A spokesman for Mr Turnbull said nothing had been decided, and it could be Tuesday rather than Monday.

Mr Abbott said it was his “strong intention” to contest the leadership but stressed the key for him was a change of policy and a united party.

“This isn’t all about me,” he said.

He flagged he would be willing tostandasideandgiveMrHockey a clear run for the seamless transition that many are seeking.

“But if Joe’s not a candidate, I’m there with bells on,” he said.

Mr Hockey has repeatedly stated he would not challenge Mr Turnbull, which makes his candidature less certain given the Liberal leader’s refusal to stand aside. But Liberal sources acknowledged there were negotiations on a possible joint ticket between Mr Hockey and Queenslander Peter Dutton, who would be in the running for deputy

She said a list of potential sites had been put to her and when they were all in eastern areas, she asked whether there wasn’t a worthy location “west of the divide”. Departmental staff went away to investigate her query. Mt Isa was later added to the list and eventually got one of the centres.

Counselassistingthe CMC, Russell Pearce, askedMsSpencewhether public servants “took your views as gospel” – in other words, whether her views affected what would otherwise be independent departmental advice. Ms Spence said in hindsight the grants process was “not very good”.

“The organisations are not really required to provide very much assessment in this first stage, before someone in the department is making a very important decision about whether they can go further,” she said.

Ms Spence also told the inquiry that the week the $4.2 million Queensland Rugby Union grant at the heart of the inquiry was approved had been the hardest of her political career. – AAP, Brisbane BREAKING NATIONAL NEWS

She said Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull had shown “great courage and great determination” over the issue that was openly supported by Joe Hockey earlier this month, and that a commitment to tackle climate change was also made by former prime minister John Howard.

The Government needs support from seven Liberal senators to pass the legislation.

The Nationals, Greens and the two independents will not be backing the scheme.

Climate Change Minister Senator Penny Wong, at Ms Gillard’s side yesterday, said the Senate has had more than enough time already to pass the deal.

Liberal senator Nick Minchin, who resigned his position as leader of the Senate on Thursday, said Labor’s accusation that the Coalition was filibustering the CPRS debate was “false and misleading”.

Labor’s leader of the Senate, Chris Evans, laid into Senator Minchin as yesterday’s business drew to a close.

“I suspect that Senator Minchin will get his way and achieve the policy outcome he sought from the start: to delay and defer,” Senator Evans said.

He said that both water and sewage treatment plant upgrades were desperately needed and would collectively cost more than $50 million.

A new sewage treatment plant is worth $33.4 million.

He said $9 million had already been channelledintoseweragesystemupgrades, but the plant was in dire straits and the water treatment plant was “hanging on with a wing and a prayer”.

“Water is our number one priority, but this is really really good news – a huge weight off the shoulders,” he said yesterday.

Mr Pitt said the State Government would work through the detail of the funding allocation in coming weeks.

The Tablelands Regional Council’s $1.2 million share will go towards the extension of the sewerage system from Kuranda to the Korowa and Mantaka area.

Mayor Tom Gilmore said it would service the Kuranda State District College, the proposed Welcome Pocket aged care facility and future residential developments.

He said the Premier had also been made aware of the need for a Mareeba sewage treatment plant upgrade.

She also hinted at Government support for the $230 million waterfront arts centre planned for Trinity Inlet, but told Mayor Val Schier she first wanted to see the project’s feasibility study, which is nearing completion.

The Cairns Economic Future Plan announced yesterday includes $2.5 million for training equipment at Portsmith’s to-be-built Great Barrier Reef International Marine College.

About $1 million of that will be spent on a watercraft simulator for training on small boats, barges, catamarans and tourists charters. Such training is now done in Fremantle, Western Australia.

The Government has also promised to employ a Cairns-based representative for trade with Papua New Guinea to chase business opportunities for the city.

And it will spend $100,000 to move a tropical science conference from Townsville to Cairns next year as part of a promise to make the city a “hub of tropical science expertise”.

“We know that the future of Cairns will always have tourism at its heart,“ Ms Bligh said.

“But we also know that, if we are to protect Cairns from the ups and downs of the international market, we have to diversify the economy.”

Business leaders, who have lobbied the State and Federal governments for support for the New Deal economic recovery plan, hailed yesterday’s announcements as a major win, despite many called-for projects being left off the list.

Advance Cairns chairman Russell Beer said yesterday’s announcements were important, but what really counted were Ms Bligh’s comments that this was just the “first step”.

A Freedom of Information request showed former CEO Noel Briggs and several communications staff, councillors and the Mayor’s assistant knew of the commercial component on April 13, 10 days before the scandal was revealed in The Cairns Post.

However, the documents showed Cr Schier had no written correspondence about the commercial component.

On June 3, after the council paid $17,000 for an inquiry conducted by Jim Henry SC, Ms Hull received a letter from Mr Briggs listing four allegations.

Unsubstantiated claims were that Ms Hull failed to inform the Mayor of the commercial arrangement of the talkback deal and that she misled the CEO saying she had advised the Mayor of all aspects of the arrangement.

The substantiated claims were that Ms Hull said words to the effect of “you are a liar” to Cr Schier on April 22, and that she persisted with her position that she had advised the Mayor about the radio arrangement in a meeting on February 25.

Ms Hull refused to comment last night – it is believed she has entered into a confidentiality clause.

Despite a number of attempts, acting CEO Peter Tabulo did not return calls yesterday.

“We were only three, five, seven and nine years old at that time.”

As a child, Ms Northage was handed a life of misery and hell.

She was sexually abused by one of her foster brothers and when she wet her bed, she was flogged.

Ms Smith was also sexually and physically abused.

The pair took their fight to the media in 2007 after they found out by accident the Tasmanian Government had held a review into child abuse of former wards of state. The Government did not widely advertise it.

“We felt that because of the heartache we suffered by missing out on the ombudsman review process we didn’t want anyone else to go through what we suffered,” Ms Northage said.

The sisters lobbied the Government and went public with their stories and finally justice was served when their cases were registered with the ombudsman’s review.

Ms Northage has lived in the Cairns and Tableland region for more than 20 years.

Ms Northage and Ms Smith will sit in parliament and hear the longawaited apology by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on November 16.

Ms Hull was advised to sue for wrongful dismissal when she was sacked on September 21 for “gross misconduct” after calling the Mayor a liar during the cash-for-comment radio scandal.

The heated argument took place on April 22 over whether Cr Schier knew about the commercial component of the council entering into a $250-a-week deal to speak on John Mackenzie’s 4CA 846AM radio program.

Cr Schier has always insisted she did not know about the commercial component despite other council staff – including communications staff, her assistant and former CEO Noel Briggs – being aware of such details.

Mr Briggs signed off on the first instalments with 4CA.

On June 3, after the council paid $17,000 for a report conducted by Jim Henry, SC, Ms Hull received a letter from Mr Briggs listing four allegations.

Two were unsubstantiated – that Ms Hull failed to inform the Mayor of the commercial arrangement of the talkback deal and that she misled the CEO saying she had advised the Mayor of all aspects of the commercial arrangement.

Two claims were substantiated – this included Ms Hull saying words to the effect of “you are a liar” to Cr Schier on April 22, and persisting with her position that she advised the Mayor about the radio arrangement in a meeting on February 25.

She said the group was returning to China after visiting the UK and South Africa before attending a business fair in Sydney and visiting business partners in Canberra.

Cairns and District Chinese Association vice-president Lai Chu Chan said the visit was “too low-key” and said it should have included a formal dinner, as well as a formal greeting at the airport, as would be done in China.

“As a Chinese person in Cairns I felt the reception wasn’t good enough for a mayor,” she said.

Association president Ken Wong said the reception was below standard, given the group had travelled specially to Cairns because of sister city relations.

“When our previous mayor went overseas to Zhanjiang, they pulled out the red carpet and everything with all the welcoming parties,” he said.

Former Mayor Kevin Byrne, who this week visited China and met counterparts who first signed the sister city relationship in 2004, said relations had become strained in the past two years.

“The Chinese, in typical Chinese fashion, don’t show their emotions but they did discuss with me their concern at the deterioration of the relationship between Cairns and Guangdong province,” Mr Byrne said.

But Cr Schier disagreed the visit was low-key and denied suggestions potential business opportunities were lost. She said Advance Cairns had met one official who stayed in Cairns to further business prospects with Mossman Sugar Mill.

“I certainly did not get any sense the delegation was not happy with the event,” she said.

Last night Advance Cairns deputy-chairwoman Rose-Marie Dash met Employment Participation Minister Mark Arbib in Canberra with Leichhardt MP Jim Turnour and Senator Jan McLucas to discuss the New Deal for Cairns.

There she was told the proposal had been circulated to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

She also briefly spoke to Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan to discuss parts of the relief, recovery and reform package at an energy roundtable meeting.

“I can say that Mark Arbib has committed to meeting with us again in two weeks (and) he is very interested for us to introduce the best ideas to create jobs,” she said.

Meanwhile, the organisers of a forum highlighting more than $1 billion worth of capital works in the Far North have been overwhelmed.

Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation principal regional development officer Debbie Hancock said she could not accept any more people for the forum on Friday.

The forum, at the Rydges Esplanade Resort from 7am to 1pm, is designed to showcase the level of private and public sector major capital works available in the region.

“Kids are running families and the parents are too scared to discipline,” he said.

“Most people don’t have the self-confidence of the family that contacted me and now we are seeing almost one removal in the Far North every fortnight where police in uniform with handcuffs and guns are dragging kids away.”

Mr Katter expects the draft laws to be presented in parliament within a fortnight and he is expecting a ground-swell of support across the nation in the lead-up to it being tabled as a private members Bill.

The Cairns Post yesterday revealed Mr Katter’s plans and already he has secured strong grassroots support in the Far North.

Regional director for China, Hong Kong and Taiwan Andrew Parle and TQ marketing director for the same region Charley Shen were confident more Chinese would head to Cairns.

“Going forward to 2010 and 2011 and 2012, we believe there will be strong growth,” Mr Shen said. “If you see through the last few years, other than this last 12 months, it has been doubledigit growth in the China market.

“We see a return to that double-digit growth in the near future.”

Mr Shen said mainland China would be the area to come out of the economic downturn fastest and generate most new visitors to Cairns.

Mr Parle said Cairns was accessible to eastern China, its time zone being just two hours behind Australian eastern standard time.

Japan director Toshi Nishizawa was less bullish about his market.

Mr Nishizawa said Japanese had money saved but were reluctant to spend on travel in the current economic climate.

“They have money but they are just concerned about the future and things like their superannuation schemes,” she said.

“We talk about the horrors of the Stolen Generation, when kids were being taken from their parents.

“Times have not changed – only now, both white and black kids are being taken at seven times the rate of the Stolen Generation.” Mr Katter said the rights of parents to discipline children had to be restored.

ACT For Kids spokesman Colin Fruk said Mr Katter’s comments showed a lack of understanding of how children learnt and developed.

He said children aged under three were particularly vulnerable to smacking with increased risk of less-than-optimal brain development that can affect their ability to manage stress and learn. Mr Fruk said a recent poll of 750 adults found almost 70 per cent supported smacking and 45 per cent believed it was acceptable to leave a mark on a child.

“We don’t believe in persecuting parents for minor smacking incidents, but we do emphasise that there are always better alternatives to smacking when it comes to disciplining children,” he said.

“They’re based on nothing more than Liberal Party fantasy; they have been dreamt up in the same dark corners where the Liberal Party dreamt up the Pacific Solution, where the Liberal Party dreamt up children behind razor wire.”

Mr Rudd suggested it was not surprising the Coalition had adopted its recent tactics.

“What we have seen is the party of children overboard, the party of Cornelia Rau, the party of Vivian Alvarez, and, of course, the party of the forged email affair, at it again,” he said.

He slammed the Coalition for lacking any policy credibility on immigration.

“Worst of all, this is a party without one skerrick of moral compass when it comes to people smuggling,” Mr Rudd said.

Mr Rudd himself is walking a fine balancing act on the issue.

He is trying to walk both sides of the fence, promising a hardline but humane approach to the growing number of asylum seekers.

A spokesman for Mr Turnbull later said the Coalition did have costings of its amendments, which it would share with the Government.

Detailed costings of the amendments would involve a substantial economic modelling exercise which the Opposition may not have the resources to undertake.

The Coalition’s amendments would go more easily on industries and businesses, handing out more free permits and compensation.

Coal-fired power plants, coal mining companies and farmers would pay significantly less to pollute.

Mr Turnbull said this would protect jobs and ensure a smoother transition to a low-carbon economy.

Mr Rudd outlined the six-week timetable he has set to pass the ETS. The draft laws will be tabled in the lower house on Thursday and debated next week.

A vote is to be held in the week beginning November 16. The bill will then go straight to the Senate, to be voted on in the week starting November 23.

The Government has offered to hold extra sitting weeks this year if needed to bring the matter to a vote.

The Government wants a vote before UN climate talks in Copenhagen begin on December 7.

“I asked the Minister directly: ‘Is the Queensland Government going to give concessions to affected interests in western Queensland? If so why weren’t indigenous communities on Cape York allowed the same opportunities under the same legislation’?” Mr Pearson said.

“Minister Robertson’s remarks make it crystal clear that the Cape’s declarations, which trample on the economic opportunities of indigenous people, were imposed with scant consultation and contradict state and federal welfare reform agendas,” Mr Pearson said.

“If the declarations can be different for Coopers Creek, they can be different for the Cape,” he said.

Mr Robertson last night told The Cairns Post the Cooper Creek basin was different from any river system in Cape York and refused to back down or review the Cape declarations.

He said more than 300 individuals and stakeholder groups were consulted in relation to the Stewart, Archer and Lockhart basins.

“Mr Pearson had an excellent opportunity to ask me these questions had he bothered to turn up to the Cape York partnerships meeting last week,” he said. “The ecological systems are significantly different in the Lake Eyre Basin to that of the Cape and the Gulf, such as water flow, flooding patterns and other physical attributes.”

“ They have such a poor record of maintaining and managing the heritage sites they have now, so they have no business in telling us what to do,” he said.

“ These assets have been built and maintained by the community and they seem to revel in sitting on the sideline and watching on while heritage listed buildings fall apart.”

Cr Gilmore said the council’s decision to hand back Irvinebank’s Treatment Works because it lacked $1 million to stabilise the site had been meet without any guarantee the Government would spend a cent restoring it.

Department of Environment and Resource Management Heritage Branch director Fiona Gardiner said she was seeking clarification about events at a Tablelands Regional Council briefing late on Wednesday.

She said the briefing had been organised in good faith to present elected local representatives with the facts about heritage nominations and the implications of listings. Ms Gardiner said a senior heritage officer from Brisbane had this week inspected two state-owned heritage places at Irvinebank.

“ The former Queensland National Bank is about to be restored. However, the condition of the former State Treatment Works presents a number of challenges,” she said.

Mr Nucifora said the science did not back up AQIS’s decision and the impact on the Far North if the banana industry was wiped out by disease would be appalling if $ 350plus million was ripped out of the economy.

Mr Katter said AQIS had fooled the Government into believing that import restrictions would ensure that diseased bananas would not enter Australia.

“The same mob that is saying ‘trust us’ has allowed into our country equine influenza, swine flu, papaya fruit fly, black sigatoka, citrus canker, fire blight and fire ants to name but a few,” he said.

“CSIRO, itself a government agency, has estimated that alien pest and weeds cost Australia $7000 million a year, and that 25 per cent of costs paid at the supermarket are due to invasive weeds, pests and disease.

"We are crippling ourselves, yet AQIS has never said no to a single import request.”

Mr Katter said if the Government allowed one box of bananas to cross the beach they would unleash the furies.

Cairns airport boss Stephen Gregg would not discuss the cost structure of the sale, nor where negotiations stood but said he was disappointed that Jetstar was airing its grievances in public.

He said the consortium had been contractually obliged to complete the domestic terminal upgrade and there was no “bloody mindedness” from the board and management in the negotiations. “We are aware of concerns about the capital value of the terminal and the impact it will have on passenger service charges,” Mr Gregg said.

But Mr Buchanan said prices should reflect the long-term commitment Jetstar was prepared to make in Cairns.

“We have also talked New Zealand, direct flights to Singapore and growing the domestic ports as well,” Mr Buchanan said.

“It is bizarre, the upside is there but sometimes airports get the idea the revenue will simply come.”

Mr Buchanan said the last thing he wanted to do was to abandon the Osaka flights.

He said if a deal was signed by the weekend, the airline would go ahead with the mid December start date.

“If we cannot it will mean a delay,” he said.

But he said the deal on the table was unacceptable.

“We have been offered an attractive six to 12 month deal but we are interested in long-term sustainable services,” he said.

Although she had one dog she had recently brought up from Adelaide, Ms Gamble said she believed inspectors had mistaken her fibreglass staffy and blue heeler for the real things.

They are both visible through the window from the front of her property.

“I have a little shitzu. It is 15 and can’t move and was out the back,” she said. “They probably didn’t even see him. “I’ve got a fibreglass pig and sheep. Do I need to register them too?” Earlier this month, the council came under fire for its dog audit after issuing 61 advisory notices to homes without dogs.

One resident was given a notice for having a cat bowl in the yard, while another owner with a budgie was also issued a fine. Of the 61 notices issued for homes without dogs, 45 had dog warning signs on the gate. Ms Gamble said she had since registered her “real” dog

Cr Kirsten Lesina said the council was reviewing its pedestrian and cycleway strategy – to incorporate school children, commuter and recreational cyclists – with an expectation of a final report by the end of 2009.

Cyclist Renee Lees, a member for Cairns Action for Sustainable Transport and Cairns Bicycle User Group, said there were issues with cycling safety.

“Just two days ago there was a serious accident and it was not the rider’s fault,” Ms Lees told The Weekend Post.

The cycling commuter said light rail needed to complement new infrastructure for bicycles and said building new parking centres would be short-sighted.

“Based on our research, light rail is the only alternative we can see that will move the number of people we need to move and will be welcomed and taken up by people and will be sustainable by decreasing fossil fuels,” she said.

Yesterday, the council announced a new parking guide for the city and said there were an extra 34 vehicle and five motorcycle spaces in Abbott St.

Mr Neall said concerned business owners were determined to get answers on the effect the closure would have on their income.

“Their main concern was if trucks come along to offload stuff, how will the cars get past?” he said.

Several councillors also attended the meeting including Mayor Val Schier, who did not return calls from The Cairns Post yesterday.

Cr Alan Blake said the forum was a worthwhile exercise for the council.

“There is a minority of people who think what we are doing is not safe and we are prepared to go back to the drawing board and work through that,” he said.

Cr Blake also denied he did not stand when councillors were asked to make themselves known, saying he was on his feet “for at least three minutes”.

The meeting was chaired by Cairns Chamber of Commerce president Jeremy Blockey and included addresses from Mr Neall, driving instructor Peter Roggenkamp and consulting engineer Pat Flanagan, who spoke about the Cairns CBD road hierarchy.

Mr Neall said there was a range of concerns about the plans including safety issues, traffic build-up and the effect the closure would have on inner city businesses.

“My opinion ... is you will end up having cars from one intersection to the next unless you can get the (traffic) lights synchronised and that is not going to happen,” Mr Neall said.

He said the meeting was not about throwing cyclists off the road but to find a workable solution to the issue.

Ms Bligh said she had been inundated with recipe ideas, but in State Parliament it was like a roast.

In question time, Opposition Leader John-Paul Langbroek asked what was more important to Ms Bligh – restoring Queensland’s credit rating or “a gratuitously political stunt”.

“This is a fabulous opportunity for us to take Queensland’s produce into the kitchens of all Australians,” Ms Bligh said.

Ms Bligh will line up against stars, including swimmer Eamon Sullivan and Miss Universe Australia Rachael Finch.

These include allowances for cars, travel, communications and administration.

The scrutiny has sparked a furious defence by Labor and Coalition MPs.

Special Minister of State Joe Ludwig intervened on behalf of his parliamentary colleagues and told Auditor-General Ian McPhee the entitlements scheme was “overly complex” and difficult to comply with.

He said MPs were “concerned“ after getting letters highlighting breaches. Senator Ludwig’s letter revealed Government plans for reforms to try to improve the system.

The report will find that many MPs and senators are “double dipping“ by using the printing allowance for re-election purposes.

It will challenge Government claims that Australia’s political system is squeaky clean, unlike the UK where the Government has been embarrassed by widespread MP rorts