Four found on rock after boat sinks in WA

FOUR people have been found on a rock face, one suffering serious injuries, after their boat apparently sunk north of Perth.

Police received a call about noon (WST) about a boat having engine trouble about 10 kilometres north of Steep Point at Shark Bay in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia.

A radio distress beacon was set off in the same area shortly after.

Rescue crews failed to find the boat, which is believed to have sunk, but found four people on a nearby rock face.

One is believed to have serious head injuries and body injuries and a rescue helicopter is on its way.

A police helicopter has been deployed to retrieve the other three.

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Severe thunderstorms move east across state

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

SEVERE thunderstorms continue to move towards the coast, with the weather bureau issuing a warning for Logan, Ipswich, the Scenic Rim and parts of Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Lockyer Valley and Somerset areas.

7.30pm: The weather bureau has issued a warning for Logan, Ipswich, the Scenic Rim and parts of Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Lockyer Valley and Somerset areas.

"At 7:15 pm, very dangerous thunderstorms were detected on weather radar near Laidley and Grandchester. These thunderstorms are moving towards the east.

"Very dangerous thunderstorms are forecast to affect Rosewood, Hatton Vale and Marburg by 7:45 pm and Ipswich, Lake Manchester and Upper Brookfield by 8:15 pm."

The Bureau said destructive winds, heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding and large hailstones are likely.

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

Other severe thunderstorms were located near Aratula, Rosevale and Maroon Dam.

They are forecast to affect Boonah, the area between Boonah and Beaudesert and Peak Crossing by 7:45 pm and Beaudesert, Bundamba Lagoon and Greenbank by 8:15 pm.

6.50pm: The weather bureau issuing a warning for the Lockyer Valley, Logan, Ipswich, Southern Downs and Toowoomba areas

The Bureau of Meteorology detected severe thunderstorms on the radar at 6.30pm near the area northeast of Warwick, Allora, Clifton and the area northwest of Cunninghams Gap.

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

These thunderstorms were moving towards the east. They were forecast to affect Oakington, Maryvale, Cunninghams Gap, Rosevale and the area south of Cunninghams Gap by 7pm and Boonah, Maroon Dam, Moogerah, Moogerah Dam, Aratula and Harrisville by 7.30 pm.

Damaging winds, heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding and large hailstones were likely.

The warning came after hail stones were reported elsewhere this afternoon.

"Pea to marble size hail has generally been observed from thunderstorms this afternoon," the Bureau said.

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

"An 83 km/h wind gust was recorded at Warwick at 6pm (and) 30mm of rainfall has been recorded in 30 minutes at Murrays Bridge at 6:25pm."

The Bureau of Meteorology will next issue an update at 7.25pm. For more details and latest information see www.bom.gov.au.

4.45pm: The weather bureau has issued a warning for Toowoomba and the greater Darling Downs region.

The Bureau of Meteorology said storm cells have been detected on the radar northeast of Inglewood.

Forecasters are predicting damaging wind and large hail stones will hit Allora and Clifton by 5.45pm.

A more general severe thunderstorm warning remains current for the Darling Downs and Granite Belt and parts of the Central Highlands and Coalfields, Capricornia, Wide Bay and Burnett, Maranoa and Warrego and Southeast Coast districts.

1.55pm: Another severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for damaging wind and large hailstones.

Areas expected to be affected are Roma, St George, Taroom, Tambo, Rolleston, Baralaba, Springsure, Goondiwindi and Carnarvon National Park.

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.

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.

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.

"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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US wind farm guilty of killing birds

A MAJOR US power company has pleaded guilty to killing eagles and other birds at two wind farms and agreed to pay $1 million as part of the first enforcement of laws protecting birds against wind energy facilities.

Until the settlement announced on Friday with Duke Energy and its renewable energy arm, no wind energy company had been prosecuted for a death of an eagle or other protected bird.

The company pleaded guilty to killing 14 eagles and 149 other birds at its Top of the World and Campbell Hill wind farms outside Casper, Wyoming.

The deaths, which included golden eagles, hawks, blackbirds, wrens and sparrows, occurred from 2009 to 2013.

"Wind energy is not green if it is killing hundreds of thousands of birds," said George Fenwick, president of the American Bird Conservancy, which supports properly sited wind farms.

Wind farms are clusters of turbines as tall as 30-storey buildings, with spinning rotors as wide as a passenger jet's wingspan.

The blades can reach speeds up to 270km/h at the tips, creating tornado-like vortexes.

Eagles are especially vulnerable because they don't look up as they scan the ground for food, failing to notice the blades until it's too late.

"No form of energy generation, or human activity for that matter, is completely free of impacts, and wind energy is no exception," the American Wind Energy Association said in a statement.

The case against Duke Energy and Duke Energy Renewables was the first prosecuted under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act against a wind energy company.

The Obama administration has used the law against oil companies and power companies for drowning and electrocuting birds.

Once a wind farm is built, there is little a company can do to stop the deaths.

As part of the agreement, Duke will continue to use field biologists to shut down turbines when eagles get too close.

It will install radar technology similar to what is used in Afghanistan to track missiles. And it will continue to report all bird deaths to the government.

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Vic bus attack victim recalls assault

A MAN left lying unconscious in the street after being attacked by two men on a Melbourne bus has branded his attackers thugs.

Police said the 25-year-old victim and his girlfriend were at a bus stop in Swanston Street about 1.30am (AEDT) on Saturday when they were approached by three men who started hassling them.

The couple boarded a bus to Epping, then the men boarded and two of them approached the man.

After a brief conversation, one of them headbutted the man.

They both then began hitting him in the head and body.

The driver stopped the bus when he realised what was happening.

The two men then dragged the victim onto the road near Collins and Russell streets where they left him unconscious.

They then left with the third man.

"I just remember putting my hands to my head and I was getting beaten," the victim told the Seven Network.

"The next thing after that I remember is just waking up in the ambulance."

The victim, who suffered a broken nose, facial bruising and a black eye, says he now worries about going to the city late at night and fears others will be next.

"If they're not found then it will happen to someone else," he said.

"These guys are just thugs."

Police have released CCTV footage of three men they want to interview.

The first man was described as having an olive complexion and wearing a red T-shirt and sneakers.

The second man was possibly of Islander appearance with a tanned complexion, wearing a white long-sleeved T-shirt with dark sleeves, blue jeans and black shoes.

A third man was wearing a dark beanie, blue long-sleeved top, tan pants and white shoes.

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Jailed NSW ex-cop tells of gang taunts

A FORMER Australian Federal Police officer turned convicted pedophile says taunts from Brothers 4 Life gang members in jail prompt concerns for his safety.

Michael Feuerstein made the claim as his defence team submitted what penalty he should serve for a string of sex offences against young boys.

Earlier this year a jury convicted Feuerstein on 21 charges, including sex with a child under 16 and aggravated indecent assault.

The 51-year-old is also to be sentenced for possessing thousands of child pornography files.

The offences were committed between 1991 and 2011, when he was arrested following a raid on his Rosemeadow home in Sydney's southwest.

The Downing District Court heard on Friday that some of Feuerstein's offences involved hitting victims with a cane, fondling and anal intercourse.

Defence barrister Greg Scragg said one of the victims only withdrew his consent for the intercourse halfway through the act.

The court also heard one victim was a 14-year-old homeless boy who Feuerstein took in as a foster child.

Feuerstein knew the child needed money for drugs and exploited that, the court heard.

Feuerstein was an Australian Federal Police officer and a Customs officer before he started his own security agency in Campbelltown in 1987.

He gave evidence of his time behind bars during his sentence hearing on Friday.

He said he had been locked up in a segregation cell, sometimes for 24 hours a day.

Asked whether he had concerns for his safety, Feuerstein said "most certainly so".

Mr Scragg asked his client about references fellow inmates and Brothers 4 Life members had made about his past life in the police force.

"I'm sure it goes on more than I actually hear it," he said.

"I'm sure I've heard 'you are a f***ing dog... you pedophile c***... why don't you hang yourself and be done with it'."

Feuerstein said he was now estranged from his family.

He will be sentenced next week.

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Gold Coast Hospital passes safety probe

A HOSPITAL accused of having a culture of bullying and intimidation and a serious shortage of beds has been cleared by a Government investigation.

The Palmer United Party MP for Gaven, Dr Alex Douglas, raised concerns about Gold Coast Hospital in parliament in August.

He claimed the director of surgery, Dr Teresa Withers, and many others, had raised serious safety concerns, but they'd been swept aside.

Health Minister Lawrence Springborg said on Friday that a probe into the hospital had found no evidence of "unreasonable practice".

It also backed measures taken by the hospital management to tackle overcrowding, including the creation of a Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) to help admissions to the emergency department.

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Lawyers stop baby going to Nauru

THE federal government won't send a two-week-old baby and his asylum-seeker family to Nauru before next week after lawyers sought a court order to stop their removal.

A spokeswoman at Maurice Blackburn says the government has given an undertaking not to remove the family until further order of the court.

"We expect this matter will be back in court on Tuesday morning," she said in a statement on Friday.

Associate Murray Watt earlier said the family from Myanmar (Burma) had already been "mistreated", with restrictions placed on the family's ability to visit the baby boy in hospital following his birth in Brisbane two weeks ago.

Mr Watt said they were terrified they could be taken to Nauru at any time even though the baby remains weak, has trouble breastfeeding and his mother is recovering from a caesarean birth and suffers from diabetes.

A senate committee was told in Canberra this week an immigration health advisory group would report in December after reviewing the case where the mother was separated from her sick baby at nights following the birth.

Mr Watt said the law firm sought the court order because the immigration department would not commit to giving the family a chance to present medical reports outlining the likely impact removal to Nauru would have on their health.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison reiterated on Friday there were no exceptions to the rule of offshore processing for any individuals who arrive illegally by boat after 19 July.

"That is the government's policy. And when there are medical clearances that are in place for people to return to Nauru, in the case of families, then that is what would occur," he said in a statement.

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Murphy's mum-in-law calls for death probe

s mother-in-law has called for a new investigation into her death. Source: AAP

LATE actress Brittany Murphy's mother-in-law Linda Monjack has joined forces with the tragic star's father in calling for a new investigation into her death.

A Los Angeles coroner ruled that Murphy's December 2009 death was the result of pneumonia, anaemia and excessive use of prescription medications.

But her father, Angelo Bertolotti, was far from satisfied with the results, and in 2012 he filed suit against the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Coroner's Office, asking officials to re-open the investigation.

And now Brittany Murphy's former colleague has admitted he "always suspected" her death was strange.

Mike Heller of Talent Management, who worked on endorsement deals with Murphy, believes there might be merit in recent allegations of foul play.

"I always suspected something was up with Brittany's death," Heller told Us Weekly magazine.

"Something was always very fishy about it."

Bertolotti has conducted his own private tests on the Clueless star's hair and tissue samples, and recently revealed her body contained abnormally high levels of several metals, insisting that his findings suggested his daughter had been poisoned by "a third party perpetrator with likely criminal intent".

Monjack also believes there could have been foul play involved in the death of her daughter-in-law and son, Simon, who passed away from pneumonia just five months after Murphy's death.

"They had everything to live for and it was snatched away from them. I do think something is extremely wrong, it doesn't feel right, it doesn't sit right," she told US breakfast show Good Morning America.

Monjack feels the similar circumstances surrounding the deaths of her son and his wife should have raised a red flag.

"That to me would have been alarm bells, but nobody seemed to take that up," she said.

Investigators at the Los Angeles District Attorney's office are not willing to reopen an investigation, but officials at the Los Angeles Coroner's office have agreed to take a look at the results from the independent inquiry after they receive them.

"I just hope that it comes to something in the end and justice is served," Monjack added.

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Uni cuts undermine responsibility: union

THE tertiary education union has accused Education Minister Christopher Pyne of undermining ministerial responsibility by introducing laws he knows will hurt students and universities.

The government moved on Thursday to legislate $1.1 billion worth of cuts to universities that Labor announced in April.

The bill imposes a two-year efficiency dividend on universities, saving the government $900 million, and gets rid of discounts for upfront and early repayments of HECS-HELP debts, garnering another $237 million.

Mr Pyne said the government also intended to legislate the $1.2 billion measure to convert student start-up scholarships to loans.

"These are Labor's cuts," he told parliament, painting the coalition as "the true friend" of universities and students.

The coalition has dumped only one of Labor's planned cutting measures: a cap on the amount of tax deductions people could claim for work-related education expenses.

National Tertiary Education Union president Jeannie Rea said it wasn't good enough to blame the previous government for the cuts.

"I find it extraordinary that the minister would introduce legislation into parliament which he openly acknowledges ... will be damaging to our universities and their students," she said.

"This undermines my understanding of ministerial responsibility, if ministers blithely get away with policies which they know will damage institutions for which they have responsibility."

The higher-education sector campaigned strongly against the cuts when they were announced in April and again in the May budget.

The Australian Greens will vote against the legislation and called on Labor to help them block it in the Senate.

Universities Australia chief executive Belinda Robinson said the sector was disappointed when the previous government proposed stripping $3.8 billion from higher education and students - and it remains concerned at the widespread impact of the cuts on teaching and research programs.

"These have been at least partly offset by the government's very welcome decision not to go ahead with the $2000 cap on tax deductions for self-education expenses and should also be seen in the context of positive commitments by the government on reducing red tape and rebuilding international education," she said in a statement.

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Sacked official cleared on MP's son link

A FORMER senior Queensland government official accused of misleading a parliamentary committee over business links with an MP's son has been cleared of wrongdoing.

The state ethics committee found there was no evidence of contempt against transport director-general Michael Caltabiano, a former Liberal MP and Liberal party state president.

Mr Caltabiano was investigated after it was claimed he misleading the Transport, Housing and Local Government Committee in October 2012 over his links with Ben Gommers.

He had hired Gommers, the son of former Arts Minister Ros Bates, into a high-paid job in his department.

Links later emerged between himself and a lobbying business, Entree Vous, founded by Mr Gommers and his mother.

He was dismissed by premier Campbell Newman in February, though the administration has denied his sacking was linked to the investigation.

"The committee finds that there is no evidence that Mr Caltabiano, then chief executive officer of the Department of Transport and Main Roads deliberately misled the Transport, Housing and Local Government Committee on 18 October 2012," the ethics committee concluded in a report tabled on Thursday.

"The committee recommends that the house take no further action in regard to the matter of the alleged contempt."

In a submission to the ethics committee, Mr Caltabiano said "it cannot be established

that there was any professional relationship between [himself] and Mr Gommers" and "that

there was at most a limited personal relationship between them".

A supporting statement from Entree Vous accountant Tom Coogan said that Mr Gommers was named as a director of the company simply because he was a family member and never actually did any work for it. The firm was sold when Ms Bates was elected in 2009.

Mr Gommers quit his government post in May.

A separate investigation into Mr Caltabiano by the Crime and Misconduct Commission has led to information being passed to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Mr Caltabiano has always denied the allegations.

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