MP arrested on child porn charges

MP arrested on child porn charges

South Australian police arrested the MP on Wednesday evening. (ABC News)

The ABC understands a South Australian MP has been arrested and charged with child pornography offences.

The MP cannot be named but police arrested him at his home on Wednesday evening and took him to the City Watch House.

Police searched a car parked in his driveway and left with several items.

The MP has been charged with possession of child pornography, aggravated possession of child pornography and two counts of taking steps to access child pornography.

Police say the man was arrested as part of Operation Decimate which targets offenders who use the internet for child exploitation related offences.

He has been released on bail and will appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on May 20.

Smith, ADA say abuse liability is possible

Smith, ADA say abuse liability is possible

Complaints of physical and sexual abuse in the military will be investigated says Defence Minister Stephen Smith.

The Australia Defence Association (ADA) agrees with the Defence Minister that the Commonwealth may be legally liable for physical and sexual abuse in the military.

Defence Minister Stephen Smith's office has received hundreds of complaints from people who claim they have suffered physical and sexual abuse in the military, dating back decades.

The complaints follow wide publicity about the treatment of an 18-year-old female cadet at Canberra's Australian Defence Force Academy who had a sexual encounter with a male cadet transmitted to others via the internet without her knowledge.

A string of inquiries have been set up in response to the scandal, which has prompted others to raise allegations of abuse.

Mr Smith says the Commonwealth may be legally liable and he has promised all of the allegations will be investigated.

ADA executive director Neil James agrees with Mr Smith.

"He is probably right to the extent that they could be liable. But obviously each allegation will have to be checked out," he said.

"They'll have to check whether they have already been investigated or been the subject of previous inquiries."

Mr James says it will be difficult to prove many of the allegations.

"The trouble is a lot of the allegations are old, some are clearly exaggerated, some are the result of peoples' personal views and not necessarily the facts, some could even be false memory syndrome," he said.

But he also says the investigations will be far-reaching.

"Well they should go back as far as you can satisfactorily investigate the inquiry in terms of known facts and the availability of documents and witnesses," he said.

"Trying to rely just on peoples' memories as we know from other inquiries say into child sex abuse are exceptionally difficult to do."

On Saturday it emerged that South Australian police were investigating an allegation of serious sexual assault of a recruit at the former HMAS Leeuwin in Western Australia in 1971.

Allegations have also emerged of systemic bullying and bastardisation, sometimes bordering on sexual assault at the Defence Force Academy.

Defence said it was also investigating personnel who allegedly set up a Facebook hate page to vilify serving gay members of the Defence Force.

Australian illustrator wins children's book award

Australian illustrator wins children's book award

Melbourne author and illustrator Shaun Tan has won a prestigious award for children's literature.

Tan also won an Oscar in February for best animated short film for The Lost Thing. 

Tan has been awarded Sweden's Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, which is named after the Swedish creator of Pippi Longstocking.

The prize amounts to 5 million kroner ($765,000), making it the world's richest for the genre.

Tan also won an Oscar in February for best animated short film for The Lost Thing.

He says the latest award is an unexpected bonus.

"If you've been labouring over something for a long enough time, you're so focused on the creative side of things that all the practical concerns become somewhat secondary to that, they're just a supporting framework," he said.

"This is fantastic because it means that ultimately I'll have more time to do my own creative work by having that financial assistance."

Tan has illustrated more than 20 books, including The Rabbits (1998), The Red Tree (2001), The Arrival (2006) and Tales from Outer Suburbia (2008).

Astrid Lindgren award jury praised Tan as a "masterly visual storyteller, pointing the way ahead to new possibilities for picture books."

"His pictorial worlds constitute a separate universe where nothing is self-evident and anything is possible."

Australian author Sonya Hartnett won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2008.

Police driver tells crash inquest of pursuit

Police driver tells crash inquest of pursuit

A New South Wales police officer involved in a pursuit before a fatal car crash in Canberra last year has given evidence at a coronial inquest into the accident.

A family of three was killed instantly when their car was hit by a stolen vehicle on Canberra Avenue 12 months ago. (ABC News)

Scott Oppelaar, his partner Samantha Ford and their four-month-old son Brody were killed instantly when their car was hit by a stolen car on Canberra Avenue in Narrabundah on March 20, 2010.

The driver of that car, Justin Williams, also died from injuries sustained in the collision.

Police had been pursuing the stolen car from Queanbeyan south-east of the capital before the accident.

The driver of the police car in the pursuit, Constable Michael Hannaford, today took the stand in the ACT Coroner's Court.

He told the court, on the night of the pursuit he had observed a vehicle speeding through a roundabout in Queanbeyan.

He initiated his warning lights when they caught up to the car, and began a pursuit when it sped away.

He confirmed to the court he was travelling around 150 kilometres per hour during the pursuit.

Constable Hannaford told the court that during the pursuit he had hoped the driver would do a 'dump and run', and the officers might then be able to pursue on foot.

He said he had begun to lose ground on the car and was slowing down when he deemed the stolen car wouldn't stop and was endangering public safety.

He said seconds later he saw a plume of smoke and sparks.

Constable Hannaford said there had been no objection to the pursuit from his partner.

Petrol prices at 29-month high

Petrol prices at 29-month high

New figures show the cost to motorists of filling up their fuel tanks is at a 29-month high.

Commsec economist Savanth Sebastian says motorists should brace for further pain at the bowser. 

The Australian Institute of Petroleum says the national average price of unleaded petrol rose 2.9 cents to 139.2 cents a litre at the end of last week.

Over the past three weeks the cost of fuel has risen 4.4 cents a litre on average.

Commsec economist Savanth Sebastian says motorists are paying $30 per month more for fuel than they were six months ago.

He says motorists should brace for further pain at the bowser.

"Unfortunately for motorists it is looking like it will go higher over the next fortnight," he said.

"We're anticipating about another 4 cents increase in petrol prices in the coming weeks."

Mr Sebastian says petrol prices will hit $1.50 a litre within a few weeks, as the price of crude oil rises on the back of political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa.

"The political tensions is the key driver. Once that stabilises I think you may see that petrol prices will moderate to some degree," he said.

"But keep in mind that another driver for petrol at the moment is the strength of the US economy. The Asian economy is seeing a lot of strength as well, and that does mean that petrol prices in the longer term will remain elevated."

Mr Sebastian says buying fuel is the single biggest cost for most households and that the hike will have an impact on the retail sector.

"There's no doubt that it is having an impact in terms of spending. You look at retail sales indicators and it's showing clearly that retail sales will remain relatively depressed," he said.

"In fact it really is discretionary spending that has really come off the boil, and retailers will continue discounting in the coming months to ensure they maintain turnover."

Last month Australian motorists were warned to brace for a spike in petrol prices due to unrest across the Middle East.

US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke also warned the oil price hikes could put the country's economic growth at risk.

But he said while turmoil in Libya was having an impact on the price of oil, it should be temporary and modest.