Zhivago clothes missing from Hummer

Police found the Hummer that belongs to Zhenya and Lydia Tsvetnenko in Bedford. The Zhivago clothes that were inside it are still missing. Picture Theo Fakos Picture: Theo Fakos Source: PerthNow

Zhivago designers Lydia Tsvetnenko and Lara Kovacevich look at their white Hummer which was found dumped in Bedford after being stolen from Guildford early this morning. The clothes that were inside are missing. Picture: Theo Fakos Source: PerthNow

Millionaire businessman Zhenya and Lydia Tsvetnenko. Picture: Alf Sorbello Source: PerthNow

THE white Hummer stolen from millionaire Zhenya Tsvetnenko has been found in a Bedford street, in Perth's eastern suburbs.

Mr Tsvetnenko wrote on Facebook this morning the white Hummer was stolen from a mate's house in Guildford overnight.

The Hummer H2, one of only two in Perth, also contained designer clothes that were to be shown at charity event StyleAid tonight but police have confirmed they remain missing.

Police said the Hummer was found in Craven Street, Bedford, down an alleyway, just a couple of kilometres away from where it was stolen.

A relieved Mr Tsvetnenko immediately posted an update on Facebook, saying: "Well, thanks to everyone's help! The car has been located parked and locked in an alley way. They were obviously going to come back to it.''

Mr Tsvetnenko's wife Lydia and her business partner Lara Kovacevich were planning to showcase new pieces from their label Zhivago at StyleAid tonight.

They will still take part in the charity event, instead using archival Zhivago gowns and items from their own wardrobes.

Map of Bedford

 

 "It's yet to be determined whether items inside the vehicle were stolen. Forensics are yet to examine the vehicle," police spokeswoman Naomi Smith said.

Earlier today Tsvetnenko wrote on his Facebook page: "Please Help! About 4 hours ago our white Hummer H2 was stolen from a friend's house in Guildford with Zhivago's Spring/Summer collection ready to be shown at the charity event Styleaid tonight," he wrote.

"Please help by calling the Police directly on 131 444 if you see it. The registration is 1DWN775."

The StyleAid fundraising event, which raises money for the WA Aids Council, is set to be held at Crown Perth tonight.

Mr Tsvetnenko is one of WA's wealthiest businessmen and made his fortune in 2002 with a business that enabled customers to receive paid SMS entertainment services on their mobile phones.

In 2010, he was named in the top 10 of Australia's richest people under the age of 40.

He and his wife Lydia are often pictured at Perth social and charity events.

Anyone who sees the vehicle or has any information should call police on either 1800 333 000 or 131 444.

The StyleAid fundraising event, which raises money for the WA Aids Council, is set to be held at Crown Perth tonight.

Mr Tsvetnenko is one of WA's wealthiest businessmen and made his fortune in 2002 with a business that enabled customers to receive paid SMS entertainment services on their mobile phones.

In 2010, he was named in the top 10 of Australia's richest people under the age of 40.

He married his long-time partner Lydia and the couple are often pictured at Perth social and charity events.

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Massive bombs found by NSW police

Two massive bombs both bigger than those used in the Boston Marathon attacks were made and going to be used to a blow up a Sydney hospital and the Macquarie St offices of a leading Sydney eye surgeon. Source: News Limited

TWO massive bombs both bigger than those used in the Boston Marathon attacks were made and going to be used to a blow up a Sydney hospital and the Macquarie St offices of a leading Sydney eye surgeon according to NSW police.

They said two fully assembled bombs with detonators and packed with 60cm long shrapnel pieces connected to a butane gas bottle were found in a duffel bag under a home in Albion Park on the South Coast in April.

The devices were both set to go off at 1.48pm on a Saturday in April at the two locations but had not been placed.

But just days before the bombs were to detonate the accused, a 42 year-old Illawarra man, fled Australia to Malta.

His ex-wife, who was unaware of the alleged plot, found the bombs two days later and called police.

The NSW bomb squad were called in to examine the devices. Police were preparing to extradite the man from Malta but he was arrested at Sydney Airport on Thursday evening when he attempted to re-enter the country. He was charged with one count of manufacturing an explosive device with intent to injure.

In Central Local Court yesterday a non-publication order was placed on the name of the hospital, the surgeon's identity and address of his offices by Magistrate John Andrews.

Police say the accused was being treated for an eye condition by the surgeon for the past five for a genetic condition. During a routine eye treatment a dye was used which he believes caused him an injury and blames for the decline in his eyesight although there was no medical evidence backing up his claims.

Magistrate Reynolds ordered the accused to undergo a psyche evaluation at St Vincent's Hospital.

More at The Daily Telegraph

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Train users to fork out for parking

Train users will have to pay for parking at all metropolitan train stations from July 2014. Picture: Bohdan Warchomij Source: PerthNow

PERTH commuters will add an extra $38.3 million to government coffers when they are forced to pay for parking at all metropolitan train stations from next year.

The Barnett Government plans to extend paid parking at train stations from July next year, budget documents reveal.

The measure will create extra $19.9 million in revenue from 2014-15 to 2016-17 and reduce operating costs by $18.4 million.

Opposition leader Mark McGowan said it was an attack public transport users who were being "savaged" by the government.

"Now that Mr Barnett has removed that incentive, we will see more cars on the roads and remaining train users will be forced to pay around $460 more per year to pay for parking at train stations.

"The decision will also push more public transport users to look for free parking on streets surrounding train stations."

However, Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute senior research fellow Jemma Green said claims the additional fee would result in more people driving to the city were wrong.

"Paid parking is $2 a day, if you park in the city it's like $4 an hour, so why would somebody want to pay $4 an hour for 8 or 9 hours a day, when they can just pay $2 and get on the train?

"I don't buy that argument at all," she said.

Instead, the researcher urged the government to make it easier for commuters to catch buses to the train station and leave their cars at home.

"We need high quality transport links, frequent and rapid transit buses to get them to the train station so that time wise it's as comparable to travel to the train station by bus as it is by car," she said.

"This involves having more dedicated bus lanes, so buses aren't the victim of traffic in the main arteries as well as more frequently buses particularly at the peak times."

Ms Green said the commitment to MAX Light rail and the Airport link was good, but questioned the decision of the government to spend so much money on building a new football stadium that would do nothing to improve productivity.

"More than $1 billion is proposed to be spent on (the stadium) and I don't believe this represents a good use of taxpayers' dollars at this time," she said.

"I think there are limited economic benefits from putting a stadium in when you compare it against the productivity gains you could get from putting in more public transport."
 

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Coles lashes union over Nedlands crash claim

A Coles Online delivery driver lost his leg in a crash in Nedlands last Thursday. Picture: Supplied. Source: PerthNow

SUPERMARKET giant Coles has launched a scathing attack on a union it likens to "vultures feeding'' on the misfortune of a delivery driver whose leg was amputated after a crash in Perth.

WorkSafe is making preliminary inquiries into the accident involving a 31-year-old Coles Online delivery driver at Nedlands last night.

His legs were crushed when a 51-year-old woman crashed into the delivery van as he was unloading groceries.

A Royal Perth Hospital spokesman said one of the man's legs had been amputated and it was unclear whether he would keep his other leg.

The Transport Workers Union (TWU) said the incident could have been avoided as not enough was being done to safeguard Coles Online drivers.

The union said Coles instructed its drivers to park on the road outside customers' homes and not in their driveway, and claimed there was inadequate lighting at the rear of the vans.

Coles reacted angrily.

"If media reports of TWU claims about this incident are accurate, the union leadership should be condemned as vultures feeding on any unfortunate incident to push their Safe Rates wages campaign,'' the company said in a statement.

"This is insulting and hurtful to our team member, his family and the other driver involved in the incident and it pre-empts the ongoing police investigation.

"Our priority is the wellbeing of our team member and his family and our thoughts are with them all.''

The 51-year-old driver was treated for shock.

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Slow and steady for England early on

England win the toss and bat as the 4th Test gets underway

AUSTRALIA had worked their way on top despite some determined England batting on a hard fought first day of the fourth Ashes Test at Chester-le-Street.

When England captain Alastair Cook was trapped in front by Jackson Bird for a dour 51, the home team had lost three wickets for 46, to be 4-155 tea.

England seemed to have taken the upper hand when Cook and Jonathan Trott survived some tight Australian bowling in the first session to push past one hundred.

But the wickets of Trott, Kevin Pietersen and Cook in the afternoon session had the home team under pressure.

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Despite batting unconvincingly, Cook threatened to provide the bed rock of a significant total as he absorbed 153 balls over 216 minutes in compiling his half century. But he was out just before tea, leaving a ball from Bird that would have hit off stump.

Nathan Lyon had provided two vital breakthroughs. The off-spinner had Jonathan Trott caught at short leg by Usman Khawaja for 49, just as he threatened to accelerate the scoring rate.

Shane Watson picks up Australia's first wicket after Umpire's decision is overturned by Hot Spot

Then, as importantly, Lyon had Kevin Pietersen caught behind for 26, prodding at a ball that left him. That after Pietersen had looked in menacing form, lofting Lyon for two straight fours in his previous spell.

Shane Watson had made the early inroads for Australia, when he had Root caught behind by Brad Haddin for 16.
Although not before yet another test of the now controversial Hot Spot technology.

Umpire Tony Hill turned down a confident appeal by the Australians, prompting an instant referral by captain Michael Clarke. The replay showed a small Hot Spot mark on Root's bat, and the decision was reversed.

This suggested that, if players really were using silicone tape to avoid detection as has been alleged, Root is at the end of the supply chain.

More importantly for Australia, it provided a vital wicket just as the England openers appeared set to survive a tough session in heavy, humid conditions that had provided encouragement for the Australian bowlers.

Having been moved down the Australian batting order to No.6, Watson has undergone yet another transformation, this time from specialist opener back to would-be all-rounder.

Jackson Bird celebrates his first Ashes wicket - that of England skipper Alastair Cook.

The latest reinvention might not particularly please a cricketer who had made it clear he prefers to bat first. But Watson responded in the best possible way by making an urgently needed breakthrough.

England's Ashes-clinching 2-0 lead in the series had been a matter of skill, rather than good fortune. But, having won for the toss for a third time in four Tests, Cook again provided his team with a potential advantage.

So it seemed vital Australia used the new ball well in heavy conditions that would probably provide the best bowling conditions of the first three days. Cook and Root, however, frustrated them in first hour despite some tight early bowling.

Bird, added to the Australian team for Mitchell Starc, came closest to claiming a wicket when Root edged his first ball just wide of gully.

Bird was named for his first Test of the series, and his third overall. He was man of the match in his most recent appearance for Australia against Sri Lanka at the SCG, and had been impressive in the tour games here.

Starc, who was also discarded after the first Test despite taking five wickets, might consider himself slightly unlucky having taken three wickets in the first innings at Old Trafford.

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Rayney faces wait for retrial news

Lloyd Rayney faces a wait of at least several weeks before finding out if he will face a retrial for the murder of his estranged wife Corryn.

Barrister Lloyd Rayney arrives at the opening yesterday of the DPP appeal against his murder acquittal. Picture: Kerris Berrington Source: PerthNow

Lloyd and Corryn Rayney on a flight to Bali months before her death. Source: Herald Sun

LLOYD Rayney faces a wait of at least several weeks before finding out if he will face a retrial for the murder of his estranged wife Corryn.

The three judges presiding over the state's appeal against his 2012 acquittal reserved their decision today following two days of legal argument.

Today marks exactly six years since Ms Rayney, a former WA Supreme Court registrar, disappeared after a bootscooting class. Her body was found buried head-first in Kings Park nine days later.

Last November, former Northern Territory judge Justice Brian Martin cleared Mr Rayney of killing his wife.

Following the acquittal, the state lodged an appeal against the decision.

The state has argued over the course of two days that Justice Martin failed to give enough weight to all of the evidence presented in the trial. Yesterday the discovery of a dinner place card bearing Mr Rayney's name in Kings Park was described as a "smoking gun".

But lawyers representing Mr Rayney have argued the state's case should be thrown out because their argument had no "prospect of succeeding" and suggested the three appeal judges should not grant a leave to appeal.

Outside court today, Ms Rayney's sister Sharon Coutinho told the media that the past six years had been a "long journey" for their family and that the ordeal was far from over for them.

She added that spending two days in an appeal hearing was not how the family wanted to commemorate the sixth anniversary since Ms Rayney went missing.

Justices Mark Weinberg, Anthony Whealy and Terrene Buddin said they would hand down their decision "as soon as we practically can."
 

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Ashes players 'fooling' Hot Spot

Hot Spot is an infra-red technology used to determine whether the ball has made contact with the bat. Source: Supplied

AUSTRALIAN captain Michael Clarke has strongly denied his players have been using silicone-based tape on their bats to avoid detection by HotSpot technology.

Clarke says it's normal for players to protect their bats with things like fibreglass facing.

The Australian captain says he hasn't witnessed anything untoward going on with England players either, after a report on the Nine Network said the ICC was investigating players from both teams on the issue.

If batsmen are trying to cover up edges, the theory appears flawed, given it could just as easily contribute to incorrect lbw dismissals where the ball has been hit first.

It was reported earlier that players in the current Ashes series may have been cheating the Hot Spot technology which is a crucial part of the Decision Review System (DRS) by using a silicone-based tape on their bats.

According to a report on Channel Nine, batsmen may be the using tape to negate the effect of the Hot Spot technology.

The Hot Spot technology used under the DRS is an infra-red imaging system which is used to tell whether a batsman has hit a ball.

The ICC general manager of cricket Operations, Geoff Allardice, is in Durham for the fourth Test to investigate the matter.

Channel Nine reports that concern centres around the Kevin Pietersen dismissal in the second innings in Manchester, when the umpire gave the English batsman out after a noise was clearly heard.

Pietersen appealed the decision on review, and was given out, even though nothing showed up on Hot Spot.

Australian batsmen may also be using this method, Nine says.

Using grainy black and white footage, Hot Spot clearly shows a bright white patch where friction has occurred. The system has been notoriously unreliable throughout this Ashes series and now we may know why.

It is not yet known whether English or Australian players are allegedly involved.

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Perth cops a soaking

Perth received a 5.8mm dumping of rain within half an hour. Picture: Alf Sorbello Source: PerthNow

PERTH was drenched by rain just in time to create havoc for the evening peak hour period.

8.6mm of rain has been recorded in the guage since 9am, with 8.2mm of that falling between 4pm and 5:45pm.

Further showers are forecast for Perth tonight, but are expected to ease by Thursday afternoon.

Residents in the South West are also in for a soaking, with the Department of Fire and Emergency Services issuing a flood warning for the region.

After a freak weather event yesterday created a dangerous water spout, sending five people to hospital, people in Bunbury, Harvey, Donnybrook and Busselton were this afternoon told to prepare for more stormy conditions.

DFES say there is the possibility of minor flooding in the South West today and tomorrow.

As at 3.27pm today the Bureau of Meteorology advises that widespread rainfall of 10 millimetres to 20 millietres has been recorded within the catchments between Cape Naturaliste and Mandurah during the past 6 hours to 3pm.

For those at risk of floods

WHAT TO DO:
• Watch for changes in water levels so you are ready if you need to relocate.
• Never walk, swim or play in floodwaters, as they are dangerous.
• With water moving quickly people need to stay out of the Vasse, Preston, Lower Collie and Harvey River catchments, this includes no swimming or kayaking.
• If you are a traveller do not park or camp adjacent to rivers.

IF DRIVING:
• Floodways and river levels may rise rapidly so be careful at crossings.
• Do not drive into water of unknown depth and current.
• Take care on gravel and unsealed roads as they may be slippery and muddy, and you could get bogged.

ROAD CLOSURES:
No roads are closed.
There is water over Caves Road, between Metricup Road and Fifty-One Road, and drivers are being asked to use caution and drive slowly.

FLOOD DETAILS:

Overnight moderate rainfall of 10 millimetres to 20 millimetres with isolated heavier fall is forecast.

Stream rises and localised flooding will continue with minor flooding in the upper area of the Preston River catchment.
Current river levels are available from Department of Water at www.water.wa.gov.au.

IMPORTANT NUMBERS:
• For SES assistance call 132 500
• In a life threatening situation call 000
• For the latest flood information call 1300 659 213 or visit www.bom.gov.au/wa/flood.
• For information about road conditions and closures contact the local shire or Main Roads WA on 138 138.

KEEP UP TO DATE:
Call 1300 657 209, visit www.dfes.wa.gov.auor listen to news bulletins.

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Rudd offers Gillard campaign spot

The Prime Minister said the former prime minister would be welcome to campaign with him whenever she liked to help him win on September 7. Courtesy: 7.30 Report

KEVIN Rudd has invited Julia Gillard to join him on the hustings.

The Prime Minister said the former prime minister would be welcome to campaign with him whenever she liked to help him win on September 7.

"Julia would be welcome to participate in the campaign in any way she chose fit," Mr Rudd told ABC's 7.30 program.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been invited to join Kevin Rudd on the campaign trail. Source: News Limited

"And as you know, when I've been asked about Julia in recent days, I've been very direct and very frank about the positive role she's played in our party and the contributions she's made to disability care policy, education policy and the measurement of academic standards of schools - great achievements."

Mr Rudd's invitation during this campaign follows the 2010 campaign when he was accused of being the source of damaging leaks against Ms Gillard.

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First home owner grant on the block

It is tipped changes will be made to the first homebuyers grant in the state budget. Picture: Ian Mainsbridge

THE Real Estate Institute of WA says it is concerned the state budget will have bad news for first home buyers.

The institute believes the Barnett Government is set to abolish the first home owner grant on established homes when the budget is delivered on Thursday afternoon.

Such a move would prompt an immediate backlash from the property sector, as it would "skew the market".

REIWA president David Airey ambushed Premier Colin Barnett on ABC radio on Wednesday morning, inviting him to quash the rumour that the $7000 First Home Buyer Grant (FHOG) would be axed on established homes. The Premier evaded the issue.

"You'll have to wait till tomorrow," Mr Barnett said.

The peak industry body representing about 80 per cent of real estate agents in WA is also concerned there may be budget pain in the area of stamp duty.

It has warned the state government not to mess with funding arrangements for first home buyers in the budget.

Currently the state government exempts first home buyers from stamp duty on purchases under $500,000, saving most around $14,000.

In addition to this, the state distributes $7000 to eligible first home buyers through the FHOG.

Mr Airey said relief from stamp duty was a huge saving to first time buyers while the FHOG itself helped many into their first home at a time when house prices had grown significantly since the grant was introduced in 2000.

"Together these two benefits to first home buyers have helped nurture and grow this market to the point where activity is now very strong, he said.

"Other states which have done away with stamp duty relief and changed the rules on the FHOG have seen the numbers of first home buyers crash through the floor."

Currently the FHOG scheme provides the grant to first home buyers who purchase an existing home and also to
those who built a new home on a block.

However, Mr Airey said there were worrying signs that the Barnett government will abolish the FHOG for existing homes and apply it only to those which are newly built.

"This will disadvantage around 70 per cent of first home buyers who prefer an established home over a house and land package and this in turn will distort the market at a crucial time in its recovery," Mr Airey said.

Mr Airey said first home buyers were currently very strong in the market as they took advantage of stable prices and low interest rates.

"It would be a dreadful policy decision to mess with this in any way because the repercussions will ripple through the whole housing sector," Mr Airey said.

Mr Airey said it was nonsense to suggest that shifting the FHOG to new-builds only would assist the construction industry, because it was already under strain from strong demand.

According the Office of State Revenue, the median purchase price for first home buyers across WA in June was $430,000.

In June there were 1,681 FHOG grants paid with just 483 requested for new builds.

REIWA is urging the government not to create more turbulence at a time when a sensitive market was just moving into a more stable phase.

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