State 'awash in red ink'

TASMANIA'S economic indicators are "awash in a sea of red ink", the latest Deloitte Access Economics report says.

While Deloitte says the state's economy isn't in crisis, it isn't OK either. Unemployment, at 7.3 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms, is well above other states.

"Short-term prospects are fairly weak and the state is hostage to the fortunes of the Australian dollar," it says.

Premier Lara Giddings said the report confirmed the challenges Tasmania faced and highlighted the importance of the Tasmanian Jobs Package.

"The jobs package will help to create more than 3300 jobs and provide a boost to key industries like construction," she said in a statement.

Liberal Treasury spokesman Peter Gutwein said the report was yet another damning indictment of the  Labor-Green minority experiment.

"Ms Giddings can make as many excuses as she likes, but the fact is every other state is facing the same economic factors as Tasmania,'' he said.

"The difference is in Tasmania we've  got a minority government captive to the Greens, which is actively making this worse, such as by shutting down our forest industry."

Read more in tomorrow's Mercury.

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Police seek fire witnesses

POLICE are searching for two potential witnesses to a Hobart fire that caused about $10 million damage to Bridge Brothers in Bathurst St.

The two females shown in this video were walking through the Elizabeth St Mall towards Liverpool St and then up Elizabeth St to Bathurst St about 2.50am on Saturday, January 19.

Police investigating the blaze early that morning hope the women will recognise themselves from the footage.

The fire gutted the historic building that housed Bridges Brothers and several other businesses. Only the facade remains.

Anyone who recognises the women is urged to contact Hobart CIB on 6230 2611 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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Hotel heist hunt continues

POLICE have released photographs of the knife-wielding bandit who held up Moonah's Valern Hotel early yesterday.

The armed robber, who entered the hotel's gaming area about 1.50am and demanded money, is described as 170-175cm tall, of medium to solid build with a husky, deep voice.

He was wearing yellow work boots, dark, possibly denim trousers and a dark blue spray jacket with a hood.

The man was holding a large carving knife in his right hand and fled the hotel carrying the stolen money in a white fabric ANZ banking bag.

The thief entered and left the building via a side entrance and ran across the car park towards Station St in New Town.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or Glenorchy Crime and Drug Investigation Services on 6230 2881.

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Newsagency robbery charges

TWO youths have been charged with the armed robbery of a Sandy Bay newsagency on Friday.

Police say two male offenders disguising their appearance with masks and hoods entered the Sandy Bay Road business at 4.30pm brandishing two knives and escaping with a quantity of cash.

No one was injured.

Investigations are continuing and police say two underage males were yesterday detained to appear in an out-of-hours court.

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Armed robber strikes hotel

POLICE are hunting an armed robber who held up a Moonah hotel early this morning.

The offender entered the Valern Hotel's gaming area armed with a knife at 1.50am and demanded cash before escaping with an undisclosed amount of money via the hotel's carpark.

He was last seen running towards Station St.

Police describe him as being of solid build and wearing a grey hoody with dark-coloured trousers and work boots.

His face was covered.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or Glenorchy police on 6230 2881.

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Worse to come from floods

TWO police officers and bystanders had a narrow escape as a car drove out of a sea of foam in the Queensland floods.

Watch the video above.

Thousands of Brisbane and Ipswich residents face days of uncertainty as swollen waterways deliver huge floods for the second time in two years.

Premier Campbell Newman this morning warned thunderstorms forecast for this afternoon could add to the looming flood crisis.

"There is some indication from the Bureau of Meteorology of a thunderstorm," Mr Newman said.

"If that develops, we could see flash flooding, given the potential for intense rain events, and people need to be mindful of that along suburban creeks. People could see a rapid rise in water.

"I do stress though -- on everything I have to hand -- this will not be as significant as the 2011 flood."

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Ken Kato said the chances of a thunderstorm hitting Brisbane were about "30 per cent, maybe a little more".

"With thunderstorms, it's impossible to predict with certainty. There are some unstable conditions around today," Mr Kato said.

Bundaberg is facing its worst flood on record as the southeast also braces for flooding in the next 48 hours.

In his first briefing of the day, Mr Newman said "very significant" rain in the Laidley, Lockyer Creek and Bremer River catchments were recorded last night.

He said the falls appeared to make it more likely flooding would occur.

"Queensland is facing a very serious challenge right now. It's a serious challenge, but I stress we're up to it and people are not alone," he said.

"What I need people to do right now, is firstly to remain calm.

"There are expectations today of a major flood, probably the largest the city has ever seen."

Follow all the latest Queensland flood news at The Courier-Mail.

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Cry for date with deference

PROTEST POINT: Supporters of a new Australia Day date rally in Hobart. Picture: LEIGH WINBURN

TASMANIAN Aborigines have renewed their call for a new date for national celebrations to be held in Australia.

Hundreds took to the streets of Hobart yesterday, and many more nationwide, to raise awareness for a new, genuinely inclusive day of celebration that offended no one.

Tasmanian Aboriginal leader Michael Mansell said the campaign to change to a more appropriate date, rather than the one marking where one race invaded the nation of another, continued to grow.

"As long as they have Australia Day, we will be here," he said.

"If something is right, it is just a matter of persevering and persevere we will."

Aboriginal Affairs Minister Cassy O'Connor said now was the time for thoughtful and reasoned debate about the appropriateness of celebrating Australia's national identity on January 26.

"There can be no chance of true reconciliation until we change the date of our national day," she said.

"The date of our national day should unite, not divide us as a country of many peoples, and it should respect the first people."

Social justice lawyer and Mercury columnist Greg Barns said it was impossible to have a day which purported to celebrate the achievements of a nation when the original owners of that nation were excluded.

He said Australia could only move on when the day became just another day in January.

"You can only have a true Australia Day when you have a day that is acceptable to the Aboriginal community and which recognises that community in this country," he said.

Rocker and music festival curator Brian Ritchie who became an Australian citizen last year said Australia Day should allow everyone to celebrate without shame, ambivalence or reservations.

"Nothing can reverse the damage done in the past but it is not an unreasonable request to ask the majority to accept a date change as a conciliatory gesture," he said.

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Asta hits the Triple J-ackpot

SHOOTING STAR: Rosny College student Asta, is the first Tasmanian to hit the Triple J Hottest 100 countdown, at No.50. Picture: KAL YOUNG

HOBART rising star Asta yesterday became the first Tasmanian musician to be voted into Triple J's annual Hottest 100 countdown.

The 19-year-old Rosny College student's electro-pop song My Heart is On Fire came in at number 50, beating out some of the biggest names in music like Mumford & Sons, Jack White and Kanye West.

The honour was a big surprise, especially for the singer herself, who yesterday admitted to the Sunday Tasmanian that she had already given up on hearing it by the time it hit the airwaves.

Last week, a website had predicted she would enter the chart at number 79 and when that place came and went Asta thought her chances might be over.

In Brisbane for a gig today, Asta listened to the countdown in a pub with friends.

When her song was announced they all jumped up and down screaming with excitement.

"I'm amazed, I can't believe it," she said.

"Apparently you need millions of votes so if someone told me yesterday I'd be number 50, I would not have believed them.

"I'm very grateful to my fans and everyone who voted. Thanks Tasmania!"

Asta has a new single, I Need Answers, coming out in a few weeks on iTunes and the radio.

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Hostel rip-offs probe

TASMANIA'S consumer watchdog is set to investigate the conduct of several backpackers' hostels after complaints of alleged rip-offs.

Backpackers have warned Tasmania that scams being run by a few operators could harm the state's reputation as a destination for budget travellers.

Overseas visitors have told the Sunday Tasmanian of ripoffs by operators who are targeting backpackers seeking seasonal work picking fruit including being forced to pay accommodation bonds and being charged up to $170 a week for a patch of dirt to pitch a tent on.

British tourist Chris Smith, 22, said he and a friend had each been charged a $200 bond for a week's accommodation in a small room near Hobart.

They were then slugged a $60 fee for being found a $45-a-day job at a local strawberry farm that lasted for two days.

"We were charged $170 a week for a crappy room with no heating or $110 a week to sleep in a campervan. They gave us one blanket each to sleep in this caravan. It felt like it was about zero degrees.

"It was a complete scam, a pretty bad experience, the worst we've had by a long run," he said.

He said things became worse when the pair tried to leave.

"When we said we want to leave the hostel, they said that if you leave we'll take your $200 off you.

"They're just ripping loads of people off. As my first experience in Tasmania it really gives the place a bad name."

Dutch tourist Lou Benders is taking legal action to recover a bond she was charged.

"[They] conned us and kept our bond only because we wanted to leave early," she said.

Director of Consumer Affairs and Fair Trading Chris Batt said compliance officers from his office would look into the complaints.

Steve Old from the Tasmanian Hospitality Association said he had not heard of complaints from backpackers.

"If it is something that's not right then obviously we have to step on it. We only need one bad message to get out there and it can really hurt the industry," he said.

Tourism Australia figures reveal the nation hosted more than 1.5 million youth travellers last year, who spent an average of more than $7000 each during their stay.

Backpacker Operator Network founder Rod Parish, who runs the highly-regarded The Pickled Frog in Hobart, said the backpacker market was incredibly important to Tasmania and more needed to be done to promote the state.

"We've got an industry that brings in $60 million a year and Tourism Tasmania spends $6000 a year on us," Mr Parish said.

"All we hear from Tourism Tasmania is about how bad everything is."

"We've got everything that the market wants, you can do everything you ever wanted to do when you were young and yet we don't get 10 per cent of the market."

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Bellerive Oval funds cause stir

A POST on the Tasmanian Labor Facebook page criticising the State Government's $15 million Bellerive Oval funding was making waves in political circles last night.

A comment appeared yesterday berating Premier Lara Giddings for spending the money on the oval instead of healthcare and infrastructure.

Late last night the original post was no longer visible on the Tas Labor page but was still accessible - and had garnered nearly 1700 "likes" in about 10 hours.

State Labor secretary John Dowling said that among the comments following the post was an extremely offensive remark and he had removed it because of that.

"People are free to have open debate about issues but it's a public site and minors can see it,'' Mr Dowling said.

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