No tsunami risk from Tongan quake

A 6.3-MAGNITUDE earthquake has struck off the coast of the Pacific Island nation of Tonga but experts say there is no threat of a tsunami.

The quake reportedly struck in waters northeast of the Tongan capital, Nuku'alofa, at about 7pm local time (1600 AEST) on Saturday.

Geoscience Australia reports the impact could have been felt by people more than 600-kilometres away.

Seismologist Marco Maldoni said residents of the island nation would definitely felt shaking after the movement of tectonic plates and that that part of the world was prone to earthquakes.

"That earthquake itself happened where the Australian plate meets the Pacific plate," Dr Maldoni told AAP on Saturday.

"Thankfully this is a non-tsunamigenic earthquake - something that can potentially generate a tsunami."

Dr Maldoni said that in the past five years there had been about 200 earthquakes within that area, with another one occurring near Tonga at a magnitude of 6.2 as recently as Friday.

18.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

NSW fisherman drowns trying to save wife

A SYDNEY rock fisherman who jumped into rough seas to save his wife has died and his mate is feared drowned.

The two men, 24 and 26, were part of a group of six that travelled to the NSW Central Coast from Sydney on Friday to go rock fishing.

The friends, some of whom are students, were on a notoriously dangerous rocky ledge at Wybung Head, near Lake Macquarie, when a woman was swept into the ocean by a wave.

The woman's husband and a friend entered the water to rescue her but disappeared. The woman survived after being washed back onto the rocks.

A major search operation was sparked about 6:30pm on Friday when the men failed to resurface.

Police say no one in the group was wearing a life jacket.

A helicopter winched the woman from the rock ledge while paramedics and police rescued three other people.

The emotional woman and her supportive friends returned to Wybung on Saturday as the Westpac Life Saver Helicopter, police and surf life savers searched for her missing husband and friend.

The husband's body was pulled from the ocean at 9am.

"The wife is absolutely devastated as you can imagine," Tuggerah Lakes police acting Inspector John Dooley told AAP.

The search has been called off but will resume at 8am on Sunday.

Local fishermen say the stretch of coast is treacherous and catches many people off guard.

"At that actual location, the people who go rock fishing aren't prepared for the danger of the sport," Peter Trenear, of Pelicans Wharf Fishing Tackle, told AAP.

"For the inexperienced, it can be life threatening."

Mr Trenear said he was washed off rocks in the same area about six years ago and had to be plucked from the ocean by a rescue helicopter.

"It was so easy, the water caught me by surprise," he said.

Insp Dooley said police had carried out several rescues and body recoveries at the spot over the years.

He warned people planning to rock fish to wear life jackets and check ocean conditions.

"You must be appropriately equipped to go down on these rock ledges," he said.

18.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Woolworths investigates mushroom poisoning

CANBERRA residents who may be feeling ill after consuming mushrooms bought from a Woolworths supermarket are being advised to seek immediate medical attention following a possible Death Cap mushroom poisoning.

You have reached your daily Guest Access
limit of 2^* FREE ARTICLES.

^*Subject to change

18.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

New generation of Anzacs remembered

OVERSEEING Australian army operations in Afghanistan and other dangerous places, Lieutenant General Ash Power knows first-hand the ongoing, devastating consequences of war.

In his time as Chief of Joint Operations, 18 Australian soldiers have died in Afghanistan with many others wounded.

General Power will lead the Call to Remembrance at the Anzac Day dawn service in Villers-Bretonneux in France on Friday and, like so many, he has a close personal connection to the area.

His grandfather Hab Power fought on the Western Front in World War I and General Power said Anzac Day was a time to honour diggers past and present.

"If you look back to attrition warfare, the trench warfare of the First World War, thank heavens we've moved a long way from that," General Power told AAP on Thursday.

"But it's still traumatic, and each of these people we lose is a human being.

"Each of them have mums and dads, brothers and sisters, some have their own kids and the loss is significant for each of those families.

"Thankfully the scale has changed but it is a time to not only remember those remarkable generations of the two world wars but to remember the ultimate sacrifice made by so many up to today."

This is the first Anzac Day since Australia started pulling out of Afghanistan, where 40 Australian solders have died since 2001.

But General Power said the Australian Defence Force would remain busy and Australians continued to risk their lives every day in minor operations at places such as Golan Heights, the Sinai Peninsula and South Sudan.

General Power has also overseen the ADF's role in the search for the missing plane MH370, a task he will resume after Anzac Day.

He admitted he wasn't optimistic that an end to the search was in sight.

"The Indian Ocean is huge and if someone's done this deliberately to try and hide it, it's probably the best place on the surface of the earth to do it," he said.

"It's really remote and very difficult. There's not much going for us but we'll continue to work at it for a little while yet."

Foreign minister Julie Bishop will also attend Friday's ceremony in France.

18.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tinkler named as ICAC witness

Goodes returns for Swans

ADAM Goodes, Jack Ziebell, Heath Shaw, Pearce Hanley and Steve Motlop headline a big list of Round 6 inclusions.

Don't get dudded on refunds

YOUR chances of getting a refund are greatly improved if you keep good records. But some companies won't budge — even when presented with irrefutable proof.

18.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Four WA boys jailed over man's death

FOUR teenagers convicted of unlawfully killing a 28-year-old man have each been sentenced to more than four years in detention, while the victim's mother has urged them to make a better future.

Tauri Litchfield was killed in Mandurah, south of Perth, in March last year after four boys, aged 15 and 16, assaulted and chased him until he tripped over a wall and hit his head.

In sentencing on Thursday, Children's Court president Denis Reynolds said the boy who punched Mr Litchfield - after he slapped the youth on the back of the head for trying to pickpocket him - wanted to show the older man that he was the boss.

"You likely felt demeaned (by the slap) in the presence of the group," Judge Reynolds said.

He said if the boy had not started and continued to pursue the confrontation, Mr Litchfield would still be alive.

Despite suggestions Mr Litchfield had been agitated after celebrating St Patrick's Day, Judge Reynolds found he did not engage in any unprovoked violence and was extremely fearful for his safety from the "pack" of youths when he tried to escape further assault.

People should be able to walk in public alone, and deterrence was important to prevent similar violence in the community, Judge Reynolds said.

Mr Litchfield's mother, Kerry Biggs, told the court she was broken by the loss of her son and would take the pain to her grave.

"I will carry his heart in my heart forever," she said.

Ms Biggs told the teenagers they could still change their lives.

"You have an opportunity to choose how to use the rest of your lives, to make a better future for your family, your community and your children," she said.

Ms Biggs said there were no words to describe the agony and anguish she felt.

"When you have your own children, then you will understand what you took from us," she said.

Judge Reynolds, who questioned the remorse of the troubled teenagers, said he hoped they would take note of Ms Biggs' comments in their rehabilitation.

Mr Litchfield's girlfriend, Lisa Emes, said in her victim impact statement that she screamed for him to wake up in hospital so she could see his blue eyes again.

The court heard that two of the boys did not have criminal records, but two others had violent records including one who was involved in an attempted group sex attack and another who threw a brick at a person's face.

Three teenagers were each sentenced to four-and-a-half years in detention, while the instigator was sentenced to five-and-a-half years behind bars.

Each boy has already been in custody for about a year and will be eligible for supervised release orders after serving half their sentences.

A fifth boy was acquitted of any crime against Mr Litchfield, while a charge against a sixth boy was dropped during the trial.

18.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Cancellations on Everest as sherpas walk

ANOTHER major mountaineering company has abandoned its Everest expedition after a deadly avalanche killed 16 Nepalese guides, as the government strives to save the climbing season, a vital earner for the country.

New Zealand-based Adventure Consultants lost three people in last Friday's avalanche which struck a party of sherpas preparing routes for commercial climbers up the world's highest peak.

The company said in a statement late Tuesday that "after much discussion and consideration of all aspects, the tough decision has been made to cancel the 2014 expedition this season".

US-based Alpine Ascents International and the Discovery Channel, which intended to broadcast the first winged jumpsuit flight off the summit, have also scrapped their plans on the 8848-metre peak.

Hundreds of others at base camp who have paid tens of thousands of dollars face bitter disappointment after sherpas announced Tuesday they would abandon the season to honour their fallen colleagues.

That decision, which would wreck the season and lead to messy compensation claims, featured in crisis talks under way in Kathmandu between tourism officials, representatives of the sherpas and expedition leaders on Wednesday.

British mountaineer Phil Crampton, owner of climbing company Altitude Junkies, said immediate action was needed to "make expeditions possible this year".

He said a high-level government delegation will head to base camp on Thursday to present a document to the sherpas and address their concerns.

Before Tuesday's call to abandon the season, the guides had issued a string of demands to the government, including higher compensation for the dead and injured, an agreement to raise insurance payments and a welfare fund.

The government has offered to set up a relief fund for injured guides using up to five per cent of fees paid by climbers, while increasing life insurance payments by 50 per cent.

The amounts fall short of demands by the sherpas who want 30 per cent of climbers' fees to be earmarked for the fund and life insurance payments, set at $10,000, to be doubled.

The government, expected to earn at least $US3 million ($A3.21 million) this year from Everest climbing fees alone, has issued permits to 734 people, including 400 guides, for 32 expeditions this season.

Hundreds of anxious climbers remain at base camp, uncertain whether to leave or stay following the sherpas' announcement, with tensions running high.

New Zealand mountaineer Russell Brice, owner of top expedition company Himex, told AFP he hoped the government delegation's visit on Thursday would persuade sherpas to start climbing again.

"I hope the visit will calm tempers and the sherpas will understand the reasons for continuing the season," Brice said from base camp.

"They can continue their negotiations once the climbing season ends."

More than 300 people, most of them local guides, have died on the peak since the first ascent by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953.

18.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Brisbane's southside on measles alert

Brisbane's southside is on measles alert after a man was diagnosed with the infectious disease. Source: AAP

BRISBANE'S southside is on measles alert after a man was diagnosed with the highly infectious disease.

It's likely he was infectious when he visited the Underwood Marketplace shopping centre between 9am and 11.30am last Thursday, health authorities say.

Public health physician Dr Kari Jarvinen says people who were at the shopping centre around that time should immediately contact their GPs.

Residents in Logan and Brisbane's southside should be particularly vigilant for symptoms, he said.

A red, spotty rash and other measles symptoms, including a fever, cough and runny nose, usually appear 10 days after infection.

Dr Jarvinen said that given the large numbers of people potentially exposed to the latest infection, further measles cases could emerge in Brisbane over the next few weeks.

18.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

NSW police breath-test 60,000 during blitz

ALMOST 60,000 people have been breath tested by NSW police who have issued more than 2000 traffic fines and charged 58 motorists with drink driving during the Easter road blitz.

They've handed out 910 speeding notices and another 1,500 tickets for other offences since Operation Tortoise began on Friday.

On Sunday afternoon, a 25-year-old man was breath tested after Deniliquin police saw him swerve onto the wrong side of the road.

He allegedly blew 0.261, more than five times the limit, and was charged with high-range drink driving and is due before Finlay Local Court in June.

A 19-year-old woman was on Sunday morning charged after being caught behind the wheel with an alleged blood-alcohol concentration of 0.163.

She also caught the attention of police while driving down the wrong side of a Cronulla road.

In the early hours of Monday morning a man, 24, was allegedly clocked speeding through a 80km/h zone at 140 km/h.

"The driver was issued a traffic infringement notice for exceeding speed by more than 45km/h and his licence was suspended for a period of six months," police said.

Traffic and highway patrol's commander Assistant Commissioner John Hartley said it's disappointing people were drink-driving despite consistent warnings from police.

"If you're going out to have a drink you need to find another way home, driving is simply not an option," he said.

Despite the heavy traffic only two people have died, down from three during Easter last year.

18.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

More than 400 charges in Operation Unite

MORE than 400 charges have been laid for assaults and drink driving offences in Western Australia during the eighth Operation Unite targeting alcohol-fuelled anti-social behaviour.

Total statistics from Thursday to Sunday night included 433 charges, 165 arrests and 200 summons.

They include 21 assaults, as well as 15 people caught driving under the influence, 43 people in excess of 0.08 per cent, 12 people in excess of 0.05 per cent and two people in excess of 0.02 per cent.

Specialist squads made up of officers from the Liquor Enforcement Unit and the Regional Operations Group joined the operation in WA for the first time.

Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan said last week that the excessive consumption of alcohol was still the most significant factor contributing to night-time violence.

Operation Unite is not about restricting people from having a good time, it is about continuing to raise community awareness about the dangers of determined drunkenness and the impact it has on others, he said.

18.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Former NSW premier Neville Wran dies

Former long-serving New South Wales Premier Neville Wran, has died aged 87. Source: AAP

NEVILLE Wran, who was premier of NSW for a decade, has died after suffering dementia. He was 87.

His family was by his bedside when he died just before 6pm on Sunday at the Lulworth House nursing home in Sydney's eastern suburbs, where he had been in care for the past two years

"This is of course a very sad time for us all, but in fact a blessed release for Neville," his wife Jill Hickson said in a statement to AAP.

"Dementia is a cruel fate and I have been grieving the loss that comes with it for some years.

"But I hope now, especially in this political climate, people will join me in celebrating the life of a great man, a true political hero."

Bob Carr, who surpassed Mr Wran's record for the longest continuous service as NSW premier, said Mr Wran set a template for successful Labor leaders, including prime ministers Bob Hawke and Paul Keating.

"He was a master politician. He taught contemporary Labor a great deal," Mr Carr told Sky News.

"He presented a model of stable state government that had a big impact on future Labor governments that followed his."

Mr Carr said Mr Wran showed Labor governments could be moderate and trustworthy after the tumult of the Whitlam years.

"They remarked he was the barrister Labor briefed to get it back into government ... when people though after the defeat of 1975 federally that it would never be a serious party for government again," Mr Carr said.

The NSW Labor party said "NSW lost a true Labor great" with the death of Mr Wran.

"Vale Neville Wran, the brightest of his generation. He transformed his Party and his State," Labor pollster Bruce Hawker tweeted.

Barry O'Farrell, who last week stood down as NSW premier, tweeted: "Sad news. Neville Wran helped build NSW incl initiating our sister-state relationship with China's Guangdong province in 1979."

Mr Wran led the Labor government in NSW from May 1976 to July 1986, before dramatically announcing his resignation to a shocked Labor conference.

He was a successful lawyer before entering parliament in the Legislative Council in 1970. He moved to the lower house in 1973 before becoming Labor leader.

In 1976, he led Labor to government in a tight election, forming government after a 10-day wait, with the support of an independent.

Mr Wran and his government were involved in damaging scandals.

In 1983, he stepped aside while a royal commission examined allegations he'd tried to influence a magistrate over a misappropriation hearing against rugby league boss Kevin Humphreys. He was cleared.

Prisons minister Rex Jackson was jailed for selling early releases and chief magistrate Murray Farquhar was jailed for perverting the course of justice. Senior police were caught up in corruption scandals.

Mr Wran was fined $25,000 for contempt of court after declaring his belief in the innocence of his old friend Lionel Murphy, the High Court judge facing a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

After politics, Mr Wran had success in the business world, including running a merchant bank with Malcolm Turnbull, now Communications Minister in Tony Abbott's cabinet.

Mr Wran was married twice, first to Marcia Oliver, whose son he adopted before they had two more children, and then to Ms Hickson, with whom he had two children.

He was put into care as dementia took hold two years ago.

Ms Hickson paid special tribute the nursing staff of Lulworth House who had been caring for the former premier.

"They really are angels," she said.

18.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Fried chook trip costs Vic man his licence

A Victorian man caught drink driving said he was just on his way to get KFC. Source: AAP

A LOT of drunks reach for the bucket after a day of drinking but a Victorian man's efforts cost him his licence.

The Drouin man told police he had been drinking all day and "felt like some KFC".

The 30-year-old was caught speeding on Saturday afternoon and blew a blood-alcohol reading of 0.151 - three times the legal limit.

The unlicensed driver was in his friend's car, which has been impounded for 30 days.

"No amount of KFC is worth killing someone over, no matter how good it is," Senior Constable Jerome Bain-King said.

Police said the man missed out on his fried chicken.

18.16 | 0 komentar | Read More