RailCorp corruption 'extraordinary'

The role of the NSW Minister for Transport, and the RailCorp CEO and board, must be reviewed to "better ensure financially responsible management that would limit the opportunity for corruption", says a damning report released today by the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

The ICAC today made 40 recommendations to combat the corruption that has stripped RailCorp of more than $21 million in improperly awarded contracts and kickbacks to staff in just three years.

"The very structure of the organisation and the way it operates allows and encourages corruption," ICAC commissioner Jerrold Cripps, QC, said in the report.

"The investigation has exposed an extraordinary extent of public sector corruption," the report said.

"The investigation and findings entitle the commission to infer that the type of corruption exposed extends beyond those individuals identified in this investigation."

An ICAC statement released with the report says the very structure of the organisation allowed graft and fraud to flourish.

"The report describes record-keeping at RailCorp as shambolic and says that its form of contracting, process design, reporting arrangements, management competence, culture and oversight arrangements all contribute to endemic corruption in the organisation."

ICAC's eighth and final report on its Investigation Into Bribery And Fraud at RailCorp says the investigation "exposed an extraordinary extent of public sector corruption".

"Corrupt employees appeared to be confident that they would not be caught or if they were, that not much would happen to them," the report said.

In the seven reports that ICAC has released so far, it has recommended more than 660 charges against 33 rail staff members and contractors. It made 97 findings of corruption against 31 people.

After two years of investigation and nine weeks of hearings, the RailCorp inquiry is the biggest since ICAC was formed in 1988.

It followed six other inquiries into the NSW railways since 1992.

A major investigation 10 years ago focused on the same areas of procurement, maintenance and plant hire that formed the core of the current investigation.

But the corruption prevention mechanisms established as a result did nothing to prevent the same unethical behaviour from staff. It also appears to have failed to limit relationships forming between private contractors and the staff who sign off on sometimes lucrative contracts.

[Sources say] senior Government officials have been working on a formal response by cabinet for some months.

The last time there was a major inquiry into RailCorp was in the wake of the Waterfall derailment. In the fall-out from the McInerney report into the accident, two senior staff were axed, but the guillotine never fell on another six who were under review.

"Ultimately, responsibility for preventing corruption in this critical public organisation is shared by RailCorp's chief executive officer, the RailCorp board and the Minister for Transport," the statement says.

"It is incumbent on them to break with past practices and improve oversight and action regarding corruption prevention.

"The commission recommends that the responsibilities of the proposed RailCorp Advisory Board, the RailCorp CEO and the Minister for Transport be reviewed to determine whether they need to be restructured to better ensure financially responsible management that would limit the opportunity for corruption."

Quote: When will the ICAC investigate rorts into Housing New South Wales? Most residents could inform the ICAC of some of the already known contractors who have very lucrative contracts that are endlessly repairing things that endlessly break - instead of fixing things properly and more permanently like, excessive fire services, checks and balances. Sending five people a year to check on 5 different things and automatic doors which break sometimes four or five times per week - doors that could be made less automatic and that don't break so many times every week.

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Rail rorts: ICAC recommends charges
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has found another four RailCorp employees received large cash payments for awarding work to favoured contractors

Something is rotten in the state of NSW
IN 1998 the lid was lifted on the corrupt world of NSW railways, revealing that supplying prostitutes could win you a contract, fake medical certificates signed by a dead doctor would get you a day off work, and you could claim overtime while playing golf.

Economists sound recession warning

Economists have declared the non-farm economy is heading into recession after a National Australia Bank (NAB) monthly survey found business confidence is at a record low.

The NAB index dropped one point in November to a new low of negative-30 as forward orders fell to 1991 levels.

Confidence is down across all industries and all sectors apart from mining and transport are reporting their actual business conditions worsened last month.

NAB chief economist Alan Oster now says the total economy will contract this quarter.

"We wouldn't say there's a recession in the total economy, but it does look like the non-farm economy is probably going to be going into a moderate recession," he said.

NAB has also cut growth forecasts for next year which had predicted gross domestic product would expand by 1.3 per cent.

The bank is now expecting the economy to grow by just 0.5 per cent.

Earlier today Dun and Bradstreet released its survey of business expectations, which showed executives are expecting sales and profits to continue to worsen.

Nearly one in five executives surveyed expected to have fewer staff in the quarter ahead than they did a year ago.

Dun and Bradstreet's managing director Christine Christian says the drop in the Australian dollar has shaken business confidence.

"Very few businesses are planning to create new jobs in the coming quarter," she said.

"Most businesses are concerned at the flow-on effect the recent layoffs particularly by the finance sector and what impact that's going to have on the economy more generally."

Warning: Save your dollars because we're not going to hear about it on the 6 O'clock news but we're heading for a depression not just a recession. It is very predictable and the worst case could be something up to the level of the Great Depression which was 20 per cent unemployment and lasting up to a decade.

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More families needing emergency support
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Freefall Friday: $84b - worst day in 21 years
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States 'dreaming' over extra funding
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Economists predict unemployment rate rise
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Market plunges 5pc, dollar crashes
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$50b Aussie wipe-out
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Upwardly immobile: mortgage stress bites
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Households give up three years of gains
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Workers protest building industry practices

About 2,000 building workers have rallied in Brisbane's CBD demanding changes to the way the industry is run.

They also want better safety.

Workers carrying a coffin lead the march to the Prime Minister's Brisbane office.

There was another death at a Brisbane construction site yesterday when a concrete beam fell on scaffolding in Brisbane's south.

It is the 18th death in Queensland this year.

Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) state secretary Michael Ravbar says workers are frustrated.

"Safety's become a major problem in our industry and a couple of weeks ago we lost two in a row in one week and they've just had enough," he said.

"The union says the Australian Building and Construction Commission is treating workers unfairly and needs to be abolished.

Similar rallies are being held in Sydney and Melbourne.

PETA pushes wool growers overboard

ANIMAL activist group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, has urged Australian wool producers to jump ship from Australian Wool Innovation and cease mulesing now.

PETA Asia-Pacific director Jason Baker said the AWI board was "completely ineffective" and warned the Australian wool industry faced "disaster" if it did not honour its commitment to end mulesing by 2010.

Mr Baker's comments come after newly elected AWI chairman, Wal Merriman, said the industry would not be tied to a deadline to phase out mulesing.

Mr Merriman said at yesterday's AWI annual meeting in Perth that he would continue mulesing his sheep beyond 2010 if a viable alternative had not been found.

Mr Baker said reneging on the commitment was "an embarrassment to the wool industry".

Secrecy over Mount Isa children's lead levels

Mt Isa children still at risk for lead

AT least 12 children in Mount Isa still have dangerously high lead levels but the State Government is refusing to give details of the cases.

Health Minister Stephen Robertson was yesterday forced into a partial backdown by releasing test data - only a day after claiming the information could not be made public for legal reasons.

The State Government was still refusing to release case progress reports amid claims it was not being open and accountable with residents and was dragging its heels on the issue.

Several families have already begun legal action against the Government and Swiss mining giant Xstrata, which owns the town's mine, over allegations of negligence which resulted in lead poisoning among children.

A Queensland Health report in May found 45 children - about 11 per cent of those tested - had elevated blood lead levels.

It has also emerged five of another 36 children tested since June also had dangerously high levels.

New figures released in State Parliament yesterday by Mr Robertson showed only 22 of the original 45 children underwent re-testing in recent months.

Twelve still had levels higher than 10 micrograms/decilitre - the point where intellectual and behavioural problems could occur - while 10 had levels that were now below 10 micrograms.

Slater & Gordon lawyer Damian Scattini, who is acting on behalf of families engaged in a class action, yesterday said the results showed education such as glossy pamphlets was failing.

"The Minister should be releasing all the reports (even with names censored)," Mr Scattini said. "They promised they would be open and accountable. How many (children poisoned) is too many for this Government?"

Mr Robertson acknowledged the huge public interest but said the current legal action could not be compromised.

"Each of the families of the children with elevated lead levels has been given advice on methods to reduce their child's exposure to lead," Mr Robertson said. "Detailed environmental audits have been conducted on the households that have children with elevated lead levels."

Greenpeace criticises clean-coal plans

The environmental group Greenpeace has called on the Federal Government to rethink its support for clean coal technology.

The Government has announced plans for a global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute in Australia next year, and two clean coal power projects are to be trialed in central Queensland.

Simon Roz from Greenpeace says it is unproven technology that will takes years to perfect, and there is a risk that captured gases could escape into the environment.

"If there's any sort of escape, that massive store of carbon dioxide would be released," he said.

"We know over time that there's movement with geological formations, how are they going to ensure this stuff would remain safe over time, and most importantly, who's going to have to pay for the potential clean up.

"Is it going to be the company that made the mess or is it going to be the taxpayers?"

Qld protesters declare climate emergency

A coalition of environmental activists will target the Queensland government and mining corporations in a series of protests in Brisbane this week.

The actions are planned for the city in what has been declared a Climate Emergency Week by environmental organisations across the country.

Protest organiser Paul Benedek said he believed Australians were prepared to accept higher emission targets to protect and preserve their national heritage - but the federal government's Garnaut report had sacrificed the Great Barrier Reef.

"Having a conscious strategy that sacrifices - for eternity - one of the most unique natural wonders in the world, shows the utter insanity of those currently dictating climate policy," Mr Benedek said.

"The Queensland government is pretending to be leading a smart state while it is putting in billions of dollars in expanding the dirty, greenhouse-emitting coal industry.

"(Professor Ross) Garnaut, the Business Council and most politicians are putting protection of the market ahead of protecting the planet's irreplaceable reefs, rivers, land and air.

"But there is no economy on a dead planet - no business, no profits, no jobs - nothing."

Climate Emergency Week will include a Critical Mass cycle protest on Friday afternoon, and a rally outside Queensland Parliament House on Sunday.

Wanita Limpus from the Kiribati-Australia Association is scheduled to address the rally on the threat of climate change to the country.

Protesters then aim to march past Queensland government buildings and corporations like Xtrata and Waratah Coal.

Next Monday, they plan to target the Coal 08 mining conference in Brisbane.

Meanwhile, constituents of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's electorate of Griffith, in Brisbane, on Monday staged a sit-in at his Morningside office.

Holding signs, saying: "Rudd: missing in action on climate change," the protesters say the federal government's response to the climate change has been inadequate.

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Rail rorts: ICAC recommends charges

The ICAC has recommended the DPP consider charges over corruption at RailCorp.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has found another four RailCorp employees received large cash payments for awarding work to favoured contractors.

The findings relate to kickbacks in exchange for RailCorp contracts dating back to 2001.

The commission has found former RailCorp employees Allan Walker, Paul Sventek and Kevin Dulhunty received more than $1 million in improper payments.

It says they falsified plant hire dockets with several contractors and received payments in return.

The ICAC has found Allan Walker used $500,000 mainly to finance a gambling habit.

In a separate report, the commission found former RailCorp employee Ivan Stanic received at least $120,000 for awarding work to favoured contractors.

In both cases, the ICAC has recommended the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) consider charges against the former employees and the contractors.

In some cases, the commission says all parties knew the work would never be done.

There have now been four ICAC reports into bribery and corruption at RailCorp.

More reports are due before it makes final recommendations on reforming RailCorp's structure to prevent future corruption.

Greens introduce junk food ad ban bill

The Greens have introduced a bill in the Senate to ban junk food advertisements on television during peak children viewing times.

Greens leader Bob Brown says he wants to tackle childhood obesity by ending the multi-million dollar campaign by junk food companies to target children.

The Public Health Association and Cancer Council supports the bill, saying it is an important way to protect the health of children.

The council says the bill deserves bipartisan support.

Voters urged to write 'no sale' on ballots

The Greens say they will try to make this month's local government elections a referendum on the sale of the state's electricity retailers.

John Kaye says the Greens are urging people who oppose the plan to write 'no sale' on their ballot paper at the council elections in two weeks.

He says the Greens have written to the NSW Electoral Commissioner to ensure the ballots will be counted.

"We will have scrutineers in almost every polling booth in NSW who'll be counting this," he said.

"We'll be sending a strong message after the election to the Iemma Government that they are absolutely standing to loose out badly if they don't back off on privatisation."

Unsolicited credit letters under fire

A new report has taken aim at unsolicited letters from banks, retailers and other lenders offering pre-approved higher limits on credit cards.

The report commissioned by the Consumer Action Law Centre says lenders are using psychological manipulation to encourage people to take on more debt.

The centre's Nicole Rich says the letters increase the chances that people will accept the higher limits.

"What these letters do is they use positive messages about how good it will be on a rainy day and how special you are as a customer to get the offer," she said.

"And they try not to use the word debt because that brings home what you're actually doing, which is potentially taking on much more debt."

Ms Rich says lenders are relying on loopholes in the law to send out unsolicited material.

"The problem is they then say that nothing should be done about it because they warned customers and all that customers need is more information so they can make their own decisions about these things," she said.

"At the same time they are using psychological manipulation that deliberately tries to make it more likely you will take up this debt even if it's not in your best interests."

NSW rental crisis could get worse: institute

There is a warning that the record number of people defaulting on their mortgages will add to the New South Wales' rental crisis.

The latest July figures from The Real Estate Institute of New South Wales show rental vacancies improved by just 0.1 per cent in Sydney to 1.2 per cent.

The institute's chief executive, Tim McKibbin, says the rental market is under immense pressure and record high mortgage defaults will only inflame the situation.

"Mortgage defaulters [are] coming into the market and seeking accommodation in a market that's already depressed," he said.

"That is going to add additional stress to the market and very very unfortunately I guess additional stress to the mortgage defaulters, who have already had a considerable amount of upheaval in their lives already."

Mr McKibbin says the New South Wales Government is not doing enough to encourage new investment.

"What we've been telling the Government to do for months now is to look at stamp duty and land tax as being the two disincentives to investment in this area," he said.

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Calls for immediate moratorium on old growth logging

The Wilderness Society has called for an immediate end to old-growth logging after a new report identified forests that can absorb three times more carbon than international studies had previously suggested.

Scientists from the Australian National University examined 240 sites of intact natural forests in south-east Australia and found they can store up to 640 tonnes per hectare.

The largest stocks were in the central highlands of Tasmania and Victoria.

Virginia Young from the Wilderness Society says the research findings should prompt governments to protect native forests.

"If you were being sensible you would put an immediate moratorium on all old-growth logging all around the country because it's clear the carbon stocks are so much higher than anyone has previously analysed before," she said.

"The last thing you would do would be to log old-growth forests in Tasmania or Victoria."

Former Qantas executive jailed

Price-fixing ... the jail term comes on top of a $61m for Qantas (Get Image)

A former senior Qantas executive has been sentenced to six months in a US jail for his role in price-fixing on international air cargo.

Bruce McCaffrey, 65, was once the most senior Qantas executive in North America.

A US judge in Washington DC has sentenced him to six months in jail and given him a $20,000 fine after he pleaded guilty to taking part in an international scheme to fix the price for air cargo shipments.

McCaffrey has today told the court he is very embarrassed and that he would like to apologise to the court and to his family.

Qantas has already paid a $61 million fine and eight other airlines have pleaded guilty too.

Truck drivers two-week national stoppage

There are calls for state and federal govts to abandon new transport changes to get trucks back on the road.

The organiser of a national truck driver shutdown says he expects Australia's transport industry to be crippled in a matter of days.

The two-week stoppage began at midnight AEST last night over state and federal government transport changes, which include increased registration fees, new fatigue laws and changes to the fuel excise.

Organiser Mick Pattell, of the National Road Transport Forum, says he hopes the public will back drivers' concerns.

He says state and federal governments must abandon new transport changes to get trucks back on the road.

"Hopefully the government will come to the table fairly quickly and not allow this to happen to the public," he said.

"We've really got to do this to highlight the plight of this industry.

"One of the things that has come to our attention is that the sale of through the big multinational stores has exceeded Christmas time levels, so people are stocking up and getting ready for it."

Mr Pattell says he is proud of the industry for standing up for something they believe in.

He says the only concessions during the shutdown will be the delivery of food for animals in feedlots.

"Where you've got cattle in a captured environment that need to be fed, those people cannot stay out for very long and we don't expect them to," he said.

"We certainly don't want to create any hardship for any animals and it's the same for any essential services that've got to be provided but the general freight and the cattle freight, fuel tank freight is certainly going to be shut down for a good period of time."

Agforce support

Farm lobby group Agforce says the public must get behind the shutdown, even if it causes short-term pain.

Agforce spokesman Greg Brown says it is disappointed with the attitude of the state and federal governments, as well as the trucking organisations that are not supporting the shutdown.

"I mean if they're not supportive I can understand that but they're out there white-anting these people and I think that's pretty disappointing," he said.

"I think all they have to do is sit on their hands and I think there's an enormous amount of support for this out in the bush because people are aware that in time to come we're just not going to be able to wear it."

Mr Brown says he hopes the public supports the shutdown.

"Unless they're aware, we're never going to make a mark on either the state or federal governments, so I think we need their help and the truckies are just trying to attract their attention," he said.

"There doesn't appear to be any other way."

'Unreasonable action'

But Queensland Deputy Premier Paul Lucas says the shutdown will not achieve the outcome the industry is looking for.

Mr Lucas says the industry is taking unreasonable action.

He says changes to fatigue management laws are needed, not only in Queensland but across the country.

"About a third of the fatalities last year on Queensland roads involved heavy vehicles," he said.

"The Queensland community wants us to be fair when it comes to cracking down on fatigued driving and the like in our trucks.

"The Federal Government have now indicated that they're going to inquire into the nature of contracts for heavy vehicles that drivers enter into - that's good news."

Meanwhile, a roadhouse in western Queensland will lock its bowsers from today in support of the truck stoppage.

The operators of the Kynuna Roadhouse, north-west of Winton, say the petrol and gas bowsers will remain locked until the shutdown is over.

It means there will be no petrol on the Landsborough Highway between McKinlay and Winton.

Updated 5:00pm (AEST)

Truckies sacked for stopping work


Stopwork truckies sacked (Get Image)

A spokesman for South Australian truck owners and drivers, Robert Harrowfield, says the drivers all worked for the same company.

They were warned they would be out of a job if they joined the national stoppage.

About 70 truck drivers met in Adelaide to discuss concerns including fatigue and higher fuel prices.

A further meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday.

One driver's partner, Glenda, hopes the public will sympathise with drivers and their families.

"My partner works very, very hard - he's constantly tired and when he gets home he just wants to fall into bed," she said.

"Weekends are spent trying to catch up on that sleep - basically you don't have a life.

"He's trying to do his best and it's not easy when nobody wants to give him a break."

Greens urge swift response to Garnaut draft

Professor Ross Garnaut will hand down his draft report on an emissions trading scheme today.

The Greens say the Federal Government can not be worried about electoral popularity and must move quickly when it responds to economist Ross Garnaut's draft report on climate change.

Professor Garnaut hands down his draft report today on an emissions trading scheme that would mean a massive reshaping of the Australian economy.

The Government wants to cut greenhouse emissions by 60 per cent by 2050. Professor Garnaut proposes putting a cap on emissions and then trading permits for those generating them.

How the permits are allocated - either auctioned or given away is a key question - another is how ambitious the scheme should be.

It will be be more expensive if the target is to make deeper cuts and achieve them more quickly.

Professor Garnaut will discuss options for compensating households who will face higher electricity and other costs.

He will also touch on ways to ensure that the system protects areas most sensitive to the change like the coal producing regions.

Professor Garnaut will hold forums around Australia in the next few weeks and the Government will release a discussion paper later this month.

The Greens say there is no time to waste on the issue and Senator Christine Milne warns against a gentle introduction.

She says she is worried the Government will want a low carbon price for the start of the scheme, to ease the community into the changes.

"We don't have time for that, if you want to be a leader on climate change, you must set a high target," she said.

"This emissions trading scheme must be broadly based, rigorous, and at the start up be serious about reducing emissions, not have one eye at the outcome of the 2010 election."

"The worst thing that could happen would be a slow start based on Kyoto targets which would mean that we would [have] virtually no reduction in emissions in the first few years," she said.

"For the scheme to work it has to be as broadly based as possible so it must include the transport sector and hence fuel."

But the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said he will not be deterred by a scare campaign.

"This will be a tough decision we recognise that and we won't be walking away from it," he said.

The Opposition is calling for a cautious response to the draft report with resources spokesman David Johnson saying it will be a much bigger change than the GST was.

"The processing of fruit and vegetables requires energy and transport, now there's just a huge knock on effect here," he said.

"A very, very significant bottom line budget threatening compensation package for ordinary Australians is going to be required."

Australia must lead climate fight AUSTRALIA will suffer more from climate change than any other developed nation and must take the lead in global action to tackle the problem, Professor Ross Garnaut will argue in his report today.

The report, commissioned by the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, is designed to illuminate the costs of inaction. It is expected to find that global warming is proceeding faster than projected, and that doing nothing will be far more costly than expected.

Like the report by Britain's Sir Nicholas Stern, the Garnaut research is designed to raise public awareness. It is the first of several documents that will enable the Government to design systems to cut emissions.

The Opposition is arguing that Australia should not cut emissions before other countries because this would needlessly punish households and industry.

But Professor Garnaut's report will make a strong case for Australia to be at the forefront of international action to reduce emissions from carbon-based fuels and to stem the felling of carbon-absorbing trees.

Professor Garnaut, an economist from the Australian National University, will list three reasons why Australia will suffer more than any other rich economy.

First, because Australia is hotter and drier, small variations in temperature will have a bigger effect.

Second, because Australia is in a region that contains some of the most vulnerable, poor countries in the world, such as Indonesia and the small states of the South Pacific, it can expect to be affected by their problems.

Third, because the structure of the economy means that export prices will be punished severely by the climate-related slowdown in poor countries.

And the Garnaut report is expected to make the case for Australia to act urgently, even if big developing nations such as China and India do not.

Inaction would in effect be a veto on action by poor nations, Professor Garnaut argues.

The reason is that the existing global framework for dealing with climate change, the Kyoto Protocol, enshrines the principle that developed countries must move first. There can be no real progress in having developing countries make binding commitments to cut emissions until developed nations do the same, the report will argue.

"The task is to make it clear that the developed countries have gone beyond blocking," Professor Garnaut has said previously.

Sir Nicholas has expressed disappointment that the media has focused on a single number in his report, published in October, that the effects of climate change could cut economic output by 20 per cent a year from current levels by 2050 if no action was taken.

Professor Garnaut will go to lengths to emphasise that there are four categories of likely damage to the economy.

Today's report, a draft whose final version is due in September, will quantify only one of these, the conventional macroeconomic cost that can be estimated by economic modelling.

The second category will be the effect on particular aspects of the country. For example, Professor Garnaut has commissioned research into the medical consequences of climate change, including deaths from heat stress.

The third category will be the cost of mitigating the effects of global warming.

The fourth will be a survey of how climate change affects things Australians value for more than just economic reasons - the bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef, the inundation of the Kakadu wetlands, and the loss of the West Australian karri forests, for instance.

NSW falls behind on cutting emissions
NSW is performing poorly in its greenhouse gas reduction program and is on track to miss its own targets, according to leaked cabinet documents.

The state is relying heavily on the introduction of the Federal Government's emission trading scheme to cut its carbon emissions 60per cent by the middle of the century.

The documents, prepared for cabinet by the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change, say the Government may have to introduce more modest plans.

"Current projections indicate we will exceed the 2025 target by at least [20 million tonnes of greenhouse gases] and stronger national and state strategies are needed," the documents say.

They signal that the Government's climate change policy will shift from large-scale greenhouse gas abatement and focus more closely on energy efficiency.

NSW had planned to stabilise carbon emissions at 155 million tonnes a year by 2025 and to reduce them to 62 million tonnes by 2050.

The documents say some areas of the state's approach to climate change were showing "solid progress" but acknowledged the national emissions scheme would be the "dominant abatement instrument".

Of the five main areas identified for attention in the cabinet documents, none deal with the mining and burning of coal, which contributes close to 40 per cent of the total carbon emissions for NSW.

"On the day the Garnaut draft report on climate change is due these documents signal that the NSW Government must fundamentally lift its game," said the Greens MLC Lee Rhiannon.

"These documents show how behind closed doors Premier Iemma has given up on climate change and is pinning his hopes on the Federal Government to make the hard decisions."

The State Government agreed it was relying on a national emissions trading scheme, the broad form of which is to be unveiled within days by the federal Minister for Climate Change, Penny Wong, to produce the big cuts.

The federal scheme will put a cap on total greenhouse gas pollution and penalise industries that release more than their allocated amount of carbon into the atmosphere.

But the NSW Minister for Climate Change, Verity Firth, said targets were set in 2005 in the knowledge that emissions trading was coming soon.

"We've always recognised that a national emissions trading scheme is the best way to make deep cuts to our emissions," she said. "During the wilderness years of inaction and denial by the Howard government, NSW filled the void and led the other states in developing a national emissions trading scheme."

Ms Firth said the state's GGAS scheme - a limited form of emissions trading in the electricity sector - had positioned NSW as a world leader in combating climate change.

"We set these targets in 2005 in the knowledge that we would need an emissions trading scheme to reach them - whether run by the Commonwealth or jointly by the states," she said.

Ms Firth pointed to the state's $150 million energy efficiency strategy, the Climate Change Fund, a government commitment to make its own operations carbon neutral by 2020, and some incentives for the development of renewable energy, as proof of its commitment to act.

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Home repossessions can be avoided: CHOICE

The consumer group CHOICE says some home repossessions could be avoided if people were more aware of their rights.

CHOICE says people facing repossession can often apply for an extension on their home loan.

Spokesman Christopher Zinn says many people do not realise they are allowed to make the application.

"It depends on the loan and the lender but at least it does give people other options, other options which at present they may not be aware of," he said.

"If people are going to be missing a repayment on their home loan the first thing they should do is contact their lender and ask what kind of hardship variations are available.

"They should also seek help from a financial counsellor and if more people did this earlier on in the piece there's no doubt there may well be fewer repossessions."

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Food production must rise 50pc by 2030: Ban

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says $15-20 billion a year needs to be invested to overcome the global food crisis.

Mr Ban was speaking at a Rome UN summit which also heard a top UN offiicial call for developed countries to lower trade barriers and remove export bans to help fight the looming food crisis.

"Nothing is more degrading than hunger, especially when man-made," Mr Ban told world leaders who are likely to disagree over the link between biofuel production and high food prices.

The head of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), which is hosting the summit, said wealthy nations had been spending billions of dollars on farm subsidies, wasteful and excess consumption of food, and on arms.

"The excess consumption by the world's obese costs $20 billion annually, to which must be added indirect costs of $100 billion resulting from premature death and related diseases," said FAO Director General Jacques Diouf, who is from Senegal.

The World Bank and aid agencies estimate soaring food prices could push as many as 100 million more people into hunger. About 850 million are already hungry.

Mr Ban estimated the "global price tag" to overcome the food crisis would be $15-20 billion a year and that food supply had to rise 50 per cent by the year 2030 to meet climbing demand.

"Some countries have taken action by limiting exports or by imposing draft controls," he said. This "distorts markets and forces prices even higher. I call on nations to resist such measures and to immediately release exports designated for humanitarian purposes".

Aid agencies say Japan and China have contributed to high rice prices, which have triggered riots as far away as Haiti, by controlling their stocks. Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda promised to release at least 300,000 tonnes of imported rice.

The Rome summit will set the tone on food aid and subsidies for the Group of Eight summit in Japan in July and what is regarded as the concluding stages of the stalled talks under the World Trade Organisation aimed at reducing trade distortions.

A British minister urged the European Union to help reduce prices by reforming farm policies that cost consumers more than 40 billion euros ($64.8 billion) a year and suspending some food import tariffs.

"I do not see how Europe can justify keeping EU prices so much higher than world market levels at a time when people across Europe are really feeling the pinch," said Treasury minister Yvette Cooper.

Food to fuel

The cost of major food commodities has doubled over the last couple of years, with rice, corn and wheat at record highs. This has provoked protests and riots in some developing countries where people may spend more than half their income on food.

The OECD sees prices retreating from their current peaks but still up to 50 per cent higher in the coming decade. OECD chief Angel Gurria said in Paris that oil prices, "which are part and parcel of food prices", would not ease sharply either.

That has increased interest in biofuels, blamed by many for competing with food output for grains and oilseed. The United States and Brazil, the world's biggest producer of ethanol from sugar cane, defended biofuels from such accusations in Rome.

"It offends me to see fingers pointed against clean energy from biofuels, fingers soiled with oil and coal," Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told the summit.

The United States plans to channel a quarter of its maize crop into ethanol production by 2022 and the European Union plans to get 10 per cent of auto fuel from bio-energy by 2020.

Biofuel producers wrote to the summit urging energy sources to be diversified when "a highly constrained supply of crude oil and petroleum products is wreaking havoc on all countries and markets across the globe, especially with respect to food".

US agriculture secretary Ed Shafer says biofuels account for only 3 per cent of the total food price rise while the charity Oxfam said it was closer to 30 per cent.

Mr Lula da Silva said rich nations' "intolerable protectionism" was the main cause of global food inflation.

"Subsidies create dependency, breakdown entire production systems and provoke hunger and poverty where there could be prosperity. It is past time to do away with them," he said.

A distraction from food at the summit was the presence of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and Iran's Mahmood Ahmadinejad, on his first trip to the European Union. Critics accuse both of contributing to food shortages at home.

Real estate agents punished for 'under-quoting'

Thirteen Sydney real estate agents have been disciplined for under-quoting house prices after a New South Wales Government investigation.

But industry advocates have rejected the findings, saying that the houses were sold at prices consistent with market forces.

The Office of Fair Trading fined 11 agents and issued two warnings for under quoting house values to attract more people at an auction.

The real estate agents are in areas including Epping, Double Bay, St George and Blacktown.

Minister for Fair Trading Linda Burney says the public prompted her to act.

"One of the reasons that we undertook the investigation was a result of a number of complaints," she said.

But Real Estate Institute of New South Wales president Steve Martin says in each case buyers ended up driving up the price

"I think it's a gross over-reaction," he said. "This is a clear case of buyers competing against each other."

The Government investigated 152 auctions in total.

Qld Govt accused of Mt Isa lead 'cover-up'

The report followed fears about contamination from Xstrata operations.

The Queensland Government has been accused of trying to play down health concerns involving children at Mount Isa.

A new report has confirmed that 11 per cent of the 400 children who were tested in the north-west Queensland mining town have high levels of lead in their blood.

But Queensland Health concedes the exact source of the lead has not been determined.

The State Opposition's health spokesman John Paul Langbroek says the Government held onto the report for too long and orchestrated today's release.

"There are concerns that this could be a cover-up," he said.

"This is something that we've expressed in the Parliament some time ago, that an environmental protection officer quit his job because he tried to express his concerns about these testing results and nothing came of it.

"That was a few years ago and clearly the Government, by saying 'we're just going to test in 2010', is saying we just hope this goes away until 2010.

"They haven't answered what they're going to do for now apart from telling people they shouldn't be playing the the dust."

Mr Langbroek says further investigation and testing is needed.

"I definitely think it should be widened," he said.

"I think that testing is for children between age one to four, and clearly there are about 5,500 children up to 14 and if the results were extrapolated you could have up to 600 children up to the age of 14 who may also have increased lead levels.

Public meeting stacked in favour of Xstrata: lawyer

A lawyer representing a six-year-old girl allegedly exposed to lead in Mount Isa says last nights public meeting was stacked in favour of the mining company.

Damian Scattini's firm, Slater and Gordon, has commenced legal action against mining giant Xstrata, the Queensland Government and the Mount Isa City Council, after his client suffered injuries to her brain and nervous system.

Mr Scattini says some of the residents who spoke at the meeting do not realise the extent of contamination levels in the region.

"Unfortunately as expected it was a PR exercise and really for once they are being accurate," he said.

"They are saying 'living with lead alliance' because that's their solution ... the population should just live with it, just suck it up, that's just a recipe for another generation of children being poisoned, left with brain damage."

MP Betty Kiernan has defended the State Government's handling of the issue, rejecting claims that the Government is working too closely with the mining company.

"We identified that we wanted to work together, more importantly, we do work together," she said.

"That means we have to have an open, honest exchange of information.

"The very mining that is part of our community, is our community, our community works over there at that mine.

"We're not standing back from the fact that we have formed an alliance."

Leaving petrol off emissions trading scheme 'dangerous'

The Greens say any moves to leave petrol out of the Federal Government's emissions trading scheme will render it ineffective.

At the National Press Club yesterday Opposition's treasury spokesman Malcolm Turnbull could not definitely say whether the Coalition's plan to cut the fuel excise tax would be taken to the next election.

But he did indicate he was willing to consider the idea that fuel should be left out of the emissions trading scheme being developed by the Government.

Greens Senator Christine Milne has said that would be dangerous.

"You simply won't have a national effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions if you exempt the transport sector," she said.

"Malcolm Turnbull is lurching from one bad policy to an even worse policy.

"We have to bring down emissions and we have to get people off oil, that means a major investment in public transport."

Diesel prices 'may reach $2.00 a litre'

Diesel pump prices could reach $2 a litre by next year, a fuel monitoring company says.

It also predicts a "continual gradual upward movement" in the price of unleaded petrol during the next two months.

Diesel has hit $1.80 a litre in some capital cities while unleaded petrol pushed through the $1.60 mark on Wednesday on the back of rising world oil prices.

Increased demand from China is contributing to the cost of diesel, Fueltrac managing director Chris Cable says.

"They're actually starting to stockpile diesel, with a view to building efforts in that part of the world," he said.

"I understand that they're also trying to ensure that there are no power disruptions around the Olympic Games (in August)."

Mr Cable has warned motorists that fuel prices are still on the way up.

"The general consensus around our office is that there will be a continual gradual upward movement in the price of both unleaded and diesel over at least the next couple of months," he said.

"$2 a litre I would hope doesn't materialise.

"Given that we've already reached $1.80 and even higher for diesel then ... I wouldn't have said this six months ago, but absolutely definitely possible, for at least diesel (to hit $2 a litre)."

Separately, RACV manager of government and corporate relations David Cumming says Melbourne motorists should brace for prices at the bowser as high as $1.63 a litre next week and warned the worst was yet to come.

"Unfortunately we haven't peaked yet at all, some will attempt to go $162.9, some will attempt to go at a higher price next week," Mr Cumming said.

"Just prepare yourself for higher prices, that's all I can say."

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