Plibersek lashes WA premier

Deputy federal Labor leader Tanya Plibersek (pic) has slammed West Australian Premier Colin Barnett. Source: AAP

DEPUTY federal Labor leader Tanya Plibersek has taken a swipe at West Australian Premier Colin Barnett, saying he has "broken promise after promise" since winning a second term.

Ms Plibersek used much of her address at the state Labor Party's annual conference in Belmont on Saturday to lash the Liberal leader.

"Like the Liberal state premiers in the eastern states, Colin Barnett is showing the people of WA a little preview of what they can expect from a Tony Abbott government," she said.

"You say as little as possible to get elected and you do your worst once you get there."

She lambasted Mr Barnett for cuts to education, closing wheat-belt rail lines, a 12.5 per cent increase in land tax and his government's failure to deliver a pledged redevelopment of Royal Perth Hospital.

"West Australians did not get the Colin Barnett they voted for," Ms Plibersek said.

Also at the conference, there were several references to the need for unity in the party, while Ms Plibersek paid tribute to Labor Senator Louise Pratt, who had endured weeks of stress waiting to find out whether she had retained her seat.

The Australian Electoral Commission will announce the results of the WA Senate recount and distribution of preferences after 2pm (WST).

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Man injured in Bathurst ute roll

A man has sustained serious head injuries in a ute accident in NSW, police say. Source: AAP

A MAN has sustained serious head injuries in a ute accident on a private property south of Bathurst, NSW.

Police say the ute rolled at a property at Perthville about 4.30am (AEDT) on Saturday.

A 29-year-old local man who'd been travelling in the ute tray was thrown from the vehicle and suffered serious head injuries.

He's been airlifted to Westmead Hospital and is in a serious but stable condition.

The driver, a 33-year-old man from North Richmond, was taken to Bathurst Hospital with suspected rib injuries.

His front-seat passenger, a 29-year-old man from Pokolbin, escaped with bruising.

Police will interview the men once they are deemed well enough.

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Second bikie case postponed in Qld

A SECOND bikie court case has been postponed in Queensland because of comments made by Premier Campbell Newman.

A case in the Cairns Magistrates Court was adjourned on Friday, a day after a Supreme Court judge put a Brisbane bikie bail case on indefinite hold.

The defence lawyer in the Cairns matter asked for the case to be postponed pending the outcome of an appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions against Justice George Fryberg's decision in the Supreme Court.

Justice Fryberg ruled on Thursday there was a risk comments by Mr Newman would be seen to have influenced the outcome and the court's integrity would have been affected.

The premier was quoted in media urging judges to act according to community expectations.

In Cairns, Odin's Warriors bikies Peter Johnson and Mark Filtness, both 47, were the first gang members arrested and charged with offences under the state's new anti-bikie gang laws.

Both were released on bail, but they returned to court on Friday afternoon, where Defence Lawyer Philip Bovey asked for the case be postponed.

"I have asked the magistrate to adjourn pending a consideration of the issue raised by Justice (George) Fryberg in the bail review matter of Brown," Mr Bovey told reporters outside court.

The Cairns case was adjourned until November 15.

In the appeal documents, the DPP argued Justice Fryberg shouldn't have taken into account a media report of the premier's comments as it was irrelevant.

The documents also reject the judge's finding that a reasonable member of the public would perceive the comments would influence the court, and that an appropriate response was to stay the proceedings.

Alleged Bandido Jarrod Brown was granted bail in the Holland Park Magistrates Court on October 18.

He's charged with drugs and ammunition possession, possessing drug paraphernalia and obstructing police.

He faced court a day after strict new laws designed to stop bikies walking free on bail were passed.

The DPP applied for a Supreme Court review of the magistrate's decision last week, but Justice Fryberg put the application on hold until further order because of Mr Newman's comments.

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Qld reef assessment paints grim picture

The federal and Queensland governments have released a new plan to protect the Great Barrier Reef. Source: AAP

FEDERAL Environment Minister Greg Hunt says a new long-term plan will improve the health of the Great Barrier Reef and increase protection, but green groups say it doesn't go far enough.

The long-awaited strategic assessment draws on scientific evidence to give an overview of the state of the reef and outlines a plan to better protect the World Heritage site.

Mr Hunt acknowledged there were some serious concerns, but is hopeful the strategy will ensure the reef's survival.

"What has happened in the past is what we have to live with, but we can control and improve the future of the reef through our actions," he told reporters on Friday.

The assessment concluded the best way to halt and reverse damage to the reef was to put in place a new management framework and examine the "cumulative effect of human activities and natural forces", rather than threats in isolation.

Mr Hunt said the framework would set tougher environmental standards for future developments.

"We make no apology for applying tougher standards going forward," he said.

The report also called for a "net benefit policy", so that any activities along the coast and in the marine park produced an overall benefit to the reef.

It also said a new reef recovery program was needed, involving local communities, industry and indigenous groups, as well as a reef-wide monitoring and reporting program.

Australian Marine Conservation Society spokeswoman Felicity Wishart welcomed the assessment but said developments along the state's coast must be stopped if Australia was serious about protecting the reef.

"If the target is to improve the health of the reef then stop doing anything that's going to damage it," she told AAP.

Ms Wishart called for Mr Hunt to reject a proposal to expand the Abbot Point coal port near Bowen if he was serious about improving water quality.

That project involves dredging three million tonnes of soil and dumping it on the reef.

WWF Australia spokesman Nick Heath said the report confirmed large sections of the reef were in "dire straits".

He said given the assessment showed inshore areas were in either poor or very poor condition, those in power couldn't justify approving inshore dredging projects.

The report found that while corals were in good condition at the northern end of the reef, both inshore and offshore corals in southern areas were in decline.

The biggest threats came from the crown-of-thorns starfish, severe weather, nutrient and pesticide run-off from farms, illegal fishing, bycatch and dredging.

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority chairman Russell Reichelt said while many of the impacts of those threats were already widely known, the assessment had looked at their "accumulative impact".

"There needs to be a multi-pronged approach," he said.

"(With this in mind) we can make a difference and restore the damage to the reef."

Queensland Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney said it was important for decisions about the reef to be based on scientific facts, not "alarmist claims" by environmental groups that can't be verified.

The strategic assessment will be open for public comment until January 31.

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Pizza king mystery in Vic shooting attacks

Australia's pizza champion has had three of his Melbourne restaurants peppered with bullets. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIA'S pizza champion has had three of his Melbourne restaurants peppered with bullets.

But Tony Cannata didn't want to talk about the overnight shootings, which occurred on the same night his Woodstock pizza chain promoted his return to the kitchen to create his signature slices.

The three Woodstock Pizza restaurants - one of which is under construction - were fired at with multiple rounds about an hour apart.

The first shots struck a side window of the North Fitzroy restaurant around 11pm (AEDT) on Wednesday.

Shots were then fired into the vacant building in Essendon, and a third restaurant in Brunswick East.

Mr Cannata, who was crowned Overall Champion Pizzaiolo (pizza maker) at the Australian Pizza Championships last month, had just finished a shift at his Lygon Street eatery.

"I'm very emotional at the moment," he said before declining to comment further.

"I've got nothing to add. The police are investigating the matter. I'm sure they'll get to the bottom of it."

One of his staff members expressed relief that no one was injured in the shooting attacks.

Detective Inspector Adrian Dalzotto said police could not overlook the possibility that a message was being sent to Mr Cannata.

"Whatever it is, we can't overlook the coincidence that there's three premises all run by the one business," he said.

"Whatever it is, the motive and message and whatever, we've still got to work through that."

Police have so far found no links to bikie gangs but aren't ruling out the possibility either.

"Any shooting, any violent incident, we're going to look at everything, that will be part of our inquiries," he said.

He said the shootings may have been planned for after the restaurants were closed, but agreed it was lucky no one was injured.

"They're in areas where, down there in Fitzroy and Brunswick, you could have had anybody down there," he said.

Mr Cannata has been steadily raising his profile and appeared on an Italian community TV show earlier this year.

"For me, it's not a job, it's a lifestyle," he told News Corp Australia in September when he won Australia's gold award in pizza making.

"It is an art and it is a market that continues to evolve."

He is due to fly to Italy and Las Vegas next year for the World Pizza Championships.

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Man avoids jail over X Factor stabbing row

A man has avoided jail for a fight that resulted in the stabbing of a former X Factor contestant. Source: AAP

A MAN has avoided jail for his involvement in a fight that resulted in the stabbing of a former X Factor contestant.

Mohamed Hamdin, 22, was handed two years probation after pleading guilty to affray for his involvement in the fight outside a Sydney nightclub on October 14, 2012.

Former X Factor contestant Jelal Edmonds, 19, was stabbed in the torso after the fight broke out in Paddington, following a launch party for his new single.

Hamdin was involved in the fight with another man who pulled out a knife and stabbed Mr Edmonds, who performs as part of the Sydney rap duo Lazy J.

The man is expected to stand trial over the incident at a later date.

Magistrate Lisa Stapleton told a Sydney local court on Thursday the act of affray was "reprehensible", but noted that it was separate to the stabbing.

Lazy J came into the public eye in 2009 when the duo made it to the top 24 of X Factor Australia.

Court documents reveal Hamdin, who came to Australia as a refugee with his family, was among a group of Sudanese men at a VIP room at Eleven Nightclub on Oxford Street, where Mr Edmonds and his band mate Panapa Iafeta were due to perform.

An argument involving a man who was with Hamdin broke out on the dance floor over a girl Mr Edmonds was dancing with.

Hamdin and up to nine others left the club, but allegedly stood three metres from the entrance rapping and singing for some time.

Shortly after Mr Edmonds and Mr Iafeta performed their set, they were approached by Hamdin and two other men after leaving the club.

Mr Iafeta said he felt someone punch him in the back of the head, turned around and saw Hamdin standing behind him.

"Why the f*** do you want to dog shot me? Why don't you hit me one-on-one - face to face?" Mr Iafeta said, according to court documents.

Witnesses said they saw 10 to 15 people in the brawl than ensued.

Mr Edmonds felt a sharp pain on the left side of his chest and later discovered he had been stabbed above the heart.

He was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery.

Ms Stapleton said Mr Edmonds was "totally innocent" in the incident.

She said the men involved were trying to prove they were "bigger and tougher than everyone else".

"It's an affront," she told Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court.

"People should be able to go out and enjoy themselves ... without fear."

Hamdin, who is from Auburn, was facing a maximum of 10 years in jail for the affray charge. He is now on a good behaviour bond for two years.

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Tensions rise in Vic police holding cells

Prisoners and police are unhappy that offenders are kept in police cells due to overcrowded jails. Source: AAP

PRISONERS and police officers are unhappy that offenders are kept in police cells due to overcrowded jails.

The Police Association of Victoria says fights have broken out between prisoners kept in police holding areas due to the cramped conditions, putting further pressure on officers.

Court cases will be scheduled on weekends as part of attempts to get matters dealt with as quickly as possible and tackle the problem of overcrowded remand cells.

Police Association assistant secretary Bruce McKenzie says officers are outraged at being taken away from police duties to babysit prisoners.

"We are getting inundated with complaints from our members who have police cells attached to them, who are overburdened by the responsibilities of looking after prisoners in police cells who ought to be in Corrections Victoria facilities," Mr McKenzie said.

Mr McKenzie says the situation has passed crisis point and was becoming a safety concern for prisoners and police officers.

"It is extremely tense in police cells, prisoners are being kept in there for too long," he said.

He said police cells were unsuitable for prisoners and never designed to accommodate them long-term due to the lack of exercise facilities, no programs and not enough access to natural light.

Mr McKenzie says the government needs to act quickly and find a temporary place to hold low-risk prisoners such as a disused military or government facility.

He says prisoners in cells in Ringwood have been fighting with each other due to the cramped conditions.

Attorney-General Robert Clark said weekend court sittings were "well-advanced" and were being scheduled while new prison places are constructed, with the government, corrections and police working together.

"Weekend sittings of the magistrates court are one of the proposed initiatives that have arisen as a result of that collaboration," Mr Clark said.

Opposition police spokeswoman Jacinta Allan said the prison system was not coping with the crisis that was created by overcrowding.

"It is a significant problem, it is a system that is at crisis and breaking point," Ms Allan said.

"Communities in the suburbs and regional victoria are deeply concerned about what it means for their community safety and law and order," she said.

She said up to 500 police a week are being taken off frontline duties to babysit prisoners in police cells.

Costs have recently been awarded against Corrections Victoria in cases where prisoners have not been brought to court, including a $2300 order made on Wednesday because a defendant was not taken to court on the first day of his murder committal hearing last week.

Corrections Victoria says temporary accommodation is being created at prisons to help ease the backlog while prisoners may appear in court via videolink where possible.

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Big two supermarkets focus of govt review

The price war between the nation's big two supermarket chains could hurt consumers in the long run. Source: AAP

THE price war between the nation's big two supermarket chains could hurt consumers in the long run if food suppliers don't have money to invest in their businesses.

With competition policy unchanged in more than 20 years, the federal government is pushing ahead with a "root and branch" review of how it applies to the food industry.

Small Business Minister Bruce Billson says, while intense competition between Coles and Woolworths has led to lower grocery prices, there are concerns this has happened at the expense of suppliers.

"Some of the alleged behaviour of supermarkets may not necessarily breach the competition laws as they are today," Mr Billson told a food industry conference in Canberra on Wednesday.

"But at the same time, it doesn't mean that the status quo is necessarily delivering the most efficient or optimal outcomes for the market, our economy and for our consumers."

Mr Billson described Section 46 of the policy governing the misuse of market power as a "hunting dog that won't leave the porch".

"It looks fantastic, it may growl, but it rarely bites," he told the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) gathering.

The review's terms of reference will be released by the end of this year, before ahead of the examination in 2014 by an independent panel of eminent business people, competition law experts and consumer groups representatives.

AFGC chief executive Gary Dawson favours an industry code, enforceable through the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), rather than government intervention.

Mr Dawson has already spent many hours with Coles and Woolworths negotiating the code.

"They have entered it in a great spirit. They understand the tensions created by the market conditions as much as anyone," he told the National Press Club in Canberra.

For now, consumers are enjoying "fantastic" low supermarket prices.

"But in the longer run, if we restrict choice, and it has already restricted choice, it restricts innovation, it has a chilling affect on (supplier) investment. That's a problem," Mr Dawson said.

It could also lead to higher grocery prices in the longer term.

Independent South Australian senator Nick Xenophon says it's "genuinely frightening" that Coles and Woolworths hold about 80 per cent of the dry grocery market.

In the UK, four separate chains hold a similar percentage of the market, and the largest chain in the US can only hold about 20 per cent due to laws that limit market share.

"We need similar laws here in Australia. Whatever the outcomes of the federal government's 'root and branch' review ... our courts need to have the power to break up a company that abuses its market power," Senator Xenophon said.

ACCC chairman Rod Sims told the conference the watchdog's final assessment of an investigation into the treatment of suppliers by the major supermarkets been delayed from late this year until around March because of the "complexity and breadth" of the examination.

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NSW drunk drivers to get car lock devices

• From: AAP
• October 30, 2013 8:43PM

REPEAT and high-range drunk drivers will have to prove their sobriety before their car starts under a new NSW government program.

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NSW Firearms Registry under review

A review of the NSW Firearms Registry will consider introducing a smartcard to store information. Source: AAP

AN independent review of the NSW guns register will look at introducing a "smart card" to keep gun holder information safe and prevent people getting hold of illegal firearms.

Deloitte will carry out the review of the NSW Firearms Registry, looking at its effectiveness and efficiency.

The review will also consider safeguards for protecting the sensitive information the registry holds about gun owners.

The Shooters and Fishers Party has previously criticised the registry's process for securing personal information.

It was reported earlier this year the criticism came after guns were stolen from registered firearm holders in NSW.

"This review will also consider a proposed 'smart card' firearms licensing regime to better secure personal information and streamline the process for acquiring firearms and ammunition by legitimate firearm users," Police Minister Michael Gallacher said in a statement on Tuesday.

Flagging the review in July, Mr Gallacher said a proposed new smart card would ensure legitimate reasons for purchasing firearms were easily established at the point of sale, helping to keep illegal guns and ammunition of our streets.

The NSW government has already allocated $5 million over three years to overhaul the firearm registry's IT systems.

Deloitte will consult with firearm associations and clubs as part of the review.

Public submissions are open between November 1 and 22.

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Slack procedure, policy at YMCA

• by: By Eoin Blackwell
• From: AAP
• October 29, 2013 9:04PM

SLACK procedure and ambiguous child protection policies may have led to pedophile John Lord's hiring by the YMCA.

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Witness tells of violence against Tanilla

A man accused of murdering his girlfriend's daughter became angry at the child before her death. Source: AAP

WHEN Carly Knight saw a picture of two-year-old Tanilla Warrick-Deaves on the front paper of her local paper, she immediately recognised the dead child.

She had witnessed a violent incident three weeks earlier involving the little girl and a man on her street in Wyong, on the NSW Central Coast.

The crown alleges the man was Warren Ross, who has pleaded not guilty to murdering his girlfriend's child at a house in Watanobbi on the Central Coast on August 25, 2011.

Ms Knight told the NSW Supreme Court that some time in early August she was in her driveway taking her two sleeping children and groceries out of her car when she heard a very loud and violent noise nearby.

Minutes later she saw a man screaming at a small child.

"His head was bobbing up and down, arms waving ... he was just going crazy," Mr Knight told Ross' murder trial on Tuesday, while breaking down in tears.

"He picked up the small child. I could see her arms and legs waving around.

"He struck her. She flew through the air in front of him."

Ms Knight said he had struck her so hard that afterwards the man had to walk several paces toward the crying child.

Opening the trial, crown prosecutor Erik Balodis said 28-year-old Ross had been trying to toilet train the girl in the weeks leading up to her death and became frustrated that she would not learn.

One visitor to the house was told by Ross that he tried to discipline the child by hitting her with an extension cord, a wooden spoon and making her run laps around the house, the jury heard.

"She just doesn't learn," Ross allegedly told the man.

Two days before Tanilla died in Wyong hospital, Ross had become angry because the child had failed to keep chickens in a cage in the backyard.

He kicked and hit her, made her run laps around the living room before she wet her pants, Mr Balodis told the jury.

The jury then heard Tanilla was put in a cold shower before Ross held her above the toilet bowl by one leg and screamed: "This is the toilet. You're f***ing filthy", despite protests from her mother Donna Deaves to stop.

He dragged her along the floor where she banged her head against a wooden door, the court heard.

Tanilla spent the last two days of her life lying in a pram with bruises and head injuries until an ambulance was finally called.

Donna Deaves, who the jury heard had pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the basis of criminal negligence, will tell the jury what happened to her child on the days before she died, the court heard.

But defence barrister Sarah McNaughton SC told the jury in her opening statement to "keep in mind the crown's main witness Donna Deaves was police's other main suspect for causing the death of the child".

"Ms Deaves has also been known to be violent towards her children."

Ms McNaughton said Donna Deaves is getting a reduction in her sentence for helping the prosecution and that she gave her current version of events to the police a month after the death of her daughter.

"She had early given a different version," she said.

The trail before Justice Stephen Rothman continues on Wednesday.

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YMCA child protection policy queried

A year after the Jonathan Lord incident, the YMCA hadn't completed its working with children checks. Source: AAP

A YMCA middle manager whose evidence to a child abuse inquiry changed within a month has denied it was because she discussed it with senior management.

Jacqui Barnat, a children's services manager with the non-profit organisation told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Monday that she was changing her evidence on the policy covering the recruitment of childcare workers.

Ms Barnat told a private hearing of the commission in early October the 2006 policy was in place in 2009.

But at Monday's public hearing, she said she did not believe the YMCA Australia Safeguarding Children and Young People's policy 2006, was current in 2009.

"Upon reflection I don't believe it was still current in 2009 because from memory other policies were in place," she said.

When the discrepancy was pointed out to her by Gail Furness, SC for the commission, she said she could not recall her earlier evidence.

When asked if she had discussed this policy with anyone at the YMCA in the past month and its application to her work she said "no".

Ms Furness asked what had occurred that made her say now that it did not apply to her work in 2009.

"Was it assisted by any person or you looking at any other document?"

Ms Barnat did not reply. She could not identify what other policy was in place.

"I have a recollection of a policy in force in 2009 and I cannot recall the name ... I think I did try to find it. I have not been able to find that policy."

She later said she might have instigated a conversation with the YMCA's business service manager, Irene Minos.

In answer to questioning by commission chairman Justice Peter McClellan, Ms Barnat said she was reviewing the content of the policy after her private evidence and that is how she recalled the 2006 policy was not in place.

"Upon reflection, I just tried to fit the dates".

Ms Barnat who has been with the YMCA since 2004 had shared responsibility for recruitment in the Caringbah area when Jonathan Lord was employed.

Lord is serving a 10-year sentence for sexual assaults on 12 children while he was with the YMCA.

Ms Barnat said that prior to January 2013 she could not make decisions on staff selection and would need approval to conduct interviews. However, generally but not always, there was a more senior manager with her when she interviewed new recruits.

Ms Barnat was questioned on the reporting levels within the YMCA.

She said her duties were to identify staff training needs and she passed those on to her managers who were also based at Caringbah.

Ms Barnat will continue her evidence when the hearing resumes on Tuesday.

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Bikie crackdown may just move problem: cop

How bus ended up embedded in house

UPDATE: Details have emerged of the chain of events that resulted in a bus ploughing into a house on Brisbane's bayside, injuring nine.

Freak accident as roo kills girl, 6

A FREAK accident in which a kangaroo was catapulted through the windscreen of a car, killing a little girl, underlines the hazards of Australian country roads, say police.

Delay in brother 'bikies' bail bid

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Keep Antarctica free from mining: Hunt

The Abbott government says it is committed to opposing any mining in Antarctica. Source: AAP

THE Abbott government says it is committed to opposing any mining in Antarctica amid warnings the southern continent could be facing a rampant increase in mineral exploitation.

Environment Minister Greg Hunt said it was critical Australia maintained its strong presence in the region as he unveiled the terms of reference for a 20-year Antarctic strategic plan.

He said a central objective would be to ensure Antarctica remained a "rare place of peace in the world", where pristine environmental values were upheld for the next century and beyond.

"Our goal is to make sure that this is not a place of strategic competition, that it is not a place of mineral exploitation," he told reporters in Hobart on Monday.

"The only drilling in Antarctica should be for ice cores and not for minerals."

Last week, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute warned there was growing interest in Antarctic from new players, and the continent could face problems regarding sovereignty and mining if left unaddressed.

Its report "Cold Calculations" examines how Australia could protect its territorial, environmental and research interests in Antarctica while ensuring it remains free from confrontation and exploitation.

"We could see the Antarctic Treaty break down, illegal fishing become rampant, our territorial claim disputed, the environment irreparably damaged, and a cold rush for oil, gas and minerals begin," the report states.

Mr Hunt made an "iron-clad commitment" to work within within the Antarctic treaty system to try to establish an international consensus that the continent remains free of mining for centuries to come.

Australia was one of the first signatories to the 1959 treaty overseeing Antarctica, and claims about 40 per cent of the continent's territory.

The strategic plan will also seek ways to develop Tasmania's status as a gateway to Antarctica, and recommend what is needed logistically to expand Australia's scientific capacity on the ground.

The plan will be head by Tony Press, the director of the Australian Antarctic Division in Hobart, and is due to be complete by July next year.

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Vic opposition slams road compo plans

Victoria's opposition say proposed changes to the road accident compensation scheme are unfair. Source: AAP

PROPOSED changes to Victoria's road accident compensation scheme are unfair and unjust, the state opposition says.

The Victorian government will this week introduce laws to parliament that would change the eligibility for Transport Accident Commission (TAC) payments.

As part of the changes, relatives of victims will face more stringent guidelines for trying to claim compensation for mental injuries suffered as a result of road collisions.

Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews said the government was being unnecessarily cruel.

"They intend to make, I think, some of the worst changes that you could imagine to the way our traffic accident compensation scheme works," he told reporters on Sunday.

"They are bad changes, they are the wrong changes - unfair, unjust and we'll oppose them."

Assistant Treasurer Gordon Rich-Phillips said the laws made reasonable changes, and would provide more counselling for families.

"These reforms will ensure there is a clear, modern definition of what constitutes a serious mental injury for the purposes of lump-sum compensation," he told AAP.

"This legislation will ensure that the TAC continues to provide relevant and appropriate support to victims, preserves their common-law entitlements, and helps to keep the cost of the scheme under control for Victorian motorists."

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Girl killed in Qld kangaroo crash

A five-year-old is clinging to life after a kangaroo smashed through a car windscreen in Queensland. Source: AAP

A SIX-YEAR-OLD girl has died after a kangaroo smashed through the front windscreen of a car in Queensland.

Police say the kangaroo and the car collided on the Warrego Highway at Kingsthorpe on the Darling Downs about 3am (AEST) on Sunday.

The girl was rushed to Toowoomba Base Hospital with life-threatening injuries and she died on Sunday afternoon.

Another child and two adults in the car were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Police say investigations into the crash are continuing.

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