PM remains silent on poor poll result

Source: The Australian

• Labor stands to lose 24 seats at election
• Most lost Labor seats would be in NSW 
• Labor MPs add fuel to super tax debate
• We'll take care of the boats, say Libs

JULIA Gillard has refused to comment on a poll of marginal seats that found Labor could lose 24 seats at the next election.

The poll by JWS Research for the Australian Financial Review covered 4070 voters across 54 marginal seats nationwide. It shows that if the election was held now, Labor stood to lose 24 seats.

Asked about the poll result, the PM told reporters in Perth she did not comment on polls.

''Polls come and go quickly...as you know I don't comment on them,'' she said.

Ten seats would fall in NSW, seven in Queensland, three in both Victoria and WA and one in the Northern Territory.

Among the losses in Queensland would be Treasurer Wayne Swan's seat of Lilley and Trade Minister Craig Emerson's seat of Rankin.

NSW casualties would include the seats of Kingsford Smith and Lindsay, held by Labor ministers Peter Garrett and David Bradbury.

Other frontbenchers facing the chop include Western Australians Gary Gray and Stephen Smith in the seats of Brand and Perth.

Labor frontbencher Warren Snowdon's NT seat of Lingiari would also fall.

Voter support has declined further for the ALP since a January poll by JWS, when Labor was on track to lose 18 marginal seats.

David Bradbury, the assistant treasurer, said he didn't want to comment on the polls.

''We're getting on with the job of trying to govern for the country,'' he told Sky News.

He took a swipe at the Coalition's ''glossy booklet'' with its plan for the country.

''No amount of glossy booklets makes up for an absence of clearly articulated costed policies,'' Mr Bradbury said.

Liberal frontbencher Kevin Andrews said people were fed up with the Labor government which was ''at war with itself.''

''Labor is fighting an internal civil war,'' Mr Andrews told Sky News, saying people wanted stability.

He said there were 169 days to go until the election and ''anything could happen''.

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Attenborough remains a TV ratings hit

THE mysteries of Mother Nature won over the hearts of viewers more than mystery boxes in the kitchen, with David Attenborough's nature documentary Galapagos beating compatriot Marco Pierre White's MasterChef: The Professionals.

Galapagos on ABC1, which went head-to-head in the ratings with MasterChef at 7.30pm, and was ninth with an all-metro audience of 918,000 on Sunday.

Attenborough's appeal held on to viewers with The Making Of Galapagos, which immediately followed the documentary, coming in 10th with 812,000 viewers.

Network Ten's MasterChef, which is now down to the final five following the departure of Bonnie Porter on Sunday, was 13th overall with 721,000 viewers.

There will be two more eliminations this week (Monday and Tuesday) before Pierre White announces the winner on Sunday.

Ten will looking for a big night in the ratings next Sunday with The Biggest Loser: Next Generation kicking off at 6.45pm, followed by the MasterChef final.

Network Nine claimed the No.1 spot on Sunday with The Block: All Stars taking the penthouse position.

The Block pulled 1.489 million viewers to lead the ratings, ahead of Nine News (1.327 million) and the Seven Network's popular UK drama series Downton Abbey (1.286 million).

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Qantas remains confident on Dreamliner

The All Nippon Airways Dreamliner flight that suffered battery problems last month. Picture: AP Source: AP

QANTAS CEO Alan Joyce says he still hasn't received formal notification from Boeing about delays to its Dreamliner 787 delivery despite the ongoing worldwide grounding of the jets and a looming delivery date.

Mr Joyce today said the airline is continuing to work closely with Boeing to get the troubled Dreamliner aircraft back in the air as soon as possible.

He said Boeing has been in daily contact as it tries to get the aircraft, which was tipped to turn around the airline's struggling international business, back in the air safely.

The airline has firm orders for 14 Dreamliner planes for its budget arm Jetstar, with options to order 50 of the longer-range 788-9 planes. The first delivery is expected to be as soon as August.

"Safety is the number one priority," Mr Joyce said. "We’re working with Boeing on what that will mean to our delivery, we haven’t had any formal notification from Boeing regarding any delays.

"We believe we have flexibility to cope with further delays if that occurs.

"We think the aircraft will be a great aircraft."

First review of the Dreamliner plane in Australia

Today the airline announced a profit of $111 million in the six months to December 31, including the $125m compensation from Boeing from the earlier delay in delivery for 787s. It cancelled 35 Dreamliner orders last years.

It comes as AFP reports Boeing is set to propose to US regulators a plan to temporarily fix problems with the 787 Dreamliner's batteries that have kept the much-heralded planes on the ground for more than a month. Boeing reportedly hopes an interim plan to shield the plane from battery fires will convince US safety authorities to allow the 50 planes grounded around the world to return to service by May at the earliest.

The 787 fleet has been grounded since January 16 after a battery caught fire on a Japan Airlines plane parked in Boston and a smoking battery led to an emergency landing by an All Nippon Airways plane in Japan. A probe into the overheating of a lithium ion battery in the All Nippon Airways plane found it was improperly wired, Japan's Transport Ministry said.

When the first Dreamliner plane came to Australia during a global tour in 2012, Jetstar Australia and New Zealand CEO David Hall said the "plane of the future" would be a key part of keeping airfares low as it reduces operational costs such as maintenance and fuel.

"It will underpin the continued success of our low cost business," Mr Hall said.

It will also deliver great benefit to Qantas, with Mr Joyce saying it will help the airline thrive amid the current challenges facing its international business. He said it will also make the airline's fleet the youngest since the business was privatised.

While it has not been suggested the plane's fundamental design can't be fixed, analysts remain uncertain how much will need to be changed and whether the problem is isolated to the batteries.

The Dreamliner is considered an aviation breakthrough, with its extensive use of lightweight composite materials and electronics instead of aluminium and hydraulics.

International airlines have embraced the plane as a way to cut fuel costs by as much as 25 per cent.

Fleet changes

The airline also announced it will upgrade its entire fleet of Airbus A330s and order new Boeing 737-800s.

Next year it will start reconfiguring the interior of its 10 A330-300s, for flights between Australia and Asia, and 20 A330-200s, for domestic routes between the east coast and Perth with a new flat seat in business class and new inflight entertainment offering. It will retire its 767s.

“The refurbished aircraft will give Qantas International a truly world-class product in global aviation's most dynamic and competitive market," Mr Joyce said. "Growing with Asia is a major priority for the Qantas Group and this investment underpins our commitment to the region."

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