First day of gay marriage in ACT

A WA Labor MP has married his male partner as ACT marriage laws came into effect at midnight. Source: AAP

THE bride wore white and so did her wife.

Corinna Peck and Stacey Cowen were among some 15 couples to tie the knot in Canberra on Saturday as Australia's first same-sex marriage law came into play.

But while the outfits were bright and newlywed smiles beamed across the nation's capital, a dark cloud was hanging over the future validity of the same-sex unions.

On Thursday the High Court will rule if the ACT's Marriage Equality Act, passed in October, is at odds with Commonwealth law and therefore invalid.

The threat didn't dampen the enthusiasm of groom Ivan Hinton who vowed to make partner Chris Teoh his "lawful wedded husband".

"There should never be any rule in this country that disrespects the commitment that two people like us wish to express to one another," Mr Hinton told reporters after his wedding.

Ceremonies kicked off at 12.01am (AEDT) with two couples rushing to become Australia's first legally-recognised "husbands".

Australian Marriage Equality director Rodney Croome attended Mr Hinton's marriage and afterwards highlighted the historic nature of Saturday's events.

"In years to come people will look back and think 'what an historic moment that was,' but also, 'why did it take us so long to recognise the wonderful ordinariness of the love, (the) commitment of same-sex relationships?'," Mr Croome said.

The Australian Christian Lobby has criticised the ACT law, claiming it damages the institution of marriage.

"We hear about equal love all the time but we don't hear about what it means for children," Lobby spokesman Lyle Shelton told Sky News.

"Same-sex marriage means same-sex parenting, that means necessarily taking a child from its biological mother or father and giving it to someone else."

ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher defended the law and sent a message to critics: "the world will go on".

"This doesn't effect those people who don't agree with it. It doesn't change their life, it doesn't change their relationships. This is all about making sure everyone is treated equally before the law," she said.

Ms Gallagher insisted that the community response, including from religious groups, had been overwhelmingly supportive.

Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young congratulated the newlywed couples and thanked them for being part of an important first step to change.

"This is how laws change, it is how communities evolve, it is how social change happens, when individuals put themselves forward," she said.

"I think it's time that politics put aside the views of others and allowed couples right across this country to have their love celebrated and accepted and recognised."

The ACT government said 47 couple have registered an intent to marry under the new law.

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Choppers, 16 crews battle fire

Sinead Duncan took photographs of the fires from Buderim and closer to Kawana Way. "We're just trying to get out of Brightwater at the moment .... it's getting bad." Reader picture: Sinead Duncan Source: Supplied

FIRE crews are asking Sunshine Coast residents to avoid an out-of-control grass fire near Mountain Creek.

3.50pm: Sinead Duncan took photographs of the fires from Buderim and closer to Kawana Way.

"We're just trying to get out of Brightwater at the moment because we've been visiting friends," she said.

"The smoke is still thick and billowing, but thankfully the wind is keeping most of the smoke away from the houses."

The grass fire near Mountain Creek. Picture: QPS/Sara Matulich

GALLERY: Reader pictures of Sunshine Coast blaze

Jackie Clark said aerial support was trying to control the situation.

"It's getting bad," she said.

Resident Nadine Brooks took these pictures from her vantage point at nearby Grand Pde, Parrearra. Reader picture: Nadine Brooks

"Police, fire and ambulance have set up on Kawana Way."
 

GALLERY: Reader pictures of Sunshine Coast blaze

Resident Nadine Brooks took these pictures from her vantage point at nearby Grand Pde, Parrearra. Reader picture: Nadine Brooks

3.30pm:  Resident Nadine Brooks said there seemed to be two or three different blazes from her vantage point at nearby Grand Pde, Parrearra.

"It looks like they are moving north," she said.

"We are lucky the smoke is not coming (our) way."

3pm: TRAFFIC is heavy along the Sunshine Coast Motorway thanks to a large grass fire.

Motorists are reporting congestion from the Dixon Rd turnoff to Mountain Creek.

Kawana Way has been closed as 16 fire crews battle the blaze.

GALLERY: Reader pictures of Sunshine Coast blaze

1pm: The fire at Kawana Way, near Brightwater Estate, was first reported at 11.20am.

Helicopters are currently water bombing the fire between Brightwater Estate and the Chancellor Park area, and 16 fire crews are battling the blaze.

No property is under threat, but a large smoke haze has settled over Mountain Creek and neighbouring suburbs.

Residents have been advised to close windows and doors, with reports of ash the size of fingernails falling on the area.

Motorists using Kawana Way have been urged to drive to conditions.

GALLERY: Reader pictures of Sunshine Coast blaze

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Abbott, Shorten to attend Mandela service

PM Tony Abbott and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will attend a memorial service for Nelson Mandela. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will present a united Australian front to honour and farewell Nelson Mandela.

The pair will this week fly to Johannesburg to join world leaders past and present, mourning the former South African president who died at his home on Thursday (local time) aged 95.

A huge memorial service is planned for the nation's first black leader on Tuesday, with US President Barack Obama already confirming his attendance.

On Saturday Mr Shorten's office said the Labor leader had accepted an invitation from Mr Abbott to accompany the prime minister to South Africa. Both men will miss most of the final 2013 parliamentary sitting week.

It is unknown how long the men will be out of Australia.

"There is a long bipartisan history of Australian support for South Africa and the campaign to abolish apartheid," Mr Abbott said, announcing his intention to attend the service.

After facing criticism for not lowering flags at the news of Mr Mandela's death, Mr Abbott said Australian flags will be set at half mast on the day of the official memorial.

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Urban, Lorde receive Grammy nominations

Keith Urban has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Country Duo/Group. Source: AAP

VETERAN rapper Jay-Z topped nominees for the 2014 US Grammys with nine nods, while Taylor Swift and Daft Punk were among those in the running in major categories.

Australia's Keith Urban has been nominated for Best Country Duo/Group Performance category for his collaboration with Tim McGraw and Taylor Swift, called Highway Don't Care, while New Zealand teenager Lorde was nominated for four awards, mostly for her debut single Royals.

The 17-year-old schoolgirl, who performed live during the Los Angeles ceremony, is in the running for song of the year, record of the year, best pop solo performance and best pop vocal album for Pure Heroine.

In second place with seven nods apiece were California hip-hop star Kendrick Lamar and rapper Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, as well as Justin Timberlake and Pharrell Williams, while rapper Drake scored five.

The nominees in key categories were announced during an hour-long concert at the Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, including video-link performances by Swift from Australia and Katy Perry live from Canada.

In the coveted Album of the Year category, songstress Swift's Red will compete with French electro duo Daft Punk's Random Access Memories, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis's The Heist, Lamar's Good Kid, M.A.A.D City and Sara Bareilles' The Blessed Unrest.

Record of the Year candidates are Daft Punk and Williams' ubiquitous Get Lucky, Lorde's Royals, Radioactive by Imagine Dragons, Hawaiian crooner Bruno Mars' Locked Out Of Heaven and Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines, made infamous by Miley Cyrus' twerking at the MTV Video Music Awards show.

Shortlisted for Song of the Year - for songwriters, as opposed to performers - were Just Give Me A Reason sung by Pink Featuring Nate Ruess; Locked Out Of Heaven sung by Bruno Mars; Roar sung by Katy Perry; Royals sung by Lorde, and Same Love sung by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis was also nominated for Best New Artist, up against James Blake, Kendrick Lamar, Kacey Musgraves and Ed Sheeran.

While big-hitters Jay-Z and Timberlake scored lots of nods, they were mostly in rap and pop/R&B categories respectively. Neither the rapper's heavily marketed Magna Carta ... Holy Grail, nor Timberlake's The 20/20 Experience made it onto the Best Album shortlist.

The 56th annual Grammys show - music's version of the Oscars - will be held on January 26 at the Staples Center.

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Fuel deal a win for consumers, business

CONSUMERS should expect lower grocery prices at Coles and Woolworths in 2014 due to an agreement from the supermarket giants to limit fuel discounts.

Hailed as a win for independent supermarkets, Coles and Woolworths agreed on Friday to limit discounts to a maximum four cents a litre as part of undertakings given to the nation's competition watchdog.

The retail behemoths told the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) they would stop funding the discounts through their supermarkets division, and any future discounting would need to be covered by their fuel retailing business.

The chains made the voluntary undertakings to address ACCC concerns their discount offers would reduce competition in the fuel retail sector.

The move comes after the consumer watchdog probed the supermarkets' shopper dockets following extended periods of eight cents a litre discounts.

Coles managing director Ian McLeod said the supermarket chain didn't believe its discounts amounted to a breach of law, but he recognised the ACCC's concerns.

Woolworths, meanwhile, denied there had been a competition problem arising from the discounts.

Consumer advocate Choice said the pledge should mean lower prices at Coles and Woolworths from January 1.

"Consumers have every right to expect grocery prices will fall at Coles and Woolworths as the supermarket giants reverse the flow of subsidies away from fuel," Choice spokesman Tom Godfrey said in a statement.

He said anything less would "expose the so-called price wars as nothing more than advertising slogans".

Australian Retailers Association executive director Russell Zimmerman said the deal was "the first step in fixing serious misuse of market powers issues".

He told AAP small, independent supermarkets had been "really badly hurt" by deep fuel discounts given by Coles and Woolworths.

"It does give (independent supermarkets) an opportunity to compete on a more level playing field."

The Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association, which represents independent service stations, also backed the deal.

"It's not perfect, but we welcome it as a step towards levelling the playing field in the fuel industry," group chief executive Nic Moulis said.

He said about 1000 independent service stations had shut in the past four years, partly due to cost pressure caused by heavy fuel discounts at Coles and Woolworths.

Coles said it would continue to offer fuel discounts of four cents a litre.

Woolworths said it would offer eight cents a litre discounts to supermarket customers who spent an additional $5 on merchandise at its petrol stations.

Independent senator Nick Xenophon said the undertaking would still "lead to the widespread ripping off of supermarket shoppers and petrol station customers".

Senator Xenophon said the fuel discount limit would be offset by Coles and Woolworths "scams" like increased supermarket prices and high fuel prices at the bowser.

"Smaller independent supermarkets and service stations will still be driven out of the market by this unfair system," he added.

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Barnett won't be rushed on new WA laws

WEST Australian Premier Colin Barnett has defended the state government's efficiency at passing legislation, saying parliamentarians shouldn't be rushed to vote on bills.

The state government has come under fire for not introducing by the end of this year a planned law that would send violent home invaders straight to jail.

It was the first election pledge by the Liberals in February before they convincingly won a second term.

And parliamentary debate over some of the bills that have been introduced has become bogged down, with a proposed law to increase regulation of the taxi industry descending into filibustering.

But Mr Barnett said he wasn't going to rush, reintroducing bills when necessary.

"Given there was a significant number of new members, I was not going to simply reinstate legislation at the stage it was before the election," he told reporters on Friday.

"That would have meant you would have had a significant number of members of parliament voting or conceding, if you like, on legislation that they hadn't had the chance to see.

"So I said we would actually go back and reintroduce legislation that had not finished its passage.

"I think that was a very proper thing to do."

Mr Barnett said he hoped bills on workplace reform, amalgamation of port operators, and the merger of utilities Verve and Synergy would be passed through the upper house next week.

Thursday was the last sitting day of the year for the Legislative Assembly but the Legislative Council has another week.

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DFAT confirms Dili embassy protest

FEDERAL authorities have confirmed a protest was held outside Australia's embassy in East Timor amid a spying row between the two countries.

About 100 protesters in East Timor's capital Dili reportedly threw rocks at the Australian embassy on Thursday, with police responding by using tear gas.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) on Friday confirmed a protest had taken place outside the embassy.

"The Australian Embassy in Dili has advised that a small-scale protest was held outside the embassy on 5 December," DFAT told AAP in a statement.

More details on the protest are being sought from DFAT.

A spokeswoman for East Timor said the protest was small and non-violent. Further details are being sought.

The protesters, mostly students and young Timorese rights activists, carried banners reading "Australia is a thief" and "Australia has no morals", Agence France-Presse reported.

The protest comes after East Timor expressed outrage over reports that Australia secretly bugged ministerial deliberations in Dili in 2004 to gain leverage in negotiations on an oil and gas revenue-sharing deal.

On Tuesday, Australian intelligence agents raided the Canberra office of a lawyer representing East Timor in an arbitration case at The Hague over the deal.

East Timor says it won't be deterred from challenging the multi-billion dollar oil and gas treaty with Australia despite the raid.

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Brooks 'agreed to buy William snap'

A court has heard Rebekah Brooks agreed to pay an armed forces member for pics of Prince Harry. Source: AAP

FORMER News International executive Rebekah Brooks sanctioned a payment of STG4000 ($A7,300) to a public official for a picture of Prince William dressed as a Bond girl in a bikini at a Sandhurst party, a UK jury has heard.

The Old Bailey heard that Brooks, then editor of the Sun and known as Rebekah Wade, was asked for her opinion on paying a member of the armed forces for the story.

Less than 10 minutes after she was sent an email by a Sun news editor saying the military contact who was offering the picture wanted STG4000, she responded by saying "OK", the jury heard on Thursday.

It led to a page seven exclusive in The Sun in September 2006 with the headline "Willy in a Bikini" together with a mocked-up picture of the prince wearing a green swimsuit and Hawaiian-style flowers.

The article claimed that "Prince William caused a stir at a Sandhurst 007 bash by dressing as a Bond Girl" and said his girlfriend Kate Middleton dressed in a wetsuit.

The court heard that a payment dated June 16, 2006 and headed "Prince William wearing a bikini exclusive" for the amount of STG4000, to be collected by the wife of the member of the armed forces, was made at a Thomas Cook branch in Slough in Berkshire.

The Sun reporter who was working on the story told his superior in the email later forwarded to Brooks that the picture had come via his "best contact at Sandhurst".

He claimed that although STG4000 "sounds like a lot", it would "open the door for future exclusives and info", the jury heard.

"I'm worried if we don't meet his demands, this opportunity will pass," he said.

Brooks denies conspiring with others to hack phones between October 3 2000 and August 9, 2006.

The trial was adjourned until Monday.

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Three undergo surgery after machete attack

Queensland police are yet to establish the motive for a machete attack that left six people wounded. Source: AAP

THREE victims of a machete attack in Queensland are recovering from surgery as police try to establish the motive for the horrific crime.

The three were among six people who were viciously attacked by two masked men who broke into a Rockhampton house on Wednesday night.

Four of the six were rushed to hospital with serious but not life-threatening wounds.

Three of the four have since had surgery for wounds to their arms, legs and bodies.

The other two victims were treated at the scene for less serious wounds.

One of the six victims was also sexually assaulted during the attack, it's been alleged.

Two men have been remanded in custody as police try to establish a motive for the crime, which has left neighbours shocked.

"At this point in time we can't quite pinpoint the trigger or the catalyst for this incident," Acting Senior Sergeant Paul Elliot said on Thursday.

The victims - three men and three women - are aged in their late teens to early twenties.

Neighbours have told of police descending on the Macalister Street home in the north Rockhampton suburb of Park Avenue.

"It was just a sea of flashing lights, and police and the ambulance taking people away," one neighbour told the ABC.

Police say the attackers had their faces covered during the incident and allegedly stole money and mobile phones from the property.

The alleged attackers, aged 29 and 33, were arrested nearby soon afterwards.

"They were caught very, very close to the house," Acting Snr Sgt Elliot said.

"One was in a car and one was on foot."

The accused men were remanded in custody when they faced the Rockhampton Magistrates Court on charges including acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm, armed robbery and entering a dwelling with intent.

The 33-year-old is also facing a sexual assault charge.

The case has been adjourned to February 12.

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Indigenous shake up on council's agenda

THE man charged with leading Tony Abbott's indigenous affairs shake up hopes to help reverse the trend of prime ministers leaving office regretting they didn't do enough for Australia's first people.

Former ALP president Warren Mundine, who chairs the prime minister's newly formed indigenous advisory council, and the body's 11 other members met with Mr Abbott for the first time in Canberra on Thursday.

Improving indigenous children's school attendance and educational levels is their top priority, followed by boosting employment opportunities and reviewing land ownership and other drivers of economic development.

Mr Abbott told the council they had a mammoth task ahead.

There has been much goodwill in recent years and lots of money spent but not enough change at the grassroots, he said.

"Let it not be said in three years' time that this was just another talkfest," Mr Abbott said.

"Let people be able to say ... that practical change is happening."

Mr Mundine said efforts to close the gap on Aboriginal disadvantage, social stability and empowering communities were key issues.

"We're going to be looking at that through economic and commercial eyes," Mr Mundine told AAP.

Mr Mundine hopes the advisory council can help reverse an historic trend.

"Every prime minister in our lifetime has left office and they have always said that one of the saddest things is they didn't do enough in this area," he said.

Council members include Westpac Bank chief executive Gail Kelly and Rio Tinto Australia managing director David Peever.

The council will also be involved in mining magnate Andrew Forrest's review of indigenous employment and training programs as well as a separate review into Indigenous Land Corporation and Indigenous Business Australia.

The federal government is reviewing two embattled government-funded indigenous bodies to determine if they should be merged.

The Land Corporation has been under fire for going $200 million into debt to purchase Ayers Rock Resort for $317 million in 2010.

The resort has hit financial woes, reporting losses of more than $100 million.

Indigenous Business Australia was last year warned not to hold conferences that looked like "junkets" after senior staff travelled to Gold Coast theme parks.

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