A man has suffered serious burns when his car caught fire on Adelaide's Northern Expressway. Source: AAP
A MAN has been pulled from his burning car on an Adelaide expressway.
Emergency crews pulled the man from his car at Virginia after it caught fire while travelling on the Northern Expressway, SA police say.
He suffered serious burns and was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
The car was badly damaged.
Fire cause investigators will examine the car.
Australians who receive the disability support pension will be assessed for the capacity to work. Source: AAP
UP to 20,000 Australians who receive the disability support pension (DSP) will be assessed for the capacity to work, and if deemed able, will be expected to get a job.
In tough talk ahead of the budget, Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews also repeated warnings that the days of young Australians sitting at home on the couch collecting welfare cheques were over.
He said the government believed young people should be either be working or training for work.
"The message out of this is simply this. The days of easy welfare for young people are over. We want a fair system but we don't think it is fair that young people can just sit on the couch at home and pick up a welfare cheque. Those days are over," he told reporters in Melbourne.
Mr Andrews confirmed the budget, to be delivered on Tuesday night, will introduce rules that mean some people collecting the DSP disability support pension will be reviewed for capacity to work.
That will apply to some 10-20,000 people who had gone onto the DSP in the last 5-6 years but not yet assessed under new impairment tables.
"If they are capable of working, whether it is full-time or part-time, then our expectation is that they should be working," he said.
Mr Andrews said measures announced on Tuesday would be just the first instalment of reform.
He said former Mission Australia chief executive Patrick McClure had completed his discussion paper on welfare reforms but would review it in light of budget changes.
The review will be released for public consultation after the budget.
"I will be taking to cabinet further proposals for welfare review. This will go to the structural arrangements," Mr Andrews said.
Mr Andrews said the welfare system now comprised some 50 payments, allowances and supplements assembled ad hoc over the years.
"It is time to have a clear look at making structural change so far as welfare is concerned," he said.
Proposed changes are in line with the report of the National Commission of Audit which said the DSP was costing $15.8 billion a year.
Opposition health spokeswoman Catherine King was critical of the changes to the DSP.
"Why would you be punishing them? Why would you be punishing their income security payments and trying to restrict their access to income support whilst at the same time cutting a whole lot of benefits that support them into work," she told reporters in Melbourne.
An 18-year-old man is in hospital after he was stabbed at a railway station south of Sydney. Source: AAP
THREE men and a teenage girl have been arrested after a stabbing at a NSW train station.
Policy say an 18-year-old man was found with a stab wound to his back at Sutherland Railway Station early on Saturday.
He was taken to St George Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Three men, 19, 23 and 26, and a 17-year-old girl were arrested less than an hour later at Engadine.
Police are questioning them at Sutherland Police Station.
Police are still searching for a fifth man thought to be linked to the stabbing.
Australian beef baron Graeme Acton has died aged 63, after falling from a horse. Source: AAP
PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has paid tribute to Australian beef baron Graeme Acton, describing him as a great and proud man.
"He was a proud Queenslander and a great Australian," Mr Abbott said in a statement following news of Mr Acton's death on Friday in Brisbane.
"Graeme contributed so much to agriculture in our country, in particular to the cattle industry around Rockhampton where the Actons have been farming for four generations."
Mr Acton, 63, had been on life support in the Royal Brisbane Hospital after falling from a horse on May 2 while competing in a campdrafting event in central Queensland.
Queensland Premier Campbell Newman said he was shocked and saddened.
"He was an outstanding character who was much loved by all," he said in a statement.
"A hard working Queenslander, he devoted his life to the land and growing the cattle industry in this state."
Federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said Mr Acton was a hero of the cattle industry and a fierce advocate for agriculture.
"We are truly indebted to this great Australian, for the blessing he has been as a father, husband, friend, pioneer and great captain of the agricultural industry in Australia," he said.
Just last week Mr Acton had told Mr Joyce how the government could do things better.
"His words of wisdom were not lost on me," Mr Joyce said.
"Graeme possessed a unique ability to communicate with people irrespective of their background or social standing and united tens of thousands through his love of the art form of campdrafting."
Mr Acton headed Acton Land and Cattle - one of the country's largest farming operations.
The firm owns 180,000 head of cattle on seven Queensland farms which span about 1.58 million hectares of land.
Acton Land and Cattle exports 30,000 beasts to the Middle East and Asia each year.
Mr Acton is survived by his wife Jennie and their children Tom, Hayley, Victoria and Laura.
Two people have been killed after their car hit a tree in a Gold Coast suburb. Source: AAP
TWO people have been killed after their car hit a tree in a Gold Coast suburb.
The driver, a 27-year-old Darra man, and a 26-year-old Fortitude Valley woman were travelling along a road in Nerang just before 12.30am when their vehicle collided with a tree.
Both were pronounced dead at the scene.
It is believed an incident involving a 4WD occurred 15km from the crash scene with the driver of a black Subaru Forester breath tested, a police spokeswoman said.
The Forensic Crash Unit is investigating.
COMEDIAN Russell Brand has accepted substantial undisclosed libel damages over a newspaper claim that he had cheated on girlfriend Jemima Khan.
Brand was not at London's High Court for the settlement of his action against News Group Newspapers over a November 2013 story in The Sun on Sunday.
His solicitor, John Kelly, told Justice Tugendhat that the allegation that he had deceived the public as well as Khan by falsely proclaiming that he was being faithful to her when in fact he was having sex with model Sophie Coady during a four-month fling was entirely without foundation and "distressing, hurtful and damaging".
NGN had apologised and agreed to pay Brand his legal costs and damages, which he would put towards "what he considers to be diverse, just and decent causes".
Kelly said that Brand had spoken publicly of his love and commitment towards Khan.
After the publication of the front page "exclusive", headed Russell Cheated On His Jemima With Me, he immediately wrote to the newspaper through his solicitors, informing them that the claims were false, should be withdrawn and an apology should be published.
"The claimant's distress was increased as a result of the defendant's initial refusal to remove the article from the newspapers' website, or to withdraw the allegations and publish an apology. After the newspaper refused to apologise Mr Brand issued proceedings for libel.
"The defendant now accepts that these claims are in fact totally untrue and defamatory and that these claims should never have been published."
NGN had apologised to Brand and Khan for the distress and embarrassment caused, said Kelly.
The Victorian government will remove time limits that stop some child abuse cases going to court. Source: AAP
VICTORIAN child abuse victims will no longer be constrained by time limits in seeking compensation from the organisations that harboured their abusers, but another hurdle remains.
Premier Denis Napthine says organisations will no longer be able to hide behind the statute of limitations for victims who want to take civil action.
Victims advocacy group Broken Rites said removing time limits was an important step for victims, as it could take 20 or 30 years for some to come to terms with their childhood abuse.
"For victims who are still looking for justice and felt justice was denied that's an important turnaround that they can now bring their claim forward without that time limit that was there previously," spokeswoman Chris MacIsaac said.
But some child sex abuse survivors given a "bubble of hope" by the sweeping reforms from a Victorian parliamentary inquiry now fear it will burst if the government doesn't enact all of the recommendations.
"If these failed to materialise then the bubble would burst and suicides and premature deaths would rise," said the advocacy group, Ballarat and District Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse.
It says removing time limits is a good move, but for it to be effective the government also must enact reforms requiring non-government organisations to be incorporated and insured so they can be sued.
"The Ellis defence can still be used and leaves victims with no other option but to go back to the institution that abused them and beg for help," the group said.
Dr Napthine said the government wanted to protect children and was continuing to examine options for reform.
"We as a government are committed to ensuring organisations cannot hide behind statutory time limits in order to avoid the liability they have for harm they have caused to victims of child abuse," he said on Thursday.
Religious ministers will have to undergo working with children checks, while there will be mandatory reporting to a central body and minimum child safety standards for organisations dealing with children.
The government has already made it a crime to fail to report suspected abuse to police.
Dr Napthine said the government believed it "got the balance right" by making an exemption for anyone in a situation where they fear reporting abuse would put themselves and the child at greater risk.
But the Federation for Community Legal Centres says vulnerable women will still have to go to court to defend themselves.
"It is still an offence, potentially, for a woman in a family violence situation to fail to disclose but then there's a defence they can raise," the centre's senior policy adviser Dr Chris Atmore said.
The Catholic Church backed the government's reforms saying it would help to prevent further abuse while supporting victims.
Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart said the inquiry was an important opportunity for victims to be heard and for the Church to face the truth.
"I believe that this inquiry, and the government's response to it, will assist the healing of those who have been abused and the prevention of abuse in the future," Archbishop Hart said on Thursday.
Four-month-old twin red pandas are shown off for the first time at the National Zoo in Canberra. Source: AAP
IT'LL be a bittersweet Mother's Day for second-time mum Eilish.
The National Zoo's prized red panda lost one of her cubs the first time around - but now she's getting ready to show off her healthy new twins to Canberrans on Sunday.
Eilish's newborns are a special addition to a species whose numbers are low and declining.
Zookeepers are excited because the twins mark a successful breeding program of the threatened species.
"She had tough times with the first cub, and now for both of them to survive, we're very excited," National Zoo spokeswoman Bec Scott told AAP.
Visitors will be able to name the twins from a list compiled by keepers on the zoo's Facebook page.
THE West Australian government's debt projections show the state sliding deeper into the red as huge spending on infrastructure overshadows revenue raising and cost cutting measures.
The 2014/15 state budget handed down on Thursday shows the goal of restoring WA's AAA credit rating is a long way off, with debt creeping up to $27.5 billion by 2016/17, from $26.9 billion in the mid-year economic review.
A whopping $23.7 billion in planned infrastructure projects over the next four years will maintain the need for increased borrowings, Treasurer Mike Nahan told parliament as he delivered his first budget.
With just $243 million in infrastructure spending pushed back beyond 2017/18, Dr Nahan said the government would "keep a close eye" on debt levels.
Opposition leader Mark McGowan said the Liberal government should not have pushed ahead with all of its big projects.
"I went to the state election suggesting some changes that would have saved money," Mr McGowan told reporters.
"[Premier Colin] Barnett just went to the people and said 'you can have all of the capital works and we won't put up electricity prices'. Clearly, that was untrue."
The Barnett government had promised before last year's state election to keep electricity price rises "at or around inflation", but they will instead increase by 4.5 per cent.
Water bills will also rise, motorists will be slugged with a three per cent hike in vehicle registration fees and there will be a four per cent increase in public transport costs.
Dr Nahan says something has got to give, with the state receiving less GST as its royalties rise on the back of greater export volumes, and with massive infrastructure spending unavoidable as WA's population continues to surge, despite a slowdown in business investment.
But Mr McGowan was unforgiving.
"This is a budget of pain, hardship and dishonesty that will impact every West Australian man, woman and child," he said.
"It's a horror budget on the hip pocket. It's a budget that hurts people who can least afford it.
"They've had seven treasurers in the last five years. This is a government not fit to be in government."
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, which downgraded the state's credit rating from AAA to AA+ in September last year, was also critical.
It said the latest budget had no measures in place to deal with structural problems and left the state vulnerable to "external shocks" such as volatile commodity prices.
Ratings agency Moody's said improved financial performance would rely to a large extent on the state's ability to lower expenditures.
In 2014/15, the state's spending forecast of 2.6 per cent compares to a much higher rate of spending in the current financial year of 9.1 per cent, but this trend largely relies on employee costs rising by only 2.9 per cent.
That won't please public sector unions, which want bigger wage increases.
Despite the mounting debt, the WA government has managed to polish its net operating balance, replacing a $124 million deficit that was flagged for the coming financial year with a $175 million surplus.
But in 2015/16, the surplus is expected to be a measly $5 million.
THE NSW government has been accused of showing "callous disregard" for local manufacturing jobs after it refused to commit to building the state's next generation of trains in Australia.
Premier Mike Baird on Thursday pledged $2.8 billion for around 65 "state-of-the-art" intercity trains to be rolled out by 2024.
He said the initiative would lead to a far more comfortable ride on the rail network.
The government will now look to buy the trains ready-made from either local or international manufacturers.
State Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian, who is also Minister for the Hunter, was asked whether she'd commit to having the trains built in the Hunter region, which has in the past been a rail manufacturing hub.
"What I'll be doing is making a commitment that we'll get the best outcome for our customers and the best outcome for the taxpayer," she replied.
"Of course I'd be delighted if local companies were involved in the process.
"But you know what? If it wasn't for our government, local companies wouldn't even be in the game."
Tim Ayres, from the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union, said the Hunter was facing "economic devastation", with 3000 rail workers on the cusp of losing their jobs.
"(This government has) got a callous disregard for the impact of offshoring these jobs in the Hunter Valley," he told reporters.
"They don't understand the devastation that that's going to wreak in regional communities."
He said local manufacturers were more than capable of delivering the trains on time and under budget.
Opposition Leader John Robertson described Ms Berejiklian's comments as a slap in the face for workers who build trains in the Hunter Valley.
"This is a government looking to make announcements to distract from the disarray they find themselves in," he said.
The new trains will carry passengers to the Central Coast, Newcastle, the Blue Mountains and the Illawarra.
