AMONG the workers readying to march for Indonesia's first Labour Day national holiday are women who used to earn less than $1 an hour making adidas shoes, until they were sacked.
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Major delays and train cancellations on four Melbourne rail lines could drag into the afternoon. Source: AAP
THE disruption to Melbourne train services could continue for a third day as rail operator Metro works to install new cabling.
A blaze near Richmond Station on Tuesday evening threw services into chaos for commuters, leaving thousands stranded in the CBD.
Four lines were still experiencing major delays during Wednesday evening's peak hour with city loop passengers on the Frankston, Cranbourne, Pakenham and Sandringham lines being asked to travel to Flinders Street station by foot or tram.
The fire damaged telecommunications equipment which controls signalling.
Metro said it was working to ensure trains would be running normally by Thursday morning's first service, but it wouldn't know if there would be disruptions until it conducted testing.
"We've been installing new cabling throughout the day and into the evening, and once this is completed we need to carry out extensive testing," Metro spokeswoman Leah Waymark said.
Metro said passengers should check the website or twitter for the most up to date information.
The train operator could not confirm reports rats had chewed through cabling, saying the cause of the blaze was still under investigation.
Passengers took to Twitter to vent their frustrations using the hashtag Trainageddon.
Commuter Meg Rayner tweeted about 4.30pm (AEDT) on Wednesday that there were already large crowds swarming into Flinders Street.
"Looks like I wasn't the only one to leave early to escape #Trainageddon," she wrote.
The royal visit to the Blue Mountains has boosted the fire-ravaged region's visitor numbers. Source: AAP
PRINCE William and his wife Catherine's trip to the Blue Mountains has not only lifted spirits in the fire-ravaged region but boosted its bottom line.
Some 2500 people crammed into Echo Point when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited the tourist site earlier this month.
And now, just under a fortnight later, the operators are thanking them.
Tourist site Scenic World recorded a 20 per cent increase on the same time last year, with more than 20,000 visitors through the gates throughout Easter and Anzac Day period.
Coupled with the holidays and an exhibition launch, the royals have helped revive the attraction's numbers, head of marketing Amanda Bryne said.
Meanwhile, Wotif.com experienced a 14 per cent surge in accommodation bookings for the period after the royal visit leading up to Anzac Day.
With majestic shots of the Three Sisters beamed across the world, Blue Mountains Tourism CEO Randall Walker said the media coverage of the high-profile guests was "absolutely priceless".
He said visitors to the area typically averaged 11,000 tourists a day - a figure that "evaporated" after the October bushfires.
While numbers have been steadily climbing back to their peak, the arrival of the regal couple helped deliver record rates over the long weekends.
As well as injecting some much needed revenue into the community's businesses, Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill said the visit had lifted morale.
He said the young couple's visit was the perfect antidote for the region, which had lost 500 jobs as a direct consequence of the fires.
"It says the world hasn't forgotten," he said.
"That people have gone through hell and are recovering from that."
WHITEHAVEN Coal sold less coal in the March quarter while battling low prices, but its flagship Maules Creek project is more than one-third complete.
The controversial NSW mine is the target of a long running campaign that has included legal action and human barricades to delay construction, in protest against the alleged destruction of the Leard State Forest.
More than 90 protesters faced court in Narrabri on Tuesday and a mother and son were arrested on Monday after chaining themselves to a gate at a Whitehaven site.
Whitehaven said construction progress at Maules Creek was 36 per cent complete and on schedule and budget.
First coal should be railed in March 2015 and the company was confident it would get Commonwealth approval for its biodiversity offsets package, which involves a package to balance the effects on flora and fauna.
The highly regarded $767 million project would more than double Whitehaven's production to 25 million tonnes a year.
Whitehaven produced 1.81 million tonnes in the three months to the end of March, down 29 per cent on a year ago.
It recently flagged a cut in full year production by up to eight per cent, to between 9.8 million and 10 million tonnes of saleable coal, due to operational problems.
Whitehaven sold 2.29 million tonnes for the March quarter, down five per cent.
It achieved a weaker average price for export thermal coal sales of $US75.19 a tonne, compared to the benchmark Newcastle index, which was down seven per cent to $US78.05 for the quarter.
The reasons included a well-supplied market with little disruption from weather related events, a lack of buying by China based coal customers from the seaborne market, and the end of the high demand northern hemisphere winter.
However, thermal coal demand was growing in South Korea, which is increasing coal in its energy mix, and analysts including Bell Potter have a positive long term view on the company, and coal generally.
Whitehaven shares had dropped 2.5 cents to $1.48.
A plane has made an emergency landing in Perth after flames were spotted coming from its engine. Source: AAP
A PLANE has made an emergency landing at Perth Airport after a suspected engine fire erupted shortly after take-off.
The Cobham Aviation flight landed safely after the mid-air incident on Tuesday, a Perth Airport spokeswoman confirmed.
Witnesses have reported seeing the flames coming from the right engine.
The Perth Airport website shows that a Cobham Aviation flight was scheduled to depart at 10.45am for Barrow Island.
Pictures have emerged on social media of a plane with an engine appearing to be on fire, but it has not been confirmed as the plane involved in the emergency.
The aircraft is currently being assessed at the airport.
Cobham operates aircraft on behalf of Qantas regional subsidiary QantasLink.
A spokesman for the regional carrier said a statement would be issued later on Tuesday.
Cobham Aviation Services said the engine fire occurred soon after take-off and that the four-engine BAE 146 jet was bound for Barrow Island.
A spokesman said the pilot and crew safely returned the jet to Perth Airport at 10.53am (WST).
"The aircraft was climbing after take-off when the fire occurred in engine No.2, which is on the inner port side of the aircraft," he said.
"When the fire was detected, the engine was shut down and the fire extinguished.
"There were no injuries among the 92 passengers or two pilots and three cabin crew."
The incident is being investigated and regulatory authorities have been informed, the spokesman says.
Last updated: April 29, 2014
TWO Queensland government MPs have accused Clive Palmer's team of trying to lure them away from the Liberal National Party.
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ALEX Leapai returned home without Wladimir Klitschko's world heavyweight title belts but with a resolve that he will still wear them ... one day.
EVERYONE is sharing everything these days. From homes to meals. Now you can take a ride from a stranger — and save cash. So why are people mad about it?
THIS is the drink you should be ordering on your next flight. It's secret ingredient is called "the fifth taste" and without giving anything away, it's bloody good.
EVER wondered what the world would look like if we all sported the Kim Jong-un haircut? We've seen a glimpse — and you'll be surprised who can pull off the look.
YOUR chances of getting a refund are greatly improved if you keep good records. But some companies won't budge — even when presented with irrefutable proof.
SHANE Watson's Rajasthan Royals will seek to keep pace with tournament pacesetters Punjab and Chennai when they clash with Kolkata.
ACTOR Pierce Brosnan certainly hasn't got the James Bond charm, upsetting Melbourne fans at The Rock Horror Show Melbourne opening.
MANLY have been hit with a massive double blow on the eve of Origin with Glenn Stewart and Jamie Lyon to miss several weeks with injury.
A NOTE on a car has begged council workers to have compassion for a heart attack victim, who left his car on the street while in hospital . You won't believe what they did.
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A fresh corruption inquiry will expose how NSW Liberal figures flouted electoral funding rules. Source: AAP
ALLEGATIONS of systematic political donation rorting have engulfed the NSW Liberals and sent yet another party MP to the crossbench.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) on Monday aired claims Liberal figures had used a sham company to secretly funnel more than $400,000 in political donations in exchange for favours from sidelined cabinet minister Chris Hartcher.
Counsel assisting the inquiry, Geoffrey Watson, said the watchdog's investigators had uncovered evidence of "sophisticated, well-organised and systematic subversion of the electoral funding laws" of NSW.
New Premier Mike Baird - who took the job two weeks ago, when Barry O'Farrell was forced to resign over a related ICAC probe - said he was appalled by allegations raised so far.
"If any wrongdoing is found, the book should, and will, be thrown at the perpetrators," he said.
Central to ICAC's Operation Spicer is alleged slush fund EightByFive, which was set up by Mr Hartcher's former staffer Tim Koelma.
The company purported to offer marketing and strategic advice, Mr Watson said.
But its true role was to conceal political donations from property developers. These have been banned in NSW since 2009.
The inquiry has heard EightByFive received $66,000 from coal entrepreneur Nathan Tinkler's Buildev, $137,000 from the Gazal family's Gazcorp and $183,000 from the notorious Obeid-linked Australian Water Holdings (AWH).
One MP, upper house MP Marie Ficarra, who is said to have known about EightByFive, stepped down from the parliamentary Liberal Party on Monday at the premier's request.
She follows MPs Darren Webber, Chris Spence and Mr Hartcher.
Mr Spence and Mr Webber ran as Liberal candidates on the central coast in 2011 and are said to have pocketed $105,000 and $50,000 apiece from EightByFive.
Another Liberal-linked outfit, the Free Enterprise Foundation, was allegedly used by some members of the Liberal Party to "wash" money from prohibited donors.
"The actions of these persons were a serious breach of the law and a serious breach of trust with the voters of NSW," Mr Watson said.
In the lead-up to the 2011 election the Foundation donated $700,000 to the Liberal Party, he said.
Fundraiser Paul Nicolaou admitted in a private ICAC interrogation that he was aware of multiple examples of prohibited donors giving money to the Liberal Party via the Foundation.
On Monday Mr Nicolaou resigned as chair of a key fundraising entity, the Millennium Foundation, and the premier has signalled some donations may now be repaid.
"I have told the party's new state director, as a matter of urgency, to investigate the allegations made at ICAC and respond to them promptly," Mr Baird said.
Meanwhile, two sitting ministers are now under scrutiny.
Energy Minister Anthony Roberts was forced to issue a statement on Monday afternoon after it emerged he had accompanied Mr Hartcher on a 2007 trip to Queensland's Whitsundays aboard Nabil Gazal's luxury yacht, Octavia.
"I paid my own airfares and costs associated with my attendance," Mr Roberts said.
"For these reasons, I understood at the time that I did not need to make a disclosure on my pecuniary interests register ... I held no shadow portfolio responsibilities at the time."
The inquiry continues on Tuesday.
Federal MP Clive Palmer (pic) says Queensland Premier Campbell Newman will pay for his "brain snap". Source: AAP
CLIVE Palmer is suing Queensland Premier Campbell Newman for defamation after he suggested the mining magnate tried to buy political influence.
If he succeeds, the millionaire-turned-federal MP has promised to give the proceeds to public servants retrenched by the Newman government.
An all-out war between the two bitter rivals escalated after Mr Newman claimed on Sunday that Mr Palmer tried to buy his state government and offered inducements to snare three rebel Northern Territory MPs.
"At no time have I ever offered the Newman government or any member of parliament any money or inducements," Mr Palmer told reporters on Monday.
He said that in a "brain snap", the premier had resorted to innuendo and personal attacks because he couldn't win a political argument and lacked moral courage.
"I would recommend he seeks medical treatment," he said.
Renegade NT crossbench members Alison Anderson, Larisa Lee and Francis Xavier Kurrupuwu met with Mr Palmer at his Coolum resort on Queensland's Sunshine Coast at the weekend before confirming they would join his Palmer United Party.
The three indigenous MPs quit the NT's ruling Country Liberal Party in early April, following a rift between Ms Anderson, a former territory Labor minister, and Chief Minister Adam Giles.
Mr Palmer said they had been racially vilified by some in their old party.
"It's very disappointing that you find people not giving people credit for their own independent judgment," he said.
With a Queensland election due next year, Mr Palmer said many backbench MPs in Queensland's ruling Liberal National Party had approached him, citing disillusionment with Mr Newman's leadership.
Mr Newman didn't surface to defend himself on Monday but his frontbenchers came to his aid.
Local Government Minister David Crisafulli said Mr Palmer was bitter and twisted because he thought he had bought a government.
"Mr Palmer's got to learn a lesson that there's two things that money don't buy," he said.
"One is love. The other is the Newman government."
Treasurer Tim Nicholls said Mr Palmer's preferred weapon is his wallet.
"He's tried to buy his way into elections in Tasmania and in Western Australia."
Despite being one of the LNP's biggest donors, Mr Palmer spectacularly quit the party in 2012.
His membership was suspended after he accused ministers of exaggerating the state's debt and being crooks that cooked the books.
CHILD abusers at Christian Brothers schools in Western Australia knew they could sexually torture children with impunity, safe in the knowledge the state would do nothing, a royal commission has heard.
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A SYDNEY rock fisherman who jumped into rough seas to save his wife has died and his mate is feared drowned.
The two men, 24 and 26, were part of a group of six that travelled to the NSW Central Coast from Sydney on Friday to go rock fishing.
The friends, some of whom are students, were on a notoriously dangerous rocky ledge at Wybung Head, near Lake Macquarie, when a woman was swept into the ocean by a wave.
The woman's husband and a friend entered the water to rescue her but disappeared. The woman survived after being washed back onto the rocks.
A major search operation was sparked about 6:30pm on Friday when the men failed to resurface.
Police say no one in the group was wearing a life jacket.
A helicopter winched the woman from the rock ledge while paramedics and police rescued three other people.
The emotional woman and her supportive friends returned to Wybung on Saturday as the Westpac Life Saver Helicopter, police and surf life savers searched for her missing husband and friend.
The husband's body was pulled from the ocean at 9am.
"The wife is absolutely devastated as you can imagine," Tuggerah Lakes police acting Inspector John Dooley told AAP.
The search has been called off but will resume at 8am on Sunday.
Local fishermen say the stretch of coast is treacherous and catches many people off guard.
"At that actual location, the people who go rock fishing aren't prepared for the danger of the sport," Peter Trenear, of Pelicans Wharf Fishing Tackle, told AAP.
"For the inexperienced, it can be life threatening."
Mr Trenear said he was washed off rocks in the same area about six years ago and had to be plucked from the ocean by a rescue helicopter.
"It was so easy, the water caught me by surprise," he said.
Insp Dooley said police had carried out several rescues and body recoveries at the spot over the years.
He warned people planning to rock fish to wear life jackets and check ocean conditions.
"You must be appropriately equipped to go down on these rock ledges," he said.
