Bail denied in NT prison drugs case

BAIL has been denied for a man who allegedly traded drugs with a Darwin prison guard and used her to pass messages to other prisoners, including a suspected Rebels bikie gang leader.

Phillip Noel Kaye, 35, is allegedly part of a six-person drug and corruption ring that operated out of Darwin Correctional Centre and included three prison guards, a police officer and a firefighter.

It's alleged he used prison guard Sarah Rudd to pass messages to other inmates, including organising drug deals, and gave her methamphetamines and MDMA.

At Darwin Magistrates Court on Friday, Magistrate Greg Cavanagh denied him bail, saying there was a real likelihood that he would reoffend if released.

"Given the multitude of offending and his previous record, bail must be refused," Mr Cavanagh said.

Kaye is facing more than a dozen charges, including possession of a trafficable quantity of drugs, unlawfully obtaining confidential information, attempting to pervert the course of justice and official corruption.

"Cheer up," he told an unidentified tearful female supporter as he was led from the courtroom.

His defence argued that bail should be granted because his girlfriend has recently given birth to a seven-week premature baby.

They also said a key witness had made allegations against him last year to police before saying she had lied due to mental illness.

Kaye will reappear in court at a later date.

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NT government wants GST to remain at 10%

The Northern Territory treasurer says he's happy for the GST to stay at 10 per cent. Source: AAP

A HIKE in the GST would be detrimental to Australia's competitiveness in the long run, the Northern Territory treasurer says.

Dave Tollner, of the Country Liberals, says the NT is happy for the GST to remain at 10 per cent, and does not support Western Australian Liberal Premier Colin Barnett in his calls to increase it to 12.5 per cent.

"(It) certainly might help some short term problems but I think in the long run would harm our international competitiveness and be detrimental," Mr Tollner told the ABC on Friday.

"We're taking a position that we want to tighten our belts, we want to reduce spending, at the same time try and maintain services but to get to a position where we live within our means."

But he did call for the federal government to review a Commonwealth Grants Commission decision last year to take $100 million in funding from the NT, saying it was the equivalent to stripping $6 billion from NSW or Victoria.

The decision was based on census data that showed more people in the eastern states identifying as Aboriginal and therefore receiving more federal funding, but a spokesman for the treasurer's office said it didn't consider the unique issue of the NT's vast geography.

"The way it was formulated didn't factor in the huge issue of remoteness, and how socially disadvantaged Aboriginal people are by living in remote areas," the spokesman told AAP.

Otherwise, Mr Tollner said, he was happy with how the GST was being allocated.

Around 80 per cent of the NT's budget comes from the GST.

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WA premier braces for more school strikes

More than 20,000 people have come together to support an unprecedented teacher's strike across WA. Source: AAP

MORE than 20,000 people have come together to support an unprecedented teacher's strike across Western Australia.

And beleaguered Premier Colin Barnett has been warned it could be just the beginning of a potentially lengthy fight with unions over school funding.

Teachers, principals, education assistants, school support staff, parents and children flocked to a mass rally to protest job losses and funding reforms that unions claim will deprive schools of millions of dollars.

More than 60 schools across the state closed for the morning, with 23 rallies across WA adding their voices to the mass protest in Perth, despite teachers being threatened with having their pay docked for attending.

A defiant government continued to insist the strike was disruptive, unnecessary and unjustified - but still agreed to meet union leaders next week to listen to grievances.

"This campaign will keep running. It will keep growing. This government has to learn that it can't build stadiums at the expense of our children's education," Carolyn Smith from United Voice said.

"Colin Barnett and (education minister) Peter Collier continue to hide from the truth, but the community is determined - we're not going away."

Opposition leader Mark McGowan told the rally it was obvious the premier had a major fight on his hands to convince the public his plans to reform school funding was correct.

"I am looking at the thousands and thousands of people here today and I am thinking 'Mr Barnett, you picked the wrong people,'" Mr McGowan said.

"These are not reforms, these are cuts."

The day after WA lost its AAA credit rating from agency Standard and Poor's, Mr Barnett said there was no connection between the state's dwindling economic power and the decision to reshape education funding.

He lambasted Mr McGowan for talking down the state's schools.

"How can the Leader of the Opposition go out and talk about children suffering. What do you think this is, Bangladesh?," Premier Barnett said in parliament.

More than 5000 people attended similar stop work meetings in regional areas, including 2000 in Bunbury, 500 in Albany, 520 in Pinjarra and 200 in Port Hedland.

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Man charged over murder of Sydney father

A MAN has been charged with murder over the fatal stabbing of a Sydney father.

Doonside man Cheyne Duncan, 33, died in Westmead Hospital on Wednesday afternoon after he was attacked with a machete while walking his children home from school.

A 21-year-old man was on Thursday morning arrested over the attack and later charged with his murder.

Bail was refused and he's due before Blacktown Local Court on Friday.

Teddy bears, flowers and cards have been left near the site of the murder.

"I love you dad," says a note written by one of Mr Duncan's children.

Another man injured in the attack has been released from hospital.

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Albo launches ALP leadership bid

Anthony Albanese will visit three cities and launch a website in his bid for Labor leadership. Source: AAP

BILL Shorten may have the majority support of the ALP caucus for the party's federal leadership but he's going to have a tough fight winning over NSW rank and file members.

More than 200 people packed into the trade union hall in central Sydney on Tuesday night for the launch of outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's leadership bid.

The fervent supporters gave the member for Grayndler a standing ovation and cheered "Albo, Albo," as he entered.

ALP member and staunch "Albo" supporter Melanie Brake, 36, told AAP the party needed reform and Mr Albanese was the best person to deliver it.

"He is the kind of person that has the integrity and a Labor vision," she said.

"He has the credibility within the party, he has the standing in the party and he's got the credentials and the experience to do it."

Mr Shorten and Mr Albanese have both nominated for Labor's inaugural ballot of caucus and ordinary ALP members to elect the new federal parliamentary leader in opposition.

The result will be announced on October 13 after a postal ballot of Labor's estimated 40,000 members and an October 10 caucus meeting.

Mr Shorten says the majority of the ALP caucus is behind him and that he was encouraged by expressions of support from grassroots members.

But that didn't stop Labor frontbencher Penny Wong throwing her support behind Mr Albanese for leader.

Former climate change minister Greg Combet, who introduced the aspiring opposition leader at the launch, is also backing Mr Albanese.

"You've got to be clear in mind about your values, your policies... and articulate that to the community," he told AAP.

"Most importantly, you've got to be tough and fight hard and Anthony has all those attributes. I think the times demand him."

But he expects Mr Shorten will have a lot of support particularly in his home state of Victoria.

"He'd be a great leader if he was elected too," Mr Combet said.

It is understood Mr Shorten, the Right faction powerbroker, can count on about 54 per cent of the caucus vote.

But the grassroots membership skews to the Left and is likely to favour Mr Albanese.

Mr Albanese is embarking on a three-city tour over the next three days and will be taking along his three word slogan "Vision. Unity. Strength."

Acting Labor leader Chris Bowen wouldn't endorse either contender but would attend campaign events if both aspirants were present.

Mr Shorten said he and Mr Albanese had agreed to a "civil debate about ideas, not personalities".

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

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

But he added that issues surrounding services for people with disabilities must be kept at the centre of the political stage, and that Labor must still keep the Abbott government accountable during the leadership contest.

Mr Shorten appears to favour outgoing health minister Tanya Plibersek for the opposition deputy leader position, if she chose to run.

Bookmakers have Mr Albanese a clear favourite.

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First witness testifies in Kenya case

THE prosecution in the crimes against humanity case against Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto has called its first witness at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

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Nth Korea won't co-operate with UN body

THE head of a UN human rights probe says he can't get answers from North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and his government is responding with slander.

Former Australian High Court justice Michael Kirby, who heads the UN commission examining North Korea's human rights record, said on Tuesday that his July 16 letter to the leader hasn't been answered, and the government has offered no evidence to contradict graphic testimony of human rights abuses in the secretive nation.

Kirby, a former judge in Australia's highest court, told the UN Human Rights Council that the commission it created in March nonetheless gathered testimony from dozens of victims and experts at public hearings in Seoul and Tokyo last month that has "given a face and voice to great human suffering."

For example, he said, the commission heard from a young man imprisoned from birth, who said he lived on rodents, lizards and grass and saw his mother and brother executed.

It also heard from a young woman who said she saw another female prisoner forced to drown her own baby in a bucket, Kirby said, and a man who said he was forced to help collect and burn the corpses of prisoners who died of starvation.

"The commission invited the authorities of Democratic People's Republic of Korea to attend the public hearings in Seoul and make representations, but received no reply," Kirby said.

"Instead, its official news agency attacked the testimony we heard as 'slander' against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, put forward by 'human scum'."

In a June 19 dispatch, the KCNA news agency also denounced the witnesses as "wild dogs in human form" who had become "the main player in the confrontation farce under the patronage of the south Korean puppet group and brigandish US imperialists".

"An ounce of evidence is worth far more than many pounds of insults and baseless attacks," Kirby told the 47-nation Council based in Geneva, which is the UN's top human rights body.

"So far, however, the evidence we have heard has largely pointed in one direction - and evidence to the contrary is lacking."

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Stronger pound could hit UK recovery

THE pound has defied recent expectations of a fall as it heads towards a level of $US1.60 for the first time in eight months.

A focus on prospects for a tapering of monetary stimulus in the American economy has pushed down the greenback against sterling in the money markets.

Investors believe the withdrawal of former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers from the running to become the next chair of the US Federal Reserve makes a sharp cut in the Fed's multi-billion dollar quantitative easing (QE) program less likely.

It comes on top of a recent improvement in the pound's fortunes due to scepticism over Bank of England governor Mark Carney's flagship low interest rate policy.

The strengthening in the currency may have come too late for many British summer holidaymakers but could make imported goods and materials cheaper for UK firms and consumers.

By contrast, exporters are likely to face a struggle to sell their products abroad as they become increasingly expensive - threatening prospects for recovery in the country's beleaguered manufacturing base.

The pound has been rising since plunging to below 1.49 US dollars in July, and pushed above 1.59 following the latest announcement about the future running of the Fed.

But the strength of sterling could hamper the UK's efforts to boost gross domestic product, which remains 3% below pre-recession levels.

Lee Hopley, chief economist at manufacturers' organisation EEF, said: "The higher pound is going to be an issue for some exporters.

"A lot of what British companies export is less price sensitive than it used to be, but it will still be an issue. Quite a bit of the recovery has been led by exports."

Sterling has been on a rollercoaster ride over the summer, falling sharply on the initial impact of Mr Carney's arrival at Threadneedle Street, after an indication that interest rates would remain low for some time to come.

The prospect of cheap money pushed stock markets up but sent the pound spiralling lower, with some analysts predicting it would go as low as 1.30 US dollars, given the decline in North Sea oil production and continued trade deficit.

However, sentiment hardened as doubts began to emerge about the details of the Bank's "forward guidance" policy, linking any possibility of an interest rate rise to a fall in unemployment to 7%.

While the headline guidance suggested this meant they would not rise until 2016 at the earliest, traders began to believe the Bank's forecasts on unemployment were too pessimistic, leading to the expectation that rates would come up sooner.

The likelihood of higher interest rates has led traders to expect there will be increasing demand for the pound, pushing up its price.

In addition, this weekend's announcement by Mr Summers that he was pulling out of the race to lead the Fed has depressed the dollar

Mr Summers was seen as a sceptic on the Fed's QE policy. The prospect of billions continuing to flow out of the central bank continuing to flow into the US economy unhindered drove down the value of the currency.

Some economists already believe the rise in the sterling has gone too far, however, and that it is set for a fall.

Jessica Hinds of Capital Economics said that the rise in the pound was already looking overdone last week, predicting that UK rates were likely to remain at their current low until 2017 amid a recovery not yet as strong as that of the US.

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