PM

The remote West Australian town of Kununurra is a long way from North America. But the future of one of its biggest industries, sandalwood, now hangs in the balance after an expose by U-S activist investors. In March the California based firm Glaucus Research likened Kununurra's biggest sandalwood producer, Quintis, to a ponzi scheme and declared its stock worthless. Two months on Quintis's stock's crashed, its credit rating's been downgraded and it's likely to have been issued a please explain by the ASX.

The national body tasked with making sure agricultural chemicals are safe is being crushed under the weight of product assessments, amid an exodus of highly qualified staff. The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) approved 83 per cent of product applications within legislated timeframes in the September quarter, but completed just 42 per cent within timeframe from January to March. One in five regulatory scientists have now quit the APVMA, as the agency forges ahead with a forced move from Canberra to Deputy Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce's electorate.

The first round of a complex share trading system has left fishermen across New South Wales no more certain of their future. They're being forced to buy and sell the right to fish and haul-in seafood. But there's been no agreement on prices so far, in a system being criticised for being too complex and stressful.

Residents on the mid-New South Wales coast are scathing of the Department of Defence, after revelations it delayed informing them about the contamination of their water supply. Fire-fighting foam chemicals from the Williamtown RAAF base have leached into the town's groundwater, and residents are locked in a battle with defence over remediation and compensation. An independent report into how the New South Wales Environmental Protection Authority managed the contamination also says defence knew about the problem years before informing residents.

Australian gut experts have urged caution over new research about a pill for people with gluten intolerance. Scientists from Sweden have conducted a study and found there' s an enzyme that, when taken, reduces the amount of gluten entering the small intestine.

For the past 20 years, this program has been opened by a voice familiar to you all. Mark Colvin, a towering figure here at the ABC, a commanding intellect, a mentor to so many and in sickness he had an uncommon resilience. He'd been in hospital in Sydney for several weeks but today died peacefully surrounded by his family. Mark started with the ABC in 1974 and filed on many of the history-making moments of the last half century from the Iranian revolution to the nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl, the genocide in Rwanda and the sacking of the Whitlam government.

A hefty $15 billion has been added to the price tag for the Government's company tax cut plans. The figure was revealed today under questioning from the Opposition. The new, bigger number comes just as the Government asks taxpayers to fork out more - thanks to a hike to the Medicare levy contained in Tuesday's budget.

A meeting between the big five banks and the Federal Treasury today has not resolved the row between the financial institutions and the Government. The Treasurer Scott Morrison announced a new tax on the five big banks in his Tuesday night budget. The banks say Treasury was unable to explain how it calculated that the levy would raise more than $6 billion over four years.

The Australian retail sector is being caught up in what some analysts are describing as a 'perfect storm'. Myer provided a trading update today with the chief executive saying, 'this is the most sustained period of subdued consumer spending that we have had in a long time.' Myer's share price took a hit, and has already fallen 17 per cent over the past month.

The Victorian Government has suffered another blow in its handling of the state's youth justice system. The state's Supreme Court has ruled today that the Government's use of an adult prison to detain children is unlawful. It's the third time the courts have ruled against the Government on the issue, but an appeal against the decision has not been ruled out.