Pair die in fatal Qld car crash

Two people have been killed after their car hit a tree in a Gold Coast suburb. Source: AAP

TWO people have been killed after their car hit a tree in a Gold Coast suburb.

The driver, a 27-year-old Darra man, and a 26-year-old Fortitude Valley woman were travelling along a road in Nerang just before 12.30am when their vehicle collided with a tree.

Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

It is believed an incident involving a 4WD occurred 15km from the crash scene with the driver of a black Subaru Forester breath tested, a police spokeswoman said.

The Forensic Crash Unit is investigating.

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PM pays tribute to beef baron Graeme Acton

Australian beef baron Graeme Acton has died aged 63, after falling from a horse. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has paid tribute to Australian beef baron Graeme Acton, describing him as a great and proud man.

"He was a proud Queenslander and a great Australian," Mr Abbott said in a statement following news of Mr Acton's death on Friday in Brisbane.

"Graeme contributed so much to agriculture in our country, in particular to the cattle industry around Rockhampton where the Actons have been farming for four generations."

Mr Acton, 63, had been on life support in the Royal Brisbane Hospital after falling from a horse on May 2 while competing in a campdrafting event in central Queensland.

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman said he was shocked and saddened.

"He was an outstanding character who was much loved by all," he said in a statement.

"A hard working Queenslander, he devoted his life to the land and growing the cattle industry in this state."

Federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said Mr Acton was a hero of the cattle industry and a fierce advocate for agriculture.

"We are truly indebted to this great Australian, for the blessing he has been as a father, husband, friend, pioneer and great captain of the agricultural industry in Australia," he said.

Just last week Mr Acton had told Mr Joyce how the government could do things better.

"His words of wisdom were not lost on me," Mr Joyce said.

"Graeme possessed a unique ability to communicate with people irrespective of their background or social standing and united tens of thousands through his love of the art form of campdrafting."

Mr Acton headed Acton Land and Cattle - one of the country's largest farming operations.

The firm owns 180,000 head of cattle on seven Queensland farms which span about 1.58 million hectares of land.

Acton Land and Cattle exports 30,000 beasts to the Middle East and Asia each year.

Mr Acton is survived by his wife Jennie and their children Tom, Hayley, Victoria and Laura.

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Easy access to welfare is over: Andrews

Australians who receive the disability support pension will be assessed for the capacity to work. Source: AAP

UP to 20,000 Australians who receive the disability support pension (DSP) will be assessed for the capacity to work, and if deemed able, will be expected to get a job.

In tough talk ahead of the budget, Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews also repeated warnings that the days of young Australians sitting at home on the couch collecting welfare cheques were over.

He said the government believed young people should be either be working or training for work.

"The message out of this is simply this. The days of easy welfare for young people are over. We want a fair system but we don't think it is fair that young people can just sit on the couch at home and pick up a welfare cheque. Those days are over," he told reporters in Melbourne.

Mr Andrews confirmed the budget, to be delivered on Tuesday night, will introduce rules that mean some people collecting the DSP disability support pension will be reviewed for capacity to work.

That will apply to some 10-20,000 people who had gone onto the DSP in the last 5-6 years but not yet assessed under new impairment tables.

"If they are capable of working, whether it is full-time or part-time, then our expectation is that they should be working," he said.

Mr Andrews said measures announced on Tuesday would be just the first instalment of reform.

He said former Mission Australia chief executive Patrick McClure had completed his discussion paper on welfare reforms but would review it in light of budget changes.

The review will be released for public consultation after the budget.

"I will be taking to cabinet further proposals for welfare review. This will go to the structural arrangements," Mr Andrews said.

Mr Andrews said the welfare system now comprised some 50 payments, allowances and supplements assembled ad hoc over the years.

"It is time to have a clear look at making structural change so far as welfare is concerned," he said.

Proposed changes are in line with the report of the National Commission of Audit which said the DSP was costing $15.8 billion a year.

Opposition health spokeswoman Catherine King was critical of the changes to the DSP.

"Why would you be punishing them? Why would you be punishing their income security payments and trying to restrict their access to income support whilst at the same time cutting a whole lot of benefits that support them into work," she told reporters in Melbourne.

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SA man burned as car engulfed in flames

A man has suffered serious burns when his car caught fire on Adelaide's Northern Expressway. Source: AAP

A MAN has been pulled from his burning car on an Adelaide expressway.

Emergency crews pulled the man from his car at Virginia after it caught fire while travelling on the Northern Expressway, SA police say.

He suffered serious burns and was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

The car was badly damaged.

Fire cause investigators will examine the car.

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Harris used fame to abuse girls: court

The assault trial of Rolf Harris has heard details of his alleged crimes against four teenage girls. Source: AAP

ROLF Harris wrote to the father of one of the girls he's alleged to have indecently assaulted, apologising for his behaviour, but insisting he didn't have sexual relations with her while she was underage.

Prosecutor Sasha Wass QC opened the crown's sex abuse case on Friday by telling the jury there was a "pattern" of Harris using his celebrity to approach girls in a friendly fashion before assaulting them.

Harris is accused of indecently assaulting four girls, one as young as seven or eight, between 1968 and 1986 in the UK. He denies all the charges.

Ms Wass said one of the four main complainants was a close friend of Harris's daughter, Bindi, who joined the family on an overseas holiday in the late 1970s.

The entertainer allegedly abused the then 13-year-old for the first time in Hawaii after she'd taken a shower at their hotel and was wrapped in a towel.

Harris indecently touched the teenage girl then and on subsequent occasions both in Hawaii and Australia.

When the victim returned to London after the holiday she started drinking and within a few years was a teenage alcoholic.

Ms Wass said the victim was subsequently abused by Harris over the next 15 years.

"Harris groomed her like a pet on that trip", the prosecutor said, adding that by the time Bindi's friend was in her 20s she effectively did whatever the entertainer said.

The complainant herself has said it was like she was his "little toy".

In 1997, the court heard, Harris wrote a letter to the complainant's father admitting he'd had sexual relations with his daughter, but not when she was underage.

"When I see the misery I have caused (her) I am sickened by myself," Harris wrote.

"When I realised the enormity of what I had done and how I had affected her whole life I begged her for forgiveness and she said 'I forgive you'. Whether she meant it or not I don't know."

He concluded the letter to the complainant's father by stating: "I would like to talk to you to apologise for betraying your trust and for unwittingly so harming your darling."

However, Ms Wass said the 1997 letter was akin to former US president Bill Clinton admitting to smoking cannabis but insisting he hadn't inhaled. It was a "confess and avoid" letter.

Ms Wass said Harris had effectively "nailed his colours to the mast" because the defendant couldn't now say Bindi's friend had invented the entire story.

Earlier, the prosecutor had told the jury that Harris's assaults were committed at the height of his celebrity and his fame meant no-one suspected or challenged his behaviour.

His charming and amicable manner hid another darker side, Ms Wass said, adding the artist and singer was "a Jekyll and Hyde character".

"This hidden side is what this case is about - and it is known only to Harris and those he molested, the lawyer told Southwark Crown Court.

"Harris was too famous, too powerful, his reputation made him untouchable."

The court heard witnesses would reveal they didn't complain at the time because they thought no-one would believe them.

However, an older TV make-up artist in Australia has said that to those in the know, Harris was referred to as "the octopus" because of his roaming hands.

Harris watched Friday's proceedings from a glass-walled dock inside the court. He listened with the aid of a hearing loop.

The veteran entertainer arrived at court holding hands with his wife, Alwen, and daughter.

The trial, expected to last until the end of June, continues.

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Legionnaires' disease outbreak in Vic

Three people have contracted the potentially deadly legionnaires' disease in Melbourne west. Source: AAP

THREE people have been struck down by an outbreak of potentially deadly legionnaires' disease in Melbourne.

Two men and a woman, aged between 47 and 88, are recovering after hospital treatment.

All live in the Altona North area or spent time there in April and May, Department of Health spokesman Bram Alexander says.

He said the first case came to light in early April and the most recent was confirmed on Friday.

The department has taken samples from air-conditioning cooling towers and has disinfected them as a precaution, but Mr Alexander said the source of the outbreak might not be found.

"We will continue to do the work that we need to do to find the source, but there are occasions where we do not find the source," he told AAP.

Single cases of the illness were not unusual, Mr Alexander said.

Early symptoms are flu-like, and include headache, fever, chills, confusion and muscle aches and pains.

These initial symptoms develop into respiratory problems and pneumonia within three or four days, with the full onset of the disease within 10 days of infection.

People aged over 50, heavy smokers or drinkers, diabetics, people with chronic lung disease and people with immune system deficiencies are at the highest risk.

Fifteen Victorians have contracted the illness this year, which is down from 23 at the same time in 2013.

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Snapchat settles charge it deceived users

US regulators announced a deal with Snapchat to settle a charge that the internet firm misled users Source: AAP

US regulators have announced a deal with Snapchat to settle a charge that the internet firm misled users into believing images sent over the popular phone application disappeared permanently.

Terms of the proposed settlement include Snapchat ramping up privacy and security at its popular self-destructing messaging service and having an independent monitor track its efforts for the next 20 years.

The Southern California-based service gained notoriety for the app that lets people send smartphone photos or video snippets timed to self-destruct 10 seconds or less after being opened.

Snapchat rocketed to popularity after the app was released in September 2011. Its growth initially sparked fears that in a world of selfies, it would provide a false sense of security for teenagers thinking of sexting risque photos.

The US Federal Trade Commission said it had launched an investigation into whether Snapchat was not up front about how much data it collected from users, how well it protected them, and whether disappearing messages could be copied or resurrected.

"If a company markets privacy and security as key selling points in pitching its service to consumers, it is critical that it keep those promises," FTC chairwoman Edith Ramirez said.

An FTC complaint charged that Snapchat misled users on several fronts, including how "ephemeral" smartphone pictures or video snippets, referred to as "snaps", actually are.

Snapchat boasted of letting people send images that "disappear forever" seconds after being viewed by recipients, neglecting to inform users there are ways people can save pictures indefinitely, the FTC says.

People who get snaps can use third-party applications to save images, grab screen shots, or even just take another picture using a camera.

Concerns expressed by regulators included the extent to which snaps could be erased after viewing; how well Snapchat lets senders know when messages intended for destruction were saved, and how open it is about information it collects from users.

The FTC complaint contended that Snapchat gathered contact information from address books of people accessing the service form iPhones, iPads, or iPods without telling them.

Regulators blamed Snapchat's failure to effectively secure a Find Friends feature for allowing hackers to breach its database and steal user names and phone numbers of about 4.6 million users.

No fines were announced, but Snapchat could be hit with financial penalties if it doesn't stick with the conditions it agreed to in the settlement, the FTC says.

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Hate preacher cries over Bosnia killings

Fiery hate preacher Abu Hamza al-Masri has cried on the stand over the killing of Muslims in Bosnia. Source: AAP

BRITISH hate preacher Abu Hamza quietly cried while describing the killing of Muslims in Bosnia in the 1990s during testimony at his terrorism trial.

But he laughed when he told a Manhattan jury he'd heard rumours that hands he lost in an accident with explosives were chopped off as punishment for stealing.

The second day of testimony on Thursday for Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, 56, better known as Abu Hamza al-Masri, was emotional for him as he talked about the killing of Muslims, Osama bin Laden and how he lost one eye and both hands in 1993.

He cried while discussing the 1995 massacre of thousands of Muslim men and boys in Bosnia. He cried again later as he described talking to a woman whose son was killed in Bosnia.

Prosecutors questioned whether world events affecting Muslims in the 1990s belonged in a trial in which Abu Hamza is charged with conspiring to aid terrorists who took 16 hostages in Yemen in 1998 and conspiring to aid al-Qaeda by starting an Oregon training camp two years later.

Describing Abu Hamza as a "political figure," Judge Katherine Forrest said prosecutors must let him describe his opinions about events that arose during the government's three-week presentation of evidence.

"Whether you like his views or don't like his views, they're his views and you've got to let him put them in context," she said. "You made it relevant. Nobody made it relevant but you."

Abu Hamza's lawyer, Joshua Dratel, questioned him about a wide range of subjects, including Osama bin Laden. Mustafa said bin Laden was "a very charismatic man. People love him, including myself."

But he was critical at times of al-Qaeda. He described how in 1987 he met Abdullah Azzam, a spiritual mentor of bin Laden who fought the Soviets in Afghanistan and was killed in a car bombing in 1989.

"He was seeing the bigger picture, certainly bigger than al-Qaeda today," Mustafa said.

He explained the loss of his hands, saying a liquid explosive went off as he was handling it in August 1993 when he worked as a civil engineer during testing being carried out by the Pakistani military in Lahore, where Pakistani security officers lived.

He said he spent a month in a hospital and was unjustly suspected of having ignited the explosive. He lost an eye in the same explosion.

Abu Hamza said the Pakistani Army did not charge him, but warned not to "embarrass us about what happened".

He chuckled as he said he later heard rumours he went to Saudi Arabia, tried to steal something "and they cut off my hands".

Mustafa drew laughs again when he described changing the name on his passport when he travelled to Bosnia in the mid-1990s.

"You pay 25 pounds and say 'I want to be John Travolta', and you are John Travolta," he said.

When the judge asked if went with John Travolta, he answered: "No ma'am," causing more laughs.

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WA debt rises amid infrastructure splurge

THE West Australian government's debt projections show the state sliding deeper into the red as huge spending on infrastructure overshadows revenue raising and cost cutting measures.

The 2014/15 state budget handed down on Thursday shows the goal of restoring WA's AAA credit rating is a long way off, with debt creeping up to $27.5 billion by 2016/17, from $26.9 billion in the mid-year economic review.

A whopping $23.7 billion in planned infrastructure projects over the next four years will maintain the need for increased borrowings, Treasurer Mike Nahan told parliament as he delivered his first budget.

With just $243 million in infrastructure spending pushed back beyond 2017/18, Dr Nahan said the government would "keep a close eye" on debt levels.

Opposition leader Mark McGowan said the Liberal government should not have pushed ahead with all of its big projects.

"I went to the state election suggesting some changes that would have saved money," Mr McGowan told reporters.

"[Premier Colin] Barnett just went to the people and said 'you can have all of the capital works and we won't put up electricity prices'. Clearly, that was untrue."

The Barnett government had promised before last year's state election to keep electricity price rises "at or around inflation", but they will instead increase by 4.5 per cent.

Water bills will also rise, motorists will be slugged with a three per cent hike in vehicle registration fees and there will be a four per cent increase in public transport costs.

Dr Nahan says something has got to give, with the state receiving less GST as its royalties rise on the back of greater export volumes, and with massive infrastructure spending unavoidable as WA's population continues to surge, despite a slowdown in business investment.

But Mr McGowan was unforgiving.

"This is a budget of pain, hardship and dishonesty that will impact every West Australian man, woman and child," he said.

"It's a horror budget on the hip pocket. It's a budget that hurts people who can least afford it.

"They've had seven treasurers in the last five years. This is a government not fit to be in government."

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, which downgraded the state's credit rating from AAA to AA+ in September last year, was also critical.

It said the latest budget had no measures in place to deal with structural problems and left the state vulnerable to "external shocks" such as volatile commodity prices.

Ratings agency Moody's said improved financial performance would rely to a large extent on the state's ability to lower expenditures.

In 2014/15, the state's spending forecast of 2.6 per cent compares to a much higher rate of spending in the current financial year of 9.1 per cent, but this trend largely relies on employee costs rising by only 2.9 per cent.

That won't please public sector unions, which want bigger wage increases.

Despite the mounting debt, the WA government has managed to polish its net operating balance, replacing a $124 million deficit that was flagged for the coming financial year with a $175 million surplus.

But in 2015/16, the surplus is expected to be a measly $5 million.

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Mama panda shows off Canberra babies

Four-month-old twin red pandas are shown off for the first time at the National Zoo in Canberra. Source: AAP

IT'LL be a bittersweet Mother's Day for second-time mum Eilish.

The National Zoo's prized red panda lost one of her cubs the first time around - but now she's getting ready to show off her healthy new twins to Canberrans on Sunday.

Eilish's newborns are a special addition to a species whose numbers are low and declining.

Zookeepers are excited because the twins mark a successful breeding program of the threatened species.

"She had tough times with the first cub, and now for both of them to survive, we're very excited," National Zoo spokeswoman Bec Scott told AAP.

Visitors will be able to name the twins from a list compiled by keepers on the zoo's Facebook page.

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NSW govt slammed for train announcement

THE NSW government has been accused of showing "callous disregard" for local manufacturing jobs after it refused to commit to building the state's next generation of trains in Australia.

Premier Mike Baird on Thursday pledged $2.8 billion for around 65 "state-of-the-art" intercity trains to be rolled out by 2024.

He said the initiative would lead to a far more comfortable ride on the rail network.

The government will now look to buy the trains ready-made from either local or international manufacturers.

State Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian, who is also Minister for the Hunter, was asked whether she'd commit to having the trains built in the Hunter region, which has in the past been a rail manufacturing hub.

"What I'll be doing is making a commitment that we'll get the best outcome for our customers and the best outcome for the taxpayer," she replied.

"Of course I'd be delighted if local companies were involved in the process.

"But you know what? If it wasn't for our government, local companies wouldn't even be in the game."

Tim Ayres, from the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union, said the Hunter was facing "economic devastation", with 3000 rail workers on the cusp of losing their jobs.

"(This government has) got a callous disregard for the impact of offshoring these jobs in the Hunter Valley," he told reporters.

"They don't understand the devastation that that's going to wreak in regional communities."

He said local manufacturers were more than capable of delivering the trains on time and under budget.

Opposition Leader John Robertson described Ms Berejiklian's comments as a slap in the face for workers who build trains in the Hunter Valley.

"This is a government looking to make announcements to distract from the disarray they find themselves in," he said.

The new trains will carry passengers to the Central Coast, Newcastle, the Blue Mountains and the Illawarra.

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Brand wins damages over cheat slur

COMEDIAN Russell Brand has accepted substantial undisclosed libel damages over a newspaper claim that he had cheated on girlfriend Jemima Khan.

Brand was not at London's High Court for the settlement of his action against News Group Newspapers over a November 2013 story in The Sun on Sunday.

His solicitor, John Kelly, told Justice Tugendhat that the allegation that he had deceived the public as well as Khan by falsely proclaiming that he was being faithful to her when in fact he was having sex with model Sophie Coady during a four-month fling was entirely without foundation and "distressing, hurtful and damaging".

NGN had apologised and agreed to pay Brand his legal costs and damages, which he would put towards "what he considers to be diverse, just and decent causes".

Kelly said that Brand had spoken publicly of his love and commitment towards Khan.

After the publication of the front page "exclusive", headed Russell Cheated On His Jemima With Me, he immediately wrote to the newspaper through his solicitors, informing them that the claims were false, should be withdrawn and an apology should be published.

"The claimant's distress was increased as a result of the defendant's initial refusal to remove the article from the newspapers' website, or to withdraw the allegations and publish an apology. After the newspaper refused to apologise Mr Brand issued proceedings for libel.

"The defendant now accepts that these claims are in fact totally untrue and defamatory and that these claims should never have been published."

NGN had apologised to Brand and Khan for the distress and embarrassment caused, said Kelly.

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Deficit levy makes sense: Deloitte

IMPOSING a deficit levy would show the Abbott government is serious about repairing the budget.

So says economist Chris Richardson, a long-time critic of government spending by both sides of politics, who believes a levy targeted at the top end of town makes sense.

The Deloitte Access Economics partner thinks while the bulk of getting the budget back into shape should come from cutting spending, raising taxes shouldn't be ignored.

"The government will have hated having a deficit levy, which says to us they are serious about budget repair," Mr Richardson said in his Budget Monitor on Thursday.

Taking the levy into account at an estimated $4.2 billion - and no other potential policy changes - Mr Richardson expects a marked recovery in the budget position in the coming years as other revenue streams also improve.

However, for the current financial year (2013/14) he expects a deterioration of $1.4 billion to a deficit of $48.4 billion, making it the second largest on record in dollar terms.

Flat company tax revenue and a shortfall in federal rent taxes, like the mining tax, will have offset an improvement in the tax take from individuals.

And while 2014/15 won't be a great year for company tax collections either, it will at least see an "end to the bleeding".

Deloitte estimates a "no policy change" budget position improvement of $5 billion to $6.5 billion in each of the the next three financial years to stand at $11.2 billion in 2016/17.

But the May 13 budget will take in 2017/18 for the first time and will illustrate the "Everest" the budget must climb because it will show big additional dollar costs for the likes of disability insurance, Mr Richardson says.

"Unless budget night reveals some much needed fiscal medicine, the deficit will worsen notably."

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Lessons to be learned from RAMSI: report

IN an era of tight budgets and slashed aid spending, it's hard to imagine the Australian government handing out hundreds of millions of dollars, year after year, to prop up one of its tiny Pacific neighbours.

But in the 10 years to 2013, the government did just that, spending almost $2.6 billion heading the 15-nation Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI).

A diplomat who served with RAMSI says the Abbott government could learn a lot from that mission as it realigns its foreign policy to the Asia-Pacific region and looks for returns on aid spending.

In a new report for the Lowy Institute, Jenny Hayward-Jones examines RAMSI successes and failures and questions the merit of spending so much on a country of little strategic importance.

"I think the lessons of RAMSI have shown perhaps there was a bit of an over response," the diplomat turned Lowy Institute researcher told AAP.

There was fear in July 2003 that the Solomons, reeling from ethnic violence and economic malaise, could become a haven for terrorists and criminals if allowed to collapse.

Ms Hayward-Jones admits Honiara was in trouble when she arrived in the capital as a policy adviser to find gangs running the city.

"The government couldn't function because it was being held at gunpoint to hand over government cheques and so forth to thugs and criminals," she said.

RAMSI quickly helped restore order, stabilise the economy and rebuild the bureaucracy.

But the mission had no exit plan and Australia ended up footing the bulk of the bill for 10 years.

When Ms Hayward-Jones went looking for a breakdown of government spending on RAMSI years later, she was shocked to find such detailed numbers didn't exist.

"Australia along the way was not counting up how much it was costing to do all of those things," she said.

It appears a decade worth of bankrolling the mission earned Australia little recognition, with most Solomon islanders surveyed last year unaware Australia was the biggest contributor.

This should ring alarm bells for Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who wants more visibility for Australia's aid programs and to be the "partner of choice" for Pacific nations.

Ms Hayward-Jones said the government should also not assume the region at large is peaceful simply because the military-component of RAMSI had concluded.

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Ice harm spikes, especially in Vic regions

ACUTE health problems caused by crystal methamphetamine use have spiked sharply across Victoria in recent years, but especially in regional areas, research shows.

Ambulance crews attended 198 per cent more call-outs to deal with acute health effects from the drug, also known as ice, in the 2012/13 financial year compared with the previous year.

In metropolitan Melbourne, acute ambulance call-outs rose by 88 per cent over the same period.

The figures were compiled by Ambulance Victoria and drug and alcohol treatment and research group Turning Point in the Trends in Alcohol and Drug-Related Ambulance Attendances in Victoria 2012/13 report, to be launched on Thursday.

Turning Point researcher Belinda Lloyd called for government, health agencies, community groups, law enforcement bodies, business and residents to work together solve the prevalence of ice across the state.

She said the figures only represented acute cases and did not address overall ice use.

"Certainly the evidence suggests that the level of use is increasing overall, but this increase in acute health harm is a cause for concern," she said.

"We need more information and we need to be more innovative in the way that we address those issues."

Acute health effects include mental health conditions such as anxiety, paranoia and psychosis; injuries caused by falls, motor vehicle accidents or violence; and physiological symptoms such as heart palpitations and shortness of breath.

Dr Lloyd said increased availability of ice, increased purity and changes in the way the drug is ingested could be factors in the spike in acute ambulance call-outs.

"Crystal methamphetamine has been available in larger cities and particularly in the inner suburbs, but now it is a lot more common in regional and remote areas," she said.

Dr Lloyd said the ice epidemic was prominent in those regions but affects the whole state.

The report found acute ambulance call-outs for cannabis and ecstasy had risen 51 per cent and 61 per cent respectively in 2012/12.

Over the same period, cannabis and ecstasy call-outs rose 58 per cent and 62 per cent respectively in regional Victoria.

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Nintendo says no to virtual equality

NINTENDO isn't allowing gamers to play as gay in an upcoming life simulator game.

The gaming company said on Tuesday it wouldn't bow to pressure to allow players to woo characters of the same sex in English editions of Tomodachi Life.

The announcement follows a social media campaign launched by fans last month seeking virtual equality for the game's characters.

The fans had urged Nintendo to add same-sex relationship options to the English hand-held Nintendo 3DS game ahead of its June 6 release.

The game was originally released in Japan last year and features a cast of avatars based on real players living and playing on a virtual island.

Several past life games like The Sims and The Elder Scrolls have allowed players to create characters that can have same-sex relationships.

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Mixed reaction for big-spending Vic budget

The Victorian government will unveil a string of record surpluses from 2015/16 in its budget. Source: AAP

THE Victorian government will stake its November re-election bid on its record infrastructure splurge but the opposition has accused it of ignoring basic services.

The government has outlaid $27 billion on new infrastructure in the 2014/15 budget and forward estimates period of four years, including $24 billion on transport infrastructure.

In addition to the major infrastructure outlay, the government will go to the November election with a string of hefty back-to-back surpluses.

A $1.3 billion operating surplus is forecast for 2014/15, growing to $3.3 billion by 2017/18.

Victoria is likely to be the only state to forecast back-to-back surpluses over the next four years, Treasurer Michael O'Brien said.

An $11 billion Melbourne rail link to the airport forms part of a big pre-election budget cash splash on major Victorian road and rail projects, which includes $10 billion in state funding to finish the second stage of the East West Link road project.

Mr O'Brien said the Napthine government's tight rein on spending meant that it was the only state government that could talk of a substantial and growing surplus.

"Because of this economic management, we are able to deliver this sort of transformational, job-creating infrastructure projects that Victoria needs," he told reporters.

But Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews says the budget does nothing for ordinary people and does not focus on basic services.

Mr Andrews said there was nothing to fix the crisis in TAFEs, over-crowded emergency departments and the ambulance service.

Mr Andrews says infrastructure projects announced in the budget would take years to come to fruition and it does nothing to improve basic education, health and emergency services.

"This is a panicked budget from a panicked and desperate premier, someone who is petrified that he will lose the election at the end of the year."

State coffers will be bolstered by the privatisation of Victoria's rural finance lender, expected to net the government $400 million, and the sale of a 40-year lease of the Port of Melbourne.

From July 2015, a new levy will also apply to planning permit applications in metropolitan Melbourne for $1 million-plus developments.

There will be a $32 hike in car registrations and a rise in vehicle stamp duty.

In a sweetener for businesses, the payroll tax will be cut to 4.85 per cent from July, saving employers $234 million over four years.

The Melbourne rail link will get under way in mid-2016, creating 3700 jobs at the peak of construction.

The rail route is different to what has previously been proposed as part of the Melbourne Metro Rail project.

Mr O'Brien said the latest route would have greater capacity, its construction would be less disruptive to the CBD and included the airport rail link, offering a 25-minute journey between Melbourne Airport and Southern Cross station.

But Mr Andrews said it fell short of the project ranked by Infrastructure Australia as Victoria's number one transport priority.

The Victorian Council of Social Service says the infrastructure splurge will help turn around the jobless rate in a sluggish economy while the Australian Industry Group said the projects will boost the building industry.

But the Victorian Trades Hall Council attacked the budget for lacking a jobs plan, saying the jobless rate was at its highest level in a decade.

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Westfield sweetens local split plans

Westfield Group has altered its planned split of Australian and NZ assets from its global business. Source: AAP

SHOPPING centre giant Westfield Group has sweetened its plan to split its Australian and New Zealand assets from its international operations.

Westfield's Australian and New Zealand assets, which includes 47 shopping centres, are set to merge with Westfield Retail Trust, a joint owner of the Australian shopping centres.

The merged entity will be called Scentre Group, and under new changes to the proposal, Scentre Group will now carry $300 million less in debt than originally planned.

Westfield chairman Frank Lowy said key investors supported the merger, but the new debt arrangements were made to address some concerns raised.

Security holders are due to vote on the split on May 29.

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Pistorius introduced Steenkamp as fiancee

A neighbour has testified that Oscar Pistorius was "torn apart" after shooting his girlfriend. Source: AAP

OSCAR Pistorius introduced Reeva Steenkamp as his fiancee just a week before he shot her, a neighbour has testified, as the defence said it may close its case within a week.

Defence lawyer Barry Roux said on Tuesday that he could deliver his closing arguments within a week, potentially brining to an end a trial which began on March 3 and was originally slated to run for three weeks.

The prosecution closed its case only on March 25.

"I even believe we may end the defence case by Tuesday next week," Roux told the court.

On Tuesday, testimony returned to the shouts and loud bangs that woke up neighbours in the pre-dawn hours that day.

The sequence of events, and who actually cried out, are key to establishing what happened on February 14, 2013.

Next-door neighbour Michael Nhlengethwa said that Pistorius had introduced the 29-year-old model as his wife-to-be, apparently supporting the athlete's claim he was in a serious and loving relationship.

Pistorius said "please meet my fiancee, Reeva," Nhlengethwa testified.

The Paralympic and Olympic athlete, nicknamed the "Blade Runner", is accused of shooting Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine's Day 2013 after a row, a charge he denies.

In emotional testimony Nhlengethwa, Pistorius's closest neighbour, described going to the sprinter's home to investigate sounds of crying and saw Steenkamp being taken out of the house on a stretcher.

"At that moment I knew she was no more," he said.

Earlier, he had woken up to a man's cries.

"A man was crying very loud," he said, "it was crying when you were in danger, when you need help."

Roux asked the witness if the voice was low - or high-pitched.

"You said a man's voice, was it a low pitch?" asked Roux.

"It was a very high pitch voice," replied Nhlengethwa.

The defence claims that Steenkamp never screamed the night she was shot, alleging witnesses heard Pistorius screaming like a woman under the effect of stress.

The sprinter fired four bullets through a locked lavatory door, killing Steenkamp who was in the cubicle inside his house in the capital Pretoria.

Nhlengethwa's wife, Eontle, said she woke up after hearing a "bang" in the night, followed by a man crying and shouting "help, help, help!"

"Is it possible you could make a sound to resemble it?" said Roux.

She then made a haunting, shrill wail from the witness stand.

Pistorius, who has retched and sobbed in court, kept his head in his hands as he listened to his neighbours' testimony.

He faces up to 25 years in prison if found guilty of premeditated murder.

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PM's call puts Aust-Indon ties on track

A group of 20 asylum seekers claim they were turned back to Indonesia by Australian authorities. Source: AAP

INDONESIA'S president has told Prime Minister Tony Abbott he hopes the two countries can heal the rift left by last year's spying scandal by August.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's optimism came even as Australia sent a boatload of asylum seekers back to Indonesian territory with a new tactic that has added to Jakarta's concern over the border protection policy.

Dr Yuhoyono's office says he received a call from Mr Abbott on Tuesday afternoon, in which the prime minister conveyed his regret for having to miss a Bali forum, where the two were set to meet.

"President SBY stated that he could understand the reason for PM Abbott not attending in Bali regarding the discussion of budget in the parliament," the statement read.

The leaders discussed progress in the negotiations for a new code of conduct after revelations in 2013 that Australia had tapped the president's phone, his office says.

"President SBY stated that it is his hope for a code of conduct to have been agreed on at least by August 2014."

According to the statement, the leaders also set tentative dates to meet face-to-face.

Dr Yudhoyono welcomed Mr Abbott's suggestion he visit in June, and the president was invited to view the Indonesia-Australia Centre in Melbourne either during his remaining time in office or after.

Mr Abbott's office confirmed the warm exchange.

"In a very cordial conversation, both leaders agreed on the importance of the bilateral relationship between Australia and Indonesia," a spokesman said.

"They committed to continue the progress that has been made to resolve current issues and to strengthen the relationship further."

When Mr Abbott postponed his Bali trip, it seemed to dash hopes of a breakthrough in the talks with Indonesia, which made the new code a precondition to lifting a temporary ban on people smuggling and other co-operation.

But Dr Yudhoyono, who has always taken pride in close relations with Australia, is likely motivated by his term ending this year.

The government said Mr Abbott was forced to remain in Australia due to the coming budget.

But it was believed the trip was canned because Australia was in the process of turning back asylum seekers.

Indonesian navy officers found a group of 20 stranded on an island on Sunday, and claim they were originally on two separate boats.

One boat carrying 18 asylum seekers - first reported as Indian and Nepalese, but now believed to be Iranian and Nepalese - was met by two Australian vessels near Ashmore Reef on Sunday.

Indonesian officials believe three more people - an Indonesian and two asylum seekers from either Nepal or Albania - were intercepted in a second boat and then added to the first.

"There were two boats," the spokesman for Indonesia's Co-ordinating Ministry for Politics, Law and Security, Agus Barnas, told AAP.

"The bigger one left from Makassar and the smaller one left from Rote Island. The smaller one then caught by Australia, then the boat was burnt."

Then, Mr Barnas said, the larger boat was intercepted and all were sent back in it.

Indonesia's Foreign Minister, Marty Natalegawa, said it was worrying.

"If confirmed, obviously this is a very serious development," he told reporters in Bali on Tuesday.

"As I've said from the very beginning, we are risking a slippery slope."

Further, it showed Operation Sovereign Borders wasn't working.

"The policy of his government to push, unilaterally forcing asylum seekers - which is threatening and violating their human rights - it's not yielding (success) because such efforts are still being conducted," Dr Natalegawa said.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison wouldn't comment on "on-water" matters for "operational security reasons".

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Firefighter bravery recognised

NSW firefighters have been awarded for their actions at a major fuel spill that threatened Sydney. Source: AAP

FIREFIGHTERS who attended a fuel spill with the potential to ignite and threaten a Sydney peninsula faced a choice.

Leave the two million litre tank to leak, evacuate the peninsula around Banksmeadow on Botany Bay and wait for a catastrophic explosion.

Or volunteer to wade through the fuel pool and repair the leaking valve.

NSW Fire and Rescue (NSWFR) station officer Ron Morasso looked at his colleagues and made his choice.

"I said to him, 'what was going through your mind'?" NSWFR commissioner Greg Mullins told AAP after presenting Mr Morasso with the fire service's highest bravery award.

"[Mr Morasso] said to me, 'I looked at my crew and thought - he has two young kids, his wife is pregnant, he is only young...it's got to be me'."

Mr Mullins said even a spark from a car passing the Caltex fuel terminal would have risked an explosion with enough ferocity to close Sydney airport and any subsequent fire might have taken days to extinguish.

Mr Morasso, who has since retired, was presented with the NSWFR medal for conspicuous bravery on Saturday.

Other crew members who responded to the spill in July 2013 also received commendations.

Meanwhile, two firefighters who rushed to the aid of a man on fire after a petrol tanker crash on Sydney's northern beaches were also recognised.

Mosman crew members Lloyd Mulder and George Cheeke stayed with the man, who crawled from his car after it burst into flames, until he died at the roadside last October.

Witnesses Andrew Cochran and Maria Tosone also received commendations for trying to pull the man and another person from the car on Mona Vale Road.

And 12 firefighters who responded to a fire at a unit complex in Bankstown in the city's west, where two women attempted to escape by jumping from a fifth floor window, were also among commendation recipients.

Mr Mullins said the blaze was so intense that firefighters' uniforms caught fire and helmets melted.

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Cancer tot’s siblings shame adults

Diagnosed with cancer when aged two ... Nicholas Forwood with sister Charlotte, 10, and brother Luke, 12. Source: News Corp Australia

THREE-year-old Nicholas Forwood's cancer treatment left him so radioactive he had to be isolated in a lead-lined room and his carers had to wear Geiger counters when treating him.

The toddler, from Turramurra in Sydney, has spent most of the last 11 months in hospital battling the killer childhood cancer neuroblastoma and his bravery has inspired his siblings to raise $90,000 for medical research.

Nicholas' ten-year-old sister Charlotte and his 12-year-old brother Luke are aiming to raise $120,000 to pay for the clinical trial of a promising new treatment for neuroblastoma being developed by Australian company Novogen but it may come too late for Nicholas.

Doctors say there is just a one-in-five chance Nicholas will be alive in a year's time when trials of the drug begin.

This week he begins a painful experimental immunotherapy treatment his parents hope will send his cancer into remission but it carries a rare risk it could stop his heart, liver and kidneys working and leave him blind.

NOVOGEN CHIEF: Cancer treatment drug will be affordable

Beginning a painful experimental immunotherapy treatment ... Nicholas Forwood's parents hope it will send his cancer into remission. Source: News Corp Australia

Nicholas' father Tom Forwood said by the time doctors diagnosed his cancer in May last year it was a stage-four high-risk disease that had spread throughout his body.

He had five cycles of chemotherapy and surgery to remove a large tumour from his abdomen but the cancer was still there.

In late January doctors injected Nicholas with a chemical called MIBG and high-dose radioactive iodine in an attempt to track down remaining cancer cells and burn them away.

The treatment left Nicholas so radioactive he was dangerous to others.

"He was too toxic to be exposed to anyone, he was put in a lead-lined room for five days and ICU nurses were only allowed brief visits and they had to have Geiger counters on them," Tom Forwood says.

Another harrowing high-dose chemotherapy treatment followed that left Nicholas with ulcers through his mouth and internal organs. He was so sore he did not open his mouth for weeks.

When he is not in hospital Nicholas runs and plays and laughs like any three year old.

Tom Forwood says the frustration of watching his little boy endure so much often makes him angry at the world but the way his other children are striving to raise funds for the Kids Cancer Project teaches adults how they should behave.

"I get angry at the world, they are trying to change things," he said.

Luke, Charlotte and Tom Forwood and nine of Mr Forwood's friends and colleagues shaved their heads to raise over $90,000 for the clinical trial of a new neuroblastoma therapy in the last few months.

Charlotte wants to push the donations to $120 000 because that is the most a single family would have ever raised for the Kids Cancer Project.

"We're not doing this for Nicholas, we're trying to get these funds in his honour," says Mr Forwood.

Today, a new research alliance called the Child Oncology Drug Alliance will be launched in Sydney combining the Kids Cancer Project, University of NSW, NewSouth Innovations and Novogen to fast track the development of the new anti-cancer medicine anti-tropomysin pioneered by Australian researchers.

"The Holy Grail of childhood cancer therapy is a medicine that is effective against a tumour such as neuroblastoma, but doesn't leave the sort of damage that the child then has to deal with for the rest of their life," says Novogen chief Graham Kelly.

"We believe the anti-tropomyosins we have developed have the potency, selectivity and safety profile to meet the special needs of children."

You can make a donation to Luke and Charlotte's fundraiser by going to https://give.everydayhero.com/au/luke-charlotte-forwood

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Male survival gene under threat in UK

MANKIND has come a long way since the days of hunters and gatherers - but the modern British man's survival gene could be in danger of becoming extinct.

According to a new television survey, ready meals and toiletries are the luxuries more than a quarter of UK men couldn't live without on a remote island, above taking a hunting knife or fishing line.

Some 26 per cent named toiletries as a must-have item and 29 per cent said they couldn't do without their pre-prepared tucker, the Channel 4 survey of 2000 British men found.

And 62 per cent said they wouldn't be able to start a fire without the aid of a lighter - so they may have trouble heating up their TV dinner anyway.

When asked to rate their practical DIY skills, Welsh men were the least-educated in the UK, with 83 per cent claiming they were never taught the skills.

The survey found just one in 10 spend their spare time playing sport, only nine per cent pursue outdoor activities and 15 per cent tend to their house or car.

The top recreation was lazing around and watching TV, with more than a third admitting to spending their free time in this way.

The survey findings come as Channel 4 launches the five-part series, The Island with Bear Grylls, featuring the real-life experiences of a group of men struggling to survive on a remote island.

Grylls said: "What happens when you strip man of all the luxury and conveniences of modern living and then force them to fight for their very existence?

"When pushed to the extreme do they still have what it takes to survive? I believe the spirit is still there and in us all.

"It's not until it's squeezed and put under pressure that we find that spirit of resourcefulness and courage again."

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18 dead in India train accident

A passenger train has derailed in western India, killing at least eight people and injuring 57. Source: AAP

A PASSENGER train has derailed in western India, killing at least 18 people and injuring more than 100 as rescue workers race to free those still trapped.

The train's engine and four of its carriages jumped the tracks in the western state of Maharashtra 110 kilometres south of Mumbai, police control room official Ramchandra Kamre told reporters on Sunday in Raigad district, where the accident occurred.

"So far we have 18 reported deaths and 112 injured, who have been rushed to nearby hospitals for treatment," Kamre said.

Rescuers were trying to pull out passengers still trapped in overturned carriages, with cranes and teams of workers at the site.

Railways Minister Mallikarjun Kharge ordered an investigation into the accident, which occurred in the mid-morning as the train was travelling from Diwa on the outskirts of Mumbai to the city of Sawantwadi in Maharashtra.

India's underfunded rail network - one of the world's largest - has a notoriously bad safety record but remains the main form of long-distance travel in the huge country despite fierce competition from private airlines.

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