Victorian firefighter killed in Tasmania

The Elvis waterbomber douses a grass fire  in the Little River area, southwest of Melbourne. Picture: Glenn Daniels Source: Herald Sun

FIRES have again raged across Australia, destroying more than 33 homes in NSW as Victorians remembered a firefighter killed in Tasmania.

Emergency services were under siege battling blazes across the nation from Warrumbungle National Park in NSW to Tasmania, where 130 homes have been lost since January 4.

And a fast-moving grass fire at Little River in Victoria, which police believe was deliberately lit, threatened hundreds of homes on Melbourne's outskirts last night. Almost 40 CFA crews and four aircraft, including Elvis the aircrane, battled the blaze.

That fire was contained late last night, with a Watch and Act alert down graded to an advice alert on the CFA website.

The CFA is advising to remain vigilant throughout the night.

Vic fire crews are receiving extra support today after one of their members was found dead while in Tas.

The NSW fire is one of 146 blazes across the state pushing almost 800 firefighters to their limits.

The 100km front is a worry for firefighters, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C later this week.

The Warrumbungle blaze has burnt through 40,000ha since it ignited on Sunday, with more than 110 people having to evacuate their homes yesterday.

Rural Fire Service deputy commissioner Rob Rogers said the wind shifted at the worst possible time, creating "perfect storm" conditions for a fire that burnt "with such a ferocity we haven't seen in years".

Volunteer firefighter Peter Cramer on the day he was presented a CFA 20 years service medal. Picture: DSE

The news comes as devastated family and friends of a Victorian firefighter who lost his life battling bushfires in Tasmania described their father as a man with a passion for protecting others.

Mr Cramer's son Jason said the family were grief-stricken at the loss, especially his sister Linda, who is expecting, saying it is a great loss that their father won't meet his grandchild.

"We are absolutely devastated, a bit shocked. My sister is devastated - she was Dad's little girl."

Tributes have flowed for Gippsland-based firefighter Peter Ronald Cramer, 61, a 30-year volunteer who died on Sunday near Taranna, on the Tasman Peninsula, where he was backburning.

A wall of fire has put residents in the Little River area on watch. Picture: Glenn Daniels

The veteran volunteer from the town of Tyers, about 160km east of Melbourne, had been on foot identifying containment lines before he was found deceased on a track at 5pm.

---

STAY SAFE

The Herald Sun has joined with fire authorities to keep Victorians informed. Check out the Bushfire Ready page for the latest advice, warnings and videos from the CFA. This page is updated with the latest warnings from across the state. Save it to your bookmarks. You can access it from our homepage (click on Bushfire Ready) from any computer. This service is not available on smart phones.

Check live weather information - including fire warnings - on your computer AND smart phone at our Weather page. Just add m.heraldsun.com.au to your smart phone bookmarks and follow the View weather forecast link.

The CFA has a live fire map. Check it out here and add to your bookmarks.

The Herald Sun will keep you informed throughout the heatwave. Check back regularly for weather information, reader photos and fire warnings on your PC and mobile. Reports and alerts will also be posted to our Facebook page and from our official Twitter account.

For general bushfire information

Stay informed

• ABC Local Radio, commercial and designated community radio stations or watching Sky News TV
• Deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech/communication impairment can contact VBIL via the National Relay Service on 1800 555 677
• Road closures: Check www.vicroads.vic.gov.au
• Tourists: Stay away from listed areas
• For life or property threatening threatening emergencies: Phone 000

---

23.20 | 0 komentar | Read More

Julia Gillard in top job longer than Rudd

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd has congratulated Julia Gillard for lasting longer as PM than he did. Source: AFP

KEVIN Rudd has congratulated Julia Gillard for lasting longer as Prime Minister than he did, as she moves past her bitter rival for time served in office today.

Yesterday Mr Rudd described Ms Gillard eclipsing his 935 days in The Lodge as an "important milestone".

Ms Gillard is now placed 16th on the list of 27 Australian prime ministers in terms of time spent in the job.

Asked about being overtaken by Ms Gillard, Mr Rudd said: "I congratulate the Prime Minister on achieving this important milestone.

"For 2013, I will be giving my all to support the government's re-election."

Ms Gillard has now achieved what former Labor PM Paul Keating could not - lasting longer than the man they knifed for the leadership.

Mr Keating served less than half the almost nine years Bob Hawke served as PM.

Ms Gillard is set to pass the service records of Sir Edmund Barton, Gough Whitlam and John Gorton before the year is out - if she runs full term.

This will mean she is likely to reach 13th place on the list.

PM Julia Gillard has today surpassed predecessor Kevin Rudd's time in office.

Acting Opposition Leader Warren Truss said: "Julia Gillard might celebrate beating the record of her rival (but) the Australian people will not celebrate the record of either." 

As 2012 began, Labor's primary vote tanked at 30 per cent - eight points below its level at the 2010 election, pointing to a massive landslide election loss. Only one in three voters were satisfied with Gillard's performance.

The prime minister had bowed to pressure from caucus, after an intense campaign by the clubs industry targeting marginal Labor seats, and abandoned her commitment to independent Andrew Wilkie on pokies reform. Wilkie ripped up his agreement to support the government.

The government had also tried to shore up its numbers by putting embattled Liberal turncoat Peter Slipper in the Speaker's chair but succeeded only in absorbing the political taint surrounding the Queensland MP.

Labor's internal wranglings dominated the first two months of the year, culminating in the ill-fated challenge by Kevin Rudd, who was teased and cajoled by Gillard supporters wanting to lance the boil of leadership speculation once and for all.

But it got worse for Labor and the prime minister.

Craig Thomson was suspended from the ALP after a Fair Work Australia investigation raised allegations he misused Health Services Union members' funds when he was national secretary between 2002 and 2007.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's anti-carbon tax campaign rolled on, with the coalition attempting to bring down the government by tossing censure motions onto the floor of parliament like confetti.

In mid-July, after the carbon tax began and with Gillard's satisfaction rating stuck at 27 per cent, the leadership speculation was rekindled, pushing the prime minister to declare she wasn't about to "lie down and die".

Caucus fears that the electorate had stopped listening to the government were palpable and were given voice by Joel Fitzgibbon, a key Right faction figure and the chief government whip.

"If leaders remain unpopular long enough they'll inevitably stop leading the party," he said.

But by late August - as the first post-carbon tax electricity bills began to flow and voters received their share of the carbon tax compensation - the opinion polls began to turn.

Abbott was lampooned by the government as "Chicken Little". Having forecast the sky would fall in once the carbon tax began, the reality was quite different.

Labor began a new strategy of questioning Abbott's integrity and fitness for office, and bemoaning his negativity.

It came to a head when Gillard launched her extraordinary "sexism and misogyny" attack on Abbott in parliament, which went viral on the internet and made headlines around the world.

However, the final weeks of the year saw Labor hamstrung by the asylum seeker issue and with question marks over the economy heading into 2013.

In the last Newspoll of 2012, the coalition's primary vote was one point higher (46 per cent) than at the start of the year while Labor's was two points higher at 32 per cent.

But Gillard led as preferred prime minister for the last six Newspolls of the year, ending with a nine-point lead over Abbott.

And for the first time, the polls showed more voters supported carbon pricing than opposed it.

Labor strategists now say the coalition's carbon tax attack shredded Abbott's credibility and reinforced his "Dr No" characterisation on other issues, and all under the glaring spotlight of the ferocity of Gillard's speech.

Political history shows that in terms of policy debate, there is often fierce argument followed by the policy being bedded down and the electorate moving on. The GST is a good example.

This is what Labor is banking on - that voters in 2013 will look at the big ticket policy items it has succeeded in delivering rather than the falterings of minority government.

Abbott's new problem is how to keep voters on side in the lead-up to the late 2013 election with his plan in government to scrap the carbon and mining taxes (and to an almost certain double-dissolution when the Greens and Labor combine to block a coalition rescinding bill in the Senate).

The opposition leader used the last week of parliament for 2012 to portray himself as an alternative prime minister with a positive vision for the nation.

He launched a book, A Strong Australia, featuring nine rejigged speeches made over the year and promised a coalition government would create one million jobs over the next five.

However, his new "Dr Yes" persona still risks being overshadowed by the negativity of the coalition's attack on Gillard.

The positive narrative for the government in 2013 lies in bedding down schools funding reform, rolling out the National Disability Insurance Scheme and National Broadband Network, and improving dental care.

Labor will also seek to harness voter disenchantment with coalition state governments over public service cuts and, particularly in Queensland, with divisions over policy and direction.

Abbott's Liberal-National coalition will hammer its multi-pronged but simple message: ending Labor waste, axing taxes, cutting red tape, stopping the boats and creating one million jobs over five years.

So as 2013 unfolds, Gillard appears to have put the leadership genie back in the bottle.

And there's no appetite for change in the coalition while it still has an edge over Labor in the polls.

There's just the end game to come.

23.20 | 0 komentar | Read More

No, really, put the smoothie down

There can often be more calories in a smoothie as in a full meal, says consumer group Choice who recommend people eat two pieces of fruit each day. Source: news.com.au

FRUIT smoothies and frappes sold at well-known food and drink outlets can contain more kilojoules than a full meal, an analysis by consumer group Choice has found.

Choice analysed 95 drinks sold at a variety of popular chains including Boost Juice, Donut King, Wendys and Gloria Jean's, finding 81 were high in sugar - at least 7.5g per 100ml.

Thirteen of the drinks were more than 1900 kilojoules, or 454 calories - about three times the amount dieticians recommend for a snack.

Five were high in saturated fat, with each drink containing more than 11g of saturated fat per serve, most likely because they were made with ice-cream.

Although fruit smoothies have a healthy image, Choice spokeswoman Ingrid Just said some were packed with "hidden sugars", containing fruit juice concentrates and high-fructose syrup.

"It's always preferable to have the whole fruit," Ms Just said. "With the whole fruit, you get the fibre, you get the added nutrients from the skin and the fibre in the fruit, plus you're not consuming as many kilojoules as quickly.

"You should be having roughly two pieces of fruit a day. Some of these smoothies have many, many more times the kilojoules of that amount of fruit."

The Choice review found that Baskin and Robbins' yoghurt smoothies contained between 29 and 31 teaspoons of sugars, including concentrated fruit puree, high-fructose syrup and added sugar.

Boost Juice's Super Smoothies are made with real juice but they are also energy dense, at close to 2000kj (478 calories) per regular serve - about the same as a full meal.

However, the franchise's Skinny Minny Melon, rated by Choice as the best Boost Juice option, is 549kj (131 calories) for a medium size.

Ms Just said people should be aware that consuming some of the smoothies was the equivalent of having a meal.

"You may not necessarily have that concept in your mind," she said. "You generally think you're having a healthier drink but it's not necessarily the case.

"You have to navigate your way through the menu board and ask some questions when you're deciding which smoothie is a better one.

"Ask whether it's made with real fruit and ask for it to be made with yoghurt rather than ice-cream."

To keep kilojoules down, Ms Just suggested a smaller serving size was preferable.

23.20 | 0 komentar | Read More

Royal commissioners to hold first meeting

Six commissioners will examine past and current child sexual abuse in organisations. From left: Justice Peter McClellan, Bob Atkinson, Justice Jennifer Coate, Professor Helen Milroy, Andrew Murray and Robert Fitzgerald. Source: News Limited

THE six experts who will lead the inquiry into child abuse are set to hold their first discussion on the logistics of the royal commission.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced the commissioners and their terms of reference on Friday and met supporters of the royal commission at Kirribilli House in Sydney on Saturday.

The commissioners, who have never met, will get to know each other and discuss some initial logistics on Monday.

The first face-to-face meeting will be held in Sydney on Wednesday afternoon.

The royal commission, led by NSW judge Peter McClellan, is expected to hold hearings and take submissions across the country as well as take evidence from people who spent their childhoods in Australia but now live overseas.

It will hand the government an initial report by June 2014 and will wrap up by the end of 2015.

The commissioners are working on setting up processes for hearing and collecting evidence and what services are needed to support witnesses to the commission.

An investigative unit will be set up to ensure timely referral and criminal investigation of allegations of child sexual abuse that come before the commission, should victims seek such action.

23.20 | 0 komentar | Read More

Brothel madam denies prostituting girl

A SYDNEY woman has pleaded not guilty to prostituting a 14-year-old girl in a brothel near Kings Cross.

Jennifer Ann Weatherstone, 49, appeared in the District Court in Sydney on Monday where Judge Andrew Haesler ruled she was fit to stand trial.

Weatherstone is charged with two counts of causing a child to participate in an act of child prostitution at her Potts Point brothel on July 28, 2011.

She is also charged with operating the premises where the alleged child prostitution took place.

She pleaded not guilty to all charges, telling the court she believed she had been "set up".

Weatherstone, who is representing herself, told the court she could not afford legal representation.

"There is no money in the bank," she said.

Judge Haesler noted two psychiatrists had found Weatherstone was fit to stand trial and adjourned the matter to January 18 to set a trial date.

23.20 | 0 komentar | Read More

Can Ellen eclipse the Oprah effect?

Ellen DeGeneres with Nicole Kidman as she announces she will bring her top-rating show to Australia. Source: Herald Sun

THE NUMBER of US visitors to Australia has jumped to nearly 500,000 in a year in a sign that Oprah's visit is helping tourism.

The research will come as welcome news for tourism operators involved in bringing The Ellen DeGeneres Show Down Under in March.

US visitors increased by more than four per cent in the year to November, the new Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show.

Initially, Oprah's Australian visit was criticised for doing little to boost US tourist numbers, but Tourism Australia has been adamant that it can take years to see the results as people have to plan trips with friends or family and organise leave.

Oprah visited Australia in December 2010 and four shows were broadcast in the US the following month before being repeated in March.

American talk show host Oprah Winfrey brought her show to Australia in 2010. Picture: AP

A drop in US tourists in 2011 was attributed to the global financial crisis and negative publicity surrounding natural disasters such as Cyclone Yasi and the Brisbane floods.

Last week it was announced The Ellen DeGeneres Show will come to Australia this year with help from Qantas, the NSW Government and Swisse Wellness as part of the vitamin company's launch in the US.

Ellen will film segments around Melbourne and Sydney that will air in April to around 60 countries.

While Australia's national carrier and Tourism Australia worked together on Oprah, Tourism Australia is not directly involved in the Ellen visit.

Qantas chief executive officer Alan Joyce pulled out of a $44 million, three-year partnership with the tourism body in November over a conflict of interest with chairman Geoff Dixon.

Mr Dixon - a former Qantas CEO - was linked to a consortium that is seeking to gain enough of a stake in the airline to change its strategic direction.

Overall visitor numbers to Australia were up nearly four per cent in the year to more than six million, the international arrival and departure figures show.

The biggest rises continue to come from Asia with China visitor numbers growing nearly 16 per cent in the year to November, Taiwan rising 12 per cent and Malaysia around nine per cent.

Traditional markets such as the UK and Germany fell slightly.

Tourism Australia managing director Andrew McEvoy said the latest figures made good reading.

"China continues to be a stand-out, with continued double digit growth, but its also really pleasing to see continued recovery in traditional markets like the Japan and especially United States, where Team Australia has just completed another very successful G'Day USA," he said.

"This on the back of last week's exciting announcement that Ellen DeGeneres, one of America's most well known and influential celebrities, will be coming down in the next few months to further showcase our great country across one of our most important markets, worth more than $2 billion each year."

23.20 | 0 komentar | Read More

33 homes destroyed by bushfire

With a time scale of 6 minutes per second, this amazing footage shows how quickly fire swept through the Warrumbungles forest on Jan 13 2013. VISION: Mopra radio telescope (operated by CSIRO) and the Siding Springs Observatory (AAO)

A picture taken from Coonabarabran shows the size of the blaze. Picture: Twitter user Paul Dutton. Source: The Daily Telegraph

MORE than 30 homes have now been destroyed by a bushfire that is still raging out of control in the state's north.

The bushfire has burnt through 40,000 hectares and has a perimeter of more than 100 kilometres.

The Rural Fire Service (RFS) said in a tweet that "33 homes and 50+ sheds now confirmed as lost in the Wambelong Fire near Coonabarabran".

One building at the Siding Spring Observatory had also been destroyed, but the main telescope has survived.

"This is a large and dangerous bushfire,'' the RFS said on its website on Monday morning.

"The fire is burning in a northerly direction away from Timor Road and the Siding Spring Observatory and is currently approximately 1km south of Bugaldie.''

More than 65 firefighters and 17 trucks were on site in the early hours, with more expected to arrive throughout the day.

Meanwhile, more than than 110 people have been evacuated to Tattersalls Hotel at nearby Baradine, as the RFS warns people not to return home.

RFS spokeswoman Laura Ryansaid aerial photographs taken of the Siding Spring Observatory at first light on Monday showed the main telescope had survived; however, it was not yet known if it had been damaged.

Firefighters are hoping to assess what damage a bushfire has had on an observatory in northern NSW.

The pictures show the charred remains of bush surrounding the observatory and one of the buildings on the site had been completely destroyed.

Eighteen staff from the observatory were evacuated on Sunday to nearby Coonabarabran, and a watch and act remains in place for the fire, which has burned through more than 32,000 hectares of bush, scrub and grass.

Springs Observatory, is our top research observatory and home to the SkyMapper telescope was damaged by an out-of-control bushfire yesterday.

A photo taken by US astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield aboard the International Space Station shows smoke clouds from bushfires across Australia. Picture: Chris Hadfield/Twitter Source: Supplied

RFS Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers said the fire moved through the park at "phenomenal speed'' on Sunday and was one of "the most frightening fires I think we have had all summer''.

"The smoke plume extended to 14 kilometres,'' he said.

"The fire ... was of such magnitude that there was no way of knowing that anything was going to stop that fire.''

He said it moved rapidly with ember showers sparking fires five kilometres ahead.

"To have firefighters trying to battle that blaze would have literally been a suicide mission.''

The emergency at Wambelong Camping Area has seen Mt Woorut residents and staff from the Siding Spring Observatory in Warrumbungle National Park evacuated to nearby Coonabarabran.

Firefighters' efforts to contain the blaze were being hampered by strong south-westerly winds in the area, an RFS spokesman told AAP on Sunday night.

"The wind conditions that are being experienced there are creating erratic fire behaviour for crews on the ground," the spokesman said.

Fire crews will assess the two properties destroyed on Timor Rd and the observatory damage on Monday morning, he said.

There are hopes that telescopes in the Siding Spring Observatory - the nation's top optical and infrared observatory - will survive the inferno thanks to a range of precautions including the use of special paint.

Dr Amanda Bauer, who works at the observatory, said she was "hopeful" the telescopes would survive the bushfire.

"Tomorrow we will see how well those protections held," she wrote on her blog on Sunday evening.

Helicopters attempt to control fires in New South Wales after lightning sets more areas ablaze. Lindsey Parietti reports.

However, Nobel Prize-winning Professor Brian Schmidt, who also works at the observatory, said initial reports indicated the fire had caused a lot of damage.

"Fires are worse than I had feared ... bad day tomorrow," he wrote on Twitter.

The other emergency fire burning out of control on Sunday evening was centred on Bundabarina, about 10 kilometres west of Collarenabri on the Walgett Road.

Collarenabri residents have been advised to seek shelter and follow their bushfire survival plans, the RFS said.

Firefighters have issued watch and act warnings for two other fires. These are at Nangar Road in Eugowra, in the state's central west, and Rocky Glen Road in Bendemeer, in the New England area.

Meanwhile, a cool change has brought relief to RFS officers fighting fires in other areas.

More than 190 firefighters were working to contain a blaze 12km west of Sussex Inlet, near Shoalhaven on the south coast.

The fire has burnt more than 8400 hectares but there is no immediate threat to properties.

At Yarrabin, near Cooma, in the Snowy Mountains, more than 100 firefighters continue to establish containment lines and extinguish spot fires, with no threat to properties.

The fire has burnt through more than 12,000 hectares of bushland and is moving away from Cooma to the east.

Residents returning to properties have been warned to be aware of falling trees and branches, particularly in the Mt Forest Road area.

In the southern tablelands, more than 70 firefighters are working on containment lines around a fire near Yass. The blaze has been contained.

In the state's north about 20 fires are burning uncontained after lightning storms on Saturday night ignited 45 new fires.

So far the fires have scorched more than 500,000 hectares of bush, scrub and grass - - the equivalent of the entire greater Sydney basin, Ms Ryan said.

23.20 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bashed soldier 'hours from death'

Pte Lachlan Nimmo, bears the scars of a bashing he can't remember. Picture: Patrina Malone Source: Northern Territory News

A SOLDIER was bashed by three or four men at his Darwin army base and says he was left for two days with no medical treatment.

Private Lachlan Nimmo, 33, has told The NT News about a culture of violence and a lack of support for victims in Defence.

He was bashed by "three or four men" in a carpark at Robertson Barracks on October 12 last year.

He was found bloodied and slipping in and out of consciousness in his room two days later.

Despite calls from his distraught wife, Evelyn, 29, guards did not look for him until he missed a shift.

By the time he was found and taken to Royal Darwin Hospital, his kidneys had shut down. He was put in an induced coma, underwent 10 operations and spent the next two months in hospital.

Doctors said he was just hours away from death.

Pte Nimmo does not remember the whole attack but believes it was someone who knew him because he heard someone use his nickname.

Defence initially refused to comment to The NT News - saying only that Pte Nimmo would be disciplined because he did not seek permission to speak to the media.

They later provided a statement - but refused to attribute the comments to anyone. The statement said Pte Nimmo was taken to a medical centre for treatment and that military police, the Australian Defence Force Investigative Service and NT Police were investigating.

But Pte Nimmo said he was told after the attack that he would be discharged in February - without support for ongoing medical bills.

Read more about this developing story at The NT News website.
 

23.20 | 0 komentar | Read More