Emma Thompson gets Hollywood honour

BRITISH actress Emma Thompson has cemented her place in Hollywood, by adding her hand and shoe prints to the fabled pavement outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

The Oscar winner was overcome with emotion at the ceremony on Thursday, recalling a childhood visit to the tourist attraction with her father.

She said, "When I was 14 I came to Hollywood with my dad, who was directing the Norman Conquests, and he brought us here, to the Grauman's, and showed us all the people's hands and feet and the signatures and it was so other-worldly that for me to be here now feels not at all real!"

The 54-year-old was joined by her Saving Mr Banks co-star Tom Hanks at the ceremony and he used the occasion to jokingly try and convince Thompson to give up her British citizenship and become an American.

He quipped, "We wish to convey the following message to Emma - Please Emma, leave England, come here, live with us, live amongst us! Los Angeles and Hollywood needs your sense and sensibility. England, they don't appreciate you like we do."

'More than 100 dead in typhoon'

A CIVIL aviation official in the Philippines says he's received a report that more than 100 bodies are lying in the streets of a central city ravaged by Haiyan.

Australia ends boat people stand-off

THE Federal Government said today it will take a boatload of asylum-seekers at the centre of a high-seas stand-off with Indonesia.

The ceremony didn't go completely to plan - Thompson took a tumble from an elevated box just as she was about to place her hands in the wet cement, but laughed off the moment and continued chuckling as she was immortalised outside the iconic cinema on Hollywood Boulevard.

And she was more than a little upset about the fact she would have to throw away the designer black shoes she wore to the ceremony, explaining, "They were covered in cement."

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Tighter expense rules don't please all

FEDERAL politicians who lodge ineligible expense claims will be hit in the hip pocket and can be named and shamed in parliament under new guidelines introduced by the government.

But the measures don't go far enough according to some who will be subject to the new rules.

In the wake of an expenses furore which sparked debate about MPs and senators using the public purse to fund travel and accommodation to attend events including weddings and sports events, the government on Saturday tightened the rules.

"They will only be travelling if indeed it is in their capacity as an elected representative or as a minister or a shadow minister," Special Minister of State Michael Ronaldson said while announcing the tightening of parliamentary entitlements.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has revealed he repaid more than $1700 in flights and accommodation claimed for travelling to the weddings of former colleagues Sophie Mirabella and Peter Slipper in 2006, admitting there was a question mark over whether taxpayers should foot the bill for such events.

'More than 100 dead in typhoon'

A CIVIL aviation official in the Philippines says he's received a report that more than 100 bodies are lying in the streets of a central city ravaged by Haiyan.

Australia ends boat people stand-off

THE Federal Government said today it will take a boatload of asylum-seekers at the centre of a high-seas stand-off with Indonesia.

More than $20,000 has been repaid by politicians in the past month in cases of alleged inaccurate claims.

From January 2014 MPs and senators who are required to repay claims, will be hit with a "significant financial penalty": an additional 25 per cent fine.

"This loading will provide an additional incentive to ensure that care is taken when completing travel claims," Senator Ronaldson said.

However some parliamentarians have called for greater punishment.

"The approach in principle is good but the penalty is way too low," Independent Senator Nick Xenophon told AAP of the government reforms.

"For MPs on $250,000 (a year) this is a micro-deterrent ... it is just too weak."

The South Australian senator wants expense-claim errors to attract a penalty of double the amount being repaid.

The Australian Greens deputy leader Adam Bandt said for the government's reform to be effective, an integrity commissioner and entitlements adviser should be appointed.

"There are always grey areas and without proper oversight and guidance MPs will just be paying fines and nothing will really change," Mr Bandt said.

Senator Ronaldson said parliamentarians and their representatives will be provided with training on the new guidelines which tighten entitlements for MPs, senators, their staff and families.

Repeated slip-ups in expense claims will result in mandatory additional training for the parliamentarian and their administrators.

Mr Abbott said the reforms present an improved system, but admitted they might not be foolproof.

"Is it going to be absolutely perfect? In the end I guess there's always going to be arguments at the margins," he said.

Senior Labor MP Richard Marles said the opposition welcomed the tightening of rules.

"We will obviously look at the detail of what has been proposed, but we welcome the announcement," he said.

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Man in court over 1990 SA murder

A man is to face court over the 1990 murder of a 16-year-old girl in the South Australian outback. Source: AAP

A MAN has appeared in court charged with murdering a 16-year-old girl in the South Australian outback more than two decades ago.

Nikola Novakovich, 42, is charged with murdering Karen Williams, who was last seen in the early hours of August 4, 1990 after spending the night with friends at the Opal Inn and a restaurant in Coober Pedy.

Novakovich, who was arrested on Thursday, appeared briefly in Port Gambier Magistrates Court on Friday when he was remanded in custody.

The matter was adjourned to Port Augusta Magistrates Court on January 20.

Police excavated a number of old mines at Coober Pedy in July, but failed to find her remains.

They will return to the town within weeks to recommence the search.

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Indonesia issues warning on asylum seekers

INDONESIA has warned Australia not to expect to continue to offload asylum seekers on its shores following a mid-ocean stand-off in waters off the coast of Java.

Negotiations between Indonesian and Australian authorities were continuing on Friday in a bid to resolve the impasse more than 24 hours after the boat carrying more than 50 asylum seekers first issued a distress call as it made its way to Christmas Island.

There have been reports from Indonesian officials that as many as 63 people had been transferred from their boat to the Australian Customs vessel, the Ocean Protector, on Friday.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison, at his weekly briefing on Friday, denied there was a stand-off between Indonesian and Australian authorities.

"What's important is the people who are the subject of our assistance are all accounted for," Mr Morrison said.

He said he wasn't in the business of offering "micro details" on military matters.

The commander of Operation Sovereign Borders, Lieutenant General Angus Campbell, also refused to provide details about the stand-off.

"I will not comment further in relation to on-water matters," Lieutenant General Campbell said three times, after reporters repeatedly questioned him on the matter.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott defended the government's reluctance to offer details of operations at sea, saying the important thing was to stop the boats.

"The best way to stop the boats is to ensure ... we are not providing a shipping news service for people smugglers," he told reporters in Melbourne.

But Indonesian officials on Friday morning were continuing to resist appeals from Australian authorities to offload the asylum seekers at a port in Java.

A spokesman for Djoko Suyanto, the Indonesian co-ordinating minister for Legal, Political and Security Affairs, said Jakarta was reluctant to accept them because the boat had been in working order when first approached by the Australian navy vessel HMAS Ballarat.

"From what I've been told, the boat was fine and they were not in danger. If that's the case, then we reject it," Agus Barnas told AAP on Friday.

"We don't want Indonesia to be a dumping ground, but we don't want Australia to accuse us of not doing anything. We want to respect Australia.

"At least for the time being we will not accept them."

The fact that Mr Djoko's office was so heavily involved, instead of the national search and rescue agency BASARNAS, also suggests Indonesia was treating the matter as more than simply operational, and that political considerations were playing a part.

The stand-off comes amid rising tensions between Canberra and Jakarta over the spying row that has threatened to derail cooperation in various areas, including people smuggling.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa warned earlier this week that "the agreement to exchange information, exchange even intelligence information, in fact, to address the issue of people smuggling" would be reviewed in the wake of the spying allegations.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on Friday attempted to play down suggestions of a rift in relations between Jakarta and Canberra, but also refused to provide details of the unfolding drama off Java.

The boat had been bound for Australia when it issued a distress call at about 5.30am on Thursday morning.

Lt Gen Campbell confirmed the vessel first called for help about 43 nautical miles south of Java inside Indonesia's search and rescue zone.

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Man arrested over 1990 SA murder

A MAN has been arrested for the murder of a 16-year-old girl last seen more than two decades ago in the South Australian outback.

Police said the 42-year-old man was arrested on Thursday in Mount Gambier, was refused bail and will appear in court on Friday.

Karen Williams, whose body has never been found, was last seen in the early hours of August 4, 1990, after spending the night with friends at the Opal Inn in Coober Pedy and at a local restaurant.

More than 115 statements were taken at the time and police enquiries extended to the Northern Territory and New South Wales.

Police acted on new information in July and excavated a series of old mines at Coober Pedy in renewed efforts to find her remains.

Detectives have since interviewed people from Sydney, Adelaide, Mt Gambier and Coober Pedy, and major crime boss detective superintendent Des Bray said they received valuable information that had progressed the investigation.

"We believe Karen's body was left in the boot of a burnt-out white Ford on the edge of town," Supt Bray said in August.

"Information is leading us to believe that Karen's body was removed from this car and placed down a mine shaft about 20 metres away."

A $200,000 reward was offered last year for information leading to an arrest in the case.

Police said on Thursday they will be returning to the town within weeks to recommence the search for Ms Williams' remains.

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Govt money 'to produce safer cars'

THE federal government should provide financial support to the car industry to make safer vehicles, according to a road safety expert.

Former MP and road safety committee chair, Barry Cohen, says that instead of giving millions of dollars to companies to create jobs, "let's give them the money to produce safer cars".

This would still create jobs but would also advance the technology needed to help save lives, he said on Thursday before the 2013 Australasian College of Road Safety (ACRS) conference in Adelaide.

Asked if producing safer cars was the answer for Adelaide's beleaguered Holden, Mr Cohen said it could be but noted he was not talking about employment but about saving lives.

Mr Cohen cited American auto safety activist Ralph Nader who said: "It is faster, cheaper and more enduring to build operationally safe and crash-worthy automobiles that will prevent death and injury" than a policy build around the impossible goal of the perfect driver.

"It is easier to redesign cars than to redesign human beings," Mr Cohen said.

ACRS president Lauchlan McIntosh said their target was to reduce by 40 per cent the current death rate of about 1400 a year and the numbers of seriously injured people, which was at least 30,000 annually.

"If we did that in Afghanistan it would be outrageous, and it is outrageous that we are doing it on the roads," he said.

He too called for safer cars, saying "let's make a design that won't make people die", noting this was done in the workplace and in aircraft.

Mr McIntosh says Australia should embrace new technologies such as devices which stopped drunk people driving.

"There is a lot of simple, easy things we can do such as more lane marking in rural and regional Australia ... and better protection of places where we have had a crash.

"How many times do you see two or three sets of flowers on the one post?"

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David Hicks appeals US conviction

Former Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks (L) says he will appeal his US conviction. Source: AAP

FORMER Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks says an appeal against his US conviction for supporting terrorism is an attempt to right the wrongs committed against him.

But the man who spent more than five years in Guantanamo Bay before being released in Australia in 2007 says financial compensation is not at the front of his mind.

The 37-year-old South Australian says his admission of providing material support to terrorists - part of a plea deal to facilitate his transfer to Australia - was made under duress.

"The purpose of this action is to obtain formal recognition of my innocence so that the wrongs of the past committed against me can be righted, to put it all behind me and move on with my life," Mr Hicks told reporters in Sydney.

Mr Hicks said he has not thought about financial compensation should his appeal succeed.

"At this stage I haven't thought about it," he said.

"This is all about recognising my conviction should be null and void."

Justice, he said, was convincing authorities and the media he is innocent.

"To show that no crime was committed and to have you guys on board to say it was wrong," he said.

"As long as we allow the Australian government to do this to citizens like myself and others, and not to do nothing about it, it'll just happen to Australian citizens again."

Lawyers for Mr Hicks lodged the appeal papers in the US Court of Military Commission Review on Tuesday.

Mr Hicks' lawyer, Stephen Kenny, is seeking a summary dismissal of the conviction because the offence was not a war crime when Mr Hicks was detained, and his guilty plea was made under duress.

"What he was charged with and pled guilty to is not a crime, it is not recognised anywhere outside of the United States since 2006," he said.

"There is really no way the courts can ultimately maintain the fiction of what happened in Guantanamo Bay."

Mr Hicks said while he did not expect the military review to be successful, he welcomed the fact it would open an opportunity to move his appeal in a US civilian court.

"I have full faith in the civilian courts," he said.

Mr Hicks' father, Terry, told AAP he wanted the military courts in the US to admit they were wrong in convicting his son.

He hoped the military review would be successful and there would be no need to bring the case to the civilian court.

"What I'd like is for the military to finally look at the process and say 'we were wrong'," Terry Hicks said.

Now working as a panel beater in Terrey Hills, in Sydney's north, Mr Hicks says he tries to live a normal life with his wife Lucy and friends and family, but is engaged in a lengthy process of self-healing.

He suffers from post traumatic stress, nightmares, back pain and pain in one of his hands, which was broken during his detention.

Mr Hicks also said his teeth were rotting after Guantanamo.

He described to journalists how "biscuit teams" - doctors specialising in behavioural science - treated him during his detention.

"When medical personnel came to see you it's not like 'how are you, how can we help?'" he said.

"They get as much information out of you as possible to see how that treatment is affecting you so they can use it (in interrogation techniques)."

He said detainees who attempted suicide were stripped, hosed down and placed in the "chill box" - a small metal box with high-powered air-conditioning - instead of getting treatment.

A US court last year quashed a similar charge of material support for terrorism relating to Salim Hamdan, Osama bin Laden's former driver.

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Bushfire threat to WA community eases

RESIDENTS at a remote Aboriginal community in Western Australia are no longer being threatened by bushfire, after authorities managed to contain the blaze.

A watch and act warning had been issued for people in the Muludja community, 20 kilometres east of Fitzroy Crossing in the western Kimberley.

But about midday WST, emergency authorities said the fire burning alongside Margaret River towards the community was now being held within containment lines.

There is now no threat to lives or homes but there is a lot of smoke in the area.

The bushfire is now moving slowly in a southern direction, and is contained but not controlled.

Eighteen career and volunteer firefighters from six brigades have been working to establish and strengthen containment lines.

The firefighters are being supported by crew and appliances from Gogo and Fossil Downs Stations.

A helicopter from Gogo Station is also providing support from the air.

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Sri Lanka bus plunges off cliff, 10 dead

AT least 10 people have been killed and 18 others injured when a bus skidded off a road and plunged down a cliff in central Sri Lanka.

A police statement said the bus from a state-owned company was travelling along a mountain road in the central hill town of Bandarawela when it veered off the road and fell down a 105-metre precipice on Monday night.

Five women and five men were killed, while the 18 injured included the driver and the conductor, according to the statement released on Tuesday.

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On-hold RBA keeps options open

IT'S going to be another long two weeks for RBA-watchers.

The central bank vindicated expectations on Tuesday by leaving its benchmark cash rate at 2.5 per cent.

But the statement issued after the RBA board's monthly monetary policy meeting was standard fare.

The economy is running "a bit below trend" and will likely continue in that vein "in the near term", with unemployment edging higher, the central bank said.

There are signs of a response to lower interest rates.

Household and business sentiment has improved, there are signs of increased demand by households for finance, and investment patterns have shifted towards riskier assets with housing and share prices rising, the RBA said.

That's just what the RBA wants, but it's unsure of the pace and extent of these responses.

"Further ahead, private demand outside the mining sector is expected to increase at a faster pace, though considerable uncertainty surrounds this outlook," the RBA said.

Part of that uncertainty is related to the Australian dollar, which the RBA described - for the first time - as "uncomfortably high".

That high degree of uncertainty and the RBA's clearly mounting frustration with the high exchange rate means it's not possible to say it has ruled out further cuts in the cash rate.

Or to forecast - with any confidence - the beginning of a return to more familiar levels in the coming few months.

The conclusion to the statement on Tuesday was not helpful in this regard - it was as bland and uninformative as these statement ever are.

"At today's meeting, the Board judged that the setting of monetary policy remained appropriate," the RBA said.

"The Board will continue to assess the outlook and adjust policy as needed to foster sustainable growth in demand and inflation outcomes consistent with the target."

But there is a legitimate expectation that the outlook will soon be clarified.

The latest rate cut was in August, when the RBA moved cash down from 2.75 per cent to its current 2.5 per cent.

In that month, and in September and October, the post-meeting announcement ended with a comment as non-committal as Tuesday's.

But the minutes of each of those meetings, released with the normal two-week delay, pointedly added a clarification along the lines that the RBA neither intended to signal an intention to lower the cash rate in the near term nor wanted to rule out a move later on.

So the focus now will be on whether the minutes of Tuesday's meeting, to be released two weeks later, on Tuesday, 19 November, will do the same.

If not, then a rate cut will rightly be seen as much less likely.

It is possible that the RBA may use the quarterly monetary policy statement on Friday to clarify the outlook.

But it didn't do that in August, choosing to use the minutes instead, and seems likely to do the same this time as well.

So RBA-watchers will now settle in for a two-week wait.

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Housing sector shows signs of booming

Official data shows Australian capital city house prices rose 1.9 per cent in the September quarter. Source: AAP

HOUSE prices are continuing to surge, especially in Sydney, as buyers take advantage of record low interest rates.

In the year to September, the house price index rose 7.6 per cent, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Monday, the biggest increase in three years.

Of the eight capital cities, Sydney had the largest increase with a rise of 11.4 per cent, followed by a 8.6 per cent increase in Perth.

JP Morgan economist Tom Kennedy said the data showed the housing market, particularly in Sydney, was on the rise.

"In the nation's largest property market, things really are starting to heat up," he said.

"In Melbourne as well, price appreciation was very strong and also in Brisbane."

Mr Kennedy said recent interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of Australia are making an impact on the housing sector.

"A big part of the Reserve Bank story is that they've been trying to revive the construction sector, so I think the big uptick we've seen in prices definitely is supportive of that, as higher prices encourage activity and investment," he said.

HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham said the continued rise in house prices may mean that the housing sector is picking up where the mining and resources boom left off.

"The official house price data confirmed what the more timely indicators have been suggesting - that Australia is at the beginning of a house price boom.

"While some pick-up in employment will be needed soon, to keep the RBA from cutting rates further, we expect to see some improvement in coming months supported by low interest rates, rising asset prices and lifting confidence.

"Growth appears to be rebalancing, with a modest upswing underway in the non-mining sectors and regions of the economy."

Australian capital city house prices rose 1.9 per cent in the September quarter, and were up 2.7 per cent in the June quarter.

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WA senate result formally declared

THE controversial results of Western Australia's senate recount have been formally declared ahead of a likely High Court challenge.

It was revealed on Saturday that Australian Greens Senator Scott Ludlam and the Australian Sports Party's Wayne Dropulich had secured senate spots, pushing out Labor Senator Louise Pratt and Palmer United Party (PUP) candidate Zhenya "Dio" Wang.

But the results couldn't be shakier, with the Australian Election Commission (AEC) left red-faced after it lost 1375 votes.

PUP leader Clive Palmer immediately said his party would challenge the result in the High Court, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns.

Moments later, Labor State Secretary Simon Mead tweeted: "The best lawyers in the Labor Party will be working to lodge an appeal in the Court of Disputed Returns".

Mr Ludlam and Mr Dropulich attended the declaration in Perth on Monday, but the three Liberal winners - Michaelia Cash, Linda Reynolds and David Johnston - and Labor's Joe Bullock, did not.

"I'm happy to have won a seat in the senate," Mr Dropulich said.

Mr Ludlam said it was appropriate the matter be resolved in the High Court.

"This count has not only been unusual, it's been unprecedented," he said.

He said several hundred votes were "out of place" in the initial count, where he lost out by 14 votes, so he felt vindicated in requesting the recount.

After a writ is handed to the WA governor, candidates and the AEC will then have 40 days to appeal to the court, which will decide whether a new senate election is held.

It's unclear whether any new poll would be restricted to the same parties and candidates that contested the September 7 federal election, or if the regular procedure for nominations would occur.

Senator Pratt said the High Court would have to give parties flexibility over which candidates ran - and in what order.

Last time, she was controversially bumped to Labor's number two spot on the senate ticket, behind Mr Bullock, a former union powerbroker.

Ms Pratt said the events of the past few weeks had shown the importance of the role of scrutineers.

She said she had no doubt that the bungle would provide an opportunity to improve the electoral process.

Mr Ludlam told AAP he was sure the controversy would lead to a higher level of vote scrutiny in future elections.

The AEC's Peter Kramer said he was horribly disappointed by the lost votes.

He said there was "nowhere that we haven't looked two or three times".

The investigation lead by former Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty into the missing votes commences on Tuesday and will run for a fortnight.

The Wikileaks lead candidate in WA, Gerry Georgatos, said in a statement on Monday that party leader Julian Assange would head the ticket instead if a new election is held.

Mr Assange contested a Victorian senate spot for his Wikileaks Party in September and attracted almost 41,700 primary votes out of 3.5 million.

West Australians may be poll-weary following a state election in March, the federal election in September and last month's local council elections.

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Dozens helped on first day of abalone hunt

THE first day of the abalone fishing season in Western Australia has passed without tragedy - but only just.

WA's surf lifesaving authorities reported a busy morning on Sunday, with dozens of potentially disastrous incidents averted.

After posting a large number of volunteers at popular abalone fishing spots, lifesavers performed 106 "preventative actions" in the waters off WA, with no major incidents or injuries.

"We have had a busy morning keeping abalone fishermen safe," a SLSWA spokesman said.

For just five one-hour sessions on the first Sunday of the months from November to March, members of the public are allowed to fish for the marine delicacy.

Last season, two men died and another had his life saved during the recreational abalone season.

In November 2012, a 20-year-old Malaysian was swept out to sea in treacherous conditions while searching for the large edible sea snails north of Perth.

In late December, a Chinese man in his 40s drowned in the waters near Cape Leeuwin in the state's southwest.

And in January, the swift actions of a beach inspector saved a 50-year-old man hunting for abalone at Trigg Beach in Perth.

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Max Redden's cheeky smile remembered

THE grieving family of a boy who was killed when a slide fell on him has remembered the six-year-old as "being the last one ready for school in the morning" and "the highest one up the tree".

Max Redden died on October 26 when an unsecured slippery dip tipped on him at a rural park at Farrell Flat, about 20km west of Clare, in South Australia.

It happened during a gathering of families at the Mintaro Tennis Club.

Max's distressed family has not spoken publicly about his death, but they remembered him in personal notices placed in The Advertiser on the weekend.

His parents Tom and Jessica, who have three other children, said it had been an absolute joy and privilege to watch "our little Maxy boy" grow during his six-and-a-half fun-filled years.

"We will miss your cheeky smile, your non-stop energy, being that last one ready for school in the morning or the highest one up the tree.

"We have so many special memories that we will hold close and you will live on in our hearts forever."

Notices from other family members and friends included one which said described him as living every day "to the Max", just like his name.

Police are preparing a report for the coroner.

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