Brawny burglar cut by elderly man

POLICE are looking for a muscular burglar who was badly injured when an elderly Brisbane homeowner confronted him with a knife.

They say the brawny man was stabbed in the stomach while leaving the property at Kenmore, in Brisbane's west.

The robber, believed to be in his 30s, broke into the Gilruth Street house around 8.30pm (AEST) on Friday.

Inside, he was confronted by the male owner who was carrying a knife.

The burglar fled but was injured in the stomach as he forced his way past the man, police said.

"Due to an amount of blood located at the scene, police believe this man needs urgent medical attention," they said in a statement.

"He is likely to have a noticeable injury to his lower front or side torso."

Police are investigating whether the bandit is linked to other burglaries in the area.

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Greens to decide ACT's next government

The Greens will hold the balance of power in the ACT Legislative Assembly. Source: AAP

THE Greens will hold the balance of power in the ACT Legislative Assembly, after Labor and the Liberals won eight seats each, resulting in a hung parliament.

Greens MLA Shane Rattenbury is the sole remaining representative of the minor party, and is now expected to begin negotiations to decide who will form the territory's next government.

Elections ACT completed counting the vote on Saturday, a week after the election.

Electoral Commissioner Phil Green announced the names of the candidates who were elected to the 17-member parliament.

With several close races for the final places in the three multi-member electorates, the make up of the assembly has not been clear for much of the week.

Labor and the Liberals each won 38.9 per cent of the primary vote.

On numbers, the Liberals were a mere 41 votes ahead, out of more than 221,000 formal ballots cast.

The Greens won 10.7 per cent of the primary vote - a 4.9 per cent rebuff from the 2008 election.

The formal declaration of the poll is likely to happen on Wednesday.

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Philippines storm toll rises sharply

THE death toll in the Philippines from Typhoon Son-Tinh rose sharply to 24 on Saturday as casualty reports from isolated central islands and the far-flung south flooded in, the government said.

Drowning and landslides were given as the cause of 11 deaths on small islands in the country's mid-section, the national disaster council said in its latest tally.

The other 13 victims were carried away by flash floods, buried by landslides, hit by falling trees and flying debris, electrocuted, or died from exposure to the cold, it added.

The official death toll from the typhoon, which was classed as a weaker "tropical storm" when it passed over the Philippines, had stood at six on Friday.

Eight fishermen from the central and southern Philippines remained missing at sea, the government agency said.

Rescuers are also still searching for a man believed buried in a landslide on the main southern island of Mindanao, it said, adding that more than 15,000 people displaced by the storm are still sheltering at government buildings and receiving disaster aid.

Food and other forms of aid were given to nearly 40,000 people who chose to remain at home or temporarily moved in with relatives or friends, it added.

The Philippines endures about 20 major storms or typhoons each year, mainly during the rainy season between June and October.

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Packer's Sydney casino approval questioned

THE first-stage approval of James Packer's $1 billion hotel and casino has been criticised by people across the political spectrum, including former federal Liberal leader John Hewson, who has questioned the "probity of process".

Premier Barry O'Farrell on Thursday announced that Mr Packer's plan for a "six-star" hotel and VIP gaming resort at Sydney's Barangaroo had moved to the second stage of the state government's "unsolicited proposals" process.

A more detailed proposal from Crown Ltd will now be considered by the government panel, and if that is approved and a binding offer made, all that stands between Mr Packer and his casino dream is a vote in NSW parliament.

But with the Labor opposition also backing the Crown casino plan, the passage of laws to allow a second licence is considered an inevitability.

Dr Hewson questioned why there was no tender for the second casino, which if approved, would begin operation once the exclusive licence held by Echo Entertainment and The Star expires in 2019.

"I think most people want it not only to be a defined process but to appear to be a defined process," Dr Hewson told ABC radio on Friday.

"The problem here is that people perceive that Packer's bulldozed this through.

"This is sort of chipping away at the whole integrity of government process."

Dr Hewson said it was "the height of arrogance" for Mr Packer to tell a function in Sydney on Thursday night that if there had been a tender process, his proposal would have won.

"It pre-judges the processes of government and it's not clear to me that an international gaming group wouldn't have been an effective competitor," Dr Hewson said.

"There's that sort of arrogance. There's two sets of rules - one for the Packers and one for the rest of us."

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said she was appalled by the approval process for the Packer project, which should never have cleared the first stage of the approval process without public consultation.

"There's no public consultation and it's all been done behind closed doors by both the major parties to James Packer," she told ABC Radio on Friday.

"It's public land. It's probably one of the most important sites in Australia.

"Here we have a situation: major, major development where there's no tendering.

"I just think the people of Sydney will be appalled by what's going on."

NSW Greens MP Jamie Parker said "the deals that are being proceeded with by this government stink".

"We're seeing the casino being put forward without proper strategic planning, without regard to the community, without even a tender," he told reporters in Sydney.

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Drought package framework agreed

THE framework for a new national drought package - focussed on risk management and preparedness rather than crisis management - has been agreed on by Australian primary industry ministers.

Federal, state and territory ministers meeting in New Zealand on Friday finalised the framework for a package to be implemented from July 1.

Federal Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig said the package would help farmers proactively address risks and prepare for challenges associated with drought.

He said it was an important step forward in Australian drought management and the "move to preparedness will mean stronger, more resilient farming businesses".

The Standing Council of Primary Industries (SCoPI) meeting agreed on a series of measures.

They included farm household support payments, farm management deposits and taxation measures, a national approach to farm business training, collaborative provision of social support services and tools and technologies to help farmers make decisions about their properties.

Senator Ludwig said programs in the new package would be available at all times, without the need for drought or exceptional circumstances declarations.

He said that until the new programs were implemented there would still be assistance available to farming families suffering hardship.

NSW Farmers welcomed the agreement on the package, including approval for development and consideration of an in-drought business support proposal.

NSW Farmers president Fiona Simson said the association had been concerned that business support was going to be dismissed by the federal government.

"This outcome today shows that it has not been ruled out and will still be considered when the remainder of the package is finalised," she said.

Ms Simson said she was disappointed that additional measures called for by farming organisations such as expanding accelerated depreciation and new entrant support were not mentioned by Senator Ludwig.

She said that with 30 per cent of NSW already marginal in terms of drought conditions, it was important to get speedy resolution to provide surety for farmers.

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Suicide bomber targets Kabul mosque

A SUICIDE bomber has blown himself up inside a mosque in Maymana city in northern Afghanistan during prayers for the Eid al-Adha holiday, causing a number of casualties, an official says.

"There was a suicide bombing in the city's main mosque as people finished praying," Abdul Satar Barez, deputy governor of Faryab province, told AFP on Friday. "There are casualties," he said.

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NSW mine approval sparks anger

THE NSW government's approval of a coalmine in a state forest has prompted criticism from Labor and the Greens and a vow by protesters to maintain a blockade.

Whitehaven Coal has secured planning permission to develop the Maules Creek coal project in the state's northwest.

The company said on Thursday that the $553 million development had been approved subject to strict conditions.

Whitehaven Coal's managing director Tony Haggarty welcomed the approval but noted the project still needed the go-ahead from the federal Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water Population and Communities.

"This is a world-class project and Whitehaven will be seeking to bring it into production as soon as possible," Mr Haggarty said.

But NSW Labor's environment and planning spokesman Luke Foley said a region mapped as tier one biodiversity land was "now being bulldozed for one of the world's largest open-cut coalmines".

Mr Foley said the mine would destroy high-value conservation lands that were home to 26 threatened plant and animal species, as well as harm the local farming community.

Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham said the mine would be "an act of environmental vandalism" and its approval was a failure of the government's Strategic Regional Land Use Policy.

Mr Buckingham said the coalition had promised before the election it would protect sensitive environments from mining.

"But here we have the last remnant of woodland on the Liverpool Plains being destroyed," he said.

The protest group Front Line Action on Coal on Thursday vowed to continue its 82-day-long blockade camp in the forest.

Spokesman Murray Dreschler said the mine would destroy about 1360 hectares of native vegetation and large tracts of productive farmland.

"We will not allow Whitehaven to destroy Leard Forest and Maules Creek and we invite the entire community to join us," Mr Dreschler said in a statement.

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Gang hits cashed-up bank customers: police

AN organised criminal gang may have snatched nearly one million dollars from Australian bank customers after they made large cash withdrawals.

Victorian detectives have linked 11 incidents in Melbourne and Sydney but fear there are many more victims across the country yet to come forward.

The gang is believed to have ties with South America and may even be flying in and out to commit robberies anywhere in Australia, fleeing with thousands of dollars in cash each time.

"It's a smart, well-organised crime gang," said Detective Sergeant Nathan Kaeser, in warning the public on Thursday.

"We generally deal with a lot of street robberies, armed robberies and home invasions, but this seems to be methodically thought out, planned and gaining a lot of money without hurting innocent people."

Police say four to six men have been working together to steal big cash withdrawals by distracting customers as they leave their bank.

Some members watch customers inside banks and tip off the others.

In one often-used ruse, one gang member slashes the car tyres of the targeted customer, another pretends to offer help with the flat, and yet another steals the cash and flees undetected while the victim is distracted.

They may also spray an oil-based or foul-smelling substance on a customer's jacket containing the cash, and another member alerts them to the stain so they take off the jacket for an easy theft later.

Police say the gang has been active since 2009, but an investigation is under way to see if they have been operating even earlier.

Detectives also believe long periods of apparent inactivity may indicate the group moving on to commit crimes elsewhere in the country.

Det Sgt Kaeser said there are fears the group is nearing $1 million in stolen cash, considering the likelihood of many more victims yet to come forward and the large sums already stolen.

This year alone, there have been two such robberies in the Sydney suburb of Burwood, and two in the past month in Melbourne.

Security camera footage has been released in a bid to identify the thieves.

Police are also warning bank customers to be careful when they make large withdrawals and encouraging them to use internet transfers instead.

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Qld A-G seeks advice on slasher's sentence

QUEENSLAND'S attorney-general is seeking advice on the sentencing of a man who sliced off a part of his ex-girlfriend's tongue during a 2010 attack.

Mohammed Tasleem Tahir was sentenced to a maximum eight-and-a-half years' jail in Southport Magistrates Court earlier this month after pleading guilty to charges arising from the attack.

Tahir, from Adelaide, was convicted of grievous bodily harm for beating his ex-girlfriend with a bottle, slashing her mouth and severing her tongue.

Judge Katherine McGinness ruled the 23-year-old would be eligible for parole from September 12 next year, taking into account the 703 days he had already spent in custody, his youth and the lack of a previous violent criminal history.

Queensland Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie said on Thursday he was asking for advice on whether the sentence can be appealed on the grounds it is manifestly inadequate.

Mr Bleijie said the sentence "does not set an adequate deterrent" and isn't in line with the expectations of the community as a penalty for such a serious offence.

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Securitisation key to crisis: RBA

THE packaging of securities on financial markets had a key part to play in the way the global financial crisis spread from the US housing market, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) says.

Speaking at the CPA Australia Finance and Accounting Expo in Sydney, the head of the RBA's financial stability department Luci Ellis said that while weakened lending standards in the US were now credited as causing the crisis, they were not widely appreciated at the time.

"Foreign observers like the RBA didn't realise how overstretched the US housing market had become, because there simply wasn't the data to show that lending standards had eased more in the US than elsewhere," Dr Ellis said.

"The US authorities and most other observers in the United States largely missed it, too - they weren't routinely comparing their situation with other countries and didn't see how exceptional it had become."

Changes to these practices often weren't visible in the usual data, with new, non-bank lenders accounting for most of the activity, Dr Ellis said.

But since many of these loans were pooled together into securities, it was inevitable that the weakness would spread.

"The securities backed by these mortgages were in some cases bought by foreign banks or their affiliates," Dr Ellis said.

"So instead of sweeping the risk out of the banking system, securitisation spread some of the losses through the banking system."

Investors were often unclear about the risks inherent in these securities, Dr Ellis said.

"The structures were quite opaque, and the language describing the underlying mortgages subprime, Alt-A, HELOC4 and so on, did not give a good sense of the quality of those loans," she said.

"Not only did they (policymakers) not appreciate how exposed the major global banks, and some minor ones, were to these bad assets. They also didn't appreciate how much everyone would panic because they didn't know which of their counterparties were exposed to those bad assets, and how far the prices of the securities would decline."

"Banks became unwilling to lend to each other on an unsecured basis, and the price of such lending rose drastically."

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Govt to spend $8.5m on truck filters

THE NSW government will spend $8.5 million retrofitting exhaust filters on trucks that regularly use the M5 tunnel, despite tests showing pollution in it does not exceed standards.

Roads Minister Duncan Gay says a trial air filtration plant in the tunnel will be shut down because it "only (had) a minor impact on air quality and its ongoing operation is not value for money."

"The study indicated around five per cent of total haze pollution and three per cent of nitrogen dioxide in the tunnel was being removed via the filtration plant," he said on Wednesday.

Air quality in the heavily-used tunnel had been monitored 24 hours a day and pollution doesn't exceed World Health Organisation standards, Mr Gay said.

While the government sees no need to persist with the air filters, Mr Gay said it's necessary "to focus on cleaner vehicles, primarily heavy vehicles, to promote fewer emissions and cause less pollution," despite tests showing pollution was not at unacceptable levels.

It will use the $8.5 million to subsidise half the cost to assess, repair and fit trucks with particle traps.

"Smoky vehicle cameras inside tunnel ... will use number plate recognition to identify and target the smokiest heavy vehicles, with the owners contacted and offered the retrofit program," Mr Gay said.

The cameras caught 300 trucks with excessive levels of emissions in the past year - an offence for which owners could be fined $2000.

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Souris dodges Packer casino questions

NSW hospitality minister George Souris has denied any knowledge of James Packer's proposal for a second casino in Sydney, despite reports the government will soon approve the billion-dollar development.

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell's cabinet is expected on Monday week to approve Crown's "unsolicited proposal" for a six-star hotel and high rollers' room at Barangaroo, News Ltd reported.

But Mr Souris, the minister responsible for gaming in NSW, avoided answering questions about the Packer plan on Wednesday.

"I'm not aware of any proposal that has come before me," he told reporters at state parliament.

"I have not been approached by any proponent.

"I have not had any interviews with any of the proponents who have been referred to in the media, so I'm unable to comment."

Mr Souris added he was only aware of speculation he had read in the media.

"As far as I'm concerned, I have no further comments to make on potential casinos," he said.

A spokesman for Mr O'Farrell would only say, "No decisions have been made on a second casino licence."

The Labor opposition on Wednesday gave its backing to the development, under the proviso that there is a fair rate of return for the state, no intrusion into public space at the Barangaroo site, and no poker machines at the casino.

Labor's shadow cabinet also called for Star Casino owner Echo Entertainment to maintain its monopoly casino licence until it is due for renewal in 2019.

The opposition's support means any legislation to allow for a second Sydney licence would sail through parliament.

Business lobby groups welcomed bipartisan support for a six-star hotel and casino at Barangaroo, which they said would make Sydney more attractive to wealthy visitors.

"(It) would be the opportunity for Sydney to step up to the level of some of the other great cities of the world as a destination for wealthy visitors," Sydney Business Chamber executive director Patricia Forsythe said.

"Barangaroo will benefit from a six-star hotel as part of the precinct.

"The hotel is an exciting development, in fact it is a vital element within the precinct, which itself is being marketed to the world as a major business hub on the harbour."

Tourism & Transport Forum chief John Lee said "a six-star hotel at Barangaroo will be a destination in itself (for) high-spending visitors".

"An international hotel will provide employment for thousands of people and generate millions of dollars in additional expenditure in Sydney retail, restaurants and attractions," Mr Lee said.

But Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said she did not believe the city needed a second casino and accused the coalition and Labor of pandering to Mr Packer.

"The existing casino is a short walk away... and it's just had $800 million spent on it," Ms Moore told reporters.

"But clearly this is something that Jamie Packer wants to do, and it would appear that the government and the opposition want to accommodate him."

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TAFE reform will undermine sector: NSW ALP

NSW government moves to cut funding from TAFE courses not included on a skills list and to introduce competition with private colleges will undermine the sector, the opposition says.

TAFE courses that don't fill skills shortages and directly lead to jobs will no longer receive state funding, under the Smart and Skilled reforms announced by NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli on Tuesday.

From 2014, students will be able to chose a subsidised place in a skills list course at TAFE or a private college, a move Mr Piccoli says will increase competition and choice.

But opposition education spokeswoman Carmel Tebbutt said with TAFE already having to bear the loss of 800 staff the reforms would make it hard for it to compete with private colleges.

"It is not a level playing field," Ms Tebbutt told reporters on Tuesday.

She said TAFE provided essential training for many industries and was particularly important in rural and regional NSW.

"I think those roles will be undermined by the government's announcement," she said.

Remodelling the TAFE funding system in Victoria led to a blowout in student fees and TAFE in NSW could suffer the same fate, Greens NSW MP John Kaye warned.

"The losers will be the students who will end up with less education and fewer skills," Dr Kaye said in a statement.

The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) said forced competition would not improve educational standards.

"New guidelines for course funding will not increase vocational training for all, it will create 'winners' and 'losers' among students and reduce high-quality education options," CPSU NSW secretary John Cahill said.

The NSW Business Chamber, a strong supporter of greater competition, welcomed the reforms.

"A competitive and fairer playing field between TAFE and private education providers is a framework for better training and qualification outcomes," NSW Business Chamber chief Stephen Cartwright said in a statement.

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Firies battle 60 blazes across Queensland

A SMOKE haze is covering much of Queensland as scores of firefighters battle 60 blazes across the state.

Much of Brisbane has been blanketed in smoke from a huge grassfire at Ipswich. Staines Memorial College in Redbank Plains was evacuated as a precaution on Tuesday afternoon.

About 55 fire units, including two aircraft, were trying to contain the blaze, burning on both sides of the Centenary Highway.

Fire controller Mick Torrens said no property was in immediate danger.

"We've been constructing control lines in conjunction with the Logan and Ipswich City Councils, using their machinery," he told the ABC.

"We're trying to backburn but the strong winds which came in yesterday afternoon have made the situation difficult for us. However, everything is in hand."

Firefighters are telling people southeast of Three Mile Road and Tin Mine Road, at Crows Nest, to prepare for an approaching bushfire.

A large blaze travelling in a north-westerly direction is expected to sweep through the area in the next six to 24 hours.

In central Queensland multiple fire crews are fighting a grassfire on Ohl Road and the Capricorn Highway at Gogango, southwest of Rockhampton.

A large blaze is burning on Dollarbird Drive at Tamborine, in the Gold Coast hinterland. Residents of Georgina Drive, Steele Road and Pine View Road at Logan Village have been advised to monitor their properties.

Authorities have warned of a heightened fire danger for the remainder of the week.

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Gunman arrested in Perth hostage drama

A SIEGE in Perth's northern suburbs has ended without injuries and the arrest of a 38-year-old man who allegedly held a woman hostage at gunpoint.

Police, including the tactical response group, were called to a home on Collier Road, Embleton, around 10.30am (WST) on Tuesday.

While some media reports suggested two women were being held hostage, police said the gunman had threatened one woman.

Around 1pm (WST), police said they had arrested the man.

Embleton Primary School, which is some 200m away, was locked down during the siege.

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Sydney set for foreign sailor invasion

SYDNEY will become warship central and be awash with foreign sailors next October for a fleet review to mark 100 years since the first entry of the Royal Australian Navy's fleet into Sydney Harbour.

Up to 10,000 invited sailors in more than 40 foreign navy ships are set to take part in the event, from October 3 to 11 next year.

The event is expected to inject $50 million into the NSW economy.

The International Fleet Review 2013 was officially launched aboard the frigate HMAS Parramatta on Sydney Harbour on Monday.

At the launch, Jean Nysen, 89, recalled her father Donald McKenzie describing how spectacular it was to enter Sydney aboard HMAS Australia in 1913, leading the fleet as tens of thousands of onlookers waved and cheered from the shore.

The event was seen as a sign of the new nation of Australia coming of age.

"It was very, very spectacular," said Ms Nysen, recalling the description of her father who was a telegraphist on the flagship.

"That must have been something very special.

Ms Nysen followed her father into the navy, becoming a wireless operator with the Women's Royal Australian Naval Service during World War II.

Next year's review will involve dozens of Australian and foreign navy vessels, 12 tall ships and thousands of naval personnel from over 20 nations.

Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Ray Griggs, said the review would be the final part of the navy's centenary celebrations.

He said it would be an opportunity for Australians to see the navy that served them "out of sight over the horizon" and often at great cost.

Vice Admiral Griggs said the review would be held at the same time as a multi-national naval exercise off the NSW coast, Exercise Triton Centenary, which will be the largest exercise in Australian waters in 25 years.

It will also coincide with the navy's Sea Power Conference and the Pacific 2013 maritime trade show, both being held in Sydney.

The navy has budgeted about $10 million for the event with the NSW government contributing around $2 million and the City of Sydney about $1 million.

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell said the government was happy to support the event to acknowledge the navy's contribution to the state and to Sydney.

He said the event would bring an estimated economic boost of around $50 million to NSW, making the government's contribution a "good investment".

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the review would be "enthusiastically embraced" by Sydneysiders and be seen around the world.

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Vic cancer centre seeks private ward

VICTORIA'S new $1 billion cancer centre may have an extra floor devoted to private patients.

Health Minister David Davis said the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute's board was considering applying to add one floor for private patients to the new Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC) being built at the Melbourne suburb of Parkville.

The proposal would need to be financially viable to get the green light, Mr Davis said.

"It would have to be clearly in the interests of Victorian cancer patients," he told reporters on Monday.

"The question would be in part whether the additional capacity that is provided, private capacity ... on top of the public capacity, would be of advantage to Victorian cancer patients."

Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews said the entire cancer centre should be available to every Victorian, regardless of whether or not they could afford insurance.

"Cancer does not discriminate based on your wealth, based on your income, based on your private health fund membership," Mr Andrews told journalists.

The VCCC is expected to open in 2016.

Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre spokeswoman Emma Liepa said a business case for the proposal was in its early stages and had yet to be presented to the board.

"We are not compromising anything that exists at the moment...and it would never impact the provision of public cancer care to our patients," she told AAP.

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Stun gun mugging alarms police

ILLEGAL imports of stun guns are in the spotlight after police revealed one of the prohibited weapons was used in a violent street attack in Melbourne.

There are fears the weekend robbery, which put a 37-year-old man in hospital with a dislocated shoulder, could be the start of a new crime wave as thugs exploit the availability of the electro-shock devices from overseas.

Melbourne youth worker Les Twentyman said a growing black market was emerging for such weapons as drug addicts become more desperate.

"It's a major concern with these kids being involved in robberies," he told AAP on Monday.

"Having a stun gun has become a fad. They're just getting them off the internet."

Melbourne comedian Richard McKenzie was jolted from behind with a stun gun in the city's inner-north as he walked home from the Lord Newry Hotel in Fitzroy North in the early hours of Sunday.

A group of men who had jumped out from a following car assaulted him and used the stun gun twice more before fleeing with his bag.

"My arms and legs just wouldn't work. I couldn't grip anything. I couldn't hold on to my bag. I couldn't stand up," Mr McKenzie said.

"They left me in the middle of the road and I tried to roll off into the gutter so I wouldn't get hit by a car."

The three men wore hooded jackets and there are so far no identified suspects.

Police say prohibited weapons can be purchased online from overseas and enter the country undetected.

"The use of Tasers for an assault like this is very rare," Detective Senior Constable Sean Schimizzi told reporters on Monday.

"It is rare, but we are very concerned."

In 2010, police in Victoria seized 200 stun guns, and South Australian authorities found hundreds more shipped from China and disguised as battery-operated torches.

"There is no legitimate use for stun guns in the community," states the latest Customs and Border Protection Service annual report.

Customs officials are forecasting a surge in imports entering the country, with sea cargo deliveries expected to nearly double by 2020.

Mr McKenzie said he was alarmed to learn stun guns were appearing on the streets.

"Give me a week or so to maybe get some perspective away from it, then maybe I could see something funny about it," the comedian said.

"But right now, I just hope to see these guys caught."

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WWII bomb successfully defused in Tokyo

AN unexploded 220-kilogram World War II bomb has been defused and removed from Tokyo's business district after a delicate hour-long operation, officials say.

Around 200 residents evacuated their homes within a 100m radius of the 230kg bomb, which was found at a construction site in Motoakasaka area of Minato ward, as soldiers worked on removing the device.

Japanese Self Defence Force members started to defuse the rusty ordnance, which was discovered 4.5m underground, local officials said.

The area was declared safe shortly afterwards, they added.

Tokyo was a target of intense US air raids near the end of the World War II and around 70 unexploded bombs are found in the capital every year, according to the local administrative office.

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Qld crews battle grass fire

FIRE crews are battling a grass fire that's closed a road southwest of Brisbane, as southern Queensland prepares for severe fire conditions.

Fifteen crews are trying to extinguish the blaze after it broke out about 7am (AEST) Sunday near Redbank Plains Road, Redbank Plains.

Firefighters are backburning, causing a large volume of smoke.

Redbank Plains Road has been closed between the Cunningham Highway and Collingwood Drive until the smoke subsides.

Meanwhile, all permits to light a fire have been cancelled indefinitely in the Warrego and Maranoa districts, in southern Queensland, amid soaring temperatures and blazing bushfires.

The Department of Community Safety said permits to light a fire in the Toowoomba, Southern Downs, Goondiwindi and Western Downs Regional Council areas have also been cancelled for the next 72 hours.

Large-scale fires are burning in the Warrego and Maranoa districts, with the majority of fire activity focused around Mitchell, Roma, Charleville, Wyandra, Cunnamulla and Thargomindah.

No homes are under threat.

The Bureau of Meteorology said on Sunday that there was a severe fire danger, with temperatures to reach up to 39 degrees with low humidity and 35 kilometre per hour winds.

Further advice on permits to light a fire will be issued on Wednesday.

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Condolences for WA worker buried alive

THE owner of building and mining company BGC, Len Buckeridge, has offered his condolences over the death of a Perth man buried alive in a sand silo at one of his company's sites.

The man was moving sand from a pile when it collapsed on him at BGC Precast Concrete in Naval Base around 12.15pm (WST) on Saturday.

Emergency services were unable to save the man.

Mr Buckeridge told the ABC on Sunday that the incident was an "unmitigated disaster" and was the first fatality at his group of companies in more than 50 years.

WorkSafe is now investigating the incident.

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