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 the Lockyer Valley, Logan, Ipswich, Southern Downs and Toowoomba areas.

6.50pm: 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.

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.

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

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

"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.

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

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.

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

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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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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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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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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Bali punch victim family ask for privacy

The family of a man who was punched in Bali have asked for privacy as he is treated in Perth. Source: AAP

A BIG-HEARTED Australian who taught orphans to surf remains in a coma after being punched in Bali while trying to help a woman in danger.

Matt Scarff, 41, suffered major head injuries when punched by a stranger outside the Townhouse Club in Seminyak on November 15 after he went to a woman's aid.

Mr Scarff runs a Bali surf school and, says his best mate Dougal Pennefeather, was known as someone who helped others.

"He's been one of my best friends for 20 years and he's always there for you," he said.

Mr Scarff has had brain surgery to relieve a clot and pressure on his brain from the injury and is being treated at Royal Perth Hospital where he remains in an induced coma.

Mr Pennefeather said his friend was not an aggressive person.

"He was obviously just at the wrong spot," he told AAP on Thursday.

Mr Pennefeather said Mr Scarff gave surfing lessons mainly to Southeast Asians, including orphans, and took groups to Java, as well as surf camps up the coast.

A Facebook page had been set up to raise money for Mr Scarff's travel expenses to return him to Australia because he did not have insurance.

About $45,000 was needed to get CareFlight to transport him to Australia and extra money raised will be used to cover his rehabilitation costs.

Organisers of the Facebook group posted late on Wednesday: "His family is overwhelmed with the love, support and concern shown from everyone. The doctors and medical staff at Sanglah Hospital in Bali have been amazing and we cannot thank them enough."

The family asked on Thursday that the media respected their privacy while Mr Scarff was in hospital in Perth.

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) spokesman said such incidents served as a reminder of the potential hazards Australians could face overseas.

"It is important for Australians travelling or living overseas to ensure they have appropriate insurance coverage," he said.

Meanwhile, a social media campaign is aimed at finding the man who hit Mr Scarff.

A photograph and a name of a man have been circulating on Instagram and Facebook.

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Australian spies have 'run amok': Indon

INDONESIA has halted all co-operation with Australia on people smuggling after the phone-tapping controversy in a major blow to Prime Minister Tony Abbott's plan to stop the boats.

Jakarta will also suspend all military co-operation, with Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa warning of a downgrade in bilateral ties.

"We are turning off the tap by degrees," he said.

Dr Natalegawa said on Wednesday the Australian intelligence community had "run amok".

"Australia must take concrete steps and send strong signals of its wish to repair the almost irreparable damage that they are causing," he said.

The nation could also look elsewhere for trading partners, said Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan, appearing to single out agriculture and the cattle trade as at risk.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono says he will send a letter to Mr Abbott's government demanding an official apology and a full explanation as to why Australian spies targeted his mobile phone in 2009, as well as his wife's and some of his closest confidants.

Dr Yudhoyono said he wanted a personal explanation, insisting comments directed at "Australia's domestic community" would not suffice.

"If Australia wants to maintain a good relationship with Indonesia in the future, there must be an official explanation," Dr Yudhoyono told reporters in Jakarta.

"It's difficult for me to understand why this was conducted.

"Now is not the era of the Cold War."

The president also said he could not understand why Australia had chosen to spy on a "friend and not the enemy" and that he viewed the activity as illegal.

Dr Yudhoyono said "co-ordinated military co-operation" on people smuggling, including naval patrols, would cease immediately.

"I have asked for that to be halted until everything is clear," he said.

He said he wanted to make it clear that co-operation on combating people smuggling would not go ahead until he received an explanation from Mr Abbott.

"It's impossible for us to continue when we're not sure that there's no tapping of Indonesian soldiers who are performing a duty for both countries," he said.

Mr Abbott reiterated in parliament on Wednesday night he was sincerely sorry for the embarrassment that media reporting has caused the president - but stopped short of an apology for the spying.

"I want to express here in this chamber my deep and sincere regret about the embarrassment to the president and to Indonesia that's been caused by recent media reporting," Mr Abbott said.

The prime minister said he was encouraged by the president's remarks about the strength of the bilateral relationship between Australia and Indonesia.

"Although obviously there are very serious issues that do need to be worked through in the near future between us," he said before heading to a business dinner where he ducked journalists' questions going in.

Dr Yudhoyono's strong stance will pile more pressure on the prime minister to apologise for the spying, even though it occurred under the Rudd government.

He has so far refused to do so, saying Australia should not be expected to apologise for steps taken to protect itself in matters of national security, and was standing firm on Wednesday.

Earlier in parliament, Mr Abbott had regretted the embarrassment caused to President Yudhoyono, a very good friend of Australia.

"I do understand how personally hurtful these allegations have been, these reports have been, for him and his family," he said.

But Mr Abbott said he would not "overreact" to the deepening diplomatic crisis, and insisted he would do all he could to strengthen the relationship.

The head of Indonesia's State Intelligence Agency, Marciano Norman, said his organisation had been assured by its Australian counterparts they will not engage in similar activities again.

"They stated that now and in the future, the most important thing is that it won't happen again," he told reporters at Jakarta's presidential palace.

"That's their language, now and in future, they assured that it won't happen again."

In response to Jakarta's suspension of military co-operation, Australian Defence Minister David Johnston's office said they were still waiting for details as to "how this is going to play out".

Indonesia has already recalled its ambassador from Canberra.

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Starving Qld cattle 'too thin to export'

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Ziggy approached for NBN before election

Ziggy Switkowski says he was approached by the coalition for his views on the NBN as early as April. Source: AAP

ZIGGY Switkowski has confirmed the writing was on the wall for his predecessor and former head of NBN Co Siobhan McKenna before the Abbott government had won office.

Ms McKenna and all but one of her board colleagues offered their resignations to Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull late in September following months of speculation that Dr Switkowski would take over.

Dr Switkowski confirmed to a Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday that he had been approached for the role of NBN Co chairman by the coalition before the September 7 election.

"In very general terms, absolutely. And it was made clear that it was one of several options," Dr Switkowski said.

When pressed by Greens Senator Scott Ludlam what the other options were, Dr Switkowski replied: "That's not an area I'd go into."

Dr Switkowski said he was approached by the coalition for his views on the national broadband network (NBN) as far back as April - but insisted he did not assist in the policy framework taken to the election.

"I was one of, I presume, many people that the opposition minister was consulting with around NBN Co seeking views," Dr Switkowski said.

When asked by Senator Ludlam how he could give his views on the NBN without contributing to policy, Dr Switkowski replied, "one has conversations with politicians about matters all of the time".

"Mr Turnbull and I go back a ways," he said.

"It would have been presumptuous of me to offer views on NBN policy when I had spent the previous several years at some distance from the telcoms industry."

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Contentious IR laws to pass Qld parliament

QUEENSLAND'S parliament is set to pass contentious industrial relation laws which the Opposition has dubbed as the premier's own version of Work Choices.

The laws are expected to be passed on Tuesday night. But that hasn't stopped some 1000 unionists from protesting against the reforms which will limit public servants' rights to take protected strikes.

Unions will also no longer be able to automatically deduct fees from workers, while public servants earning more than $129,300 can be put on individual contracts.

The protesters included nurses, firies and anti-nuclear protesters amongst others, as well as some wearing "Anonymous" Guy Fawkes masks.

They waved placards and chanted "shame" outside parliament house to vent their frustration over what was being discussed inside.

Some placards drew similarities between the current administration and that of Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen.

Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie says the workplace reforms are needed to modernise awards and create more flexible conditions for public servants.

"The framework is essential to address inefficiencies in the negotiation of employment agreements and to provide a modern, flexible and responsive industrial relations system," he told parliament.

However opposition leaders have savaged the new laws, with leader Annastacia Palaszczuk describing them as a callous attack on workers' rights.

"It attacks the basic conditions of Queensland employees," she told parliament.

"It attacks the core rights of employees to negotiate collectively and it will go down in history as Campbell Newman's Work Choices for Queensland."

Opposition MPs also claim the legislation has been rushed, although Mr Blejie says they had six weeks to review it.

But Queensland Council of Unions (QCU) president John Battams says the government's urgency and lack of consultation has been breathtaking.

Mr Battams says the legislation is designed to instil fear in public servants and strip them of their workplace rights.

"They will have no rights whatsoever, the government will have total control over them," he told AAP.

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Vic man falls from cliff at Cape Schanck

A MAN has suffered critical injuries in a fall from a cliff at Cape Schanck in Victoria.

The alarm was raised about 4pm on Tuesday by friends the man had been walking with, Ambulance Victoria paramedic Bruce Harrop said.

The man is believed to have fallen up to 40 metres onto a rugged rock shelf.

Emergency crews were confronted by difficult terrain and drove within half a kilometre of where the man was found and an air ambulance helicopter flew him to hospital.

"Initially, we were confronted by a gravely ill young man, not conscious and got the aid of the helicopter to retrieve him off to hospital," Mr Harrop said.

The man suffered severe head and other injuries and was flown to the Alfred Hospital.

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Man shot in legs in Sydney's west

A MAN has been shot in the legs in Sydney's west.

Police said emergency services were called to a driveway at a house in Auburn at about 6.15pm (AEDT) on Monday to find the 27-year-old man wounded after being shot.

Police have appealed for any public information on the shooting.

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Indo recalls ambassador

INDONESIA'S ambassador in Canberra will immediately return to Jakarta following claims Australia had tapped the phone of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa announced on Monday afternoon the ambassador would be recalled.

"It's nothing less than an unfriendly act," Dr Natalegawa said of the spying claims.

Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Legal, Political and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto earlier said he would demand Australia make a public explanation about the claims and make a commitment that it would not monitor the phones again.

Top secret documents from Australia's Defence Signals Directorate, leaked by fugitive US intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden and published by the ABC and The Guardian, list 10 officials and their phone details - beginning with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and wife Ani.

Air Marshal Suyanto also said Indonesia would review the exchange of information with Australia and "all other cooperation".

Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will be told the issue will have a negative impact on the countries' bilateral relationship.

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Abbott defends Sri Lanka boat deal

Australia will give two retired navy boats to Sri Lanka in a bid to crack down on people smugglers. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has defended a decision to gift two refurbished patrol boats to the Sri Lankan navy in efforts to stop people smugglers.

Mr Abbott revealed the $2 million deal in Colombo where he is attending the final day of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

The rebuilding is to be financed from the Customs budget and comes with a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two governments, he said.

The prime minister said people smuggling was an "evil trade" and potentially hundreds of Sri Lankans had drowned trying to make the journey to Australia.

"The vessel is being made available for humanitarian purposes and search and rescue purposes," Mr Abbott said.

"What we get from Sri Lanka is close and constructive cooperation."

This year 14 asylum seeker boats have travelled directly from Sri Lanka to Australia, compared with 120 in 2012.

The Sri Lankan navy undertook at least 12 on-water interceptions in 2013.

About 4000 people have been brought back to shore since 2009.

Sri Lanka's chief of navy Jayanath Colombage said the navy was taking the issue of stopping boat journeys "very seriously".

He said the vessels would also be used to keep the Indian Ocean "free of maritime crime".

Mr Abbott said the MoU linked to the ships covered the level of co-operation and "safety of life at sea".

The retired Customs patrol boats will be handed over in mid 2014.

A number of Sri Lankan navy officers have been arrested in recent months for helping people smugglers.

Mr Abbott said the arrests were a sign that the government was taking the issue seriously.

Former immigration minister Tony Burke said "a lot of questions" surrounded the decision.

"I'm not sure what the conditions are on how those vessels can and can't be used," he told ABC TV on Sunday.

The opposition and Greens will use Senate estimates this week to unveil detail about the deal and the broader Operation Sovereign Borders.

The Commonwealth summit has been mired in controversy over Sri Lanka's treatment of minorities, human rights abuses and alleged war crimes at the end of three decades of conflict.

Greens leader Christine Milne said Mr Abbott, who says he's been reassured the Rajapaksa government is "making progress", should take a more humanitarian approach to the asylum seeker issue.

"I don't think Australians who genuinely thought that stopping the boats was about saving lives will feel comfortable knowing that 'stop the boats' now means preventing people from running away from torture and condemning them to human rights abuses," she said.

A Sri Lankan journalist told AAP finding a people smuggler was easy along the southern and western coasts and the cost was about 1.5 million rupees ($A15,000) per person.

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Alicia Keys to perform at ARIA Awards

GRAMMY Award-winning singer-songwriter Alicia Keys will perform at the upcoming ARIA Awards in Sydney.

She will perform a medley of her hit song Girl on Fire and her new single, Brand New Me, at the 27th Annual ARIA Awards on Sunday, December 1, it was announced on Sunday.

It will mark her first Australian televised performance before she embarks on her national tour, supported by Grammy-winner John Legend.

Keys says she is excited to be the headline act at this year's ARIAs.

"It's been a little while since I've been in Australia and I'm ecstatic to be back. Being on tour is an incredible journey and I'm so honoured that I get to share it with my family all over the world," Keys said in a statement.

"No better way to set off the last leg of my worldwide tour in Australia than on the ARIA Awards stage."

Other artists to perform at the awards ceremony, to be held at The Star Event Centre, include Jessica Mauboy, electronic superstar Flume, last year's X Factor winner Samantha Jade, indie band Sheppard and rock group Tame Impala.

ARIA Week festivities kick off on November 26 and run through to December 4.

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