More infrastructure funds needed: report

THE federal government must establish a department dedicated to the infrastructure needs of Australian cities to address a $500 billion backlog in urban development, building groups say.

The suggestion is among a raft of ideas in a report - New Deal for Urban Australia - outlining the key infrastructure challenges as Australia deals with a growing population.

Compiled by the Urban Coalition, a collective of key industry figures, the report calls for greater"leadership and investment from the government.

It also recommends the establishment of an Urban Infrastructure Fund to meet the cost of development.

"We need to access both national and international savings and direct them to fund ... infrastructure - such as public interchanges, removing pinch points on local road and freight networks," Property Council Chief Executive Peter Verwer said.

Julie Katz, national president of the Urban Development Institute of Australia, said inadequate funding was causing congestion in cities.

"The longer distances between home and work, the greater the difficulties and congestion in our cities," she said.

Executive Officer of The National Growth Areas Alliance, Ruth Spielman, said more than 80 per cent of Australia's population lived in cities and people in fast-growing outer suburbs want to live closer to basic services.

"People need jobs and services closer to home and improved transport options," she said.

She said the proposed changes would financially realistic for the government to put into action.

"There's no doubt that the money is there, and we need collaboration among the spheres of government," she said.

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Extra $91m in Vic budget for foster care

EXTRA accommodation and support arrangements for some of Victoria's most vulnerable children will be funded in Tuesday's state budget.

An extra $91 million will go towards out-of-home care places and more support for children with disabilities or challenging behaviours.

Out-of-home care includes care from an accredited foster carer or a relative, or placement in a residential unit run by a community organisation.

Community Services Minister Mary Wooldridge says the funding will double the number of therapeutic foster care places to 180.

"The additional funding will substantially reduce the need for contingency or temporary placements that are very costly and see some of our most vulnerable children residing with temporary carers in motels or caravan parks," she said on Thursday.

"This enables us to continue our transition to rehabilitative models of care where carers receive specific, targeted support to help their foster children improve their emotional and educational stability and developmental outcomes."

Last year, more than 9000 abused and neglected Victorian children were unable to live with their parents and needed out-of-home care.

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NSW to open one hospital, close another

THE construction of a privately run hospital in Sydney's north will result in the closure of Manly Hospital and fewer beds at Mona Vale Hospital, the NSW government says.

The opposition has warned it will produce inadequate healthcare, while the Greens say many residents of the northern beaches will be isolated from the new facility at Frenchs Forest.

The government called for expressions of interest on Thursday for the 423-bed Northern Beaches Hospital, which will be designed, constructed, operated and maintained by the private sector.

The new hospital would provide a mix of public and private services and would be run by an operator "with a proven record", Health Minister Jillian Skinner said.

Construction will begin on the hospital in 2015 and it will take patients from 2018, with ownership reverting to the state after 20 years.

"We intend that Manly hospital close the day this hospital opens," Ms Skinner said.

She said acute services would be relocated from Mona Vale Hospital, which would be redeveloped to provide complementary health services and downsized to house 66 patient beds.

The new hospital would provide the same number of public beds as currently available at Mona Vale and Manly, but double the number of private beds, Ms Skinner said.

An urgent care centre would be established at Mona Vale hospital in place of its full emergency department, she said.

Greens NSW MP John Kaye said northern beaches residents had been "comprehensively dudded" by the announcement.

"They are losing a public hospital. They are losing services at Mona Vale ... to a new hospital site that is inappropriately served by transport and that's a long way away from the northern half of the northern beaches," he told AAP.

Residents from the upper end of the northern beaches at Palm Beach would have a 30km trip to Frenchs Forest rather than the current 14km to Mona Vale.

Opposition health spokesman Andrew McDonald said he had major concerns about whether a private operator could run the new hospital.

"This is not a first for NSW. This happened 20 years ago at Port Macquarie and that's a game that ended in tears," Dr McDonald told reporters.

He predicts patient care will suffer as a result of the decision.

"Private operators exist to provide a profit for their shareholders," he said.

Ms Skinner, however, rubbished comparisons to previous private-public-partnership ventures, saying the new hospital represented a "totally new model" for healthcare in NSW.

Treasurer Mike Baird, also the local MP for Manly, said there were no plans to sell off the prime North Head real estate at the Manly Hospital site for apartments.

He told parliament that sometimes "you have to make the difficult decisions to make things happen".

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Cardboard in shower drain where boys died

CARDBOARD was found inside a shower drain where two young boys died when they were left alone for 10 hours, an inquest in Perth has heard.

The West Australian coroner is examining the deaths of Lochlan James Stevens, aged two, and Malachi Isaac Stevens, 10 months.

They died in November 2008 after their mother, Miranda Hebble, left them in the shower and fell asleep or passed out for 10 hours.

A police video was shown in court on Thursday, revealing a hair dryer plugged in and numerous items in the shower, including cardboard in the drain.

There were also clothes and towels blocking the door, and magazines and nappies scattered.

Another video showed police re-enacting the flooding and measuring the depth of the water in which the boys would have been sitting.

Psychiatrist Felice Watt testified that although she could not diagnose Ms Hebble because she was not her patient, she displayed symptoms of post-natal depression.

Referring to notes made during a stint at Graylands Hospital after the deaths, Dr Watt said Ms Hebble exhibited symptoms including sleeplessness, anxiety, appetite loss, isolation, weight loss and a lack of energy.

Dr Watt said each factor alone could not determine a diagnosis, but together provided a "snapshot" into Ms Hebble's state.

However, she added she did not have the "whole picture" about what Ms Hebble was thinking or feeling at the time.

Despite having no history of depression, Ms Hebble could have experienced mental illness, due to the "psychiatric pressures" of raising two children, that went untreated.

Ms Hebble's history indicated she suffered from migraines and iron deficiency, Dr Watt said.

She also told medical staff she had a "weak body", became tired easily and often wanted to be alone so she would push people away.

Dr Watt said mothers often felt shame about admitting they were struggling to cope, which was why child health nurses were important, but Ms Hebble was not seeing her nurse regularly.

Coroner Alistair Hope commented that Dr Watt's evidence highlighted the danger that existed for some women who were alone, isolated and not in much contact with the outside world when they were "stuck" at home raising children.

Dr Watt said those mothers were most at risk of post-natal depression.

Ms Hebble will testify next week.

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Nathan Tinkler faces fresh legal action

Liquidators have begun legal action against Nathan Tinkler and the directors of Mulsanne Resources. Source: AAP

LIQUIDATORS and a major creditor have begun legal action against Nathan Tinkler and the directors of Mulsanne Resources over allegations of insolvent trading and breaching their duties.

The action was launched over a share placement agreement that was approved by Mulsanne Resources' shareholders at a general meeting on July 12 last year.

In February, Mr Tinkler faced two days of questioning in a NSW Supreme Court examination of his personal finances by liquidators for Mulsanne Resources.

Mulsanne was wound up over a $28.4 million debt.

The chief creditor, Blackwood Corporation, and liquidators initiated legal action on Thursday, almost three months after the liquidator conducted public examinations of Mr Tinkler, fellow director Matthew Keen and the former company secretary Aimee Hyde.

"The liquidator has formed the view that there is a case to answer for insolvent trading and breach of directors' duties," Blackwood Corporation company secretary Patrick McCole said in a statement.

He said the liquidator could seek compensation against the directors and officers if the court found them liable for insolvent trading.

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NSW neighbours win holiday rental ban

GOSFORD Council has failed its constituents by not resolving the issue of an illegal holiday house rental in Terrigal, a judge has ruled.

At the Land and Environment Court on Thursday, Justice Rachael Ann Pepper ruled that Rhonda Bennic's short-term holiday letting of her 6-bedroom house was unlawful because the property is located in a 2A residential zone.

Her next-door neighbours John and Rosemary Dobrohotoff told the court that the house, which can sleep up to a dozen people, had regularly been used for parties and bucks' nights involving strippers and escorts, with noise and anti-social behaviour continuing until the early hours.

The house has been used for short-term holiday rentals since 2006, and Ms Bennic has owned it since 2011.

Justice Pepper said Gosford Council had failed to resolve the issue locally.

"In my opinion, it amounts to an effective abrogation of the council of its duties," she said.

"By leaving it to the court to determine this important issue, the council has failed to do one of its core functions and has failed its constituents."

She said letting the house to short-term guests was prohibited under the current zoning laws.

"This decision may cause a degree of inconvenience for property owners" in the area, she said.

Mrs Dobrohotoff told the court she grew increasingly anxious as weekends and holidays drew near, and often took her family away from their home at those times to avoid the disturbance.

In her ruling, Justice Pepper said the property did not qualify as a dwelling as it was not being occupied in the same way a family or another group would live in it.

But she found that the fault was not entirely Ms Bennic's, as she had never been told by Gosford Council that it was illegal to rent out her property.

She awarded the Dobrohotoffs an injunction preventing the house from being rented out for periods of less than three months, but delayed it until the end of June so as not to impose unnecessary financial hardship on Ms Bennic.

Mr Dobrohotoff told reporters outside the court he welcomed the finding.

"We are pleased to have this outcome, which will have positive effects on the health and welfare of our family, as well as the other families in our neighbourhood," he said.

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Kriss Kross rapper Chris Kelly dead at 34

Kris Kross rapper Chris Kelly, who made the 90s hits Jump and Warm It Up, has died aged 34. Source: AAP

CHRIS Kelly, half of the 1990s kid rap duo Kris Kross who made one of the decade's most memorable songs with the frenetic Jump, has died, according to authorities. He was 34.

Investigator Betty Honey of the Fulton County Medical Examiner's office said the 34-year-old Kelly was pronounced dead around 5pm on Wednesday at the Atlanta Medical Center in the US state of Georgia.

Honey said authorities are unsure of Kelly's cause of death and that an autopsy has yet to be performed.

However, the New York Times reported that Kelly had died of an apparent drug overdose.

"It appears it may have been a possible drug overdose," Corporal Kay Lester, a spokeswoman for the Fulton County police, is reported to have said.

This, Lester said, is based on statements received at the scene as well as evidence turned up at Kelly's home in south Atlanta, the newspaper said.

According to Lester, police were called to Kelly's home around 4.30pm on Wednesday. He was then transported to the south campus of the Atlanta Medical Center.

Kelly, known as Mac Daddy, and Chris Smith, known as Daddy Mac, were introduced to the music world in 1992 by music producer and rapper Jermaine Dupri after he discovered the pair in an Atlanta mall.

The duo wore their clothes backwards as a gimmick, but they won over fans with their raps.

Their first, and by far most successful song, was Jump. The hit, off their multiplatinum 1992 debut album Totally Krossed Out, featured the two trading versus and rapping the refrain, the song's title.

The duo had surprising maturity in their rap delivery, though the song was written by Dupri. It would become a No. 1 smash in the United States and globally, and one of the most popular of that year.

Their success led to instant fame: they toured with Michael Jackson, appeared on TV shows, and even had their own video game.

The pair were never able to match the tremendous success of their first song, though they had other hits such as Warm It Up and Tonite's tha Night. Earlier this year, they performed together to celebrate the anniversary of Durpri's label, So So Def.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on its website that Kelly's death was being treated as a possible drug overdose.

The rapper was found unresponsive at his home on Wednesday and rushed to Atlanta Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy has been scheduled for Thursday.

The singer's mother, Donna Kelly Pratte, said in a statement reported by several US media outlets early on Thursday: "To millions of fans worldwide, he was the trendsetting, backwards pants-wearing one-half of Kris Kross who loved making music.

"But to us, he was just Chris - the kind, generous and fun-loving life of the party. Though he was only with us a short time, we feel blessed to have been able to share some incredible moments with him."

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