PROTESTERS have announced they have cut off electricity to the Thai prime minister's office compound and are demanding that police abandon the premises amid a political crisis that has dragged on for weeks.
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PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has kicked off parliament's annual valedictory speeches, marking 2013 as the year Australian troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan.
Following a tribute to retiring clerk of the House of Representatives Bernard Wright, Mr Abbott praised the service of Australian troops after almost a decade in the Afghan province of Uruzgan.
"Our troops have done a magnificent job, but they've paid a high price," he said.
"We hope that the years of service and sacrifice will be honoured by a province and a country that respects the values that we tried to bring to that province."
He said the nation had also endured floods in Queensland and fires in NSW.
"But so often in this country, nature at its worst brings out Australians at their best," he said.
He noted the change of government in September and promised it would be for the better.
"I am determined to ensure that it is a very long time indeed before this country has three prime ministers in one year," he said.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten acknowledged the thousands of Holden workers who will soon be out of a job following the announcement that the company will cease manufacturing in Australia.
"We will continue to stand up for their futures every day," Mr Shorten said.
He too noted the devastation of natural disasters across the country, which began with the Tasmanian bushfires earlier in the year.
"The worst in over 30 years, through one of the state's harshest heatwaves," he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss described the past year as "long and somewhat tumultuous" while his Labor counterpart Tanya Plibersek said it had certainly been curious.
"I don't think history will look kindly on the last parliament," Mr Truss said.
"It was raucous and I don't think it reflected well on the process of our democracy."
Ms Plibersek said people watching the nightly news would have thought the past year was almost entirely one of conflict but parliament had achieved things.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott will host his first COAG meeting in Canberra on Friday. Source: AAP
PRIME Minister Tony Abbott will use his first meeting with state premiers and chief ministers to start the groundwork for delivering the coalition's paid parental leave scheme.
Mr Abbott will host his first Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting at Parliament House in Canberra on Friday.
The coalition promised at the election to roll out a scheme to pay mothers who give birth after July 2015 up to half their annual salary for 26 weeks, capped at a salary of $150,000 a year.
COAG will discuss how the plan, costing $5.5 billion a year, will fit in with existing state public sector parental leave schemes.
Mr Abbott said during the election campaign there would be no extra cost to state governments and the national scheme would be an improvement to existing state schemes.
However, he said he wanted to have an "adult discussion" with the premiers about its details.
The scheme is to be paid for by a levy on Australia's largest businesses.
COAG will also discuss ways to fast-track and fund major infrastructure and boost jobs in manufacturing.
The manufacturing talks had been scheduled well before the announcement of Holden ceasing car production from 2017, but is now expected to take greater prominence.
Mr Abbott will talk to the premiers about his plans for a white paper on reform of federal-state relations.
The prime minister said in a speech when he was opposition leader that COAG had become "a talk shop, not a decision-making process" and the roles of the federal, state and territory governments needed to be better defined.
FORMER attorney-general Mark Dreyfus, retired Liberal backbencher Judi Moylan and Labor's Melissa Parke have been honoured with awards for integrity in politics at a ceremony in Canberra.
The three were chosen from a field of 16 federal parliamentarians, with the awards recognising honesty, civility, independence and courage in politics.
Mr Dreyfus was presented the Button award for frontbenchers, named after longtime Labor senator and minister John Button, who was noted for his honesty and candour.
Ms Moylan and Ms Parke were awarded the Missen Award for backbenchers, in honour of the famously independent-minded Liberal senator Alan Missen, who voted against his own party 41 times.
The awards, for work in the previous parliament, were presented by transparency group the Accountability Roundtable.
Chair of the Roundtable Tim Smith QC praised Mr Dreyfus for his "outstanding commitment to serve the public interest", citing as achievements his central role in the passage of whistleblower protections and changes to the sexual discrimination act.
The former Labor government minister said he was proud to receive the Button reward, named after someone who had been a great figure in his life, someone he knew well and who had encouraged him to enter federal politics.
"I feel supported in all of the work that I've done, and it's good to have the work acknowledged," Mr Dreyfus said.
Ms Moylan, who retired at the September election and had her own reputation for crossing the floor, was honoured for, among many things, her advocacy of the rights of asylum seekers.
"In the 43rd parliament she ... sought to hold the government to account and to change policies of both government and opposition in a number of areas," Mr Smith said.
"In particular, she continued her attempts to depoliticise and change the policies of the government and the opposition in relation to asylum seekers."
Fremantle MP Ms Parke was honoured for her work on human rights and international relations, and for her role as chair of a federal committee overseeing the transparency of law enforcement bodies such as the Australian Federal Police and Customs.
"Her contribution to debate and deliberations on policy within and outside parliament on significant world and domestic matters at times challenged the government's position and administration of policy," Mr Smith said.
"Matters have included the treatment of asylum seekers, the rights of children, minorities and indigenous people, and issues of people trafficking, gene patents, animal welfare and the death penalty."
Three sailors have been suspended over allegations of unacceptable behaviour on HMAS Ballarat. Source: AAP
THREE sailors have been suspended from duties and could face prosecution for unacceptable behaviour aboard HMAS Ballarat.
Defence force investigators boarded HMAS Ballarat in early November after a sailor made allegations of sexual assault against several members of the ship's company.
Defence issued an update on its investigations on Wednesday, saying there is a reasonable suspicion three members of HMAS Ballarat ship's company have committed serious service offences.
They have been suspended from duty.
"Similar to civilian criminal investigative processes, evidence gathered will now be referred for prosecutorial review," Defence said in its statement.
Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Ray Griggs said a separate administrative inquiry into "certain aspects" relating to the HMAS Ballarat allegations has commenced.
"This inquiry is being run ... to identify any broader procedural or cultural issues that may require further action by Navy," he said.
He reiterated that Navy did not tolerate unacceptable behaviour.
"It is inconsistent with its values and the behaviours," he said.
"Unacceptable behaviour by individuals damages our people and our effectiveness to conduct operations and achieve our mission," he said.
Defence said the director of military prosecutions may consider a range of actions against the three sailors, including laying charges and referral to the Registrar of Military Justice for consideration by a Service Tribunal, or referral for civilian prosecution.
Defence has not detailed the allegations.
But after the defence investigation was made public a former naval member claimed officers were "set upon, stripped off and had things essentially put in their bums".
THE United Nations Security Council has voted unanimously to maintain an arms embargo on Liberia, a travel ban on named individuals, and an asset freeze against former Liberian president Charles Taylor, his key allies and associated companies.
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YOUNG people in NSW will struggle to buy property with state government cuts to the first home buyers grants effectively locking them out of the market, the state opposition says.
Monthly loan figures for October, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, show about seven per cent of loans taken to buy property were from first home buyers, shadow treasurer Michael Daley said.
In October 2010, the figure was around 17 per cent, he added.
"The disappointing figures follow (Premier) Barry O'Farrell's decision to dump the $7000 First Home Owner Grant and end stamp duty exemptions worth up to $17,990 for first home buyers purchasing existing homes," Mr Daley said.
"Instead, the government's New Home Grant Scheme has paid 9802 grants to property investors and existing home owners buying a second property - further putting first home buyers out of the market."
Under the changes, taxpayer's money is "assisting property speculators", Mr Daley said.
NSW treasurer Mike Baird said the government made the changes to increase the number of first home buyers purchasing new homes.
Grants for newly built homes are up 83 per cent in the six months to November compared to the same period in 2012, Mr Baird added.
A $15,000 grant, applicable for the next two years, is available to first homebuyers of new homes costing up to $650,000.
Stamp duty won't be charged on homes worth less than $550,000 and a reduced fee will be imposed upon those who purchase property for less than $650,000, Mr Baird said.
"Previous incentives to first homebuyers for existing properties simply increased mortgage sizes, as they increased demand without any boost to housing supply," Mr Baird said in a statement to AAP.
"We are unashamedly targeting first homebuyer incentives towards new homes."
The NSW property market, he said, was the best it had been for a decade.
"Increasing housing stock and choice will ease competition in the market and help to get more first homebuyers into the housing market sooner."
DEXUS Property Group has upgraded its earnings guidance as a result of a buyback of securities and the net impact of Dexus's investment in the Commonwealth Property Office Fund (CPA).
Dexus also says its office and industrial portfolios are performing solidly.
Dexus on Tuesday lifted its earnings guidance for the 2014 financial year to 8.29 cents per stapled security, from 8.15 cents per security - up seven per cent on the 2013 result.
"Today's increase in guidance is evidence of our focus on enhancing value and returns to investors," Dexus chief executive Darren Steinberg said in a statement.
"Both the re-instatement of the buy-back in July 2013 and our use of an efficient derivative structure for the investment in CPA, reflect our active approach to capital management."
Dexus will distribute 3.07 cents per security for the six months ending December 31, 2013 - up 6.2 per cent on the prior corresponding period.
Dexus is aiming to pay a full year distribution of 6.24 cents per security.
Dexus securities were two cents higher at $1.035 at 1021 AEDT.
More than 1000 viewers have complained about the BBC's excessive coverage of Nelson Mandela's death. Source: AAP
MORE than 1000 viewers have complained about the excessive coverage of Nelson Mandela's death on BBC services, including some who grumbled about Mrs Brown's Boys being interrupted.
The BBC has defended the extent to which it featured the death of the former South African president, a major news item which led bulletins around the world.
By Monday, the BBC had received 1350 complaints about too much coverage across its news services, with some saying the emphasis had reduced the coverage of severe weather across the UK that day.
Programme chiefs broke into a repeat of BBC1 sitcom Mrs Brown's Boys to break the news.
"Nelson Mandela was a hugely significant world leader with an enormous political and cultural influence across the world," a BBC spokeswoman said.
"His death is of considerable interest to our audiences at home and across the globe."
Victorian public hospital doctors have received a pay rise of about 10 per cent over four years. Source: AAP
VICTORIAN public hospital doctors have received a pay rise of about 10 per cent over four years.
The four-year enterprise bargaining agreement for the state's 8600 doctors will see them receive three instalments of 3.33 per cent salary increases.
Victorian Health Minister David Davis said the agreement was a "fair outcome" following talks in the Fair Work Commission.
Mr Davis said paramedics were now the last public health sector employees yet to finalise their enterprise bargaining agreements.
