Sydney Water denies contamination cover up

The NSW Greens have called for urgent environmental law reforms after a Sydney water scare. Source: AAP

SYDNEY Water has denied covering up the cause of contaminated drinking water in Sydney's south, saying it has provided test results to the public.

A health warning was issued to residents in parts of southern Sydney in December last year after reports the water had a chemical or petrol taste.

Sydney Water says the contamination occurred when compounds from bitumen were let into a water pipe during routine maintenance.

But the incident has sparked claims the contamination could be linked to Orica's former ChlorAlkali Plant at Botany, with suggestions Sydney Water may have covered up the incident and botched test results.

Sydney Water denies those claims, saying there was never any threat to the public.

"There has been no cover up of any results," Sydney Water said in a statement on Sunday.

"Apart from some compounds which created changes to taste and odour in the water, results show the water met the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines."

The company said the NSW Department of Health had been given samples and agreed there was no risk to residents.

NSW Health said it was advised by Sydney Water that a water pipe had been returned to service after maintenance without being flushed.

The government department "considered that the most likely cause to be disturbance of the lining of the water main".

A sample of the water found chloroform and bromochloro methanes - which are not found in bitumen.

But NSW Health says the presence of those compounds is "not unexpected" because trace amounts are commonly found in drinking water supplies around the country.

"These compounds are examples of trihalomethanes that form when drinking water is disinfected with chlorine," NSW Health Director of Environmental Health Dr Wayne Smith said in a statement.

Despite the government labelling NSW Health the "independent water regulator" the department did not carry out independent testing.

"NSW Health asked Sydney Water to undertake testing to confirm the nature and extent of the contamination," Dr Smith said.

The incident has prompted the NSW Greens to call for the creation of an independent body that would "properly monitor pollution".

Greens MP and environment spokeswoman Cate Faehrmann said residents living around Orica's former ChlorAlkali Plant at Botany were "scared out of their brains" about contamination.

"The community is not trusting companies like Orica and now companies like Sydney Water to undertake their activities safely," she told reporters in Sydney.

"It's really important the community trust is restored."

The NSW opposition has joined the call for tougher action by the state government, demanding more transparency about the cause the pollution in this incident.

"Unfortunately there is a culture of cover-up by the bureaucrats at Sydney Water and the O'Farrell government must step in and order Sydney Water to detail what caused this incident," NSW opposition spokesman for water Walter Secord told the Macquarie Network on Sunday.

But NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell has rubbished opposition claims there may have been a cover-up.

"The opposition is talking through an orifice that I won't mention," he told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.

Mr O'Farrell said he would happily drink from taps in Sydney's south because the health department had ruled there was no evidence the incident was linked to the Orica plant.

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Bushfire threatening Victorian town

FIRE crews are battling a blaze heading toward a small community in Victoria's southwest as hot, dry conditions make things tough for firefighters across the state.

An emergency warning remains current for residents in the town of Mirranatwa, west of Melbourne, where a 300-hectare fire burning in the Grampians National Park may impact their community.

"We've issued an emergency warning, it may impact the town," a CFA spokeswoman said.

The blaze, which was started by lightning on Thursday evening, is one of 387 new bush and grassfires that ignited between 3pm (AEDT) on Thursday and 11.30am on Sunday, many sparked by lightning, according to the state's head of fire services.

Twenty-six fires were still going about 5.30pm (AEDT).

"It has been a very active fire period in many areas of the state and the emergency services have been kept very busy," Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley said.

This activity has been driven by four days of hot, dry weather and tomorrow (Monday) is expected to be the worst day of the past week."

He said it was important for Victorians to remain vigilant as the hot weather was expected to continue for some while.

Mr Lapsley said up to 1075 firefighters, 240 vehicles and 64 aircraft have been active each shift over the past four days.

On Sunday afternoon, 108 fire fighters, 12 tankers and three helicopters were working to protect property in Mirranatwa.

"Right across the state thousands of people have been working incredibly hard, day and night, protecting their community," Mr Lapsley said.

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Telecom NZ cancels email users' passwords

TELECOM has started cancelling the passwords of about 60,000 Yahoo! Xtra email accounts it believes have been compromised following a cyber attack.

The users will need to enter new password information when they log in to their email account.

The 60,000 customers affected by Saturday night's password cancellation are additional to the 15,000 customers that Telecom has been contacting following last weekend's cyber attack.

The move is aimed at protecting email customers and preventing information in emails being accessed. There is no evidence that this has occurred.

"We're taking this matter very seriously and urge those whose passwords have been cancelled to create new passwords," Telecom retail chief executive Chris Quin says.

"However, it's advisable for all others that have not changed their password, to do so immediately." This should be done on computers and mobile devices.

"We continue to be sorry for any distress caused or inconvenience this has caused and reinforce that in today's online world regular password changes are an important need."

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Anti-North Korea leaflets launched

NORTH Korean defectors in the South have launched 200,000 anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the tense inter-Korean border.

The defectors used gas-filled balloons to float the leaflets along with $US1 notes across the western border town of Imjingak on Saturday, the birthday of the North's late leader Kim Jong-Il.

The balloons were inscribed with slogans such as "Stop provocative acts with missiles and nuclear tests", "North Koreans rise up" and "The Kim dynasty will soon collapse".

North Korea celebrates the birthdays of its late leaders as major national holidays.

Kim Jong-Il, who died of heart attack in December 2011, was succeeded by his son Jong-Un.

Anti-Pyongyang activists suspended leaflet launches until after the South's presidential election in December as the government urged them to halt such activities for fear of provoking Pyongyang.

North Korea has in the past threatened "merciless military strike" in response to anti-regime propaganda leaflets.

The North conducted a third nuclear test on Tuesday, whose detonation power was much larger than those of two previous ones in 2006 and 2009.

Pyongyang said the test was a riposte to UN sanctions imposed after its launch of a long-range rocket in December, which it claimed was part of a space program.

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Lower rates boosting housing/equities, RBA

LOWER interest rates are helping to boost the Australian housing market and have a positive effect on the equity market, the central bank says.

Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Assistant Governor Christopher Kent says the most recent readings show consumers are feeling better than average on a number of indicators.

"If you look at the surveys they've been showing quite positive trends around the end of last year," Dr Kent told a business lunch in Perth on Friday.

"And at least at the margin interest rates are relatively low so I think that's helping.

"One thing it's doing is helping the housing market."

He told the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) forum that firmer asset prices were helping to buoy the equity market while inflation remained pretty well contained.

"We'd like to see inflation stay in the target."

Dr Kent said wages growth should follow from productivity, an area on which the central bank will focus its attention.

"We can get more wage growth without jeopardising inflation if there's productivity there to back it up," Dr Kent said.

In a wide ranging speech, Dr Kent also said the mining investment boom would peak sooner and at a lower level than previously expected.

While commodity prices were likely to drift lower over the next few years, Australia would continue to benefit from China's economic expansion.

Export volumes for resources are set to rise steadily as new mines come into operation.

Dr Kent said that the boom in mining investment was expected to peak this year, with the sector accounting for around eight per cent of gross domestic product at its high point.

But he warned that commodity prices were likely to fall over the next few years as more mines came on line to meet demand from China.

"This reflects the extra supply generated by the substantial amount of mining investment underway in Australia and elsewhere."

Coal and iron ore prices slumped in mid to late 2012 as growth in China slowed, causing miners to shelve or ditch a number of planned resource projects.

Still, the rebound in prices since December had not affected investment plans in the industry.

Dr Kent said Australia was still well placed to benefit from China's continued growth, with production from new mines to help boost export volumes.

Further strong growth is anticipated, particularly for liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is expected to grow much more rapidly from around 2015, he said.

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Many injured in New Zealand head-on crash

MORE than 10 people have been injured in a head-on crash between two vans in New Zealand.

There were 21 people in the vans, which crashed near Taumarunui in the central North Island on Friday.

One van was a rental with tourists on board and the other had local workers, police said.

"Preliminary findings show that one van has been on the wrong side of the road around a corner and crashed head-on with the other van," Senior Sergeant Grant Alabaster of Taumarunui police said.

"We believe that alcohol is not a factor in the crash."

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More doctor's evidence in Patel trial

JAYANT Patel's operation to remove part of a man's colon was unnecessary and highly risky, a doctor has told a court.

Mervyn John Morris, 75, died of complications including heart and lung failure and septicaemia after surgery at the Bundaberg Base Hospital in 2003, the Supreme Court in Brisbane has heard.

The crown alleges the operation should not have been done because of Mr Morris's lengthy medical history, which included heart problems, prostate cancer and possible liver cancer.

Patel has pleaded not guilty to his manslaughter.

Giving evidence on Thursday, Dr Emma Igras said she believed the operation should not have been done at all.

Dr Igras, who was Patel's junior doctor during the surgery, said it was impossible to manage Mr Morris's treatment and care properly because they had never determined what was causing his rectal bleeding.

"Is there any justification for this operation at this point?" asked prosecutor David Meredith.

"No. This was an elderly patient who had a lot of other problems," Dr Igras said.

"There was an urgency to investigate the source of the bleeding."

The court heard Patel operated on Mr Morris on May 23, and he had needed corrective surgery one week later because part of his bowel was poking out through the wound.

His condition then deteriorated and he died.

The trial continues.

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Three Victorian fires join near Buangor

THREE fires burning in plantation forest and grassland are joining into one and racing towards a small town in central Victoria.

The CFA has issued an emergency warning for the Buangor area, located between Ararat and Ballarat, west of Melbourne.

The large, fast-moving fire is expected to impact Middle Creek and Buangor anytime within the next two hours, the warning issued just after 5pm (AEDT) on Thursday said.

A State Control Centre spokeswoman said there had initially been three fires in the area.

"Two have already joined and it's looking like another one is about to," she said.

The fires are burning in plantation forest and grassland but are heading towards Buangor, which is home to about 250 people.

Twenty tankers and two aircraft are on scene.

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Man charged over Tasmanian fires

A MAN has been charged with deliberately lighting vegetation fires in Tasmania just weeks after the state's worst blazes in half a century.

The 34-year-old from Ulverstone in the state's northwest has been charged with lighting several fires in the area earlier this month, police say.

"Police would like to thank the members of the public who provided valuable information and assistance in this matter and would like to speak to any additional witnesses who may have information regarding these fires," a statement said.

Bushfires hit Tasmania again last week, the worst at Molesworth in the Derwent Valley northwest of Hobart.

They came just a month after nearly 200 properties were destroyed, most near the Tasman Peninsula in the state's south.

Little damage was reported but firefighters from interstate were called in to help Tasmania's weary crews.

The Molesworth fire continues to attract an advice level warning from the Tasmania Fire Service.

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Finks bikie bashed in SA clubrooms

A FINKS bikie has been bashed in the gang's Adelaide clubrooms.

Police said ambulance crews and crime gangs task force officers went to the Salisbury premises on Wednesday afternoon after reports a man had been assaulted.

The victim was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital with serious injuries.

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Body on WA beach not a suspicious death

A BODY has been found on a beach in Western Australia's Great Southern region.

The body was found just after 1pm (WST) on Tuesday at Two Peoples Bay, east of Albany.

Police are at the scene, but say it is too early to tell if the death is suspicious.

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90-year-old woman sexually assaulted

POLICE are hunting a man who sexually assaulted a 90-year-old woman in her bed at Wangaratta, in Victoria's northeast.

The elderly woman woke about 4am (AEDT) last Tuesday to find a man standing beside her bed who then attacked her.

Detectives from the Sexual Crime Squad and Wangaratta Crime Investigation Unit are investigating the incident.

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NT govt backs plan to save Gove refinery

THE Northern Territory Cabinet has voted to back a gas plan it hopes will be enough to keep an alumina refinery open and save the outback town of Nhulunbuy.

After returning to Darwin on Saturday following a trip to Canberra and Europe, NT Chief Minister Terry Mills took a proposal to his cabinet on Monday that may secure the future of the Gove alumina refinery.

"The Northern Territory government has agreed to release enough gas to keep the Gove aluminium refinery open for the next 10 years," the government said after the meeting.

"Today's decision is subject to a commitment from Rio Tinto assuring the ongoing operation of the Gove alumina refinery, and from Eni confirming details of their guarantee to supply gas to Power and Water Corporation until 2026," it said.

The refinery, run by Rio Tinto Ltd subsidiary Pacific Aluminium, has been making a loss of about $US30 million ($A29.2 million) per month, and an internal review recommended mothballing it.

Such a move could economically devastate the satellite town of Nhulunbuy that services the refinery and bauxite mine, and force many of its 3800 residents to leave.

"I would be wanting a statement from Rio as to what their intent is regarding the operation of the refinery," Mr Mills told reporters.

Pacific Aluminium has said that if the plant was converted to gas from diesel and the NT unconditionally guaranteed 10 years' supply, it would keep the refinery open.

But allocating enough gas to run the refinery could eventually spell shortages for the rest of the Territory, and until now the government has been unwilling to promise Rio Tinto the gas it wants.

Under the new plan the government has dropped earlier demands that any deal to supply the gas to Gove first must involve securing replacement supplies of gas.

Mr Mills reaffirmed his desire to have the NT's gas infrastructure built to link with the eastern seaboard's gas grid.

"Once you have a gas pipeline in place you then have access from others who are exploring in the region to butt into that pipeline," Mr Mills said.

He said the new deal involved challenges and opportunities for the NT.

"There are probably lots of reasons why you wouldn't make such a decision that we have taken today," he said.

"We will make available the gas that is required to keep the Pacific Aluminium operation going," he said.

Mr Mills said the government's decision to go ahead with the plan was good for the people of Nhulunbuy.

"It should provide them with the assurance and certainty they have been seeking," he said.

Chairman of the East Arnhem Futures Alliance, Klaus Helms, said the announcement was great news.

"I am elated with the work the chief minister of the Northern Territory has done," Mr Helms said.

"Word is spreading very rapidly around town to the people, so it is tremendous," he said.

Mr Helms said he doubted Rio Tinto would turn down the proposal.

"They could have stopped this any way along the line if they weren't going to make a deal," he said.

Dave Suter from the Nhulunbuy Chamber of Commerce and Industry also praised the outcome.

"We are really keen for Rio Tinto to agree to the conditions, which is what we want to have happen now," he said.

Mr Suter said the next big question would be what would happen during the two years or so before the gas arrives in the town.

"We are not out of the woods completely," Mr Suter said.

Pacific Aluminium later said Rio Tinto would consider the NT government's proposal.

"Converting the refinery to competitively priced gas is essential to secure its long-term viability," the company said.

Pacific Aluminium chief executive Sandeep Biswas said his company had been working with the Northern Territory government, the federal government and gas suppliers for more than 12 months to try to get gas to Gove.

"Rio Tinto will give full consideration to the Northern Territory government's important gas supply proposal," Mr Biswas said.

In a statement NT Opposition leader Delia Lawrie and the Labor MP for Nhulunbuy Lynne Walker said Mr Mills had backflipped by agreeing to provide gas to Gove.

"Terry Mills has finally grasped what everyone has been telling him for months," Ms Lawrie said.

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Fresh blast in Mali city after battles

Malian soldiers and Islamic extremists have engaged in combat in a surprise attack in Gao. Source: AAP

AN explosion shook the largest city in northern Mali, hours after Islamist gunmen battled French and Malian troops following two straight days of suicide bombings.

Malian troops said the blast appeared to have been in the north of Gao, possibly near the checkpoint at its northern entrance which was the target of suicide attacks Friday and Saturday.

The latest incident early on Monday came a month into the French campaign to chase Islamist fighters out of the north of the country where they had imposed a brutal form of Sharia law for 10 months.

Sunday's attack by Islamist gunmen on territory reclaimed by French-led forces was the first large-scale urban guerrilla assault of the conflict.

It started early in the afternoon when Malian soldiers clashed with Islamists in the city centre, near an empty police station which the rebels had used as their base until being driven from the city last month.

Residents ran for cover as Kalashnikov bullets and 14.5-millimetre rounds pierced the air.

One witness said that after a fierce gunbattle, French troops had intervened. He reported seeing one body, which he thought was probably a civilian caught in the crossfire.

Rocket-propelled grenade explosions and fire from heavy machine guns and light weapons resounded late into the afternoon before dying down in the evening, when a power cut plunged the city into darkness.

French and Malian forces conducted joint patrols, warning residents that snipers could be hidden in the city, as a French Tiger attack helicopter circled overhead.

Colonel Mamadou Sanake of the Malian army said the rebels had infiltrated the city by motorcycle and via the Niger river, which passes near the governor's offices where some of the fighting took place.

One security source said several dozen insurgents had been involved in Sunday's fighting and Sanake said many of them had been killed.

MUJAO, one of the Al-Qaeda-linked groups that seized control of northern Mali for 10 months in the wake of a military coup in March 2012, claimed the attack and a suicide bombing on Saturday, its second in two days.

"The combat will continue until victory, thanks to God's protection," said spokesman Abou Walid Sahraoui. "The mujahideen are in the city of Gao and will remain there."

A French-led force on the ground, backed by French air power, has over the past month driven the Islamists from the cities that were once their strongholds into the desert wilderness.

But MUJAO has vowed to continue fighting French and government troops, using suicide attacks, land mines and raids such as the one on Sunday.

The latest violence underlined the threat of a drawn-out insurgency as France tries to map a strategy to exit its former colony.

France is anxious to hand over its military operation to UN peacekeepers, and last week announced it would begin bringing its troops home in March.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told France on Sunday that it was reaping in Mali what it had sown in Libya by arming rebels who were fighting then-dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Mali imploded after last year's coup.

The soldiers who revolted blamed the government for the army's humiliation at the hands of north African Tuareg fighters, who have long complained of being marginalised by Bamako.

Many of those Tuareg rebels had fought alongside Gadhafi's forces in Libya and brought back weapons from that conflict.

With the capital in disarray after the coup, Al-Qaeda-linked fighters hijacked the Tuareg rebellion and took control of the north.

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