SA Greens senator backs party leader

Victoria's newest senator Ricky Muir is off to Canberra after winning the state's sixth Senate spot.

The unemployed father-of-five won the seat despite the microparty winning just 0.51 per cent of the primary vote, thanks to a complex set of preference flows.

Mr Muir will join the Greens' Janet Rice, who also picked up a Victorian Senate seat while Liberal Senator Helen Kroger has lost her senate seat.

ALP senators Gavin Marshall and Jacinta Collins and Liberal senators Mitch Fifield and Scott Ryan were returned.

With the Senate result in SA finalised on Tuesday the Australian Electoral Commission said voters had elected two Liberal Senators, Corey Bernardi and Simon Birmingham, Labor's Penny Wong, the Greens Sarah Hanson-Young, popular independent Nick Xenophon and Family First's Bob Day.

The big loser from the poll was sitting Labor Senator Don Farrell, who will lose his spot when the new Senate comes into effect in July.

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Obama to speak on US shutdown

US President Barack Obama is getting ready to address the American people as the federal government moves ahead with a partial shutdown and new health insurance exchanges are launching under his health care law.

The White House says Obama will deliver a statement in the Rose Garden of the White House at 12.25pm EDT (2.35am on Wednesday AEST).

He also plans to meet in the Oval Office with a group of citizens who are participating in the new health care program.

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SES continue clean-up from damaging winds

THE NSW State Emergency Service (SES) will continue to work its way through almost 800 calls for assistance following a day of fierce winds.

A two-level shopping centre at Greenacre, southwest of Sydney, and an apartment building were among the properties that had their roofs partly ripped off during Tuesday's strong winds.

Properties on the Central Coast and Northern Beaches also had roofs blown away.

The damage to the shopping complex and Marrickville unit block will require the services of structural engineers on Wednesday.

Eight people had to be evacuated from the Marrickville units and relocated to temporary accommodation.

The SES had to hand the Greenacre shopping centre job, which involved 160 metres of roof damage, to NSW Fire and Rescue.

SES spokesman Todd Burns said the organisation had received 794 calls for assistance as of 10pm (AEST) on Tuesday.

The SES had ticked off all but 184 jobs, dealing with the urgent ones first, but there would be plenty of work still to do on Wednesday.

The emergency crews expect to have light winds on their side.

"The front that occurred had now moved out of the coast," Mr Burns said.

A wind gust of 135km/h was recorded at Thredbo on Tuesday while a gust of 93km/h was recorded at Sydney Harbour.

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Sydney road closed after fatal truck crash

AUTHORITIES hope to have a busy Sydney road reopened by peak hour following a fiery fatal truck crash which killed two people.

A fuel tanker crashed and exploded at Mona Vale on the city's northern beaches on Tuesday afternoon and authorities are working overnight to clean up the debris left behind.

However, they say the route may not open until later in the morning due to extensive damage to the road surface.

The remains of the charred truck and four other vehicles involved in the smash littered Mona Vale Rd near Samuel St.

Two males died in the blaze just after 3pm (AEST) and six people were taken to hospital.

Police say it appears the truck lost control, hit a power pole and four other cars before ending up on its side, spilling fuel over the road.

Remaining fuel has since been drained from the tanker and it's expected what's left of the vehicle will be removed for examination.

Neither police nor the Transport Management Centre (TMC) could guarantee when the road between Pittwater Rd and Powder Works Rd would be reopened, but were hopeful it would reopen sometime in the morning.

A Transport Management Centre spokeswoman told AAP the road's pavement would need to be repaired and resurfaced.

She said authorities would work through the night.

Crash investigation police would also remained at the scene overnight.

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