The Tasmanian Government has been questioned about how it will meet the cost of replacing the two Spirit of Tasmania ferries.

The Government has announced the TT-Line will spend tens of millions of dollars refurbishing the existing vessels and plans to reduce fares.

Fares on the state-owned ferries will be cut as part of an effort to grow the state's tourism industry.

On Monday, cabinet signed off on plans to reduce fares on the Bass Strait passenger ferries by almost 15 per cent over four years.

The Tasmanian Government hoped the plan would attract an extra 64,000 passengers and inject $220 million a year by 2023.

There will be 42 extra day sailings by 2018 and and the two ships on the run between Devonport and Melbourne will be refurbished by late next year.

The exact cost of the upgrade has not been revealed, but Infrastructure Minister Rene Hidding said in a statement it would be in the tens of millions of dollars.

It will include refurbishment of the dining and bar areas, new seating, upgrades in cabins and wi-fi and internet streaming access.

The Government still intends to meet a commitment by the previous government to replace the ships by 2023.

Greens MP Nick McKim has used a parliamentary hearing to question where the money will come from.

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Spirit of Tasmania ferry replacement plan questioned as fare cuts flagged

By KBC Reporters

Nkaissery takes over from Joseph ole Lenku (File)

President Uhuru Kenyatta has cracked the whip following Monday night Mandera attack, sacking Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku and subsequently nominating Joseph Ole Nkaissery as his replacement.

I have nominated Hon. Major General (rtd) Joseph Nkaissery as the new Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination of National Government. I hope the National Assembly will expedite the process of his vetting and approval, he said.

The President announced the changes at Statehouse Nairobi during a Media briefing Tuesday afternoon following the Mandera killings by Al-shabaab militants that left 36 people dead and several others injured.

The MP for Kajiado Central takes over the security docket from Joseph ole Lenku under whose tenure, the country has suffered a spate of security lapses.

At the same time the President also accepted the resignation of the Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo who now heads for retirement.

The president said, Mr David Kimaiyo offered to retire and I have accepted the retirement request. I therefore take this opportunity to thank Mr David Kimaiyo for his many years of service to our nation.

The changes come barely days after increased pressure from civil societies and Kenyans on the President to relieve the two of their duties over their perceived failure to arrest the runaway insecurity in the country.

Joseph Ole Lenku becomes the first Cabinet Secretary to lose his job under the Jubilee government after barely serving for 20 months, while Kimaiyo had served for 2 years since his appointment as IG in December 2012.

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Nkaissery nominated Interior Cabinet Secretary

New Delhi: Work has moved into top gear for finalising the name and structure for the new institution that will replace the 64-year old Planning Commission and the same may be unveiled this December.

"The Prime Minister has convened a meeting of the chief ministers on December 7 to seek their view points on the structure of the institution which would ultimately replace the Planning Commission," an official source said.

The Commission has received many suggestions regarding the name and role of the new body. Some of the suggested names are Sustainable Development Commission, National Development Agency, Social Economic Development Commission or Bharat Pragati Lakshya.

Besides, there have been reports about the new body being named as Niti Aayog or Policy Commission. The new institution, which is likely to be headed by the Prime Minister as was the case in Planning Commission, may have four divisions-- Inter-state council, plan evaluation office, UIDAI and DBT.

All the divisions would have experts from the Centre and state governments as also experts from the industry. The Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) Mission earlier was part the Planning Commission but was moved to the Finance Ministry later.

According to sources, the new body could also be the secretariat for the inter-state council which is at present under the home ministry and met rarely during the UPA term.

This council used to meet regularly during the previous NDA regime. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech had announced that the Commission would be abolished and replaced with a more relevant institution.

Since then the Commission has held several meetings with experts to discuss the new structure of the proposed institution. Country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had set up the Planning Commission to steer the nation's economic destiny at that time. Set up by a Cabinet Resolution, the Commission has enjoyed power and prestige with Prime Minister as its Chairman.

Its most important functions have been fixing targets for sectoral growth and allocate resources. The Deputy Chairman of the Commission has often been a political stalwart holding the rank of a cabinet minister.

Gulzarilal Nanda, V T Krishnamachari, C Subramaniam, P N Haksar, Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, K C Pant, Jaswant Singh, Madhu Dandavate, Mohan Dharia and R K Hegde had been deputy chaiman at differnt points of time. Montek Singh Ahluwalia was the last deputy chairman.

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Plan panel replacement likely in December

Taiwans premier resigned to take responsibility for the loss of key mayoral seats around the island for the ruling Kuomintang party, including the capital city of Taipei.

Premier Jiang Yi-huah said at a press briefing today President Ma Ying-jeou accepted his resignation and would soon announce his replacement as well as new members of the cabinet.

Todays election results show that the people are dissatisfied with the administrations policies, Jiang said. The people have spoken clearly through their votes. I have decided to assume political responsibility.

Todays vote is viewed as a referendum on Mas presidency, during which students have staged protests against his push to strengthen ties with China and average real incomes have declined as home prices have soared. The loss of top municipal seats threatens to hamper Mas ability to advance his policies, such as completing a services trade pact with the mainland, and may reduce the partys chances of retaining power in 2016.

Sean Lien, the KMTs candidate for Taipei mayor, a seat the party has held for two decades, conceded defeat to Ko Wen-je, an independent backed by the opposition Democratic Progressive Party. The DPP leads in five of the islands six mayoral elections, including Taichung and Taoyuan, according to early counting by the Central Election Commission.

To contact the reporter on this story: Justina Lee in Taipei at jlee1489@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Debra Mao at dmao5@bloomberg.net

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Taiwan Premier Resigns After Party Loses Control of Top Cities

Australian cricketer George Bailey with Sport and Recreation minister Terry Waldron at the new Perth Stadium site. Picture: Dione Davidson/The West Australian

West Australian racing and gaming minister Terry Waldron has resigned from cabinet.

Mr Waldron, who is also sport and recreation minister, will move to the backbench "some time before Christmas" and will not contest the state election in 2017.

The 63-year-old, who was an accomplished sportsman before becoming the member for Wagin in 2001, said he felt it was the right time to move on.

"It's been very much like when I played footy and when I played cricket. You just sort of know when the time is right," he told reporters on Tuesday.

"I've given 110 per cent but I don't know whether I could continue to do that.

"That tells me that it's a good time for myself to step down, but also it's the right decision for the government and my colleagues."

Mr Waldron said he looked forward to spending more time with his four granddaughters, admitting he had neglected his own advice to ministerial staff to make sure they spend enough time with family.

A former deputy leader of the WA National Party, Mr Waldron became a cabinet minister in 2008.

He said he was keen to give his successor enough time to establish themselves before the election.

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WA minister Waldron resigns from cabinet

Nationals leader Terry Redman has exercised a "captain's pick" to replace Terry Waldron in Cabinet, with former party president Colin Holt and deputy speaker Wendy Duncan considered most likely to be promoted.

Colin Barnett confirmed that under the Liberal-Nationals partnership arrangement in Government, the Nationals were entitled to replace Mr Waldron from within their ranks. "It lies with me as to what portfolios that person is given," he said.

The Premier said the Cabinet reshuffle to accommodate Mr Waldron's replacement would be kept to a minimum but conceded other ministers could be affected.

Mr Redman said he had told Mr Barnett what the Nationals had decided, but he would not reveal the name until the Premier decided on the allocation of portfolios.

"The Nationals' process is that the leader has the choice of picking the successor," he said.

The Nationals leader in the Legislative Council, Mr Holt was party president in the lead-up to the election campaign last year.

Ms Duncan, another former party president, co-created the Royalties for Regions policy with former leader Brendon Grylls.

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Nats to pick new Cabinet member

Sport and Recreation and Racing and Gaming Minister Terry Waldron announces his retirement. Terry Redman watches on as Mr Waldron holds back tears. Picture: Ian Munro/ The West Australian

One of the nice guys of WA politics, Sports Minister Terry Waldron, will step down from Cabinet before Christmas after announcing he will retire from Parliament at the 2017 election.

Mr Waldron made the announcement flanked by nine of his Nationals colleagues at a sometimes teary and laughter-filled press conference this morning.

Nationals Leader Terry Redman paid tribute to Mr Waldron and revealed he had picked a replacement to be elevated to Cabinet, but would not reveal who it was ahead of discussions with Premier Colin Barnett.

Mr Waldron, a former WAFL footballer who served on the WA Football Commission, was elected as the member for Wagin in 2001 with a primary vote of 28 per cent.

By the last election in March 2013, he had more than doubled his personal vote to 63.68 per cent, turning Wagin into the safest seat in WA with a two party-preferred margin of 26 per cent.

This morning Mr Waldron, who is also the Minister for Racing and Gaming, said had always believed one could achieve more by getting on well with people.

I think sometimes in politics we let politics override us sometimes, he said.

Really Ive just tried to do the job. Im probably not the most out-there political animal, but I try to work with people, I try to take people with me because I found in my life, thats how Ive been able to achieve things.

Its a simple thing. We always talk to kids about respect and its up to us grown ups to make sure we show people respect as well. Ive always tried to do that and I think that comes back and enables you to build relationships.

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Waldron to retire from politics

In this Oct. 1, 2014 file photo, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel briefs reporters at the Pentagon.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is stepping down under pressure from President Barack Obama's Cabinet, senior administration officials said Monday, following a tenure in which he has struggled to break through the White House's insular foreign policy team.

Hagel is the first senior Obama adviser to leave the administration following the sweeping losses for Obama's party in the midterm elections. It also comes as the president's national security team has been battered by multiple foreign policy crises, include the rise of the Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.

While Obama has sought to consolidate foreign policy decision-making within the White House, advisers have privately criticized Hagel for not being more proactive and engaged in Cabinet meetings and other national security discussions. Hagel also angered White House officials with a recent letter to national security adviser Susan Rice in which he said Obama needed to articulate a clearer view on the administration's approach to dealing with Syrian President Bashar Assad.

A senior defense official said that Hagel submitted his resignation letter to Obama on Monday morning and the president accepted it. Hagel, 68, agreed to remain in office until his successor is confirmed by the Senate, the official said.

The official said both Hagel and Obama "determined that it was time for new leadership in the Pentagon," adding that they had been discussing the matter over a period of several weeks.

Obama was to announce Hagel's resignation Monday. The president is not expected to nominate a new Pentagon chief Monday, according to a second official.

The officials insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter by name ahead of Obama's official announcement.

Among the leading contenders to replace Hagel is Michele Flournoy, who served as the Pentagon's policy chief for the first three years of Obama's first term. Flournoy, who would be the first woman to head the Pentagon, is now chief executive officer of the Center for a New American Security, a think tank that she co-founded.

Hagel is a Republican who served as senator from Nebraska and became a critic of U.S. involvement in Iraq. After Obama nominated him to succeed Leon Panetta as Defense Secretary in his second term, Hagel struggled through a disastrous confirmation hearing that raised early concerns about him within the White House.

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Defense Secretary Hagel resigning from Obama cabinet

WA News

West Australian Racing and Gaming Minister Terry Waldron is expected to announce his retirement from Cabinet.

Mr Waldron, who is also sport and recreation minister, is holding a press conference about his future at 9am.

The 63-year-old is expected to move to the backbench but remain the member for Wagin.

Mr Waldron was elected to that role in 2001, the same year he was appointed deputy leader of the WA National Party.

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Premier Colin Barnett recently told frontbenchers that they would have to take a back seat up to a year prior to the 2017 state election if they don't plan to run.

Deputy Premier and Health Minister Kim Hames has already announced he will retire from politics at the next state poll.

While there's speculation Police Minister Liza Harvey will become second-in-charge, Mr Barnett said on the weekend that Cabinet would discuss who would take on the position, and that he didn't have a preference for Dr Hames' replacement.

Mr Barnett plans to contest the 2017 election.

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Terry Waldron expected to retire from WA Cabinet

WASHINGTON As if there wasnt already enough to fight about in Congress, the departure of Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel is setting up a big nomination fight in the Senate. Whoever is named to replace Hagel will have to make it through a Republican-controlled Senate, where leaders have pushed for a more aggressive fight against the Islamic Stategroup.

The situation in Washington is becoming so toxic that virtually anything requiring congressional approval in the next two years will be a wearying process. The fight to get a new defense secretary approved could take months.

President Barack Obama is "going to have a hard time getting any nominee through," Rep. Buck McKeon, the outgoing chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told CNN.

And while the House wont have any say in the process -- only the Senate weighs in on nominations -- the anger from conservatives in the chamber who dont want to cooperate with the president is sure to be felt across the capitol. McKeon cited the failing relationship between the president and the White House, saying since the midterm election when the GOP won control of Congress, Obama has made no effort to improve the relationship. Instead, hes only made it worse -- as with the executive orders on immigration announced last week.

Sen. John McCain, who is expected to be the chairman of the Armed Services Committee when Republicans take over in January, said in a radio interview Monday morning confirming a replacement for Hagel will be the top priority for the new Congress. That is the earliest a nomination process could begin since Congress has only 10 working days left in December.

McCain, a military hawk, will be the key figure in moving the nomination. As the head of the committee that will hold nomination hearings, he will set the times for all hearings, dictate the rules of debate and control when the nominee could move to a full Senate vote. But a vote likely wouldnt come until McCain has had a chance, along with the other members of the Armed Services Committee, to grill the nominee on what happens next with ISIS and in Syria.

There is a lot of speculation the departure of Hagel will come with a shifting strategy in Syria. Republicans have called for combat troops to be sent, instead of the current situation involving U.S. airstrikes, plus troops training Syrian and Iraqi fighters.

"It is imperative that the next secretary of defense possess a sharp grasp of strategy, a demonstrated ability to think creatively and the willingness and ability to work with Congress," Senate Majority Leader-elect Mitch McConnell said.

Obama will need at least four Republicans to approve whomever he nominates -- maybe 14 if Republicans change the rules back. Frustrated by the number of nominees blocked in the last Congress, Sen. Harry Reid changed the needed votes from 60 to 50. Republicans, when they take control, will have to decide how many votes will be needed going forward.

Hagel is currently the only Republican in Obama's cabinet. But Senate Republicans weren't very keen on him from the beginning and enthusiasm hasn't grown.

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Hagel Replacement: Senate Fight Likely Over Obama Nominee For Defense