Total fire bans blanket much of NSW

TOTAL fire bans have been declared across much of NSW, including the greater Sydney region, where the fire danger is expected to be severe.

The fire bans will be in place from midnight (AEDT) on Saturday for the far north coast, north coast, greater Hunter, greater Sydney region, Illawarra and Shoalhaven, central ranges, New England, northern slopes, northwestern and upper central west plains districts.

Severe fire weather would affect towns including Newcastle, Narrabri, Lismore and Coffs Harbour, the Rural Fire Service said on Saturday.

The Bureau of Meteorology said a front would move through eastern NSW on Sunday, increasing westerly winds ahead of a strong southerly change moving up the coast.

Temperatures would drop but humidity would remain low into the evening, the bureau said.

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Man hid drug ice in his underpants: police

A Sydney man has allegedly been caught with $11,000 worth of the drug ice hidden in his underpants. Source: AAP

A SYDNEY man has allegedly been caught with $11,000 worth of the party drug ice hidden in his underpants.

Police say they were patrolling the Surry Hills nightclub strip Oxford Street on Saturday when they saw two men acting suspiciously about 4am (AEDT).

Officers stopped and searched the men's car, and a check revealed one was wanted on an outstanding warrant and he was arrested.

The 23-year-old was taken to Surry Hills police station, where it's alleged 41 bags of methamphetamine were found in his underpants.

Police estimate the alleged haul had a street value of $11,000.

More than $4000 cash was also seized during the search, police say.

The man, from Westmead, has been charged with dealing with property suspected of being proceeds of crime, supplying a prohibited drug and possession of a prohibited drug. He was also charged over the outstanding warrant.

He was refused bail during an appearance at Parramatta Bail Court on Saturday, police say, and is due to reappear in court next week.

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Plibersek lashes WA premier

Deputy federal Labor leader Tanya Plibersek (pic) has slammed West Australian Premier Colin Barnett. Source: AAP

DEPUTY federal Labor leader Tanya Plibersek has taken a swipe at West Australian Premier Colin Barnett, saying he has "broken promise after promise" since winning a second term.

Ms Plibersek used much of her address at the state Labor Party's annual conference in Belmont on Saturday to lash the Liberal leader.

"Like the Liberal state premiers in the eastern states, Colin Barnett is showing the people of WA a little preview of what they can expect from a Tony Abbott government," she said.

"You say as little as possible to get elected and you do your worst once you get there."

She lambasted Mr Barnett for cuts to education, closing wheat-belt rail lines, a 12.5 per cent increase in land tax and his government's failure to deliver a pledged redevelopment of Royal Perth Hospital.

"West Australians did not get the Colin Barnett they voted for," Ms Plibersek said.

Also at the conference, there were several references to the need for unity in the party, while Ms Plibersek paid tribute to Labor Senator Louise Pratt, who had endured weeks of stress waiting to find out whether she had retained her seat.

The Australian Electoral Commission will announce the results of the WA Senate recount and distribution of preferences after 2pm (WST).

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Furniture factory ablaze in Sydney

Fifty firefighters are battling a large blaze at a western Sydney furniture factory. Source: AAP

FIFTY firefighters are battling a large blaze at a western Sydney furniture factory.

Fire & Rescue NSW (FRNSW) says no one is feared missing but the fire has spread into the roof of the single-storey factory on Warren Avenue, Bankstown.

The fire has been contained but crews were still working to extinguish the flames on Saturday evening.

One man has been taken to hospital suffering smoke inhalation, a FRNSW spokesman told AAP.

"Firefighters have managed to protect adjoining properties," he said.

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YMCA a child safety industry leader: Hare

ALTHOUGH a childcare centre in Sydney where a pedophile worked has received a low national standards rating, the YMCA still describes itself as an industry leader in child safety.

YMCA NSW chief executive Phillip Hare told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Friday there had only been one audit into its Caringbah service where Jonathan Lord worked, and that was this year.

The YMCA has also been telling parents at Caringbah it had organised external audits of its services when in fact there had only been one audit conducted by the NSW Department of Education and Communities (DEC) in 2013 under new national regulations.

The Caringbah centre was rated on the second last rung of four National Quality Framework Standards.

Mr Hare also told the commission he only became aware of the Caringbah rating during the commission and agreed he should have been concerned about it, as it was the centre where Lord worked for two years.

The commission heard that the YMCA sent out a press release on October 20 saying it "was recognised in the industry and by external audits and peak bodies as a leader in child safety".

Senior counsel representing the commission Gail Furness said: "The external audit did not recognise you as an industry leader?"

Mr Hare repeated that the industry-leader claim was a comparative one and said there had been no intention to mislead people.

He agreed that to say "audits" was incorrect, as there had only been one.

Earlier, Mr Hare told the commission a critical incident review at the YMCA had not examined the period leading up to Lord's arrest, but concentrated on breaches of policy.

In reply to commission chairman Justice Peter McClellan, Mr Hare said he accepted it should have been done.

He said "it was clear it was an error" not to have included it and he took responsibility.

Mr Hare strongly defended the culture within the organisation and said there was no impediment to staff reporting concerns to managers.

Some staff have told the commission they did not feel they could raise concerns with management.

He told Justice McClellan he did not agree the YMCA needed someone to work with them on its processes, but then agreed he would consider it if the commission thought it necessary.

Mr Hare, who has worked with the YMCA since 1988 when he was 21, told the inquiry there was no discussion with him when a senior manager asked staff to sign a confidentiality agreement about a pedophile.

He also accepted that parts of the YMCA's opening statement to the commission could be misleading, including a claim that the organisation had not dealt with an incident of child sexual assault before Lord, when it had done so in the 1990s.

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China blames militant group for crash

A Chinese official has blamed the East Turkestan Islamic Movement for a suicide attack in Beijing. Source: AAP

CHINA'S top security official says the militant East Turkestan Islamic Movement organised an alleged suicidal vehicle attack that killed five people in the heart of Beijing this week.

Meng Jianzhu, chief of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the ruling Communist Party, named the group in an interview with Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television when he was in the capital of Uzbekistan attending a regional security summit and seeking cooperation in counter-terrorism.

"The violent terrorist incident that happened in Beijing is an organised and plotted act. Behind the instigation is the terrorist group East Turkestan Islamic Movement entrenched in central and west Asian regions," Meng said, in a video footage aired on Thursday.

The SUV ploughed through bystanders, crashed and burst into flames near the Tiananmen Gate on Monday, killing three in the car and two tourists, including a Filipino woman, and injuring dozens.

Beijing police said the perpetrators were a man with an ethnic Uighur name, his wife and his mother. Police also have arrested five people - identified with typically Uighur names - on suspicion of conspiring in the attack and called it a planned terror strike - the city's first in recent history.

Uighurs are an ethnic minority residing mainly in China's northwest region of Xinjiang, and they have close cultural and language ties to Turkic peoples of Central Asia.

China believes the East Turkestan Islamic Movement aims to establish an independent East Turkestan in Xinjiang, and blames the group for the low-intensity insurgency in the region.

The United States placed the movement on a terrorist watch list following the September 11 attacks, but quietly removed it amid doubts that it existed in any organised manner.

Instead, human rights groups have questioned whether China uses the security threat as an excuse to suppress the Uighurs and said Uighur extremism has been fueled by China's heavy-handed policies in Xinjiang and discrimination against Uighurs by the country's ethnic Han majorities.

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School kids escape Sydney bus fire

School children have fled a burning bus after it caught fire on the M2 motorway in northwest Sydney. Source: AAP

DOZENS of children from rural NSW had a city excursion to remember, with their bus bursting into flames on a busy Sydney motorway.

All escaped uninjured, but a quick-thinking off-duty policeman who inhaled smoke as he attempted to douse the flames is in hospital under observation on Friday night.

The Transport Safety Bureau will investigate how the fire broke out on the bus as it travelled along the M2 at Baulkham Hills just after 3pm (AEDT).

Inspector Phil Brooks from the NSW Police Traffic and Highway Patrol Command said the officer was riding his motorcycle home from work when the bus burst into flames.

As teachers led about 35 school children away from the burning bus, the officer ran toward it with a small fire extinguisher.

"He was able to intervene very quickly, and we'll certainly look at acknowledging his efforts," Insp Brooks told the Nine Network.

He said the students and teachers were on their way back to Orange in central NSW after a school excursion.

A Fire & Rescue spokeswoman told AAP the engine compartment of the bus had caught fire and the first emergency call came in at 3.13pm.

Three fire crews extinguished the blaze.

A NSW Police spokeswoman said the Office of Transport Safety Investigations would look into how the fire started.

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Graffiti artist Banksy leaves NY divided

The street artist Banksy has ended his month residency in NY City with a final graffiti piece. Source: AAP

THE secretive street artist Banksy has ended his self-announced month-long residency in New York City with a final piece of graffiti, a $US615,000 painting donated to charity and a debate: Is he a jerk or a genius?

Banksy, who created a new picture, video or prank every day of October somewhere in the city, spent his last day like thousands of graffiti artists before him: he tagged a building near a highway with his name in giant bubble letters. The twist was that these letters were actual bubbles: balloon-like inflatables stuck to a wall near the Long Island Expressway in Queens.

As if to underscore his dual identity as both a street punk and an art-world darling, he also donated a painting that was auctioned off on Thursday night for $US615,000 ($A652,000).

The original painting first sold for $US50 at a Manhattan thrift shop that benefits Housing Works, an organisation that fights homelessness and AIDS. Banksy added a Nazi soldier to the landscape scene and Housing Works sold it in an online auction.

Throughout his 31 days in the city, Banksy put pictures of his work on BanksyNY.com, with clues as to locations but nothing precise. That spawned a treasure hunt by fans who hunted the works down, shared locations via social media, then swarmed to see them.

But by the time Banksy was done, New Yorkers were divided in their opinions. Some tweeted "Go home, Banksy!" Others declared their admiration.

The turning point for many was an essay he wrote criticising the building replacing the World Trade Center. Banksy called the new design "vanilla ... something they would build in Canada", and added, "It so clearly proclaims the terrorists won." He offered the essay to The New York Times. The paper wouldn't print it, so he posted it on his website.

"The terrorists won" comment upset many New Yorkers, including Brian Major, 51, of Brooklyn.

"Enough!" Major said. "Who is this guy? Everybody's got a right to an opinion, but what gives him any kind of credibility in New York? Shut up, Banksy! Go home!"

A lifelong New Yorker, Major says he understands graffiti culture, and he also appreciates fine art. But he doesn't think Banksy's art is all that good - "though I'll give him credit, he's a good marketer".

But Sean Lynch, 25, of Staten Island thinks Banksy is "one of the more captivating artists of our generation". Lynch said it was magical visiting Banksy sites around the city and hearing conversations about art that the works inspired, with "people of all different walks and cultures sharing opinions, sharing stories. ... The walls started to talk to them, in a way."

Banksy, who refuses to reveal his full identity, began his career spray-painting buildings in Bristol, England. In New York, many of his images were silhouetted figures or spray-painted messages. The art ranged from a stencil of a dog lifting his leg on a hydrant to a video of a "slaughterhouse delivery truck" filled with stuffed animals.

Some works were defaced by other graffiti artists. But interest grew with each piece, and at least one Banksy street work was covered with plexiglass to preserve it. He also sold some pieces, unadvertised, for $US60 on the street.

Radhika Subramaniam, a professor at Parsons The New School for Design in Manhattan, says Banksy is part of a long tradition of graffiti artists like Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat whose work ultimately earned recognition from the art establishment.

But he also fits into a contemporary trend of opening up public spaces to conversations about who owns them and what can happen there - especially in today's cleaned-up New York, where Mayor Michael Bloomberg, when asked about Banksy, called graffiti "a sign of decay and loss of control".

OK, but is Banksy any good? "There's plenty of wit in what he does, as well as some thoroughly ordinary, sometimes pleasant, sometimes banal, but sometimes sweet things," Subramaniam said.

But he's also "not a naf in the art world. After all, who would care if you or I were to set up a blog and enact a residency like this? It's only because he's able to marshal this kind of PR and marketing that ... catapults his residency to another level and elicits these polarised points of view."

In a final gesture that was simultaneously serious and self-mocking, audio commentary posted on Thursday on Banksy's website called his final piece - his name in bubble letters by the road - "an homage ... to the most prevalent form of graffiti in the city that invented it for the modern era. Or it's another Banksy piece that's full of hot air."

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River waste water plan 'threatens reef'

Plans to let more mine waste water into Queensland rivers poses a threat to the Great Barrier Reef. Source: AAP

PLANS to let more mines release excess water into Queensland rivers will pose a threat to the Great Barrier Reef, the Greens say.

Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney has told parliament he expects more mines to carry out the practice under a pilot program this wet season.

He says discharges will only proceed under strict environmental conditions.

Coal mines will have to show they're improving how they manage mine water, and invest in systems to minimise its generation and capture.

"They will have to make a substantial investment in this area to receive the benefits from increases in release opportunities," Mr Seeney said on Thursday.

"We will expect a number of coal mines will be able to demonstrate that they can meet these performance benchmarks."

Four coal mines in central Queensland were given permission to release legacy water into the Fitzroy and Isaac river catchments last wet season.

The expected expansion of the program has angered Greens Senator Larissa Waters.

"This is Campbell Newman putting our waterways at risk to save the big mining companies a few dollars," she said in a statement.

She said it was madness to allow waste water laden with salt and heavy metals to flow into waterways.

"With many of our rivers flowing into the Great Barrier Reef, the Newman government is also jeopardising water quality of this World Heritage Area," she said.

"The Newman government continues to ignore UNESCO's warning that the reef could be added to the list of World Heritage sites in danger within a year because it's being overrun by development."

The state government says independent water monitoring from last wet season showed metal levels across the catchment were well below relevant water quality guidelines.

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Bikie laws unleash high-level Qld fight

QUEENSLAND Premier Campbell Newman is likening his crackdown on bikie gangs to Tony Fitzgerald's landmark inquiry into institutionalised corruption.

But Mr Fitzgerald is predictably angry at the comparison.

The government's tough new anti-bikie and sex offender laws were rushed through with minimal consultation and the former judge says it's foolhardy for politicians who lack expertise to make major changes without thinking through the consequences.

"The administration of criminal justice is not a political plaything or a suitable area for political grandstanding," said Mr Fitzgerald, whose inquiry led to the 1987 resignation of premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen.

The premier has spent the past fortnight defending the laws and is refusing to withdraw comments that judges should respond to the community's desire for protection.

"It is astonishingly short-sighted for a government to attack the judiciary in a bid to foster redneck support."

The new laws impose mandatory sentences on bikies and gives the government power to lock up dangerous sex offenders for life, bypassing the courts.

Mr Newman's comments caused Supreme Court Justice George Fryberg to put on hold a bid to revoke a bikie's bail on Thursday, saying the remarks could be perceived as an attempt to influence judges.

The premier tried to get the wider judiciary on board when he spoke in parliament.

He said the state's bikie problem was bigger than the systematic corruption exposed by Mr Fitzgerald.

"Undoubtedly it's far worse in my view," Mr Newman said.

"This is a time for us to all work together."

The opposition says the premier's comparison shouldn't fool anyone.

"The only comparison I can see between Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen and Campbell Newman is that neither of them understand the separation of powers," Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk said.

Ms Palaszczuk also called on Ken Levy, chair of the Crime and Misconduct Commission, to resign for publicly backing Mr Newman with an opinion piece that said the new laws reflected the will of Queenslanders.

"It is unprecedented for a chair of the CMC to support the government's agenda," Ms Palaszczuk said.

"He should be impartial, he should be independent, and he's clearly showing bias."

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Paintings back home after NSW fire threat

Priceless artworks by Norman Lindsay are being returned to his namesake Blue Mountains gallery. Source: AAP

PRECIOUS artworks whisked from the Blue Mountains firefront have been returned to their rightful home.

The priceless haul was rushed to safety from the Norman Lindsay Gallery at Faulconbridge at the height of the bushfire threat last week.

Priority works were ferried to a storage facility in Sydney and the remaining pieces stashed in a purpose-built rock bunker, complete with fire-proof window screens and a concrete roof.

Staff at the gallery are now carefully restoring most of its 100 artworks.

Manager Amanda Trevillion said on Thursday the emergency had been an "intense" experience.

"You couldn't see, we didn't have any power," she told AAP.

"There were helicopters bombing fire actually in the bush within the property boundary."

But Ms Trevillion said she was heartened by the local community's dedication to pitching in to protect the work of the Magic Pudding creator.

"I think it became a symbol, and it was very important to save it," she said.

"Lindsay's work is so significant."

Ms Trevillion said her tight-knit team, removalists and specialist painting hangers were all working hard to get the gallery running by the weekend.

The site's resident ducks have also returned after a two-week hiatus.

And if there's a silver lining, it's that the evacuation provided the opportunity to do some spring cleaning ahead of the gallery's 40th anniversary.

"It's next weekend," Ms Trevillion said.

"We were thinking we might not have anything on the wall, but now we will."

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NZ Gallipoli ballot delayed a fortnight

A ballot to select New Zealanders for the 2015 Anzac dawn service at Gallipoli has been delayed. Source: AAP

NEW Zealand's ballot for 2000 places at the centenary Anzac dawn service at Gallipoli has been delayed for a fortnight following a request from Australia.

The ballot was to have opened on Friday but has been delayed until November 15. It will still close on January 31 with results announced next April.

"There was a request from the Australian government for a two-week delay to give them more time to get organised, because we're running the dates in parallel," a spokesman for New Zealand Veterans Affairs Minister Michael Woodhouse told NZ Newswire.

A total of 10,500 places will be available at the centenary commemorations in 2015, with 2000 allocated to New Zealand, 8000 to Australia and 500 for official representatives from Turkey and other countries.

The four-to-one ratio for Australia and New Zealand allocations is based on the relative number of casualties during the Gallipoli campaign in 1915.

Attendance passes will be free, but New Zealanders who are successful in the ballot will need to make their own travel arrangements and meet all their own costs.

Further details on the ballot are available on www.gallipoli2015.govt.nz

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Labor's Wright raises workplace law fears

Labor's George Wright (pic) says the coalition will target unions before targeting work conditions. Source: AAP

ALP national secretary George Wright has warned the coalition's plan to change laws in relation to unions is an "entree" to removing some working conditions.

Mr Wright was a key figure behind the Your Rights at Work campaign, which has been credited with helping Labor win the 2007 election and abolish the Howard government's controversial Work Choices laws.

Work is under way on the Abbott government's initial industrial legislation - relating to the restoration of the Australian Building and Construction Commission and bolstering penalties for union officials found guilty of corruption.

Mr Wright told the National Press Club in Canberra on Tuesday the Abbott government would take a different approach to workplace relations to that taken by Mr Howard.

"I suspect what you will see is a concerted effort by the government to really go after the unions first - union organisation and union finances - obviously as an entree to then have a go at members' conditions," he said.

"They will weaken and probably distract the machinery and organisation that protects workers' rights before they actually go after the rights themselves."

He said he had no immediate advice for the labour movement in how to address it.

"That is something that the labour movement as a whole needs to think about how it effectively responds to."

Making changes to the penalty rates system was an issue raised at a national tourism conference in Canberra on Tuesday.

Tourism and Transport Forum chief Ken Morrison was asked during the conference whether the industry wanted the government to reduce penalty rates.

"What was clear talking to the coalition before the election is they were totally gun shy, they didn't really want to talk about it before the election," Mr Morrison said.

"They said: 'If you want this after the election, business is going to have to lead'. So you're seeing a range of business groups doing that now."

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Butcher of Bega begins High Court bid

Carolyn DeWaegeneire is appalled taxpayers are funding the High Court appeal of the Butcher of Bega. Source: AAP

CAROLYN DeWaegeneire is appalled taxpayers are funding the High Court appeal of the doctor known as the Butcher of Bega, who removed her genitals without consent.

Graeme Reeves on Tuesday launched his High Court challenge against an increase to his jail sentence.

He was jailed in 2011 for three-and-a-half years after being found guilty of removing Ms DeWaegeneire's clitoris and genitals and sexually abusing another patient during a physical examination.

He also is serving time for obtaining a financial advantage by deception.

The offences occurred between 2001 and 2003 when Reeves worked as a gynaecologist and obstetrician on the NSW South Coast.

Ms DeWaegeneire said she was angry Reeves was receiving Legal Aid for his defence.

"(Today's been) stressful, of course. I don't want to relive it, but I must," she told reporters outside court.

"There's been extraordinary taxpayers' expense to defend one man against me."

She hopes the High Court does not reduce Reeves sentence just because he's ill.

Along with another victim and several supporters, she wore a T-shirt with a picture of two ants, symbolising their battle as "little people at the bottom of the barrel".

"I can't let that man win, for every woman in this country," she said with tears in her eyes.

The court on Tuesday considered the legal issues surrounding the concept of "informed consent".

It also examined in what circumstances a surgeon performing an operation they believe is medically necessary can be guilty of a crime requiring proof of malice or intent to commit grievous bodily harm.

Reeves removed Ms DeWaegeneire's genitals in an operation that was supposed to only take out a pre-cancer lesion.

Reeves' defence has consistently argued he was saving the patient's life and rejected the crown's argument that he did not have consent to remove her genitals.

Appearing for the crown, Lloyd Babb SC told the court the expert evidence was unanimous that the operation had been unwarranted.

In February 2013, the NSW Court of Appeal found Reeves' sentence to be grossly inadequate and re-sentenced him to five-and-a-half years, with a non-parole period of three-and-a-half years.

However, the court also found the trial judge had made an error in directing the jury on the issue of consent.

Reeves' barrister Peter Hamill argued the original sentencing judge had taken into account his client's depression, but that was not used as a mitigating factor by the appeal judges.

He also argued the Court of Appeal should not have applied a section of the Criminal Appeal Act because the trial judge had made an error.

"The court should grant special leave to rectify the injustice to the individual," Mr Hamill said.

"The jury did not decide the issue it had been called to decide."

The hearing continues.

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Qld's conservation act shaken up

QUEENSLAND'S opposition says the state's nature conservation act is being gutted to make a quick buck.

In a move government says will improve access and boost tourism, the state's national parks will open to commercial operations under amendments due to be passed on Tuesday.

Environmentalists say the bill will allow ecologically unsustainable uses in protected areas.

Labor's Bill Byrne says the 20-year-old act is being turned on its head so its primary purpose will no longer be to conserve nature but to provide commercial and recreational benefits for humans.

"We readily agree that educational, recreational, cultural and sometimes even commercial activities can be appropriate in national parks, but they must always be secondary activities that are entirely 100 per cent subordinate to the protection of nature," he told parliament.

"The LNP wants to 'open them up' to any charlatan in search of a quick buck."

Under the changes, public input into the management of protected areas will be limited.

It will also be harder for people who injure themselves in national parks after acting recklessly or disregarding warning signs to sue the state.

According to government figures, there are currently nine current claims against the state totalling $11.9 million.

National Parks Minister Steve Dickson said the changes would cut red tape and streamline the approvals process.

There will be no mining, logging, hunting or open slather grazing in national parks, parliament heard.

"What we are trying to do is simplify the whole act so that it's more cost efficient to run," Mr Dickson told AAP.

"The money that's saved can go back into caring for, maintaining and looking after our national parks, that's what this is all about."

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Kelly pulls out of race for Carr's spot

Mike Kelly (pic) has withdrawn his name from the race for the NSW Senate seat vacated by Bob Carr. Source: AAP

FORMER Labor minister Mike Kelly has pulled out of the contest for the Senate seat vacated by Bob Carr.

"I will not be nominating 4 the Senate vacancy as the decision will be AA (affirmative action) based," Dr Kelly tweeted on Tuesday.

He wished former Central Coast MP Deb O'Neill, widely tipped to be in line for the job, all the best.

Both Dr Kelly and Ms O'Neill lost their lower house seats at the recent federal election.

Last Wednesday, Dr Kelly told AAP he had nominated for the Senate vacancy and, if selected, would commit to recontesting the seat of Eden-Monaro at the next election.

Mr Carr, in his final speech before resigning from the Senate, said he wished he could hand his seat over to Dr Kelly and that he hoped his talents could be "edged" back in to parliament.

The NSW Labor executive will make a final decision on who will fill the Senate vacancy on Wednesday.

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No taker yet for $30m lottery ticket

THE champagne is still on ice at Lotterywest headquarters in Perth, as the identity of the state's $30 million Powerball winner remains a mystery.

One lucky entrant picked up the entire $30 million division one prize pool last Thursday night, equalling the largest lottery prize ever won in the state.

The only details released by Lotterywest is that the winning ticket was sold in Perth's northern suburbs.

But despite the size of the prize, no winning ticket holder has come forward to claim the massive prize, although he or she has 12 months from the date of the draw to bring in the winning ticket.

The win is the latest in an amazing run of luck for lottery players in the state in 2013.

In February, the state recorded a $20 million win, followed by a $10 million win in May, another $20 million win in August, followed by the $30 million jackpot last week.

About 70 WA players have collected a division one lottery prize in 2013.

And WA players will have another chance to win big this weekend, when $22 million goes on offer in Saturday's Gold Lotto Superdraw.

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Obeid under renewed ICAC scrutiny

The NSW ICAC has starting hearing fresh allegations of corruption involving ex-Labor MP Eddie Obeid. Source: AAP

EDDIE Obeid was known in the halls of NSW parliament as a fixer but when "stuff hit the fan" in a family business, his brother-in-law says it never crossed his mind to ask the then-MP for help.

Obeid is accused of lobbying state ministers Carl Scully, Michael Costa, Eric Roozendaal and Joe Tripodi to have leases on prime government-owned real estate - home to two Obeid family-owned restaurants - renewed without going to tender.

It's alleged the one-time Labor powerbroker never disclosed his personal connection to the Sorrentino restaurant and Quay Eatery at Sydney's Circular Quay.

The allegations were aired on Monday, the first day of yet another NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) inquiry into Obeid, who has already been declared corrupt by the watchdog in relation to separate matters.

Under questioning from counsel assisting the commission, Ian Temby QC, the ex-MP's brother-in-law John Abood agreed that while he owned Circular Quay Restaurants Pty Ltd (CQPL) on paper, the major owner was really an Obeid family trust.

CQPL, in turn, owned the two restaurants.

The inquiry has heard Mr Abood was given the job to manage the eateries after he struggled to find work.

He said he spoke to "the boys" - Eddie Obeid's sons - and they got together $2.4 million to buy Sorrentino, Quay Eatery and a nearby cafe.

"I was fronting the businesses, not a front for the Obeids - there's a difference, sir," Mr Abood said.

He also denied Obeid was called in to help when NSW Maritime, the landowner, moved to seek expressions of interest from potential new lessees without giving existing retailers preference.

"Going to market in this way has the obvious advantage of ensuring that public assets provide a good return to the public purse," Mr Temby said in his opening address.

Ultimately NSW Maritime altered its draft commercial lease policy to allow for direct negotiations with existing tenants and new leases were indeed granted to CQPL in 2009.

"When, if you want to say - excuse me commissioner - that stuff hit the fan, we had to react to that," Mr Abood testified.

"I never even contemplated talking to Eddie about it and I never did, sir."

The three-week inquiry is part of three fresh investigations by the corruption watchdog, codenamed Cyrus, Cabot and Meeka.

It will also examine claims Eddie Obeid influenced public officials to allow generous water licences for a coal-rich Hunter Valley property owned by his family.

It's also been alleged Obeid hand-delivered to then-Treasurer Michael Costa a letter requesting a meeting with a director of Direct Health Solutions, without revealing that his family and long-time associate Rocco Triulcio had a combined $450,000 investment in the company.

Mr Temby has foreshadowed that along with Obeid, prominent bureaucrats Steve Dunn - who recently headed up the O'Farrell government's controversial Game Council review - and Mark Duffy could face corruption findings.

Obeid has denied any wrongdoing but promised to cooperate.

"No one is ever happy with having to answer continuous allegations but as long as they have hearings, I'll keep turning up," he told the Seven Network.

"I'm not corrupt - and time will tell."

He is expected to give evidence next week.

The inquiry continues before Assistant Commissioner Anthony Whealy QC.

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Boy, 4, burns down house with lighter

A FOUR-YEAR-OLD boy playing with a lighter is believed to have started a fire that burned down his house on the NSW mid-north coast.

Police say the boy's father pulled the youngster and his other two children to safety.

But he was unable to save the house, despite trying to extinguish the blaze with a garden hose.

Police say they have been told the preschooler might have been playing with a cigarette lighter before the fire started in a pile of clothes in his bedroom on Saturday.

Detective Inspector Kim Fehon said the family was lucky to avoid injury.

"It's essential that matches, lighters or barbecue fire starters should be kept securely out of reach of children," she said.

"We would strongly recommend parents explain the danger of fire to older children, especially following the reports of children being responsible for several fires across the state."

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YMCA child protection policy queried

A year after the Jonathan Lord incident, the YMCA hadn't completed its working with children checks. Source: AAP

A YMCA middle manager whose evidence to a child abuse inquiry changed within a month has denied it was because she discussed it with senior management.

Jacqui Barnat, a children's services manager with the non-profit organisation told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Monday that she was changing her evidence on the policy covering the recruitment of childcare workers.

Ms Barnat told a private hearing of the commission in early October the 2006 policy was in place in 2009.

But at Monday's public hearing, she said she did not believe the YMCA Australia Safeguarding Children and Young People's policy 2006, was current in 2009.

"Upon reflection I don't believe it was still current in 2009 because from memory other policies were in place," she said.

When the discrepancy was pointed out to her by Gail Furness, SC for the commission, she said she could not recall her earlier evidence.

When asked if she had discussed this policy with anyone at the YMCA in the past month and its application to her work she said "no".

Ms Furness asked what had occurred that made her say now that it did not apply to her work in 2009.

"Was it assisted by any person or you looking at any other document?"

Ms Barnat did not reply. She could not identify what other policy was in place.

"I have a recollection of a policy in force in 2009 and I cannot recall the name ... I think I did try to find it. I have not been able to find that policy."

She later said she might have instigated a conversation with the YMCA's business service manager, Irene Minos.

In answer to questioning by commission chairman Justice Peter McClellan, Ms Barnat said she was reviewing the content of the policy after her private evidence and that is how she recalled the 2006 policy was not in place.

"Upon reflection, I just tried to fit the dates".

Ms Barnat who has been with the YMCA since 2004 had shared responsibility for recruitment in the Caringbah area when Jonathan Lord was employed.

Lord is serving a 10-year sentence for sexual assaults on 12 children while he was with the YMCA.

Ms Barnat said that prior to January 2013 she could not make decisions on staff selection and would need approval to conduct interviews. However, generally but not always, there was a more senior manager with her when she interviewed new recruits.

Ms Barnat was questioned on the reporting levels within the YMCA.

She said her duties were to identify staff training needs and she passed those on to her managers who were also based at Caringbah.

Ms Barnat will continue her evidence when the hearing resumes on Tuesday.

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