Man wanted for Sydney murder hands self in

A MAN wanted over the death of a factory worker in Sydney's west has handed himself into authorities.

The 37-year-old New Zealand man walked into Windsor police station and gave himself up around 12.40pm (AEDT) on Saturday, police say.

Homicide squad officers will interview him in relation to the death of 62-year-old Lane Hargreave, who was fatally stabbed at a factory on Links Road, Dunheved, on February 21.

Police issued an arrest warrant for the 37-year-old man last week.

The alleged killer is expected to be charged with murder later on Saturday.

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Pension boost no election ploy: Macklin

PENSIONERS will soon receive a boost in their allowance, but a senior minister says it's unrelated to the September election.

Families Minister Jenny Macklin outlined the previously announced increase, which includes the Clean Energy Supplement to help offset the impact of the carbon tax, on Saturday - a day before Prime Minister Julia Gillard starts her western Sydney blitz.

Single pensioners on the maximum rate will receive an extra $35.80 per fortnight with couples getting an increase of $54 per fortnight.

The rise, starting on March 20, covers those receiving the Age Pension, Disability Pension, Carer Payment and veteran income support.

"We know how important it is to make sure that the pension does keep up with the cost of living," she told reporters in Melbourne, when asked if the announcement was designed to help the government win the September election.

"That's why this government improved the way that we amend the pension twice a year, to make sure that it keeps up with pensioners' cost of living."

She also downplayed Ms Gillard's decision to base herself in western Sydney - where Labor faces an electoral wipeout - saying the government was in touch with all Australians.

"I think it's important for us, all of us, all the time to be talking with people in our communities," Ms Macklin said.

"That's what I do, it's what the prime minister does.

"I've been to western Sydney every week for the last few weeks. Nothing new to me to be in western Sydney."

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Gonski appointed to SingTel board

FUTURE Fund chairman David Gonski has been appointed to the board of Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel).

SingTel is the parent of Australian telco Optus.

The announcement of the appointment of the prominent Sydney-based businessman and philanthropist was made in a statement after the close of share market trading on Friday evening.

SingTel is dual Singapore-Australian stock exchange listed company.

The 59-year-old Mr Gonski is also chairman of Coca-Cola Amatil in Australia.

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Gillard set for mixed Rooty Hill reception

EVERY second person entering the Rooty Hill RSL club has been asking if Julia's there yet.

The prime minister's five-day stay in western Sydney, staying in The Novotel next to the club, is the talk of the town but she looks like getting a mixed reception.

Ms Gillard will move in on Sunday for five days of meeting and greeting and announcing new policies to benefit the region.

The visit is widely seen as a bid to shore up dipping support for Labor in western Sydney, with a number of ALP seats tipped to fall.

At the RSL club on Friday, a club member walking in asked, "Is Julia here yet?"

Gail Smith, who greets guests at the door told AAP that every second person wanted to know if the prime minister had arrived, indicating there was a lot of interest in her visit.

But down the road at The Imperial hotel, bar attendant Tania Moorecroft said she didn't think most people would really care about the visit and Ms Gillard might even cop some verbal abuse.

She said Ms Gillard had not paid a visit to Rooty Hill since she became prime minister.

"Now with an election coming up she decides to pay us a visit."

Ms Moorecroft said the area was full of working class people, housing commission tenants and pensioners struggling to make ends meet while Ms Gillard stays at the best room at The Novotel.

She said people at the bar referred to the prime minister as "Gillard", rather than Julia or Ms Gillard and some said she would not be welcome.

Computer technician Christopher Talmage said there might not be that much interest in the prime minister's visit but he hoped federal Labor would not lose seats in the west or be tainted by state Labor's corruption scandal.

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Commodity prices up for 4th month: RBA

AUSTRALIA'S export commodity prices rose for the fourth consecutive month in February, Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) figures show.

The RBA's index of commodity prices rose 2.3 per cent in the month in foreign currency terms.

The rise built on increases in the preceding three months, leaving commodity prices 7.5 per cent above their recent low in October, but still down by 15.2 per cent from the all-time high reached in July 2011.

Despite their fall from the 2011 peak, commodity prices are still up by 203 per cent from February 2003.

In other words, commodity prices are still more than three times their level of a decade ago, thanks in large part to demand for raw materials from the industrialisation of China and other newly emerging economic powerhouses like India.

The higher Australian dollar, a normal side-effect of surging commodity prices, has meant a smaller rise when prices are translated into the local currency.

Even so, the rise in the Australian dollar price of commodities over the decade amounts to 95 per cent - a near-doubling - despite the higher exchange rate.

The RBA said the main contributor to the rise in February was iron ore, although there were also rises in the prices of coking coal, crude oil and base metals.

The RBA said much of the fall in commodity prices over the past year - 7.2 per cent in foreign currency terms and 4.8 per cent in Australian dollar terms - was the result of lower prices for coking coal and thermal coal.

The foreign currency price index is measured in terms of special drawing rights (SDRs), an average of four major currencies - US dollar, euro, Japanese yen, and British pound.

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Big turnout tipped for 35th Mardi Gras

SATURDAY night's Mardi Gras is tipped to be one of the biggest in the event's history as the colourful parade celebrates 35 years in Sydney.

Mardi Gras organisers said around 10,000 performers on 110 floats would take part in a parade of "tapestry, fun and frivolity".

Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras CEO, Michael Rolik, said 2013 promised to be one of the event's biggest years, with hundreds of thousands of people expected to line the traditional route down Oxford Street.

Mr Rolik said a key feature this year would be the participation of people who took part in Sydney's first Mardi Gras march in 1978.

"This year's parade celebrates 35 years history, from very humble beginnings," he told reporters on Friday.

Creative director Ignatius Jones said the lead float would be "dedicated to the 78ers, the first generation".

He said the float would be surrounded by young protesters carrying parade "season posters" from 1978 up to 2013.

The two key "1978ers" participating in the parade would be media personality Julie McCrossin and the "godfather of Mardi Gras" Ron Austin, organisers said.

Mr Jones said every major political party had entered a float this year and that for the first time the armed forces would be "proudly marching in uniform".

There was also a big youth presence in the parade this year, he said.

"There are quite a number of floats concentrating on youth, actually built by youth, dedicated to such things like sexual identity, bullying, depression and even youth suicide," he said.

A number of "Bob Katters" would also take part in the parade, organisers revealed, with performers dressing up like the maverick Queensland MP.

Police said around 1000 extra police would be on duty for the event.

Assistant Police Commissioner Mark Murdoch said officers would be out in large numbers to ensure "that everyone enjoys Mardi Gras and goes home in the same condition they left home".

The high visibility police exercise, named Operation Cromwell, would target antisocial behaviour and alcohol related crime, he said.

He said the whole of the Mardi Gras parade route was an alcohol free zone, and that people who tried "to use alcohol in those areas will have it confiscated".

Illicit drugs were another concern for police, he said, noting that sniffer dogs would be "part of the arsenal" for policing the event.

He also advised people heading to the CBD for the parade to take public transport as many streets along the parade route would be closed.

Rehearsing for her role atop the City of Sydney's official float, singer Paulini said Mardi Gras would be "a bright night" even if it rained.

"It's all about unity and we're going to have a lot of fun," she said.

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Patients 'suffering from budget cuts'

A BLOWOUT in hospital waiting times shows patients are beginning to suffer from the NSW government's $3 billion in health spending cuts, the NSW opposition says.

Labor MPs used question time on Thursday to hammer the government over the latest figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

The new data revealed the number of patients forced to wait longer than four hours for treatment last year increased by 15,890 from 2011.

The median waiting time for elective surgery in NSW hospitals blew out to 50 days - the longest of any state.

Mr Robertson said the figures were a direct reflection of the billions of dollars in savings the state government was making in health.

"Will you reverse your $3 billion cut to the health system ... when 15,000 people don't get seen in the benchmark time?" he asked the premier.

Mr O'Farrell replied there had been "a record budget this year" of $18.3 billion.

"And we are determined that as many of these dollars won't end up in bureaucracy but on the front line ...

"I would have thought that was a sensible way to go."

Health Minister Julian Skinner denied there had been any cuts to the health system.

"It is the case that over four years $2.2 billion in efficiency savings will be made in health to be reinvested in frontline services," Ms Skinner said in a statement.

"This money will be staying within the NSW health system and is not a 'cut'."

But opposition health spokesman Andrew McDonald said it was impossible to make the changes to hospital budgets without impacting on emergency department waiting times and surgery waiting lists.

"Patients are suffering as a result," he said.

Only 61.1 per cent of patients presenting to emergency departments were treated within four hours last year, down from 61.8 per cent in 2009/10 and well short of the 69 per cent target.

"In real figures, this equates to 15,890 additional patients forced to wait longer than four hours in a hospital emergency department for treatment," Mr MacDonald said.

NSW hospitals also performed worse than any other state in Australia when it came to elective surgery waiting times, with patients forced to wait a median 50 days compared with 36 days in Victoria, 27 in Queensland and 30 in Western Australia.

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Strong quake rattles Vanuatu, no damage

A STRONG earthquake has shaken the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu without causing major damage.

The magnitude-6.1 quake struck on Thursday afternoon. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue a tsunami warning.

Godwin Ligo, a reporter at the Trading Post newspaper, said he felt his office building in the capital Port Vila shake and sway. He said he wasn't aware of any major problems caused by the quake.

The US Geological Survey reported the epicentre was 104 kilometres west of the capital at a relatively shallow depth of 15 kilometres.

Vanuatu is on the "Ring of Fire" - an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones that stretches around the Pacific Rim. It's where most of the world's seismic activity occurs.

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Ombudsman slams cop probe into taser death

THE NSW ombudsman has criticised a police investigation into the death of a Brazilian student who was tasered 14 times, saying it failed to deal with the issue of police misconduct.

Roberto Laudisio Curti, 21, died in the early hours of March 18 after officers used capsicum spray, handcuffs and a baton and knelt on him after a chase through Sydney's CBD.

NSW Coroner Mary Jerram handed down a scathing finding into the incident in November, calling the officers who tasered him 14 times "thuggish" and rejecting some of their evidence.

She also recommended disciplinary charges for five of the officers involved.

NSW Ombudsman Bruce Barbour on Thursday tabled a special report in parliament about the police investigation in the lead-up to the coronial inquest.

"(It) failed to adequately identify and deal with the question of whether there was any police misconduct," Mr Barbour said in a statement.

The investigators failed to comply with established police procedures for conducting critical incident investigations or effectively examine the lawfulness of the officers involved, the report said.

It made a number of recommendations aimed at strengthening police guidelines so that all relevant evidence is gathered during future critical incident investigations.

Mr Barbour said it should be clear that "any identified misconduct or systemic issues can and should be addressed at the earliest opportunity".

He also recommended that a mandatory notification scheme be introduced, requiring police to immediately notify his office of all incidents involving the death or serious injury of people during policing activities.

Currently they can only do so if a complaint is made.

"The scheme would also require my office to determine whether it is in the public interest to oversight the police investigation," Mr Barbour added.

The coronial inquest found that Mr Curti, from Sao Paolo, had an adverse reaction to a small dose of LSD before stealing biscuits from a convenience store, where police mistakenly believed he was armed.

Ms Jerram found officers then used excessive force in abuse of their powers.

Following the damning findings, the NSW Police Integrity Commission announced it would investigate whether the police were involved in criminal conduct.

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Victorian drug driving crackdown tipped

A CRACKDOWN on drug drivers is expected to be next in the Victorian government's week of road safety announcements.

The government has released a flurry of road safety policies this week.

The individual policies are part of an overall road safety strategy the government is expected to release soon.

The Baillieu government is tipped to announce a crackdown on drug drivers on Thursday.

Asked how new penalties for texting while driving compare with tougher drug driving penalties, Roads Minister Terry Mulder said: "As I say, we'll wait until tomorrow until that comes out."

The road safety changes are in response to a government survey last September of more than 16,000 drivers.

Almost one in nine respondents supported more random testing for drug driving, while 86 per cent supported tougher penalties.

Earlier this week, the government announced anyone who records a blood alcohol level over 0.05 will be ordered to fit an interlock device to their car.

The government is also assessing technology that can measure the distances between cars or trucks on freeways in a bid to crackdown on tailgating.

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Brisbane mega cruise ship port given OK

A MEGA cruise ship terminal could be built in Brisbane after city councillors voted in favour of the project.

Under the proposal, the existing terminal at Portside Wharf would be upgraded to allow larger cruise ships, such as the 345 metre-long Queen Mary 2, to dock.

Only ships up to 270m, including the P&O Aurora and the Oriana, can currently dock at the terminal.

The project is part of a wider draft Pinkenba/Eagle Farm neighbourhood plan - a document Brisbane councillors approved at a council meeting on Tuesday night.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk says a world class cruise terminal is essential for the city's economic development.

"From both an economic and tourism point of view it makes sense that we have a terminal that not only harbours the big ships but also shows the best of Brisbane when people dock," he told AAP.

It could be up to 10 years before the terminal is built, as the proposal is part of a long term plan.

AAP cle

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Builders make unseen changes to homes

HOMEBUILDERS are opting for cheaper houses, given weaker economic conditions and problems with affordability, building supplies giant James Hardie says.

Chief executive Louis Gries says homebuilders generally are building cheaper houses to ensure they can still make a profit.

Builders were "value-engineering" and "de-featuring" houses to lower costs.

Houses are also smaller and being built with lower-cost materials.

Granite bench tops that once may have been standard are now optional.

"They pull any costs out of the home that homeowners are not aware of," Mr Gries said on Wednesday, after announcing a return to profitability in James Hardie's third quarter.

"Meaning it's not easy to see if you've got five-eighth-inch gypsum (plasterboard) or half-inch gypsum, or if you have 24-inch spacing on studs versus 16 (inches), or you have two-by-sixes or two-by-fours (the width and depth in inches of wooden planks used in construction)."

Mr Gries expects an eventual reversal in this trend, but it might take two or three years.

Given uncertain conditions in the housing market, James Hardie has trimmed its earnings forecast for the year.

The group, which makes most of its sales in the US, said the US housing market was picking up, but the Australian market remained subdued.

In the three months to December 31, sales volumes rose 17 per cent in the group's US and Europe fibre cement business.

The company said this provided further evidence that the housing recovery in the US was gaining momentum.

Although volumes in the US were higher, average sales prices were lower.

Costs were also higher as the company expanded production capacity in anticipation of a continued US market recovery.

But improvement was likely to occur over a protracted period.

The growth rate in the US could be constrained by ongoing tight credit conditions and higher levels of unemployment.

Mr Gries said no one knew what the Australian market was going to do, so James Hardie assumed it would stay tough.

James Hardie booked a net operating profit of $US31.5 million ($A30.95 million) in the third quarter to December 31, compared to a loss of $US4.8 million ($A4.72 million) a year earlier.

The result included the company's asbestos-related costs, regulatory costs and tax adjustments.

Excluding those costs, operating profit rose to $US28.8 million ($A28.29 million) from $US27.7 million ($A27.21 million).

The group downgraded its full year earnings forecast, excluding the asbestos and other costs, to between $US136 million ($A133.61 million) and $US141 million ($A138.53 million).

Last November, the group had forecast full year earnings of between $US140 million and $US150 million.

James Hardie shares were 18 cents higher at $9.53 at 1550 AEDT.

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Aust stocks close lower

THE Australian share market has closed lower but pared back earlier heavy falls.

There were losses among the miners and big banks as investors took profits after recent gains.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Tuesday closed down 52.2 points, or 1.03 per cent, at 5,003.6 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index had fallen 50.9 points, or 1.0 per cent, to 5,021.8 points.

On the ASX 24, the March share price index futures contract was 64 points lower at 4,978 points, with 34,068 contracts traded.

Australian shares were down 1.5 per cent at the start of trade on Tuesday as investors reacted to election results in Italy, where former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's party had put in a good showing.

The local market pared back some of those losses during morning trade to be down about 0.75 per cent at noon AEDT before fading in the afternoon.

CMC Markets trader Ben Taylor said the Italian election results suggested reforms put in place under Prime Minister Mario Monto were now considered unlikely to continue in their current form, causing investors to sell stocks.

Mr Taylor any sell-off was limited due to local economic factors such as low interest rates.

"After suffering a 1.5 per cent loss in morning trade our equity market has fought back half of its losses exhibiting the recent strength of the current uptrend," Mr Taylor said.

"While many traders have been looking for reasons to take profits, the market's inherent strength has met any pullback with swift bidding support as low interest rates continue to see cash pour in from the side line.

"If the uptrend remains intact, we are likely to see previous gains added to over the next month."

Australia's four major banks all finished in negative territory.

ANZ dipped 31 cents to $28.16, Commonwealth Bank lost 28 cents to $65.47, National Australia Bank eased 33 cents to $29.95 and Westpac ended 14 cents lower at $30.23.

The big miners also ended the day weaker.

BHP Billiton fell 55 cents to $36.35, Rio Tinto slumped 58 cents to $65.57 and Fortescue was down 14 cents at $4.61.

Gold was the only sector on the market to rise, climbing 1.34 per cent according to IRESS data.

At 1630 AEDT the spot price of gold in Sydney was $US1,591.20 per fine ounce, up $US5.05 from Monday's local close at $US1,586.15 per ounce.

Making news on Tuesday, Seven Group Holdings said first half net profit came in $256.8 million, up from $52.1 million in the previous corresponding period.

The stock rose 46 cents, or 4.58 per cent, to $10.51.

QBE fell 28 cents, or 2.15 per cent, to $12.75 after the insurance giant said net profit grew by eight per cent in calendar 2012 to $US761 million ($A743.27 million).

It also flagged staff cuts to save at least $US250 million ($A244.18 million) a year until the end of 2015.

National turnover was 1.91 billion securities worth $5.11 billion, with 356 stocks up, 621 down and 372 unchanged.

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Sea Shepherd, whalers in duelling videos

Anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd has accused Japanese whalers of illegally involving the military. Source: AAP

SEA Shepherd and the Japanese whaling fleet's battle has moved from the Southern Ocean to the video editing suite.

The activist group and Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) have released rival clips of the crunching collisions between their vessels after the dangerous confrontation reignited on Monday.

The Japanese fired the first shot, releasing footage that appeared to show the Bob Barker ramming its factory ship the Nisshin Maru and the Korean tanker Sun Laurel.

The ICR said the ships were hit five times by the Bob Barker and another Sea Shepherd vessel, the Sam Simon, on Monday.

It said activists had used inflatable boats in an attempt to entangle the rudder and propeller of one of its ship with wire ropes and to plug the drains on the Nisshin Maru.

"This time, SS (Sea Shepherd) is sabotaging refuelling operation, which is essential for the safe navigation of ships, and the sabotage is not only malicious but inconceivably obstructive actions," an ICR statement said.

"Thus it threatens safety of our research ships and lives of crews on them and is therefore completely unacceptable."

The ICR said damage was being assessed.

Sea Shepherd hit back by releasing YouTube footage it said showed the Bob Barker being "sandwiched" by the Nisshin Maru and Sun Laurel as it blocked a third attempt at refuelling.

The clip appears to be a longer version of the same collision captured by the whalers, but Sea Shepherd officials were unable to confirm that.

The conservation group says its footage shows the Bob Barker had right of way.

"What they're doing is taking a selective snippet," Sea Shepherd director Bob Brown told AAP.

"You can see in that footage the very small Sea Shepherd ship being tossed around (as if) in the washing machine."

Another video posted by Sea Shepherd shows a fiery flash, allegedly caused by a concussion grenade thrown by whalers, while Steve Irwin captain Paul Watson claimed "commandos" had been dropped on the Korean tanker by a Japanese military-style ship in the area, the Shirase.

Dr Brown said three armed Japanese customs officials had been dropped on to the tanker by helicopters.

"They've been dropped on that ship I believe and we see flash grenades going off," he said.

"(The Shirase is) there certainly for intimidation."

Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke said the Shirase had previously conducted research in the area with Australian co-operation.

But he said he had sought assurances from the Japanese government that the ship had not been involved in assisting the whaling fleet.

"I continue to urge everybody in the Southern Ocean to recognise safety at sea," Mr Burke said.

The ICR said Sea Shepherd had breached a US court order banning it from approaching the whaling fleet and denied its ships were illegally carrying heavy fuel in the pristine waters around Antarctica.

Dr Brown said conditions were making refuelling difficult, but more clashes were possible.

"It is extremely dangerous and, of course, I'm concerned for the safety and the wellbeing and the lives of the men and women that are down there," he said.

"But they are committed to protecting the whales and upholding the law."

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Whitehaven post heavy loss

AFTER years of modest profits Whitehaven Coal is headed for a $100 million full year loss in an anaemic coal market.

While the NSW coal miner had already downgraded its forecast, it had only vaguely stated that operating profit in the first half would be below $10 million.

The result was worse, with the company posting a $47 million first half net loss on Tuesday.

It caps off a horror year and comes five days after chief executive Tony Haggarty quit, to be replaced by Paul Flynn.

Whitehaven has been the victim of an email hoax claiming it had lost funding sending the share price down, faced permit delays for its new flagship Maules Creek project and was distracted by shareholder Nathan Tinkler's failed takeover attempt and board spill.

During a conference with financial analysts, Merrill Lynch's Peter O'Connor told Mr Haggarty he thought its profit was woeful.

Mr Haggarty said there was no magic wand to wave to turn around what had been a soft market for nearly a year, but the company would graft away at costs until it inevitably did.

"I don't think anybody is making any money at these prices," Mr Haggarty said, pointing to the losses from giant BHP Billiton's own coal division this year.

"It is hard to see a turning point, but it doesn't take much by the way of increased demand from India or China or both to soak up what's there at the moment."

Whitehaven has forecast a similar result in the second half.

The company's shares fell nine six cents, or three per cent, to close at $2.91.

Morningstar equities analyst Gareth James said the result was worse than expected.

"But Whitehaven is very much a long-term story, most of the value attributable to the company is not based on near term earnings but long-term potential," Mr James told AAP.

Japan's largest electricity J-Power paid $370 million for a 10 per cent stake and coal offtake contract in highly regarded Maules Creek with Itochu holding 15 per cent.

That implied a huge valuation for Whitehaven, in contrast to its battered market value, Mr James said.

Whitehaven blamed lower coal prices and delays to its operations for the loss.

Other negative factors included a train derailment at Boggabri that cost it 250,000 tonnes, costs associated with closing the Sunnyside mine and problems with high moisture content reducing the coal quality at its Narrabri mine.

Mr Haggarty said he expects Whitehaven to effectively double production to above seven million tonnes in 2013, aiming to hit 24 million by 2017.

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70 evacuated in Kiama due to asbestos

ABOUT 70 locals are being evacuated from their homes after a tornado-style storm dumped asbestos and other building materials on parks, backyards and streets in Kiama on the NSW south coast.

Gale-force winds uprooted trees, stripped roofs and wiped out buildings as the storm front hit in the early hours of Sunday morning.

"Seeing the roof of the fire station missing, seeing mature trees that look like they have been through a mixmaster, seeing blue tarpaulins along a defined corridor: this is an event that you associate with a tornado going through parts of America," said NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell.

"What is clear is that it cut a path, it followed a path across the land."

More than 170 homes suffered damage of some kind and the State Emergency Services (SES) believes at least 10 homes have been completely destroyed.

Power was yet to be restored to a number of homes on Monday afternoon as emergency volunteers scrambled to put tarpaulins on homes before more rain predicted in the coming days.

After observing the devastation from a helicopter, Mr O'Farrell said cabinet was working to declare it a natural disaster zone and he hoped assistance for homeowners, businesses and farmers would be unlocked within 24 hours.

He said the damage bill was unknown at this stage.

Kiama mayor Brian Petschler told AAP that about 70 people lived in the asbestos exclusion zone created by debris from the town's leisure centre and a number of houses, including one that "blew up" on the edge of town.

They were being evacuated on Monday and were expected to be allowed to return home in two days.

"They will have to stay out of there until the area has been cleared," Mr Petschler told AAP.

"We're very concerned and we've got major problems with the leisure centre, which is largely built of asbestos materials."

He said the leisure centre, a nearby carpark and a sports field had all been closed off, as well as a number of streets in the middle of town.

NSW SES Assistant Commissioner Tara McCarthy said the asbestos hadn't posed a problem while it was still wet, but there were now concerns the fibres could spread.

"Obviously we are seeing now the conditions are becoming sunnier ... and we are looking at a number of local evacuations," she told reporters.

"As soon as they commence the evacuations, then we will bring in teams to do the clean-up."

She said Kiama and the Sydney suburb of Malabar had copped the worst of the storm.

Mr Petschler said the storm hit hard and fast and it was miraculous no one had died.

"It's astounding really ... I was absolutely amazed at the ferocity of the storm," he said, adding doors and walls had been ripped off the local nursing home.

Only one woman needed treatment for an eye injury caused by flying glass.

Bruce Elder, who lives on one of Kiama's worst-hit streets, said he and his wife counted themselves "extremely lucky" after suffering only one broken window when their neighbour's balcony "decided to go for a wander".

"It was absolutely all the cliches: it started out sounding like a freight train," he told AAP.

"The best way to describe it is, take a really, really strong wind and then multiply it by 10 and you only start to get an idea of what it was like."

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Four dead, 20 injured in Thai bomb blast

FOUR people have been killed and more than 20 injured when a homemade bomb was detonated during a fight at a Buddhist festival in northeast Thailand.

Monday's explosion killed two policemen and two revellers at a concert to celebrate Makha Bhucha Day at a pagoda in Maha Sarakham province, local district police chief Kritchai Sreumsri told AFP.

He said police officers responding to a fight near the celebrations were chasing a man who was apparently carrying a homemade device when it exploded.

More than 20 people, including the man being chased, were injured in the blast at the town of Nadoon.

Makha Bhucha Day honours the teachings of Lord Buddha on the full moon day.

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Re-elected Raul Castro picks 'young' heir

PRESIDENT Raul Castro has been re-elected to what he vowed would be his last term in office, and unveiled a 52-year-old political heir assigned with securing the future of the communism in Cuba after 2018.

"This will be my last term," Castro, 81, told MPs after the National Assembly re-elected him on Sunday and named a new regime number two, Council of State Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel.

Castro said he was "elected to defend, maintain and continue perfecting socialism - not to destroy it," adding that his economic reforms will create "a less egalitarian society, but a fairer one."

Choosing Diaz-Canel, a former military man who has represented the president on foreign trips in recent months, "marks a final step in configuring the country's future leadership, through the slow and orderly transfer of the main leadership positions to new generations," Castro said.

The changes are in line with a decision adopted by the Communist Party last year to limit the terms of top office holder to 10 years. Raul Castro will reach this limit on February 24, 2018.

Raul Castro became Cuba's interim president when Fidel took ill in 2006. He formally became president in 2008.

Through the Cold War and now for more than two decades after it, the United States has tried to isolate Cuba to press for democratic change.

In 1962, it imposed a full trade embargo on Havana - the only one-party Communist regime in the Americas - to pressure the communist island to open up democratically and economically.

Cuba finally appears poised to have lined up new leadership, provided it can continue to prop up its dysfunctional economy while keeping the regime afloat.

Cuba is dependent on aid from oil-rich Venezuela and so far has failed to discover reserves of its own, although some experts say there are untapped stores of crude off its Gulf of Mexico coast.

The future of the Cuban regime also depends on the health of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Cuba's main economic supporter and political ally, who is recovering from cancer surgery. But there is no guarantee a successor would feed Cuba's economy as much as Chavez.

Diaz-Canel, who turns 53 in April, is an electrical engineer by training, a former education minister and the president's de facto political heir seeking to project the Americas' only one-party Communist regime into the future.

If Diaz-Canel comes to lead Cuba, he would be the first leader of the regime whose entire life has been under the Castro regime that started in January 1959.

Barring any changes, Diaz-Canel would succeed Raul Castro, who will be 82 in June, if the president serves out his term through 2018.

A careful speaker, the lanky Diaz-Canel also has been a leader of the Communist Youth Union, and went on an international "mission" to Nicaragua during the first leftist Sandinista government.

He rose up the ranks, leading the party in Villa Clara in central Cuba, before being chosen to lead it in Holguin province in the east. Diaz-Canel was then bumped up to the Politburo in 2003.

There was more new blood among the five vice presidents on the Council of State, in the person of Mercedes Lopez Acea, 48, the former leader of the Communist Party's Havana provincial assembly.

And Raul Castro's own daughter, Mariela Castro, was elected as an assembly politician for the first time.

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Final Geelong Ring Road section complete

MOTORISTS can now travel from Melbourne to Victoria's Surf Coast without stopping.

The final $110 million section of the Geelong Ring Road opened to traffic on Sunday, connecting the road to the Princes Highway and on to Colac.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Victorian Roads Minister Terry Mulder issued a joint statement, noting the link was vital in improving the road network between Melbourne and south-western Victoria.

Duplication of the Princes Highway from Waurn Ponds through to Winchelsea is also underway and is expected to be finished by mid-2015.

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N.Korea, Mali set to stir UN rights summit

WIDESPREAD abuses in North Korea and Mali are set to be the subject of heated debate at the 22nd session of the UN Human Rights Council, which kicks off on Monday.

Around 100 ministers and other dignitaries are set to take part in the most important of the council's three annual sessions, which will last from February 25 through March 22.

Among the many resolutions set to be adopted during the final two days of the session is one that would pave the way for a commission of inquiry into rights abuses in secretive North Korea.

It would mark the first "initiative to do a comprehensive investigation on systematic violations of human rights and crimes against humanity" in North Korea, Juliette De Rivero, head of Human Rights Watch's Geneva office, said.

The resolution, to be tabled by Japan and the European Union, comes after UN human rights chief Navi Pillay last month decried the "deplorable" situation in North Korea.

Pillay stressed that "an in-depth inquiry into one of the worst, but least understood and reported human rights situations in the world is not only fully justified, but long overdue".

She described meetings in December with two survivors of North Korea's network of political prison camps - believed to hold at least 200,000 people - who listed rampant violations inside the camps that "may amount to crimes against humanity."

Last year, for the first time, both the UN's General Assembly in New York and its Human Rights Council in Geneva adopted strong resolutions by consensus condemning North Korea for its systematic rights violations.

It remains to be seen whether the commission of inquiry resolution will pass by consensus - which is by far preferred in the council.

Russia, China and Cuba, which have often in the past demanded votes on such resolutions, are not among the rotating list of 47 member states this year, leaving Venezuela as the only likely obstacle to full consensus, observers say.

Another expected resolution during the coming session will be on conflict-torn Mali, amid reports of widespread human rights abuses, including by Malian troops which with France's help have been struggling to expel Islamists from the vast northern territory the militants seized last April.

France has asked the UN Security Council to quickly deploy observers to oversee the human rights situation in the country, and NGOs in Geneva expect the rights council to adopt a resolution on this issue.

A review of the situation in Sri Lanka will also be a priority during the coming session, according the NGOs, which are demanding a resolution paving the way for an international probe into rights violations during the final months of the country's long civil war.

The situation in Syria - where a spiralling civil war has left an estimated 70,000 people dead, spurred more than 850,000 people to flee the country and left more than four million others in dire need of aid - will also be on the agenda.

A UN commission of inquiry on Syria will officially present its latest report, which was published earlier this month and which flagged war crimes by both government forces and rebels.

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Central Queensland braces for drenching

A SEVERE weather warning is in place for parts of Queensland, where authorities say heavy rainfall may cause flash flooding.

The weather bureau is predicting heavy rainfall from Gladstone to the New South Wales border on Sunday night and Monday.

More than 200mm of rain is expected in some areas and strong winds are likely from Bowen to Bundaberg.

"You can expect flash flooding after heavy rainfall, but of course it depends on how heavy and widespread it has been," Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Ben Annels told AAP.

Flood warnings are in place for Balonne, Thompson, Barcoo and western rivers as well as Cooper Creek.

An earlier severe thunderstorm warning for Brisbane has since been lifted, although further thunderstorms are possible, Mr Annels says.

Water at Wivenhoe and Somerset dams in southeast Queensland is being released in preparation for more heavy rain, Seqwater says.

On Sunday night water will also be released at North Pine and Leslie Harrison dams.

All of these dams are 88 to 100 per cent full.

Water is spilling over twelve ungated dams in the region.

A number of lakes have been closed, with details available on the Seqwater website.

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