Leighton coughs up $69m in compensation

CONSTRUCTION giant Leighton has agreed to pay $69.45 million to settle a shareholders dispute but maintains it did not mislead investors.

The money will compensate thousands of investors who claim Leighton failed to disclose problems on some of its key infrastructure projects.

The company's share price plunged after it announced $1.1 billion in write-downs and $427 million full-year loss in April, 2011.

Lawyers from Maurice Blackburn, representing shareholders, filed a claim in October 2013 alleging that the company knew of the write-downs months ahead of the decision and so deceived or misled investors.

David Sloper, the director of Inabu, the lead applicant in the case, said he was relieved to see justice done.

"People lost money they invested in good faith, and I'm grateful that this class action has given me and others the opportunity to recover compensation for our losses," he said.

Leighton's new chief executive, Marcelino Fernandez Verdes said the compensation was not an admission of guilt.

"It is important to note that the settlement is not an admission of any liability or a finding of any breach of law against Leighton or any of our executives," he said.

He said it was the best solution to resolve the dispute quickly.

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PM, Treasurer hold ground on state cuts

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says he's open to ideas from the premiers about tax reform. Source: AAP

TREASURER Joe Hockey says reversing an $80 billion federal budget saving on state school and hospitals funding would be reckless.

The premiers are pushing ahead with a crisis meeting in Sydney on Sunday despite Prime Minister Tony Abbott's efforts to calm them over budget cuts.

The Abbott government's first budget signalled an end to school and hospital agreements entered into between the states and the previous Labor government, saving $80 billion over the decade.

Mr Hockey told a business lunch in Brisbane on Friday that federal Labor leader Bill Shorten's budget reply speech promise to oppose the savings, as well as other measures, was "recklessness writ large".

"Our political opponents would have you believe there is no problem - they are just dead wrong," he said of the government's budget task.

Mr Abbott held a joint media conference with NSW Premier Mike Baird in Sydney after private talks to address the state Liberal leader's concerns over the budget.

Mr Baird said earlier in the week the budget was a "kick in the guts" to the people of NSW.

He told reporters on Friday that nothing had changed in terms of his concerns.

"We have a long-term challenge with our state finances across the country."

"What we need to do is constructively put ideas to the prime minister and federal treasurer."

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman - who will chair Sunday's meeting - has flagged a push for all the states to receive a portion of the income tax that comes from their residents, which would go to schools and hospitals.

"If the states and territories don't hang together on Sunday they will be hung separately by this federal government," he said.

Mr Abbott said he was happy the premiers were thinking about proposals they could put to the federal government, particularly on tax reform and improving the federation.

"I'm not interested in picking fights - I'm interested in finding pathways forward," he said.

The prime minister said federal funding of schools and hospitals would continue to grow but at a "sustainable rate", not at the same rate as Labor's "pie-in-the-sky" proposal.

ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher said she expected to lose about $1.3 billion in health funding.

"People will still arrive at the emergency department, they will still require operations, cancer treatment and renal dialysis - this decision simply shifts the burden to the states and territories," she said.

All state leaders are attending the meeting, except West Australian premier Colin Barnett who said "we're not panicking".

Mr Shorten has declared Labor will oppose deregulated university fees, the Medicare co-payment, the fuel tax rise, and hits to pensions and the dole.

Labor revealed figures from the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling that shows a couple with a single income of $65,000 and two children in school will have more than $1700 cut from their annual budget.

Mr Abbott said "responsible" members of parliament would work with the government to pass the budget.

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Samsung apologises for chemical exposure

SOUTH Korean technology giant Samsung has apologised to employees who say they suffered cancer as a result of chemical exposure in its chip factories.

The world's largest producer of memory chips and mobile phones promised to pay compensation to survivors and relatives, marking an abrupt shift in Samsung's stance on the years-long movement to hold the company to account.

However, a Samsung spokesman said the apology was not an admission of a link between the chemicals used in its chip factories and cancer and other diseases that in many cases led to employee deaths.

"We could have been more diligent in addressing the hardship and sorrow of former employees and the families of the deceased," the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

According to the workers support group, Supporters for the Health And Rights of People in the Semiconductor industry (SHARPS), there have been 193 cases of illness among Samsung employees and those of its subsidiaries, of which 73 died.

Of this number, 146 worked at Samsung Electronics, 57 of whom died as a result.

The news comes several weeks after opposition politician Sim San Jeung, SHARPS and the families of victims urged Samsung to come up with measures to help its workers and prevent such cases in future.

Samsung announced that "in accordance to the proposal, all parties will discuss the set up of an impartial independent mediating group", which, among other things, will determine the amount of compensation.

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Councils push for smoke-free Aust cities

Melbourne's CBD could become smoke-free after a cigarette ban in a laneway was dubbed a success. Source: AAP

A BID to make Melbourne one of the world's first smoke-free CBDs has won some support in other Australian capitals, though even anti-smoking groups say it's unworkable.

It's a concept backed by the lord mayor of the City of Perth, where from June people can be fined $100 for smoking in city malls.

Melbourne City Councillor Richard Foster says after successfully trialling a smoking ban in a CBD lane, The Causeway, six more areas will be banned in the next financial year.

He says the final step would be a smoking ban in the CBD.

"We would be the first smoke-free city in the world," Mr Foster told reporters on Thursday.

"So, this is going to be a great example of how Melbourne can lead ... on wellbeing and on health."

Victorian Premier Denis Napthine said it would be impossible to implement.

"I think it's totally unworkable. I think it's totally unreasonable," he told Fairfax Radio.

Quit Victoria and the Heart Foundation say making the CBD smoke-free would be difficult, and a statewide ban on smoking in outdoor and dining and drinking areas would be preferable.

"A total ban on smoking in the CBD may be difficult or impractical to enforce and smoking shelters could create ghettos," Craig Sinclair from Quit Victoria said.

Sydney City Council supports a ban on smoking in its CBD but doesn't have the power to penalise offenders, a spokeswoman said.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore wants the state government to implement smoking bans to ensure they are uniform across all councils, she said.

NSW Premier Mike Baird said the government will take the possibility on board.

"I'm not someone that enjoys running through cigarettes - that's for sure," he told reporters.

The City of Perth became the first West Australian council to ban smoking in major pedestrian areas when its malls went smoke-free last November.

Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi, who said there was a lot of public support for the ban, wants to ultimately outlaw smoking entirely in the CBD.

Queensland Health Minister Lawrence Springborg wants smoke-free areas such as Brisbane's Queen Street Mall expanded, though he expects he will face resistance.

"We already have among the toughest laws in the country and they will be further strengthened over time, to actually save people and reduce the burden on public health," he told AAP.

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Speaker boots 100th Labor MP

House of Representatives Speaker Bronwyn Bishop has booted out her 100th Labor MP. Source: AAP

BRONWYN Bishop has scored a century, booting out her 100th Labor MP.

The Speaker's auspicious achievement came during a rowdy post-budget question time as Labor MPs launched a barrage of questions about the impact of the budget.

Opposition environment spokesman Mark Butler had been warned for interjecting while Treasurer Joe Hockey was speaking.

His ejection came after one interjection too many as Prime Minister Tony Abbott spoke about the budget.

Manager of opposition business Tony Burke noted it was the 100th Labor MP ejected from the house, against nil coalition members.

"If you had 100 members you'd be in government and sitting on this side. You simply have some recurrent offenders," Mrs Bishop replied.

Under the House of Representatives standing orders, the Speaker can eject disorderly members from the chamber for an hour.

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Healthy housing market lifts CSR profit

A RISE in house and apartment construction has helped CSR return to profit, and it expects demand for its building products to continue to grow.

CSR makes 70 per cent of its revenue from residential construction, and work on new homes had picked up in the six months to March, Managing director Rob Sindel said.

"NSW continues to be strong and the other states are recovering ... we are seeing a more broad-based recovery," he said.

Approvals for the construction of free-standing homes and apartment blocks continue to grow, and this should translate to increased demand for CSR products - such as plasterboard and insulation - over the next few years, Mr Sindel said.

CSR made a profit of $88.1 million in the year to March 31, an improvement on a loss of $150 million in the previous year, in which it carried out a costly restructure.

Revenue grew four per cent to $1.75 billion, while earnings from its building products business increased 20 per cent to $93 million.

Mr Sindel said the company was focussed on increasing its involvement in the growing apartment market, which would be the target of any acquisitions.

"There is nothing imminent at the moment, but our objective is to get higher exposure to multi-residential and also addressing the issues of speed and ease of construction," he said.

CSR shares rose slightly soon after it released its annual results, but by 1540 AEST were down 17.5 cents, or five per cent, at $3.335.

CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner said investors were probably locking in profits after a strong run by CSR shares so far in 2014.

"CSR stocks have had a stellar run and now that the company has performed to expectations it appears quite a few people have chosen to sell it," he said.

The company also offered no specific financial guidance for the 2014/15 fiscal year.

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Baird clamps down on lobbyists

THE Baird government has unveiled its first tranche of reforms to "clean up" politics in NSW.

Under the measures, ministers will have to publish diary summaries of scheduled meetings with lobbyists and the Electoral Commission will have its powers extended to act as an independent regulator of lobbyists.

The plan has been criticised as having too many loopholes for lobbyists to exploit.

But Premier Mike Baird says it's an "important first step" and will nail shut the "back door to government".

The plan is in response to revelations at the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) about the access lobbyists have to NSW politicians.

"I've said from the moment I became premier that I wanted to clean up politics in NSW, and this is an important step forward," Mr Baird told reporters.

"We do want to shine the light on the business of government."

Under his plan, the independent regulator will be empowered to investigate alleged breaches and will be able to impose sanctions.

That could result in lobbying firms being removed from the lobbyist register.

Opposition Leader John Robertson said he was pleased to see the government taking some steps to improve transparency but the plan did not go far enough.

He said diaries should be published on a monthly basis rather than every three months, as Mr Baird proposed.

The plan also had loopholes for lawyers trying to gain access to politicians and it did not cover "chance meetings" with lobbyists.

Greens MP John Kaye said ministerial staff diaries should also be published.

He said under the proposed measures, ministers can arrange for their staff to meet lobbyists to avoid meetings being recorded in diaries.

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Aust housing boom winding down, data show

Australia's housing boom is starting to pull back, making way sustainable growth in the market. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIA'S housing boom is starting to pull back, making way for more sustainable growth in the property market.

Disappointing home loan and house price data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday showed the housing market was still looking good but had pulled back from the boom seen late last year, JP Morgan economist Tom Kennedy said.

The number of home loans approved in March fell 0.9 per cent, weaker than economists' expectations of a 0.5 per cent rise.

Australian capital city house prices continued to rise in the March quarter, by 1.7 per cent, softer than the 2.9 per cent rise economists were expecting.

"We saw very, very solid growth in Sydney and Melbourne, and most other major property markets, and what we're seeing now is a pull back," Mr Kennedy said.

"Over the past few months, there's been quite a slowdown and deceleration from the euphoria that we saw in the second half of last year."

But that growth had been unsustainable, Mr Kennedy said, and "prices are now growing at levels that are perhaps more sustainable over the long term".

Other data such as auction clearance rates and building approvals were also pointing to a wind down in the housing market, he said.

Westpac senior economist Matthew Hassan said the housing market was moderating and would continue to do so this year after a very strong finish to 2013.

Rising prices had dampened consumer sentiment around buying a property, he said.

"It's just becoming more difficult for owner occupiers to get into the market," Mr Hassan said.

"What we're seeing from our consumer sentiment survey is a pretty clear turning point in assessments around time to buy a dwelling that indicate price gains are starting to impact buyer perceptions and point to a slowing in price growth by the middle of the year."

UBS economists said housing would remain solid, despite "cooling" off.

"This cooling followed a period of 'heat', such that housing activity will likely remain solid and still add to overall growth this year, supported by ongoing record low interest rates," they said.

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Young boy hurt as 'drunk' mum crashes car

THE mother of a young boy who suffered facial injuries after their car slammed into a power pole was allegedly more than three times over the limit, police say.

The five-year-old was unrestrained in the front passenger seat when the car left the road and hit the pole in Gateshead, south of Newcastle, on Sunday night, they allege.

The boy suffered facial and internal injuries, but managed to walk with his mother, 30, to a relative's house nearby.

He was taken to Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital.

His mother, from Gateshead, later returned a breath-test reading of 0.160 and was charged with drink driving.

The legal breath limit for fully qualified car drivers is 0.05.

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'NZ balloon pilot may have smoked dope'

THE pilot in New Zealand's hot air balloon tragedy was a long-term cannabis smoker who kept it from authorities, a coroner's inquest has been told.

Eleven people were killed in the fiery disaster during the early morning sightseeing trip over the Wairarapa near Carterton on January 7, 2012. It was, at the time, the second most deadly balloon accident in history.

Transport investigators say experienced balloon pilot Lance Hopping, 53, had traces of cannabis in his system, which may have affected his judgment.

Coroner Peter Ryan, in Wellington District Court on Monday, said the inquest was not to apportion blame but to establish the facts of what happened and to make recommendations to help prevent a similar disaster in future.

Detective Inspector Sean Hansen, who headed the police investigation, gave evidence of how the balloon hit 33kV lines and the electrical arc sparked a fire. An LPG tank ruptured and the gas added to the fire.

Two passengers, Alexis Still, 19, and Chrisjan Jordaan, 21, were killed when they jumped from a height of about 20m.

The heat from the fire lifted the balloon to a height of up to 150m before the balloon envelope failed and the basket fell to the ground, killing the remaining nine.

Det Insp Hansen also said Mr Hopping's medical certificate for his pilot's licence had expired about six weeks before the crash.

A post-mortem revealed he may have smoked cannabis up to five hours before the crash - despite him telling doctors he had never taken illegal drugs. His partner and an associate confirmed he had been a long-term cannabis smoker.

A witness, Bronwyn Brewster, the daughter of victims Desmond and Ann Dean, later told police they had seen, from a distance, Mr Hopping smoking something on a balcony less than 90 minutes before the crash.

However, once police began investigating the cannabis angle, they could not confirm Mr Hopping had smoked marijuana that morning. He may not have had time.

"I believe it's unlikely but I can't say it didn't happen," Det Insp Hansen said.

The line of questioning from lawyer Grant Burston, who is assisting the coroner, asked why Mr Hopping would smoke a joint within view of his ground crew and passengers.

The inquest is due to hear evidence from forensic experts on how long cannabis stays in a body. There are also varying accounts of how long Mr Hopping's body lay at the scene in warm summer weather.

Under questioning from a lawyer for some of the victims' families, Alastair Sherriff, Det Insp Hansen said it appeared the balloon's ground support crew did not have a first aid kit, and they did nothing while a neighbour and a tanker driver attempted CPR on two of the victims.

There was also evidence safety briefings were not always given to passengers.

The flight was captured from the ground by professional photographer Geoff Walker. The photos were immediately handed over to police, and the coroner has suppressed publication of any images that show the crash happening or any more graphic shots of the aftermath.

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Cuts, but Hockey also roads and jobs plan

AFTER weeks of being flayed for the potential nasties in Tuesday's budget, Joe Hockey has tried to cool concerns with a plan to boost jobs.

The treasurer's first budget will contain a six-year road building plan in excess of $80 billion, which Mr Hockey believes will create tens of thousands of jobs and prevent unemployment hitting the 6.25 per cent rate predicted by the previous Labor government.

"We are going to do everything we can to make sure we never get there," he told Channel Nine on Sunday.

He also confirmed that Prime Minister Tony Abbott had written to the Independent Remuneration Tribunal to freeze the salaries of politicians and senior public servants for a year.

It means they'll miss out on a 2.4 per cent increase while also paying a new deficit levy on all high income earners.

"We've got to send a very clear message to the electorate that whatever we are asking the electorate to contribute to the budget repair task, we are going to contribute ourselves as well," Mr Hockey said.

His comments came as a new opinion poll showed Labor being backed by an election-winning 54 per cent of voters, against 46 per cent for the coalition.

People are strongly opposed to key budget measures that include lifting the pension age to 70 and a co-payment for doctor visits.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said the quality of health care shouldn't depend on someone's credit card, and he flagged that Labor wouldn't make life easy for the government.

"We see no point in a petrol tax, a GP tax, a hospital tax," he told reporters in Melbourne.

"We think it takes Australia down a very sick and sorry path where some Australians will not get the medical care they need because Tony Abbott is putting pressure on their budgets and on their cost of living."

Government frontbencher Jamie Briggs has conceded it will be a "very difficult" budget to sell to both the general public and to get through the parliament.

"We didn't create this mess but we are going to take the responsibility to fix it," the assistant infrastructure minister told Sky News.

Mr Hockey refuses to accept that initiatives - in what he is calling his "contribute and build" budget - would be breaking an election promise.

Some initiatives include a deficit levy on high income earners and an increased fuel excise but Mr Hockey said: "We never said we were going to never change a tax or alter a tax".

He said if the government went down the road of raising fuel excise, which has been frozen since 2001, the revenue would go into roads.

The commonwealth would contribute in excess of $40 billion to its roads plan, which Mr Hockey said would be matched by the states and the private sector.

He said the budget would be fixed in a structural manner, but at the same time stimulate economic growth and address the significant drop off in mining investment.

"Everything we are doing on Tuesday night is going to be about jobs and about prosperity," Mr Hockey said.

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Qld girl's abductors known to family

A GROUP of people who abducted a two-year-old girl from her father's house southwest of Brisbane are known to her family.

Bella Rose Goulding was taken from a house at Willowbank, near Ipswich, on Saturday night.

Acting Inspector Alison Jewell said three men and a woman abducted the toddler from the home, where she was temporarily staying.

"We believe that Bella is in the company of people who are known to the family," she told reporters outside Yamanto police station.

"However, we still hold concerns for her safety."

The 8pm abduction occurred on Sancroft Street, which is near a park and the Cunningham Highway.

The girl's father Steven declined to speak publicly on Sunday.

Witnesses saw the abductors in a white Holden Commodore and a silver Mitsubishi sedan.

Bella is described as Caucasian with blue eyes and blonde, curly hair.

Insp Jewell said there weren't any specific child safety issues but declined to say if her mother was among the people who abducted the girl or with whom she lived permanently.

"We are consistently getting information from the public and we're following all those leads," she said.

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