signs of some stabilisation in hiring intentions which come as concerns about the global backdrop, including the US fiscal cliff, have moderated," he said.

"The extent to which the increase in job advertising in January and February represents a similar temporary or sustained pick-up is unclear at this stage.

"Nevertheless, we forecast an improvement in the European and Chinese economies and remain confident that the US recovery will continue despite a large fiscal drag."

Mr Colhoun also said increased confidence in Australia along with lower interest rates should help the local employment market but he expected the unemployment rate to stay above five per cent for the first half of 2013.

"Rising Australian house prices, equity markets, consumer confidence and, to a lesser extent, business confidence in recent months are important signs that accommodative monetary policy should support stronger domestic economic activity," he said.

"Anecdotal evidence suggests that Australian firms are generally keeping a close eye on their bottom line, including labour costs."

The ANZ said newspaper job advertising remained relatively subdued across the country but rates of decline for the most part had been moderating in recent months.

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Black Saturday class action set to begin

A Black Saturday class action involving thousands of Victorians is set to start this week. Source: AAP

THOUSANDS of Victorians are beginning their fight for compensation from groups they blame for the most destructive blaze of the Black Saturday bushfires.

Lead plaintiff Carol Matthews is joined by an estimated 10,000 members in claiming energy provider SPI Electricity's faulty equipment ignited the Kilmore East/King Lake bushfire in February 2009.

The fire killed 119 people, destroyed 1200 homes and caused an estimated $1 billion worth of damage.

The group is also suing Utility Services Corporation Limited, which was contracted by SPI to maintain the line, and the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) for allegedly failing to reduce fuel loads.

The CFA and Victoria Police are also facing allegations from Mrs Matthews that they failed to give appropriate warnings about the bushfire.

All the defendants deny the allegations and are fighting the claims.

The size of the action, which starts on Monday, has seen the Victorian government fund a purpose built courtroom to accommodate the teams of barristers, dozens of expert witnesses and large numbers of people interested in attending the trial.

The thousands involved directly in the class action will also be able to watch the proceedings streamed live on the internet.

Openings in the trial will begin in the Victorian Supreme Court on Monday morning with the case expected to run for nine months.

The Black Saturday bushfires in February 2009 killed 173 people.

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Dog bites off man's nose in Sydney's west

A dog has bitten off a man's nose in Sydney's west. Source: AAP

A DOG has bitten off a man's nose in Sydney's west.

The 30-year-old was attacked by a dog reported to be a Rottweiler at North St Marys about 4.45pm (AEDT) on Saturday, the NSW ambulance service said in a statement.

Paramedics transported the man to Nepean Hospital in a stable condition.

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Hundreds protest in Delhi over sex assault

Angry protesters have demonstrated in New Delhi after a seven-year-old girl was sexually assaulted. Source: AAP

HUNDREDS of protesters have clashed with police outside a New Delhi hospital where a seven-year-old victim of sexual assault was admitted earlier in the day.

Angry youths hurled stones at buses and police, who then used batons to break up the demonstration outside the hospital which is located in a low-income neighbourhood, India's NDTV channel reported.

"The protesters were angry over the assault on the little girl and were demanding that police act against the culprit," the police official told AFP on Friday.

The official, who asked not to be identified, said the second-grader was sexually assaulted on Friday morning while at school.

After police were called, the child was taken to hospital and later discharged.

"The crowds have dispersed and the situation is normal," the official said.

Police are investigating the case, he added.

Three men - two school-teachers and a security guard - have been detained for questioning, local media reports said.

India has seen a surge in anti-rape demonstrations in recent weeks after thousands took to the streets to protest against police inaction following the fatal gang-rape of a 23-year-old student on a Delhi bus in December.

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Human remains found in Wollongong

HUMAN remains have been found under a Wollongong house as part of an investigation into an alleged murder.

Police probing the alleged 2011 slaying of Nicholas Katopodis found the remains under a house on Gladstone Avenue at Mount St Thomas, on Saturday afternoon.

The remains will be taken for a examination to formally identify them and to establish a cause of death, a police statement says.

In September 2011, a 40-year-old man from Mount St Thomas was charged with murdering Mr Katopodis, despite no body being found.

The man is in custody and is assisting police with their inquiries, with the matter before the courts.

Police have previously alleged that Mr Katopodis was murdered after a night out at a Figtree pub with friends.

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