Mubarak still behind bars after ruling

AN Egyptian court has ordered the release of ousted president Hosni Mubarak over the deaths of protesters but he'll remain in custody over fraud charges, state media report.

The Cairo court ordered "the release of former president Hosni Mubarak, so long as he is not detained on other charges", the official MENA news agency reported.

The former president, who attended Monday's court session, will remain in custody pending investigation into separate corruption charges.

Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for three decades, was ousted in a popular uprising in 2011.

He has been under arrest since April 2011 charged with complicity in the murder and attempted murder of hundreds of peaceful protesters on January 25-31, 2011. He is also facing several charges of corruption.

Defence lawyer Farid al-Dib made the case for his release on the grounds that Mubarak has spent two years in custody.

In January, Egypt's Court of Cassation ordered a retrial for Mubarak after accepting an appeal against his life sentence, citing procedural failings.

However, the new trial was cut short on Saturday when the judge recused himself and asked the case to be passed to another court after a short but chaotic first sitting.

In October, the same judge had acquitted defendants in the infamous "Battle of the Camels" trial, who were accused of sending men on camels and horses to break up a protest during the 2011 uprising.

Mubarak appeared relaxed and comfortable at the retrial on Saturday, waving to supporters and chatting to his sons Alaa and Gamal, who are also on trial charged with corruption.

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US stocks lower on weak Chinese growth

US stocks have retreated following a surprisingly weak economic report out of China.

Five minutes into trade on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 60.97 points, or 0.41 per cent, to 14,804.09.

The broad-based S&P 500 sank 8.78 points, or 0.55 per cent, to 1,580.07.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 16.15 points, or 0.49 per cent, to 3,278.79.

Official government data on Monday said growth in China slowed to 7.7 per cent in the first quarter, compared with a median forecast of 8.0 per cent in an AFP survey and 7.9 per cent in the previous quarter.

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Sydney girl dies after being hit by car

A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD girl has died in hospital after being hit by a car in Sydney's west last week.

Police said the girl was run down by the car in Wilga Street, Fairfield about 6pm last Thursday.

She was taken to Liverpool Hospital and had been on life support, but died on Monday morning.

Police have spoken to a 44-year-old woman who was driving the car that struck the child.

Officers say they believe the child ran out onto the road.

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NSW man trapped under car for three days

AN elderly man has been rescued after spending three days stuck under a crashed car in NSW's central west.

Police said neighbours found the man, 76, trapped under the Honda CRV about 6.30pm on Monday (AEST).

The vehicle had crashed into a tree on the man's Rylstone property, police said.

It's thought the man got out of his car after the crash and then the car rolled on top of him.

Police believe the man was trapped under the chassis for at least three days.

He was still conscious when found, but was suffering severe injuries including a fractured skull.

He has been flown to John Hunter Hospital at Newcastle.

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Welfare tragic for indigenous: Pearson

ABORIGINAL leader Noel Pearson says welfare entitlement has been "a tragic disability" for his people.

Mr Pearson has backed comments by indigenous academic Marcia Langton that a sense of entitlement had poisoned Aboriginal society.

"It's been a tragic disability," he told ABC TV on Monday.

"The flipside of the opening up of the doors of citizenship to our people, was the provision of welfare. What should have been provided was opportunities to engage in ... the mainstream economy."

Australia was now "reaping that tragedy".

He also echoed Professor Langton's statements about mining being a quiet revolution for indigenous people.

"The revolution she is talking about is one that is absolutely tectonically happening," he said, adding that it was a strange irony.

Mr Pearson reflected on his "bitter" negotiations with Rio Tinto in his early years of work in the Cape York and how the changed paradigm was now creating a new Aboriginal middle class.

"We've got to embrace Aboriginal success," he said.

"Money and materialism shouldn't be an anathema to Aboriginal people."

He said indigenous people needed to be striving for a better life.

"We still haven't gotten out of the mindset of Aboriginal people being the poor, benighted victims in Australian society," Mr Pearson said.

Mr Pearson is frustrated his far north Queensland Cape York welfare reform trials had not been able to achieve home ownership for any indigenous people in the trial communities.

"There are complexities of home ownership on Aboriginal land involving tenure," he said.

"Many of the Aboriginal people in these communities earn full-time wages, work for adjacent mining companies, but they can't own a home on their own land."

The federal government was yet to heed his message that the focus on social housing should move to home ownership, Mr Pearson said.

The trials, under way in Coen, Aurukun, Mossman Gorge and Hope Vale, aim to restore local indigenous authority and improve living conditions and the local economy.

Mr Pearson is in remission from lymphoma and says 2012 was his "descent into hell".

"But I had the great joy to spend 12 months with my youngest child," he said.

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Aussies fret more, but drink less: study

AUSTRALIANS have cut down on smoking and drinking, but they have gained weight and become more anxious, a major research project shows.

A survey of 50,000 Australians has found 1.1 million fewer glasses of alcoholic beverages are being consumed a week and 134,000 fewer people smoke compared with 2007.

The bad news is 736,000 more adults are obese and the number of people with anxiety has increased by 1.3 million, says Michele Levine, CEO of Roy Morgan Research, which collaborated with Alere healthcare company to establish the Alere Wellness Index.

Although tempting, it is not possible to link reduced smoking and drinking to increased anxiety and obesity.

"It's more likely that local and global economic issues are to blame for the psycho-emotional trend and fast-food consumption could account for the increase in obesity," said John Lang of Alere.

The results are based on 1,800 questions put to 50,000 people a year for the past five years.

According to the research, western Brisbane is the most healthy of the 57 areas surveyed. Least healthy is the Murray and Murrumbidgee area in NSW.

The questions cover medical conditions, food purchasing and consumption and psychological wellbeing. Alcohol, smoking, body weight and activity levels are also included.

"Compared to 2007, the overall health of Australians is down just slightly," said Ms Levine.

Alere managing director Mark Volling says the research allows well-informed monitoring of chronic disease risk factors.

"The index allows us to determine where action is needed," he said.

"It will provide an excellent public health resource to assist state and federal governments in their allocation of health services and funding.

"It will also provide an invaluable tool with which to track outcomes of public health initiatives."

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NSW govt to fast-track new homes

COUNCILS could be forced to approve development applications for new homes in just 10 days under proposed reforms to NSW planning laws.

A government white paper out Tuesday recommends forcing councils to give rulings on DAs within 10 days or risk losing decision making powers, News Ltd reports.

The report says councils will have to green-light the fast-tracked approvals if the new homes are under two storeys and don't impact neighbours.

The approval process for some apartments, townhouse developments and new shops and land subdivisions will also be sped up under the plan.

Councils reportedly take an average 71 days to adjudicate on DAs at the moment.

The O'Farrell government hopes the recommended changes will save the state up to $1.7 billion over the next decade.

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Most support coalition on super: Newspoll

DESPITE Labor introducing Australia's modern superannuation system, most people do not trust party on the issue and are opposed to any tax increases after the federal government's pre-budget announcement of cuts to retirement concessions for the wealthiest, a Newspoll shows.

The poll, in The Australian newspaper on Tuesday, revealed 55 per cent of voters did not "currently" trust Labor on superannuation, compared to 31 per cent who did.

Just one in four believes the ALP, the party that introduced modern superannuation and compulsory employer payments to workers, can best handle the issue.

The Newspoll survey was taken on the weekend after Treasurer Wayne Swan announced changes aimed at saving $1 billion over four years.

Eighty-one per cent of coalition voters were strongly against Labor, as well as 24 per cent of ALP voters, who also said they did not trust it.

There was almost equal support from both sides of politics for lifting the maximum limit allowed for extra personal payments into superannuation from the current $25,000, with 69 per cent of coalition voters and 67 per cent of Labor voters in agreement.

The poll showed opposition to an increased tax on superannuation at 78 per cent, with 89 per cent of coalition voters and 66 per cent of Labor voters against the move.

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Labor may take new media changes to poll

COMMUNICATIONS Minister Stephen Conroy says Labor will consider what policies on media reform, if any, it will take to September's election.

The government withdrew four bills last month after it could not gain the support of the crossbenchers for them to pass the lower house.

Senator Conroy said the old policies were rejected by the parliament.

"We will work through it over the next month or two what we will consider taking to the election," Senator Conroy told ABC television on Monday night.

The four bills included proposals to introduce a new public interest test for media mergers and acquisitions and to establish an advocate to ensure press councils upheld standards and dealt with complaints.

Two non-contentious bills to reduce licence fees for commercial television broadcasters and make changes to the level of local content broadcast passed.

Senator Conroy said the failed bills were dead.

"That is no longer our policy," he said.

The minister slammed Sydney's Daily Telegraph for its story on the $37.4 billion national broadband network (NBN) on Monday.

The paper quoted coalition analysis suggesting the final cost of the NBN could push up to $90 billion and it would take an extra four years to complete.

"Let's be clear, today's Daily Telegraph is back to the bad old days, it's back to a campaign against the NBN Co, a campaign against the government," Senator Conroy said.

"The Daily Telegraph did not even seek comment from my office about these claims of $90 billion."

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UK still dominated by Thatcher legacy

MARGARET Thatcher's free-market reforms were controversial, but they fundamentally changed the British economy and still provide a yardstick against which her successors are judged.

During the 1980s, her Conservative government deregulated the financial markets, broke the power of the trade unions, privatised the utilities and the national airline, and promoted individual responsibility wherever possible.

Debate still rages about the impact of these changes, from supporters who say it put Britain on a more competitive footing, to detractors who say it wrecked communities and left the country exposed to the vagaries of the markets.

But like them or loathe them, the reforms had an enduring legacy in attitudes to work and welfare in Britain, and are now the point of comparison for all policies introduced by Thatcher's successors.

Ever since Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron begin introducing deep spending cuts following his election in May 2010, his efforts have been viewed through the prism of whether he is more or less radical than the Iron Lady.

Labour prime minister Tony Blair, in power from 1997 to 2007, was also branded an heir to Thatcher when he advocated bringing competition into public services.

But where that would have once been toxic for a Labour leader, the electoral success of Blair's New Labour project, which combined market-friendly policies with heavy investment in health and education, proved Britain had changed.

"Whether you like Mrs Thatcher or not, she changed the British economy forever and she also changed the way British people think about money, capitalism and enterprise," said Tony Travers, a lecturer at the London School of Economics.

But while proclaiming his admiration for Thatcher, who he received at Downing Street shortly after his election, Cameron has distanced himself from the more controversial aspects of his predecessor's policies.

Learning the lessons from a decade in opposition, he tried to soften his party's image, offering a vision of "compassionate Conservatism" that embraced the liberal principles but was more concerned about the social impact.

In retort to her claim that there is "no such thing as society", Cameron's supporters insist that there is - "it's just not the same as the state". And of course, he has joined a coalition with the centrist Liberal Democrats.

However, his plan for a "Big Society", which envisages transferring many state responsibilities to civil society, has echoes of Thatcher.

The coalition is also selling off the state-owned postal service the Royal Mail, and is mulling new strike laws to limit union action against the cuts.

Michael Portillo, a leading Conservative figure in the 1980s and 1990s, praised the coalition's "breathtaking" ambition to reform government practice and bring in economic changes "at least as challenging" as Thatcher's.

From which Travers concludes: "Cameron's supporters like to think he looks like her. The truth is he is a younger and more modern politician ... acting at a different time."

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