Explosives accused faces Bunbury court

A BUNBURY man has been charged over the discovery of several suspicious packages in the South West.

Police and army detonate a suspicious package in Australind last month. A man has been charged with possession of the explosives. Source: News Limited

A 33-year-old man has appeared in a West Australian court over the discovery of highly volatile explosive chemicals.

Ben Roberts was charged over the weekend with five counts of making or possessing explosives in suspicious circumstances.

He appeared briefly in the Bunbury Magistrates Court this morning and the case was adjourned until November 19 when he will make a bail application.

A member of the public found about 3kg of the substance TATP (acetone peroxide) hidden underwater near a jetty at Leschenault Estuary in Australind last month.

A second package was found at the same site 36 hours later, and both were destroyed in controlled detonations.

A third suspicious package was found at a disused caravan site at Peppermint Grove Beach last Friday, but police have not confirmed what it contained.

TATP, also known as "Mother of Satan", was used in the London terrorist bombings in 2005.

It is created through a chemical reaction between hydrogen peroxide and acetone, is highly volatile, and particularly susceptible to heat, friction and shock.

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Driver killed in horror truck crash

A truck driver has died and several others are injured in a horror crash on Great Eastern Highway, early today.

A TRUCKIE has died and several others are injured in a horror crash involving two trucks on Great Eastern Highway, about 50km east of Perth, early today.

The crash happened about 5.15am near Carter Road, when it is believed the two trucks collided head-on on a bend.

One of the truck drivers died at the scene.

The other driver and his female passenger were injured and taken to Royal Perth Hospital.

A truckdriver has died in a head-on crash near Beechina, about 50km east of Perth.

The RAC rescue chopper was sent to the scene and airlifted an injured woman to Royal Perth Hospital.

One of the first people on the scene, a man who was on his way to work but did not want to be named, told PerthNow the driver of one of the trucks had escaped with just a cut to his face.

According to the witness, one truck was heading east towards Northam and the other truck containing a man and a woman was heading towards Perth

A truckie has been killed and Great Eastern Highway has been closed off after a collision between two trucks, one carrying pool chemicals. Picture: Will Russell

"The male driver of the Perth-bound vehicle had a cut to his face but was able to walk and talk ok, (he was) very shocked and very lucky," the man on the scene said.

"The male driver of the vehicle travelling east would have died instantly.

"The female passenger was asleep in the sleeper cab, she was badly injured but was removed from the vehicle due to the leaking fuel and the chemicals from the Perth bound truck all over the road.

A truckdriver has died in a head-on crash near Beechina, about 50km east of Perth.

"She was airlifted as I departed the scene."

One of the trucks was carrying pool chemicals, some of which came off the truck and spilled across the highway.

Great Eastern Highway near Carter Road has been closed in both directions and will remain closed for several hours due to the chemical spill-clean-up.

A truckie is dead and Great Eastern Highway has been closed off since just after 5am following a head-on collision between two trucks. Picture: Will Russell

Road users should allow extra travel time or use alternative routes where possible.

A truckdriver has died in a head-on crash near Beechina, about 50km east of Perth.

Meanwhile, a 34-year-old man has died in Royal Perth Hospital this morning after he was hit by a truck in Osborne Park just after 7am.

Police say the man was struck near the corner of Main and Hutton Streets about 7.20am.

He was taken to RPH with life-threatening injuries and died several hours later.

Anyone who saw the accident is asked to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333000.

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Pregnant Gale 'excited and thrilled'

Megan Gale posted her sonogram to Instagram this afternoon. Source: Supplied

SUPERMODEL Megan Gale is expecting her first child with boyfriend Shaun Hampson.

The 38-year-old star posted a picture of her sonogram on Instagram.

"I'm so excited and thrilled to announce that my boyfriend Shaun and I are expecting our first child together and I'm 13 weeks pregnant," Gale wrote.

"We have prayed for this beautiful little soul to come along and now it's happened we could not be more thankful and we can't wait to be parents. SO looking forward to meeting you our little angel."

Gale's boyfriend Shaun Hampson, 25, plays AFL for Richmond.

The Perth born beauty has had a string of high profile romances. She dated Italian model Marzio Canevarolo for years before picking up with one of Australia's favourite funnymen, Andy Lee. The pair began dating in 2006 giving hope to gangly men countrywide. But the relationship was not to last with the couple breaking up in 2010.

Shaun Hampson and Megan Gale at the Caulfield Cup. Source: News Limited

Two months later, Gale was linked to Hampson.

At first Gale refused to talk about her new relationship, and for the first time in her career was branded "stony-faced" and a "diva".

"He's a professional athlete who has to focus on what he does," she told Sunday Magazine at the time. "I didn't want to do anything wrong by him or the club. My heart was in the right place trying to protect everyone, but it didn't win me any favours. That was a hard thing to deal with."

She said the very young Hampson (who is now 25) dealt with all the media pressure impressed her. "I was a bit overwhelmed, but he handled it in a very mature way," she said. "Some guys would have taken off like a rocket, some might have been outside posing with their top off - you just don't know!"

Shaun Hampson and Megan Gale at the Carlton Best and Fairest. Source: News Limited

Gale is adamant the 13-year age difference has been irrelevant. "If someone knows what they want out of life, it doesn't matter if they're 23 or 43. If they treat me well and make me laugh, that's enough," she explained. "Throwing around labels such as 'toyboy' or 'cougar' is unfair. You're defining someone without seeing past who they really are."

Does the age gap matter when it comes to planning a future together? "I don't plan a lot," she said. "I think you have to be a bit flexible. If you put limits on what you want to do, and when, you only set yourself up for disappointment if you don't achieve it. You don't know where life is going to take you."

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Aussie tells of post-typhoon horror

Mark Kita was with his fiance Lovella were in a hotel when Typhoon Haiyan hit at its most furious. They are at the Cebu airport waiting to catch a flight to Manila. Picture: Daniel Hartley-Allen Source: News Limited

TACLOBAN is now a toxic city of the dead, according to Australian Mark Kita, who was with his fiancé Lovella Montecina in a hotel when Typhoon Haiyan hit at its most furious.

"On Friday morning, by 6.30, we didn't feel safe because the whole building was wobbling," he said of the moment the biggest storm in recent history struck the XYZ Hotel in the island city's downtown.

"We went downstairs and while waiting for out breakfast the storm surge came in, pushed in the windows and came up to the second floor," he said.

"The building lost roofing and glass, but the shanties along the coast were all destroyed. In that one area alone they're saying there's 1000 dead."

Looters are now battling police and Mr Kita said the sound of gunfire has rung through the past two nights.

Mr Kita, from Bendigo, was on holiday visiting Lovella, who he will marry in coming months.

After the storm struck they walked together 10km from the hotel to her parents' house, past scenes of unimaginable destruction, with the corpses of people and animals lining the streets.

"Yesterday when we were walking back from the hotel they were picking up bodies in trucks. There's a stench throughout a lot of the city," Mr Kita said.

The pair said they scrambled to catch a flight out of Tacloban to the neighbouring island of Cebu, lucky to get aboard a commercial plane that had just delivered water and food.

They said there was nothing left for them in the city of around 100,000 except for a constant sense of danger.

At Cebu airport Australians were making their way to Manila and trying to reach home. Remy Mills, 49, from Mernda in North Melbourne, was holidaying in the Moving Pig Hotel in Lapu Lapu, on the island of Cebu.

"When it hit hard, we went in the basement," said Ms Mills, who has lived in Australia for 30 years. "It was so scary," she said after the luxury hotel lost its roof. "I grew up in the Philippines but I have never experienced that before."

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Joanne Lees almost destroyed case

Why does British backpacker Peter Falconio's execution death and the abduction of his girlfriend Joanne Lees by Bradley John Murdoch in the remote NT outback tap into our worst nightmares?

MORE than anything, Rex Wild QC needed Joanne Lees to give him a performance, to show a little concern and a maybe a little heartache.

The trial of Bradley Murdoch was getting heavy coverage in Australia and England. Wild did not want the amateur psychoanalysts in the media commentating too freely on Lees' strangely cold and distant demeanour.

Such a big case demanded theatre, not just for the media but for the jury, and Lees was not giving it.

But the hulking Bradley John Murdoch, who stood accused of point-blank executing Lees' boyfriend, Peter Falconio, on July 14, 2001, thought he could.

Joanne Lees wrote a book about her terrifying ordeal.

Desperation as 10,000 feared dead

TORMENTED survivors of a typhoon that may have killed more than 10,000 have been left to rummage for food through debris scattered with corpses.

Joanne Lees almost destroyed case

THE lawyer who prosecuted one of Australia's most notorious killers Bradley John Murdoch reveals the victim's girlfriend almost ruined their case.

Things were going badly for his team. Murdoch needed to take the stand and testify, to try and win back some of the ground lost as the evidence stacked overwhelming against him.

Accused of point-blank execution ... Bradley John Murdoch, surrounded by police, was found guilty of the 2001 murder of missing British tourist Peter Falconio. AFP/David Hancock Source: News Limited

Murdoch might have been an efficient killer, but he was a bad actor. When Wild hit him between the eyes with his first question in cross-examination, Murdoch looked appalled and insulted, like Wild was being downright ungentlemanly.

Nearly destroyed their case against Bradley John Murdoch ... British tourist Peter Falconio's girlfriend Joanne Lees who escaped the abduction and attempted kidnapping. Picture: Supplied

PICTURES: OUTBACK KILLER BRADLEY JOHN MURDOCH

"Where did you bury Peter Falconio?" Wild demanded, springing the question without any legal foreplay.

The big man reeled, looking to the jury for understanding. Murdoch's lawyer, Grant Algie, rose, objecting. But that's why everyone was there.

Wild: "You've buried a body, haven't you?"

Murdoch: "No I have not."

"You buried Peter Falconio, didn't you?"

"No I did not."

Yes he did.

A risky witness ... Joanne Lees leaves the Darwin Supreme Court after giving evidence in the trial of Bradley John Murdoch in to the murder of Peter Falconio. Picture: Peter Bennett Source: News Limited

Murdoch, who was arrested in South Australia and extradited to Darwin 10 years ago this week, was tried and convicted in late 2005. The question of the whereabouts of Falconio continues to nag at those who were involved in securing his conviction, as it does his family.

Wild, who has since returned to private practice, told the jury that one day Falconio would be found. He believed it at the time, but has since cooled on the idea.

"It was a line I used in front of the jury because I wanted them thinking that," he says. "I wanted the jury to think, 'His body's out there. He's not walking around.'

"I still get people who talk to me and say, 'Where is he?' I say, 'He's dead, for Christ's sake.'"

Wild says he's never spent a second wondering if Murdoch was the wrong man. "Never," he says. "But it would be nice if there was a body."

Wild reveals that it was hard work getting Lees from England to Darwin for the trial.

"There was absolutely no case without her," he says. "There were phone calls made in the middle of the night to get her to come. She didn't want to come to testify.

"When you're in England, a long way away, you might think you don't have to."

Wild could never quite fathom Lees, and for that reason considered her a risky witness. It was not that he ever doubted her, but the prosecution team found it impossible to impress upon this singularly forceful personality that they possibly knew best.

She insisted on absolute control of her image - to the point of absurdity, by refusing to walk in the Supreme Court's front doors and instead arriving lying down on the back seat of a Commodore sedan, hidden under a jacket.

Throughout the trial, Wild's team was worried that Lees presented an aura of superiority and defiance that wasn't playing well. They wanted less of that from her.

"Yeah," says Wild, "but she wasn't going to give it. It was all explained to her: be yourself; let it all hang out; the jury will want to see your raw emotions. But no. Stiff upper-lip. It was not as though she was an upper-class girl - she was middle class. But she was not going to let these people get at her."

Lees knew best.

"I thought she was strikingly like Lindy Chamberlain in that respect," says Wild. "She was focused and completely cool and people might misread that and misunderstand that. People want some sympathy and tears and some lowering of the guard.

"But if you talk to the people who were there at Barrow Creek that night, she showed plenty. And she was totally believed by the truck drivers who rescued her and by Les Pilton (owner of the pub)."

Wild considers himself old-fashioned, in some respects, so when police unearthed emails that showed Lees had a fling with a guy named Nick, while working in a bookshop in Sydney, it troubled him.

Again, it wasn't that he thought her a suspect: it was her attitude. "Talking that through with young people, they said to me: that sort of thing happens. And yet I thought that showed a certain coolness about her. She was annoyed they found out, but she wasn't embarrassed."

She had upset the Falconio family by initially refusing to see them when they flew to Alice Springs after the murder; and during the trial, Peter's two brothers Paul and Nick had nothing to do with her until the very end.

One of Australia's most notorious killers ... Bradley John Murdoch has never admitted he killed Joanne Lee's boyfriend Peter Falconio in July 2001. Source: News Limited

Lees frustrated the prosecution because they believed she was a heroine who had made a remarkable and courageous escape. They couldn't get that across. Lees sat back, imperious, radiating a clear sense of distaste for all these northern cowboys.

There were fears she could derail attention from the man in the dock and invite such personal dislike as to imperil the case.

"Potentially, but it didn't happen," says Wild. "She was such a terrific witness as to the facts. And she's a good-looking young woman. It didn't matter in the end.

"I think she didn't quite behave as people expect their victims and their heroines to behave," says Wild. "The big thing that turned people around was the acting out in the court, where she got out of the cables."

This key moment arrived as Lees was being cross-examined by Murdoch's lawyer, Grant Algie, who ridiculed the notion she could have got her hands, which were secured tight with Murdoch's trademark cable-tie handcuffs, from behind her back.

"He laughed at her," says Wild. "And he said, 'All right, I'll leave it there.' And the judge said (to Algie): 'No, you won't. You've challenged her. The witness will do it.'

"There was a break. We went outside and she said, 'I'm not going to do it.' I said, 'Why not?' She said, 'I'm not going to be made a spectacle of.' That's the way she was. And I said, 'It'll look terrible if you don't.'"

Frustrated prosecution ... Joanne Lees, former girlfriend of missing British backpacker Peter Falconio, whose body has never been found. Source: News Limited

Lees relented. She sat, in the well of the court, hands tied behind her back with a necktie. She stood and instantly and effortlessly brought her hands to her front.

On the witness stand, finally Lees had let her hair down - literally - and wept when prodded by the judge to try and describe the terror she felt that night.

Two young British travellers, trundling along in an old Kombi in the empty outback night; pulled over by a friendly Aussie bloke and suddenly your boyfriend is missing and you've got a bag over your head.

You are punched in the head and trussed up and quite certain you are to be raped and killed. Your one mistake is to escape and survive: in the minds of some, you have become the suspect.

When Lees cried, the jury finally had the reasons they were looking for. This was not acting, but it was the performance Wild needed.

Then she wrote a book. After two years solid work on Murdoch's prosecution, Wild's team got no thanks.

"I was not surprised but disappointed that she dismissed the work we'd done in the case in one short sentence. Towards the end of the book, she said: 'I suppose I should thank the prosecutors. But then again, they were only doing their job.' Full stop."

They had put Lees up in a nice apartment, flown a friend out from London to be with her during the trial, given her victim support, personal security guards, paid for the kind of clothes that would make her presentable to a jury.

Most of all, they had believed her.

"That got no mention," says Wild. "That's pretty hurtful."

That said, Ms Lees' negative view of Australian law enforcement wasn't aided by the gruelling interview police put her through soon after Falconio's death in 2001 in which she was treated as a suspect or the fact that it was due to the investigation that the emails between her and her short-term lover, Nick, came to light

Wild is these days on the other side of the fence, defending clients in Darwin's Berrimah prison, where Big Brad is serving 28 years with no chance of parole. He hopes he doesn't run into Murdoch.

"I wouldn't like to see him, face to face," he says. "He's a big bastard. I'm scared of him. A nasty bloke."

They shift Murdoch between Darwin and Alice Springs prisons, to try and break his power. For some reason, the bloke with a tattoo of a black man being lynched on one arm seems to have a way with people.

"If there's a leader in the jail system, he's it," says Wild, who believes Murdoch plays a double act of maintaining his innocence while giving the menacing impression he's a killer.

Wild says he had a great uncle who was killed at Villers-Bretonneux in WWI. His body was found. His wife has a great uncle who was killed in the same conflict. His body was not. All he has is a name.

"I've got a grave, a body," Wild says. "It means a bit more. The Falconio family never got it and I suppose Joanne's never got it either."

Wild doubts Murdoch will ever tell. "I don't think so. Even on his deathbed, he'd probably say, 'There's something I always wanted to say: I didn't do it."

paul.toohey@news.com.au

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TAFE fee hike 'fatal blow' to education

WA Nationals Deputy leader Terry Redman says the TAFE fee hikes are the first significant changes to fees and funding in the sector for many years. Picture: Sean Middleton Source: The Sunday Times

STUDENT fees for courses in some of our most in-demand industries will skyrocket as much as 576 per cent over the next four years.

The Barnett Government will hike the price of courses at our State Training Providers (STPs), formerly known as TAFE centres, by thousands of dollars from next year in fields such as engineering, nursing and aged care  a move the Opposition says is designed to use the education system as a "revenue stream".

Projected fee data obtained by The Sunday Times shows TAFE Certificate IV in Disability will be among the worst affected by the hikes. Fees to enrol in this course will jump from $626 in 2013 to $2744 next year, before skyrocketing to $4235 in 2017  an increase of 576 per cent.

Aged care and health services students will also feel the pinch, as their fees are increased 368 per cent and 359 per cent respectively.

Desperation as 10,000 feared dead

TORMENTED survivors of a typhoon that may have killed more than 10,000 have been left to rummage for food through debris scattered with corpses.

Joanne Lees almost destroyed case

THE lawyer who prosecuted one of Australia's most notorious killers Bradley John Murdoch reveals the victim's girlfriend almost ruined their case.

A two-year course for enrolled nursing starting this year costs $1894. The same course will cost $9166 in 2017.

Last year, there were 124,121 students studying at STPs.

Opposition health spokesman Roger Cook said the changes were a "fatal blow" to WA's training sector.

"The Barnett Government is using training as a revenue stream rather than an important part of our economic strategy," Mr Cook said. "It seems that they will be pricing students out of the market simply because they are incapable of managing their own finances."

Fees for some engineering courses will increase by up to $3322 over the next four years and apprenticeships will cost an extra $674.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA workforce development services manager Lena Constantine said the fee increases would hit some of our most in-demand industries.

Training and Workforce Development Minister Terry Redman said this was the first significant change to fees and funding structure in the sector for many years.

"It is worth remembering the fees are coming from a very low starting base," he said.

"To ensure the training system is sustainable into the future, course fees have been increased but the State Government will still continue to cover around 80 per cent of the costs of training by 2017.

"Based on current enrolment patterns, it is expected that the annual course fees for 92 per cent of students will not exceed $2000 next year."

Mr Redman said diploma and advanced diploma qualification students would have access to a student loan from the Commonwealth Government, similar to the university HECS scheme, and would not have to pay this back until their income exceeded a set level.

He said the Priority Industry Qualifications List would be reviewed annually and said nursing, aged care and trade apprenticeships were not on the 2014 list because the industry had "deemed there to be no shortage of workers in these areas this year".

Australian Nursing Federation WA secretary Mark Olson said he was shocked the Government thought it could walk away from providing essential education services.

"This is how the WA Treasurer (Troy Buswell) defines good economic management: Take a service that used to be provided by the Government for the last 100 years and start charging massive fees for it," he said.

"Why nursing has been left off the state's priority education list for trade training is beyond comprehension, especially when the Health Department knows it will struggle to find the extra staff it needs for its new health facilities at Murdoch and Midland."

Jasmin Smith, 23, graduated as an enrolled nurse in 2011 and said there was "no way" she would have been able to afford to pay $9166 for her course.

Tara Cresswell, 23, and Kate Rendell, 18, who are both due to finish their enrolled nursing studies next year, said they would have struggled to meet the costs of the new fees.

"It's already a strain so any more and I would have a credit card debt through the roof," Ms Cresswell said.
 

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How much should politicians be paid?

The Salaries and Allowances Tribunal has commissioned a survey on politicians wages. Colin Barnett says he supports the review. Source: AP

OFFICIALS have finally come up with a poll West Australians will want to vote in: How much should politicians be paid?

About 400 people across the state will be asked what they think politicians are worth - ranging from less than $78,000 a year to more than $208,000.

They will also be quizzed on how many days they believe parliament sits each year and how many hours MPs work, and asked to compare a backbencher to a school principal, police senior sergeant, small business manager, mid-sized company chief executive, lawyer or "other".

How much do you think politicians should be paid? Comment below or tweet us @perthnow

The Salaries and Allowances Tribunal is commissioning the survey as part of its review into MPs' salaries and entitlements, at a time when public perception of those entitlements is at an all-time low after a string of controversies exposing dodgy expense claims.

Desperation as 10,000 feared dead

TORMENTED survivors of a typhoon that may have killed more than 10,000 have been left to rummage for food through debris scattered with corpses.

Joanne Lees almost destroyed case

THE lawyer who prosecuted one of Australia's most notorious killers Bradley John Murdoch reveals the victim's girlfriend almost ruined their case.

SAT chairman Bill Coleman said the public had "unfortunately" offered "very few responses" to the tribunal's submission process in the past, prompting it to commission a wide-ranging public survey.

"This will better inform the tribunal and supplement input from MPs and other research conducted by the tribunal," he told The Sunday Times.

He said the review would be completed next year, allowing the tribunal to "consult widely, consider a range of economic data and examine all aspects of the work of MPs" before handing down its next pay decision.

Curtin University and Edith Cowan University political analyst Harry Phillips said the "traditional Australian outlook" was highly critical of parliamentarians. But the reality was 70-hour working weeks, and "by and large, they're a very dedicated group of people who have one solitary objective of a better society".

Senior political analyst Jack Gregor, former chairman of the Commission on Government, said the recent string of questionable MP entitlements had harmed the public's perception of politicians, "but that probably isn't the real measure of what politicians usually do".

"They spend hours and hours and hours on the job, and they do a social service in their electorates because they can get access to people and get things done . . . but that's not the general public perception," he said.

The SAT launched the inquiry "to address the pay gap that exists here in WA" after Canberra MPs were awarded a 31.3 per cent pay rise last year.

Premier Colin Barnett has welcomed the review.
 

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Desperation as 10,000 feared dead

One of the most powerful typhoons in history is believed to have killed 1200 people in the Philippines.

RAW FOOTAGE: More than 100 bodies are lying in the streets of a central city ravaged by typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. Courtesy: Instagram/peroel and Perez Jake Sr

An aerial shot showing devastation wrought by the typhoon in the central Philippines in Iloilo. Picture: Raul Banias/AFP Source: AFP

TORMENTED survivors of a typhoon that is feared to have killed more than 10,000 in the Philippines rummaged for food on Sunday through debris scattered with corpses, while frenzied mobs looted aid convoys.

Haiyan, one of the strongest storms to hit land in recorded history, is now headed toward Vietnam, where it is expected to make landfall south of Hanoi around 7am local time (11am AEDT).

GALLERY: Typhoon Haiyan

RELATED: Vietnam shelters from Typhoon Haiyan

RELATED: Australian typhoon victim named

Desperation as 10,000 feared dead

TORMENTED survivors of a typhoon that may have killed more than 10,000 have been left to rummage for food through debris scattered with corpses.

Joanne Lees almost destroyed case

THE lawyer who prosecuted one of Australia's most notorious killers Bradley John Murdoch reveals the victim's girlfriend almost ruined their case.

For now, though, the focus remains on parts of the Southeast Asian archipelago that have already been flattened by one of the most powerful storms ever recorded, where desperate survival tactics created fresh horrors.

On the outskirts of Tacloban, a coastal eastern city of 220,000 where tsunami-like waves destroyed many buildings, Edward Gualberto accidentally stepped on bodies as he raided the wreckage of a home.

Wearing nothing but a pair of red basketball trousers, the father-of-four and village councillor apologised for his shabby appearance and for stealing from the dead.

Residents try to salvage belongings in Tacloban city in the Philippines. Source: AP

"I am a decent person. But if you have not eaten in three days, you do shameful things to survive," Gualberto said as he dug canned goods from the debris and flies swarmed over the bodies.

"We have no food, we need water and other things to survive."

After half a day's work, he had filled a bag with an assortment of essentials including packs of spaghetti, cans of beer, detergent, soap, canned goods, biscuits and candies.

"This typhoon has stripped us of our dignity... but I still have my family and I am thankful for that."

A house is engulfed by the storm surge brought about by powerful typhoon Haiyan. Source: AFP

Elsewhere in Tacloban, other survivors were employing more aggressive means as they took advantage of a security vacuum created when most of the city's police force failed to turn up for work after the typhoon.

Like Gualberto, many said they had not eaten since the typhoon and overwhelmed authorities admitted they were unable to get enough relief supplies into the city.

Some broke through shops that had withstood the typhoon by hammering through glass windows and winching open steel barricades.

One desperate meat shop owner brandished a handgun in a failed bid to prevent one mob from entering his shop.

He was ignored and the shop was ransacked. The businessman just silently stood by, waving his gun in the air and shouting. When he realised he had lost the fight, he cursed them and walked away.

Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest storm this year, made landfall in central Philippines. Courtesy: Karen Perez.

Nearby, pastry shop owner Emma Bermejo described the widespread looting as "anarchy".

"There is no security personnel, relief goods are too slow to arrive. People are dirty, hungry and thirsty. A few more days and they will begin to kill each other," she said.

"This is shameful. We have been hit by a catastrophe and now our businesses are gone. Looted. I can understand if they take our food and water, they can have it. But TV sets? Washing machines?"

Philippine Red Cross chairman Richard Gordon described some of the looters as "mobsters", after one of his organisation's convoys was ransacked near Tacloban.

A soldier assists a young girl as villagers are evacuated to a safe place by a military truck in preparation for the arrival of the super typhoon Haiyan in the central province of Quang Nam on November 9, 2013. Vietnam has started evacuating over 100,000 people from the path of Super Typhoon Haiyan, state media said on November 9, 2013, after the storm tore across the Philippines leaving scores dead and devastating communities. AFP PHOTO Source:

Meanwhile, confused men, women and children walked aimlessly along roads strewn with overturned cars and felled power lines, some gagging from the stench of rotting flesh.

A team of military cadaver collectors had been deployed, but the soldiers appeared overwhelmed.

"There are six trucks going around the city picking up the dead, but it's not enough," said the driver of one of the vehicles as it wended its way through the streets.

"There are bodies everywhere, we do not have enough people to get to them."

This picture taken on November 8, 2013 shows fishermen moving a fishing boat from from a beach as part of measures taken by local authorities in preparation for the arrival of the super typhoon Haiyan in the central city of Danang. Vietnam has started evacuating over 100,000 people from the path of Super Typhoon Haiyan, state media said on November 9, 2013, after the storm tore across the Philippines leaving scores dead and devastating communities. AFP PHOTO/Vietnam News Agency Source: AFP

Some survivors handed out small letters to passers-by and reporters asking them to contact their relatives to relay their fate.

Many had wounds on their faces and were limping, while all had stories of unimaginable horror.

"The huge waves came again and again, flushing us out on the street and washing away our homes," said Mirasol Saoyi, 27, near the city's seaside sports stadium that withstood the typhoon and where thousand of people had gathered.

"My husband tied us together, but still we got separated among the debris. I saw many people drowning, screaming and going under... I haven't found my husband."

Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest typhoons in recorded history, has slammed into the Philippines.

The typhoon barreled through six central Philippine islands, wiping away buildings and leveling seaside homes. Most of the deaths and destruction were on Leyte Island, where Tacloban is located.

Regional police chief Elmer Soria said he was briefed by Leyte provincial Gov. Dominic Petilla late on Saturday and told there were about 10,000 deaths on the island, mostly by drowning and from collapsed buildings.

The governor's figure was based on reports from village officials in areas where Typhoon Haiyan slammed Friday.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed the death of a 50-year-old NSW man, who some believe to be former Australian priest Kevin Lee.

Mr Lee, a whistleblower about child sex abuse in the Catholic church, was living in the Philippines with his wife.

Super Typhoon Haiyan is intensifying as it moves towards the islands of the central Philippines.

''The rescue operation is ongoing. We expect a very high number of fatalities as well as injured,'' Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said after visiting Tacloban on Saturday.

"All systems, all vestiges of modern living - communications, power, water - all are down. Media is down, so there is no way to communicate with the people in a mass sort of way."

President Benigno Aquino III said the casualties "will be substantially more" than the official count of 151 as of Sunday - but gave no figure or estimate. He said the government's priority was to restore power and communications in isolated areas to allow for the delivery of relief and medical assistance to victims.

The Philippine Red Cross and its partners were preparing for a major relief effort "because of the magnitude of the disaster," said the agency's chairman, Richard Gordon.

High waves pound the sea wall amid strong winds as Typhoon Haiyan hits the city of Legaspi. Picture: AFP/Charism Sayat Source: AFP

Earlier, a Red Cross official said 1,200 people were estimated to have died in the Philippines in the devastation wrought by the storm.

The Red Cross said that at least 1,000 had been killed in Tacloban and 200 in Samar province. Many of the dead in Tacloban were seen floating on the water, the agency said.

See how the typhoon unfolded yesterday

Following the disaster Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Tony Abbot's government will provide an initial $390,500 in emergency relief supplies to assist affected communities.

Super Typhoon Haiyan moves towards the Philippines across the Pacific Ocean. Picture: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Source: Getty Images

"We're immediately providing pre-positioned emergency supplies, including sleeping mats, blankets, mosquito nets, water containers and health and hygiene kits for families devastated by the typhoon," Ms Bishop said.

She said two Australian disaster experts were already on the ground assisting the Philippine government and the United Nations to conduct a rapid needs assessment of the areas worst affected.

Debris litter the road by the coastal village in Legazpi city which was hit by Typhoon Haiyan. Picture: AP Photo/Nelson Salting Source: AP

The typhoon weakened Sunday as it approached central and northern Vietnam where authorities evacuated more than 500,000 people.

The Red Cross said Haiyan is likely to be a Category 2 or 3 typhoon when it makes landfall in Vietnam, compared to the category 5 storm that hit the Philippines.

Vietnam's state-run VNExpress news site said at least four central coastal provinces were being evacuated.

Flood waters quickly rose in Tacloban, Leyte on Friday morning, as typhoon "Yolanda" made landfall in nearby Guiuan, Eastern Samar at 4:40 a.m.

The army has been mobilised to provide emergency relief with some 170,000 soldiers assisting people after the typhoon hits.

Many schools in the affected area - normally open at the weekends - have closed, as people from vulnerable low-lying coastal villages move to higher ground.

Images in state media showed women, children and the elderly crowded into typhoon shelters.

Roofing iron is blown horizontally through the sky as winds of up to 378km/h blast into Tachloban City in the Philippines. Source: Supplied

Haiyan's wind strength - up to 280km/h - made it one of the four most powerful typhoons ever recorded and the most intense to have made landfall, according to Jeff Masters, the director of meteorology at US-based Weather Underground .

Mr Masters said the previous record for the strongest typhoon to make landfall was Hurricane Camille, which hit Mississippi in the US with sustained winds of 190m/h (306km/h) in 1969.

Australian man Mark Denning told News Corp Australia he and his wife were bunkered down in their hotel room on the tourist island of Boracay as the storm approached.

A satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Typhoon Haiyan over the Philippines. Picture: NOAA Source: News Limited

Mr Denning, who was holidaying on the island for his younger brother's wedding, said beaches were deserted and tourists had retreated to the safety of their hotels.

He said the island was being battered by strong winds and heavy rain and power was intermittent.

Typhoon Haiyan knocked out power and cut communications in the Philippines' central region of island provinces. Picture: AP Photo/Nelson Salting Source: AP

"With the imminent force of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) heading to us in the coming hours we're preparing as best we can within our hotel room. For us it's a packed bag, some water, and a plan to make our mattress into a cubby," he told News Corp via email.

"The Filipino people have been preparing for days, boarding up shops, removing anything that could possibly become a missile. Even trimming coconut trees.

"I'm bunkered down with my wife in Boracay. What started as an idyllic resort island, which played host to my younger brother's wedding, is now turning out to be something quite surreal."

This animation shows of MTSAT satellite data shows the progression of Super Typhoon Haiyan on 7 November as it began moving over the Philippines. Courtesy: University of Wisconsin

Darwin couple Jeremy Kay and Georgina Nefiodovas were also stranded on Boracay Island, having arrived on the weekend.

"At the moment we are unable to leave Boracay as they have stopped all boats leaving the island," Mr Kay told the NT News .

"This means for the next few days we will be staying here bracing ourselves for the weather to come.

"We caught a taxi to the ferry but unfortunately they only had limited boats to go and far too many people wanting to leave so we weren't able to get across."

Residents living near the slopes of Mayon volcano were evacuated to public schools before the powerful typhoon Haiyan hit. Source: Supplied

BATTERED REGION

The Philippines archipelago of more than 7,100 islands is hit by an average of 20 typhoons or tropical storms each year, which kill hundreds and sometimes thousands of people.

The storms are created above the warmer waters of the Pacific Ocean near the equator, and the Philippines' islands are often the first major landmass they hit as they move northwest.

Some government authorities say climate change is increasing the ferocity and frequency of the typhoons. Haiyan is one of the strongest ever recorded in the world, and is the Philippines' 24th tropical storm or typhoon of the year, exceeding the annual average.

However some scientists say it is premature to blame climate change, and the Philippines has endured many devastating typhoons that have each claimed many hundreds of lives.

One of the most intense typhoons ever recorded has torn through the Philippines causing widespread damage.

Here is a look at 10 of the deadliest typhoons on record in the Philippines:

1. Tropical Storm Thelma unleashes flash floods on the central city of Ormoc on Leyte island on November 15, 1991, killing more than 5,100.

2. Typhoon Bopha smashes into the main southern island of Mindanao on December 3, 2012. Rarely hit by major storms, the unprepared region suffers about 1,900 people dead or missing.pe3. Typhoon Ike hits the central Philippines on August 31, 1984, killing 1,363 people.

4. Typhoon Washi hits the northern part of Mindanao island on December 16, 2011, killing at least 1,080 people.

5. Floods and landslides unleashed by Typhoon Trix kill 995 people in the Bicol region of the main island of Luzon on October 16, 1952.

6. Typhoon Amy rakes across the central islands from December 9, 1951, killing 991 people as it unleashed floods and landslides and caused a massive storm surge that destroyed large sections of Negros island's west coast.

7. Storm surges struck the eastern city of Legazpi on November 25, 1987 as Typhoon Nina roared into the Bicol region, where it also unleashed deadly mudslides down Mayon volcano. The disaster caused 979 deaths.

8. Typhoon Fengshen tracked an erratic and destructive path across the central islands and nearby areas from June 20, 2008, killing 938 people.

9. Typhoon Angela, one of the strongest storms to ever hit the Philippines with gusts of up to 260 kilometres an hour, caused carnage in Bicol and later Manila from November 2, 1995, killing 936 people.

10. Typhoon Agnes struck the central islands from November 5, 1984, killing 895 people.

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Flies target Perth after breeding boom

Perth is bracing for a fly invasion, and Meg Letchford's sweet treat was an early target. Picture: Theo Fakos Source: The Sunday Times

IF Perth residents can get through the next two weeks they will have survived the worst of the bush fly season.

Late rains have kept pastures greener longer this year, creating a bigger breeding ground than normal for the flies, according to UWA research professor and fly expert David Cook.

Over the next fortnight millions of bush flies (scientific name Musca vetustissima) will descend on Perth.

Their journey begins in August in the eastern wheatbelt, where mass numbers breed in cattle manure before moving south.

"They hang in there over winter and as the easterly winds crank up and the pastures start drying off the flies sort of follow it along," said Dr Cook, who has just returned from a two-day fly research trip to Lancelin.

In the first two weeks of October the "black wave" hits northern and eastern suburbs such as Wanneroo and Bullsbrook before moving into the heart of the city in early November.

"By Christmas and New Year they'll be down in the South-West corner (in areas like) Busselton, Margaret River and Yallingup," Dr Cook said.

He said the introduction of the dung beetle a decade ago had reduced fly numbers by destroying cattle manure, their breeding ground, faster.

"(In January) all those introduced dung beetles completely decimate the dung pads," he said. "That's when the dung beetles are at their peak activity."

ECU School of Natural Sciences researcher Christopher Kavazos said it was too hard to put a figure on the total number of flies West Australians are forced to deal with in summer.

"It is extremely difficult to measure the abundance because they exist in such high numbers," he said. "Increased rainfall this year is most likely to affect fly numbers by reducing the spring breeding activity and delaying it until conditions become more suitable.

"If the flies' breeding activity is delayed by a month, it is possible that we will see peak fly numbers occurring later in the year than usual."
 

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TAFE fee hike a 'fatal blow' to education

WA Nationals Deputy leader Terry Redman says the TAFE fee hikes are the first significant changes to fees and funding in the sector for many years. Picture: Sean Middleton Source: The Sunday Times

STUDENT fees for courses in some of our most in-demand industries will skyrocket as much as 576 per cent over the next four years.

The Barnett Government will hike the price of courses at our State Training Providers (STPs), formerly known as TAFE centres, by thousands of dollars from next year in fields such as engineering, nursing and aged care  a move the Opposition says is designed to use the education system as a "revenue stream".

Projected fee data obtained by The Sunday Times shows TAFE Certificate IV in Disability will be among the worst affected by the hikes. Fees to enrol in this course will jump from $626 in 2013 to $2744 next year, before skyrocketing to $4235 in 2017  an increase of 576 per cent.

Aged care and health services students will also feel the pinch, as their fees are increased 368 per cent and 359 per cent respectively.

A two-year course for enrolled nursing starting this year costs $1894. The same course will cost $9166 in 2017.

Last year, there were 124,121 students studying at STPs.

Opposition health spokesman Roger Cook said the changes were a "fatal blow" to WA's training sector.

"The Barnett Government is using training as a revenue stream rather than an important part of our economic strategy," Mr Cook said. "It seems that they will be pricing students out of the market simply because they are incapable of managing their own finances."

Fees for some engineering courses will increase by up to $3322 over the next four years and apprenticeships will cost an extra $674.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA workforce development services manager Lena Constantine said the fee increases would hit some of our most in-demand industries.

Training and Workforce Development Minister Terry Redman said this was the first significant change to fees and funding structure in the sector for many years.

"It is worth remembering the fees are coming from a very low starting base," he said.

"To ensure the training system is sustainable into the future, course fees have been increased but the State Government will still continue to cover around 80 per cent of the costs of training by 2017.

"Based on current enrolment patterns, it is expected that the annual course fees for 92 per cent of students will not exceed $2000 next year."

Mr Redman said diploma and advanced diploma qualification students would have access to a student loan from the Commonwealth Government, similar to the university HECS scheme, and would not have to pay this back until their income exceeded a set level.

He said the Priority Industry Qualifications List would be reviewed annually and said nursing, aged care and trade apprenticeships were not on the 2014 list because the industry had "deemed there to be no shortage of workers in these areas this year".

Australian Nursing Federation WA secretary Mark Olson said he was shocked the Government thought it could walk away from providing essential education services.

"This is how the WA Treasurer (Troy Buswell) defines good economic management: Take a service that used to be provided by the Government for the last 100 years and start charging massive fees for it," he said.

"Why nursing has been left off the state's priority education list for trade training is beyond comprehension, especially when the Health Department knows it will struggle to find the extra staff it needs for its new health facilities at Murdoch and Midland."

Jasmin Smith, 23, graduated as an enrolled nurse in 2011 and said there was "no way" she would have been able to afford to pay $9166 for her course.

Tara Cresswell, 23, and Kate Rendell, 18, who are both due to finish their enrolled nursing studies next year, said they would have struggled to meet the costs of the new fees.

"It's already a strain so any more and I would have a credit card debt through the roof," Ms Cresswell said.
 

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