NSW hospitals at risk of infection

The Opposition says cuts to the number of cleaners in hospitals could lead to serious infections. Source: AAP

THE NSW opposition is warning of an infections outbreak following reports of a drastic drop in the number of cleaners at some of NSW's busiest hospitals.

Opposition health spokesman Andrew McDonald cited a recent report which found Royal North Shore Hospital was down 67 full time cleaners compared to numbers in 2010.

During the same period Westmead Hospital lost 20 full time cleaners while the Nepean Hospital was down 25.

Across the greater Sydney region there has been an overall loss of 139 full time cleaners, Dr McDonald said.

"Slashing the number of cleaners in our hospitals is a huge infection risk and highly dangerous," he said.

The average hospital cleaner cleaned a minimum of 35 beds per week or 1820 beds per year, while unclean beds, wards and operating theatres could lead to serious and deadly infections, he said.

"Golden Staph and Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci (VRE) still kill people in NSW hospitals in 2013," he warned.

"Cutting the number of cleaners also means vacant beds are left empty for hours until they can be cleaned, while more patients sit waiting to be admitted in the emergency department."

Mr McDonald blamed the staff reductions on the O'Farrell government's $3 billion cut to health funding.

"A huge reduction in cleaners and the number of cleaning hours in our hospital is what happens when you cut $3 billion from the health system."

But a spokeswoman for Northern Sydney Local Health District denied the cuts.

She said Royal North Shore Hospital had employed 44 more cleaners since July 2011, taking the number of cleaners to 186.

This represents a 30 per cent increase in staff, she added.

A spokeswoman for Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District said cleaning staff at Nepean Hospital had increased by 7.8 Full-time equivalent (FTE) positions since July 2011.

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Judge finalising deal in Toyota case

Motorists say their Toyota's value plunged after recalls over claims they unexpectedly accelerated. Source: AAP

A CALIFORNIAN judge is finalising a billion-dollar settlement in cases in which motorists say the value of their Toyotas plunged after recalls over claims they unexpectedly accelerated.

US District Judge James Selna said on Friday he was approving the deal that was announced in December and will affect 22 million consumers.

Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed against Toyota since 2009, when the Japanese car manufacturer started receiving complaints its cars accelerated on their own, causing crashes, injuries and even deaths. More than 14 million vehicles have been recalled since the claims surfaced.

Toyota has denied the allegations, blaming driver error, faulty floor mats and stuck accelerator pedals for the problems.

Steve Berman, a lawyer representing Toyota owners, has said the settlement is the largest in US history involving car defects, estimated to be up to the value of $US1.6 billion ($A1.75 billion).

Those who sold their vehicles at a loss can receive anywhere from $US125 to $US10,000 depending on the level of depreciation, he added.

"This is a great settlement for consumers," Berman said.

"It includes both safety fixes to make Toyota vehicles safer, as well as monetary relief for owners who saw a reduction in their vehicle's value."

The company had previously said it will take a one-time, $US1.1 billion pre-tax charge against earnings to cover the estimated costs of the settlement.

"This agreement allows us to resolve a legacy legal issue in a way that provides significant value to our customers and demonstrates that they can depend on Toyota to stand behind our vehicles," the car manufacturer said in a statement.

The cases were consolidated before Judge Selna in Orange County and divided into two categories, those for economic loss and those for wrongful death.

Toyota has settled a couple of wrongful death cases and the first one to go to trial is scheduled to begin in a Los Angeles courtroom next week.

As part of the economic loss settlement, Toyota will offer cash payments from a pool of about $US250 million to eligible customers who sold vehicles or turned in leased vehicles between September 2009 and December 2010.

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People-smuggling boss back in custody

PEOPLE-SMUGGLING "kingpin" Sayed Abbas has been detained again by Indonesian authorities, after a Jakarta court rejected Australia's request for the Afghan's extradition, a prosecutor says.

South Jakarta District Court last Thursday found "no legal foundation" to extradite Abbas, ordering his release citing Indonesia's 1979 extradition law that did not cover the crime of people-smuggling.

His release was seen as a major blow to Australia as it desperately seeks to reduce the number of asylum seekers arriving on its territory by sea and to dismantle people-smuggling networks that organise the boat journeys.

"After the court ruling, Abbas was detained again by immigration, and he's still in their custody because, ultimately, the decision to extradite is the president's," prosecutor Mahayu Suryandari told AFP.

"So Sayeed Abbas will remain in detention up until the president makes his decision," she said, adding that Thursday's court ruling was also under review.

Canberra is faced with record numbers of asylum seekers arriving on its shores.

Four more asylum-seekers died after a people-smuggling ship carrying around 150 passengers capsized off Christmas Island on Tuesday, triggering a major rescue operation.

Australia has sought Abbas' extradition since 2010, accusing him of organising dozens of boats for asylum seekers, including one in 2011 that sank and killed some 200 people.

Australian authorities have said they believe Abbas continued to arrange boats for asylum seekers from his prison cell.

A court in Perth issued a warrant for his arrest on 27 charges related to people smuggling to face a maximum jail term of 20 years.

Asylum seekers arriving in Indonesia from countries such as Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar pay people smugglers to get a seat on often rickety wooden vessels for the journey to Australia, but hundreds have died on the perilous voyage.

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PM's daughter sorry over Mean Girls quip

Jessica Rudd (L) has apologised for comparing Parliament House to Lindsay Lohan movie Mean Girls. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd's daughter has apologised for offending hardworking political staffers after comparing Parliament House to a film about mean girls.

In a controversial column for Cleo Magazine this week Jessica Rudd likened the halls of power in Canberra to the 2004 Mean Girls flick, starring Lindsay Lohan.

Former Rudd press secretary Jamila Rizvi took exception to the column on the Mamamia blog site.

"It's true that political staff are often young, idealistic and inexperienced," she said.

"But that doesn't make them sex-obsessed, shameless, lazy, or bitchy."

Most of the time politicians and their staff were "too bloody busy to be getting their Lindsay Lohan on".

"Why? Because they're running the country."

Ms Rudd has since offered an apology for the comments following a backlash on social media.

"To all staffers, journalists, politicians and anyone within a 100-kilometre radius of Parliament House: I am sorry," she wrote.

"I know how hard you work, what it's like to balance that with your family life and then to be beaten up about it at every dinner party... to have people say you're a waste of taxpayers money... if you're a journalist, that you spin lies."

But she reiterated her concerns that "cynicism has become the language of politics."

"People don't feel like they can have a conversation about politics without sarcastic quips."

That had led to "a lot of us, particularly young people, feeling like it is either too hard to talk about or too ugly".

Ms Rudd urged young people to get involved in the political debate, be idealistic and use their voices.

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Bigger fines urged to save NSW koalas

PENALTIES for illegal logging in NSW forests should be 10 times higher to ensure koala habitats are preserved, the state opposition says.

Forestry Corporation of NSW was fined a total of $900 last week after being found guilty of illegal logging of koala habitats in the Royal Camp State Forest near Casino on three separate occasions last year.

Opposition environment spokesman Luke Foley says the "paltry" fine would not deter future illegal logging.

"As a state we should be doing everything we can to protect our dwindling population of koalas," Mr Foley said.

"Are we so indifferent to their plight that the only place they will be in a few years is in captivity?"

Mr Foley has called on the O'Farrell government to support a private member's bill, now being debated in the upper house, to increase penalties for illegal forestry activities.

This would see maximum fines raised from $22,000 to $220,000, with the possibility of two years in prison.

"Increasing penalties by tenfold will help address the exceedingly low penalties for illegal forestry operations and the forestry record on complying with environmental laws," Mr Foley said.

He said forestry penalties fell well below those for other environmental breaches, where fines of $1.1 million can be levied for offences such as polluting a waterway and illegal land clearing.

North East Forest Alliance spokesman Dailan Pugh echoed the call for greater penalties, saying there is currently no incentive for loggers to do the right thing.

"They're taking dozens of trees out of the koala high-use areas and they're making a lot of money out of them, and the fine's nothing.

"It's not even one tree."

A Forestry Corporation spokeswoman said the $900 fine reflected "the insignificant nature of the breaches".

The corporation was found guilty of illegal logging of koala habitats on three occasions last year.

But the spokeswoman said there was no evidence koalas had been harmed in the Royal Camp State Forest.

She added that harvesting in the forest was not intense and "preferred koala feed trees" were not touched.

She also said koalas preferred managed and natural forests.

"Harvesting promotes the preferred forest structures for healthy koala populations," she said.

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Police weigh up charges over royal prank

Radio host Mel Greig (L) has filed a claim against 2Day FM for failing to provide a safe workplace. Source: AAP

THE fallout from a royal prank call continues to haunt 2Day FM radio, with Australian police looking at whether charges could be laid.

Australian Federal Police and NSW police are evaluating a file, provided to them by the UK's Metropolitan Police, over the phone call made on December 4 by presenters Mel Greig and Michael Christian.

They called London's King Edward VII Hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was being treated for a pregnancy-related illness, and pretended to be the Queen and Prince of Wales.

The DJs were put through to the ward by nurse Jacintha Saldanha, who committed suicide soon after the hoax was widely publicised in the British media.

British prosecutors have already said no legal action will be taken in the UK over the call.

But NSW Police spokeswoman said on Thursday that federal police would "evaluate the referral as per the AFP's usual process to determine if any commonwealth offences are identified" and NSW police would look at it from a "state offences" point of view.

The DJs' employer, Austereo, wouldn't comment on Thursday on the possibility of charges being laid in Australia.

"We're not commenting at the moment and have nothing to add ... we're not making a statement," a spokeswoman said.

The referral by British police comes as lawyers for Greig - who has not returned to work - revealed on Wednesday that she is taking legal action against Austereo.

Greig's lawyer, Steven Lewis of Slater & Gordon, says a general protections application has been filed with Fair Work Australia, alleging Southern Cross Austereo failed to maintain a safe workplace in relation to the hoax call incident.

News of Greig's legal action comes a week before a scheduled federal court hearing in Sydney in which 2Day FM is trying to block a media watchdog probe into the prank call.

The radio station last month filed a court application arguing that the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has no power to continue a part of its ongoing investigation.

The federal court hearing is scheduled for July 17.

In London, a spokesman for the Saldanha family says it's no surprise one of the DJs behind the prank call has turned on the station which broadcast the hospital hoax.

Meanwhile, Christian was last month awarded the title of "Top Jock" by Austereo for being at the "top of his game".

An inquest into Ms Saldanha's death is due in London in two months time.

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Rudd, Abbott snipe over indigenous vote

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd says buckpassing on recognising Aborigines in the constitution must end, and is promising a referendum within two years.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott argues it was Labor who put the process on ice in 2012 and he remains committed to a draft constitutional amendment within 12 months if the coalition wins power.

Mr Rudd on Wednesday used a speech in Arnhem Land, marking the 50th anniversary of the first indigenous petitions presented to parliament, to propose a referendum within two years of the federal election if Labor was returned.

"No more delays, no more excuses, no more buck-passing. It's time the nation got on with this business," he said.

The prime minister earlier said Mr Abbott needed to "get his act together" and detail his position.

But Mr Abbott said the government had been sitting on its hands.

"I don't want to politicise this, I really don't, and I'm surprised that Mr Rudd is trying to do that," he told reporters in Melbourne.

"I suggest to Mr Rudd ... the last thing he should be doing is trying to politicise the vital question of indigenous constitutional recognition on which, in principle, everyone is agreed."

Mr Abbott said the referendum would be a "unifying and liberating" moment for the nation.

The initial push for a referendum was suspended by Labor in September 2012 because of the lack of a consensus on what the change should entail.

The parliament in February instead unanimously passed an Act of Recognition as a stepping stone to a referendum.

A two-year sunset clause was inserted in the bill to put pressure on politicians to secure constitutional change within that period.

The community of Yirrkala on Wednesday marked five decades since two petitions went to the federal parliament seeking reconsideration of the decision to excise 300 square kilometres of Arnhem Land for bauxite mining.

The 1963 petitions have been credited with starting a debate which led to the 1967 referendum giving Aboriginal people the vote, the statutory acknowledgment of land rights in 1976 and the overturning of the terra nullius concept by the High Court in the Mabo case in 1992.

"These bark petitions present a bridge between two ancient and noble traditions," Mr Rudd said.

"Eight hundred years ago we had Magna Carta - 800 years later, the Yirrkala bark petitions. These bark petitions are Magna Carta for the indigenous peoples of this land."

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Holden brushes off report of more funding

Holden has brushed off reports it wants more government funding, describing them as speculation. Source: AAP

HOLDEN says reports it wants more taxpayer funding to ensure the future of its Australian car assembly operations is pure speculation.

The company says it won't comment on negotiations with both the federal and state governments over ongoing assistance.

"That's a purely speculative piece and we won't be commenting publicly on our negotiations with either governments or the unions," a Holden spokesman said of the reports on Wednesday.

In 2012 the company was promised $275 million in a package to ensure it continued to build cars in Australia until at least 2022.

The funding would be used to help it design and develop two new vehicles that would be built at the Elizabeth factory in Adelaide from 2016.

While there was in-principle agreement last year, the details were still being finalised with both the commonwealth and the South Australian government.

Concerns over promises by the coalition to adjust auto industry assistance and the timing of the federal election are also causing uncertainty.

But reports said Holden now wanted up to $60 million more in government funding despite recent moves to axe 400 staff in Adelaide and cut production costs.

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union also said the co-investment agreement was under review and more money was being sought.

Industry Minister Kim Carr said the government was in negotiations with Holden and would make an announcement shortly.

"We're not in the business of having private conversations and then broadcasting them," he told reporters in Melbourne.

He said car companies have been adapting rapidly to industry changes and had come through the challenges of the global financial crisis.

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Alcoa posts $US119m second quarter loss

STRONG demand for lightweight aluminium in cars and aeroplanes is helping Alcoa Inc cope with lingering weak metal prices.

The US-headquartered company reported a second-quarter loss of $US119 million ($A131 million). That compared with a loss of $US2 million a year earlier.

The company said the loss was wider than a year ago, but excluding costs for closing smelters and other restructuring and legal expenses, the results slightly beat Wall Street expectations.

Alcoa has customers in many industries, making it a gauge of the economy. And as the first member of the Dow index to report quarterly results, its results draw extra attention from investors.

The company stuck to its forecast of seven per cent growth in global aluminium demand this year, led by a roughly 10 per cent increase for aerospace.

Its shares rose 11 cents, or 1.4 per cent, to end regular trading at $US7.92 before the quarterly results were released. In after-hours trading, they fell four cents.

Aluminium prices skidded about eight per cent during the April-through-June quarter, further hurting the aluminium mining and smelting end of Alcoa.

But other parts of Alcoa's business - the sale of aluminium sheets and parts such as fasteners - are growing as carmakers and aircraft manufacturers use more aluminium for better fuel efficiency.

US consumers who delayed car purchases during the recession bought more than 7.8 million vehicles from January through June, the auto industry's best first half since 2007.

And Boeing and Airbus have backlogs of hundreds of aircraft from airlines desperate to upgrade to newer, more fuel-efficient planes.

Alcoa is closing two smelter lines in Canada and a smelter in Italy, but it's expanding mills in the US that cater to the auto and aerospace industries.

Despite the boost from cars, planes and cost-cutting, Alcoa has been the worst-performing stock in the Dow Jones industrial average this year, down nine per cent.

And in May, Moody's Investors Service lowered the company's credit rating to junk status, citing continuing weak prices for aluminium.

Chairman and CEO Klaus Kleinfeld said on Monday that the company was disappointed by the downgrade, which he said reflected Moody's view of the economy and aluminium prices rather than Alcoa's strategy and performance.

"We control what we can control, and we can't control the metal price volatility," he said.

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Rudd lifts ALP as he proposes party reform

Labor's prospects of holding government have improved as Kevin Rudd proposes party reforms. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd's return to the top job continues to revitalise the government's voting base, giving the Labor leader added authority to reform the party.

Labor's primary vote has risen nine percentage points, to 38 per cent, in the two weeks since Mr Rudd overthrew former leader Julia Gillard.

Based on preference flows, Labor and the coalition are both on 50 per cent of the two-party vote, according to the latest Newspoll published in The Australian newspaper on Tuesday.

Mr Rudd now leads Opposition Leader Tony Abbott 53-31 as preferred prime minister.

"I always said it was going to be a contest," Mr Abbott told reporters in Sydney.

Retiring Labor MP Craig Emerson said Mr Rudd's return had given Labor some much-needed "clear air".

The poll came as the prime minister received a favourable reaction to his plan to overhaul the way Labor chooses its leaders.

He proposes that the vote be split 50-50 between federal caucus and grass-roots members, and will put it to a special caucus meeting in Canberra on July 22.

He has a powerful ally in Labor powerbroker Bill Shorten, who was involved in the coup against Mr Rudd in 2010 but switched allegiance away from Ms Gillard two weeks ago.

Mr shorten said the move would help modernise the ALP and recruit new members.

"It is important for people who are interested in politics that there is a meaning to them getting involved in a political party," Mr Shorten told ABC radio.

"We need to be very transparent about our stability and how we propose a leader."

Another figure involved in the 2010 leadership change, Australian Workers Union boss Paul Howes, said Mr Rudd's reform proposals were "smart".

"I've always supported party reform and I think electing the leader through a different mechanism is something that has to happen," Mr Howes said.

The process is similar to systems in the British Labour party, the Canadian New Democratic Party and the French Socialist Party, he said. New Zealand Labour also recently released a report recommending a direct vote for parliamentary leader.

Former caucus chairman Daryl Melham said voters wanted the party to change.

"Rank-and-file preselections and participation is the way to go rather than backroom factional hacks trying to determine who is going to be prime minister," Mr Melham said.

Mr Melham said Ms Gillard wouldn't have lost her job as Labor leader if the proposed changes had been in place last month.

"For a lot of people that sends a message," he said.

Mr Abbott said the proposed changes were an admission Mr Rudd was frightened of being torn down again.

"The faceless men did it to Kevin before and he wants to make sure that he's protected against them," he said.

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