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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Qld blazes keep firefighters busy

A SERIES of bush and grass fires across Queensland is keeping emergency services busy and creating smokey conditions.

Fire crews were able to bring back within containment lines a large bushfire burning near Euleilah, north of Bundaberg on Saturday, after working through the night.

The blaze, burning since Tuesday, had forced an evacuation alert for the town on Friday.

A second fire at nearby Rosedale, which began on Saturday morning, was also brought under control by the afternoon.

Meanwhile, a scrub fire at Mount Low, near Townsville, did not threaten properties but caused a large volume of smoke and haze throughout the region.

Residents on the Gold Coast reported seeing a dense haze from a fire at Jimboomba, which was contained on Friday.

Closer to Brisbane, firefighters continued to backburn around a bushfire at Greenbank on Saturday, which has consumed over 1500 hectares since Monday.

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