Two a penny

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The suspected terrorists arrested today in Melbourne allegedly intended to become martyrs in an attack on Holsworthy army base in New South Wales.

The Melbourne Magistrates’ Court heard police believed there was a conspiracy to use weapons to fire upon Australian military personnel.

Prosecutor Nick Robinson, SC, alleged the men intended to keep shooting until they were killed or arrested.

The court heard only one man had been charged with terrorism-related offences while three other men remained in custody without charge.

Mr Robinson agreed with Magistrate Peter Reardon that their intention was to become martyrs.

One of the men, Saney Aweys, appeared in court handcuffed and flanked by two federal agents.

Investigators are seeking a court order to extend their questioning of the men for eight hours. He denied any connection with the men mentioned in court by Mr Robinson. .

Aweys, who has not been charged and who was unrepresented, said he was a boilermaker and needed sleep after being awake for the past 30 hours. “I want to have a rest.

“I want it to stop now,” he said. He adjourned today’s hearing until 2pm for further applications to be made by the prosecution and their defense.”

Mr Reardon granted the application for Aweys to be interviewed for eight hours from 6pm tonight.

Federal agent David Kinton told the court the telephone intercepts had recorded text messages exchanged about the Holsworthy base.

Federal agent David Kinton told the court the telephone intercepts had recorded text messages exchanged about the Holsworthy base.”

He said the men had attempted to find an Islamic sheik or religious authority to give them support to engage in violent attacks in Australia. It is easy to enter. “I’m waiting for your message,” one allegedly said in relation to the information about the Holsworthy base.

Mr Kinton said there had been other text messages sent between the men.

CCTV footage allegedly shows one of the men arriving at Holsworthy on March 28, Mr Kinton said.

“Can you give me the address of Australia and name of train station,” another text allegedly said.

Mr Robinson said that evidence would involve electronic and physical surveillance. He said one telephone discussion intercepted by police involved a man believed to be in Somalia who was engaged in violence there. He said he would allow the questioning of “such serious allegations” to continue.

In granting the application for the extension Mr Reardon said terrorism acts “strike at the heart of our democratic society”.

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LATEST:
The New Zealand Warriors rued some agonising missed field goals as they clung on for a 32-32 draw with Penrith in a remarkable National Rugby League tryfest at CUA Stadium in Sydney.

Both sides scored five tries as they couldn’t be separated in a scoreless, yet thrilling 10 minutes of golden point extra time after the Warriors led 32-6 at one stage.Lance Hohaia went closest to winning it for the Warriors when his 35m field goal attempt three minutes into extra time hit the crossbar, while veteran Stacey Jones also had his chance with 90sec remaining but pushed a handy attempt just wide.It was a match the Warriors blew after they raced to 32-6 in the 51st minute thanks to a four-try haul by centre Joel Moon.The Warriors, who had four field goal attempts to the Panthers’ one in extra time, attacked desperately in the dying seconds but the hosts hung on.After an ordinary first half from the hosts, they awoke from their slumber to pile in four tries in 21 minutes in classic Panthers fashion.Both goalkickers Kevin Locke and Michael Gordon were outstanding, each kicking a perfect six from six.Big Kiwis forward Frank Pritchard, a late recall after recovering from a broken hand, made his presence felt and when Frank Puletua charged over in the 70th minute it was back to an eight-point deficit.Gordon’s goal from the sideline made it 32-30, then a desperate Wade McKinnon high tackle on Jarrod Sammut with two minutes left saw Gordon tie the scores from the penalty.Then Panthers flyer Michael Jennings scored his second got them within two points when he bulldozed over out wide with five minutes left.30 favouritism.It should have been elementary, and so Australia’s big sports punters thought as they made the Panthers the best-backed side all weekend, into $1.But it was the reverse early on as the Warriors showed urgency and took their chances while the Panthers looked flat before their home faithful of 12,677.The Panthers were coming off an away victory at North Queensland to sit sixth on the ladder while the Warriors were without captain Steve Price and recovering from a heavy home defeat to the Dragons to sit 13th, five points outside playoff territory.Moon – with just two tries from 17 previous matches in 2009 – had his hat-trick by halftime as the Warriors piled on their most prolific first half of a pop-gun attacking season to lead 20-6.Moon – with just two tries from 17 previous matches in 2009 – had his hat-trick by halftime as the Warriors piled on their most prolific first half of a pop-gun attacking season to lead 20-6. .Moon had his second in the 16th minute after hard-toiling prop Sam Rapira busted the line and sent five-eighth Isaac John away.Four minutes after the break the Warriors attacked and Hohaia’s grubber was grabbed by, sure enough, Moon, and Locke’s conversion made it a 20-point buffer.When the Warriors were handed another penalty, stand-in skipper Micheal Luck ordered a shot at goal and Locke drilled his fourth in a row for a 14-point halftime lead.

.Lewis Brown then extended the lead when he steamrolled Sammut to make it 32-6

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Race organisers have lost contact with four New Zealand men who are rowing across the Indian Ocean to raise money for a prostate cancer charity, but the wife of one man says the team is well-prepared and she’s not worried.

Competing in the Indian Ocean Rowing Race, the Rowing for Prostate team of Tom Wigram, Peter Staples, Billy Gammon and Matt Hampel had been reporting daily for 71 days until Saturday.

Their last confirmed position was received on Saturday, when they were 553 nautical miles from Mauritius.

Mr Wigram’s wife Rebecca told she was “really, really not worried” about the team, who had trained hard for two years, including in incredibly bad weather, ahead of the race, and who were prepared for anything.

Organisers said the boat’s GPS system has been faulty and the crew’s satellite phone stopped working at the weekend.

A spokesperson for the race organisers, Alan Gwyer, said there was nothing to suggest the boat was suffering anything more than communication problems.

The men had an emergency beacon and personal locator beacon and would have set those off if they ran into any trouble, she said.

A race support boat was being sent out to the boat’s last position, over two days’ travel, Mr Gwyer said.

The inaugural charity race from Geraldton, West Australia, to Mauritius, off the coast of Africa, has already been won by a British crew. .

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NZP 30/06/09 1913NZ

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Nick and Phil McCorry, 25 and 24, Matt Hellier, 20, and Ian Allen, 25, last Thursday won the 3132 nautical mile race, finishing in 68 days, 19 hours and 40 minutes