Ita's tail wreaks havoc across NZ

ROADS are closed, roofs blown off, and thousands of homes and businesses left without power as storms lash much of the country.

The fire service had received 844 emergency calls by 4pm local time on Thursday, with about a quarter coming from the West Coast of the South Island.

Winds of up to 140km/h from the tail end of Cyclone Ita caused havoc in Buller, blocking roads and knocking out power to almost all the region's 4500 customers.

Buller Electricity chief executive Erik Westergaard says only the small town of Karamea has power, and that's through a diesel generator.

"I had to go outside because a pole was about to fall over and the wind picked me up and shifted me 10m across the road," Mr Westergaard told AAP.

As he spoke, a sheet of iron blew over the building and landed on the fence surrounding the Westport substation.

"We've got three crews out in the field, but they can't go anywhere because trees are blocking the road, but we know they're safe."

Further south, Cobden Bridge at Greymouth was closed because of strong winds and a welfare centre has been set up so stranded motorists can spend the night at Greymouth Baptist Church.

Earlier, about 15,000 Auckland customers of Vector Energy had lost power after fallen trees and other debris knocked out power.

Vector's crews were gradually restoring power as the storm moved south and by 7pm about 2300 customers were still facing a blackout.

Hundreds of people in the Rotorua area were also without power after gales and heavy rain brought down trees and power lines.

Numerous roads were closed in Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Coromandel during the day by fallen trees and power lines, and flooding.

By the evening, New Zealand Transport Agency said State Highway 2 between Western Drain and Awakeri in Bay of Plenty was still closed by fallen trees.

Coromandel's Kopu-Hikuai Road reopened as far as the Whangamata turn-off, but remained closed from there through to Tairua.

Senior Sergeant Rupert Friend, of Waikato Police District, said there was still surface water in areas where roads were open and he urged extreme caution by all drivers "as now it is dark the surface water is harder to see".

The bad weather also caused Interislander ferry sailings to be cancelled and a landslip that resulted in two Oriental Parade properties in Wellington being evacuated.

MetService meteorologist Dan Corbett said the weather would gradually improve over Easter weekend as the tropical low drifted south.

"The intense band of rain and strong to severe gales will sink south to engulf central parts of New Zealand by the end of Thursday, followed by slowly improving weather in the far north," he said.

"The wet and windy weather will still affect eastern parts of the South Island early on Good Friday, but it will improve gradually here too as the tropical low drifts south away from the country."

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bodies recovered from NSW mine

THE bodies of both men who died in a Hunter Valley coal mine collapse have been recovered.

Phillip Grant, 35, from Maitland and 49-year-old Cessnock resident Jamie Mitchell died when a wall collapsed in the Austar Coal Mine in Paxton on Tuesday night.

They had been working 500 metres below the surface and 10 kilometres along the mine.

Workmates attempted to save them on Tuesday night but were forced to leave the mine because of safety fears, with both men pronounced dead just after midnight on Wednesday.

Police confirmed they had recovered Mr Mitchell's body about 8am on Thursday with Mr Grant's body recovered just before 5pm.

Police have established a crime scene and the mine will remain closed indefinitely.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Vic man in court over partner's murder

A man wanted over the fatal stabbing of his partner in a busy Melbourne street remains at large. Source: AAP

A MELBOURNE man allegedly murdered his partner after they'd been in court about a family violence order, a court has heard.

Craig McDermott, 38, is charged with murdering his de facto wife of 18 years, Fiona Joy Warzywoda, in a Sunshine shopping strip on Wednesday.

McDermott, of Sunshine North, briefly appeared in Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Thursday afternoon.

MORE TO COME

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Flight Centre appeals $11m fine

Travel agency Flight Centre has appealed an $11 million fine for anti-competitive behaviour. Source: AAP

TRAVEL agency Flight Centre has appealed an $11 million fine for anti-competitive behaviour.

Federal Court judge John Logan imposed the fine in March after the court ruled in December that Flight Centre had threatened to stop selling flights on several airlines in order to offer the lowest fares.

In a case brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Flight Centre was found to have induced Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines and Emirates to stop offering international airfares that were lower than fares offered by the travel agency.

The court found Flight Centre had broken the law on five occasions between 2005 and 2009.

Flight Centre lodged an appeal on Thursday, saying the judgment contained "errors and inappropriate extensions" of the law.

"The penalties are manifestly excessive given the circumstances and the lesser penalties handed down in other cases, where the law was knowingly breached and there was a clear impact on the market," Flight Centre statement said.

The appeal is likely to be heard before the end of 2014, the company said.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bigot? Snob? Not me, says Carr

A Labor frontbencher believes it was a mistake to recruit Bob Carr (pic) to federal parliament. Source: AAP

WHATEVER you think of Bob Carr - snob, bigot, high-flyer, avid organic oats eater - don't accuse him of being shy.

Revelations in his tell-all Diary of a Foreign Minister has prompted mirth and scorn, especially from less-than-impressed Labor colleagues.

Mr Carr insists his breakfast oats are steel-cut, moans about airline food and the rules that limit him to business class when flying overseas.

First Class Tosser was how one metro daily newspaper described him, emblazoning the title across its front page on Thursday.

It prompted an unrepentant Mr Carr to deny he was a snob.

The tome was intended to show Australians how government worked, he said - an observation largely unappreciated by others in the Labor Party.

Michael Danby accused Mr Carr of being a bigot over claims the pro-Israel lobby had an "unhealthy" level of influence over the Gillard government.

The federal MP said it had been a mistake to parachute Mr Carr from "obscurity" into a Senate vacancy and with the foreign affairs portfolio to boot.

Mr Carr responded to the bigot accusation by citing a record of supporting Israeli causes.

However, there was one description the former NSW premier was prepared to accept.

"You're not going to get into any position of leadership if you're a shy person," he said about his assertion that he had more energy than 16 gladiators.

Whatever, Mr Carr reckons if you haven't got a sense of humour then you shouldn't crack open his book.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Rain across Victoria creates road chaos

IT'S raining in Victoria. Not record-breaking rain or the kind to cause major flooding, but enough to create havoc on the roads.

Severe weather warnings are in place for parts of Victoria because of the downfalls.

Melbourne has copped its heaviest rainfall since November with 20mm falling over the past two days.

The main impact has been on the roads, with cars colliding in the slippery conditions.

There haven't been any serious injuries, Ambulance Victoria said in a tweet on Thursday, but paramedics have been called to 24 collisions across the state in the space of eight hours.

VicRoads says there's been 33 lane closures in Melbourne over three days because of the rain.

The Bureau of Meteorology has warned of heavy rain which may lead to flash flooding for the Mallee, Northern Country and North East districts on Thursday evening.

Severe weather warnings for the central district around Melbourne, the Wimmera and North Central districts have been cancelled.

Warrenbayne, near Benalla in northeast Victoria, copped the highest amount of rain with 13mm on Thursday, the bureau said.

Melbourne should get another 5-15mm of rain on Friday before it eases to a few showers over the weekend.

The State Emergency Service has had more than 70 calls for help on Thursday, mainly for building damage and fallen trees.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bureaucrat warned about batts evidence

A senior bureaucrat has told an inquiry he warned superiors the home insulation scheme wasn't safe. Source: AAP

A RUDD government bureaucrat has been warned against giving false or misleading evidence at the royal commission into the troubled pink batts scheme.

Will Kimber, a former assistant director in the home insulation policy team who says he repeatedly flagged installer safety risks to his superiors, received the warning when he resumed his evidence on Thursday afternoon.

Counsel Assisting Keith Wilson said Mr Kimber should be reminded about his obligations under the Royal Commissions Act given his "lack of recollection" about matters earlier in the day.

Commissioner Ian Hanger QC said: "Mr Kimber there is some concern about some of the evidence you're giving as to whether it's reliable or not."

Mr Kimber said he understood it was an offence for a witness to knowingly give false or misleading evidence at a royal commission.

The offence carries a penalty of up to five years imprisonment or a fine as large as $20,000.

Earlier on Thursday, Mr Hanger cautioned Mr Kimber about the "very serious" evidence he was giving.

"Be careful to be accurate," Mr Hanger said.

Mr Kimber had told the inquiry that he repeatedly warned his superiors about installer safety risks in the home insulation program before the deaths of four workers.

Queenslanders Matthew Fuller, Rueben Barnes, Mitchell Sweeney, and Marcus Wilson from NSW, lost their lives working under the stimulus scheme rolled out on July 1 2009.

Mr Kimber said he had been worried about installers using metal staples to secure foil insulation, a dangerous practice linked to three New Zealand deaths in 2007.

Mr Fuller, 25, was electrocuted doing that on October 14, 2009.

Mr Wilson asked why the use of foil wasn't immediately suspended after Mr Fuller's death.

"I can't say way it was done, only that I made representations to that effect including before the death happened and that practice continued," Mr Kimber said.

The government should have taken "time out" from the program because of the risk of further deaths and fires, he said.

Mr Kimber said throughout 2009 he raised concerns about the program with his superiors, including environment department assistant secretary Kevin Keeffe, both privately and via email.

However the royal commission does not have copies of those emails.

Mr Hanger warned Mr Kimber to be careful not to put the commonwealth lawyer onto a chain of emails that didn't exist.

But Mr Kimber maintained he sent the emails, although he couldn't be precise about their content.

The Australian Government Solicitor (AGS) will conduct a search for the emails.

The inquiry resumes on Friday.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Father of missing girl distraught

A frantic search has begun for a three-year-old girl feared abducted from her south Queensland home. Source: AAP

THE father of missing three-year-old Chloe Campbell believes someone who knows the family took her.

Garth Campbell says there is no way his youngest daughter could have left their family home alone.

When he awoke on Thursday morning, Chloe, who usually sleeps in the lounge, was missing.

A window was open and when he looked out, an adult-sized footprint was on the car.

Chloe's sleeping bag - patterned with wizards and dragons - was gone as well as her trusty companion, a stuffed toy dog named Gnarly.

"I don't think there's any possible way she's wandered off," Mr Campbell told AAP.

"She wouldn't leave the yard by herself."

The family usually shuts the windows of their Childers' home at dusk each night to keep out mosquitoes, but on Wednesday Mr Campbell believes one of the latches must not have caught.

"That's why we are blaming ourselves," he said.

Chloe's two older sisters Janae, eight, and Britney, five, have their own room in the two-bedroom Childers house.

But on Wednesday all three girls slept in the lounge.

When Janae awoke to go to the toilet in the morning, Chloe wasn't in the lounge room, Mr Campbell said.

Janae had thought Chloe had sneaked into her parent's room as she had been sick lately.

A distraught Mr Campbell believes that someone who knew where Chloe slept took her.

"I think it's got to be someone who knows me, in how they got in, where she sleeps," Mr Campbell said.

"They knew she was sleeping in front of the TV."

Mr Campbell is asking for prayers and is clinging to hope that if Chloe's been abducted, she is being cared for.

"I hope someone that's taken her is looking after her," he said.

"Giving her brekky, lunch, I don't know, I don't know what to think.

"Maybe someone took her who can't have kids or something like that."

Mother Tammy Campbell reported Chloe missing at 7am Thursday.

A major land and air search is underway and will go into the night.

Police tape has been placed around the house and the nearby showground is being searched.

"We hold very serious concerns for the safety for the little girl, as we do for every missing person reported," Inspector Kevin Gutteridge said.

Childers, about a half hour drive southwest of Bundaberg, has a population of less than 1500.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Jobless might stymie rate rise: ACCI

ACCI economist Buchell Wilson has warned that the jobless rate could hit 6.5 per cent this year. Source: AAP

DIFFICULT business conditions could push the jobless rate above government predictions to 6.5 per cent this year, a key business group has warned.

As such, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) acting chief economist Burchell Wilson believes it is still too early to completely rule out another interest rate cut.

The chamber's latest survey of investor confidence showed sales and profits remained weak in the first three months of 2014, the later falling back towards a recent record low.

Such trading conditions are undermining the willingness of business to invest and employ.

"This challenges the view that there is going to be an upswing in non-mining investment that will offset the downturn in the resources sector in the year ahead," he told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

The business conditions index eased to 49 points in the March quarter from 50.6 points in the previous quarter - back below the key 50-mark that separates contraction from expansion.

The survey's employment index has been sub-50 since June 2010.

"There is a risk that we see (unemployment) moving towards more like 6.5 per cent by the end of the year," Mr Burchell said.

This would be the highest in nearly 12 years and above the 6.25 per cent forecast by Treasury.

Labour force figures for March are released on Thursday.

Some economists expect an increase from the six per cent rate recorded in January and February.

However, ANZ chief economist Ivan Colhoun is somewhat more optimistic after his bank's own data showed job advertisements rose by another 1.4 per cent in March, on top of a 4.7 per cent jump the previous month.

"This suggests the peak in the unemployment rate may be close, although the rate of improvement in job advertising does not suggest a rapid fall in the unemployment rate," Mr Colhoun said.

Separately, the Australian Industry Group-Housing Industry Association performance of construction index posted a third consecutive monthly increase, rising two points in March.

However, at an index of 46.2 points, it also remains below the critical 50-point mark.

"The rebalancing of the construction sector as mining-related activity slows still has a considerable way to go," Ai Group director Peter Burn said.

Respondents to ACCI's survey fear interest rates will rise in the next 12 months and now see this, along with lending charges and raising a loan, among the top 10 of perceived constraints in doing business.

Mr Burchell believes the Reserve Bank may yet have to step in a cut the cash rate if the economy does not pan out as it hopes.

"Growth remains below trend, the unemployment rate is rising, wages growth is moderating, so this isn't really an environment in which we would necessarily expect to see expectations of a rate hike on the horizon," he said.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Man arrested over Collombet case

THE man wanted by police for questioning over the Brisbane murder of French student Sophie Collombet is in custody.

Benjamin James Milward, 25, was arrested in Coffs Harbour, on the NSW mid north coast, shortly before 3pm after being spotted at a Coles supermarket, it has been reported.

He was later arrested outside a home.

Ms Collombet's naked and battered body was found in a park on the banks of the Brisbane River more than a week ago.

Mr Milward, who was described by police as an itinerant, is due to appear in a Coffs Harbour court on Tuesday and Queensland police are expected to seek an extradition order.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More