Infamous helicopter escapee John Killick, currently fighting a raft of charges relating to a fraud racket, met the co-accused and fraud ringleader Dean Ryan when the pair both appeared on the ABC TV series You Can’t Ask That.

Killick, famously plucked from Silverwater prison in a sightseeing helicopter hijacked at gunpoint by his Russian lover Lucy Dudko, and Dean Ryan – previously convicted of fraud-related charges – appeared on an ex-prisoners' episode of the show in 2014.

Ryan told ABC viewers that prison had rehabilitated him.

"For me it worked. It was me coming to the realisation that I needed to change my ways, I was away from my loved ones," he said.

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Five years later, Ryan awaits a prison sentence after pleading guilty to presiding over a fraud syndicate that stole over $2 million through a sophisticated identity theft scam.

Killick was charged with three counts of dishonestly obtaining property by deception and one count of possessing suspected stolen property in relation to his alleged role in the scam.

He has entered a plea of not guilty, and remains free on bail awaiting trial. He will return to court in July.

Ryan and co-director Joseph La Hood, 56, have both pleaded guilty to their roles in the syndicate, and will be sentenced in August.

Court documents seen by The Sun-Herald show that the group spearheaded by Ryan and Mr La Hood created 388 fraudulent customer profiles, opened 846 bank accounts, secured 185 credit cards and procured 15 personal loans that stole over $2 million over a period of several years.

Stolen mail including Medicare cards, drivers licences and bills provided the information to create bank accounts from the stolen identities of hundreds of innocent Sydneysiders.

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Once the bank accounts were established, the fraudsters would apply for credit cards and personal loans, ordering them to "convenient" addresses close to their Wiley Park and Mascot homes and stealing the mail with letterbox master keys.

The group would withdraw cash in $1,000 allotments and transfer money to transactional accounts to then spend.

The group also bought $187,346.53 worth of goods at various shopping centres across Sydney, and transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars to their own, legitimate bank accounts.

Ryan used the money sent to his personal account to make the final payment on a Mitsubishi Outlander, while Ryan’s partner Linda Loriz – charged with participating in a criminal group, dealing with the proceeds of crime and dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage – allegedly use the $100,000 allegedly sent to her account for the mortgage on her mother’s home infertility treatments and private school fees.

Ms Loriz has not entered a plea, and will return to court on July 4.

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The ABC was contacted for comment.

When one of my daughter’s birthday presents turned out to be clothes with the tags cut off I wondered if they’d been cheekily regifted.

It turned out they had. Without a hint of embarrassment, the mother told me that she’d bought the clothes for her own daughter who didn’t like them. So, the mother decided to give them to my daughter instead.

At first, I was a little shocked at her honesty. And then I was super impressed.

My daughter wears the clothes often and couldn’t care less that they had been regifted.

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It’s strange that regifting is taboo given that it fits perfectly with many of our values about reducing consumption and limiting waste. The speed and volume at which so many must-have kids’ presents end up in landfill would surely make even the most ardent Ayn Rand-reading fan of capitalism pause a moment and wonder if there wasn’t a better way.

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Surely our love for our kids would be far better expressed in preserving the environment they’ve inherited instead of giving them another piece of plastic they don’t need and will only play with for 10 minutes before they move onto the next environmentally-disastrous fad.

But the social rules around gift-giving are so strong that many of us not only go along with the environmental disaster that is a children’s party, we have also unwillingly ended up in an arms race that we can scarcely afford.

In my early years of parenting, when I was still learning the conventions of children’s birthday presents, a more experienced mother told me the present rule: the financial value of the gift should be equivalent to the per-head cost of the party.

That equation put an end to any pretense that presents are spontaneous acts of kindness. Things only got worse once I discovered that the days of party pies, Sara Lee cakes, and unsupervised playing in the backyard are long gone.

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We now have professional fairies and superheroes that cost $400-plus each, venue hire costs, catering that cost more than my wedding, French bubbles for the parents, and gift bags that rival the Oscars.

Even the humble game of pass the parcel is expensive now that our every-kid-is-special-and-gets-a-prize culture dictates that we have to cough up for a present for all the guests.

When you then factor in the time spent in party planning and event management, the per-head party cost that determines the present value can almost make you wish your kid was a Nigel No Friends.

Social media influencers including reality star Maria Di Geronimo have added fuel to the bonfire, posting pictures of extravagant children’s birthday parties consisting of balloon art, custom decorations, and more LOL dolls than Kmart.

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Supporters have defended these mothers by pointing out that most of the merchandise came from sponsors and that it’s their kid so it’s their business.

But is it really that simple? There is a reason these people are called “influencers”. Companies don’t just shower them with free products because they think their kids deserve it.

No, these companies have made a careful business decision based on the assumption that these women are effective at “influencing” the purchasing behaviour of rest of us.

In the process, they’ve lifted the bar for children’s birthday parties, thereby increasing the expected present value other parents now have to cop.

Even if we are able reject the ever-increasing party cost per-head present value, we bump up against another unspoken, but rigidly enforced, children’s present giving rule: reciprocity.

You spend the same amount on the birthday kid that their parents spent on your kid. But I’m now starting to see the occasional $50 gift card in kids’ present hauls. And I’ve heard stories of some kids receiving close to $100 (from a single guest) in present value.

If we keep going on this path, we’ll be spending a small fortune and going into debt just to ensure our kids aren’t ostracised as social pariahs.

With family budgets tightening and our landfill crisis mounting, it’s time to rethink the social conventions around present giving. And we need more mothers like my regifting friend to show us how it’s done.

In 83 years of trading, the family behind Ted’s Cycles shop in Footscray have seen more ups and downs than a Tour de France rider.

They have held on through some rocky times, from the opening of Highpoint Shopping Centre in 1975 to the rise of cheap online competitors, and computer games that divert kids from riding bicycles.

Co-owner Trevor Hope says that with the boom in commuter and mountain bike riding Ted’s sales figures are actually healthy.

It’s soaring land tax that has forced the clan — including Trevor, 63, his brother Geoff, 78, and Geoff’s children Gerlinda Gibbs, 52, and Garry Hope, 48 — to close one of Footscray’s last old-time family shops.

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Their final day of trading is this Friday.

‘‘There was no light at the end of the tunnel,’’ says Trevor, who says land tax has gone up by 50 per cent in four years.

‘‘With insurances, superannuation, wages, [business taxes] … it’s so hard to keep up, to make ends meet.’’

Gerlinda, Ted's Cycles' front-of-house and accounts person, expects to ‘‘cry all day’’ on Friday.

She started selling toys as a teenager and has been full time for 34 years.

Since her late, charismatic grandfather, Ted Hope, aka Ted the Toyman, started the shop in 1936, it has cannily morphed from a focus on hardware, to toys to bicycles, although it has always sold bicycles in some form.

‘‘I’m devastated and shattered,’’ said Gerlinda, who will miss her chats with locals.

One couple – ‘‘lovely old souls’’ – were hoarders and the man was obsessed with bikes. ‘‘He’d say he wanted to buy another one and we’d say, ‘You don’t need one.’ ’’

Another cyclist pedalled her elderly mother around Footscray. The mother would sit in a rocking chair on a trailer and knit.

One man treated his bike like a horse, complete with saddle and bridle, kicking it if it misbehaved.

The interaction hasn’t always been nice. One day in the 1980s Trevor ran after and tackled a drug addict who had pinched $500 from the till. The thief bit Trevor on the shoulder and said he had AIDS. In fact, he had hepatitis B.

Geoff Hope remembers Footscray in the 1950s and `60s, as a thriving community with at least three cinemas; the Forges and Coles department stores; cafes, pharmacies and clothes, fruit and butcher shops.

Remnants include Cooper’s jewellers, and barber Joe Squatrito, who have both traded for more than 50 years.

Customer Andrew Filippone, 41, of Maribyrnong, who stopped by Ted’s on Friday to buy a tyre, a cleaning brush and pedal clips for his racing bike, said he bought his first bike here – a BMX – at the age of seven.

Ted's hangar-like size meant ‘‘it was one of the only bike shops you could test-ride your bike around’’.

He idolised Garry Hope, who was known for his stunt jumps on the Spotswood half-pipe.

Mr Filippone's own IT business went from a physical shop to online three years ago, but he was ‘‘gobsmacked’’ and saddened to hear Ted’s was closing.

Sky News political editor David Speers is expected to take a significant pay cut after accepting a role with the ABC replacing Insiders host Barrie Cassidy, fuelling speculation about why he would leave the 24-hour news channel after more than a decade.

Canberra-based Speers, who is still contracted to the Rupert Murdoch-owned cable network, is on a salary in excess of $500,000 at Sky and is among its highest paid hosts, media sources said.

The ABC did not pay any employee outside the leadership team more than $500,000 in the last financial year, with one staff member paid $482,705 including bonuses and superannuation. Out of 145 staff paid more than $200,000, nine were on a total remuneration of more than $350,000.

The taxpayer-funded public broadcaster is preparing for an $84 million budget cut beginning from the next financial year onwards.

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The expectation Speers has accepted a pay cut has stoked speculation in media industry circles about his motivations for deciding to step away from Sky, particularly because the ABC has previously tried – and failed – to lure him away from the News Corp business.

Speers, 44, is described as a "straight shooter" by those in the media industry who said he may not have felt aligned with the increasingly conservative-skewed "after dark" hosts’ commentary.

One media executive said that on Sky it was increasingly the case that "opinion rates and straight news doesn’t" and the new path for the network may have left Speers looking for opportunities elsewhere.

Another reason could be the larger audience available on the ABC compared to Sky, which is predominantly watched on Foxtel and Bruce Gordon's WIN TV network.

Sky’s average audience during the daytime is in the tens of thousands on average compared to hundreds of thousands on Insiders, which competes with Seven’s Weekend Sunrise and Nine’s Weekend Today. (Nine is the owner of this masthead.)

A well-placed source said it "wouldn’t be the first time" a media personality had taken a pay cut for increased exposure and a clearer career path at the public broadcaster.

There was still uncertainty about the timing of his move to the ABC. Cassidy finishes up on Insiders on June 9 and Speers' two-year agreement is believed to be expiring at the end of the year. It's unclear whether there is a non-compete clause that would affect Speers' starting time after this point.

A Sky spokeswoman said their statement released last week that Speers "is under contract with Sky News" was still correct.

She would not answer additional questions. Speers and the ABC declined to comment.

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Brussels: Mainstream European Union parties are holding their ground against the assault from populists in elections for the bloc's Parliament, according to the first set of exit polls.

With voting still going on in some countries, the parties who rally against foreigners, want to rein in the EU and despise the cozy relationship between centrist groups, aren't performing as well as some establishment politicians feared.

Instead, it's the Liberals and the Greens set to post the biggest gains in the first EU-wide test of public opinion in five years. Turnout looks set to be the highest for two decades as voters respond to the populist threat.

The big exception looks to be France where President Emmanuel Macron talked up this election as a straight choice between those who are for or against the EU. His party has been defeated by Marine Le Pen's euroskeptic National Rally, according to exit polls.

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"The French people gave a lesson in humility" to Macron, far-right candidate Jordan Bardella said.

With full results from across Europe filtering in over the next six hours, the focus will be on whether the mainstream postwar centre-right and centre-left alliances will have a majority in the European Parliament as has been the case since direct elections began 40 years ago.

According to the first official EU projection based on the exit polls, the two big alliances will make up 43 per cent of the seats, down from 56 per cent in 2014. Populist parties look set to win 29 per cent of the Europe-wide vote, slightly down from 30 per cent in the current Parliament, according to official EU projections. The pro-business Liberals and the Greens look like the big winners with 14 per cent and 9 per cent respectively.

That would mean that the EU is likely to broadly continue current policies: distancing itself from US President Donald Trump's protectionist trade strategy, gradually integrating the euro area, seeking a way to share the burden of non-EU migrants and holding firm against any UK attempt to reopen the Brexit deal.

While Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU/CSU bloc is a clear winner in Germany, with 28 per cent of the vote, according to exit polls, that's less than the 35 per cent recorded in 2014. The Social Democrats, Merkel's junior coalition partner, slumped to 15.5 per cent from 27 per cent, while the Greens surged to second place. The nationalist AfD is set to record 10.5 per cent, according to the indication, lower than forecast but up on 2014's 7 per cent.

"This election result is not a result that meets the ambitions that we've set for ourselves as a mass party," Merkel's chosen successor, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, told party members in Berlin.

Across Europe, it's a similar picture of euroskeptic parties failing to make breakthroughs:

• In Denmark, exit polls show the nationalist Danish People's Party will get less than 12 per cent of the vote, after getting 21 per cent in the last national election
• In Slovakia, the far-right party is set to finish third
• In Finland, with 21 per cent of the vote counted, the far-right Finns party is getting 13 per cent — more or less in line with its 2014 showing
• In Greece, the opposition centre-right New Democracy is on course to beat Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's Syriza

Turnout across the 28 countries is the highest in 20 years, according to official EU estimates, and has risen for the first time ever.

Results from the UK are due later on Sunday night, local time. The UK was obliged to participate in the election because it didn't leave the EU on March 29 as scheduled.

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On election night I was swapping messages with a good friend, a passionate, smart, generous advocate for Indigenous people who was now despondent. She said she feared for the future of the First Peoples under three more years of a conservative government that had already said no to the hopes and aspirations in the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

It isn’t a view I share. The Australian people had rejected Bill Shorten, a leader they had never warmed to and did not trust; they rejected Labor’s ambitious agenda for change; they rejected more taxes and class warfare; in parts of the country they rejected a climate change policy they thought threatened their jobs. But they did not reject the Uluru Statement.

Whenever Australians have been asked, they have overwhelmingly supported the idea of Indigenous constitutional recognition. Polling numbers consistently show more than 80 per cent in favour. Many of those people would have voted for the Coalition.

There is a challenge for Indigenous leadership, to work with the Morrison government and reframe the argument for recognition, rights, justice. This is not government interested in symbolism, it is going to prioritise real outcomes: jobs, education, health. It is a government that’s going to be big on personal responsibility. Forget about changing the date of Australia Day or treaties; this government’s mantra will be fairness not difference.

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So what is the pathway for constitutional change? It is highly unlikely this government will take the question to a referendum in this term. There are those inside the government who will outright oppose the idea. The Nationals Barnaby Joyce said the Uluru Statement’s call for an Indigenous representative body enshrined in the constitution – a "voice" – would constitute a "third chamber of parliament". Then prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said Indigenous people could have no rights that other Australians didn’t enjoy.

Perception is everything in politics, and Indigenous leaders have a big task to to turn things around. It is going to require pragmatism and a campaign that reaches across the political divides of left- right or city-country. But there may never be a better time.

Next year marks the 250th anniversary of Captain James Cook’s arrival on this continent and claiming it for the British Crown. This is a personal passion project for Prime Minister Morrison, who has already earmarked nearly $50 million to mark the occasion including a replica of the Endeavour circumnavigating Australia and a new monument at Botany Bay.

Of course many Indigenous people feel the weight of 1770, that began dispossession and colonisation. But 2020 is an opportunity to begin to tell a new story of this country for a new century. Two hundred and fifty years ago the world was coming; Captain Cook forever changed the history of this continent and its people. No one can deny the destruction that was wrought, but it is also possible to acknowledge that Cook planted in the ground not just the British flag but the traditions of democracy and Enlightenment liberalism that have made this country among the most free, prosperous, diverse and cohesive on earth.

2020 is a chance to merge two great traditions, the old and the new: the Indigenous and the British. 2020 is not 1770, the myth of terra nullius – that this was an empty land free for the taking – has been demolished. Indigenous people have fought for two centuries at the ballot box, on the streets and in the courts to make this a better country.

There are three great moments: the 1967 referendum that technically counted Indigenous people in the census and allowed the federal government to make laws for Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders but more than that spoke powerfully to fairness and citizenship; the 1992 Mabo High Court decision that acknowledged the prior and enduring rights to land of the First Peoples and led to Native Title; and the 2008 apology to the stolen generations.

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Together these three events have shaped a new nation not one irredeemably stained by settlement and violence and exclusion but a country that has wrestled with its past and sought reconciliation. Three events: the vote for fairness; the power of the law; and the healing of history. They set the stage to finish the unfinished business and put Indigenous people finally at the heart of our nation’s founding document: the constitution.

This is not a radical idea; indeed it is deeply conservative. The father of conservatism, the 16th century British politician and philosopher, Edmund Burke believed a constitution was a compact between the government and its people. Society, he said, was a contract between the living, dead and the unborn. Today all Australians seek to honour our past and look to safeguard our future.

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This is precisely what I read in the Uluru Statement from the Heart. A people historically locked out of this democracy are saying they want in. What a profound statement of faith in our country that a people for whom the constitution was written to exclude were saying that same constitution can hold their dreams. The Uluru Statement blends the ancient sovereignty of First Peoples with the lived reality of the political sovereignty of the Commonwealth.

Consider its words, that the Uluru Statement "can shine through as a fuller expression of Australia’s nationhood"; "We seek constitutional reforms to empower our people and take a rightful place in our own country". The Uluru Statement promises a brighter future for Indigenous children who will "walk in two worlds" and whose culture will "be a gift to their country".

The Uluru Statement kept faith with the Australian people’s most resoundingly successful referendum, 1967, when Indigenous people were finally counted. Now, it says, "we seek to be heard". This has never been about dividing people but in the closing words of the statement, extending an invitation "to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future".

We hear the Indigenous voice on the streets in protest: it is loud, it is angry and insistent and it is necessary. Then there are voices we don’t hear; quiet voices far greater in number. They hold their families tight; they value their culture and communities. They are people of faith, they are your neighbours, your mates, sometimes your family. These are Burke’s "little platoons". I know them, they are my family, the people I grew up with and without whom I would be nowhere.

Indigenous people have fought in this nation’s wars, have built the roads and worked the railways, picked the fruit and drove the cattle. Indigenous people have represented this nation in sport and sit on the benches of our courts, mend the sick in our hospitals and serve in our parliaments. Everyday, Indigenous parents ready their kids for school, work hard and share the daily joys, struggles and ordinary virtues with all other Australians. A people so small in number, a tiny fraction of Australia who hold the heritage of this nation for all. They are people who have overcome so much, still have so much to give.

In the Uluru Statement the quiet voices ask other Australians to join their voices with them. Prime Minister Morrison pledged his election victory to the "Quiet Australians". He has the chance now to give a voice to the quietest Australians.

Stan Grant is professor of Global Affairs at Griffith University. He is a Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi man.

It’s the rail line that even some of the Premier’s colleagues and advisers did not want her to build.

When the Sydney Metro Northwest line opened on Sunday, to the delight of tens of thousands who queued for a free ride, it delivered rail services for the first time to the burgeoning suburbs of Cherrybrook, Castle Hill, Kellyville, and Rouse Hill.

But the opening also capped a tumultuous eight years for Gladys Berejiklian and those who worked with her on the project – a group that faced criticism for the decision to build the $7.3 billion line in the first place; and later, for decisions about how the line should be built.

"It's satisfying beyond words to deliver something that is so significant to NSW," the Premier said in an interview. "Of course it is easier building a toll-road. But it is much better for the community of the north west to build the north west rail line."

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It is hard to overstate the significance of the opening of the line – a 23-kilometre addition to Sydney’s rail system, but which operationally incorporates the 13km Epping to Chatswood line.

It is the first major piece of public transport infrastructure conceived and delivered by this Coalition government. The contract to deliver the Opal Card project had been signed under Labor; construction of the South West Rail Link had also started prior to the 2011 change in government.

The line also represents a major change to the way rail services are run in Sydney, in a manner that will affect the operation of trains. Using single-deck trains operated without drivers, the line is a stand-alone metro system that will aim to deliver services with greater reliability than Sydney’s regular train system.

The completion is a world away from the situation that faced Ms Berejiklian when, under former premier Barry O’Farrell, the Coalition was swept to power in March 2011.

As well as promising to build the line – a project first committed to but abandoned by the former Labor government in 1998 – Mr O’Farrell also pledged to create a new body to advise on where and how to spend significant money on major projects, Infrastructure NSW.

And though the first chairman and chief executive of Infrastructure NSW – Nick Greiner and Paul Broad – were careful not to criticise the government’s endorsement of a multibillion-dollar rail line in public, in private they were less deferential.

"There were quite a few comments at the time … from Nick Greiner and Paul Broad, about the investment of money,” said Les Wielinga, the head of the state’s main transport agency between 2009 and 2013. “I think they favoured more of a road basis rather than a rail basis.”

It is part of the achievement of Ms Berejiklian, Mr Wielinga, and others including the secretary of Transport for NSW, Rodd Staples, that they played the internal politics well enough to push the project past the powerful infrastructure advisers.

"In terms of government, if I didn't have Barry's support, I wouldn’t have been able to convince my colleagues," Ms Berejiklian said of the former premier.

"There wasn't a culture in NSW about spending money on public transport," she said. "The Labor Party built toll roads, but there wasn't a culture of public transport and that's what I wanted to change."

But Ms Berejiklian also confronted significant choices about how to build the line. Prior to the 2011 election, she had promised to construct the line to Rouse Hill as a regular extension of the train network.

Had Ms Berejiklian delivered on her promise, it would have meant commuters on the new line would have been able to get direct services to the CBD. It also would have meant the line would have run Sydney’s regular double-deck trains, with plenty of seats.

But in June 2012, Mr O’Farrell and Ms Berejiklian announced a break with that pre-election promise. Releasing a 50-year transport "masterplan", they said the line would be built as a stand-alone metro. The result would be fewer seats, and the requirement for commuters to change trains at Chatswood if they wanted to get to the city – at least until a connection through the city was opened by 2023 or 2024. (That line is now under construction).

But the expectation was that metros would ultimately deliver a more reliable and frequent service.

Last week Ms Berejiklian told the Herald she made the decision to build the north west rail link as a metro "within weeks" of becoming transport minister in 2011.

"From the day I became the Minister and I started having access to all the expert advice and all those reports it was apparent to me that the metro was the best way to go," she said.

"Do I stick to my guns and do what we'd promised, with the double-deck system? Or do we embark on a brand new metro. And I knew that there was absolutely no question we had to embark on the metro. History will show that was one of the most important decisions made in this state as far as infrastructure is concerned, because it started us off on this metro journey."

When that decision was announced, however, it was subject to criticism that the benefits of introducing a metro-style operation might not outweigh the negatives.

Transport experts such as the former director-general of rail in Sydney, Ron Christie, criticised the focus on the metro system as coming at the expense of operational improvements to Sydney’s existing heavy rail network, which will continue to move the vast majority of commuters.

Another concern was the government’s decision to dig tunnels for the line too small to accommodate double-deck trains would limit the future flexibility of the rail system.

And transport bureaucrats highlighted the potential overcrowding problems at Chatswood Station when commuters disgorged from the metro onto full north shore trains. (This issue remains to be managed).

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The government’s response has been to say that it should be judged on how things turn out.

"I have great respect that there are lots of different views on how the money should have been spent," said Mr Staples, who as project director for Sydney Metro can be credited as the architect of the scheme.

"The judgment of that is probably five, 10, 15 years away when people reflect back on the way the city is running and how the systems are working together. Personally, I am really confident we will be judged well."

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For Mr Staples, the line’s opening marks the culmination of a difficult journey.

Under Labor he was responsible for delivering the so-called CBD Metro – a project cancelled by former premier Kristina Keneally at a cost of about $400 million. He admits to questioning whether he would see this project through.

"I was very doubtful that we would be here today. But nonetheless I and many others were determined to give it our best shot," he said.

When Ms Berejiklian and Mr Staples, as well as Transport Minister Andrew Constance, talk about the Northwest Metro, they tend to state that it is the start of a program.

The second stage, which is due to open by 2024, comprises a line from Chatswood, under Sydney Harbour to the CBD and Sydenham in the south, and Bankstown in the west. Another metro line from Westmead to the CBD should also be built next decade.

The complex system controlling Metro Northwest is the next generation of technology from Hong Kong’s South Island line, which opened in 2016 and is operated by MTR, the company running Sydney’s newest addition.

Engineers also drew on lessons from fully, or partially, automated lines around the world such as Paris’s Métro Line 1, Singapore’s Mass Rapid Transit system, and parts of London’s Jubilee line.

The new metro line offers commuters the latest in modern railway design and technology – from driverless trains, to glass-screen doors on station platforms. Unlike the city’s existing suburban trains, commuters can gaze out the front of the metro trains onto the rail tracks, or out a window at the back.

Yet it will require commuters to adjust their expectations of riding on trains, and how they navigate the city’s public transport network. More people will have to stand.

A metro carriage has seating for about 63 passengers, compared with 110 on a Waratah carriage, the newest in Sydney Trains’ fleet. (In all, the six-carriage metro trains have seating for 378 passengers, and standing room for 774).

Mathew Hounsell, a researcher at the University of Technology’s Institute for Sustainable Futures, said Sydney under went a significant change when its population ballooned from 3.5 million to 4 million, and road speeds dropped to similar levels as those on the public transport system as they became more clogged.

That encouraged more people to travel on buses and trains.

Now, he said, the metro line offers another big change.

"If the government operates it at high frequency, and for long hours of the day, it will be transformative," he said. "As soon as the second stage is built, the entire city will reshape itself around the metro services. If you are a 24/7 city, then you have to have a 24/7 transport system."

For many of those who hopped on the first services, the line could not have opened soon enough.

"I know the growth that has occurred out there in the north west," said Tony Williams, who grew up at Castle Hill. "I never thought it would happen. It was promised every election when I was a kid."

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The chief executive of Suncorp, Michael Cameron, is stepping down after nearly four years in the role, with the board declaring now is the "right time for change."

Chairman Christine McLoughlin said in an announcement to investors that a change in leadership would give the financial services group an opportunity to lift its performance.

She said Mr Cameron had overseen major changes to the banking and insurance company's technology systems, an increased focus on customers, and he had led the business during a period of major regulatory change.

“On behalf of the Board I would like to thank Michael for his leadership in accelerating our digital capability and in driving a customer-first culture,” she said.

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It is understood Mr Camreon's departure was mutually agreed to by him and the board. Ms Holgate said the board had "robust" internal succession planning, and it would also conduct a domestic and international search for potential candidates to fill the job.

Suncorp's shares have risen about 15 per cent over Cameron's tenure, which began in October 2015.

The change comes  at a challenging time for financial services companies, and Suncorp earlier this year cut its dividend as it announced weak results for the six months to December, after being hit hard by natural disasters in the half.

It also warned of higher regulatory costs from the royal commission, and its banking division later revealed a soft start to the year, amid fierce competition in the mortgage market.

Mr Cameron, who will remain employed as an advisor until the company's full year results in August, said he was proud of what had been achieved during his time as CEO.

“Suncorp now has the digital foundations in place to enable it to be nimble and to seize opportunities. I believe
the business has great potential and will continue to enjoy success,” Mr Cameron said in a statement.

The company said its profits were in line with market expectations, and it will deliver its full year results on August 7.

More to come

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Track good 4 and rail true so fairly even early before gradually trend away from the fence.

RACE 1 – 11.40AM: McDONALDS DUBBO & WELLINGTON MAIDEN PLATE (1100m)

Debutant gelding 2. Cyclone Clyde (Rockface x Tembissa by Johannesburg) is bred for speed and bolted in his only trial under a hold all the way. Looks ready to rip for smart local stable, although will need to jump cleanly from a wide barrier.
Dangers: Gulgong colt 1. Chevron Prince came from well back on debut this track when easy out in the market. Draws to tuck away well back on the inside and be produced late. Liked the recent trial work of 6. Slatey Bay – stablemate to Chevron Prince – but will need plenty of luck drawn well off the track while Scone filly 10. Kohinhoor Road has had three fair runs back from a spell, and gets a lovely run just off the speed but up in weight.
How to play it: Cyclone Clyde to win and quinella 1 and 2.

RACE 2 – 12.15PM: KINGS HALL JEWELLERS MAIDEN HANDICAP (1300m)

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Another wide open charge, although short on depth, and quite a few will be waiting a long time to win. Liked the effort second run back from Nyngan-trained gelding 6. Tapanui who closed from a long way out at Parkes. Former Victorian campaigner which ran well up to 2000m late last year, and gets in nicely at the weights.
Dangers: Four-year-old Scone gelding 1. Agent King was well backed resuming at Tamworth when just even to the line, but much better over this longer trip, although drawn very wide. Mudgee gelding 4. Leica Benz hasn't run on in two starts so far, although company was a bit stronger than this. Draws OK, and with that experience expect a much improved run.
How to play it: Tapanui each-way.

RACE 3 – 12.50PM: LANDMARK HARCOURT OPEN HANDICAP (1300m)

Really competitive race, with nearly 400 starts across the field. Banking on six-year-old Mudgee gelding 5. Go The Gantry being ridden quiet from the off the speed. Was run over late in stronger Cup field at Scone after leading, but before that flashed home in the Town Plate at Wellington before finishing hard to win a weaker BM75 at Narromine. Any sort of cover back around midfield, and he can charge over the top.
Dangers: Seven-year-old Muswellbrook gelding 6. Star Shaft looms as a threat after finishing off nicely in consecutive metro runs. Will appreciate the wide stretch here, and look for him late. Local seven-year-old gelding 8. Any Blinkin' Day rarely puts in a bad one, and fought on OK from the front in the Parkes Cup. Back in trip but draws well and should be in the finish. Five-year-old Gulgong gelding 4. Sugar Dance is on the cusp after three solid runs back from a spell, holding his ground OK in and around the speed. Will need some luck under a big weight and wide draw, but is capable.
How to play it: Go The Gantry to win and box first four 5-6-8/4-5-6-8.

RACE 4 – 1.25PM: SHINE BRIGHT LIKE A DIAMOND BALL CLASS 1 & MAIDEN PLATE (1600m)

Yet another big and even field at set weights, and will be a long time between drinks for most of them. But one runner still in his first prep and showing enough promise can make it two wins in three starts. Local three-year-old gelding 5. Mayaman was specked in from an enormous price before charging late to win his maiden at Narromine, and then got home hard again in a better race at Mudgee. Stays at the mile, and as long as he gets some cover early, will be flying home again.
Dangers: Three-year-old Goulburn gelding 6. Pauldron won his maiden three runs back at Wellington, and last couple have been solid around this grade. Draws a nice trailing gate, and should be in the finish again. Local five-year-old gelding 1. Comzig has been up for a while but really attacked the line at big odds in his last two. Will go back from a wide gate, but suited down this wide straight. Gulgong mare 8. Tropicana Lass having her third straight run at the mile is best of the rest.
How to play it: Mayaman to win and quinella 5 and 6.

RACE 5 – 2.05PM: AFA INSURANCE CLASS 1 & MAIDEN PLATE (1600m)

Same conditions, but even tougher, although more depth and quality to work with. Going with maiden three-year-old Scone gelding 10. Greenskeeper which is still improving. Rattled home to just miss at Tamworth after a solid closing effort as a well-backed favourite at Taree. Drawn the fence, and will again run the mile out strongly. Earmuffs go on pre-race.
Dangers: If Scone mare 8. The Cyprian reproduces her winning maiden effort from two runs back, she's in the mix. Found the step up to Class 1 a little tough, and appears a mile is as far as she wants, but has ability. Local six-year-old gelding 4. Traffic Cop was disappointing at Mudgee when a little easy in betting, but rock solid in the market in previous few when right around the placings. Draws OK and gets a useful claim. Four-year-old Muswellbrook gelding 3. Litt Up didn't finish off either in that same Mudgee race behind Redazzity after being friendless in betting, but previous form was solid, and draws a nice trailing gate. Parkes three-year-old gelding 6. On A Promise broke through to win his maiden last start, but this is naturally tougher.
How to play it: Greenskeeper to win and box trifecta 3-4-8-10.

RACE 6 – 2.40PM: WAYNE MALLISON PAINTER & DECORATOR CONSOLATION BENCHMARK 58 HANDICAP (1300m)

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It doesn't get any easier with several chances, but the standout value is three-year-old Muswellbrook gelding 3. Asudem who just needs even luck from the wide gate, with blinkers and lugging bit coming off for the first time. Has had two fair runs back from a spell closing off OK, and will appreciate the spacious track. Was right on the heels of some decent horses in late spring.
Dangers: Lightly raced local three-year-old gelding 6. Gorn Hoff was brave scoring an upset maiden win on this track at only third career start, and second horse has since run well again. Will park right on the speed from a good draw. Talented four-year-old Mudgee gelding 11. Thunderzone went straight to a metro Highway after screaming home to win his maiden at Orange earlier in the year, but will be forced to go right back from the extreme outside gate in first run for more than four months. Another locally-trained four-year-old 12. Sipharderson is ready for this longer trip after getting the line nicely in two runs back, but also draws wide. Front-running local five-year-old gelding and last-start winner 8. Phenomenal Spirit will again stick on hard, Scone four-year-old gelding 4. Axis has had two reasonable runs back from a spell and Cessnock-trained 5. Ghetto Boy, which mixes his form but draws an ideal barrier, head the rest.
How to play it: Asudem each way and first four 3-6-11/3-4-5-6-8-11-12.

RACE 7 – 3.20PM: REGIONAL AUSTRALIA INSURANCE SOLUTIONS WINTER COUNTRY CLASSIC QUALIFIER F&M BENCHMARK 58 HANDICAP (1300m)

Promising Muswellbrook filly 7. Little Miss Nic can go on with the job up in trip after sweeping home to win her maiden this track in first run for eight months.
Dangers: Scone mare 10. Ecstatically won a good quality maiden two runs back before giving plenty of cheek from the front at Muswellbrook. Draws to control the race again, and will take plenty of running down. Canberra mare 3. Fraternater was disappointing on speed this grade at Parkes after sweeping home to win at Wagga, and gets no favours up in weight and drawn wide. Cowra mare 5. Dictation finished nicely to win a Class 1 at Wagga two back before easy in betting when doing her best work late at Narromine. Draws the fence and will get a nice stalking run. Scone mare 8. Rosesay hasn't lived up to the early promise, but often tackled stronger fields. Better suited over this longer trip, especially drawn out.
How to play it: Little Miss Nic to win and quinella 7 and 10.

RACE 8 – 3.55PM: REGIONAL AUSTRALIA INSURANCES SOLUTIONS WINTER COUNTRY CLASSIC QUALIFIER CG&E BENCHMARK 58 HANDICAP (1300m)

Now the boys' turn, and very keen on four-year-old Mudgee gelding 4. Regal Cannon resuming for smart stable. Probably a peak second-up runner, but still produces fresh and trial was sharp. Took a while to break his maiden late last year, but consistent galloper who can stalk the speed from the inside draw.
Dangers: Rival Mudgee six-year-old gelding 8. Skin Deep hasn't won for a long time, but after a long lay-off has hit the line impressively in two runs this prep, although up sharply in weight. Five-year-old Scone gelding 6. Marokawa comes back from a solid effort in a stronger class 2 over the Scone carnival, and had previously held his own in a Saturday Highway at Hawkesbury. Will just need some luck from the wide barrier to be in the finish. Mudgee four-year-old gelding 7. Petain has been hitting the line hard in similar company, but also has to overcome a wide gate.
How to play it: Regal Cannon each-way.

RACE 9 – 4.35PM: THE GIFT CLOSET BENCHMARK 66 HANDICAP (1000m)

No loafing in the last, which suits local five-year-old gelding 3. Larlabrook who resumes for leading stable with a strong fresh record, and draws an ideal gate.
Dangers: Six-year-old Gulgong gelding 1. Attalea has been very consistent this prep around this grade, and draws to park off the speed and swoop late. Eight-year-old Mudgee gelding 7. Escebee is another which will drift back and finish hard, so too local mare 8. Go Beau Jangles which flew home to win this track at big odds last start, and draws to get plenty of cover back in the field.
How to play it: Larlabrook to win and first four 1-3/1-2-3-7-8.

BEST BETS:

R5 10. GREENSKEEPER
R7 7. LITTLE MIS NIC
BEST VALUE:
R6 3. AUSDEM

Supplied by Racing NSW.
Full form and race replays at www.racingnsw.com.au

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The son of former federal politician Bob Baldwin has been reported missing to police.

Robert Baldwin, 28, lives in Adelaide with his wife.

Bob Baldwin told the Newcastle Herald on Friday morning that his son had not been seen by his wife, and that he had not contacted her or his family, since leaving home at 7am on Thursday.

Mr Baldwin said the behaviour was out of character and the matter had been reported to South Australian Police.

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Robert Baldwin's family have shared posts on Facebook seeking information about his whereabouts.

"Have you seen my son Rob, he went missing in Adelaide yesterday," the former politician posted on Facebook on Friday.

Mr Baldwin served as the federal member for Paterson, based in the Hunter, until 2016, representing the Liberal Party.

He served in the ministry of both the Howard and Abbott governments, including roles as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources, Minister for Industry and Minister for the Environment.

In opposition he held positions in the shadow ministry, including spokesman for defence, science and personnel, regional development and tourism.

Newcastle Herald

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