Man dies after being hit by car

A MAN has died after he was run over by a car while he was lying on the roadway in the Hunter region.

Police say a 53-year-old man was driving a XR6 Ford south on Pacific the Highway, Tomago, north of Newcastle, about 8:30pm when he “hit a man who was lying in the middle of the road”.

The driver stopped to help the injured Tomago man, aged 20, but he died at the scene.

The driver was taken to Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital for mandatory blood and urine testing.

A report will be prepared for the Coroner.

Joyce warns councils on referendum

SENIOR Nationals figure Barnaby Joyce has told local government delegates they can’t wait around for a Messiah to win their case for constitutional recognition.

Australians will be asked on September 14 to approve a change to the constitution formally recognising local government.

The Yes case has the backing of both sides of politics and a $10 million war chest from the federal Government.

But Senator Joyce says supporters of the No case have a strong and concerted campaign organised, despite getting only $500,000 in federal funding.

He has told delegates at a local government conference in Canberra they cannot win without getting out and campaigning hard for their case.

“What I’m trying to get them to understand is if they’re waiting for some Messianic figure to turn up and make the referendum go through, that is not going to happen,” Senator Joyce told Sydney media today (Wednesday).

“We will win this campaign because it is right, not because we’ve got more money.”

Senator Joyce has called on the government to provide equal funding to both cases to counter claims there was something being hidden.

He’s warned Local Government Minister Anthony Albanese will be campaigning for the return of the Gillard government, rather than trying to win over Yes votes for the referendum.

Australia Greens senator Lee Rhiannon called on Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to stand by his “very clear commitment” for local government recognition.

“It’s starting to look like this could be his first broken promise and he’s not even prime minister,” she told journalists in Canberra.

She’s urged all parties to have a Yes button on their how-to-vote cards on election day.

Newcastle port sale absurd – Labor

THE State Government has devastated residents of Newcastle with plans contained in its budget to sell off the last major port in New South Wales, says the Labor Opposition.

The controversial privatisation of the Port of Newcastle, expected to be worth up to $700 million over its 99-year lease, will go towards funding infrastructure costs.

The move was unveiled as a centrepiece of yesterday’s (Tuesday) budget and about $340 million of the proceeds are specifically earmarked for the revitalisation of Newcastle.

NSW Opposition Leader John Robertson describes the sell-off as “absurd”.

“Most people in Newcastle I imagine will be devastated,” Mr Robertson’s told Sydney journalists.

“Jobs are provided at Newcastle port – it’s the world’s largest coal exporting terminal and it’s being sold off.

“It generates revenues for the budget in NSW, it provides employment opportunities.

“What we know is that when you sell these assets jobs go.

“All for the sake of investing all that money into projects in Sydney.”

NSW Labor also slammed the government for planning public sector cuts while benefiting from increased taxes and GST revenue.

“It’s worrying that we continue to see increases in taxes in NSW and frontline services continued to be cut,” says Mr Robertson.

Infrastructure spending was down from last year and $3 billion had been taken out of the health system, he says.

Meanwhile, Labor’s Education and Training spokeswoman, Carmel Tebbutt, says the “disappointing” budget has reduced education spending from 22.4 to 21 per cent.

“Axing the jobs of another 315 high school staff is the worst possible strategy when we are meant to be promoting greater Year 12 retention,” she says in a statement.

Ms Tebbutt says the budget for school infrastructure remains at the same level as 10 years ago, despite higher enrolments and the need to upgrade physical assets.

Greens MP and spokeswoman on Family and Community Services, Jan Barham, says the homeless have been neglected in the budget, which had been an opportunity to deliver much-needed increases for services that support disadvantaged and vulnerable groups.

“Keeping families safe and together and ensuring they have a stable home are fundamental aims that needed more investment than this budget delivered,” Ms Barham says in a statement.

The NSW Teachers Federation has welcomed confirmation that the Gonski schools agreement will be funded over the next six years, but she says she’s unhappy that tertiary students will suffer as a result.

“The Gonski agreement will provide significantly increased funding to public schools and distribute it more fairly to the students who need it the most,” says Teachers Federation president, Maurie Mulheron.

“It is bitterly disappointing, however, that TAFE colleges will continue to suffer funding cuts and students face increased course fees to offset the costs of the Gonski agreement.”

Mr Mulheron says the government should be looking to raise revenues through taxation reform and other measures, rather than cutting public services.

Six injured in four-vehicle crash

SIX people have been injured when a semi-trailer and three other vehicles crashed on the New England Highway in the Upper Hunter Valley.

The crash happened about 12:15pm yesterday (Tuesday) some 2km south of Scone.

Two people were airlifted and a further three taken by ambulance to Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital.

Another person was taken to Scone Hospital.

Their conditions are unknown, but their injuries are not thought to be life threatening, police say.

The semi-prime mover, an empty vegetable oil freighter, was empty at the time of the crash.

The driver was treated at the scene for shock.

Diversions were in place for a few hours through Glenbawn, however, all roads have since re-opened.

Man dies after two trucks collide

A MAN has died after two trucks collided, one of them bursting into flames, on the Mid-North Coast.

The northbound trucks crashed about 2pm yesterday (Tuesday) on the Pacific Highway at Nabiac, near Forster, police say.

The driver of the truck that caught fire, believed to be a 62-year-old man from Sydney, died at the scene.

He was the vehicle’s sole occupant.

A report will be prepared for the Coroner.

Govt sells off Newcastle port

THE announcement that the state’s last major port is being sold-off by the New South Wales Government has sparked claims from Labor it will devastate the people of Newcastle.

But NSW Treasurer Mike Baird insists the growth hub north of Sydney will be “the big winner” from the long-term lease on the city’s port facilities.

Newcastle will get $340 million to “revitalise the city” from the port’s privatisation, although Mr Baird denies the funding package is a sweetener.

“It will effectively be the rebirth of Newcastle as a modern city,” he said after delivering his third budget today (Tuesday).

NSW Opposition Leader John Robertson says the port is a revenue-generating asset that belongs to the people of the Hunter.

“The sale is absurd,” he’s told journalists.

“Most people in Newcastle I imagine will be devastated.”

The government will immediately proceed to a scoping study on offering a 99-year lease on the Port of Newcastle, which is the largest port in the world, Sydney media report.

Mr Baird says the government hopes to get up to $700 million following “interest around the world”.

“It is clearly a highly prized asset, that is the reason we have taken action today,” he says.

“We must act on that unique opportunity that sits there.”

If the transaction is successful, $340 million of the proceeds will go towards removing the heavy rail line between Wickham and Civic so that Newcastle is no longer divided from the harbour-front.

It will also deliver light rail in the CBD, providing the potential basis for a wider light rail service linking the CBD with surrounding suburbs and beaches.

“The community’s voice has been heard loud and clear and the government intends that Newcastle’s heart will be rejuvenated through the stimulus of a new light rail package,” says NSW Planning Minister Brad Hazzard.

Mr Baird says the government decided to proceed with the lease after netting $5 billion to spend on infrastructure after privatising Port Botany in 2011 and Port Kembla in 2012.

“The recent transaction involving Botany and Kembla was the largest, in net terms, in the state’s history,” he says.

Ambos, firies most trusted – survey

AFTER the week Australia has had, it will probably surprise no one that journalists, politicians and talkback radio hosts are the three least trustworthy groups in the country, a new survey shows.

Equally unsurprisingly, perhaps, paramedics and fire-fighters hold equal first position in the annual Australian Readers Digest Most Trusted Professions survey.

Rescue volunteers, nurses, pilots, doctors, pharmacists, veterinarians, air traffic controllers and farmers all round out the top 10 on the list of 50 jobs, indicating that Australians tend to place their faith in carers, protectors and givers.

“Politicians have never fared well in the trust stakes, but it seems Australians have had a gutful of our current crop,” Readers Digest editor-in-chief Sue Carney says in a statement.

Pollies have come in at number 49, managing to stay ahead of door-to-door salespeople, rock bottom at 50.

Insurance salespeople, call centre staff, sex workers, real estate agents, talkback radio hosts, journalists, taxi drivers, CEOs, tow-truck drivers and lawyers rounded out the bottom 10.

Neurosurgeon and founder of the Cure for Life Foundation, Charlie Teo, was voted Australia’s most-trusted person, with pioneering burns specialist Dr Fiona Wood and cancer vaccine immunologist Ian Frazer hot on his heels.

Troubled actor Matthew Newton was the nation’s least-trusted, keeping company with politicians Peter Slipper, Craig Thomson, Eddie Obeid, and shock-jock Kyle Sandilands.

“It’s official – our faith in our political leaders has now hit rock bottom,” says Ms Carney.

With the federal election looming, former party leaders Kevin Rudd (70) and Malcolm Turnbull (68) fare better than Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott in the believability stakes.

The Prime Minister scraped in at 95 while Mr Abbott came in at 75.

Readers Digest magazine commissioned Catalyst Consultancy & Research to have a cross-section of 1200 regular Aussies rank 50 different professions.