Business conditions at three-year low

BUSINESS conditions have slumped to their lowest levels in three years - and things could get worse in the months ahead.

However the gloomy outlook does not guarantee a pre-Christmas interest rate cut from the central bank in December, a survey says.

The National Australia Bank (NAB) monthly business survey, released on Tuesday, showed business conditions in October fell two points to minus five on the index.

Business confidence also dropped on point to minus one in October.

NAB said the decline in conditions reflected weaker conditions in the mining, manufacturing, wholesale and construction sectors.

On a state-by-state basis, confidence levels deteriorated across the country while Queensland and NSW recorded the worst business conditions.

And NAB doesn't see a change in the near future.

"Consistent with the subdued level of business conditions in October, forward indicators of demand (especially forward orders) and employment remained well below average levels, pointing to little improvement in near-term activity," NAB said.

Forward orders rose marginally, to minus five in October from minus seven the previous month.

NAB said the drop in business confidence was mainly prompted by global concerns, including a belief that US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank economic stimulus measures had not solved those economies' wider problems.

It added that the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) decision in October to cut the cash rate a quarter of a percentage point to 3.25 per cent may have highlighted underlying concerns about the domestic economy.

However, NAB does not expect the RBA to cut rates again until February - and then only by a quarter of a percentage point to help mitigate weakness in near-term demand.

But JP Morgan economist Ben Jarman said the central bank could still cut in December, given the implications of weak business conditions on the wider economy.

"With the mining capex boom winding down over the next year or so, the remainder of the (considerably more numerous) firms operating in the non-mining economy need to wake from their slumber," he said.

NAB also released its forecasts for global and Australian growth on Tuesday, saying it expected activity to remain sluggish overall, with Australia's economy weakened by a high exchange rate and the slowing mining boom.

Its forecasts for Australian gross domestic product was unchanged at 2.3 per cent for 2012/13, below Treasury and RBA's expectations of three per cent.

Global growth would be 3.1 per cent for 2012, and 3.3 per cent for 2013.

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Newman wants to break up LNP, says member

QUEENSLAND Premier Campbell Newman wants to break up the Liberal National Party (LNP) and establish a competing alternative political party, a complaint to the party's state executive says.

Party member Blair Brewster wrote to LNP state director Brad Henderson on November 12, making six allegations that Mr Newman breached the LNP's constitution and should be disciplined.

Mr Brewster, who is chief executive of Clive Palmer's company Gladstone Pacific Nickel, alleges Mr Newman recently approached former federal Nationals president David Russell and former Northern Territory chief minister Shane Stone about forming an alternative political party to affiliate with the federal Liberal Party at the expense of the LNP.

"Apparently it is Mr Newman's intention that such a party should be formed with a base of the LNP parliamentary members," Mr Brewster says in the letter obtained by AAP.

Mr Brewster also alleged that Mr Newman had attempted to remove LNP president Bruce McIver and had approached Mr Stone to ask him to consider standing against Mr McIver.

Mr Brewster says Mr Newman has given directions to LNP members in the government not to attend or take part in LNP policy committees.

And he says Mr Newman gave them directions to raise their own money so as not to rely on the LNP.

"Mr Newman clearly wishes to remove all possible influence of the LNP over those candidates that it has worked tirelessly to nominate, fund, and get elected as members of the current state government," Mr Brewster said.

Mr Brewster was also critical of Mr Newman for making unacceptable comments and being antagonistic and aggressive towards Mr Palmer.

He said Mr Newman had threatened the very existence of the LNP and his behaviour required "the strictest possible disciplinary action".

"Mr Newman is not, as he seems to think, free to use the party to win office and then to trample over the party and its members," Mr Brewster said.

Billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer has also said Mr Newman wants Mr Stone to be the party's president.

Mr Palmer told reporters some LNP members were upset with the premier.

"I think that there was an application lodged yesterday at the LNP headquarters against the premier for certain activities he's been undertaking," he said.

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Man, 84, charged over train sex assault

AN elderly man has been charged with sexually assaulting a 20-year-old woman on a passenger train in central Queensland.

Police say the 84-year-old man and the young woman were travelling north on the Sunlander near Mackay when the assault took place early on Monday.

The man, from Eagleby in southeast Queensland, was charged with indecent assault and will appear in Mackay Magistrates Court on November 29.

Police say the woman was not physically injured.

AAP np/ba

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Cassar-Daley, Britt nominated for awards

A TRIO of sisters, a married duo and two solo artists have taken centrestage at this year's Aussie country music award nominations.

Troy Cassar-Daley, who already has 21 Golden Guitars under his belt, has earned himself seven nominations for the 2013 Country Music Awards of Australia (CMAA) including Album of the Year for his record Home.

Equalling Cassar-Daley's tally, singer/songwriter Catherine Britt, has also grabbed seven nominations for her album Always Never Enough.

Husband and wife team Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson earned themselves five nominations with their second album as a duo, Wreck & Ruin, four of those for the single Adam & Eve.

Also up for five Golden Guitars for their album Two Worlds Collide is sister trio The McClymonts, who are back in the country after a year touring overseas.

Announced in Sydney on Monday, the CMAA nominations highlighted a new generation coming through the ranks - artists such as Travis Collins, Camille and Stuie and Lyn Bowtell.

Cassar-Daley, who toured this year with another nominated newcomer Harmony James, said the list offered a reassuring appraisal of Australian country music.

"I think the country music scene is a lot closer than many other genres and there's certainly none of the back stabbing," Cassar-Daley said.

"We're always looking out for each other and giving younger artists (a chance) by bringing them out on tour with us. It's like one big family."

Another artist Cassar-Daley has previously mentored is two-time Golden Guitar winner Catherine Britt who said she was surprised with her share of the nominations.

"I'm that artist who doesn't usually get recognised so to be a frontrunner with Troy who I just adore and love is a real shock," she said.

"I produced this record and wrote all the songs and it's more me than any record I've ever made and to get this recognition is amazing."

The 27-year-old singer said the tight-knit culture of the country scene meant winning an award in Tamworth was secondary to having a good time.

"We're all mates who've toured together countless times so it means you're happy even when you lose because your mate's just won," Britt said.

"There's no bitchiness about it."

The CMAA's will be held on the final night the Tamworth Country Music Festival on January 26 next year.

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Food makers are failing children: report

FOOD manufacturers are failing to protect children from foods high in fat and sugar, a report by a health group says.

The Obesity Policy Coalition (OPC) has released a report which concludes that governments must step in and regulate the advertising of junk food to children because the existing self-regulating system has failed.

The OPC's executive manager, Jane Martin, said the advertising codes in place to protect children were riddled with loopholes which the processed food industry was exploiting to promote its products.

The codes were flawed and their enforcement was inadequate, Ms Martin said in a statement.

"The food industry has been given ample opportunity," she said.

"The government must now call time on the charade of self-regulation and legislate to give children meaningful protection from the influence of unhealthy food marketing."

The report, "Exposing the Charade", says that in addition to being flawed and inadequately enforced, the advertising codes have failed to reduce children's exposure to unhealthy food advertising.

Chief among the problems identified are the overly complex nature of the codes; the fact that they do not apply to all advertisers; and that they only cover content directed primarily at children.

The scheme relies upon complaints from the public, another major flaw according to the OPC.

"Legislation to comprehensively restrict junk food marketing and advertising would be one of the most effective and cost-effective interventions to address the childhood overweight and obesity crisis," Ms Martin said.

The OPC comprises the Victorian arms of the Cancer Council and Diabetes Australia, VicHealth and the Deakin University Centre for Obesity Prevention, which operates in collaboration with the World Health Organisation.

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Up to states to lobby on GST: Hockey

Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey says it's not the commonwealth's job to campaign for changes to the GST. Source: AAP

SHADOW treasurer Joe Hockey says if the states want GST reform, it's up to them to convince the Australian people that the changes are necessary.

Mr Hockey says as the beneficiaries of any tax hike, it's the job of the states not the commonwealth to make the case.

"I have already said that the states have to carry this argument because it is the growth revenue for the states," he told Sky News on Sunday.

"They've got to campaign for it and they've got to win the Australian people over."

However, Mr Hockey says reforming the goods and services tax isn't as crucial as reducing government spending or doing away with the "insidious" carbon and mining taxes.

A future coalition government would only consider GST reform if it had the bipartisan support of all the state governments and the backing of the Australian public.

Former NSW Liberal premier Nick Greiner last week called for a reassessment of the way the consumption tax was applied, saying that ruling out any discussion was "stupid".

He was one of the authors of the federal government's GST review handed to Treasurer Wayne Swan recently.

Mr Swan will publish the government's response to the report and discuss it with state treasurers before the end of the year.

But he's ruled out hiking the 10 per cent GST, arguing it would hurt battlers doing it tough.

Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury seized on Mr Hockey's comments, saying they revealed a "secret plan" to increase the GST.

"This is the third time in recent weeks Joe Hockey has been specifically asked to rule out increasing the GST under a coalition government - and has refused to do so," Mr Bradbury said in a statement.

"Joe Hockey has let the cat out of the bag.

"He wants the states to do the hard work for his secret plan to jack up the GST."

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Madonna fan guilty of resisting arrest

A FORMER firefighter with a crush on Madonna has been convicted of resisting arrest outside her former New York City apartment building as he spray-painted poster boards with love notes.

A jury delivered its verdict on Friday in Robert Linhart's trial. He could face up to a year in jail.

Defence lawyer Lawrence LaBrew told the New York Post that Linhart will appeal.

Linhart was arrested in September 2010. Police say he parked his SUV outside the singer's Manhattan apartment, laid out a tarp and wrote out such messages as "Madonna, I need you".

Jurors told the Post they felt it was fine for Linhart to express himself to the Material Girl, but they said they believed police testimony that he resisted arrest by flailing his arms.

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Elton to become dad again: report

AS Sir Elton John kicks off his Australian tour in Perth on Saturday night a report back in England says he is to become a dad again.

The Sun newspaper says Sir Elton, 65, and partner David Furnish, 50, will become fathers again next year.

The couple already have a 23-month-old son, Zachary, born on December 25, 2010, via a surrogate.

The tabloid newspaper says the couple plan to use the same surrogate who gave birth to Zachary.

Sir Elton's agent refused to comment, the report says.

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Dutch cycling utopia under threat

PROBLEMS familiar to car drivers the world over, from gridlock to road rage and lack of parking, are now threatening to turn the Dutch dream of bicycling bliss into a daily hell.

In a small country where bicycles outnumber people by 1.2 million, the Dutch have simply run out of space to accommodate the five million riders who take to the road every day, turning major city commuting into a nightmare.

In Amsterdam alone 490,000 freewheeling "fietsers" take to the road to cycle a staggering two million kilometres every day, according to statistics released by the city council.

"Bicycles are an integral mode of transport in our city," Amsterdam's council said on Thursday, but, in a worrying trend, "the busiest bicycle paths are too small for the growing stream of daily cyclists."

"Cyclists have increased dramatically over the last few years," Wim Bot of the Dutch Cycling Association agreed.

"In a small country like the Netherlands where almost every square metre is accounted for, we've run out of space," added Bot, whose cyclists' union was founded in 1975 and today represents 35,000 paid-up members.

"It has become a headache."

The Dutch first fell in love with cycling in the late 1880s when the first two-wheeled contraptions appeared in big cities.

Two decades later the first bicycle paths were laid in a country so flat it is often described as "specially created for cyclists".

There are around 18 million bikes or 1.3 bicycles per citizen old enough to ride in a country less than half the size of the US state of Maine.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is often seen cycling to work.

New bike sales topped 1.3 million last year, raking in an estimated 970 million euros ($A1.16 billion) in sales.

Some 35,000 kilometres of bike path now criss-cross the landscape.

But having invested heavily in bicycle infrastructure, the Dutch are now paying the price for pedal-power's rise in popularity.

The Dutch newspaper Trouw recently said in places like Amsterdam and Utrecht, the increase in bicycles is giving rise to new phenomena that include bicycle traffic jams, pile-ups, parking problems and bicycle rage.

Around major stations such as Amsterdam and Utrecht Central, tens of thousands of bicycles parked legally and illegally hog public space and restrict pedestrian access, while leaving cyclists scratching their heads to try to remember where they parked their steeds.

More cyclists on the road means more congestion and "bicycle rage" often flies across the handlebars.

The statistics show just how dangerous it has become: a quarter of all deadly accidents in the Netherlands involve cyclists, the Cycling Association said.

Some 200 died on Dutch roads last year, the majority of them elderly, an increase of 28 from 2010.

And the problem is getting worse since the Dutch authorities decided to broaden bike path use to include over a million mopeds, which are allowed to zoom past cyclists as long as they stay under a speed limit of 25km/h.

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Spanish navy ships head Down Under

AUSTRALIA has finalised a deal for the Spanish navy tanker and supply ship SPS Cantabria to spend much of next year working with the Australian navy.

The Cantabria will deploy to Australia from mid-February to November, a period which covers part of the cyclone season when the Australian navy is short of support ships because of the problems with HMAS Choules.

Defence Minister Stephen Smith said the Cantabria deployment was a unique opportunity for both navies and would strengthen the relationship between Spain and Australia.

"I am very pleased that the project arrangement for this innovative activity has been signed," he said in a statement.

"It is a very sensible sharing of resources with positive training and capabilities for both the armada and for the RAN (Royal Australian Navy)."

The 19,500-tonne Cantabria was launched in 2008 and is capable of supplying fuel, food, stores and ammunition to ships while at sea.

This will be the Cantabria's longest deployment and will allow the Spanish Armada to trial the ship's full range of capabilities, including the operating and maintenance cycle.

Defence Materiel Minister Jason Clare said many of the Cantabria's systems were similar to what would be on board Australia's new landing helicopter dock (LHD) ships and air warfare destroyers (AWDs), both of which are based on Spanish designs.

"This arrangement will provide an opportunity for RAN personnel to train and familiarise themselves with Cantabria before they go on to crew the LHD and AWD," he said.

During the deployment, the Cantabria will provide support to the RAN during domestic and international training and exercises.

The deployment will culminate with the Cantabria's participation in the Australian International Fleet Review in October 2013.

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