Man steals donations from Melbourne church

MELBOURNE police are hoping a man who stole church donations comes clean with a confession.

The man, who was captured on CCTV, stole the cash from two tins at a Seventh-Day Adventist church at Clayton last Sunday.

Detective Senior Constable Mick Van Der Heyden said the church was open to worshippers at the time.

"If anyone saw anything suspicious in or around the church, we would certainly be interested in speaking to them," he said.

"On the other hand, if the person responsible wants to come forward I am happy to hear his confession."

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Girl dead, men injured after plane crash

A YOUNG girl has died and two men have survived a plane crash into a northern NSW river believed to have happened after their aircraft hit power lines.

The pilot, a 50-year-old man who suffered only minor injuries, freed himself from the wreckage and called authorities seeking help for his two passengers following the crash southwest of Casino on Saturday morning, police said.

They were able to save a 39-year-old male passenger who was taken to Lismore Base Hospital by helicopter, where he remains in a serious condition.

A 12-year-old girl died at the scene.

"It's believed the aircraft hit power lines and then crashed into a nearby river," police said.

A crime scene has been established and a report will be prepared for the coroner.

The Australian Transportation Safety Bureau will investigate the cause of the crash.

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Ita to remain at category one strength

The weather bureau has warned Cyclone Ita is unlikely to drop below cyclone strength. Source: AAP

CYCLONE Ita is unlikely to drop below cyclone strength despite making landfall 19 hours ago, the Bureau of Meteorology has warned.

A cyclone warning issued at 5pm (AEST) shows Ita will remain at category one strength and will head out into the Coral Sea near Innisfail in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The bureau predicts Ita will remain at category one strength at least until 5pm (AEST) on Monday on a south-easterly track that runs roughly parallel with the Queensland coast.

Ita roared ashore about 9pm on Friday as a severe category four cyclone, forcing hundreds of people at Cooktown and nearby Hope Vale to take refuge in cyclone shelters.

At 5pm on Saturday, Ita was estimated to be 20km south-southwest of Port Douglas and 45 kilometres west-northwest of Cairns, moving south southeast at 11km/h.

It is likely to move southeast close to or just off the coast for the next 24 hours, with damaging winds with gusts to 120km/h likely between Port Douglas and Cairns for the remainder of Saturday.

A storm tide is expected between Cape Tribulation and Cairns.

Large waves may produce minor flooding along the foreshore.

Heavy rainfall that may cause flash flooding is falling in the coast and ranges between Port Douglas and Ayr, and should extend south to about Yeppoon during Sunday. Isolated 24-hour totals of more than 300mm are likely.

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has declared a catastrophe in parts of north Queensland affected by Ita.

ICA chief executive officer Rob Whelan said the ICA has established a recovery taskforce and initiated a disaster hotline to help policyholders unsure of their insurer with general inquiries about claims.

"This is an emerging natural disaster situation and the full extent of the damage may take many weeks to determine. However, the general insurance industry has already geared up to ensure it responds swiftly and appropriately," he said.

The ICA hotline is 1800 734 621.

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Bus-car collision in Myanmar kills 12

A PASSENGER bus has collided with a car and burst into flames along a Myanmar highway, killing 12 passengers and injuring five others.

The Information Ministry says the bus overtook the car Saturday and hit and dragged the vehicle, causing the fuel tank to explode. Six car occupants and six bus passengers died.

The collision happened on the highway linking Yangon, the largest city, with Mandalay, 715 kilometres to the north.

The highway is notorious for many accidents resulting in high number of deaths and injuries. Most are caused by speeding and defective road.

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Qld locals prepare for category five

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman has cut short a trade trip as the state prepares for cyclone Ita. Source: AAP

FAR north Queensland residents are preparing for the worst as category five Cyclone Ita heads their way.

Ita was upgraded to a category five late on Thursday afternoon and is predicted to land north of Cooktown on Friday night, with a strong chance of coinciding with a 7pm high tide.

This will create dangerous storm surges, about 1.5 metres bigger than usual high tides, along a 240km stretch of coast from Port Douglas to Cape Melville, Queensland's Bureau of Meteorology says.

The bureau's senior forecaster Pradeep Singh says heavy rain will also trigger flash floods.

He said while Ita was intense, it's a smaller system and would move slower than category five Cyclone Yasi in 2011 and category four Cyclone Larry in 2006.

It's expected to bring 280km/h winds when it hits the coast, with 9000 people directly in its path.

Cooktown mayor Peter Scott said cyclone shelters were being put up Thursday night as winds of up to 100 km/hr were forecast to hit the town on Friday morning.

"It's coming in faster and bigger than we first thought it was going too," he said while boarding up windows of his family home.

Premier Campbell Newman has pleaded for campers and residents in low lying areas to seek safer shelter.

"There'll be lots of rain, 100mm of torrential rain. That means flooding of creeks and road crossings," he said.

"If it's flooded forget it. Please don't put your life at risk."

Staff and tourists have left Lizard Island, while 50 mine workers have already abandoned the Cape Flattery silica mine township, north of Cooktown.

Some residents north of Port Douglas have already evacuated their homes.

Local Dianne Fursdon says an eerie quiet feeling has enveloped Cooktown.

"It's really strange, everything has gone quiet," she told AAP.

"There's no bird sounds, no geckos and the ants are all crawling onto higher ground."

Ms Fursdon feels confident her home will withstand the storm as she's used five rolls of tape to secure windows.

"Maybe the roof will come off, but what the hell," she said with a smile.

"All I need is my plonk and I'll be fine."

Fourteen-year-old Kathleen Stevens, her aunt and great aunt were buying buckets and jerry cans to fill with water and fuel at the 11th hour.

They've been warned they may have to go without water and power for some time.

The family is hopeful their home can withstand the force of potentially destructive winds.

"But if it gets really bad we're going to head to the cyclone shelter," Kathleen told AAP.

"Or the bathroom because it's sturdy," her aunt Stacey Stevens added.

A cyclone watch has been declared for areas up to 300km inland, including Kalinga, Laura, Palmerville and Chillagoe.

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ASIC rejects corruption allegation

AUSTRALIA'S investment watchdog has hit back at claims of corruption within its ranks.

Australian Securities and Investment Commission chairman Greg Medcraft has rejected, in a Senate hearing, suggestions staff acted inappropriately when authorising the use of online superannuation calculators in 2005.

The accusations stem from lawyer James Wheeldon, who was engaged by ASIC as part of a team tasked with granting permission to superannuation funds to offer customers the online tool to tally their super savings.

Mr Wheeldon claims ASIC failed to comply with its own standards when issuing an exemption that meant fees and charges were not necessarily included in the calculations.

Mr Wheeldon has previously told the senate hearing he reported to a senior lawyer, Grant Jones, who was on secondment to ASIC from the wealth management division of National Australia Bank, MLC.

Mr Wheeldon said Mr Jones acted as a "enthusiastic advocate within ASIC" for the benefit of MLC.

He also told the hearing that head of the team, Mark Adams, was driving an outcome which would see permission granted across the industry for the use of online calculators.

In response on Thursday, Mr Medcraft discredited Mr Wheeldon as a junior lawyer who was employed by ASIC for only nine months.

"ASIC completely rejects Mr Wheeldon's allegations," he said.

There was no special treatment for any parties and if ASIC considered the matter again, the same outcome would be achieved, Mr Medcraft said.

The Senate Economics References Committee's inquiry into the performance of ASIC is due to report back in late May.

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Northern Victoria cops drenching from rain

PARTS of northern and north-eastern Victoria and are watching the skies nervously as heavy rain threatens flooding.

Some parts of the state's north have had up to 80mm of rain - well over the average for April - since Tuesday as a slow-moving low pressure trough crosses the state.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has renewed severe weather warnings for heavy rain and possible flash flooding in the Mallee, Northern Country and North East forecast regions, a wide area that spans Mildura, Swan Hill, Bendigo, Echuca, Shepparton, Benalla, Wangaratta and Wodonga.

BoM senior forecaster Terry Ryan said Rushworth, near Shepparton, had 50mm of rain to 9am (AEST) on Thursday while Bendigo had 45mm and Benalla 44mm over the same period.

Since 9am, a further 29mm fell near Benalla at Violet Town and falls around 30mm were common across the north of the state.

Mr Ryan said between 30mm and 80mm had fallen across the north, with the heaviest falls in the high country.

Flood watches have been issued for the Goulburn/Broken river catchment and for East Gippsland.

Severe weather warnings for the central district around Melbourne, the Wimmera and North Central districts have been cancelled.

Melbourne has copped its heaviest rainfall since November with 20mm falling over the past two days.

There, the main impact has been on the roads, with cars colliding in the slippery conditions.

There haven't been any serious injuries, Ambulance Victoria said in a tweet on Thursday, but paramedics have been called to 24 collisions across the state in the space of eight hours.

The State Emergency Service handled more than 70 assistance calls on Thursday, mainly for building damage and fallen trees.

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ICAC hears how Tripodi baled up Kelly

Former NSW minister Tony Kelly has admitted a cabinet minute that didn't favour AWH was rewritten. Source: AAP

FORMER minister Joe Tripodi says he took a 10-hour round trip to rural NSW to learn about hay, not straighten out a story with ex-MP Tony Kelly.

Counsel assisting the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), Geoffrey Watson SC, on Thursday accused Mr Tripodi of trying to elude investigators by switching his mobile telephone off for most of the trip to Wellington.

But Mr Tripodi did not realise his sat-nav system was tracking his every turn, Mr Watson said.

"You turned off your telephone that day, deliberately," Mr Watson put to the witness.

"You didn't want anybody to have the facility to track where you were going."

The corruption watchdog has heard allegations Mr Tripodi and Mr Kelly helped create a sham cabinet minute that boosted Australian Water Holdings' (AWH) prospects of securing a lucrative public-private partnership.

The document replaced - and effectively reversed - expert advice prepared by external consultant Brian McGlynn.

The two men agreed they had a hand in altering the original minute: Mr Kelly agreed it was his decision to put up a new "positive" minute, while Mr Tripodi said he provided "working notes" that were incorporated in the paper.

But both men deny penning the final minute or working to further AWH's interests to benefit crooked ex-MP Eddie Obeid, whose family allegedly had a secret stake in the company.

It was revealed on Thursday that Mr Tripodi visited Mr Kelly's Wellington property in central western NSW early last year.

Mr Kelly said his old parliamentary colleague showed up unannounced with a hamburger in one hand and a coffee in the other and the men chatted about what fellow ex-MPs were up to.

Mr Tripodi mentioned that former planning minister Frank Sartor was writing a book "bagging out Labor" and that the notorious cabinet minute alteration would get a mention, Mr Kelly said.

"And then he finished his hamburger and said, okay, good to catch up with you and off he went," Mr Kelly said.

In a bizarre afternoon of evidence, Mr Tripodi claimed he was in the area to scout out a possible hay export scheme for a Chinese friend.

"You know lucerne costs about $12 a bale. It's not even economic to move lucerne (the 100km) from Wellington to Orange, so why would someone be exporting it back to Shanghai?" Mr Watson asked incredulously.

"Did you go down there for the sole purpose of getting stories straight about the cabinet minute?"

"Absolutely not," Mr Tripodi said.

The inquiry heard about extensive telephone contact between Mr Tripodi and former AWH chief executive Nick Di Girolamo.

"Like two young lovers," Mr Watson said. "You were at it all day."

Mr Tripodi denied he did anything wrong by putting Mr Di Girolamo in touch with then-water minister Phil Costa.

"I did that for many, many people on many, many issues," Mr Tripodi said.

"There was a dry cleaner at Wynyard that approached me when I was catching a train, raised some issues, and I went and raised it with a minister."

"We haven't got to that inquiry yet," Mr Watson quipped.

The inquiry continues on Friday with Mr Di Girolamo due to give evidence.

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Impose conditions on Galilee mine: court

A MULTI-BILLION dollar coal mine in Queensland's Galilee Basin should only go-ahead if a number of conditions are met, the state's land court has ruled.

The non-binding recommendations were made to the state government on Tuesday after a bid by six parties to stop the Alpha Mine, part owned by Gina Rinehart.

They argued the mine would contribute to climate change and have "permanent and irreversible" effects on ground water.

Queensland Land Court member Paul Smith recommended the mine be rejected or further conditions imposed.

They include obtaining licences to use ground water, monitoring and compensation for landholders.

It is now up to the state government to decide which, if any, of the recommendations are imposed.

As the ruling outlines options to both reject and grant the mine lease, both the developers and the landholders are crying victory.

Paola Cassoni, whose land adjoins the proposed lease, said the court's decision vindicated the community's "grave concerns".

A report commissioned by lobby group Lock the Gate found that the water table would be reduced by five metres if all the nine mines proposed for the basin are approved.

That's equivalent to 525 years of livestock and domestic water supplies for the area, the report said.

GVK Hancock however is claiming victory and says the recommendations "endorsed" the environmental assessments carried out by the company.

And, Queensland Resources Council boss Michael Roche says the decision to "uphold" the approval means the basin will be finally opened for business.

The project is estimated to generate 4000 full-time positions and contribute about $40 billion in royalties and taxes during its lifetime, he said.

The Australian Greens are calling on the Queensland government to put the climate ahead of Gina Rinehart.

"The court's decision proves that it's high time we change our environmental laws so that this kind of climate destruction cannot be given the green light," Senator Larissa Waters said.

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Evacuation at Sydney food factory

WORKERS have been evacuated from a food processing plant on Sydney's lower north shore after a grain silo threatened to explode.

Emergency services rushed to the factory in Lane Cove on Tuesday night amid reports the temperature inside the silo had risen beyond safe levels.

Staff were evacuated and firefighters pumped carbon dioxide into the silo to try and lower the temperature.

"If the temperature increases over the next few hours we could have some problems," said Fire and Rescue NSW Inspector Ian Krimmer.

"If the temperature remains static or decreases we'll be a lot happier."

Emergency services are expected to remain at the site for most of the evening.

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