Thunderstorm warnings for southern Qld

Top of Bunya Mountains looking west out over the Darling Downs. Things are really brewing up out here today! Picture courtesy: Jeff Higgins / Higgins Storm Chasing Source: Supplied

AFTER Queensland's north coast was battered by severe weather, southern Queensland has now been put on alert for severe thunderstorms, including damaging wind and large hailstones.

11.45am: Southern Queensland has been put on alert for severe thunderstorms.

The weather bureau is predicting storms will roll over Roma, Emerald, St George, Biloela, Blackwater, Baralaba, Springsure, Goondiwindi and Carnarvon National Park in the coming hours.

The earlier warning for the Herbert, Lower Burdekin, Central Coast and Whitsunday districts has been cancelled.

A Department of Community Safety spokeswoman said the State Emergency Service received about six calls for help after the rain event that hit the Bowen Basin overnight.

Bowen certainly has copped some rain!! Thankfully tide was out bit still water is still through some houses and cars. Picture: Tash Edwards

Emergency services were also called out to three swift water rescues, but passengers in the vehicles were able to pull themselves to safety.

No injuries were reported to paramedics.
 

10.30am: The Bureau of Meteorology has issued another warning for severe thunderstorms with heavy rain and flash flooding during the next couple of hours.

North Queensland's Bowen copped a heavenly dumping last night – with up to 274mm of rainfall in just over an hour.

Bowen certainly has copped some rain!! Thankfully tide was out bit still water is still through some houses and cars. Picture: Tash Edwards

The tropical downpour caused some flash flooding on roads but Bowen councillor Dave Clark said it was welcome relief after an extended dry spell.

The weather bureau said the rainfall was "significant" and very localised over Bowen, 274mm, and Hamilton Island, 236mm.

There were no damaging winds, and flash flooding was confined to the coastal areas.

Meteorologist Michael Knepp said the rainfall totals were not unusual for that tropical part of the state at this time of year.

Bowen certainly has copped some rain!! Thankfully tide was out bit still water is still through some houses and cars. Picture: Tash Edwards

"We are heading into that time of year when you can get rainfall totals like this," said Mr Knepp.

"It's not rare, you can get totals like this overnight."

Most of the rain over Hamilton Island fell between 11.30pm and 2am.

Cr Clark said the area had missed out on the usual winter rains and had been very dry.

"It's been really, really dry; quite depressing really," said Cr Clark.

"Everyone was happy with the rain. It was probably too much too quick but you can't have everything."

Jade Meredith, of Bowen, said she emptied about 300mL out of her rain gauge at 6am.

"It's already half full again," she said.

Rebecca Edwards described an overnight thunderstorm as "awesome".

"First lot of rain thunder and lightning I (have) seen since moving to Cannonvale," she said.

"I've been here seven months."

The Bruce Highway is cut in parts due to flash flooding.

Local police have also advised Argyle Rd, Park Rd and Queens Rd are shut.

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Six die in horror day on Vic roads

Six people, including a mother and daughter, have lost their lives on Victorian roads. Source: AAP

A MAN in an induced coma will wake up to learn his wife and daughter have been killed and his two sons hospitalised following a horror day on Victorian roads that claimed six lives.

The mother and child died after two vehicles crashed head-on on the Princes Highway at Rosedale just before 2.30pm (AEDT) on Friday.

The child died at the scene while the woman in her 40s was pronounced dead after paramedics tried to revive her at the roadside.

The man, in his 40s, was put into an induced coma after suffering injuries to his chest and hip, while his 11-year-old son was critically injured and his four-year-old son hospitalised with minor injuries.

The driver of the second vehicle, a man in his 20s, was taken to hospital with leg and pelvic injuries.

Assistant Commissioner Bob Hill said it had been an incredibly difficult day, with four women, one girl and a man losing their lives in a 12-hour period on Friday.

"You can't even imagine how that particular gentleman will wake up, recovering from injuries and then dealing with the emotional scar that has been caused as a consequence of this collision," Mr Hill said.

The deaths added to the grim toll on a day in which a 70-year-old woman died in a two-car collision in Carwarp, in the state's northwest, and an 18-year-old died after her vehicle crashed into a tree in Mount Evelyn.

About 10.30pm on Friday night a man and woman, both 81, died in a collision on the Western Freeway in Melton.

Three men from the second vehicle were taken to hospital.

Mr Hill appealed to all drivers to think about their behaviour on the road.

"These are the days that stick with you forever," he said.

"I can't begin to imagine the feeling of loss those families and their communities must be facing right now."

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Fish need protection, NSW govt told

FISHING in marine sanctuaries will kill endangered species unless the NSW government corrects its "backwards" lifting of a previous ban, conservation groups say.

Under major changes to environment laws, the ban on recreational fishing in most of the state's marine sanctuaries was lifted in March.

Fearful that the decision could be permanent, a coalition of environmental organisations released a report on Friday calling on authorities not to wind back protections.

"Removing that small amount of protection leaves our unique marine life exposed and vulnerable to devastation," Ian Kiernan, chairman and founder of Clean Up Australia, wrote in Beyond the Beach: Exploring NSW's underwater treasures.

Fishing in an area where marine life was supposed to recover was a backward step, he said.

Labor and the NSW Greens said the government lifted the ban to please the Shooters and Fishers Party.

"Short-sighted politics could reverse decades of working with the community and scientists to protect our state's most precious marine places," Mr Kiernan said.

Pepe Clarke from the Nature Conservation Council of NSW said the ban should never have been lifted.

"It appears that NSW is weakening marine protections at a time when the rest of Australia is increasing them," he said in a statement.

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Kiwi heads for 1.6 per cent weekly drop

THE New Zealand dollar is heading for a 1.6 per cent drop against the greenback this week as world markets speculate about the Federal Reserve's intentions for its $US85 billion a month money-printing programme.

The kiwi fell to 82.09 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 83.41 cents at the start of the week, and from 81.83 US cents at 8am and 82.55 cents on Thursday.

The trade-weighted index was at 77.15 from 77.33 on Thursday, and is heading for a 0.5 per cent weekly decline from 77.54.

Investors are second-guessing when the Fed will start dialling back its asset purchase programme amid conflicting messages from the US central banks this week.

Outgoing chairman Ben Bernanke urged caution in expecting an early tapering, saying the "highly accommodative policies" would be in place for as long as they were needed.

The following day, minutes to the last policy meeting showed the Federal Open Market Committee picking signs of growth in the economy that would warrant squirting less new money into the US economy.

"The market's primarily talking about tapering fears," said Alex Hill, head of dealing at HiFX in Auckland.

The kiwi climbed to 89.28 Australian cents at 5pm in Wellington from 88.64 cents on Thursday after Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens said the monetary authority was open-minded about intervention, provided it met its cost-effective measures, which hadn't been the case since the global financial crisis.

The kiwi gained to 83.14 yen from 82.85 yen on Thursday, and fell to 60.96 euro cents from 61.48 cents.

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Hockey chides Bowen over net debt gaff

TREASURER Joe Hockey has ridiculed a letter he received from his Labor counterpart Chris Bowen for confusing net debt with gross debt.

Mr Hockey said he had received a letter from the shadow treasurer just before question time saying the opposition remains ready to vote for increase in the debt limit to $500 billion if such an increase is supported by revised "net debt" figures in the mid-year budget review.

"He couldn't have got net debt and gross debt wrong, could he?" Mr Hockey asked parliament.

"Hang on, this is the shadow treasurer."

The government wants to increase the gross commonwealth debt ceiling to $500 billion from $300 billion, but Labor wants to limit it to $400 billion in the absence of detail from the mid-year budget review that won't be released until mid-December.

The current $300 billion limit will be hit on December 12.

Mr Bowen also apparently makes reference to the $370 billion of "net debt" that is projected as the latest peak in 2015/16 in Treasury's pre-election economic and fiscal outlook.

"I hope it isn't, because the latest estimate of net debt is $217 billion. No wonder they are concerned," Mr Hockey said.

"I know Labor doesn't understand the difference between deficit and surplus, I know that it doesn't understand between Rudd and Gillard, but I thought they would understand the difference between net and gross."

He said the last sentence of the letter says that given the importance of this as a national issue of debate and in the interest of openness and transparency, Mr Bowen said he would be publicly releasing the letter.

"I'm sure he won't, I'm sure he won't," Mr Hockey said tabling the letter.

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Violence erupts at Australian embassy

Indonesian police say demonstrations are likely to occur outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. Source: AAP

A PROTEST in front of the Australian embassy in Jakarta has erupted in violence, with flags burnt and one banner calling for war.

Hundreds of demonstrators, some dressed in militia fatigues, arrived at the embassy to protest over the spying controversy.

The demonstrators arrived carrying signs with the words "Merah" meaning "red" and sprayed red paint on the front wall of the embassy.

One banner held by protesters read: "PPM, GM, FKPPI Ready!!! War with Australia."

While another had: "Even The Sky Fall, Law Must be Uphold".

A banner was hung on the overpass near the compound, demanding an immediate apology from Australian prime minister Tony Abbott.

"Indonesian People Demanding ... Australian PM Tony Abbott must immediately apology to all Indonesian people," the banner read.

"Australia must never ever try to attack the dignity of our nation."

Others called Mr Abbott arrogant.

The protest then became physical with police moving in to restrain a number of the protesters.

A paper print out of the Australian flag and the US flag have been burnt in front of the embassy.

Protesters are angry over claims Australia tapped Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's phone in 2009.

A senior member of Laskar Merah Putih (Red and White Brigade) shouted over a megaphone as the Australian flag burned: "If the government can't declare war, we can declare war on media, on hacking."

Ruhut Sitompul, an MP with Dr Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, was also at the protest where he called for more firm action to be taken by Indonesia.

"I come here not only to support the Red and White Brigade," he said.

"Indonesia has been tapped since Suharto time, since Habibie time, since Gus Dur time, since Megawati time and now in SBY by those imperialists.

"If Abbott still not apologise to us, President could make more harsh action."

Another protester, from Pemuda Panca Marga, a group which represents the children of veterans, said Australian citizens living in Indonesia would be targeted unless an apology was forthcoming.

"Within 24 hours, if the Australian government does not apologise, we're ready to attack this place. We're ready to (target) Australians."

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Hundreds rally for action on violence

The father of slain teenager Thomas Kelly will attend a public rally against violence in Sydney. Source: AAP

A MAN who survived a king-hit attack like the one that killed Thomas Kelly has called for mandatory sentences to deter "cowardly", unprovoked assaults.

Simon Cramp addressed a group of about 500 people in the Sydney CBD on Tuesday who were rallying against alcohol-fuelled violence in NSW.

Enough is Enough Anti Violence Movement founder Ken Marslew expressed community concerns about sentencing for one-punch manslaughters.

"Young Thomas got the death sentence, the family have got a life sentence, the killer got four years," he said.

Mr Kelly was king hit by Kieran Loveridge in an unprovoked attack at Kings Cross in July 2012.

Loveridge received a minimum four-year jail term, but the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions will appeal the sentence on the grounds that it is manifestly inadequate.

Speaking at the protest in Martin Place, Simon Cramp, a victim of a king hit, said the incident had shattered his faith in a legal system that should protect the victim and not the offender.

"The sentence that was handed down has cheapened Thomas' life," he said.

Mr Cramp encouraged the public to sign the online petition for minimum sentencing laws in cases of manslaughter.

It was launched by Mr Kelly's father, Ralph, and has more than 20,000 signatures.

Police Association president Scott Weber advocated tougher measures to stop alcohol-related assaults before they took place.

"What we want is 3am closing times, 1am lockouts and restrictions in regards to the sale of shots and heavy liquor," Mr Weber said.

"We want them to come home safe, not in the back of an ambulance, not in the back of a paddy wagon."

The NSW opposition has challenged the government to launch an 18-month trial in Kings Cross and the Sydney CBD of licensing restrictions used in Newcastle.

Opposition Leader John Robertson and others used question time on Tuesday to call for 1am lockouts and other measures to curb alcohol-related violence.

But Premier Barry O'Farrell said late-night public transport patrols had already been beefed up in the inner city and assault rates in Kings Cross had fallen by a third since March 2011.

"I have two teenage sons. One assault is too many," he said.

"(But) tell me, madam speaker, how a 1am lockout is going to stop someone being killed on the back streets of the Cross at 10.30pm."

The unprovoked attack on Mr Kelly occurred on a Saturday night, just after 10pm (AEST).

Independent MP Alex Greenwich, whose electorate includes Kings Cross, meanwhile gave notice of a motion to establish a committee to investigate how the government can reduce alcohol-fuelled violence.

"We need to move beyond legislative stunts and band-aid solutions," he said.

After the public outcry over Loveridge's sentence, the government decided to introduce legislation next year for a new offence, similar to Western Australia's so-called "one-punch law".

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Qld sex offender Fardon challenges new law

LAWS designed to keep Queensland's most dangerous sex offenders in jail are constitutionally invalid and an attack on the integrity of the courts, a court has heard.

Queensland's attorney-general is appealing a court's decision to release serial rapist Robert John Fardon, 65.

Fardon's lawyers challenged the appeal's validity on Tuesday after new laws that give Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie the power to overrule the court and keep any sex offender he chooses behind bars.

The challenge was echoed by lawyers for a second sex offender, Mark Richard Lawrence, who is waiting for a review of his indefinite jail term.

Lawrence and Fardon have spent most of their adult lives in jail for offences including rape and sexual assault, while Lawrence is also convicted of manslaughter.

Fardon's barrister Dan O'Gorman argued the new laws, combined with existing laws allowing prisoners to be locked up indefinitely, impose "executive processes" on the court.

"If the attorney-general doesn't like a decision of this court, he can in effect overrule it and that, in our submission, is an attack on the integrity of this court," Mr O'Gorman told the Court of Appeal in Brisbane on Tuesday.

He added no judge should be required to rule on legislation that is constitutionally invalid.

Lawrence's barrister John Allen said the fact that one of the litigants (the attorney-general) could overrule the court's decision made a mockery of the judicial process.

Peter Davis, for Mr Bleijie, maintained the new law was valid, and even if the judges disagreed, the 2003 law allowing dangerous prisoners to be locked up indefinitely had been proved valid.

Fardon was the first person to be jailed indefinitely under the Dangerous Prisoners (Sexual Offenders) Act.

He was briefly released into supervised accommodation in October after a review of his indefinite sentence.

But he was locked up again hours later when Mr Bleijie appealed against the order for his release.

The hearing continues.

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Boats will help stop people smugglers

THE two long-range Australian patrol boats the federal government has gifted Sri Lanka are critical in stopping people travelling to Australia, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison says.

The Bay-class patrol boats, recently retired from Australian service, will be used to intercept asylum-seeker boats before they leave Sri Lankan waters.

Mr Morrison said Sri Lanka had been a consistent supporter of both the current and former Australian governments.

"Sri Lanka is a critical partner in our efforts to ensure that we put paid to the people smuggling trade," Mr Morrison told parliament on Monday.

"That announcement of gifting actual patrol boats to engage in actual patrols to stop people coming to Australia illegally by boat is the sort of cooperation, the sort of assistance that I know the Sri Lankan government was seeking," he said.

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Qld Health official charged with fraud

A SENIOR Queensland Health official has been charged with fraud.

Police say the 53-year-old is facing three counts of fraud and five of making a false claim as an official.

He is also facing an internal health department inquiry.

He is due to appear in the Roma Magistrates Court on November 26.

Health Minister Lawrence Springborg says the sum of money involved isn't much.

"The amount of money is not overly significant but it's the breach of faith and trust which has potentially happened here that is the issue," Mr Springborg told reporters in Brisbane.

He said the matter was investigated immediately after an internal complaint was made against the senior health official.

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Thousands rally for climate change in Qld

Thousands of protesters have rallied in Brisbane as part of a national day of climate action. Source: AAP

ABOUT 4000 Brisbaneites joined singer John Butler belting out Australian protest song From Little Things Big Things Grow in hope the federal government would listen to pleas for climate change action.

Organised by social activist group GetUp!, the rally in Queens Park on Sunday was one of 130 similar events throughout the country, with a total of about 60,000 people taking part.

Greens leader Christine Milne led the protest, and promised many more in the next six months.

The federal government wants a vote to repeal the carbon tax in the Senate before July, but Ms Milne says the Greens will do all they can to block it.

"In the meantime, the community will mobilise. This is really about pressure on the government, that's why John Howard caved in last time," she told AAP.

"Tony Abbott wants to be defined by climate denialism, and the community wants to be defined by climate activism.

"This is really a showdown."

Ms Milne says grassroots support will be vital to oppose coal seam gas projects including at the Bowen and Galilee basins.

Singer Butler was highly critical of the government, which he says is an embarrassment to Australia around the world.

"They are acting like dinosaurs. It's not only embarrassing, but it is dangerous for our nation and the world," he told AAP.

"I want to see the federal government take its head out of the sand and see the writing on the wall."

Firefighter Dean McNulty represented the United Firefighters Union at the rally.

He says climate change is a huge concern to colleagues, with many at the front line during natural disasters.

"We understand it is difficult to attribute any one event to the effects of climate change, but we also understand that scientists are telling us very clearly, with the effects of climate change these events are likely to be more extreme and more frequent," he told AAP.

"To firefighters, it is not just numbers and statistics, it is very real."

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Teen critical after taxi jump

A 19-year-old man has suffered head injuries after jumping out of a moving taxi near Hobart. Source: AAP

A 19-YEAR-OLD man has suffered critical head injuries after jumping out of a moving taxi near Hobart.

The teenager and three friends had taken a Maxi Taxi in Kingston about 2.30am on Sunday.

Police say the taxi was travelling at low speed when someone opened the door and all four jumped out.

The 19-year-old is believed to have struck his head and had to be taken to hospital, where he remains in a critical condition.

Police have not yet determined why the teenagers jumped out of the taxi before it stopped.

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