Stuffed critters on Easter shopping list

FORGET the bunnies and the bilbies; the Easter gift for that friend who has everything could just as easily be a big stuffed cat.

Not the fluffy toy variety, mind.

The big-ticket item at a Sydney auction this week was a genuine tiger, which sold for a tidy $5750.

Lot 1603 was one of a series of creatures great and small (and dead) that went under the hammer on Thursday, which Shauna Farren-Price of Lawsons said was one of the auction house's most popular collections of recent months.

"The online catalogue (had) several thousand clicks a day," she told AAP.

The collection included fossils, museum models and other natural history paraphernalia, but taxidermy was the big drawcard, Ms Farren-Price said.

She said a couple of publicans had come along on Thursday, competing with serious taxidermy collectors to scoop up preserved beasts for their bars.

Also in the crowd were curious shoppers, businessmen and parents who came to pore over a collection that included a stuffed bear, an ex-wombat and a mounted mountain goat.

"They're quirky Easter presents," she said.

"If you're allergic to chocolate, why not have a moose head, I guess ... and nothing beats a dinosaur tooth for an eight-year-old."

Ms Farren-Price said that with the exception of a bargain here and there - a stuffed chook went for $60, for instance - taxidermy wasn't known for entry-level pricing.

She said that with strict restrictions on what can be imported into Australia, stuffed animals were increasingly hard to come by and therefore increasingly valuable.

She added that taxidermy tastes had changed over the years.

In centuries past, taxidermists took to propping their creations into fighting poses.

"The Victorians were very fond of doing that, and if you look up close they often used red paint around the mouth (like) blood," Ms Farren-Price said.

The animals on offer at Lawsons this week were "almost cute" in comparison, she quipped.

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More jail for Qld driver who killed teens

A DRIVER who killed three teenagers in a hit-and-run smash in southeast Queensland has had his sentence increased to 10 years.

Michael Daniel Henderson has also been branded a serious violent offender.

That means he will have to serve at least 80 per cent of the sentence for killing Ipswich teenagers Brittany Bramwell, 17, Matthew Prior, 18 and Nicholas Saxby, 16 in 2011.

Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie appealed the 35-year-old's initial seven-and-a-half-year sentence last year on the grounds it was manifestly inadequate.

In a unanimous decision on Thursday, the Court of Appeal agreed and increased Henderson's sentence by two and a half years.

The court heard Henderson drove his ute through a red light in Ipswich in April 2011 and crashed into the teenagers' vehicle at about 85 to 95km/h.

He drove off, leaving the three and their seriously injured driver, 17-year-old Alex Gill, on the roadside.

The young friends were returning home from a Gold Coast amusement park.

The Court of Appeal's decision, published on Thursday, said the tragedy happened after the brother of Henderson's girlfriend confronted him about his treatment of his sister.

A fight broke out and the brother, Adrian Wood, fled in his ute.

Henderson followed in his ute, ramming Mr Wood's vehicle several times and forcing other motorists to swerve to avoid him.

Mr Wood ran a red light to avoid being hit again, but Henderson followed him through the intersection and T-boned the teenagers' car.

Henderson later ran from police after they spotted him in front of his house at Goodna, west of Brisbane.

The judgment detailed what the sentencing judge had to say about the crime's impact on the victims' families.

"A father wakes at 2.34am every morning because that is the time when the police knocked on his door and advised him of the death of his daughter," it read.

"Another father lives with the memory of identifying the battered body of his son.

"A mother describes the personal unbearable agony that she will live with for the rest of her life."

Justice Margaret Wilson said the initial sentence had failed to reflect the seriousness of Henderson's crimes, his "appalling" traffic history and the need to protect the community.

Henderson had a clear lack of respect for the law, she said.

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Economists question fuss over debt levels

A FRESH bout of hysteria over Australia's debt position has been challenged by at least two economists, who say they are sick of misleading comments about debt levels that are very low by global standards.

Market Economics managing director Stephen Koukoulas is delighted that there should be a debate on the economy heading into the September 14 federal election.

"But let's get the context and the starting point right," Mr Koukoulas told AAP.

"I'm sick of the misinformation campaign being run by the Liberal Party and sections of the media about the Australian economy."

Going on the attack on Wednesday, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said Labor's debt had gone "up and up and up".

"My fear, and the growing fear of the Australian public, is that the government will try to solve its problems by increasing your problems," Mr Abbott told reporters in Melbourne.

"We have a prime minister that is mortgaging your future to secure her future."

Sydney's Daily Telegraph cited Bank of America Merrill Lynch research forecasting net debt would rise by $21 billion in the May budget.

That would take total net debt to $164.3 billion, from $143.3 billion forecast in the mid-year budget review released in October - an increase of about 83 per cent from $89.5 billion since Labor retained office in 2010.

A spokesman for Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury said debt figures would be updated in the May 14 budget, as usual.

He said the Daily Telegraph report was misleading because it didn't take into account the $160 billion hit to revenues during 2008-09 global financial crisis, when the government accrued debt to stop the economy from going into recession.

Mr Koukoulas, a former adviser to Prime Minister Julia Gillard, and previously a chief economist at two global banks, said Labor had made the choice to support local jobs during the global financial crisis.

"The fact is Australia's net debt is dramatically lower than the net debt levels for every single major advanced economy," he said.

Australia's current net debt is 10 per cent of gross domestic product, compared with Canada at 35 per cent, and the US and UK at 80 per cent.

Mr Bradbury said in a statement the government was "reducing net debt in a sustainable way that ensures our economy remains one of the strongest in the world and protects Australian jobs and economic growth".

But shadow treasurer Joe Hockey said Labor should be comparing its performance with those of developed, commodity-exporting countries with balance sheets in the black, such as Chile, Sweden, Finland and Norway.

"Labor has squandered the good financial management of the Howard government," he said.

In the last budget, the government again raised the gross debt ceiling to $300 billion from $250 billion.

There are $266.5 billion of commonwealth government securities (CGS) on issue at present.

TD Securities head of Asia-Pacific research Annette Beacher said the average person would see that as a huge figure that had expanded dramatically in the past decade.

"But so has the Australian economy," Ms Beacher said in a note to clients.

She said Australian debt was rated triple-A by all three major ratings agencies because of Australia's relatively outstanding fiscal and debt metrics.

Australia is one of only seven countries that enjoys that status.

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ACTU wants govt to back minimum wage bid

The ACTU is pushing for a $30-a-week pay rise for Australia's lowest paid workers. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIA'S peak union body wants the federal government to back its push for the country's lowest paid workers to get a $30 a week wage boost.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions will ask Fair Work Australia to increase the national minimum wage to $636.40 a week, benefiting 745,000 workers.

It equates to a 79 cent-an-hour increase from $15.96 to $16.75 per hour.

But Employment Minister Bill Shorten said the government would only support a more modest increase.

"I believe that the union claim is at the high end," Mr Shorten told reporters in Melbourne.

ACTU secretary Dave Oliver said he expected a Labor government to support the lowest-paid workers and the increase was justified.

"As of today, the minimum wage is less than half of what average weekly earnings are," he said.

"What we're concerned about is that we will end up with an underclass of workers, or a working poor."

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott gave qualified support to the wage push, saying he didn't begrudge workers a pay rise.

"So I would want to look very carefully at the particular circumstances of businesses before saying yes, let's have an across the board rise," he told reporters in Melbourne.

However, his treasury spokesman Joe Hockey said Australia's current minimum wage was a barrier to higher employment participation.

"What it means is it's harder to get entry into the workforce," he told Fairfax Radio.

"It means that employers are having second thoughts about employing people."

Australian Industry Group chief Innes Willox described the claim as "way out of the ball park".

Ai Group is proposing a two per cent increase in total remuneration for those on the minimum wage, amounting to a rise of about $12 on the minimum weekly wage.

Mr Willox said businesses were struggling to cope with high costs and the high Australian dollar.

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Qld wharfies claim small waterfront win

QUEENSLAND wharfies have made a small breakthrough in their attempts to get business to support waterfront safety reforms.

The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) organised a rally at the offices of the Chamber of Commerce & Industry Queensland (CCIQ) on Tuesday as part its campaign.

About 40 members turned up blowing horns and waving placards, pressing for a meeting with CCIQ representatives.

Police and building security blocked protesters from the foyer, and MUA branch secretary Mick Carr says CCIQ employees were "giving us the finger" through the windows.

But despite the bad blood, police managed to broker a 20-minute meeting between the CCIQ and union members.

"We spoke about our issues and why we were there," Mr Carr told AAP.

"We wanted to set the record straight.

"They couldn't tell me why they were opposed to the new code, but they were surprised to learn that they were against it."

The MUA secretary said that CCIQ management has promised to take the union's concerns to its interstate counterparts and report back in the next week.

"It's been a good day," Mr Carr said.

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Qld grocery store charges $5 to browse

A BRISBANE specialty grocery store owner is charging customers to browse after becoming fed up with people who enquire but don't buy.

A poster telling customers they'll be charged $5 for browsing if they don't purchase anything has been put up at Celiac Supplies in the suburb of Coorparoo.

Owner of the gluten free produce store, Georgina, says she resorted to putting up the sign after spending hours each week giving advice to people who leave empty-handed.

About 60 people a week would go into the store, ask questions and then buy the same or similar product at a supermarket chain or online.

"I've had a gut full of working and not getting paid," Georgina, who didn't want her surname published, told AAP.

"I'm not here to dispense a charity service for Coles and Woolworths to make more money.

She has became frustrated as her prices often match that of the supermarkets but people still go elsewhere as they are under the impression it will be cheaper.

She says the sign has turned some people away but others are more sympathetic and pay up.

"I can tell straight away who are the rat bags who are going to come in here and pick my brain and disappear," she said.

Australian Retailers Association executive director Russell Zimmerman says charging customers to browse will likely turn people away.

He says a few stores in Queensland are charging to try on shoes or clothing but this is the first time he's heard of a browsing charge.

Mr Zimmerman says to be competitive, smaller stores should emphasise what they offer that other stores don't and focus on providing great customer service.

"If I walked into the store and was told I was going to be charged to browse my immediate reaction would be to leave," he said.

"You are missing the opportunity for the browsing customer to actually buy from you."

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4 CSIRO men killed in chopper crash named

FOUR CSIRO scientists killed in a helicopter crash south of Sydney have been named by police.

The Robinson R44 light helicopter clipped a tree about 12.10pm (AEDT) on Thursday while attempting to land on a grassy area next to the popular landmark, Panorama House, at Bulli Tops.

Restaurant staff rushed out with fire extinguishers as it burst into flames, but they were beaten back by the heat.

All four men died at the scene.

The victims, all from Sydney, were Anthony Farmer, 68, of North Epping, Donald Price, 67, of Lindfield, Gerald Haddad, 71, of Elanora Heights and John Dunlop, 66, of Davidson.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has confirmed the aircraft was fitted with older-styled fuel tanks known to pose a fire hazard.

"The ATSB has highlighted how all-aluminium fuel tanks have proven susceptible to post-accident fuel leaks, increasing the risk of a potentially fatal post-impact fire when colliding with the ground," it says on its website.

The manufacturer and the ATSB have previously recommended the fuel tanks on R44s be replaced with safer bladder-type tanks.

The manufacturer's figures showed 4000 R44s were built with the all-aluminium tanks but only 1700 retrofit kits had gone out so far, the ATSB said.

A service bulletin issued by the manufacturer in 2010 told operators the retro-fitting needed to be carried out "as soon as practical, but no later than 30 April 2013".

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Petrol could get cheaper soon

PETROL could be up to three cents a litre cheaper in the next few weeks, an economist says.

The national unleaded fuel price fell 4.4 cents to 146.8 cents a litre last week, the largest weekly drop in the past four months, according to the Australian Institute of Petroleum.

CommSec's chief economist Craig James says the national average retail petrol price (pump price) could fall by at least three cents a litre over the next two to three weeks.

"Petrol prices have a fair bit further to fall in a number of capital cities and regional areas in the short term, so this is a positive for retailers and other consumer-dependent businesses," Mr James said in a statement on Monday.

Last week, the average metropolitan price fell by 5.9 cents a litre to 144.2 cents a litre, while the regional price fell 1.3 cents to 152.0 cents.

Melbourne had the cheapest unleaded petrol, down 9.3 cents a litre at 140.8 cents a litre, while the fuel in Darwin remained the dearest, down 0.9 cents at 164.2 cents.

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Leaders urge end to Myanmar clashes

BUDDHIST and Muslim religious leaders are calling for calm in violence-hit central Myanmar (Burma), while urging the government to step up security for both communities.

The outbreak of religious violence in the town of Meiktila has claimed at least 32 lives and displaced about 9,000 people, according to officials on Sunday, leaving swathes of the town in ruin and prompting an army-enforced state of emergency.

The Interfaith Friendship Organisation called on the government "to lay effective security plans and provide security to people of the two communities".

The statement, signed by Buddhist and Muslim leaders and carried in the state-mouthpiece New Light of Myanmar, asked followers of different religions to obey the law and "maintain the community harmony with love and kindness".

The leaders are the first religious figures to speak out publicly since riots hit Meiktila, 130 kilometres north of the capital Naypyidaw, last Wednesday, leaving buildings torched and charred bodies in the streets.

The clashes are the latest sign of worsening tensions between Muslims and Buddhists and present a serious challenge for the quasi-civilian regime as it looks to reform the country after decades of iron-fisted military rule.

It is the worst communal violence since a wave of clashes between Buddhists and Muslims in the western state of Rakhine last year that left at least 180 people dead and more than 110,000 displaced.

Urging people from all communities to step back from violence, the Interfaith Friendship Organisation, which also includes Christian and Hindu community leaders, said the clashes were posing a threat to Myanmar's progress.

The state of emergency order, signed by President Thein Sein, is designed to enable the army to help restore order and is a significant move in a country trying to emerge from the legacy of junta rule, which ended two years ago.

The United Nations, US, Britain and rights groups have called for calm and dialogue between communities amid fears that the violence could spread.

Myanmar's Muslims - largely of Indian, Chinese and Bangladeshi descent - account for an estimated four per cent of the population of roughly 60 million, although the country has not conducted a census in three decades.

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WA residents to get gas supplier choice

WEST Australian company Kleenheat Gas has entered the state's natural gas market, providing a first-time retail alternative.

Kleenheat Gas, a subsidiary of Wesfarmers, will now compete with Alinta in the domestic gas market, potentially servicing up to 630,000 customers.

The company says it can supply residential, small business, commercial and industrial customers from Geraldton to Busselton, through the mid-west/southwest main distribution system that takes gas from the Dampier to Bunbury pipeline.

The market could be expanded further south to Albany if the state government implements its plan for a gas pipeline from Bunbury to Albany.

Alinta has had control of the market since it was established as part of privatisation efforts in the 90's.

But Kleenheat Gas is promising a discount of 10 per cent on standard prices linked to streamlining online account management.

However, Kleenheat's vision depend on its ability to attract consumers away from Alinta and also relies on the government further lifting gas tariffs.

Comment is being sought from Alinta.

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