Jobs go as Adelaide chemical plant closes

ALMOST 100 jobs will be lost at a chemical plant in Adelaide after a potential buyer pulled out of the deal.

ADMINISTRATORS for Penrice, which owned the Osborne plant, had been negotiating a sale with an unnamed buyer since April.

But that deal has fallen through, meaning the plant will close and it 95 staff will be made redundant.The buyer blamed uncertainty about the future profitability of the plant, the expenditure required to achieve profitability and ongoing environmental issues contributed for its decision to pull out, administrators McGrathNicol said.Negotiations are continuing for the sale of Penrice's limestone quarry in Angaston, where operations continue as normal.Alternative ways to realise some value from the Osborne plant will now be pursued, McGrathNicol said.

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Lew set to win big in David Jones takeover

South Africa's Woolworths has made a $213m takeover bid for Australian clothing chain Country Road. Source: AAP

RETAIL heavyweight Solomon Lew stands to make more than $200 million by standing in the way of David Jones' takeover by a South African retailer.

DUBBED "Lew's Coup" by one analyst, the clothing industry veteran appears to have been successful in taking a major stake in David Jones in order to earn a healthy price for his interest in Country Road.

South Africa's Woolworths Holdings is the target of Mr Lew's high stakes game, as the controlling shareholder in Country Road and the company bidding $2.2 billion for control of David Jones.Mr Lew recently spent $209 million building up a 9.89 per cent stake in David Jones, enough to destabilise and potentially block Woolworths' department store chain takeover.Analysts believed Mr Lew was seeking a generous offer from Woolworths to end their often rocky Country Road association, which began 17 years ago when Mr Lew bought into the retailer to stop Woolworths taking full control.That offer came on Tuesday, with Woolworths willing to pay a generous $17 for each remaining Country Road share.That stands to net Mr Lew $209 million for his 11.9 stake - well above its most recent market value of $172 million, and the $41,500 it was worth just seven months ago.Mr Lew is yet to indicate whether he will accept the offer.But in a rare move, Woolworths will only pay out Mr Lew for full control of Country Road if its David Jones takeover gets the green light from the department store's shareholders."It's unusual to see a condition like that," CMC Markets chief analyst Michael McCarthy said."That points to the fact that Mr Lew got leverage out of his DJs stake to resolve the Country Road situation."This has been some very smart play."David Jones shareholders are due to vote on the Woolworths takeover on July 14, although that could be delayed for a second time if there are complications with the Country Road deal.Concerns have been raised about so-called "collateral benefits" regulations, which prevent inducements being offered to some shareholders in a takeover deal, but not others.But Mr McCarthy believes the deals have been carefully crafted to avoid legal challenges.David Jones shares were up 16 cents, or 4.2 per cent, at $3.95 by 1415 AEST, indicating investors now expect its takeover to go ahead, Mr McCarthy said.Country Road will be removed from the share market if Woolworths take complete ownership.

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Jodhi Meares charged with DUI

Jodhi Meares is heading to court after allegedly being caught drink driving in Sydney's east. Source: AAP

JAMES Packer's ex-wife Jodhi Meares will face court in August on drink driving charges after crashing into three parked cars in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

THE 43-year-old had to be rescued from her Range Rover, which rolled after the smash in upmarket Bellevue Hill on Saturday night.

The fashion designer, who is engaged to rocker Jon Stevens, was given a roadside breath test before being taken to the local police station.Police say she recorded a 0.181 blood alcohol reading, almost four times the legal limit.She was charged with drink driving and driving while suspended and is due to appear at Waverley Local Court on August 5.It's reported Meares could face the possibility of 18 months in jail and a fine of $3300.After a long engagement, Meares and Stevens were reportedly planning to tie the knot in September.

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Vic firies will be paid for mine fire: MFB

Victorian firefighters have begun legal action to recover wages owed since the Hazelwood mine fire. Source: AAP

FIREFIGHTERS involved in battling Victoria's mine fire will be paid outstanding entitlements for their efforts this week, the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) says.

THE United Firefighters Union (UFU) has started Federal Court action against the brigade to recover wages owing since the 45-day fire at the Hazelwood coal mine began on February 9.

The legal action concerns 240 MFB firefighters, who are each owed an average $4000 out of a total overtime bill of more than $6 million.The MFB says all outstanding payments it is aware of will be paid this week."We have provided assurances to staff that everyone will be paid all of their entitlements," acting deputy chief officer David Bruce said in a statement on Monday.The UFU says firefighters worked up to 20-hour days on their days off during the Hazelwood coal mine fire but that the MFB is unable to account for who was there.However, Mr Bruce said it had taken considerable time and effort to recognise and verify attendance records, given the size and nature of the incident.The summer's fire season involved the largest deployment of firefighters outside the MFB's immediate area of responsibility, he said."Understandably, the MFB's focus at that time was to provide assistance to the community through efficient and effective deployment of resources across the state," he said.The UFU's Peter Marshall said the legal action for firefighters' entitlements would continue despite the MFB's assurances they would be paid this week."They've been saying that every week. Show me the money is the response to that," he said."If in the interim period they pay, that's good. but to date we ain't see the money despite many assurances."Firefighters shouldn't have to wait that long and the MFB should meet their legal requirements."

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'Smart glasses' hope for blind

BRITISH-DESIGNED "smart glasses" that provide a new set of eyes for the visually impaired are being tested in public for the first time.

THE devices, which use a pair of video cameras to enhance residual vision, have the potential to transform the lives of thousands of registered blind people in the UK.

The glasses are being trialled by 30 visually impaired volunteers at testing venues in Oxford and Cambridge.Dr Stephen Hicks, of the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences at Oxford University, who led development of the glasses, said: "The idea of the smart glasses is to give people with poor vision an aid that boosts their awareness of what's around them - allowing greater freedom, independence and confidence to get about, and a much improved quality of life."We eventually want to have a product that will look like a regular pair of glasses and cost no more than a few hundred pounds - about the same as a smart phone."The device consists of a pair of video cameras mounted in a headset, a pocket-sized computer processor, and software that projects images of close-by objects onto displays in the see-through eye pieces.The software interprets nearby surroundings to make important objects such as kerbs, tables, chairs or groups of people stand out more clearly.In some cases, details such as facial features can become easier to see.Of the more than 300,000 severely sight impaired people in the UK, it is believed about a third could benefit from the technology.Twenty volunteers with a range of eye conditions and levels of vision took part in preliminary tests of an earlier version of the glasses conducted last year by the Oxford team.The new trials are being conducted with support from the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB).

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Carbon tax revisited in final Senate week

IT may by the current Senate's final hurrah, as its sits for one last week before the new senators take their place.

BUT even before it begins what amounts to a farewell lap, attention is focused squarely on the Senate that will replace it.

The Abbott government will on Monday reintroduce its carbon tax repeal laws into the parliament, in readiness for the new, more conservative upper house that take effect on July 7.The legislation has already been knocked back once by Labor and Greens in the Senate, but the host of conservative crossbenchers are expected to pass the legislation."This week the government will bring the carbon tax repeal bills back to Parliament to get rid of this dodgy tax once and for all," Environment Minister Greg Hunt says.While signature policies such as the carbon tax are expected to be waved through by the likes of the Palmer United Party, others such as the GP co-payment face continued resistance.Assistant infrastructure minister Jamie Briggs is confident the new senators can be talked into supporting the co-payment and reform of universities fees - two changes opposed by the PUP."I'm not at all sure that the positions some of the new senators have outlined will necessarily be their position in a month's time," Mr Briggs told Sky News on Sunday."When they're in Canberra and they've had the discussions with the relevant ministers ... I'm very confident people will understand this is the right direction."Environmentalists also had their minds turned to July 7, with the Climate Institute bringing two life-size dinosaur replicas to Parliament House in a last-ditch attempt to save the carbon tax."There are dinosaurs in politics and business who want to hold back progress," chief executive John Connor told reporters."This is an appeal to all parliamentarians, particularly the new senators, not to be rushed into a vote literally when they haven't even got their feet under their desks in parliament."

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