An Australian state parliament has apologised to hundreds of men convicted for having homosexual sex as the government introduced legislation to throw out their criminal records.

Residents of Australia's cyclone-battered tropical north east have emerged from their homes to find roofs lying in their yards, boats flung on to rocks and roads blocked by tangles of fallen trees and power lines.

Two powerful cyclones have hit northern Australia, knocking out power to thousands, tearing roofs off houses and prompting coastal residents to flee their homes.