Shorten claims Labor caucus support

Bill Shorten says he's been nominated by a majority of caucus members for the Labor leadership. Source: AAP

LABOR frontbencher Bill Shorten says he has the signatures of the majority of caucus members on his nomination for the federal parliamentary leadership.

Mr Shorten and fellow frontbencher Anthony Albanese are contesting a ballot for the leadership, following Kevin Rudd's decision to step down after Labor's federal election loss.

For the first time, the parliamentary leadership will be determined by a ballot evenly split between caucus members and 40,000 ordinary party members.

Mr Shorten, who hails from the ALP's Right faction, told reporters in Melbourne it was an "exciting time" for all party members to participate in an important decision and he was heartened by the support shown so far.

"I've got a majority of caucus members to sign my nomination," Mr Shorten said on Tuesday.

He said he had spoken with Mr Albanese, and they had agreed to a "civil debate about ideas, not personalities".

The pair also agreed the loser of the ballot would still get a "senior" role in opposition.

Mr Shorten said outgoing health minister Tanya Plibersek would make a good opposition deputy should she choose to run.

He said he would get around the country to speak to as many members as possible.

"My focus is on directly communicating with the people who contribute so much to the Labor party and that is our membership," the former Australian Workers Union boss said.

Asked whether he and Mr Albanese had any policy differences, Mr Shorten said their values were "quite similar".

But issues surrounding services for people with disabilities must be kept at the centre of the political stage and Labor needed to ensure during the leadership contest there was a focus on keeping the Abbott government accountable.

"I think the coalition is showing some degree of complacency," he said.

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Customer growth lifts TPG profit

TPG has increased customer numbers at a faster rate than last year, substantially boosting the telco's annual profit.

TPG made a net profit of $149.2 million in the year to July 31, up 64 per cent on $90.96 million in the previous year.

The prior year's result was skewed by a $23 million one-off tax expense.

When that item is excluded, TPG's net profit rose by 31 per cent in 2012/13.

TPG's broadband subscriber base grew by 76,000 in 2012/13, compared to growth of 47,000 in fiscal 2012.

The number of subscribers to TPG's home phone and broadband bundle plans rose by 130,000, which was partly offset by a fall of 54,000 in standalone customers and customers not using TPG's own fibre network.

TPG's mobile phone subscribers increased by 105,000, compared to a rise of 54,000 in fiscal 2012.

The company expects earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in 2013/14 to be between $290 million to $300 million, compared to $293.1 million in 2012/13.

Earnings from TPG's corporate division, which provides wholesale and corporate telecommunications infrastructure under the PIPE Networks brand, grew by more than 10 per cent in 2012/13.

The earnings growth was largely due to improved margins from investment in the group's fibre network.

TPG is planning to increase the number of buildings directly connected to its fibre network in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.

"With the evolution of new technologies now enabling speeds of up to 100Mbps this will enable the group to commence offering very high speed broadband services to its customers at ADSL2+ prices," TPG said.

TPG increased its domestic fibre network by more than 800 kilometres in 2012/13, to more than 3,800 kilometres.

More than 300 extra buildings were directly connected to the network, taking the total number connected to more than 1,600.

TPG shares were up 48 cents at $4.18 at 1532 AEST.

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Lynas loss widens, new debt deal struck

A DEPRESSED rare earths market has forced Lynas to postpone its expansion and renegotiate a $225 million debt facility.

The Australian rare earths miner, one of the world's few non-Chinese producers, will have to start repaying debt next year instead of in 2015.

Repaying the $US225 million in full a year early by 2016 was the condition its Japanese lenders put on the new agreement to waive for 15 months Lynas' previous obligations to ramp up to 'phase two' production and cash margins expansion targets.

On Monday, Lynas reported that it had widened its full year loss to $107.4 million for the 12 months to June 30, from $102.6 million the previous year.

The miner only started selling rare earths products shortly before the end of June, receiving a modest $900,000 first pay cheque.

The debt negotiations were well-received by investors, who still appear bullish about the outlook for rare earths and sent Lynas shares up 3.25 cents, or 8.0 per cent, to 43.75 cents by 1500 AEST.

Lynas had hoped to start producing at its Malaysian plant in 2011 when rare earths prices were booming but fierce opposition from local villagers was fought in the courts, delaying permits.

By the time it won that battle this year, Chinese domestic prices for rare earths products, which have a range of hi-tech industrial uses, had sunk to under $20 a tonne making it hard to be profitable.

The company said last year had been one of significant milestones for Lynas, positioning it to achieve its core objective of becoming the leading sustainable global supplier of rare earth materials to the market.

A successful Lynas would be a game changer for a Chinese-dominated industry, with its fully integrated operations from its Western Australia-based Mt Weld mine - considered the world's best - through to its Malaysian finishing plant.

Patersons analyst Rob Brierley said the move to get out of its phase two expansion for 15 months was a good one that would otherwise have left it under huge financial stress and at risk of defaulting.

He said an end to the depressed market was not yet in sight but Lynas was well placed long term, with a strong resource base and state of the art, low cost concentration and processing plants.

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Top Of The Lake earns respect for TV in Oz

WIN, lose or tie at the Emmy's, mini-series The Top Of The Lake has placed a red seal of approval on Australian/NZ TV productions, says producer Emile Sherman.

Top Of The Lake is up for eight Primetime Emmy Awards including two acting categories, but the majority of the nominations are for the production of the six-part series.

Created and written by Jane Campion and Gerard Lee, Top Of The Lake is an Australian/New Zealand co-production commissioned by the BBC for the Sundance Channel in the US.

As the producer, Sherman, who five years ago founded Australian company See-Saw Films with Iain Canning, stands in line to win an Emmy for Outstanding Mini-Series or Movie.

Sherman told AAP the competition is tough and he has low expectations of winning when he attends the awards at the Nokia Theatre in LA on Sunday night (USA time).

Yet, he says the nominations are gold for the Australian and New Zealand television industries and it's why See-Saw Films now has now branched out in to television.

Top Of The Lake was the See-Saw films' first foray into TV, and Sherman says the nominations should bring more Hollywood commissioned series Down Under.

"This has been totally overwhelming," Sherman told AAP.

"We were hoping to get one nomination, but to get eight is something we never imagined.

"I don't know when the last time an Australian mini-series has been nominated for an Emmy but it means it's been really been embraced over there which is amazing for a series."

Also nominated is veteran Sydney-based editor Alexandre de Franceschi, who along with Scott Gray, is up for Outstanding Editing For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Dramatic Special for their worn on the fifth episode.

De Franceschi has been editing films, music videos and commercials for close to 30 years and among the more recent titles he has worked on is the film Stone which starred Robert De Niro.

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London mayor Johnson backs UK fracking

WIND farms are a "disease" which have blighted Britain's countryside and the country should embrace nuclear power and fracking to meet its energy needs, London Mayor Boris Johnson says.

Johnson accused the energy companies of "ruthlessly exploiting" a shortage of supply as he insisted the UK must stop "pussy-footing around" and start exploiting shale gas reserves.

The senior Tory said turning to a new generation of nuclear plants and fracking would cut energy bills and boost the economy.

Writing in The Sun on Sunday he said he was shocked by the number of wind turbines he saw on a recent drive to Scotland.

"It is a good 20 years since I last drove all the way to Scotland, and in the interim something unbelievable has been done - in our name - to our green, pleasant and precious countryside," he said.

"I mean the windmills, the turbines - whatever they are called. I mean the things that look like some hideous Venusian invasion, marching over the moors and destroying the dales; the colossal seaside toys plonked erratically across our ancient landscape; the endless parade of waving white-armed old lunatics, gesticulating feebly at each other across the fields and the glens.

"They seemed to be everywhere, and I asked myself, when were we consulted? Was there a referendum? Did someone ever warn the British people that these moaning seagull slicers were going to be erected on some of the most sensational scenery that God ever called into being?

"The answer is that no one warned us, because no one really took the decision to do it. It just sort of happened. We have contracted these mills like a disease, because of our pathetic apology for an energy policy."

Claiming that the turbines would not meet the UK's needs he blamed the last Labour administration for failing to get to grips with the issue, leaving the UK facing an energy crisis.

"It is time to take the fight to the energy companies, who have been ruthlessly exploiting their position - and the best answer is an enormous increase in supply. We can do it, and we can do it in a way that is as clean and green as any technology on earth," he said.

"First we need to grow some collective cojones and launch the nuclear energy programme that this country has too long delayed. Do you know how much of their juice the French get from their nuclear programme? Almost 80%. They are laughing at us - us, the nation that split the atom!"

He added: "Next, we must stop pussy-footing around, and get fracking. Even if we have 100s of fracking pads, they are nothing like as ugly as windmills, and they can be dismantled as soon as the gas is extracted."

Mr Johnson said shale was "clean and green" and would help the UK secure its own energy supply without relying on gas from countries such as Russia.

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Worst over in baby illness mystery

More than a dozen babies in Melbourne's Royal Women's Hospital have fallen ill to a mystery bug. Source: AAP

VICTORIA'S nurses' union claims the state's neonatal intensive care system is at breaking point after a mystery illness hit more than a dozen babies in a hospital nursery.

Fifteen newborns being cared for in The Royal Women's Hospital's intensive and special care nursery were quarantined when the illness emerged nine days ago.

Two had to have surgery for an inflammatory bowel condition.

A Royal Women's Hospital spokeswoman said there was no danger to new arrivals.

Australian Nursing Federation state secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick said she was concerned about the stress on neonatal care units across the state.

"There is continuing pressure put on those units and we know that there has been an issue this week with 20 babies still being barrier nursed," Ms Fitzpatrick said.

More than 1900 specimens had been taken to determine the cause of the outbreak, she said.

"We have pregnant staff in that unit and nurses working up to 14-hour shifts to take care of those babies," she said.

The state opposition blamed funding cuts for the stress in neonatal units, but the state government said it had been increasing the number of neonatal intensive care beds.

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World worst child porn suspect in custody

A MAN described by the FBI as being the largest facilitator of child porn on the planet has been remanded in custody after being refused bail for a second time.

Eric Eoin Marques is wanted in the United States on four charges linked to website images described as being extremely violent, graphic and depicting the rape and torture of pre-pubescent children.

Justice John Edwards, sitting at the High Court in Dublin where extradition proceedings are under way, accepted evidence from the FBI and Irish police that the 28-year-old is a flight risk or likely to destroy evidence if released.

Marques, who has Irish and US citizenship, is wanted in connection with four counts involving the advertising of child pornography, distribution of child pornography, conspiracy to advertise child pornography, and conspiracy to distribute child pornography.

If convicted in the US on all four counts he could be jailed for up to 100 years.

The judge said that despite taking into account that Marques was entitled to the presumption of innocence, was an Irish citizen with a family network around him and was not a fugitive on the run from another country, he could not grant bail even with stringent conditions.

Marques, of Dublin's north inner city, is accused of being the sole administrator of an anonymous hosting server called Freedom Hosting, where the FBI claims thousands of members allegedly posted millions of images of child pornography.

Mr Justice Edwards said the charges were very serious and carried substantial sentences.

He said Marques had already attempted to interfere with evidence when gardai went to arrest him by "making a dive" for his computer to try to turn it off.

Investigators also claimed that after he was initially questioned by gardai, Marques managed to get back on the Freedom Hosting server - which had been taken over by the FBI - and change the passwords.

Elsewhere, the judge raised concerns over the creation of a false identity online and a scan of a US passport that had been found.

He said the factors against bail outweighed the factors for bail.

Dressed in a grey hoodie and jeans, Marques listened intently as the judge delivered his 50-minute ruling a day after he heard the bail application brought by defence barrister Remy Farrell.

The judge said there had been no major change in the circumstances of his case since another judge refused bail on similar grounds the day after his arrest on August 1.

Marques was remanded in custody until October 22 when the case will be mentioned again, and nodded to family members in the court as he was led away.

FBI special agent Brooke Donahue was on Thursday asked by Patrick McGrath, barrister for the Attorney General of Ireland, if the bureau still believed Marques was the largest facilitator of child porn on the planet.

"Yes, that is still true today," the agent told the court.

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Operation Zombie arrests Argentine hacker

ARGENTINE police say they have arrested a 19-year-old alleged hacker on suspicion of leading a network specialised in fraud and complex financial transactions that led to security breaches at numerous websites.

The youth, whose identity has not been revealed, is the son of an information systems engineer.

He was initially detained at his home in Buenos Aires in July as part of Operation Zombie, which included five raids in the capital and the city of Rosario, about 300km north, the Security Ministry reported Friday.

Experts believe the "super-hacker" diverted about $US50,000 ($A54,290) a month to his bank account, using the "technological cave" he assembled at his home.

Police raiding his Buenos Aires residence seized sophisticated computers and other technological equipment.

Officials identified six more people who were involved in the criminal network.

The police department's Operation Zombie began in 2012, when a businessman who offered hosting services for personal web pages on his servers said that a hacker was remotely entering the servers to intercept monetary transfers.

Former criminal lawyer Graciela Gils Carbo, who is now Argentina's chief prosecutor, ordered the federal police to begin an investigation that uncovered that the same person was stealing from money transfer and online game sites.

"Internet users were victims of a 'malware' virus that the hacker hosted in a server for downloading online gaming applications," said a ministry statement.

To complete the job and avoid alerting victims to an illegal money transfer, the suspected hacker carried out a "denial of service" manoeuvre that used a network of thousands of "zombie" computers to saturate the platform for payments so users could not access their accounts around the time of the attack.

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Hockey concerned by rising jobless rate

Liberal frontbencher Joe Hockey says he is concerned that Australia's jobless rate is rising. Source: AAP

LIBERAL frontbencher Joe Hockey is concerned that Australia's jobless rate is rising when it is decreasing in many other advanced economies.

Mr Hockey, who is expected to be sworn in as treasurer under the new Abbott government next week, says the latest labour force data reaffirms the need for a positive plan to boost growth and create jobs.

The August data shows the unemployment rate rising to 5.8 per cent from 5.7 per cent previously, its highest level since August 2009 during the middle of the global financial crisis.

The number of people in employment dropped by 10,800 in August, when economists had expected a 10,000 increase.

Full-time employment fell by 2600, while those in part-time work decreased by 8200.

"At a time where unemployment rates in many other advanced economies are decreasing, Australia's unemployment rate is heading in the opposite direction," Mr Hockey said in a statement.

He says the coalition is "purposefully and methodically" preparing for government with a plan to build a strong and prosperous economy.

"As a starting point the coalition will get rid of Labor's carbon tax, get rid of the mining tax and not proceed with Labor's job-killing $1.8 billion fringe benefits tax hike."

He said its planned company tax rate cut to 28.5 per cent from 30 per cent in 2015 will provide an incentive for employers to invest more in their businesses and create jobs.

"The coalition's company tax cut will restore the confidence of business and workers which has been severely damaged under six years of Labor mismanagement."

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Rebels bikie convoy heading to Perth

About 1000 Rebels bikies are making their way to Perth where they will complete their national run. Source: AAP

ABOUT 1000 Rebels bikie members are making their way to Perth, bound for the gang's Osborne Park clubhouse.

The Rebels are expected to make a brief stop over at Tammin, east of Perth, before arriving in Perth in the late afternoon on Thursday.

The bikies arrived in Western Australian on Tuesday after crossing the Nullarbor, spending time in Norseman before travelling to the historic gold mining town of Kalgoorlie on Wednesday.

They stayed there overnight before continuing their journey on Thursday morning.

The run brings together chapters from across the country, led by national president Alex "The Maltese Falcon" Vella.

They have brought plenty of business to roadhouses and been met with the state's biggest police presence since the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2011.

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