Emergency warning issued for Blue Mtns

An emergency warning has been issued for the Blue Mountains' residents after a bushfire flared up. Source: AAP

AN emergency warning has been issued for Blue Mountains' residents after a bushfire at Springwood flared up.

There is thick smoke in the area and fire activity has intensified near Muru Avenue and St Columba's High, the Rural Fire Service (RFS) says.

Firefighters and helicopters are battling the out-of-control 2152 hectare fire.

"Be alert to burning embers. Put out any spot fires which start where you are," the RFS advises.

An emergency telephone alert is being sent to residents.

Several roads in the area are closed.

It's unclear when they will reopen and the RFS is urging people to avoid all bushfire zones.

More than 190 properties have been destroyed and 109 damaged around Springwood and Winmalee.

About 95 per cent of the fire ground has been assessed and authorities warn the number of damaged or destroyed properties may rise.

An evacuation centre has been opened at the Springwood Sports Club.

The RFS has also issued an emergency warning for a large fire at Lithgow.

The 32472 hectare bush and scrub fire is being controlled but properties at Bell, Dargan, Berambing and Bilpin are under threat.

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Second Greenpeace activist denied bail

Russian authorities have denied bail to a second Australian Greenpeace activist charged with piracy. Source: AAP

BAIL has been denied for a second Greenpeace activist charged with piracy by Russian authorities.

Twenty-seven year old Australian permanent resident Alexandra Harris, who has been in jail for 30 days, was refused bail by the Regional Court of Murmansk in Russia on Friday, Greenpeace said in a statement.

Ms Harris and 27 others were charged with piracy for protesting Arctic oil drilling in September.

Another Australian resident Colin Russell, a Tasmanian marine radio operator, was earlier this week refused bail for his part in the demonstration.

The protesters can be detained until at least November 24 while allegations are investigated, Greenpeace says.

And anyone convicted of piracy can be imprisoned for a maximum of 15 years under Russian law.

Ms Harris, a digital communications officer who has worked at Greenpeace in Sydney for more than two years, said she was innocent and that the protest was not directed at Russia.

"The only thing that happened was a peaceful protest and I believe the footage and Greenpeace's long history can demonstrate this," she said in a statement released by Greenpeace.

The Manly resident's mother hopes and prays her daughter will be let go soon.

"Alex is a caring, sensitive person, who cares for the environmental future of the planet.

"She was on board the Arctic Sunrise as part of a peaceful protest in international waters, in the radio room doing her job."

Greenpeace International boss Kumi Naidoo has called for the immediate release of the group.

"Their detention is an attack against every single person who has ever been willing to raise their voice to demand a better future for themselves and their children," she said.

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Emergency warnings re-issued for NSW fires

Authorities are fearing more fatalities, after the NSW bushfires claimed their first life. Source: AAP

THE devastating NSW bushfires have claimed their first life, with a man dying as he fought to save his central coast home as authorities fear more fatalities.

The 63-year-old man collapsed from a heart attack outside his Lake Munmorah home and died in Wyong hospital on Thursday afternoon.

Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said hundreds of properties are expected to be lost and residents may be trapped in burnt out homes.

"We've seen some very hostile fire ground situations right throughout yesterday, damage and destruction right across large parts of NSW," Mr Fitzsimmons said.

"We are expecting numbers to be in the hundreds when it comes to homes and buildings and infrastructure and we simply can't ignore the reality that there may be people still within their homes that may not have got out."

He became visibly emotional as he addressed the media, and had to pause to compose himself as he praised the work of firefighters.

"We have the best firefighters in the world," he said.

Premier Barry O'Farrell said the man's death was the worst possible scenario.

"That's the worst that anyone wants to happen and we send our sympathy to his family," Premier Barry O'Farrell said at RFS headquarters in Sydney.

Authorities say the fire threat was far from over despite cooler conditions on Friday as 98 fires continued to burn across NSW with 28 uncontained.

More than 1250 firefighters are battling blazes across the state, with over 360 trucks deployed and around 89,000 hectares burnt, the RFS says.

An emergency warning was been re-issued for Springwood in the Blue Mountains, which already lost an estimated 100 homes on Thursday.

Springwood High School was threatened by flames, but children remained at the school with RFS firefighters on site.

Seven schools in the Blue Mountains and one in Lithgow remained closed on Friday.

The mayor of the Blue Mountains, Mark Greenhill, praised the resilience of residents who lost their homes in Thursday's bushfires.

"The Blue Mountains has experienced bushfire before, but nothing like this," Mr Greenhill told the Seven Network.

"We lost scores of homes. There are a lot of families without homes right through the area.

"We spent the evening ... comforting residents who had lost everything. This has been a very tough 24 hours for the community of the Blue Mountains."

To the north of Sydney, the RFS also reissued an emergency warning for a fire burning in the Wyong area on the NSW central coast.

A spokesman said the Rutley Road fire's eastern side is now threatening properties on Chain Valley Bay Road, at Chain Valley Bay.

The fire has already ripped through 1500 hectares of scrub and is believed to have destroyed numerous homes, including historic residences.

"I've been advised that it's been confirmed that four houses in the heritage village of Catherine Hill Bay have been lost," Lake Macquarie Mayor Jodie Harrison told ABC radio.

"The historic jetty is currently on fire."

Properties on the eastern side of Murrays Beach at Lake Macquarie on the Central Coast were also threatened.

An RFS spokeswoman said 50 fire fighters were fighting a 496 hectare blaze at Mt Victoria in the Blue Mountains, and that at Balmoral in the southern highlands more than 120 firefighters were battling a blaze running toward Bargo and MacArthur Drive, at Wilton.

She also said over 120 fire fighters were at the Hank Street fire at Port Stephens, north of Sydney.

For those unable to meet the cost of essential repairs to their homes financial assistance is available under the NSW Disaster Relief Scheme, Mr O'Farrell said.

Senior Assistant Police Commissioner Dick Adams and former Rural Fire Service Commissioner Phil Koperberg will head the emergency recovery, he said in a statement.

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Uncertainty the worst thing for evacuees

The mayor of Lake Macquarie says she's confident locals will band together in the face of bushfires. Source: AAP

LAKE Macquarie Mayor Jodie Harrison says she is confident locals will band together in the face of bushfires that have devastated their Central Coast community.

"To see people from ... really tight-knit villages... at a time of such uncertainty is very sad," she told AAP.

The NSW Rural Fire Service on Friday issued an emergency warning for the Chain Valley Bay Road, including streets off Findlay Avenue, Houston Avenue and Mulloway Road in the Wyong area on Friday.

Up to five historical buildings are feared lost, including the 19th century Wallarah House at Catherine Hill Bay.

Speaking from outside the Swansea RSL, which has been turned into an evacuation centre, Ms Harrison said many of the up to 60 evacuees there were yet to learn whether their homes were still standing.

"There's been about 250 through the evacuation centre," she said.

"The uncertainty is the most unsettling and disturbing thing for people."

She also said the RSPCA had arrived at the centre to care for pets brought in by evacuees, and hotels around the town were allowing people to have their pets sleep inside.

"Some hotels and accommodation centres allowed to bring their pets in against normal policies," she told AAP.

"But other people decided to not even try and slept in their cars."

Two other evacuation centres at Doyalson RSL and Swansea Workers Club are now closed.

A community meeting regarding the Wyong fire will be held on Friday afternoon at Gwandalan Bowling Club, Gamban Road Gwandalan at 4pm (AEDT).

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Homes lost in NSW bushfires

The RFS says strong winds are likely to push a bushfire near Lithgow towards towns in the area. Source: AAP

A NUMBER of homes have been destroyed by bushfires at Springwood and Winmalee in the NSW Blue Mountains, the Rural Fire Service fears.

NSW RFS spokesman Anthony Clark says the fire is burning very quickly there and there was potential to lose more homes over Thursday afternoon.

There are also unconfirmed reports of properties being lost at Lithgow, at Yanderra and Balmoral, in the Southern Highlands, and in Port Stephens, where a fire is burning near Newcastle Airport.

Across the state at 2.30pm (AEDT), 595 firefighters were battling 78 bush and grass fires, 31 of them uncontained.

They were bracing for the southerly change expected later on Thursday afternoon.

Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers told ABC Radio that could bring new drama.

"It's going to continue like this for ... three or four hours," he said.

"Then we're looking at a southerly change which is going to bring gusty south-westerlies which will turn the side of the fire into the head of the fire and bring us a whole new lot of drama."

The Springwood blaze is burning along Linksview Rd, with embers spotting along Hawkesbury Road.

Fifty firefighters, four aircraft and 11 fire trucks are on scene.

A witness told ABC Radio he was standing across the road from a house in Springwood that was on fire.

"The rear is well and truly alight," he said.

"The firefighters are doing all they can to save it."

RFS spokesman Anthony Clark said the Springwood fire was burning "very very quickly".

"There is potential to lose more homes over the next couple of hours," he said.

Students from Ellison Public School were being evacuated to Springwood Public School and homes were under threat due to a fire at Lithgow.

The RFS said more than 165 firefighters were battling the blaze in deteriorating conditions.

Mr Rogers told ABC Radio the strength of the wind in the Lithgow fire had grounded RFS aircraft.

Further east, a fire has breached containment lines at Heatherbrae, north of Newcastle.

The blaze has closed the Pacific Highway.

The RFS advises properties around Tomago Road, Cabbage Tree Road, Barrie Close and Williamtown Drive may be under threat.

The fire has also closed the Newcastle Airport with black smoke visible from the Newcastle CBD.

An emergency warning is also in place for a fire at Quin's Lane in South Nowra, on the south coast.

Mr Rogers said it was burning "extremely hard".

An emergency warning has also been issued for a grass fire burning around St James Road and St Davids Road at Varroville, near Camden, west of Sydney.

A fire burning in the Southern Highlands, near Balmoral and Yanderra, has closed the Hume Highway near Mittagong.

Residents in the Castle Rock area and Richlands Road west of Muswellbrook were being told to prepare for fire.

Premier Barry O'Farrell left state parliament to join the effort at RFS headquarters.

"There are parts of the state where currently residents are battling the uncertainty of the outbreak of these fires and our hearts and our thoughts are with them," he told parliament.

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Laos plane crash 'devastates' NSW family

A father and his aid worker son (pic) are among six Australians who died in a plane crash in Laos. Source: AAP

AN aid worker who spent two decades helping people around the globe has been described as one of the world's best men after he and his father were among six Australians killed in a plane crash in Laos.

An entire Sydney family was also among the 44 passengers and five crew killed when Lao Airlines flight QV301 crashed into the Mekong River trying to land at Pakse airport in what the airline called extreme weather on Wednesday afternoon.

Michael Creighton had been working in Laos for almost a year as an operations manager for Norwegian People's Aid's mine action program, and his father Gordon was visiting him to experience his son's humanitarian work.

Sydney tax agent Gavin Rhodes, 39, his wife Phoumalaysy (Lea) Rhodes, 35, and their children 17-month-old Manfred Rhodes and three-year-old Jadesuda Rhodes also perished in the crash.

A Rhodes family representative issued a statement asking the media to "respect their privacy at this difficult time".

The Creighton family said it had "lost a father, a husband, a son, a brother, a fiance and a best mate in one tragic circumstance".

"We're trying to come to terms with our loss. We request privacy to grieve at this devastating time," the family said in a statement.

Michael Creighton's ex-wife, former Tasmanian MP Kathryn Hay, said the world had lost one of its best men.

"He travelled the world, assisting people in so many ways. He was so intelligent and dedicated to work," she told the ABC.

Michael, 42, grew up in Glen Innes in northern NSW before joining the Australian army and then the United Nations.

He spent the past 20 years working on aid projects around the world, including in Afghanistan, Iraq, Switzerland, Cambodia and Africa, mostly in landmine clearance, and had been living in the Laotian capital Vientiane with his fiancee, Melanie.

Retired schoolteacher Gordon Creighton, 71, was a prominent member of the Glen Innes community and served as president of the Glen Innes Magpies Rugby League Club.

Howard Whan, the club's current president, said the town was shattered on hearing the news.

"He (Gordon Creighton) was one of those bloke when anything was need in the community he was there," Mr Whan told AAP.

"He's been teaching football skills for about 30 years and there's a huge respect in the town for him.

"It's going to take a lot of replacing someone like that ... the mood's very sombre, everyone is just shattered."

Witnesses reported horrendous scenes at an emergency centre set up in a temple in Pakse.

"I saw lifeless bodies laying about and other lifeless bodies being brought in, some connected to IV drips," a foreign resident told the Bangkok Post.

"It's absolute horror."

The Department of Foreign Affairs says consular officials are travelling to Pakse on Thursday, and that recovery and identification efforts will "recommence at first light".

Identification and recovery may take some time, DFAT says.

Lao Airlines flies an ATR-72 twin-engine turboprop plane on the 467km route from Vientiane to Pakse, and is understood not to have taken part in an International Air Transport Association (IATA) safety audit.

The Lao Aviation Authority said strong winds hit the small aircraft as it approached Pakse airport.

French-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR said the plane was new and had been delivered in March.

An unconfirmed passenger list shows more than half of the people aboard were foreign nationals, including from France, South Korea, the US, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Canada and Malaysia. Some 17 people were listed as Laos nationals.

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Teacher fired over pornography case

A TEACHER has been fired for accessing pornography on school computers, including an incident almost 10 years ago that was initially blamed on a student.

South Australian education department chief executive Tony Harrison says, on the "balance of probabilities", the teacher had breached the department's code of conduct in his use of the internet in 2004 and 2006.

He was disciplined and counselled but allowed to keep his job.

A year 10 student at the southeast school was initially accused of accessing hundreds of pornographic websites in the 2004 incident. He was suspended from school but later cleared of any wrongdoing.

The former student approached the government last year to raise the issue and was paid $30,000 as part of a confidential settlement.

Mr Harrison is now conducting a complete review of the case to determine if it was handled appropriately.

He has spoken with the former student, who is also in discussions with police.

"I'm very disappointed as to the activities and actions that have occurred and I'm also deeply understanding and sympathetic towards the student in relation to what he has had to endure over the last nine years," Mr Harrison said on Wednesday.

"It seems that this person, who was young at the time, was subject to some treatment that shouldn't have occurred.

"What the student was subject to in 2004 was completely unacceptable."

Mr Harrison said his investigation would include whether or not it had been appropriate for the teacher to keep his job.

He said the former student had raised concerns over that issue.

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Vaccine maker CSL in $950m share buyback

CSL chairman Professor John Shine (R) revealed the company is expecting a slip in net profit growth. Source: AAP

BLOOD products and vaccines maker CSL is embarking on a share buyback worth almost $1 billion as it flags a slowdown in profit growth.

CSL will spend $950 million through another share buyback during the next 12 months, the seventh for the company in eight years.

"Buybacks remain an effective way to manage our capital that delivers improved investment returns for shareholders," CSL chairman Professor John Shine said in a statement.

Addressing CSL's annual general meeting in Melbourne, Professor Shine said the company was forecasting a drop in net profit growth for fiscal 2014, from 10 per cent to seven per cent, as a result of an expected settlement on an antitrust class action in the United States.

CSL announced last week that the law suit filed by various hospital groups in the US and Puerto Rico would reduce net profit by $US39 million.

Professor Shine told shareholders the settlement, involving a payment of $US64 million by CSL, was yet to be approved by the US federal court.

But the payment would reduce CSL's net profit growth forecasts made in August, when the company's full-year results were announced.

"This charge takes anticipated growth of net profit after tax for fiscal 2014 to approximately seven per cent at 2012/2013 exchange rates, noting that this outlook is subject to a number of other variables outlined when we announced the company's annual result in August," Professor Shine said.

He said earnings per share growth in fiscal 2014 would again exceed profit growth expectations as shareholders benefit from the effects of past and new share buybacks.

At Tuesday's closing price of $65.38, a $950 million buyback represents about 14.5 million CSL shares or around three per cent of CSL's issued share capital.

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RBA says rate cut still a possibility

THE Reserve Bank of Australia is holding fire on interest rates, but says another cut is possible.

Most forecasters, including economists from all four of Australia's major banks, are now saying that a rate cut is not likely to happen until early 2014.

Most have changed their predictions in the past two weeks.

The RBA's willingness to wait was made clear in the minutes of its October 1 board meeting which repeated a line, word for word, from the September minutes.

"Members agreed that the bank should neither close off the possibility of reducing rates further nor signal an imminent intention to reduce them," the RBA said on Tuesday.

NAB senior economist Spiros Papadopoulos said the central bank would be hopeful that its recent cash rate reductions were enough to support long term economic growth.

"The effect of lower interest rates still has further to run, but the impact in the housing market is already evident, with gains in prices, auction clearance rates, loan approvals and credit growth," he said.

The RBA last reduced the cash rate in August by quarter of a percentage point to a record low of 2.5 per cent.

It said international economic conditions had improved recently, with Chinese growth getting stronger, and signs the US economy was continuing to grow at moderate pace.

The minutes made only brief mention of the stalled US budget negotiations, which resulted in the US government shutting down on the day of the October 1 board meeting.

Australian economic growth remains a little below average, with investment in both the mining and non-mining sectors staying subdued, the bank said.

"Consumer confidence was above average levels and business confidence had increased, although it remained to be seen if this would be sustained," the RBA said.

An important aspect of the RBA's statement was that it made little mention of the high exchange rate, RBC Capital Markets senior economist Su-Lin Ong said.

"We doubt that the RBA is particularly comfortable with the level of the Australian dollar behind closed doors, but it appears to have stopped jawboning on this front," she said.

"On its own, we do not think the Australian dollar will trigger the RBA's easing bias, but it will keep this bias intact."

Ms Ong said the case for the RBA to reduce the cash rate from its already historically low level would need to be compelling.

"It may take time for this case to build, and our base case for a final 25 basis point cut in December looks unlikely," she said.

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Kiwi gains ahead of US debt deadline

THE New Zealand dollar has gained as the deadline looms for US politicians to cut a deal to avoid a potential default.

The kiwi rose to 83.86 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 83.67 cents at 8am and 83.31 cents on Monday. The trade-weighted index gained to 77.76 from 77.34.

Investors are becoming more optimistic US legislators will reach a compromise over the stalled federal budget, with a Thursday deadline looming for a deal to be reached.

If the Republican-controlled Congress and Democrat President Barack Obama can't reach a deal by then, the US faces defaulting on its sovereign debt obligations if it can't raise its debt limit.

"People do seem to think they're going to do something - what that optimism is placed on is not exactly clear," said Chris Tennent-Brown, FX economist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.

"The Aussie and the kiwi managed to lift against the US dollar, and both are near highs for quite a while."

Minutes to the last Reserve Bank of Australia meeting showed its board is still open to another rate cut if need be.

The kiwi was little changed at 88.01 Australian cents from 87.96 cents on Monday.

The kiwi gained to 82.56 yen at 5pm in Wellington from 81.89 yen and to 61.83 euro cents from 61.42 cents.

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CPA takeover offer turned down

COMMONWEALTH Property Office Fund (CPA) has turned down a $2.3 billion takeover offer from office and industrial properties group Dexus.

Dexus and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board last week put an indicative, non-binding proposal to CPA that if successful would see them acquire $3.7 billion worth of Australian office space.

The board of Commonwealth Managed Investments, the responsible entity of CPA, has determined the offer does not provide a compelling value proposition.

The offer will not be progressed, but a revised offer will be considered on its merits, Commonwealth Managed Investments said.

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Shorten lags on parliament experience

BILL Shorten isn't the least experienced opposition leader of the past 40 years, but he's not far off.

Since the Liberals' Billy Snedden failed to oust Labor prime minister Gough Whitlam, only three opposition leaders have had less time in parliament before taking their party's top job.

Mr Shorten was elected as the member for Maribyrnong in November 2007, giving him less than six years experience in parliament before winning Sunday's historic rank-and-file and caucus vote.

Bob Hawke had the least experience.

Mr Hawke had just two years and four months in parliament before he became Labor leader and took the party to its historic 1983 election win.

The Liberals' John Hewson was an MP for only two years and eight months when he assumed the top job, holding on for four years before being dumped after losing the "unlosable" 1993 election.

Malcolm Turnbull made the jump from business to politics in just under four years before he became Liberal leader. He lasted just over a year before being replaced by Tony Abbott.

Even the opposition leader often portrayed as having the least experience in recent years, Labor's Mark Latham, had been in parliament for almost 10 years.

Mr Shorten's six years in parliament is well below the almost 20 years held by Malcolm Fraser, or the 16 years of former Labor leader Kim Beazley.

Mr Shorten will take heart from Mr Hawke's rapid assent to the prime ministership, as well as Kevin Rudd's relatively short eight years in parliament before he became opposition leader and ultimately PM.

But the fate of most opposition leaders is the scrap heap, particularly those who assume the job straight after an election win.

In the past 40 years, no first-up opposition leader has gone on to be prime minister.

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GG offered Abbott her resignation

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has revealed Governor-General Quentin Bryce offered to resign in anticipation of Bill Shorten's election as Labor leader.

Ms Bryce, who is the mother-in-law of Mr Shorten, wanted to avoid any perception of bias.

"I have thanked her for her magnanimity but declined to accept her resignation," Mr Abbott said in a statement on Sunday.

Instead the prime minister asked Ms Bryce to stay on until March 2014, when she is due to retire.

Ms Bryce's agreement to stay on was a measure of her personal commitment to provide continuity at a time of political turbulence, Mr Abbott said.

"She should be commended for her dedication to public service."

It was only "fit and proper" that Ms Bryce be permitted to conclude her term and be accorded the appropriate farewell that her exemplary service merited, he said.

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AFL club asked to protest East West Link

A COLLINGWOOD resident who is set to lose his home of 70 years to make way for Melbourne's East West Link has called on the Collingwood Football Club to join opposition against the project.

Keith Fitzgerald told a protest against the road on Sunday that Collingwood citizens were the founders of Australia's most popular sporting club and the club should now support their battle.

"Seeing as this is more a community issue rather than a political one, I call on the Collingwood Football Club to make a financial contribution to this campaign," Mr Fitzgerald said to loud applause.

"Remembering that the Collingwood Football Club was formed and named after the city of Collingwood in 1892."

Mr Fitzgerald took a line from the football club's theme song to say that side by side residents would stick together in their battle to stop the road.

He said he was born in Collingwood and would die there.

"Mr Napthine, I am not moving," Mr Fitzgerald said as a comment to the state's premier.

Mr Fitzgerald was one of several hundred opponents of the road to brave a rainy Melbourne morning to protest.

Federal Greens MP Adam Bandt urged Labor to move from its middle ground position and commit to stopping the road, rather than saying they would only build it if a contract was already signed.

He said opposing the road would be a condition of his state colleagues entering into a minority government.

"If the Greens find themselves in balance of power we will say to whoever wants to form government, you can do so, but as long as stop the tunnel," Mr Bandt said.

Local Labor MP Richard Wynne told the rally Labor was committed to stopping the road.

"The Labor Party does not stand in the middle of the road we oppose this tunnel, unequivocally we oppose this tunnel," he told the rally.

Roads Minister Terry Mulder said on Sunday the protests were being led by a couple of professional protesters.

"We are absolutely intent on proceeding with the East West Link, it is a great project for Melbourne, a great project for Victoria," he told reporters.

Dr Napthine has said the East West Link will be a congestion busting project that will create jobs for Victorians.

A Collingwood Football Club spokesman said the club had not heard from the protesters and he would not comment.

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