Timber workers face log jam

Contractors Nick Bennetto, left, and Jason Weller inspect the logs being stored at the Port of Burnie that have now split. Picture: CHRIS KIDD

THOUSANDS of tonnes of logs, including blackwood, myrtle and sassafras, have been left to split on the Burnie wharf for up to 18 months as frustrated Tasmanian timber merchants clamour for supplies.

Hobart contractor Nick Bennetto, Launceston furniture maker Ken Pugh and Burnie contractor Jason Weller say they desperately wanted to buy some of the Forestry Tasmania timber but their offers were refused.

Mr Weller said he offered five times the rate Forestry Tasmania charged a Smithton sawmill for the logs and he could take 40-50 cubic metres a month.

The 15,000 tonnes of logs are due to be exported to China next week where they will be processed into pulp and veneer products.

Forestry Tasmania would not say how much the Chinese customer had paid for the timber.

Mr Weller, who has customers in the US and Japan, said he could only access timber at Island Speciality Timber yards.

He said that product was far inferior to the logs in Burnie.

"We are struggling to get enough for our customers, who make guitars, boardroom tables and other high-end goods," Mr Weller said.

"Why would Forestry Tasmania rather sell at a loss to China than to locals?" Mr Bennetto said.

Forestry Tasmania forest manager Craig Butt said the logs had been stockpiled in the yard because they carried some kind of defect.

Mr Butt said the contractors who inspected the log stockpile yesterday had not made any formal approaches to buy the logs.

Greens forestry spokesman Kim Booth said Forestry Tasmania was wasting public money while speciality timber merchants could not fill customer demand.

helen.kempton@news.com

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New push for sea highway

Bass Strait forces an extra impost on travel and export that no other state has to deal with. Image: Google Maps

A 20-YEAR fight to have Bass Strait treated as part of the national highway system will play out on the national stage next month.

Denison Independent MP Andrew Wilkie will present a motion to Federal Parliament on March 18 for the Tasmanian Freight Equalisation scheme to be extended to include all people, freight and trade.

Veteran sea highway campaigner Peter Brohier said the cost of extending the scheme was "trivial" compared with the billions spent on interstate road links.

Mr Brohier said the parliamentary motion was a significant step forward and put the sea highway debate in the context of the federation of colonies and the national economy.

Mr Brohier said Bass Strait was Commonwealth water and the cost of the initiative should not be borne by any one state.

The Australian Greens say they will now submit a proposal to the Parliamentary Budget Office to estimate the costs of extending the TFE scheme.

Senator Peter Whish-Wilson said the costs associated with Bass Strait freight had plagued Tasmania since before federation and successive state and federal programs had failed to provide a sustainable long-term solution, such as a self-funding model.

The Bass Strait freight equalisation scheme cost taxpayers more than $100 million last year alone.

If that continued the bill for freight subsidies would top $1 billion dollars during the next decade, Mr Whish-Wilson said.

Foot passengers, passengers in vehicles, some vehicles, southbound consumables and international exports from Tasmania are not covered by the existing equalisation scheme.

Mr Wilkie's formal notice of motion was seconded by Queensland Independent Bob Katter.

It includes a call for Canberra to acknowledge that transport across Bass Strait is currently disproportionately expensive and was a disincentive to the movement of both people and freight.

The proposed extension of the TFE scheme would include the affordable movement of all trade intended for both domestic and international import and export.

Mr Brohier, who is based in Melbourne, first started his campaign for transport justice for Tasmania in 1992.

"The existing federal Bass Strait equalisation schemes are not delivering comprehensive equalisations or the equivalent of even the worst road in Australia," he said yesterday.

Mr Brohier said a new sea highway would give Tasmania the ability to more effectively contribute to the Commonwealth.

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Students back at burnt school

The Dunalley Primary School was razed on January 4 as the devastating bushfires tore through the region. Picture: TOBY ZERNA

THIS morning the bushfire-ravaged community of Dunalley made a major step on the road to recovery as children returned to the rebuilt local primary school.

A temporary school has been rebuilt on the site of the former school, which was destroyed in the January 4 bushfires. The school has been rebuilt in just four weeks with construction crews working around the clock.

Elizabeth Knox from the school association said parents had gathered for a morning tea to celebrate the occasion. She said there was a sense of joy at the school's reopening.

"It's been a very important part of the recovery process for the community to see the school being rebuilt," she said. "It's just a real relief that things are back on track."

Volunteers have played a significant role in ensuring the school has been ready to receive students, by collecting and distributing learning materials and other school essentials.

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Man denies sexual assaults

A DERWENT Valley man has denied raping a woman and indecently assaulting a woman and a child in a home at New Norfolk last year.

The 63-year-old man -- who cannot be named for legal reasons -- is accused of rape and two counts of indecent assault.

He has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

The Supreme Court in Hobart today heard the alleged incidents happened after a night of drinking at the home on January 21 last year.

Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Daryl Coates SC told the jury that the two women, the girl and a young boy were sleeping in a room at the house.

He said the accused man entered the room and touched one of the women on the breast and indecently assaulted the 13-year-old girl.

After they left he then raped a 35-year-old woman on a bunk nearby, he said.

During the attack, the man allegedly said "Third time lucky" to the woman, Mr Coates said.

In his opening address, defence lawyer Steve Chopping said his client denied all of the allegations.

He said his client admitted having intercourse with the second woman, who he said had consented.

The trial, before Justice Shan Tennent, is expected to continue for three days.

david.killick@news.com.au

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Man pleads guilty to assaults

A YOUNG father-of-two was affected by drugs when he stabbed, punched, stomped on and choked his partner and bashed her with a baseball bat in repeated attack over a number of days, the Supreme Court has heard.

Michael Jason Hinds, 20, of Rokeby, today pleaded guilty to four counts of assault, two counts of wounding and one of attempted wounding.

Crown Prosecutor Allison Shand told the court the charges related to a series of attacks by Hinds on his partner at their home in September last year.

The court heard that early on September 1 Hinds was angry about his welfare payments being cut off.

He picked up a knife and threw it at his partner, hitting her above the knee.

Shortly afterwards he attacked her with a metal baseball bat, striking her 10 times in the shins and subsequently hitting her in the genitals.

Later the same day he punched the young woman repeatedly in the face because she had told a neighbour about the abuse.

He started hitting her in the arms and back with the baseball bat and threatened to stab her with scissors if she tried to fend off the blows.

When she did, he stabbed her in the left thigh and tried to stab her in the left shoulder, the court heard

Hinds called her a "dirty, cheating slut" and pushed her into a wall and tried to strangle her before telling her he was going to kill everyone she loved.

A few days later, after accusing the woman of cheating, Hinds pushed her head into a brick wall repeatedly, threw her on a bed, choked, punched and stomped on her before again attacking her with a baseball bat.

Ms Shand said the woman suffered significant bruising and two stab wounds from the assaults.

Defence lawyer Amber Mignot said her client had an unstable upbringing and had started smoking cannabis at the age of nine, drinking at 11 and had used "all manner of drugs" since.

She said at the time of the offences he was under the influence of ice and amphetamines which made him paranoid and aggressive.

He had stopped taking drugs since going into jail, she said.

Justice Shan Tennent will sentence Hinds on February 22.

david.killick@news.com.au

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Ringleader's theft competition

A YOUNG man went on a car stealing spree to demonstrate to a friend he was a better thief, the Supreme Court has heard.

Shayden James Cohen, 18, of Moonah, pleaded guilty to 26 charges including multiple counts of car theft, unlawfully setting fire to property, stealing and driving while disqualified.

Crown Prosecutor Yolanda Prenc said Cohen drove a stolen bobcat into a shed at Southern Waste Solutions at Derwent Park in March last year causing $15,000 worth of damage.

He then stole a front-end loader and drove it into a cribroom, causing $40,000 worth of damage.

Cohen was the ringleader of a quartet of youths who went on a spree stealing and torching cars in July last year.

Over the course of a single night, the youths stole cars from Hobart, Claremont, New Town, Glebe, Moonah and Lenah Valley, stealing from some and setting fire to those they were able to drive away.

When arrested on July 19, Cohen admitted being "the boss" of the gang and admitted all of the offences.

He said he had been in a competition with one of the other men to demonstrate he was a better thief.

Defence lawyer Tim Mills said his client's offending was largely as a result of alcohol and boredom.

Justice Shan Tennent will sentence Cohen on February 22.

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Blaze baffles firefighters

THE unpredictable nature of the Molesworth fire -- suspected to have been deliberately lit -- has confounded firefighters.

Residents have been warned it will continue to burn out of control in steep terrain for the next few days.

The fire has threatened Transend lines that power all of Hobart.

It was one of a series of fires being fought around Tasmania, fuelled by extreme dryness.

Visit the Tasmania Fire Service website for the latest updates.

The Molesworth fire in pictures

About 150 people were told at a community meeting in New Norfolk yesterday that firefighters -- more than 40 crews last night -- hoped to control the fire in the next few days but the blaze had already confounded experts.

Other meetings were held at Mountain River -- now just a few kilometres from the fire front -- and Collinsvale.

Today a meeting will be held at 10am at Fern Tree.

"In some cases the fire has spotted and run into the headwind, which is very unusual.

All the predictions are saying it should not be doing what it's doing [and that's] because we have had no significant rain since December," Tasmania Fire Service senior station officer Phil Douglas said.

The TFS believes the Molesworth fire was deliberately lit, with the exact spot pinpointed on Glen Dhu Rd.

Mr Douglas said people must be emotionally prepared and that 80 per cent of those who successfully defended their homes in Victoria's 2009 fires said they would not do it again.

One couple were praised for their preparation, although Lee McLean found herself shaking yesterday after four days of vigilance.

She and husband Andy live within sight of where the fire started and saw it race to within metres of their house.

"We lost everything bar the house. The cars exploded and lifted clean into the air and did a complete circle," Mrs McLean said.

"There were 50-foot flames coming up at us. We had three or four helicopters landing here, taking water from our dam to save the neighbours' houses. It was like a war zone.

"Our phone lines were burnt, we had no power. We can't thank the emergency services enough."

Mr McLean said: "One sleeps, the other watches."

michelle.paine@news.com.au

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Gotye grabs three Grammys

Gotye has won three Grammys today, for Record of the Year, Best Alternative Music Album and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Picture: AFP

AUSTRALIA'S global chart-slayer Gotye has won an historic hat-trick of Grammys -- but seemed more overwhelmed that his childhood idol Prince loved his song.

The Purple One presented Wally "Gotye" de Backer and his duet partner Kimbra with the coveted trophy for Record Of The Year for the unstoppable viral hit Somebody That I Used To Know.

It is the first time an Australian has won the prize since Olivia Newton John with I Honestly Love You in 1975.

"I have got to say I felt a bit delirious; it was a surreal experience; he had his typically wry smile on," Gotye said.

Grammys red carpet

The down-to-earth pop star, who said he wouldn't be celebrating with champagne as he is suffering a stomach virus after touring India, used his acceptance speeches to pay tribute to all musicians.

And while he has spent much of the past 18 months touring the globe, he also wanted to thank the loyal Australian fans who have supported his career from its early indie days.

"It's a long, long way from that Los Angeles stage but I have really felt a strong sense of goodwill from Australia and not felt any sense of backlash," he said.

For those who aren't on Team Gotye and never want to hear the song again, de Backer said he had thought about retiring it from his live set.

"Maybe I could drop it from the set from now on -- or send a hologram," he joked.

De Backer heads home in a couple of days and said the experiences of the past year had fuelled his excitement for his next musical endeavour.

"I am so energised to play with the instruments I've found and push myself to do something different," he said.

"I feel similar to when I was working in a cafe in my early 20s when I couldn't wait to get home and get stuck into songs."

Among the other multiple Grammy winners were imminent Future Music festival tourists fun., rockers The Black Keys, country pop crooner Carrie Underwood and rap kings Jay-Z and Kanye West.

While there was plenty of action on the stage with a plethora of performances, it was the front-row couples who caught the cameras, with Chris Brown and Rihanna stealing plenty of air-time.

Read more and select your favourite red carpet fashion at news.com.au

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Rockers' barnstorming show

BARNSTORMING: Jimmy Barnes on stage yesterday. Picture: ROSS MARSDEN

HOBART is set for a red-hot injection of classic tunes today, as the Aussie Rock Extravaganza rolls around Tasmania.

The Red Hot Summer Tour's Aussie Rock Extravaganza featuring Australian music icon Jimmy Barnes, his Cold Chisel bandmate Ian Moss, April Sun in Cuba hitmakers Dragon, and '90s stars Chocolate Starfish drew thousands of fans to Launceston's Country Club Tasmania lawns yesterday, with tickets to the afternoon gig selling out weeks ago.

The bands will also perform on the lawns at Wrest Point from 1pm today.

Tickets are still available for $85.60 at tixtas.com.au.

Meantime, hundreds of politicians, academics, former state leaders and industry heads celebrated the 40th anniversary of Wrest Point Casino at a gala reception last night.

It was a night of nostalgia and celebration with tributes paid to the Tasmanian people who in 1968 voted for the construction of Australia's first legal casino.

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Single life rules OK

MY Kitchen Rules' Ali and Samuel, of Tasmania, have not wasted time coming clean on their relationship status.

The Hobart contestants are seriously single and claim they are just friends.

They say they are waiting for "the one" to share the kitchen with.

Meeting the other contestants on Thursday night's show Ali, 28, was quick to deny suggestions they were "together".

Ali recently separated from her partner of 14 years.

"That was our big decision, before we had kids," she said recently.

"Being on your own for the first time, when you've been with someone since you were 13, is very painful."

Samuel is also single.

"I'm 34 and a lot of close friends are engaged, married, have children, so the next girl I am with, I will be looking for those things," he said.

Meantime, they are content to "cook with each other".

For Ali, the love of food came from travelling with her academic parents.

"We travelled all through Europe for months on end and mum and dad were really passionate about food."

Samuel says his nan taught him to cook.

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