Metronet plan is fantasy, says Barnett

Premier Colin Barnett says parts of the ambitious $3.8b Perth rail plan by WA Labor are "fantasy." Source: AAP

THE ambitious $3.8 billion Perth rail plan that's a centrepiece of Western Australia Labor's election campaign has been dismissed as fantasy by Premier Colin Barnett.

The campaign ahead of the March 9 poll moved up a gear on Tuesday, with Labor leader Mark McGowan unveiling a proposal to build a $731.5 million rail line to Perth Airport as part of the party's Metronet plan to ease Perth's growing congestion crisis.

But making his own announcement about free public transport for carers, Mr Barnett said parts of Labor's grand rail plan were unrealistic.

"Labor has released a transport plan with rail lines going everywhere, so it is up to Labor if they are to have credibility to come out and commit to which projects are real and which ones are fantasy and to provide accurate costings," Mr Barnett told reporters.

"Labor has vague ideas and maps that look like the London Underground when the rails are not going to look anything like that, and (Mark McGowan) is making promises that will connect every suburb in Perth.

"That is not reality - what you have now is a government that what it says it will do, it does, and it does it on time and on budget."

WA Labor on Tuesday revealed its Metronet plan would cost $3.8 billion over eight years but this figure did not include costings for rail cars.

Mr McGowan said the party had a track record of delivering rail projects in the state, referring to the Perth-to-Mandurah line, which was completed in 2007 under Alan Carpenter's leadership.

State treasurer Troy Buswell has previously claimed Labor's rail plan would cost $6.4 billion, a figure Mr Barnett said he was confident was more accurate than the Labor Party's costing.

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Twenty die in Kazakhstan plane crash

ALL 20 people on board a domestic flight of Kazakhstan's SCAT airline have been killed in a crash.

The airline said there were "20 people were on board - five crew members and 15 passengers" when the plane crashed on Tuesday.

It was coming in to land at Almaty airport in bad weather.

"According to preliminary information there are no survivors," said the airline

The plane was flying to Almaty from the northern city of Kokshetau.

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Machete attacker gets three-year jail term

A 23-YEAR-OLD man who struck a Mercedes-owner in the head with a machete in a bid to steal the vehicle has been sentenced to three years in prison.

The District Court of Western Australia was told Lawrence John Cashin attempted to carjack the 24-year-old victim while he sat with his girlfriend parked on a street in the northern Perth suburb of Girrawheen on May 13 last year.

During the attack, Cashin threatened to kill the male victim and struck him with a machete on the top of his head and near his ear.

Throughout the ordeal, the victim's girlfriend was cowering on the floor of the car.

"The victim was screaming, the girlfriend wouldn't get out of the car, and ultimately you ran off," Judge Gillian Braddock said during the sentencing.

"Not only did the victim suffer the deep lacerations to the top of the head and the ear, to need to go to hospital and be treated there, it must have been a totally terrifying experience for them."

Judge Braddock said Cashin was at high risk of violent reoffending, given he had a traumatic early life and addictions.

He was beginning to realise the need to address his problems and was attempting to parent his girlfriend's daughter, so there was hope for reform but it wouldn't be easy, Judge Braddock said.

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15 rescued from sunken Russian ship

RUSSIAN emergency officials say five more sailors have been rescued from a fishing vessel that capsized in the Sea of Japan, but 15 are still missing.

Ten members of the 30-man Russian-Indonesian crew had already been found in one lifeboat and rescued by a passing freighter.

The fishing vessel Shans-101 capsized on Sunday off of Russia's Pacific coast. The ITAR-Tass news agency cited a representative of the ship's owner as saying the vessel was hit by two waves just as it had changed direction. Ten minutes later, the crew was ordered into the life boats.

The state news agency reported on Monday that eight of the 15 missing crew members had died and their bodies were put into the sea. The search is continuing.

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Cable repair puts Telstra back online

HUNDREDS of thousands of residents have been urged not to "panic" after a Telstra blackout left them with no phone, internet, or Triple Zero access everywhere north of Gladstone. Source: AFP

TELSTRA has repaired services affected by a damaged fibre-optic cable in central Queensland.

The damage to the cable at Colosseum, north of Bundaberg, brought down landline, mobile and broadband services across central and northern Queensland.

"Many services are now live and others are expected to come online throughout the evening," the company said in a statement this afternoon.

"As landline services are restored, customers will also regain the ability to reach the triple-zero emergency service."

Has your service been restored? Let us know in the comments section below

Along with the cable north of Bundaberg, a backup cable near Kingaroy, northwest of Brisbane, was also damaged late on Sunday.

That, combined with a number of power blackouts, resulted in the loss of most landline and broadband services in Mackay, Freshwater, Cairns, Rockhampton, Townsville, Mount Isa and Gladstone.

A team of repair technicians arrived in Colosseum by helicopter this morning with more than a kilometre of fibre-optic cable on board to fix the damaged cable.

Meanwhile, another group of technicians reached the damaged cable at Kingaroy and commenced restoration works, Telstra says.

Earlier,

hundreds of thousands of residents have been urged not to "panic" in a Telstra blackout that has left everywhere north of Gladstone with no phone, internet, or Triple Zero access .

It is likely to be days before the nation's biggest carrier, Telstra, can get crews in by helicopter into fix destroyed fibre-optic cable because of severe flooding both on the coastal and back-up inland route.

Authorities urge residents to stay calm and avoid "panic" or "hysteria" with more than half the state off the grid with power blackouts and total communication breakdown under an unprecedented flood crisis.

There has been loss of landline and broadband services in a line everywhere north of Gladstone including Mackay, Cairns, Rockhampton, Townsville, Mount Isa and Weipa.

ROLLING COVERAGE: QLD FLOODS - Dams full, river rising, CBD left in tatters
MAPS: Is your street on flood list? Check maps here
GALLERY: Queensland floods - Monday pictures
GALLERY: Queensland floods - Sunday pictures
DAM LEVELS: Praise for early dam releases - a lesson learnt in 2011
Q&A: Your flood questions answered

000: Emergency numbers for northern and central Queensland

Telstra declined to put a figure on the number of customers and businesses affected but it is likely to be in the hundreds of thousands.

In some parts, flights have been grounded and there has been a rush on banks to withdraw cash, get fuel supplies and stock up on food.

Telstra has resorted to using satellite phone and ABC radio to get out the message with reports airports are delaying flights because of the information blackout.

On Friday, Telstra's coastal fibre-optic cable that carries much of the state's communications needs was damaged by severe flooding in the Colosseum area, 370km north-west of Brisbane.

This was followed by further damage to a back-up cable north of Harlin, near Kilcoy late yesterday.

Many 2G, 3G and 4G mobile services throughout Central and Northern Queensland have also been impacted.

"You do feel like you are naked without it," said Brisbane-based Telstra spokeswoman Jane de Gault.

"For so many of us, our mobile phone is our right hand. But we have helicopter and crews on standby ready to go as soon as we can get the all-clear.

"It is a major concern. But the worst thing to do is panic."

The Telstra executive is working from her car because her Bulimba home and George Street office are both without power.

In most cases, customers will not be able to make landline calls outside their region, but may still be able to dial locally. While communications are limited in these areas, Telstra encourages customers with mobile service to use their device in emergency situations only.

ROLLING COVERAGE: QLD FLOODS - Dams full, river rising, CBD left in tatters
MAPS: Is your street on flood list? Check maps here
GALLERY: Queensland floods - Monday pictures
GALLERY: Queensland floods - Sunday pictures
DAM LEVELS: Praise for early dam releases - a lesson learnt in 2011
Q&A: Your flood questions answered

Repair crews are flying to Colosseum and Kingaroy by helicopter to repair the cable damage and begin restoring services but efforts are being hampered by heavy weather and flooding.

It is possible it will take days to restore the service given the severity of the flood event.

Overnight, Telstra fibre repair technicians attempted to attend the site of damage affecting the cable 6.7 kilometres north of Harlin, near a river crossing in Kingaroy, but due to extensive flooding were required to turn back 20 kilometres from site.

It should be noted that the emergency triple zero service is impacted by the damage. If customers are unable to reach triple zero, local emergency services such as police, fire and ambulance stations will be in operation and should be contacted directly where possible. Temporary numbers established by emergency services are provided below.

Cairns: 4030 7000
Mareeba: 4030 3340
Townsville: 4750 5581 or 4750 5583
Mt Isa: 4744 1111 or 4744 1808
Mackay: 4968 3530
Gladstone: 4971 3222
Rockhampton: call via alternative carrier only

Return to Top

-- Peter Michael, North Queensland Correspondent

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Five rescued from overturned boat

Five people have been rescued after their boat overturned off Rottnest Island. Source: AAP

A MAN has been plucked from the sea and four others picked up by a rescue vessel after their craft overturned seven kilometres off the western tip of Rottnest Island.

RAC Rescue joined with Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) to locate the boat following an EPIRB activation on Monday.

RAC Rescue winched one man from the water while four others were picked up by the Rottnest Island Ranger's vessel.

The winched man was taken to Rottnest Island where he received treatment at the local nursing post.

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Indonesia landslides kill 11, 19 missing

TWO landslides triggered by heavy rains killed at least 11 people and left 19 others missing on Indonesia's Sumatra island, officials said on Sunday.

The National Disaster Management Agency said seven people were killed and three people were injured in a landslide in Agam district in West Sumatra province early on Sunday.

"At this point, seven people were found dead and three others were injured... and 18 were missing," agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a text message.

Fifteen houses were also buried by the landslide, he added.

Separately, a landslide caused by heavy rains late on Saturday killed four workers at a drilling site belonging to PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy in Kerinci district in Jambi province, the company said in a press release.

"The landslide killed four people, injured five people, and left one person missing. All victims were workers who were drilling," it said.

Floods and landslides are common in Indonesia, which is prone to frequent bursts of heavy rain.

Heavy rain in the capital Jakarta this month caused 32 deaths and at its peak forced nearly 46,000 people to flee their inundated homes, Nugroho told AFP earlier.

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Brisbane and Ipswich brace for floods

PARTS of Brisbane and Ipswich will flood but the levels will not be as devastating as they were in 2011, authorities say.

If current projections play out, 3600 residential properties will be affected in Brisbane and of those, 2100 are unit dwellings where only ground floor flooding is expected.

About 1250 business properties are also expected to be affected in Brisbane while about 50 homes are projected to be inundated in the Ipswich suburb of Goodna.

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman says flood peaks would be much less than what was experienced in 2011.

Brisbane is expecting a 2.6 metre flood peak, nearly half of the 4.46m peak in 2011.

The Ipswich peak is expected to be five metres less than the 19.4m level in 2011.

"There will be flooding but the flooding is much much lower than what we saw in 2011," he said.

Mr Newman said the projections were based on the best scientific modelling by forecasters.

There would be minor floods in the Brisbane River, and in the Bremer River that flows through the city of Ipswich to the west of Brisbane.

"The peak of any flood will occur in Ipswich we believe around midnight (AEST) tomorrow (Monday) night," Mr Newman said.

"Similarly the peak at the western side of the Brisbane City Council boundary will be about midnight on Monday night."

Moggill is projected to be the first Brisbane suburb to be flood-affected on Monday afternoon.

Mr Newman said flood maps would shortly be released by the Brisbane and Ipswich councils, showing lists of affected suburbs.

The worst of the projected flooding would be seen further downstream around noon on Tuesday, with another peak expected at noon on Wednesday.

"If it doesn't occur, then I'm sorry in advance," the premier said.

"We want to give the communities in Brisbane and Ipswich, on the Brisbane and Bremer rivers, the best possible information as soon as it is available."

He urged people not to panic, but to check the flood maps and to prepare if they were in an area that may flood.

Mr Newman said there was flooding in the Lockyer Creek and the Bremer River which fed into the Brisbane River downstream from the Wivenhoe dam.

However rainfalls are easing in the Brisbane and Stanley river catchments, which flow into Wivenhoe and Somerset dams.

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French raids on Islamist bases in Mali

FRENCH fighter jets bombed Mali's far northern Islamist stronghold of Kidal and destroyed the home of the head of an al-Qaeda-linked group, a security source and local official said.

"There were air raids on Islamist bases in Kidal," 1,500 kilometres north of the capital Bamako, a Malian security source said, adding that the home of Ansar Dine (Defenders of the Faith) chief Iyad Ag Ghaly was destroyed.

A local official gave a similar account.

"The French planes fired on a military camp at Kidal and destroyed Iyad Ghaly's home. There were also strikes by French warplanes to the west of Kidal, not far from the village where Iyad Ag Ghaly was born," the official said.

Kidal has been a bastion of Ansar Dine, whose leader Iyad Ag Ghaly is a former soldier and a Tuareg ex-rebel, who formed the group last year.

In April last year after a coup in Bamako, an alliance of Tuareg rebels seeking an independent homeland in the north joined forces with several Islamist groups, seizing Kidal first and then the northern towns of Gao and Timbuktu.

The Islamists quickly sidelined the Tuaregs, imposing a harsh version of Islamic sharia law in the region. Transgressors were flogged, stoned and executed, they banned music and television and forced women to wear veils.

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Death sentences for Egypt soccer violence

AN Egyptian court has handed down death sentences for 21 people accused of taking part in soccer violence in 2012 that killed 74.

In the courtroom, families of the deceased wailed and raised their hands in the air shouting "Allahu Akbar", Arabic for "God is great".

The judge said in his statement read live on state TV that he would announce the verdict for the remaining 52 defendants on March 9.

Among those on trial are nine security officials.

The soccer melee on February 1, 2012 between Port Said's Al-Masry fans and Cairo's Al-Ahly fans was the world's deadliest soccer violence in 15 years.

As is customary in Egypt, the death sentences will be sent to a top religious authority, the Grand Mufti, for approval.

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