Marijuana laws the real crime: pot party

AUSTRALIA needs to chill out about marijuana and take its cue from US states Colorado and Washington by legalising the drug, the HEMP Party says.

Help End Marijuana Prohibition (HEMP) Party president Michael Balderstone says Australia needs to spark up a debate and a referendum over marijuana laws.

"If we had a referendum here and had a proper open discussion - a month-long discussion - I would think it would pass," he told AAP.

"Our stance is that the law is a crime."

Mr Balderstone argues that the law might also be stopping tax revenue.

In Colorado, the sale of up to 28 grams - or an ounce - of weed became legal on January 1.

State officials anticipate sales will generate about $US67 million ($A75.55 million) in annual tax windfall.

But critics say it will turn the Rockies into the stonies by creating a culture of "pot tourism".

Mr Balderstone does not deny the drug has been linked to psychosis, but argues the health damage is less, on average, than that caused by tobacco and alcohol.

"Absolutely, it can (cause psychosis)," he said.

"It's not for everybody, I agree."

But he maintains people who get high are more likely to stay in than go out and cause trouble.

The Australian Drug Foundation warns there is no safe level of drug use.

"Those with a family history of mental illness are more likely to also experience anxiety, depression and psychotic symptoms after using cannabis," the foundation says on its website.

"Psychotic symptoms include delusions, hallucinations and seeing or hearing things that do not exist or are distorted."

In May a NSW parliamentary committee recommended legislation to allow medical use of marijuana by patients with a terminal illness, and for those who have moved from HIV infection to AIDS.

The recommendation, rejected by the government, called for patients to have up to 15 grams of dry cannabis or the equivalent amount of other cannabis products and equipment.

A study published in medical journal The Lancet in 2012 showed 15 per cent of Australians and New Zealanders between the ages of 15 and 64 in 2009 used marijuana that year.

That figure was higher than usage in the US, where 11 per cent of the population got high that year.

Australia's pot laws vary from state to state - the drug is illegal in NSW, Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania.

Possession of marijuana mostly attracts fines in the ACT and NT, while WA users receive mandatory drug diversion counselling if caught with 10 grams.

Marijuana for medical use is legal and regulated in 19 US states, and has been allowed in some cases for the past 20 years.

Victoria's Acting Premier Peter Ryan rejected suggestions marijuana would be sold legally in his state.

"Absolutely not a chance," he told Fairfax Radio on Thursday.

"Good luck to them in Colorado - not going to happen here."

Mr Ryan said he had seen how cannabis could destroy lives and result in further drug use.

"It is an interesting experiment, we will see where they are in a couple of years," he said.

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Passengers safe after Antarctic rescue

Authorities say the rescue mission for the passengers stranded off Antarctica will commence shortly. Source: AAP

MORE than 50 passengers who were on a Russian ship stuck in sea ice in Antarctica have been rescued in a helicopter transfer to an Australian icebreaker.

Expedition leader Chris Turney said the 52 scientists, tourists and journalists stuck on board the Akademik Shokalskiy since Christmas Eve had been airlifted to safety and had arrived at the rescue ship.

"We've made it to the Aurora australis safe & sound. A huge thanks to the Chinese & @AusAntarctic for all their hard work! #spiritofmawson."

Passengers, many of them Australians and New Zealanders, were picked up by a helicopter from the Chinese icebreaker Xue Long and transferred to the Australian Antarctic Division supply ship.

The AMSA took to social media at 10.20pm (AEDT) tweeting: "Aurora Australis has advised AMSA that the 52 passengers from the Akademik Shokalskiy are now on board."

The helicopter from the Chinese ship reached the ship around 5pm (AEDT) after several attempts were thwarted by severe weather.

The group was then moved in five flights of up to 12 passengers, with each return journey to the Xue Long some 10 nautical miles distant expected to take 45 minutes.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) had initially said the rescue would go ahead on Thursday, but then announced around 1pm (AEDT) that sea ice conditions would delay the mission.

The Aurora Australis will carry the passengers to Tasmania, arriving by mid-January.

The Russian vessel, which left New Zealand on November 28, got stuck after a blizzard pushed sea ice around the ship, freezing it in place.

Earlier icebreaking attempts by the rescue vessels to reach the ship failed because of the thickness of the ice.

Passengers on Thursday were airlifted in relays from a makeshift landing pad on the ice beside the Russian ship and were landed on an ice floe near the Aurora Australis.

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Vic and Tas deaths take road toll to 25

THE deaths of two men in car crashes in Victoria and Tasmania have taken the national holiday road toll to 25.

A man aged in his 80s died after his car struck a median strip and flipped onto its roof in Hastings, southeast of Melbourne at around 3.45pm (AEDT) on Thursday.

In Tasmania a man died when his car hit a tree and burst into flames in Powranna south of Launceston at about 3.30pm (AEDT) on Thursday.

Deputy Commissioner Scott Tilyard said the driver had been in recent contact with police but there had been no police pursuit.

"Police were endeavouring to locate the driver as there were concerns for his welfare," he said.

Tasmanian Professional Standards officers will conduct an internal investigation.

The deaths take the Christmas holiday road toll to 25.

Seven people have died in NSW, five in Western Australia, four in Victoria, three each in Queensland and Tasmania and one each in South Australia, the Northern Territory and the ACT.

The national road toll period runs from midnight on December 23, 2013, until midnight on January 3, 2014, local times, in line with the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Board.

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Chinese cook crashes balloon in sea

A CHINESE cook who crashed into the sea while trying to fly a hot-air balloon to islands claimed by both China and Japan has been rescued by Japan's coast guard.

Xu Shuaijun, 35, crashed on Wednesday after hitting turbulence as he approached the islands, known in Japan as Senkaku and Diayou in China, the coast guard said on Thursday.

The coast guard said it received a missing-person report from Taiwanese officials and that one of its helicopters spotted Xu about 20km from the islands.

He was picked up by a boat and later handed over to a Chinese patrol ship, the coast guard said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Xu was in good condition.

Qin disavowed any official ties with Xu. "I note that he is a hot-air balloon enthusiast," he said.

The islands have been a sore point in bilateral relations for years, and nationalists from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong have occasionally tried to sail to them.

A recent visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to a Tokyo shrine that honours World War II war criminals has outraged China, adding to the bilateral tensions.

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Vic man lost teeth after hit on NYE

A man has lost several teeth after he was punched in the face at a New Year's party in Melbourne. Source: AAP

A MAN has lost several teeth after he was punched in the face at an out-of-control New Year's Eve party in Melbourne.

The 31-year-old Noble Park man was celebrating at Edinburgh Gardens, North Fitzroy, when he tried to break up a fight at 11.30pm (AEDT) on Tuesday.

He fell unconscious to the ground after he was punched.

He was taken to St Vincents Hospital where he will undergo surgery on Thursday for serious facial injuries.

An Ambulance Victoria triage facility had to be set up at Edinburgh Gardens to assist 20 people who required care.

Police say the offender is Caucasian, aged in his early 20s with a thin build and black hair.

He was wearing a white t-shirt and another man was with him at the time of the attack.

That man is described as being Caucasian with an English accent and wearing a green singlet.

Police are appealing for any witnesses to come forward.

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New year heats up in parts of Australia

QUEENSLAND is about to swelter through a heatwave, with the mercury tipped to reach close to 50C this week.

But South Australians are already sweating through 2014, with some northern centres posting temperatures in the high 40s.

In the western Queensland town of Birdsville, the mercury could soar as high as 48C on Thursday, while in Brisbane temperatures are predicted to hit a sultry 39C on Saturday.

Temperatures are expected to be five degrees to 10 degrees above the average across the state in the next few days, the Bureau of Meteorology said on Wednesday.

Diamantina Shire Mayor Geoff Morton, who lives in Birdsville, said it would be business as usual in the town despite the forecast 48C heat, 1.5 degrees shy of the 1972 record.

"Once it gets over 45 (degrees) it doesn't matter whether it's 45 or 55, it's still bloody hot," Mr Morton said on Wednesday.

"Everything's hot, everything's hot to touch, the ground is hot ... a few more degrees is not going to make much of a difference."

He said melted tar stuck to the tyres of passing freight trucks and locals would spend the day in air-conditioning or start work early to avoid the midday heat.

"If you walk down the street from 12 o'clock on you won't see anybody. They're hibernating," he said.

"They've got a pretty simple choice. Inside the pub is 23 degrees and outside is 53."

Gordon Banks from the Bureau of Meteorology said a large, dry, hot mass of air stagnating in the nation's interior was the cause.

"We do get these bursts of several days where we're seeing high 30s to low 40s through the (state's) interior," he said.

"But what we're seeing at the moment is that we're having this run of days where we're seeing mid to high 40s through the interior and that certainly is much more unusual."

In Alice Springs the heat is predicted to reach 43C on Thursday.

But the heat is already being felt further south.

In SA on Wednesday, Tarcoola recorded a maximum of 48.2C, with Oodnadatta not far behind on 47.7C, three degrees short of the town's record high of 50.7C in 1960.

The temperature in Oodnadatta had been forecast to go as high as 49C.

Other centres to go above 47C included Roxby Downs and Coober Pedy, with the scorching conditions extending as far south as Port Augusta, which had 46.2C.

The bureau said the hot conditions would continue on Thursday with Moomba and Marree expecting tops of 49C, Oodnadatta 48C, Marla 47C and Leigh Creek 46C.

Conditions were cooler in SA's south as a change moved through, with milder conditions forecast for the next 24 hours.

The bureau said Adelaide's top temperature on Thursday would be 23C with rain likely, while at Stirling, in the Adelaide Hills, a top of 19C was likely.

A slightly cooler change is expected to move through the state from Friday.

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Sydney measles outbreak spreads in NZ

AN outbreak of measles linked to a Sydney hip-hop dance festival has spread from Auckland to the New Zealand cities of Turangi and Taupo, with 10 cases confirmed.

An 18-year-old Auckland woman was the first to have been reported contracting measles while in Sydney early in December, after she took part in the 2013 World Supremacy Battlegrounds hip-hop competition.

New Zealand's Ministry of Health on Wednesday said that on top of the Auckland case, there were nine confirmed cases and one case under investigation around Turangi and Taupo.

Three of the nine Taupo/Turangi confirmed cases had attended the competition, while the remaining six cases were family or known to those who had been at the festival, acting deputy director of public health Harriette Carr said.

People affected are being kept isolated at home.

People from Huntly and Hamilton are known to have attended the festival and public health officials are trying to track them down.

"Measles can be a serious disease and is easily spread to someone who is not immunised, or who has not been exposed to measles previously," Dr Carr said.

The Auckland case was the first case of measles in the area for 18 months.

Auckland medical officer of health Catherine Jackson warns that measles is extremely infectious and can cause serious complications.

"Auckland's last major measles outbreak in 2011 demonstrates how quickly the disease can spread. One infected child resulted in nearly 500 cases and 80 hospital admissions," she said.

She told NZ Newswire the infected 18-year-old had never been immunised so she was susceptible to measles.

"She is being quarantined until she's no longer infectious," Dr Jackson said.

Measles symptoms start with a high fever, which develops about 10 days after exposure. This is followed with one or more of the following: a runny nose, cough, red eyes and small white spots inside the mouth.

A red blotchy rash on the neck and face appears, before spreading to the body.

Anyone with measles symptoms or concerns is asked to phone their GP or Healthline on 0800 611 116.

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Motorcyclist dies in Perth crash

A MOTORCYCLIST has died after being thrown off his bike while riding on a Perth highway.

Police said the 46-year-old man was riding his motorbike south on Tonkin Highway at Ascot when the incident occurred about 11.47am (WST) on Wednesday.

It's thought the man was entering the exit lane to the Great Eastern Highway when his bike clipped a guard rail and he was thrown onto the road.

The man suffered severe head injuries and was taken to Perth Royal Hospital where he died.

Police want to talk to anyone who witnessed the crash.

The man's death takes the WA road toll for the holiday period to five and the national road toll to 23.

The national road toll period runs from midnight December 23, 2013 until midnight January 3, 2014, local times, in line with the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Board.

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Man arrested over double murder

A man has been arrested on suspicion over the double murder of a mother and her daughter in Perth. Source: AAP

A 19-YEAR-OLD man has been arrested on suspicion over the double murder of a mother and her daughter in Perth.

The bodies of Tamara Alexandra Horstman, 26, and her mother Maureen Anne Horstman, 67, were found on Sunday afternoon after Tamara failed to arrive at work.

The parents of one of her friends went to the Warwick address to check on her and alerted police, who arrived about 2.30pm (WST).

Police have not revealed how the women died but it is believed Maureen suffered chest injuries and Tamara suffered head injuries.

Tamara's twin brother, who also found the pair, was questioned by police but was cleared as a suspect on Tuesday morning.

Detectives arrested another man in Mirrabooka on Tuesday and he is assisting police with their investigation.

Tamara's 2008 model Mazda3 sedan, which had been missing, was found in Mirrabooka on Monday after a member of the public heard about the search via the media and alerted police.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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Clouds don't dampen New Year fireworks

Spectators have begun descending on Sydney's popular spots for the New Year's Eve fireworks show. Source: AAP

A CLOUDY Sydney sky has come to life with a kaleidoscope of shooting comets and giant wheels of colour as the city's New Year's Eve spectacular kicked off.

For eight minutes Sydney Harbour exploded in red, green, pink, purple, and gold, at 9pm (AEDT) on Tuesday, with the first of three fireworks displays scheduled for the harbour city's New Year's celebrations.

Some pyrotechnics shot to dizzying heights and exploded, while others fell like fiery teardrops. Others shot heavenward and seemed to hang there, before fizzling without a bang.

Cheers were especially loud for a waterfall of pink and gold crackers that fell from the Harbour Bridge, and for a rush of gold pyrotechnics that closed fireworks.

Emesh, 34, came to the 9pm show with his wife and two children.

"It was amazing," the Parramatta resident told AAP.

"The best was the sparkles, all of them mixed up together.

"These are the best fireworks I have ever seen."

Sydney's 9pm pyrotechnics have come to rival the city's midnight spectacular, with many families keen to get in, and out, of the city before the revelry kicks into high gear.

The 9pm show was accompanied by an eclectic soundtrack, including music from artists Mental as Anything, Danny Elfman, Selena Gomez and Avril Lavigne.

Earlier, thousands of onlookers at Mrs Macquarie's chair were treated to an aerobatic show with a stunt plane doing loop-the-loops and mid-air stalls, and hair-raising low flying just metres from the water.

The city's fireworks director, Fortunato Foti, hopes people are surprised by this year's show, which comprises about seven tonnes of fireworks.

Tuesday's three fireworks displays include 11,000 aerial shells and 25,000 shooting comets that will explode from seven barges spread across six kilometres of Sydney Harbour.

For the first time in a decade, 1000 fireworks will also be shot from the top of the Opera House, as well as from the Harbour Bridge and jet skis stationed in the harbour.

Ahead of midnight's 12-minute extravaganza, the city's more than 1.5 million revellers will be treated to a special one-minute cracker show at 10.30pm, based on an absurdist self-portrait by the night's artistic ambassador Reg Mombassa.

"Essentially the idea is that every person perceives the universe in their own heads," the Mambo artist and Mental as Anything rocker told reporters on Tuesday.

"We are going to empty the contents of one such head onto the Sydney sky so hopefully people will be amused by that."

While remaining tight-lipped about the particulars, Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the bridge effect, to be unveiled just after midnight, will be "bigger than ever".

For the first time in a decade more than 1000 fireworks will also be launched off the Opera House's sails.

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