Man shot dead in Greenacre street

Police have launched a manhunt after a man was shot dead in the Sydney's west on Friday night.

Police at the scene of the shooting in Greenacre. Pic: Bill Hearne Source: The Daily Telegraph Source: The Daily Telegraph

DETECTIVES have revealed that police officers spoke to a man who was murdered at Greenacre last night just hours before he was shot dead.

Khaled Kahwaji, 29, from Rhodes, was spoken to by police at Petersham around 12:30pm on Friday - six hours later his body was found on Wilbur St, Greenacre.

Detective Inspector Russell Oxford said Kahwaji - who has not been formally identified - was reportedly sighted in Wilbur St where he died, on Thursday.

Police had been called to the area regarding reports of a man carrying a firearm.

When Kahwaji spotted officers in the street, he ran away - however D/Insp Oxford said police were not entirely sure whether it was Kahwaji who was armed.

"The real mystery for us is what caused this man to arrive at Wilbur street - he's arrived in Wilbur street and he lives in Rhodes," D/Insp Oxford said.

"We need to determine why he was there."

D/Insp Oxford said a number of lines of inquiry were continuing, including links to a shooting a crime family matriarch last week in Auburn, the organised crime group Brothers For Life, and a murder in 2010 over which he was charged.

Kahwaji was charged with the murder of Saba Kairouz in August 2010.

He was named on social media last night about 7pm though police asked it be withheld from publication for operational reasons.

Investigators are focusing their main line of inquiry to include a retaliation attack in relation to that murder, but are also investigating links with the shooting of a crime family matriarch on Auburn road at Auburn last Saturday.

The victim in that case, revealed by this newspaper earlier this week, was the aunt of Supermax inmate Bassam Hamzy, the founder of the organised crime group Brothers For Life.

Police later said they were bracing for an escalation in violence over the attack, which saw her shot four times in the legs at her front door.

Witnesses living on Wilbur St at Greenacre said they tried to help Kahwaji as he lay on the road just after being shot in the back of the head about 6pm last night.

Relatives grieve at the crime scene where a man was shot in Greenacre. Picture: Piper Jeremy Source: The Daily Telegraph

The shooting happened outside a home which was later surrounded by police tactical operatives and the dog squad, who ordered the occupants, on loud speaker, to come outside.

After approximately one hour they then stormed the premises, though no arrests were made.

"We were trying to talk to him and just saying 'can you hear us'," a neighbour, who heard about five shots, told The Sunday Telegraph.

"The first thing police asked him was 'do you know who did this'."

Two search warrants were carried out by heavily armed officers later in the evening on the same street.

Police, the Homicide Squad and about seven riot squad officers have today returned to the scene, blocking off Wilbur st to door knock homes and conduct a line search for further evidence.

Police described the killing of Kahwaji, believed to be 30 years old, as a targeted attack.

He was shot a number of times, including the back of the head, while sitting in a Silver Mazda 3 on leafy Wilbur Lane about 6.15pm.

His body was found lying next to the car which had bullet holes in the driver's side door and about another three in the windscreen.

"This is not a random incident. This person has been targeted and it's certainly not something that is random," Bankstown police Superintendent Dave Eardley said.

"It's certainly an act that's quite vicious and callous."

In a shocking scene now regularly confronting residents of Sydney's western and southwestern suburbs, the street was shut down as more than 30 police scoured the area for evidence.

Forensic detectives and investigators from the Homicide Squad were also called in to assess the scene. Local residents returning from work were unable to enter their homes as the street was blocked off for about 100m.

Police cars and ambulance vans also clogged the street.

Police at the scene of the shooting in Greenacre / Pic: Bill Hearne Source: The Daily Telegraph

A group, believed to be members of the man's family, arrived on the scene soon after police arrived. There were hysterical scenes as several women in the group made their way towards the police barrier to view the body.

Police said it was too soon to say if the killing was related to motorcycle gangs but Supt Eardley said investigators were "not ruling anything out".

Yesterday's killing marks the 35th shooting in NSW this year - more than three a week - with 10 this month alone.

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Cops to launch Big Brother in the sky

HIGH SPIES: Queensland police plan to introduce drones similar to those used by the military in Afghanistan for surveillance Source: The Courier-Mail

QUEENSLAND police plan to send drones into the skies for bikie and anti-terror surveillance ahead of the G20 conference in Brisbane.

The $30-an-hour drones would also be used for covert drug crop identification, traffic operations and natural disasters following a successful trial last year.

The Courier-Mail can reveal Police Minister Jack Dempsey wants the aircraft, possibly second-hand ex-military drones used in Afghanistan, in time for the trans-national G20 conference in November next year.

But the plans have angered privacy advocates, with the head of the Australian Council for Civil Liberties saying they amount to "Big Brother in the sky".

Mr Dempsey said drones would be a "cost-effective" measure in police aerial intelligence, with an hourly operating fuel price-tag of $30 compared to $500 per hour for a helicopter.

"Originally even basic drones cost upwards of a million dollars but today they can be purchased for as little as $50,000 and the price continues to fall," Mr Dempsey said.

"Furthermore, with many countries continuing their withdrawal from various theatres of war we may see their high-end surplus military drones come on to the market at very low prices.

"I believe if the business case for drones stacks up they'd be invaluable for a range of policing tasks, including traffic management, covert drug crop identification and even surveillance for events such as the 2014 G20 meeting and reconnaissance during outlaw biker runs.

"Additionally there are many emergency applications such as being used for spotting bushfires for the Rural Fire Service and providing real-time aerial intelligence from flood or cyclone affected areas."

HIGH SPIES: Queensland police plan to introduce drones similar to those used by the military in Afghanistan for surveillance

Mr Dempsey said helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft were useful "when it comes to search and rescue activities".

"But of course they are limited by fuel capacity and fuel availability in remote areas," he said.

"With some drones able to fly and hover for days and weeks on end, we'd be able to keep a single aircraft up for much longer while beaming back real-time video which, together with traditional aircraft, would complement most search and rescue activities."

In the US the Pentagon has splurged on drones, reportedly increasing the number to 7000 compared to about 50 a decade ago.

However, the government is currently locked in a fierce political debate on how they are used and associated privacy concerns.

In Australia, 34 organisations are certified to use drones for activities including aerial photography, surveying and power line inspection.

Australian Council for Civil Liberties president Terry O'Gorman said giving police access to drone technology was a "huge boost" to their powers and shouldn't be done without legislation and parliamentary debate.

"There is a real concern about the eye in the sky, the flying Big Brother who can see everything and anything, in the hands of police," he said. "Bikies are just the selling point, it will be used across the board."

He said using drones to monitor public protests was unjustified and could make people afraid of expressing themselves publicly.

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Some media changes 'good': Coalition

Malcolm Turnbull in Question Time in the House of Representatives Chamber, Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: Kym Smith Source: News Limited

THE federal opposition admits there are some good initiatives in Labor's proposed media law changes, but says it is a shame they are likely to fail.

Opposition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull says there are a number of good proposals regarding changes to television laws.

"The reduction in commercial television licence fees, the changes to commercial content - they have to run more Australian content and be able to run it over the multi-channels, that's important," Mr Turnbull told ABC television this morning.

He also said updating the ABC and SBS charters was important but unlikely to succeed.

"Because (Prime Minister) Julia Gillard has thrown this into her assault on press freedom and the establishment of this new public interest media advocate ... it's quite likely that the whole package will fall by the wayside," he said.

Mr Turnbull said the prime minister's authority was at stake if she failed to pass the legislation.

"She will have stirred up a hornet's nest, enraged the media industry, got everybody offside and then not even been able to get it through," he said.

He called on the government to go to the polls early.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard says proposed media laws changes won't curtail the freedom of the press.

"Just call this off, go to an election, let the people decide," he said.

On Friday, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy dismissed complaints there had been inadequate time to consider the government's media reforms, saying it was too early to write off the support of key independents.

He is pressing parliament to pass his package of media legislation by the end of next week - a result that now looks unlikely, as independents Craig Thomson and Rob Oakeshott say they will oppose the bills, and other crossbenchers are also raising doubts about the changes.

But Senator Conroy said it was "too early to make pronouncements about whether or not people are voting for the bill".

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Iraq, the war and how we got it wrong

The official war in Iraq may be over but the battle scars still remain, both physical and emotional, for those who served, and for their families. Lindsay Claiborn reports.

FORMER prime minister John Howard has admitted that "mistakes" were made by the US-led coalition in Iraq, but he stands by his decision a decade ago to join friend George W Bush in invading the oil-rich nation.

And his foreign affairs minister at the time, Alexander Downer, has revealed the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, virtually blamed former Australian diplomat and chief weapons inspector Richard Butler for the war.

A decade on from the invasion of Iraq by the US-led coalition of the willing and Australian special-forces troops and RAAF fighter jets in March 2003, Mr Howard said he had not changed his mind because Iraq was better off without Saddam Hussein.

"Post invasion, mistakes were made, most particularly the dismantling of the Iraqi Army," Mr Howard said.

He said most people believed that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and then Labor spokesman Kevin Rudd had even stated that it was "empirical fact".

Mr Howard denied intelligence on the matter was manufactured.

He also said the Iraq experience could have been one of the catalysts for the so-called Arab Spring.

SPECIAL REPORT: Was the Iraq War worth it?.

John Howard in 2003 following US military strikes against Iraq. Picture: Ray Strange.

However, former Defence chief and Iraq war opponent General Peter Gration said the war was "immoral, illegal and unnecessary".

He said it was also one of the dumbest strategic decisions in Australian history.

"The civilian casualties and damage have been enormous and it was the first time in history that Australia had taken offensive action against a country that had done nothing to us," General Gration said.

"We need some way to ensure that this never happens again."

Mr Downer this week said the UN had been writing reports about Iraq's weapons stockpile for years.

He said Mr Annan had said to him that he could not believe that former head of the UN weapons inspection team, Mr Butler, had been made Governor of Tasmania.

"Annan said to me, `If not for Richard Butler there would not have been an Iraq War'," Mr Downer said.

Mr Butler denied the claim.

"The substance of what Annan is alleged to have said is incorrect," he said.

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Dame Edna shines on MasterChef

Comedian and actor Barry Humphries as his Dame Edna Everage character in Sydney, with Edna about to embark on her final Australian tour. Picture: Nic Gibson Source: News Limited

DAME Edna Everage stole the show as a judge on a special celebrity edition of UK MasterChef watched by millions across Britain.

In a PR coup for Australia the segment was filmed at Australian House in London and also featured new High Commissioner Mike Rann.

British comedians Jack Whitehall and Micky Flanagan went head-to-head in a cook off that was scored by Dame Edna, Mr Rann and MasterChef judges Monica Galetti and Gregg Wallace.

The segment aired on the BBC in the UK on Friday night (early Saturday Australian time) as part of Red Nose Day to raise money for the Comic Relief charity.

In great promotion for Australia the megastar Moonee Ponds housewife arrived at Australian House on the Strand in a Rolls Royce and was greeted by cheering crowds waving Aussie flags.

"The High Commission was delighted to support such a good cause and it was great that the BBC chose Australia House as the venue," Mr Rann said.

During a feisty competition Mr Flanagan served steamed John Dory with red wine sauce together with rhubarb and orange, while Mr Whitehall cooked up chicken with risotto and bacon pieces.

Dame Edna, who is soon to retire, was at times scathing in her critique of the food. She said after seeing one dish: "those diced veggies look a bit like sick" and after tasting Mr Flanagan's main she commented: "I don't think it justified the death of a fish."

Former South Australian Premier Mike Rann said the highlight of the dinner was the Aussie wine that was served and used by Mr Flanagan as a sauce with his John Dory.

"It was grievous bodily harm on an Australian fish. If he had cooked that in Australia we would have had him deported," Mr Rann joked.

The MasterChef judges were in stitches as our national treasure tasted the courses.

"I've watched Dame Edna for years and years and from the first glass of water to the last spoonful of desert, I couldn't stop giggling," Mr Wallace said.

"It was marvellous to sit down for lunch in the Grand Hall of the Australian High Commission with one of the funniest women I've met - it's got to be right up there with some of the best things I've ever done.

"I had no idea she was such a great foodie with incredible knowledge which really impressed me, she seems to dine very well on both sides of the world."

Mr Whitehall was crowned the winner and thanked his mother for "providing all of his recipes."

Red Nose Day has raised more than $870 million for good causes in the UK and Africa since it began in 1988 - and it was hoped this years efforts will smash the 2011 record of $107 million.

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Rudd warns PM on Gonski reform

Kevin Rudd has warned the PM the government is failing to sell the Gonski education reforms. Picture: Aaron Francis Source: HWT Image Library

KEVIN Rudd has warned the Gillard government it has failed to sell a historic schools funding revolution with mums and dads in the dark about what the "Gonski" reforms mean.

His criticism came as the ALP national secretary George Wright issued a rare rebuke to the parliamentary wing over ongoing leadership instability warning it was "extremely damaging" the government.

Speaking at a function in Brisbane to discuss Troy Bramston's book of Labor speeches For the True Believers, Mr Rudd again confirmed that unnamed cabinet minsters questioned his decision to apologise to the stolen generation as "dangerous".

And he warned Labor's communications strategy was failing with many people didn't know what the word "Gonski" means when it was used as short-hand of explaining school reform. Mr Rudd said he was hugely respectful of businessman David Gonski who prepared the blueprint but it was no way to sell a policy.

"Here's a little challenge for those wearing the Gonski t-shirt, ask everyone around this table what Gonski means. So the mums and dads of Australia at this stage does not have a whole lot of detailed content,'' Mr Rudd said.

"I support the continuation for the education revolution and I am enormously respectful of David Gonski, but we have a massive communication task ahead of us to communicate what all of that involves, how does the outcome of our education system, the quality of graduates from our primary schools and secondary schools go through the roof as a consequence of that.

"If you were to give Abraham Lincoln the word Gonski and ask whether he should put it into the Gettysburg address or any other recent speech in Australia political speech making or go beyond that to conceptualise and explain to mums and dads what it all actually means, what are the building blocks how do we go from here to here, what happens by the end. Now I know some of the answers to that having studied the report so if you're looking for the passionate advocate for the education revolution you're looking at him, ok?"

The Prime Minister is yet to announce a cash deal to the states to deliver on the Gonski reforms promise to boost funding to struggling schools with Independent Tony Windsor warning time was running out. It will be thrashed out at April's Council of Australian Governments meeting with state premiers.

Meanwhile, the Labor Party's top campaign strategist George Wright also lashed Labor MPs for ongoing leadership instability warning they are "damaging'' the government and destroying their chances of winning the next election.

His warning to the parliamentary wing followed claims by ALP insiders that the Labor Party's national secretariat had been ordered by the Prime Minister's office not to conduct polling in Victoria and South Australia fearing it could be used as the spark to light a leadership battle this week.

But Mr Wright denied the claims warning the ALP's ongoing acts of leadership mischief and self harm would do the party no favours with voters.

"I think it is extremely damaging to the government,'' Mr Wright told News Limited.

"The fact that I am getting phone calls like this. None of this is about the national secretariat. None of this is about polling. I can only imagine what they are doing it for.

"My advice to MPs is: 'You've got a an election to fight in six months'."

Mr Wright rejected claims he had been ordered by the Prime Minister's office not to conduct polling or that he was keeping polling in SA and Victoria secret so it could not be leaked by the Prime Minister's enemies. However, he refused to discuss whether he had conducted polling in Victoria or SA that had confirmed big swings.

With party insiders describing the Prime Minister's leadership as a now a "day by day'' proposition, her inner circle of supporters said they could still see no clear mechanism for Mr Rudd to spark a leadership changeover because he had vowed not to challenge the Prime Minister.

For that reason the only circuit breaker was for a group of MPs to give her "the tap" and ask her to stand down. While this had been widely mooted in ALP circles Labor MPs warned if no one stepped up to do it Ms Gillard would likely survive the week and would not face another meeting of the ALP caucus until the May budget.

The Rudd camp put his numbers at somewhere between 40 and 50 significantly higher than during the February 2012 contest when his numbers went backwards during the leadership contest to lose 71:31.

Mr Rudd's warning that time was running out for the Gonski school reform was echoed by Independent Tony Windsor who urged the Prime Minister to take the axe to the baby bonus and middle class welfare.

"All I am saying to the government is: 'I am prepared to look at some hard decisions if you are prepared to back yourself in on Gonski'.''

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'I will challenge' - Rudd's St Pat's Day gag

Raw vision of Kevin Rudd throwing down his challenge at a St Patrick Day's event in Brisbane. Vision: Kevin Rudd

KEVIN Rudd has released a YouTube video of himself declaring "I will challenge!" in a St Patrick's Day joke unlikely to leave the Prime Minister laughing.

During a string of gags about the leadership drama destroying the ALP's election hopes, the former Prime Minister has made jokes about "cold showers" and "cryogenic'' freezing, all the terms he has used to rule out a second leadership challenge.

In a speech to a St Patrick's Day party at Brisbane's Irish Club on Friday night, Mr Rudd also joked about the Ides of March, the March 15 date that became notorious as the date of the assassination date of Julias Caesar.

"Today is also the Ides of March. A day which demands the attention of anyone involved in the fratricide, sorry the profession, of politics,'' Mr Rudd said.

"Now there's been a lot of speculation about politics of late. It's time to put a stop to it. It's time to turn off the cold showers. It's time to turn off the cryogenic storage tanks. It's time to tell it as it is. It's time to announce...on these Ides of March 2013, that I will challenge!"

Kevin Rudd joked about leadership challenges during a St Patrick's Day speech in Brisbane. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

After a dramatic pause, Mr Rudd adds, "any of the Liberal politicans here'' if they claim to have a greater Irish heritage than him.

Meanwhile, the Labor Party's top campaign strategist George Wright also lashed Labor MPs for ongoing leadership instability warning they are "damaging'' the government and destroying their chances of winning the next election.

His warning to the parliamentary wing followed claims by ALP insiders that the Labor Party's national secretariat had been ordered by the Prime Minister's office not to conduct polling in Victoria and South Australia fearing it could be used as the spark to light a leadership battle this week.

"I think it is extremely damaging to the government,'' Mr Wright said.

"The fact that I am getting phone calls like this. None of this is about the national secretariat. None of this is about polling. I can only imagine what they are doing it for.

"My advice to MPs is: 'You've got a an election to fight in six months'."

Mr Wright rejected claims he had been ordered by the Prime Minister's office not to conduct polling or that he was keeping polling in SA and Victoria secret so it could not be leaked by the Prime Minister's enemies. However, he refused to discuss whether he had conducted polling in Victoria or SA that had confirmed big swings.

The speech comes as Mr Rudd also warned the Gillard government it had failed to sell a historic schools funding revolution with mums and dads in the dark about what the "Gonski" reforms mean.

Speaking at a function in Brisbane to launch a book of Labor speeches For the True Believers, Mr Rudd warned yesterday Labor's communications strategy was failing.

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Heckler punched by statue busker

The street performer who took a swipe at an annoying man has told Nine News he's sorry. Vision Nine News/Richard Choeun/youtube

A BOXING busker has lived out every street performer's fantasy and become a global internet star in the process after punching an annoying pest in the face.

Video of a Queensland busker David Mulder punching a heckler in the face has become a hit in more ways than one, going viral and racking up more than 400,000 views in a matter of hours.

In the 35 second YouTube video, uploaded last night, Mr Mulder is shown doing his routine on Surfers Paradise shopping strip Cavill Ave, before being taunted by a male passer by.

After being poked and prodded for 20 seconds, even receiving a saliva-soaked finger in his ear, Mr Mulder finally snaps and punches the young man in the face, to gasps from the crowd.

The ultimate professional, Mr Mulder did not miss a beat and immediately resumed his statue routine.

The man taunted the busker on Cavil Ave in Surfers Paradise.

Mr Mulder was back at his post in Cavill Ave last night and said he was not proud of lashing out but could only take so much.

"He was in the wrong, but at the same time I was in the wrong for striking out," he said.

"Violence is never vindicated."

He said he would even apologise to the man if they crossed paths again. Mr Mulder has been busking in Surfers Paradise for five years and has encountered few problems in the past.

The man poked and prodded the busker as he performed for shoppers.

Other street performers said the bizarre incident was the inevitable result of years of tolerating antagonistic antics from hecklers and pests.

"We put up with so much crap," said one.

"It was probably only a matter of time before somebody popped."

Brisbane student Richard Choeun, 21, said he was "shocked" to capture the incident while filming his 12-year-old cousin interacting with the busker on a family holiday last Saturday.

After being taunted for about 20 seconds, the busker lost it and punched the man in the face.

"When it happened we stopped recording because we were a bit concerned, the guy was bleeding from the mouth,'' he said.

"He walked over to his friends, he stood there for a bit and then he just walked away. I think he knew he was being an idiot.

"The busker pretty much just went back to his performance, he was great.

"Everyone in the crowd was really shocked, they didn't say anything, they were really surprised. I think they knew that he deserved it so they didn't really care.''

Statue busker David Mulder back on the street after becoming an internet sensation after punching a heckler in Surfers Paradise after being tormented. Picture: Adam Head

Mr Choeun said he was "very surprised'' when the video went viral, prompting phone calls and emails from global media organisations such as NBC and The Huffington Post.

"I only uploaded it for fun to show my Facebook friends, then I wake up and there's like 10,000 views on it and I'm being contacted by media,'' he said.

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