IMF cuts Australian forecast, warns US

AUSTRALIA'S economic growth prospects have been downgraded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) due to the nation's vulnerability to slower Chinese demand for commodity exports.

The IMF has also cut its world growth forecasts and warned any failure by the United States to raise its debt ceiling could "seriously damage" the global economy.

In its World Economic Outlook released on Tuesday, the IMF forecast Australian growth of 2.5 per cent in calendar 2013, down from the three per cent prediction made in April.

The outlook was slightly better than the Reserve Bank of Australia's latest forecast of 2.25 per cent growth in 2013, but worse than trend growth of 3.25 per cent.

For 2014, the IMF sees Australian growth at 2.8 per cent, rather than 3.3 per cent.

The IMF also cuts to its China growth expectations, citing rising convictions that Australia's number one trading partner will grow more slowly over the medium term than in recent years.

China is forecast to grow by 7.6 per cent this year and 7.3 per cent next year, having averaged 10 per cent over the past decade.

"Policymakers have refrained from further stimulating growth, which is consistent with the objectives of safeguarding financial stability and moving the economy to a more balanced and sustainable growth path," the IMF said.

"In the short term, as demand shifts away from materials-intensive growth, some commodity exporters could be vulnerable."

More broadly, the IMF says global growth is in "low gear" and risks persist.

IMF economic counsellor Olivier Blanchard says, while advanced economies are gradually strengthening, emerging economies have slowed.

US growth had also been hobbled by excessive fiscal consolidation despite still strong US private demand.

"Politics is creating uncertainty ... and conflicts around increasing the debt ceiling could lead to another bout of destabilising uncertainty and lower growth," Mr Blanchard said in the report.

The damage to the US economy from a short shutdown of the US government would be limited, but a longer one could be quite harmful.

"Even more importantly, a failure to promptly raise the debt ceiling, leading to a US selective default, could seriously damage the global economy," it says.

Elsewhere, the IMF said Japan was enjoying a vigorous rebound and, while the euro area was "crawling" out of recession, activity was likely to remain tepid.

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Flatback turtles emerge from Darwin sand

A TINY flipper waves over the edge of a bootprint in the Darwin sand.

Slowly, very slowly, a little head follows.

With a heave, the newborn flatback turtle propels itself over the sand and suddenly he's scuttling at speed down the beach after his brothers and sisters to the breaking waves.

Across the beach they run the gauntlet, with grasses to get tangled in, footprints to fall into, and birds keeping a hungry eye on the baby turtles.

Once they hit the water there's fish, sharks, and even dolphins waiting for a bite to eat.

Along eight kilometres of Casuarina Coastal Reserve in Darwin, flatback turtle eggs are hatching, with a helping hand from park rangers and locals alike.

"It's the only capital city in the world with marine turtles nesting on its beaches," park ranger Dean McAdam tells AAP.

"That's pretty special, and we want to make sure we preserve the integrity of that nesting. We need these people to follow the regulations we establish here, because a lot of them are designed to protect the marine turtles."

The free turtle hatching program teaches the value of biodiversity in urban environments and is immensely popular, with a waiting list of more than 1000 people.

There are only four or five flatbacks nesting at Casuarina, with 10 to 12 clutches of eggs laid in a year, of 45 to 60 eggs each.

The rangers monitor the nests and move them if necessary to a safer place on the beach away from the people and animals who share it.

Casuarina Coastal Reserve is visited by four times as many people as neighbouring Kakadu, but the rangers hope locals will learn to treat it with the same level of respect.

"People treat this like their backyard, so the work we're doing here around turtle nests doesn't always get a positive response," says Nigel Weston, district manager for Darwin's urban parks.

"If they take their dogs off lead and we explain there's reasons why we have regulations in place they ignore us, whereas in Kakadu or Litchfield they behave differently."

On the beach, adults and children alike happily hold the baby turtles, hatched just that morning, before escorting them to the Timor Sea.

The little critters demonstrate surprising agility, which will come in handy when evading predators for the next three decades before they're ready to reproduce.

"We hope that when they reach maturity a few might come back here and nest again," Mr McAdam says.

The last baby turtle reaches the surf and with one wave, it's gone.

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Compensation for Aussie terror victims

MORE than a decade after the September 11 attacks in the United States and the 2002 Bali bombing, Australian victims and their families are finally set to receive compensation.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott will confirm the news on Wednesday when he visits the Bali bombing memorial site in Kuta, making good his pre-election pledge that he would address the issue within 100 days of taking office.

The victims of overseas terrorism compensation scheme was introduced by the Gillard government in 2012, but was not made retroactive, meaning those affected by the attacks in New York in 2001 and Bali in 2002 and 2005 were unable to benefit.

But Mr Abbott, who was in Bali at the time of the 2002 bombings, will announce that compensation payments will now be made available to victims and their families for terrorist attacks dating back to September 10, 2001.

This will cover the attacks on New York and Bali as well as those in London and Egypt in 2005, Mumbai in 2008 and Jakarta in 2009.

Mr Abbott was in Bali when a massive bomb in a parked van was detonated outside the Sari Club in the bustling tourist area of Kuta just after 11pm on October 12, 2002.

The explosion came just 20 seconds after a suicide bomber detonated a backpack loaded with explosives inside Paddy's Bar.

In the aftermath of the attacks, the prime minister spent many hours at Bali's Sanglah General Hospital trying to help victims.

Mr Abbott has always said his intention to address the compensation issue was personal, and not political.

The move to address the compensation issue will finally fix the "extreme injustice" for victims and their families of recent overseas terrorism, Mr Abbott will say.

The scheme, which will cost about $30 million, will benefit around 300 individuals and families.

Payments of up to $75,000 will be made available to each eligible person, or their families. Claims can be lodged from October 21.

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Regulators must improve:report

REGULATORS must make more effort to understand how regulation impacts small business.

Research the Productivity Commission has found small firms feel the burden of regulation more than larger businesses because a lack of staff, time and resources means they don't always understand and fulfil their obligations.

"A regulator's culture and attitude towards business can be as important as the content of the regulation itself," Commissioner Warren Mundy said in a statement on Wednesday.

"There is still significant scope for improvement in the way regulators engage with small business."

The report proposes a suite of changes which need to be implemented by all levels of government.

These include adopting communication practices with small business that focus on "brevity, clarity and accessibility of information".

Regulators should also be resourced to do their job effectively to avoid the shifting of direct and indirect costs onto business.

The commission found that regulators with effective risk-based engagement policies and procedures were more likely to be better resourced and to have senior leadership that invests in, and fosters, a business-focused culture among their staff.

"A stronger focus on risk was found to limit unnecessary intrusion on lower-risk small businesses, free up resources to improve frontline guidance and advice services, and enable them to more effectively address higher risks to communities," it says.

Government should require regulators to report back against a set of engagement principles to insure continuous improvement in regulatory performance.

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SA Greens senator backs party leader

Victoria's newest senator Ricky Muir is off to Canberra after winning the state's sixth Senate spot.

The unemployed father-of-five won the seat despite the microparty winning just 0.51 per cent of the primary vote, thanks to a complex set of preference flows.

Mr Muir will join the Greens' Janet Rice, who also picked up a Victorian Senate seat while Liberal Senator Helen Kroger has lost her senate seat.

ALP senators Gavin Marshall and Jacinta Collins and Liberal senators Mitch Fifield and Scott Ryan were returned.

With the Senate result in SA finalised on Tuesday the Australian Electoral Commission said voters had elected two Liberal Senators, Corey Bernardi and Simon Birmingham, Labor's Penny Wong, the Greens Sarah Hanson-Young, popular independent Nick Xenophon and Family First's Bob Day.

The big loser from the poll was sitting Labor Senator Don Farrell, who will lose his spot when the new Senate comes into effect in July.

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Obama to speak on US shutdown

US President Barack Obama is getting ready to address the American people as the federal government moves ahead with a partial shutdown and new health insurance exchanges are launching under his health care law.

The White House says Obama will deliver a statement in the Rose Garden of the White House at 12.25pm EDT (2.35am on Wednesday AEST).

He also plans to meet in the Oval Office with a group of citizens who are participating in the new health care program.

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SES continue clean-up from damaging winds

THE NSW State Emergency Service (SES) will continue to work its way through almost 800 calls for assistance following a day of fierce winds.

A two-level shopping centre at Greenacre, southwest of Sydney, and an apartment building were among the properties that had their roofs partly ripped off during Tuesday's strong winds.

Properties on the Central Coast and Northern Beaches also had roofs blown away.

The damage to the shopping complex and Marrickville unit block will require the services of structural engineers on Wednesday.

Eight people had to be evacuated from the Marrickville units and relocated to temporary accommodation.

The SES had to hand the Greenacre shopping centre job, which involved 160 metres of roof damage, to NSW Fire and Rescue.

SES spokesman Todd Burns said the organisation had received 794 calls for assistance as of 10pm (AEST) on Tuesday.

The SES had ticked off all but 184 jobs, dealing with the urgent ones first, but there would be plenty of work still to do on Wednesday.

The emergency crews expect to have light winds on their side.

"The front that occurred had now moved out of the coast," Mr Burns said.

A wind gust of 135km/h was recorded at Thredbo on Tuesday while a gust of 93km/h was recorded at Sydney Harbour.

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Sydney road closed after fatal truck crash

AUTHORITIES hope to have a busy Sydney road reopened by peak hour following a fiery fatal truck crash which killed two people.

A fuel tanker crashed and exploded at Mona Vale on the city's northern beaches on Tuesday afternoon and authorities are working overnight to clean up the debris left behind.

However, they say the route may not open until later in the morning due to extensive damage to the road surface.

The remains of the charred truck and four other vehicles involved in the smash littered Mona Vale Rd near Samuel St.

Two males died in the blaze just after 3pm (AEST) and six people were taken to hospital.

Police say it appears the truck lost control, hit a power pole and four other cars before ending up on its side, spilling fuel over the road.

Remaining fuel has since been drained from the tanker and it's expected what's left of the vehicle will be removed for examination.

Neither police nor the Transport Management Centre (TMC) could guarantee when the road between Pittwater Rd and Powder Works Rd would be reopened, but were hopeful it would reopen sometime in the morning.

A Transport Management Centre spokeswoman told AAP the road's pavement would need to be repaired and resurfaced.

She said authorities would work through the night.

Crash investigation police would also remained at the scene overnight.

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Fewer businesses looking to hire

JUST one in five businesses are planning to hire new staff, the lowest level for hiring intentions since the global financial crisis.

However, information technology is booming area as more firms digitise their businesses.

Recruitment firm Hudson's survey of more than 2500 employers in July and August found 20.9 per cent are planning to take on new staff during the December quarter.

Low staff turnover levels mean businesses have less opportunity to recruit, Hudson executive general manager for regional Australia Dean Davidson said.

"That can become a challenge for some organisations," he told AAP.

The proportion of employers planning to hire was the lowest level since the September quarter of 2009.

But 36 per cent of IT employers were planning to hire, compared with just 13.6 per cent for the utilities industry.

"A lot of organisations are transitioning down the digital path so that's creating project work," Mr Davidson said.

"I definitely do not see that changing in the foreseeable future."

South Australian employers had the strongest hiring intentions, with 24.2 per cent planning to recruit.

Hiring intentions in the ACT were down to 22.2 per cent, as the territory government tightens recruitment.

But Victoria had the weakest jobs market, with just 16.2 per cent of bosses planning to take on new staff.

In Queensland, 18.2 per cent of employers were planning to hire, the same proportion as those looking to downsize, following the end of the mining boom and public sector job cuts.

Hudson chief executive Mark Steyn said businesses had been cautious in the lead up to the federal election, but recruitment activity was likely to improve in the coming year amid low interest rates and a falling Australian dollar.

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Carnival's profit falls 30%

CRUISE passengers continue to shy away from Carnival Corp's namesake brand, despite lower prices.

That, along with ongoing geopolitical fears in the eastern Mediterranean, is why the world's largest cruise company now expects revenue to drop 3 per cent this year, worse than its prior forecast.

The Miami-based company did turn a $US934 million ($A996 million) profit for June through August, but that was down 30 per cent from the same quarter last year.

Earnings totalled $US1.20 per share, down from $US1.71 last year in the same quarter. Revenue for the quarter rose less than 1 per cent to $4.7 billion, and expenses outpaced growth.

The company also took $US176 million in charges related to two ships in its Costa line that are being taken out of service.

Shares fell 7 per cent in early trading.

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