Australia PM hails coal deal amid poll slump (AFP)

SYDNEY (AFP) – Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Tuesday hailed a record coal mining bid as proof the key resources sector would thrive, shrugging off a slump in the polls over her plans for a pollution tax.

Gillard said the joint Aus$4.68 billion (US$5.0 billion) bid for Macarthur Coal from European steelmaking giant ArcelorMittal and US mining firm Peabody defied industry claims that a new carbon emissions tax would hurt the sector.

"We are seeing the biggest takeover bid in Australian history for a coal company," she told public broadcaster ABC.

"You couldn't get a better indication that business people see a good future in coal mining in this country."

Gillard unveiled a controversial new Aus$23-per-tonne levy on the nation's top 500 polluters on Sunday in a bid to reduce carbon emissions blamed for global warming, starting July 1 next year.

Australia is one of the world's worst per capita polluters due to its reliance on mining exports and coal-fired power, and the heavyweight coal industry says the new tax will shut mines and cost thousands of jobs.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott said the Macarthur takeover, which will be the biggest ever of an Australian coal miner if it goes ahead, showed offshore companies stood ready to move in on firms left vulnerable by the carbon levy.

Coal industry chief Ralph Hillman said "internal dynamics" of the bid had dictated its timing, not the tax, which he said would cause high-cost operations to shut and other projects to be put aside.

But Gillard said it underscored the prospects of the coal sector, which has been promised an Aus$1.3 billion buffer package to ensure no jobs are lost as the tax comes in.

"You have to track where the money is going... it's going into buying an Australian mining business," Gillard said. "People would only do that if they thought it had a great future."

Gillard is blitzing the nation with an election-style campaign hoping to win support for her plan from a sceptical public, with a poll published Tuesday showing just 30 percent of voters were in favour and 59 percent against.

The Newspoll survey of 1,203 Australians, taken ahead of Gillard's unveiling of the tax's full details Sunday, put her ruling Labor party's first preference vote at just 27 percent, the lowest in the poll's history.

Abbott's Liberal/National Coalition rose three points to 49 percent compared with the last survey two weeks ago, and Abbott led Gillard as preferred prime minister, 43 percent to 38 percent.

If an election were held today Abbott would storm into government with a landslide, according to the Newspoll, which was published alongside dire predictions for the already embattled aviation and tourism industries.

Natural disasters in the country's north and the rallying Australian dollar has hammered domestic tourism, and industry experts said operators such as fuel-dependent dive boats on the Great Barrier Reef would suffer from the plan.

"This tax may well be the straw that breaks the camel's back," said the Australian Tourism Export Council.

Gillard insisted she was not shaken by the polls and denied losing the public's confidence.

"Reform is difficult and this nation is a better place today because hard reforms were faced up to yesterday," she said.

"I will be leading this country to a clean energy future, that's what I'm determined to do."

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Obama hails bin Laden killing amid warnings of retaliation

WASHINGTON — President Obama hailed the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden as a moment of national pride Monday, even as his administration prepared for possible retaliation and repercussions.

Elijah Stevens, center, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y, visits Ground Zero with his daughter Caitlin, left, and wife, Stephanie, to show their support for the U.S. military and celebrate Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden's death on Monday.

By John Minchillo, AP

Elijah Stevens, center, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y, visits Ground Zero with his daughter Caitlin, left, and wife, Stephanie, to show their support for the U.S. military and celebrate Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden's death on Monday.

Obama told a bipartisan gathering of lawmakers at the White House that the pride inspired by bin Laden's demise is "far deeper than party, far deeper than politics." He said he hopes to "harness some of that unity and some of that pride to confront the many challenges that we still face." Obama will go Thursday to Ground Zero in New York City.

As the nation awoke to the news that had eluded Republican and Democratic administrations for nearly 10 years, issues emerged about the future of bin Laden's terrorist network, the war in Afghanistan and the U.S. relationship with Pakistan, where he was hiding ? possibly for years.

And as details emerged about the operation carried out Sunday night by an elite team of Navy SEALs halfway around the world, questions were raised about some of the tactical decisions ? most notably burying bin Laden at sea. Counterterrorism adviser John Brennan said that was done as a matter of practicality and to comply with Islamic law, which says burial should occur within 24 hours of death.

None of the questions diminished the combined sense of joy and relief that followed the announcement of bin Laden's death. "The American psyche has been given a huge boost," said Lee Hamilton, former co-chair of the 9/11 Commission that led to changes in the nation's intelligence and homeland security operations.

Amid celebrations, law enforcement agencies boosted security in key cities and transportation hubs. No specific threat emerged, and travel flowed without incident, but homeland security officials put local authorities on notice that the killing could spark reprisals.

"Though bin Laden is dead, al-Qaeda is not," CIA Director Leon Panetta said in a message to the spy agency's employees. "The terrorists almost certainly will attempt to avenge him."

Details of the 40-minute raid emerged from White House and Pentagon briefings: Bin Laden was shot in the face. Four others were killed, including a woman at first thought to be his wife. As Pakistani military aircraft mobilized, a U.S. helicopter had to be destroyed before the SEALs made their getaway.

All the while, Obama and top administration officials monitored events in the Situation Room. Brennan called it "one of the most gutsiest calls of any president in recent memory."

As allies across the globe applauded bin Laden's death, officials were faced with possible repercussions:

•Has al-Qaeda been incapacitated? Not yet, said White House officials and lawmakers from both parties. But bin Laden's death was seen as a symbolic and strategic blow likely to create chaos within the group and its affiliates.

•Is Pakistan friend or foe? Bin Laden's ability to hide in a leafy Islamabad suburb cast doubt on whether the nuclear power had protected him.

Contributing: Alan Levin, Mimi Hall and Jim Michaels

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