Limit courts: Ruddock

Federal Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock wants courts to be limited in their ability to look at immigration cases. He said these were clogging up the justice system as people tried to stay in Australia. He told Channel Nine the courts' jurisdiction should be reviewed or the cases speeded up.Morgan Mellish

Labor row over Badgerys

Opposition Leader Simon Crean's decision to drop Badgerys Creek as Labor's preferred site for Sydney's second airport was "inadequate policy", one of his frontbenchers, Anthony Albanese, said yesterday. Mr Crean's announcement was criticised by some Labor MPs - particularly those whose electorates are near the existing airport - for lack of consultation. AAP

Australia's image at risk

Australia's international reputation would be diminished if it was proved Newcastle University covered up a plagiarism scandal, Education Minister Brendan Nelson said yesterday. He called on the university to reopen a case in which it secretly re-marked the assignments of 15 students who had been failed for plagiarism at a partner institution in Malaysia. AAP

Comforting poll

A Roy Morgan poll shows primary support for the NSW opposition rose last month by 2.5 per cent to 33 per cent, its highest level since the March 22 election. But it shows the state government is still streets ahead of the opposition, slipping only one percentage point to 50 per cent in July. AAP

Bogus agent fined

A bogus Gold Coast model and actors' agent who promised people work that never materialised has been fined and ordered to return fees he charged, Queensland Fair Trading Minister Merri Rose said yesterday. Kevin John Sims, 61, who now lives in Melbourne, was fined $10,000 by Southport Magistrates Court and ordered to pay back $8193 to clients. Ms Rose said Sims, who operated Boomerang New Century Models at Surfers Paradise, was convicted of breaches of the Fair Trading Act. AAP

Vanstone under attack

Labor yesterday described Family and Community Services Minister Amanda Vanstone as a political hyena who picked on the most vulnerable in the community. Opposition family and community services spokesman Wayne Swan said the government planned to strip 30,000 families of $87 a fortnight benefits paid to care for disabled children. AAP

Don't phone and drive

The dangers of using mobile phones while driving have been compared to the risks posed by drunk drivers passing through busy city intersections. The claims in a Melbourne study, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, are based on findings that motorists who use hand-held mobiles increase their risk of a collision fourfold - double the risk of low-level drink driving. AAP