Man charged over west Sydney fracas

POLICE officers have had bottles thrown at them and a patrol car has been damaged by angry partygoers in western Sydney.

Police said a number of brawls broke out between about 200 people after a party wrapped up at Blacktown about midnight on Friday.

Officers arriving to break up the fights were peppered with glass bottles.

The window of a riot patrol car was also smashed in the fracas.

Police charged a man, 19, with assaulting a police officer and domestic violence matters.

He was due to face Parramatta bail court on Saturday.

A woman, 18, was arrested for damaging the police vehicle, and is expected to be charged at a later date.

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Apple app bug sends drivers onto US runway

FAULTY directions from Apple's maps app that guide drivers to the edge of a runway instead of a terminal at an Alaskan airport have been reactivated, causing worry for transportation officials.

Fairbanks International Airport officials say Apple had notified them the directions were disabled. But officials noticed the directions were reactivated on Friday and had one person intentionally follow them, which presents a dangerous situation for pilots and drivers.

Previously, officials say drivers on two different occasions had followed the directions continued on and cut across an active runway to reach the terminal.

Cupertino, California-based Apple didn't immediately comment on Friday evening.

On Friday, Alaska transportation officials sent out a warning to pilots that the faulty directions were back on.

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Qld cop shot on force's most sombre day

A police officer was shot in the face while investigating an armed hold-up on the Gold Coast. Source: AAP

A GOLD Coast police officer shot in the face by an armed robbery suspect is being lauded for his bravery after returning fire to help capture his attackers.

On the same day Gold Coast detective Damian Leeding's killers were due to be sentenced, which also happened to be Police Remembrance Day, Sergeant Gary Hamrey could very well have been another fallen officer.

In dangerous, dark conditions, Sgt Hamrey and his police dog tracked down two men armed with a gun and a machete as they hid beside a garden shed after allegedly holding up the Arundel Tavern at Parkwood early on Friday morning.

As he approached, the veteran officer was shot in the face.

Despite his injuries, he and a colleague returned fire, striking the bandits in the legs and feet.

Detective Senior Constable Leeding was killed in similar circumstances at a nearby Gold Coast pub in 2011 and senior police were quick to draw comparisons.

His killers, Phillip Graeme Abell, 41, and Donna Lee McAvoy, 39, were due to be sentenced on Friday, but their case was adjourned.

Queensland Police Union acting president Shayne Maxwell said some of the first officers to respond to the Leeding shooting were at the latest incident.

"They are in shock themselves," he said.

Sgt Hamrey is expected to survive the gunshot wound to his left cheek and has been described as an "amazing man" by Assistant Police Commissioner Graham Rynders.

Mr Rynders said Sgt Hamrey was more concerned about his police dog Rush than himself as he was taken to the hospital.

The 12-month-old German Shepherd was not injured in the incident.

"He is in good spirits," Mr Rynders told reporters.

"He is an extremely brave officer and he should be commended for his duty."

Mr Rynders said Sgt Hamrey was integral in his assailants' capture and arrest after firing on them despite his wound.

The dog squad officer, whose brother and son are also policemen, will undergo surgery to clean his wound.

Mr Maxwell said police numbers on the Gold Coast were inadequate and the penalties for firearm offences must be toughened.

Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said operational processes, including staffing and resources, on the Gold Coast would be reviewed.

The two alleged robbers sustained gunshot wounds to their legs and feet but their injuries weren't life-threatening.

The pair was on Friday under guard at the Gold Coast Hospital and police were expected to charge them in the next day or so.

Officers uncovered a rifle, believed to be the weapon used to shoot Sgt Hamrey, from the scene late in the morning.

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Forrest steps down from Poseidon

BILLIONAIRE miner Andrew Forrest has stepped down as chairman of Poseidon Nickel, one week before the company is due to repay him an $8 million loan.

Mr Forrest has resigned from the board due to his overwhelming philanthropic duties, the company said in a statement.

Mr Forrest, the chairman and founder of iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group, is also Poseidon's largest shareholder with a 30 per cent stake.

He made a loan to the company in April 2012 as Poseidon Nickel sought to restart the historic Windarra nickel project in Western Australia.

But the company has since failed to secure $200 million in debt financing to get the mine up and running.

Nickel prices have been weak due to an oversupply since 2011.

The Windarra site was developed by a separate company also called Poseidon in 1969 during a boom in prices.

That boom was quickly followed by a dramatic crash, which led to a scandal known as the Poseidon bubble, which led to changes being made to share market trading rules.

Poseidon Nickel thanked Mr Forrest for his guidance and inspiration, saying the Windarra project had been taken from a concept to an exciting development ready for construction.

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'Double whammy' knocks kiwi back

THE New Zealand dollar has extended its decline after government figures showed the biggest monthly trade deficit in almost five years, and after rotten apple exports into China became the food export woe to the country's biggest trading partner.

The kiwi fell to US82.27 cents at 5pm on Wednesday in Wellington from US82.70c at 8am and US83.35c on Tuesday.

The trade-weighted index declined to 76.75 from 77.63.

New Zealand reported a trade deficit of $1.19 billion in August as falling export milk volumes and a one-off purchase of an offshore drilling rig tipped the balance in favour of exports, according to government figures on Wednesday.

The quarantine of three consignments of apples by Chinese officials after they were found to be rotten added to the downbeat view of New Zealand exports, just a month after the false food alarm over dairy products.

"The kiwi was hit by a double whammy," said Tim Kelleher, head of institutional FX Sales NZ at ASB Institutional in Auckland.

"We had the worst trade deficit on the back of a big drop in milk volumes" and then "we had New Zealand halting some apple exports to China," he said.

Mr Kelleher said he expects the local currency will find support at US81.50/82c, with selling at US82.75/83c.

Fonterra reported 2013 annual earnings of $1b, affirming it missed prospectus forecasts by 7.3 per cent, and the dairy exporter has warned the first half of 2014 would be tight, while hiking its forecast payout to farmers.

The NZ dollar on Wednesday dropped to 87.74 Australian cents at 5pm, from 88.51 cents on Tuesday, and sank to 81.19 yen from 82.37 yen.

It fell to 61.10 euro cents from 61.76 cents and declined to 51.46 British pence from 52 pence.

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Defence releases report on insider attack

A defence report questions the protection give to three Australian diggers killed in Afghanistan. Source: AAP

A INQUIRY into the deaths of three soldiers at the hands of an Afghan National Army soldier is highly critical of short-falls in force protection, defence says.

The report on the insider attack, released on Wednesday, makes 22 findings of which around half relate to force protection.

"The inquiry officer found the decisions and actions in establishing and maintaining the force protection arrangements were at the minimum level of authorised protection to provide security for the soldiers," Vice Chief of the Defence Force, Air Marshal Mark Binskin, said.

"However, they did not adequately address the specific situation at the patrol base, that potentially placed personnel at significant risk to the threat of fire."

On August 29, Lance Corporal Stjepan Milosevic, Sapper James Martin and Private Robert Poate were killed in the attack.

A person wearing an Afghan National Army uniform opened fire with an automatic weapon inside a patrol base 20km north of Tarin Kowt in Oruzgan province.

Two other diggers were wounded.

The assailant was identified as Sergeant Hek Matullah, an Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier.

He remains on the run.

Air Marshal Binskin said the inquiry officer found that having a single roving picket on duty at the base on the day was not adequate.

"He also found the decision to adopt a relaxed level of security - Australians were not in a state of readiness - was not in accordance with orders in place at the time," he said.

Some soldiers on the base were dressed in gym gear and not wearing their body armour.

"This limited their ability to react and was not in line with the usual existing standard operating procedures," Air Marshal Binskin said.

Two soldiers had since been disciplined over the pickets and inappropriate dress, he added.

"Although shortfalls in force protection were identified, the inquiry officer was not able to prove or disprove whether these arrangements directly or indirectly gave Hek Matullah the opportunity to attack Australian soldiers," Air Marshal Binskin said.

Intelligence had not highlighted a likely risk of insider attacks prior to the shooting, although Air Marshal Binskin said such threats were "complex and evolving".

"In terms of intelligence prior to this attack the inquiry officer found there was no intelligence available to Australia or (the) coalition to suggest there was a specific insider threat," he said.

Nor was there information that raised concerns about Hek Matullah.

"In fact, his existence was unremarkable from a personnel or intelligence perspective," Air Marshal Binskin said.

The inquiry officer found there was some truth in claims the Afghan National Army were aware of Hek Matullah's Taliban links, but that on this occasion he had acted independently.

"This is supported by the fact the Taliban has not claimed responsibility for the attack, as they normally do," Air Marshal Binskin said.

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More buses in new Sydney timetable

A new bus and ferry timetable will deliver more than 1700 extra weekly services in Sydney. Source: AAP

SYDNEY commuters will have access to more than 1700 extra bus and ferry services each week under a new timetable to be launched with the city's revamped train system.

More than 1700 extra bus services and six new bus routes will run each week from October 20, including 800 during peak hours, with some routes being merged.

An additional 55 ferry services will also run weekly with more frequency, but two wharves will be shut down.

Transport minister Gladys Berejiklian announced the new timetable on Tuesday, a week after she unveiled a rewritten timetable for Sydney's trains that will deliver an extra 1000 services a week.

She said it was the first time bus, train and ferry services have been coordinated with each other.

"This timetable aims to ensure bus, train and ferry services align, with new services introduced to ensure public transport services are available when and where people need them," Ms Berejiklian said.

Western Sydney bus users will benefit most, with an additional 1284 services scheduled to kick off there.

The government also says 55 additional weekly ferry services will run in Sydney over longer hours, with more on Sundays and more frequent stops along Parramatta River.

But the Bayview Park and Balmain West wharves will be shut down in the process.

Tourism and Transport Forum deputy CEO Trent Zimmerman said the new bus and ferry timetables would result in better transport connectivity for commuters.

"Better integration between different public transport modes gives commuters more certainty around connections," he said in a statement.

"Giving customers a more reliable experience and better transitions between transport modes will help to drive increased patronage."

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Lack of roads and pipes could hinder shale

AUSTRALIA has the seventh largest shale gas reserves in the world but a lack of roads and pipelines could hinder the industry's development.

An HSBC report shows that in addition to a lack of infrastructure, such as ports, roads, pipes and processing plants in some remote areas, high extraction costs would also likely slow the pace of development.

The report says US Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates show that Australia has the seventh-highest technically recoverable shale gas reserves in the world but exploration and development remain in their infancy.

It says smaller independent companies have made initial assessments of high potential shale basins in Australia and major international companies were now beginning to invest in the projects.

But HSBC says while the Cooper Basin benefits from existing infrastructure, other key shale gas areas are remote and lack established infrastructure.

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1D's Liam apologises to Adelaide fans

Boy band One Direction have touched down at Adelaide airport ahead of their Australian Tour. Source: AAP

ONE Direction star Liam Payne has apologised to his Australian fans, some of whom were left in tears, after he and his band mates secretly snuck out of Adelaide Airport.

Three-fifths of the boy band flew into Adelaide on Sunday after catching a flight from Dubai on Saturday night, ahead of their highly anticipated Take Me Home tour.

Up to 200 eager girls had been waiting for hours to catch a glimpse of their idols, but excitement soon turned to disappointment when Payne, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson bypassed their fans through a door at the back of the airport.

"Sorry we couldn't stop in the airport they said it wasn't safe ???? great to be in oz tho (sic)," Payne tweeted on Sunday.

Several girls were in tears after spending up to 13 hours waiting to see their idols, News Corp Australia reported.

Georgia, 17, told News Corp that she was angry that the stars didn't greet their fans.

"I just feel really let down because we were so excited to see them and the least they could have done was poke their head out and wave before they left," she said.

Harry Styles and Niall Horan are expected to arrive in Australia on Monday.

"This is gona be soo fun ! I love it down under! Obsessed! Gona be a huge 5 weeks! Between aus and nz ! U ready for TMHT" Horan tweeted ahead of his arrival.

One Direction will play three sold-out concerts at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre from Monday night heading to Perth, Christchurch and Auckland before returning to Australia for shows in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

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Govt to control boat arrival information

The federal government is expected to cut-back on briefing media about asylum seeker boat arrivals. Source: AAP

THE Abbott government says it won't constantly update the public on boat arrivals because it wants to starve people smugglers of information.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison and deputy chief of army Angus Campbell will give weekly media briefings about Operation Sovereign Borders, the coalition's asylum seeker and border protection exercise.

The first of these will be held on Monday.

"Taking control of how that information is released denies people smugglers the opportunity to exploit such information," Mr Morrison told AAP in a statement on Sunday.

"Labor was impotent in response to arrivals, all they could do was announce them and run a water taxi service."

Briefings will be weekly initially but this could change "based on operational considerations".

Extra briefings would be given when necessary about specific events. This could include instances of boats sinking.

The new protocol for releasing information was agreed to on Thursday after the minister's first meeting with Lt Gen Campbell.

The government will also provide monthly updates on detention and bridging visa statistics for asylum seekers who arrive by boat.

His cabinet colleague Greg Hunt says there will be "regular, continuous, full disclosure" about boat arrivals, but it will be in line with military operational procedure.

Labor leadership hopeful Bill Shorten said it was a disgrace if the government planned to not disclose details of drownings.

"I can't imagine who dreamed that up, not telling anyone about deaths at sea," he told Network 10.

"If a boat sinks ... and people drown, I don't think the government has a right to not tell people that this tragedy has occurred."

Mr Morrison later added that "significant events" such as drownings would be subject to further briefings.

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