Portuguese unemployment hits record 17.7%

PORTUGAL'S unemployment rate rose sharply in the first quarter of 2013 to a record high 17.7 per cent from 16.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year, data from the national statistics institute INE shows.

For the whole of 2013 the government has forecast a rate of 18.2 per cent and 18.5 per cent for next year as the effects of recession and austerity measures take hold.

The record high comes as a new government spending package, announced by the centre-right government last week, foresees the slashing of 30,000 public sector jobs out of a total 700,000.

Civil servants are also to work 40 hours per week, compared with 35 at present and are to be eligible for full retirement at the age of 66, one year later than now.

The new terms are aimed at ensuring continued aid payments from a package worth 78 billion euros ($A101.71 billion) granted by the European Union and International Monetary Fund in May 2011.

According to the INE data, 4.4 million people currently hold jobs in Portugal out of a total population of about 10.5 million.

In 2012, the economy contracted by 3.2 per cent and is forecast to shrink another 2.3 per cent in 2013.

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Kenya asks UN to drop ICC charges

KENYA has written to the UN Security Council seeking to scrap the international crimes against humanity trials for President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Vice President William Ruto, according to a letter seen on Thursday.

Kenyatta, 51, voted into power in March elections, is to go on trial in July at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for crimes against humanity relating to post-election violence in 2007-08.

Ruto, 46, faces three counts of crimes against humanity for his role in deadly violence.

"What this delegation is asking for is not deferral," Kenya's ambassador to the UN, Macharia Kamau, wrote in a letter to the council seen by AFP.

"What this delegation is asking for is for the immediate termination of the case at The Hague."

The letter, dated May 2 and stamped confidential, is the first such official request for the cases to be dropped.

However, while the security council can ask for a case to be deferred for a year, it does not have the authority to order the ICC drop a case completely.

Kenya, however, appealed to "friendly nations to use their good offices and prevail upon the International Criminal Court to reconsider the continued process".

Some 1,100 people died in bloodshed after the 2007 elections over allegations of vote rigging, shattering Kenya's image as a beacon of regional stability.

What began as political riots quickly turned into ethnic killings and reprisal attacks, plunging Kenya into its worst wave of violence since independence in 1963.

The letter warned that continuing with the trials would risk destabilising Kenya.

"Kenyans... spoke with a loud, clear, concise voice when they overwhelmingly elected Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto as president and deputy president," it said.

"It is obvious that their absence from the country may undermine the prevailing peace and any resultant insecurity may spill over to the neighbouring countries."

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Technology changes how we chat to mum

TECHNOLOGY is changing the way Australians communicate with their mums, with more using social media and video calls to stay in touch, new research suggests.

But no matter what method is used, it seems one thing will never change - we still call mum for help and advice.

In the run-up to Mother's Day, Telstra released data showing that half of all Australians chat to their mums once a week and 20 per cent do so every day.

But the evidence suggests more are using apps like Skype.

"These days more mums are happy to be called on their mobile for the weekly catch up and increasingly they are enjoying video calls too," Telstra's Inese Kingsmill said.

"In fact, 10 per cent of the mums we surveyed like receiving video calls from their kids and grandkids.

"Phoning home will take on a new meaning as technology advances."

Many of the calls - no matter what the medium - are made out of desperation rather than kindness.

That's particularly true among younger people, with 13 per cent of those aged between 18-25 only telephoning mum when they want something, according to Telstra's research.

Mums aged between 40-44 are the least responsive to these sorts of calls, with seven per cent saying they'd ignore them.

"I'm sure many mums can relate to the urgent phone call from their kids wanting to know how to remove red wine stains from the carpet or how to get lumps out of the gravy," Ms Kingsmill added.

Facebook said 27 per cent of Australians aged between 13-18 were connected to their mums via the social networking site.

That's higher than in many other countries, including France (15.5 per cent) and Brazil (13.5 per cent).

Fifteen per cent of Australians have friended their mum on Facebook, listing the relationship in the "family" section on their profiles.

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Remote students less likely to reach uni

HIGH school students from remote and disadvantaged Queensland schools are less likely to be accepted into university.

Year 12 completion rates are almost universal across the state, with close to 100 per cent of students at most state and Christian schools offered a place in higher education.

The results are positive at schools in Brisbane and larger regional cities.

But a closer look at the Queensland Studies Authority data shows pockets of disadvantage in remote areas, and at schools catering to students from indigenous and troubled backgrounds.

Griffith University Dean of Learning and Teaching, Professor Glenn Finger, says the results show the need for the Queensland government to sign up to the federal government's Gonski education reforms, which allocate more funding to disadvantaged and public schools.

"Those negotiations between the federal government and the state government are probably highly politicised, but underneath it the Gonski reform does provide a roadmap for addressing the resourcing needs of different schools that's evident in this data," he told AAP.

"The funding formula for resourcing needs improvement so that the resources actually go to those areas of need."

In central Queensland, Blackall State School had a 100 per cent year 12 completion rate but only 67 per cent of students were successful in securing a place at university or other tertiary study.

The result was even more dire at the small Aboriginal and Islander Independent Community School in Brisbane, where only 60 per cent finished year 12 and no one was accepted for further study.

The Arethusa College at Deception Bay, north of Brisbane, which caters for a small number of disengaged students had even worse results, with only one third completing year 12 and no one going on to higher education.

While most religious schools produced good academic outcomes, the Australian International Islamic College helped just 30 per cent of students finish year 12, while only 56 per cent of tertiary study applicants were successful.

Brisbane Christian College in Salisbury produced another surprise, with just 68 per cent completing year 12.

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US kidnap suspect called himself predator

FOUND inside the house where Ariel Castro allegedly held three women captive for a decade was a note from 2004 in which he called himself "a sexual predator" in need of help, local media reported.

Castro, 52, was arraigned on Thursday for the rape and kidnapping of Amanda Berry, 27, Gina DeJesus, 23 and Michelle Knight, 32, who all emerged on Monday from the unassuming Cleveland house owned by the former school bus driver.

Local television station WOIO investigative reporter Scott Taylor, on his Twitter feed, said the note was among dozens of pieces of evidence that police recovered when they combed the two-story premises after the women's escape.

"I am a sexual predator. I need help," Taylor quoted the note as saying.

In an apparent reference to captives, the note goes on: "They are here against their will because they made a mistake of getting in a car with a total stranger."

"I don't know why I kept looking for another," the note adds. "I already have 2 in my possession."

Taylor said Castro also wrote about wanting to kill himself and giving "all the money I saved to my victims."

Knight was 20 when she was last seen in August 2002. Berry disappeared on the eve of her 17th birthday in April 2003, while DeJesus vanished in April 2004 at the age of 14.

Cleveland's deputy police chief Ed Tomba appeared to confirm the existence of the note when he was asked at a press conference Wednesday by another local TV news channel if "a suicide note" had been found.

"That is another part of evidence that we recovered that I cannot comment on," Tomba said. "There were over 200 items taken from the home on Seymour Avenue. All of those items will be processed."

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Slain Boston bomber suspect finally buried

SLAIN Boston Marathon bomber suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev has finally been buried, ending a growing row over what to do with his body, police in the Massachusetts town of Worcester say.

"As a result of our public appeal for help, a courageous and compassionate individual came forward to provide the assistance needed to properly bury the deceased," the police department said on its website on Thursday.

"His body is no longer in the City of Worcester and is now entombed," the statement said.

Tsarnaev, 26, died in a gun battle with police three days after the April 15 bombings that killed three people and injured more than 260 at the marathon finish line.

He was killed by bullets and blunt trauma, according to the medical report, and was apparently hit by the car driven by his younger brother Dzhokhar.

Since then, the body of the once promising amateur boxer had been in limbo at a funeral home.

Cemeteries refused to accept him and municipal officials in the Boston area declined to intervene, while protesters besieging the funeral home demanded Tsarnaev's corpse be sent back to his home province of Dagestan in Russia's troubled Caucasus region.

However, an uncle living in the United States said Tsarnaev should be laid to rest in what had become his true home in Boston, leading to an increasingly ugly impasse.

Worcester police did not identify the person who apparently solved the standoff and held off from giving the location of the grave.

"The chief thanks the community that provided the burial site. There is no further information at this time," the department said.

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Aussie aid program gets good review

DESPITE breaking a commitment to foreign aid spending, Australia has been praised by its developed-country peers in a new review of overseas assistance.

The OECD's Development Assistance Committee engaged assessors from Canada and the EU to compile a report into the nation's aid program, which totalled $US5.44 billion in 2012, making it the world's eighth-largest financial contributor.

The 122-page review found Australia had made "great efforts to promote development" on a global scale and had the potential to grow its spending on aid.

However, authors made reference to Australia's division of funds, highlighting the Labor government's decision in December to channel A$375 million in aid monies to pay for the domestic upkeep of asylum seekers.

"The predictability of Australia's aid risks being undermined when newly incurred ODA (official development assistance) eligible costs are met within allocated budgetary envelopes rather than with new resources," says the review.

Earlier in 2012 the government delayed by 12 months its plans to boost aid spending to 0.5 per cent of gross national income - around $8 billion - by 2015/16 as it worked to bring the budget back into surplus.

The review welcomed Australia's ongoing commitment, albeit delayed, to reach the benchmark.

"Australia is in a very strong position to deliver a growing aid budget effectively and efficiently," it read.

"In line with its commitment to punch at or above its weight in international development, Australia should achieve its stated aid goal of 0.5 per cent by 2016/17."

AusAID Director General Peter Baxter welcomed the assessment, the first since 2008.

"This assessment of Australia's approach to aid positions us as an expert on aid delivery amongst our peers," Mr Baxter said in a statement.

"The review praises the efficiency, transparency and effectiveness of the program, making particular reference to Australia's sound strategic policies, delivery of strong results and dedicated commitment to transparency."

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Students get chance to be principal

MANY young students dream of what they would do if they ran their school, even just for a day.

A few will get the chance in June under the national student "principal for a day" program.

Primary and high school students will get the chance to switch places with their principal for the day, maybe leading a school assembly, attending a staff meeting or visiting classrooms.

The Principals Australia Institute is behind the program and hopes it will increase the community's appreciation of school leaders.

"As a principal, I know how important it is to provide young people with opportunities to stretch their capacity as thinkers and leaders," chief executive Jim Davies said in a statement on Monday.

"My hope is that "Student Principal for a Day" will inspire young people to consider a career in education - or to even become a principal one day."

Schools that want to participate can register online at www.sp4d.edu.au before May 28.

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Newspoll shows Labor's rating unchanged

LABOR'S plan for a national disability insurance scheme has been well supported by voters but it has not done anything to rescue Prime Minister Julia Gillard's poor ratings in the polls.

The latest Newspoll in The Australian newspaper shows there has been virtually no change in the primary vote of the two major parties.

Seventy-eight per cent of voters support the disability scheme, named DisabilityCare, with just nine per cent opposed.

However, there was no boost in the poll for Labor and voters were evenly split as to whether the ALP or the Coalition would be better at managing the $15 billion a year disability support program.

The Newspoll survey, conducted on the weekend, shows the Coalition's primary vote is virtually unchanged from two weeks ago on 47 per cent, as is Labor's at 31 per cent.

The Australian says the Coalition's lift of one point and Labor's fall of one point are both within the margin of error.

Based on preference flows at the 2010 election, the Coalition has kept a clear election winning lead, with 56 per cent to Labor's 44 per cent.

On who would make the better prime minister, support for Ms Gillard rose from 35 to 37 per cent while Opposition leader Tony Abbott also got a two per cent boost.

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New BBC probe into 'predator' Hall

THE BBC has announced a "freestanding investigation" into how disgraced TV star Stuart Hall was able to abuse his victims while working for the corporation.

The fact-finding mission will feed into Dame Janet Smith's Jimmy Savile inquiry, but will be led by a "different individual" because of a "potential conflict of interest".

A BBC spokesman said: "In light of a potential conflict of interest with Dame Janet Smith there will be a freestanding investigation covering Stuart Hall's conduct at the BBC which will feed into her Review.

"This work will be led by a different individual appointed by the BBC."

The potential conflict of interest has arisen because Dame Janet Smith knows Ray Colley, who worked with Hall at the BBC in Manchester.

Hall, 83, has admitted indecently assaulting 13 girls during the 1960s, 70s and 80s, including one aged just nine.

Speaking yesterday on the BBC's Andrew Marr show, the chairman of the BBC Trust Lord Patten admitted the corporation was likely to face compensation claims from Hall's victims.

Asked by guest presenter Jeremy Vine whether the BBC would be liable, he said: "I imagine so, but that will be a matter for the lawyers and conceivably the courts.

"I think it would be incredible to be able to do that (estimate the cost of compensation) now because first of all what needs to happen is that we need to be able to get a grip on what happened and of course, in the meantime, co-operate with the police.

''It's a different case from the Savile case because the main person who is alleged to have committed these crimes - who has committed these crimes, he has owned up to some of them - is actually alive.''

Lord Patten added: "If we need to do more, we will."

"At the end of the day, what we have to do is to provide answers which will satisfy people that we have been prepared to deal with our own dirty washing", he said.

Hall faces a possible jail sentence and was described as an "opportunistic predator" after he appeared at Preston Crown Court last Thursday.

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Bieber bumped in onstage scuffle in Dubai

ONLINE footage has emerged showing megastar singer Justin Bieber involved in a scuffle with a fan during a concert in Dubai.

Mobile phone video popped up across the web on Monday showing a male fan rushing toward the 19-year-old performer, who was sitting at a piano on the edge of the stage.

Security guards tackled the young man from behind, spilling into Bieber and tipping over the piano.

Bieber twisted away and then strolled offstage while the guards dragged away the fan.

The concert Sunday - the second of a two-performance stand in Dubai - resumed after a short break and Bieber appeared calm and unharmed.

He later tweeted: "Dubai. Nothing stops the show."

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WA under siege by Canberra, premier says

WEST Australian Premier Colin Barnett he feels he's been under siege by the federal Labor government.

He says he hopes a government led by Tony Abbott could be a bit more flexible.

WA has been at odds with the Commonwealth on a range of issues including Gonski education funding, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and the amount of GST the state receives.

"Each of those are separate issues and as a premier I must say I have felt under siege by the Labor government in Canberra," he told ABC television on Monday night.

Mr Barnett said this started with health reform and WA agreed in principle with the NDIS.

He said something like 70 to 80 per cent of funding for disability services came from state governments and that was ignored in the discussion.

Mr Barnett said from WA's viewpoint, they were cooperating on education reforms.

"But when you have a prime minister who says that schools, primary schools for example, will be funded to the level of $9200 a student and in Western Australia we are already spending $13,900 a student, it is not very attractive," he said.

Mr Barnett said WA received 55 cents in the GST dollar back last year and that would fall to 45 cents next financial year.

"It could get down to 17 cents in the dollar. What that would mean would be that WA would effectively become a financially independent state within the Commonwealth. It is weakening the Australian federation," he said.

Mr Barnett said WA was more prosperous than the nation as a whole and should get at least 75 cents in the dollar.

"We are willing to give up a quarter, maybe even a third of our GST to support Tasmania, South Australia and the Northern Territory. But I don't believe it is fair on the WA people," he said.

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Taliban bomb kills 14 at Pakistan rally

A BOMB tore through a Pakistan political rally Monday, killing 14 people and wounding 56 in one of the deadliest attacks on the campaign for Pakistan's historic elections.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility, saying its target had been a lawmaker elected as an independent but allied to the outgoing government. Officials said the lawmaker escaped unhurt.

The killings bring to 83 the number of people killed in attacks on politicians and political parties since April 11, according to an AFP tally.

The device hit a rally by the right-wing Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), a religious party in the outgoing government coalition. It exploded in Kurram, part of Pakistan's Taliban-infested tribal belt on the Afghan border.

"At least 14 people have been confirmed dead and 56 injured," Riaz Khan, the top administrative official in Kurram, told AFP.

"I fear the death toll could rise further because several of the injured are in a critical condition," he added.

Khan said the bomb was planted at a rally by two national assembly candidates representing the JUI faction led by cleric Fazul-ur-Rehman.

The apparent target, Munir Orakzai, escaped unhurt while Khan said the other, Ain u Din Shakir, was slightly injured.

It was the first deadly attack on a political party in the tribal belt since campaigning began for what will be the country's first democratic transition of power after a civilian government has completed a full term in office.

Interim Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso strongly condemned the attack and said another national assembly candidate had been injured.

Repeated calls for candidates to be granted more security have failed to stop a wave of attacks, most of them claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.

"Basically it was an attack on Munir Orakzai, who was a part of the past government for five years," Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location.

The Pakistani Taliban have condemned the elections as unIslamic and directly threatened the main parties in the outgoing coalition, the Pakistan People's Party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Awami National Party (ANP).

"He supported the People's Party and ANP government which launched several operations against us," Ehsan told AFP.

Rehman and his JUI faction -- known as JUI-F -- have been a mediator between the authorities and the Taliban, blamed for killing thousands of Pakistanis in a domestic insurgency over the last six years.

Orakzai is a senior tribal politician who is standing for JUI-F for the first time. The Taliban denied that JUI-F itself was the target.

Elections have been postponed in three constituencies, in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, in Pakistan's biggest city of Karachi and in the southern city of Hyderabad, where candidates have been killed.

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Company tax top priority, says business

BUSINESS has told the federal government that balancing the budget is not their main concern, with a survey finding cuts in company tax and infrastructure spending as far more important.

According to an Australian Industry Group survey of 330 manufacturing, services and construction companies, 35 per cent listed company tax cuts as the top priority, while 33 per cent nominated infrastructure spending.

Only 16 per cent said balancing the 2013-14 budget was a top priority, Ai Group said.

"It (the survey) shows that business believes that in this current economic environment balancing the Budget is not the main game," Ai Group chief Innes Willox said in a statement.

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NSW sex abuse inquiry to start Monday

A SPECIAL NSW inquiry into allegations of a child sex abuse cover-up in the Catholic Church will begin in Newcastle on Monday.

The special commission of inquiry was announced by NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell in last November, following explosive allegations made to the media by police officer Peter Fox.

Detective Chief Inspector Fox will be the first of a long list of senior police who will take the witness box when the inquiry begins in the Newcastle Supreme Court on Monday.

The senior investigator asserted the church had covered up evidence in relation to pedophile priests in the Catholic diocese of Maitland-Newcastle in the Hunter region of NSW.

The inquiry will look at how the church handled complaints about former priests Denis McAlinden and Jim Fletcher, both now deceased.

It will also look at the circumstances in which Inspector Fox was asked to stop investigating sex abuse in the diocese.

The NSW inquiry will sit for two weeks in May and three weeks through June and July.

It is separate from the Federal Royal Commission into child sex abuse.

Margaret Cunneen SC has been appointed as Special Commissioner to the inquiry.

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Qld men cop highest sun risk: report

ONE in eight men and one in 12 women in Queensland get sunburnt on an average weekend, according to a report in the Medical Journal of Australia.

Young men who work outdoors appear to be most at risk, and people who take part in physical activity are more likely to report sunburn.

Sunburn is defined as redness that lasts more than 12 hours.

The report is based on interviews with 16,473 Queensland residents aged 18 years and over during 2009 and 2010. They were asked if they had been sunburnt on the previous weekend.

Queensland has the highest melanoma rate in the world.

People aged 18 to 24 years are seven times more likely to suffer sunburn than those aged over 65. People aged 35 to 44 are five times more likely to be burnt.

Sunburn is less likely among people who generally take protective measures in summer, the authors write.

"Our results are broadly consistent with a 2004 Queensland survey showing young age and male sex greatly increase odds of sunburn," write the authors from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research and the Preventive Health Unit at Queensland Health.

They say sunburn is still a major public health issue despite 50 years of attempts to educate the public.

The most common reason given for getting burnt is a failure to use sunscreen or protective clothing.

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Protests mark Hollande's first anniversary

TENS of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Paris on Sunday to mark Socialist President Francois Hollande's first year in office by accusing him of turning his back on the left.

On the eve of the anniversary of Hollande's May 6 win last year over right-winger Nicolas Sarkozy, the Communist-backed Left Front gathered supporters for a march starting at the Bastille, the iconic square of the French Revolution.

Many were also expected to gather for separate protests in Paris and other cities to oppose the government's plans to legalise same-sex marriage and adoption by gay couples.

The demonstrations come with polls showing Hollande as the most unpopular president in modern French history. Many voters are angered by an economy on the edge of recession and unemployment hitting a 16-year high.

Jean-Luc Melenchon, the Left Front's firebrand candidate in last year's vote, called the protest in Paris last month at the height of a scandal over Hollande's ex-budget minister Jerome Cahuzac being charged with tax fraud.

Melenchon, who said he expected 100,000 to attend the rally, told the crowd the Socialist government had betrayed its supporters on the left.

"We do not want the world of finance in power! We do not accept the politics of austerity!" he told protesters waving the red flags of left-wing movements.

In an interview Sunday with newspaper Le Parisien, Melenchon called on Hollande to "return to the left, where he was when he was elected".

He accused Hollande of contributing to Europe's economic crisis by focusing on "the interests of shareholders, of big business and of European austerity policies, to the detriment of the workers."

Melenchon called for a government reshuffle with himself or Industrial Renewal Minister Arnaud Montebourg -- considered one of Hollande's most left-wing ministers -- as prime minister.

Opponents of gay marriage were meanwhile to rally in major cities in a bid to force Hollande to back down from signing a bill approved in parliament last month.

The bill, which is also facing a constitutional challenge, sparked months of demonstrations across the country, with some descending into violence.

It has been one of the most controversial reforms of Hollande's first year in office, with right-wing opponents demanding the issue be put to a referendum.

About 1,000 people protested against the bill in Strasbourg on Saturday and other protests were due Sunday in Paris, Rennes, Lyon, Montpellier, Toulouse, Dijon and Lille.

Sunday's protests follow another demonstration on Wednesday that brought hundreds of supporters of the far-right National Front to the streets of Paris, as a poll showed its leader Marine Le Pen would come second to Sarkozy if an election were held now, far ahead of Hollande in third place.

Since his election, Hollande's approval rating has fallen faster and further than any other president's since the founding of France's Fifth Republic in 1958.

The government has said it will hold a meeting on Monday to set its agenda for the months to come, with the focus on tackling unemployment, boosting economic growth and controlling public finances.

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French ballistic missile self-destructs

A FRENCH test of an M51 submarine-launched ballistic missile failed on Sunday as it self-destructed off the coast of Brittany, officials said.

"It was a failure, the reasons will be determined by an investigation," said Lieutenant Commander Lionel Delort, a spokesman for the Atlantic Naval Prefecture.

He said the missile "self-destructed during its first propulsion phase... for an unknown reason."

The missile was test fired, without a nuclear warhead, from the Vigilant -- a strategic nuclear submarine -- from the Bay of Audierne at 0730 GMT (1730 Sunday AEST) and had been due to go down in the isolated north Atlantic.

The defence ministry said in a statement that it "was destroyed shortly after launch, over the ocean," without providing further details.

Delort said the area had been cleared of vessels and aircraft prior to the launch and that debris from the missile -- which fell about 25 kilometres from the coast -- would be collected for analysis.

The M51, which has a range of 8,000 kilometres, was put into operation in 2010 following five successful test launches.

Witnesses told AFP they heard a loud explosion and saw trails of smoke when the missile test failed.

"We saw flashes in the sky, I thought it was a plane exploding," Claude Jean, a resident of Cap Sizun on the northern end of the bay, told AFP.

France is estimated to have a stockpile of about 300 nuclear warheads, the majority of them designed for launching from its four Triomphant-class submarines. The remainder are designed for delivery from both land- and carrier-based aircraft.

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NSW Labor support still in slump: Newspoll

POPULAR support for NSW Labor still lags way behind support for the state coalition, a Newspoll has found.

The poll published in The Australian on Monday found NSW Labor recorded a primary vote of 28 per cent in March, up one point from the previous poll.

The coalition, by contrast, polled two points better at 48 per cent of the primary vote.

The Liberal-National coalition holds a big 61 to 39 per cent lead over Labor on a two-party preferred basis, the poll found.

Support for the performance of Labor leader John Robertson was steady at 28 per cent.

Dissatisfaction with him fell one point to 34 per cent, according to the poll.

Premier Barry O'Farrell recorded a one-point jump in his satisfaction rating to 44 per cent, while his dissatisfaction rating didn't move at 38 per cent.

Fifty-two per cent of those polled thought Mr O'Farrell would do a better job as premier, compared to 20 per cent who preferred Mr Robertson in the top job.

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