Four homes lost, worst over in Vic fires

A huge bushfire burning in the Grampians region of Victoria is now 41-thousand hectares in size. Source: AAP

VICTORIA'S fire chief says the worst of the state's bushfire emergency is over.

Four homes have been lost in the Grampians fire, one of 34 still active across the state.

Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley says fires, mostly caused by lightning, have burned through 100,000 hectares.

Four homes have been lost in Victoria's Grampians region along with numerous sheds and many kilometres of fencing, and up to 7500 sheep have been affected, most of which will have to be put down.

There are no emergency warnings currently in place.

Residents who were evacuated in the Grampians will be allowed back Saturday afternoon.

Mr Lapsley said 34 fires are listed as still going in Victoria, the main ones being in the Grampians, the Mallee, Gippsland and Big River Country.

Most of the fires were caused by lightning during the past two nights but a number were caused by human hand, either by recklessness or arson, Mr Lapsley said.

This included a fire in Melbourne's outer northern suburb of Epping, where police are investigating a suspicious vehicle after fire began in multiple spots on the roadside.

Mr Lapsley says the worst appears to be over.

"I think the worst is behind us," Mr Lapsley said.

However, fire crews are still monitoring north east Victoria which is still experiencing hot conditions.

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Aust man faces US sex charge extradition

AN Australian man faces extradition to the US after allegedly posing as a teenage girl or boy online to trick and then extort boys into performing sex acts on the internet.

Mark Anthony Warren, 49, was arrested in NSW after an investigation by the FBI, US attorney for the southern district of New York, Preet Bharara, announced on Friday.

"As alleged, Mark Anthony Warren used social media and phoney profiles to ensnare his minor victims and later force them into engaging in sexually explicit acts that he recorded," Bharara said.

"Warren allegedly believed he could hide behind the anonymity of the internet and use special computer software to escape detection, but he was sorely mistaken."

One of Warren's alleged victims was a 14-year-old New York boy.

When Warren tricked boys into engaging in sexually explicit conduct online, he secretly recorded it and then threatened to disseminate the videos unless the children produced and sent him additional sexually explicit videos, prosecutors allege.

He allegedly created bogus accounts on various social media websites using false teenage girl and boy identities to trick the children.

Warren is charged with one count of production of child pornography and one count of attempted production of child pornography.

Each charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in US federal prison and a maximum 30 years.

He is also charged with receipt and distribution of child pornography, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 20.

Bharara praised the FBI, NSW Police and the Australian Federal Police.

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Australia assists people-smuggler arrests

ALLEGED people-smugglers have been arrested in Vietnam and Sri Lanka with the help of Australian intelligence.

Information provided to Vietnamese national police led to the arrest of a Vietnamese national in Southern Vietnam over a number of people-smuggling ventures, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison says.

Sri Lankan authorities have also arrested three people in Sri Lanka for alleged involvement in people-smuggling.

No further details were available.

The latest update on Operation Sovereign Borders released on Friday said there had been no asylum boat arrivals in the past week.

There was a total of 1297 people being processed on Manus Island, 942 people in Nauru and 1987 people in the Christmas Island facilities.

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Fire could threaten Qld homes within hours

Firefighters are continuing to monitor a fire that threatened homes on Queensland's Darling Downs. Source: AAP

A LARGE blaze on the Darling Downs, west of Brisbane, could reach homes by 3.00pm.

The fire has burnt 400 hectares of land near the Gore Highway at The Pines, about 120km west of Toowoomba, at noon (AEST) on Friday.

Firefighters are warning locals to prepare for possible evacuations with the blaze predicted to reach their homes in the next two to six hours.

Homes along Flamingo, Rosella, Peacock, Yagaburne-Boondandilla and Pine Ridge roads are expected to be affected.

"Residents are strongly advised to be prepared to relocate to a safer area if required," the latest Queensland Fire and Rescue Service alert says.

"Leaving is the safest option for survival in a bushfire."

Those who don't have a safe place to run to are being advised to head for the Millmerran Sports Centre on Commens Street at Millmerran.

The fire took hold on Thursday, south of the town.

At one stage it threatened homes in the Wattle Ridge area. Crews were able to contain it but not before it destroyed a van and a shed.

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Morrison closes four detention centres

Deputy PM Warren Truss says critics of the government's asylum-seeker policies want open borders. Source: AAP

THE Abbott government has begun closing immigration detention centres across the country, but will not discuss rising tensions at the crowded facility on Christmas Island.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday announced the closure of four detention centres, claiming the move will save the federal budget close to $90 million a year.

The Scherger facility in Queensland, the Port Augusta facility in South Australia and the Leonora facility in Western Australia will be closed by the end of next month.

The Pontville facility in Tasmania will also be formally closed and returned to Defence after sitting empty since September.

"These sites are remote, relatively small and expensive," Mr Morrison said in a statement.

"While I acknowledge there will be an impact on some local business and service provider staff, these closures bring significant financial savings for the government and the Australian taxpayer."

Mr Morrison says the remaining detainees in Scherger, Port Augusta and Leonora will be transferred to other facilities in the coming weeks, but the Australian Greens want more details.

"Christmas Island is already crowded, and Manus Island and Nauru are not fit to hold anybody, let alone more people," Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young told reporters in Canberra.

"They should be put in community detention - that's the cheapest option."

The ABC reports a hunger strike is under way and half a dozen detainees have sewn their lips together at Christmas Island. But Mr Morrison is refusing to talk about the situation there.

"Commentary or publication of such activities can provide an incentive for such behaviour, which is in the best interests of people in detention to discourage," his spokeswoman told AAP.

Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss defended the government from fresh criticism of its secretive approach to asylum seekers, saying there was "widespread satisfaction" with the coalition's policies.

"I think some of those who are critical of the government's approach to asylum seekers don't want our policy to succeed.

"They actually want open doors."

Meanwhile, the Australian Federal Police have confirmed a 27-year-old Lebanese asylum seeker has been charged after threatening to blow up the jet that transported him from Perth to Christmas Island last week.

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Pyne says Labor misled public on Holden

Christopher Pyne says Labor has mislead the public into thinking Holden could have been saved. Source: AAP

THE federal government says Labor has misled the public over its claim car maker Holden could have been saved with more taxpayers' money.

But Labor leader Bill Shorten says the coalition has spent more time justifying its inaction than standing up for workers.

Holden plans to pull out of manufacturing in Victoria and South Australia by the end of 2017, but will continue to sell Holden-badged cars made overseas.

General Motors international operations boss Stefan Jacoby told reporters at the Detroit motor show that no amount of extra government funding would have made the plants viable.

"The decision was not made on any (government) incentives or any reduction of incentives," Mr Jacoby said.

Mr Shorten and South Australian Labor Premier Jay Weatherill have insisted Holden - which has made cars in Australia for 75 years - could have been saved with the right incentives.

Treasurer Joe Hockey said on Twitter: "Bill Shorten and Jay Weatherill (have been) called out by GM executives for their foolish behaviour. Enough said."

Coalition frontbencher Christopher Pyne said Labor should apologise for misleading people about public money keeping Holden viable.

"Today we've seen ... the shredding of Jay Weatherill's credibility," Mr Pyne said.

The issue of car making is expected to be key in the SA state election in March as well as the Victorian state election in November.

Mr Shorten told AAP the federal government was treating Australian jobs and workers' livelihoods as a "game".

"They have spent more time trying to justify their own inaction over Holden than they ever spent trying to protect Holden jobs," he said.

"The fact is, the prime minister cares more about his own job than about protecting manufacturing jobs."

Mr Jacoby also said Mr Hockey's declaration in parliament late last year for Holden to "come clean" on its decision had no impact on the outcome.

The car executive said the teleconference in which he proposed the decision - and the board accepted it - was happening at the exact same time.

Acting Greens leader Richard Di Natale said the government was wrong to goad Holden into closing and Mr Weatherill had acted in good faith to stand up for car-making jobs.

Mr Jacoby said car manufacturing generally was not viable in Australia.

Mr Pyne said the government was supportive of the last remaining major car maker, Toyota.

"Of course we want Toyota to stay and we will give them all the support that is available to them under the government's policies," he said.

Mr Weatherill told reporters that the federal government was trying to shift the blame for the demise of Holden in its characterisation of Mr Jacoby's remarks.

He said it remained a fact that in October last year Holden had put a proposition to the commonwealth to retain its manufacturing operations in Australia and the government rejected that proposal.

"Now we have the raking over the coals now Holden has closed to make sure that blame is shifted," Mr Weatherill said.

"A proposition was put to the federal government that they rejected which led to the closure of Holden.

"It's as simple as that."

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Redcliffe by-election set for February 22

THE by-election for the Queensland state seat of Redcliffe, north of Brisbane, will be held on February 22.

The seat became vacant after former LNP member Scott Driscoll quit parliament in November because he was found guilty of misleading the house about his financial and business interests.

He had already quit the party, having moved to the parliamentary crossbenches, in April 2013 when the allegations surfaced.

Premier Campbell Newman announced the by-election date on Monday after touring the Redcliffe Hospital.

He apologised and pleaded with voters to not judge the LNP for Mr Driscoll's failures.

Registered nurse Kerri-Anne Dooley will represent the LNP at the Redcliffe by-election.

Labor's candidate is former federal MP Yvette D'Ath.

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Protesters fight Maules Creek mine

PROTESTERS have locked themselves onto bulldozers as they fight against the development of the controversial Maules Creek coal mine in northwest NSW.

About 30 activists, including local Aboriginal community members, on Monday blockaded heavy vehicles which are at the Boggabri site to build roads and a rail line, Georgina Woods from the Leard Forest Alliance told AAP .

If the road to Whitehaven Coal's proposed $767 million open-cut mine is cut through the forest then animals, plants and sacred Aboriginal sites would be lost, she said.

And while admitting that stopping the project was "a bit of a long shot," Ms Woods said the protesters, stationed throughout the large forest, wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.

"It's our intention to remain here the rest of the week and until this forest gets a reprieve and it's protected from this coal mine," she said.

About 20 police were at Monday's protest.

"Police rescue have gone in. They will be trying to remove our protesters," Ms Woods said.

"But we think they're set up in a way that they won't be able to be removed quickly."

Protesters also blockaded the site in December after the Federal Court dismissed an application by the Northern Inland Council for the Environment (NICE), which had called for the approval granted by former environment minister Tony Burke to be overturned.

Police cut the activists free before arresting them.

Whitehaven has previously said the project would create 800-plus jobs and enjoyed support from most local residents.

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Suspicious fire destroys mowing company

FIFTY firefighters were needed to bring a roaring fire under control at a lawn-mowing business north of Adelaide.

The blaze in Willaston, which was well alight by 5am on Sunday, is being treated as suspicious.

A fire service spokeswoman says it took two hours to contain the fire, and it would take several hours to extinguish it.

"The damage bill has been set at about $500,000 and the cause is believed to be suspicious," she said.

Sergeant Andrew Pomeray said investigations were under way into the cause of the fire.

"We believe there may be some evidence of a break-in," he said.

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Vic to erase convictions for gay sex

Victoria is set to announce plans to erase the convictions of men for having consensual gay sex. Source: AAP

VICTORIAN men prosecuted for having gay sex will be able to apply to have their convictions erased under laws before state parliament this year.

Gay rights advocates welcomed the move, saying it will help end the stigma and shame endured by hundreds of men based on discriminatory laws more than 30 years ago.

Denis Napthine made the announcement to delete gay criminal records as he became the first Victorian premier to open Melbourne's 26th annual Midsumma carnival, which drew thousands of revellers to celebrate gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex (GLBTI) culture on Sunday.

"This is a good piece of legislation," Dr Napthine told reporters in Melbourne.

"I'm surprised it's taken this long but this is fair and reasonable."

The Hamer Liberal government decriminalised homosexuality in Victoria in 1981.

Under legislation before parliament this year, those convicted of consensual sexual acts with other men can apply to have the convictions expunged.

"I recognise the GLBTI community has a great contribution to make to this great state and the diversity of this state," Dr Napthine earlier told reporters.

"What we want is people to be able to enjoy their sexuality in whatever form it takes within the privacy of their own home".

Human Rights Law Centre advocacy director Anna Brown said deleting unjust convictions will help end shame endured by gay men unfairly burdened with criminal records.

"Acknowledging these laws were wrong and legislating to abolish the left-over convictions will start to heal the harm these discriminatory laws have caused," she said.

Until 1981, gay men were convicted and even jailed for offences including buggery and loitering for homosexual purposes, which created barriers to work, volunteering and travel.

In some cases, men who would now be treated as sex abuse victims were charged.

Victorian man Noel Tovey says he pleased he can remove the black mark from his name.

"It's good to know at the age of 80, that I am no longer a criminal in the eyes of the law and society," he said.

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