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US government shutdown begins - live updates
Wine lovers snap up Tokyo apartments with in-house cellar
Barack Obama on US government shutdown - video
Diana film poster taken down from Paris crash site
Tony Abbott charms Indonesia – and shows there's no need to dread him
US shutdowns – a short history
Aristide supporters protest in Haiti
US government begins shutdown after Congress debates end in stalemate
Norway's Conservatives to form coalition with anti-immigration party
Syria crisis: chemical disarmament team due in Damascus
'After the wedding, fear set in': a Yemeni child bride's story
Sri Lanka foreign minister denies Tamil abuses
South Korea unveils cruise missile in military show of force
Reserve Bank of Australia holds cash rate at record low of 2.5%
Ricky Muir motors into the Senate with less than 1% of primary vote
Tony Abbott tells hosts Australia is 'barracking for a stronger Indonesia'
Project Guardian: making public transport safer for women
Badger cull: the police and NFU are losing the battle
Badger cull police officer reads NFU injunction warning to protesters – video
Schapelle Corby's family pay her fine in hope of November parole
On equal marriage, Gillard can't have her cake and eat it | Senthorun Raj
US shutdown: hundreds of thousands of workers forced into unpaid leave
Gina Rinehart appears to end bitter feud with children by quitting as trustee
Australian officials visit Greenpeace activist Colin Russell in Russian prison
US government on verge of shutdown - as it happened

US government shutdown begins - live updates

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 01:40 AM PDT

Fears for global economy as up to 800,000 federal workers in America are placed on unpaid leave, after US politicians fail to agree a deal to keep services running

Graeme Wearden

Wine lovers snap up Tokyo apartments with in-house cellar

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 01:30 AM PDT

Wine Apartment in Shibuya district has temperature-controlled room for 10,000 bottles, and a visiting sommelier

For those who have trouble finding space for a large wine collection, a new apartment block in Japan with an in-house cellar and a visiting sommelier could be the perfect place to live.

The aptly named Wine Apartment in Tokyo's upmarket Shibuya district features a temperature- and humidity-controlled room in the basement for 10,000 bottles. Each of the 18 units comes with a wine fridge for 26 bottles and a rack for glasses.

"Tokyo is a unique market for wine lovers," said Takayuki Suzuki, president of the property developer Inovv. "They do not just enjoy drinking wine but also have academic interest in wine. Wine schools are always busy here. That is why I am seeing potential for a property like this."

A popular bistro will open a branch in November on the first floor of the 10-storey building, where residents can bring and drink their own bottles for a 2,000-yen (£12) corkage charge.

Suzuki said about 70% of the units had been taken. Monthly rents for the apartments of 42 to 46 sq metres (452-495 sq ft) run from 239,000-258,000 yen, about 30% above the market price in the area.

Tenants pay a monthly storage charge of about 20,000 yen to put up to 300 bottles in the wine cellar and can pay extra for larger collections. A sommelier will visit the building on weekends to advise residents on how to pair food with wine and can be hired by the hour for parties.

One tenant, who owns a winery in New Zealand called Osawa Wines, plans to use the space as his office and a tasting room for customers. Taizo Osawa, 62, started his winery after buying land in Hawkes Bay in 2005 and released his first vintage in 2008. He makes wine mainly from sauvignon blanc and pinot noir grapes. "This venue should help us expand our sales network in Japan," he said.

Inovv, which plans to open another Wine Apartment block with 30 units in 2015, has also built residential blocks with heavy sound insulation that musicians can use as studios and homes. "I want to develop apartment buildings with a touch of playful spirit," said Suzuki.

Wine Apartment residents can borrow wine glasses from a collection of 100 types displayed in the lobby. Each has a different shape, some with Japanese Kutani porcelain in the stem. The sommelier will help to choose the best glass for the type of grape, production area and vintage.

Barack Obama on US government shutdown - video

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 01:29 AM PDT

Following the US government shutdown, Barack Obama makes a statement to the military broadcast on Armed Forces Television

Diana film poster taken down from Paris crash site

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 01:15 AM PDT

Advertisement for Princess of Wales biopic adjacent to Seine tunnel removed after raising hackles in the British media

• Diana: video review
• Reel history - Diana: A royal mess of soft focus silliness

A poster advertising the Naomi Watts film Diana has been removed from a site in Paris where the Princess of Wales died in a car crash in 1997.

The poster had been placed on a billboard at the Place de l'Alma, near the entrance to the Pont de l'Alma tunnel where the princess' car hit a roof support pillar. The poster site is also adjacent to the Flame of Liberty, a gold-coloured replica of the Statue of Liberty's torch flame, that has become an unofficial monument to Diana.

The poster's placement had triggered fury in sections of the British media when it was noticed, with one of Diana's friends, Rosa Monckton, quoted as saying: 'I really don't have any words to describe how I feel about this cynical and shameless attempt to publicise a film that should never have been made. To have made a film so speculative and as this is disgusting enough, but to then advertise it on the spot at which she died is despicable."

A spokesperson for the film's French distributor, Le Pacte, told Deadline the poster position was "a coincidence" but the agency behind the campaign, JC Decaux, admitted Le Pacte had asked them to take it down.

Diana is due to be released in France tomorrow.

More on Diana

• Diana: video review
• Reel history - Diana: A royal mess of soft focus silliness

Andrew Pulver

Tony Abbott charms Indonesia – and shows there's no need to dread him

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 01:07 AM PDT

Gone is the boisterous opposition leader as Australia's new PM impresses Jakarta as a deferential and careful neighbour

It was either the new face of Tony Abbott, or the familiar face of an Australian politician. Or perhaps it may be the naivety of Indonesians, most of whom still believe that in a democracy politicians actually carry out their most stringent campaign promises.

Either way, Abbott showed a different side on his high-profile visit to Indonesia on Monday. Gone was the boisterous opposition leader. In stepped a figure befitting a leader of the most advanced nation of the southern hemisphere. Infused with deference. Careful in his words, prudent in his mannerisms.

Abbott's first visit to Jakarta since taking office achieved little in substantive results, yet accomplished much by way of reinforcing a closer working relationship with his counterpart, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

It was, in essence, a foundation-laying visit. Not a problem-solving one. Some critics have even suggested it was diplomatic appeasement.

From an Indonesian perspective, it was a welcomed visit. Without spectacle, bereft of controversy.

Given the narrative which catapulted the Liberals to power, there was some suspense – no matter how unfounded – that during his visit Abbott would coarsely push the issue of people smuggling in the same way he claimed he would push boats back into the sea.

But we have all learnt something. Abbott has learnt there is a difference between the boisterous style of campaign rhetoric and the delicacies of high government.

The Indonesian people have also learnt they have nothing to dread from the new Australian leader, who showed appropriate tact during his visit. That Abbott comes from a generation of Australian leaders who appreciate the complexities of the giant archipelago to their north, in the manner of Keating, Howard, Gillard and Rudd – leaders who fathom that a quiet suggestion goes farther than a flamboyant warning.

Take Rudd just two weeks before the 2007 election. He insisted a Labor government would turn the boats back and deter asylum seekers.

"You'd turn them back," he said of boats approaching Australia.

But the realities he faced when in power were a stark contrast. He understood that it wasn't a case of Indonesia being unco-operative on stopping boat people but whether it had the full capacity to undertake such a massive restriction in the world's largest archipelago.

Both countries are as much victims of circumstance as they are liable for the unscrupulous nature of individuals. It does not help when a known people-smuggling ring leader tried in Perth and convicted for 12 years, but then released after just four years can now operate again in Indonesia.

Indonesians who have a limited understanding of Australia and its history are incredulous that a government would just simply turn back boats while 200 years earlier the birth of present-day Australia also began with a slew of arriving ships.

Common problems need common solutions. Especially since neither Indonesia nor Australia are the source of the problem. Neither wants to be burdened by this.

Indonesia is a transit point, Australian a destination. It is not as easy as shutting a door. Even if Abbott succeeded in building "fortress Australia", it would only result in Indonesian islands becoming a "fencer" for unwanted illegals, which only aggravates Indonesia-Australia border security.

The most unfortunate aspect of the preoccupation with the boat people issue, was that little attention was paid to other aspects of the bilateral relationship during Abbott's visit.

The well-being of 263m Indonesians and Australians shouldn't rest on a singular issue of illegal migrants which neither country precipitated.

There was scant mention of the significance of Australia's overseas development assistance, which the Abbott government intends to trim, nor any immediate highlight of environmental initiatives such as the future of carbon trading, which both countries championed in 2008.

Yes, there was an Australian trade delegation present, and mention of an Australian-Indonesia study centre. But they all seemed more like footnotes.

All these sunk under the bow of the people smuggling and news that dozens of boat people had drowned just a few days earlier.

Abbott must know by now that he takes charge at a crucial time in the future of the two nations. How he engages Indonesia now will define the nature of the relationship for the coming half decade.

• The writer is editor-in-chief of The Jakarta Post

US shutdowns – a short history

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 01:02 AM PDT

This is the first shutdown of the 21st century, but it has happened before – 17 times since 1977

The US government has gone into shutdown after the failure to approve funding for the next financial year. Nonessential services will be closed and 800,000 federal workers will be forced to stay at home – but while this is the first shutdown of the 21st century it is far from unprecedented. Here is what has happened in the past:

1996 – Clinton v Republicans

Although it has happened several times before – in fact 17 times, excluding the current case, since 1977 – it had not occurred for 17 years until Monday's midnight deadline to extend Congressional spending authority passed with no agreement. The previous, historic, occasion was when Bill Clinton and the Republican-controlled House halted services for 28 days in total. It began in November 1995, before a temporary spending bill was enacted but then restarted in mid-December and ran into 1996. The first shutdown resulted in 800,000 workers eventually getting paid for staying home and the second led to 280,000 workers left idle for three weeks. The Republicans took a drubbing in the polls and ended up accepting most of Clinton's conditions, making the president the adjudged "winner" of the tussle, even if the image of government as a whole suffered. A historic footnote is that the second day – November 15, 1995 – of the initial shutdown is when Monica Lewinsky said she began a sexual relationship with Clinton.

1981-1990 – short shutdowns

Over Ronald Reagan's two terms he regularly argued with Congressional Democrats to the brink of shutdown.

The first occasion was in November 1981, nine months after he entered office, when Congress having approved emergency spending to keep the government running, Reagan wielded his first veto, making a stand against "budget-busting policies". Federal workers were streaming out of offices in Washington and across the nation but it lasted only hours as Congress approved a three-week spending extension more to the president's liking. The estimated cost of the shutdown was more than $80m (£50m). Workers were sent home for a half-day twice more during his presidency. George Bush used the tactic once, during the budget wrangling that punctured his "no new taxes" pledge, leading to a partial shutdown over the 1990 Columbus Day weekend.

1980 – Carter and his attorney general

When Jimmy Carter asked his attorney general for legal advice, Benjamin Civiletti told the president that government employees could not work for free or with the expectation that they would be paid at some undefined point in the future despite a "look-the-other-way" system having worked for decades.
Civiletti went further, declaring that any agency chief who broke the law would be prosecuted. When five days later, funding for the Federal Trade Commission expired amid a congressional disagreement over limiting the agency's powers, the FTC halted operations, cancelling court dates and meetings and sending 1,600 workers packing, apparently the first agency ever closed by a budget dispute.

Embarrassed, Congress made a quick fix and the FTC reopened the next day. The estimated cost of the brouhaha was $700,000.

Carter, forever stymied by his own party in Congress, ordered the whole government to be ready to shut down when the budget year ended on 1 October, 1980, in case the deadline for appropriations bills was missed. It almost happened. Funding for many agencies did expire, but just for a few hours, and nobody was sent home.

Civiletti later clarified that in a government-wide shutdown, the military, air traffic control, prisons and other work that protects human safety or property would continue. So would things such as social security benefits, which Congress has financed indefinitely.

Earlier 1900s – a time before full shutdowns

Congress routinely failed to pass most of each year's dozen or so appropriations bills on time, with agencies sometimes going a full year without a budget. Usually it would be smoothed over with a short-term money approval, called a "continuing resolution" in Washington-speak.

Even when these got delayed due to wrangling, government agencies did not shut down. Agency chiefs might delay workers' pay and put items such as travel and new contracts on hold but they assumed Congress did not want them to turn off the lights and go home. Eventually a spending bill would be passed that retroactively papered over the funding gap.

Haroon Siddique

Aristide supporters protest in Haiti

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 12:50 AM PDT

Thousands mark anniversary of ex-president's ousting in 1991, with some calling for current president to resign

Riot police in Haiti have broken up an anti-government demonstration by thousands of people to mark the anniversary of the ousting in 1991 of the former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

A handful of protesters responded by setting ablaze barricades that blocked a major thoroughfare through the heart of downtown Port-au-Prince.

Critics of the current president, Michel Martelly, gathered under a heavy police presence on Monday morning and marched through the capital's shanties, all Aristide strongholds. Some demonstrators demanded that Martelly resign because of corruption allegations, while others protested over the absence of elections. Riot police fired teargas at the demonstrators after they left the approved route.

Haiti was supposed to have held legislative and local elections two years ago, but infighting among different branches of the government has delayed the vote. Martelly has said elections will be held this year, but that looks unlikely.

Aristide's political party, the Lavalas Family, has said it plans to run, and its popularity could pose a formidable challenge to Martelly and his allies. Thousands of people shadowed Aristide in May as he toured the capital following a court hearingin one of the biggest rallies in Port-au-Prince this year.

US government begins shutdown after Congress debates end in stalemate

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 12:47 AM PDT

Recriminations fly as Republican rancour over Obamacare leads to first federal shutdown in two decades

Dan Roberts

Norway's Conservatives to form coalition with anti-immigration party

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 12:46 AM PDT

Erna Solberg's rightwing minority government to clamp down on immigration after teaming up with Siv Jensen's Progress party

The leader of Norway's Conservative party has announced she is forming a rightwing minority government, the first to include the anti-immigration Progress party.

Erna Solberg, whose Conservatives finished second in this month's parliamentary election, will team up with the Progress party, which came third.

The two-party coalition is expected to introduce stricter immigration policies. Many Norwegians have called for a reduction in immigration, and the Progress party has capitalised on that feeling.

Solberg praised her party's co-operation with Progress but left the door open for the two smaller centre-right parties – the Christian Democrats and Liberals – to join the coalition, saying she was eager to work with them, too.

"Now the Conservatives and the Progress party start real negotiations on the government platform. This is the start of a committed relationship," Solberg told reporters in parliament.

In the general election on 9 September, the Conservatives and three centre-right parties won a majority, but only Progress agreed to team up with the Conservatives. Its leader, Siv Jensen, said it hoped to tighten asylum policies, secure more rights for the elderly and reduce inheritance tax.

The new government is scheduled to take office on 14 October. It will replace a moderate but left-leaning coalition led by the Labour party, headed by the outgoing prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg. It has governed Norway for eight years, and Labour will remain the largest party in parliament.

Post-war, rightwing coalitions have often been fractious and fallen apart in Norway, as they did in 1986, 1990 and 2000. If the current coalition doesn't last, the Labour party could quickly reclaim power, as it has three times since 1986.

Syria crisis: chemical disarmament team due in Damascus

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 12:33 AM PDT

• Assad expected to thwart work of inspectors
• Syria urges west to stop supporting rebels
• Qatar vows to act on the deaths of World Cup workers

Matthew Weaver

Guardian readers

'After the wedding, fear set in': a Yemeni child bride's story

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 12:30 AM PDT

Noora Al Shami was forced to wed a man in his 30s when she was 11 years old. Her story is typical of many girls and young women in the Yemen. But what can be done to spare future generations the same fate?

Ask Noora Al Shami about her wedding day and she remembers the childish delight of an 11-year-old girl playing at being an adult. She was thrilled at friends and family gathering for a three-day party in the Yemeni port city of Al Hudaydah, 140 miles west of the capital city of Sana'a.

There were traditional singers and dancers, with one musician performing love songs to the backing of a traditional oud, a pear-shaped stringed instrument. Food including spiced lamb and rice was plentiful, and the little girl wore "three really beautiful dresses" – two green and one white – for each day of the celebrations.

"I was allowed to wear adult clothes, to put on jewellery, to accept presents," recalls Noora, who is now 35. "What had not dawned on me was that I would be abused by a violent criminal."

The assailant was Mohammed Al Ahdam, a distant cousin who was well into his 30s when he married Noora in 1989, just after her 11th birthday. "He was three times my age and saw marriage as a means to act like a depraved animal," said Noora, who has agreed to speak about her experiences in a bid to highlight the problem of child marriages, and ultimately to stop them. Earlier this month she visited the Sana'a parliament, and called for "awareness campaigns" across the country in front of elected officials.

Child marriages are scandalously common in Yemen. According to Human Rights Watch figures from 2006, 14% of girls are married by the time they are 15, and more than 50% before the age of 18. The motivation among impoverished families is to get rid of a mouth to feed at an early age, and to replace it with a possible share in a generous dowry.

Physical and psychological problems last a lifetime, however, and recently there have been unconfirmed reports of an eight-year-old bride dying from her injuries on her wedding night. That has led to calls for the legal age of marriage to be raised from 15 to 18. But even if the law was changed, yhere is no minimum age for marriage in Islamic law, and Yemeni clerics regularly argue against legal restrictions.

"It's not really something that the law has been able to control, especially not in tribal communities," said Noora. "The legal marriage age has been 15 for some time, but my mother was first married at nine, and divorced by 10, before going through another two marriages. She had me in her early teens.

"I wanted to stay at school and get a good job, but my parents could not afford it. They did not want me to live in poverty forever. I did not understand their decision to marry me off – only that the same thing happened to most girls my age.

"My husband provided a dowry of around $150, which was a huge amount. But it was at the end of the wedding that the fear and horror set in. I was taken away from my parents and left with a man who meant nothing to me. He drove me to the house he shared with his widowed father in Al Hudaydah. It was a nice home but I immediately started to quiver, and to cry."

When Al Ahdam, a clerical worker in the city's Red Sea port, took his clothes off in front of Noora for the first time, she ran away. She avoided sex for 10 days, before being told by Al Ahdam's sisters that she was "bringing shame on our brother by rejecting him".

After succumbing to Al Ahdam's advances for the first time, Noora's body went into shock. "I was rushed to hospital – I was a child being treated as a sex object, but the abuse did not stop. Nobody was interested in my complaints, as I was legally a wife."

There were two miscarriages within a year, before Noora gave birth to a son called Ihab when she was 13. A daughter, Ahlam, followed when Noora was 14, and then Shihab, another son, when she was 15. All of the pregnancies were problematic.

Al Ahdam became increasingly violent. "He thought nothing of hitting me, even when I was pregnant," said Noora. "If his father hadn't been in the house, it would have been even worse. His presence was some kind of restraint, but I was still very badly injured." The children suffered too. When Ahlam was two, Al Ahdam grabbed her by the feet and banged her on the floor. The child was taken to hospital bleeding.

After 10 years of constant attacks, Noora joined a project run by Oxfam and the Yemeni Women's Union which assists victims of domestic violence. With their help, she successfully filed for divorce. A further legal battle followed as Noora fought for money to bring up her children. The process is ongoing but she at least managed to return to school and trained as a teacher. Now she is pushing for strictly enforced legislation to end child marriages.

Noora does not want to be dictated by the "ruins of the past". She hopes that a new generation can be spared her experiences. "We need to change the lives of our children, and not just by paper laws," she says. "We need a complete change in culture."

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Sri Lanka foreign minister denies Tamil abuses

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 12:27 AM PDT

GL Peiris says government has no case to answer over the reported deaths of thousands of civilians at the end of the war

Sri Lanka's foreign minister says his government has no case to answer over the reported deaths of thousands of civilians at the end of the country's civil war, even as pressure grows for an international inquiry to account for the dead.

The UN's top human rights official said last week Sri Lanka needed to show progress by next March or the international community should establish its own inquiry. The allegations centre on civilian casualties and summary executions in the final months of the quarter-century conflict that ended in 2009, when government forces crushed Tamil rebels.

Speaking on the sidelines of the UN general assembly on Monday, the foreign minister, GL Peiris, defended the government's efforts in investigating reported abuses by security forces, and said a commission of inquiry appointed by Sri Lanka's president in August to investigate disappearances would report back after six months.

"Sri Lanka is not stalling," Peiris said.

He contended that the Geneva-based UN human rights council and western nations were discriminating unfairly against Sri Lanka as a result of disinformation circulated by Tamil separatists overseas, and were demanding quicker action on accountability than they had of other countries that had been through tumultuous conflicts, such as the former Yugoslavia and Cambodia.

"In no other post-conflict situation has there been this intensity of pressure in such a short period of time," he said.

A panel of experts appointed by the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, reported in 2011 that as many as 40,000 civilians were killed in the final five months of the war, a figure Peiris dismissed as pure conjecture. The experts concluded most died as a result of indiscriminate shelling by the Sri Lankan military as it closed in on the Tamil Tigers, who had fought for an ethnic homeland in the north of the island. The government has estimated about 9,000 people died during that time.

Peiris said as the war neared its end, the British and French foreign ministers had urged President Mahinda Rajapaksa to halt the offensive against the rebels because of concerns for an estimated 300,000 Tamil civilians. Peiris said the Tamils had been used as human shields, and the Tigers had gunned down those who sought safety on the government side, so the president decided to press on.

"If he had called it off, the war would still be going on. How many thousands more would have been killed? That's the situation. You ask me if that's a case to answer. I tell you, categorically not," Peiris said.

After international pressure, Sri Lanka conducted its own review of the war that essentially cleared government forces of wrongdoing although it did highlight evidence of possible military abuses that warranted further investigation.

Peiris, a lawyer, pointed to the indictments of 12 members of an elite police unit in connection with the 2006 deaths of five Tamil students in the coastal town of Trincomalee as a sign of the government's willingness to act when there was adequate evidence to prosecute a case.

But a US-backed resolution at the UN human rights council this March "encouraged" Sri Lanka to more thoroughly investigate alleged war crimes committed by both sides in the conflict. And the diplomatic pressure is likely to increase after the UN human rights commissioner, Navi Pillay, said last week that without tangible results by March 2014, including prosecution of perpetrators, "the international community will have a duty to establish its own inquiry mechanisms".

Pillay's statement followed an acrimonious visit to Sri Lanka, during which several top government officials accused her of bias in favour of Tamil separatists. Pillay is a South African of Indian Tamil origin. Her spokesman accused the officials of an "extraordinary array of distortion and abuse".

Peiris joined in criticising Pillay, saying her remarks that Rajapaksa's government was heading "in an increasingly authoritarian direction" amounted to political interference. He also complained that Sri Lanka did not get credit for its "singular achievement" of eradicating the threat of terrorism and bringing peace.

Since the war ended, Rajapaksa has accumulated growing authority. Term limits for the presidency have been abolished, and he has greater control over appointments of judiciary, police and elections officials. The controversial impeachment in January of the chief justice raised further questions about separation of powers.

Two of the president's brothers are powerful cabinet ministers. Another is parliamentary speaker.

The government recently won international praise for staging provincial council elections in northern Sri Lanka won by a Tamil party – a step toward devolving power. Peiris said it showed Rajapaksa was not authoritarian.

South Korea unveils cruise missile in military show of force

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 12:24 AM PDT

Seoul marks Armed Forced Day by unveiling missile capable of targeting all parts of North Korea

South Korea has displayed a domestically built missile capable of hitting all parts of North Korea and other sophisticated weapons at the country's biggest Armed Forces Day ceremony in a decade.

Tuesday's televised ceremony at a military airport near Seoul involved about 11,000 troops, 190 weapons systems and 120 aircraft.

Among the weapons featured was a Hyunmu-3 cruise missile with a range of 620 miles (1,000km), which South Korea has developed in recent years. It was the first time the missile has been shown publicly.

President Park Geun-hye said in a speech that South Korea must bolster its national defence to neutralise North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.

South Korea will conduct a military parade through Seoul streets later on Tuesday for the first time since 2008.

Reserve Bank of Australia holds cash rate at record low of 2.5%

Posted: 01 Oct 2013 12:07 AM PDT

Governor Glenn Stevens confirms economists' expectations, saying previous cuts are still working through the economy

The Reserve Bank of Australia has left the cash rate unchanged at a record low of 2.5%, saying the current setting of monetary policy remains appropriate. The decision was widely expected, with all 13 economists surveyed by AAP last week forecasting that the RBA would leave the cash rate on hold.

The RBA last cut the cash rate in August, by a quarter of a percentage point.

In a statement accompanying Tuesday's decision, the RBA governor, Glenn Stevens, said the easing of monetary policy since late 2011 had supported interest-sensitive spending and asset values.

He said the effects of previous rate cuts were still working their way through the economy and would continue to do so.

"The pace of borrowing has remained relatively subdued to date, though recently there have been signs of increased demand for finance by households," Stevens said.

"There is also continuing evidence of a shift in savers' behaviour in response to declining returns on low-risk assets."

Stevens said the economy had been growing a bit below trend in 2013 and this was expected to continue as the economy adjusted to the wind-down of the mining investment boom.

"There has been an improvement in indicators of household and business sentiment recently, though it is too soon to judge how persistent this will be," Stevens said. "Inflation has been consistent with the medium-term target.

"With growth in labour costs moderating, this is expected to remain the case over the next one to two years, even with the effects of the lower exchange rate."

Although the Australian dollar had risen, it was still about 10% below its level in April, he said. Further falls in the currency would help in rebalancing growth in the economy.

"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," he said.

A JP Morgan economist, Tom Kennedy, said there was still the possibility of another interest rate cut this year.

"The burden is going to be in the economic data and if it deteriorates it will get them over line [for another rate cut]," he said.

But the HSBC chief economist, Paul Bloxham, said it was unlikely the RBA would deliver more cuts.

"I think the broader point is that it does look as though interest rates are getting more of a grip on the housing market and sentiment has lifted. If those trends persist, I don't see the RBA cutting rates further."

Ricky Muir motors into the Senate with less than 1% of primary vote

Posted: 30 Sep 2013 11:46 PM PDT

Australian Motoring Enthusiast candidate wins sixth upper house spot in Victoria, leaving Liberal Helen Kroger without seat

The Australian Motoring Enthusiast party's Ricky Muir has won a Victorian Senate seat with less than 1% of the primary vote.

Muir was handed the state's sixth upper house seat thanks to a complex system of preference flows, while the Greens' Janet Rice also picked up a seat.

Labor senators Gavin Marshall and Jacinta Collins were returned, as were Liberal senators Mitch Fifield and Scott Ryan.

Liberal senator Helen Kroger was unseated.

Eric Abetz, leader of the government in the Senate, paid tribute to the outgoing Kroger, whose Senate term expires next year.

"All Coalition senators regret that Senator Helen Kroger, their Senate whip, will not be joining them in the Senate after the 1st of July 2014," Abetz said in a statement.

Kroger had quickly established herself as a senator and was valued for her contribution to public policy, especially in foreign affairs, he said.

"Her support for the state of Israel is legendary, as is her questioning at Senate estimates on a range of foreign affairs issues," Abetz said.

Abetz congratulated the Australian Motoring Enthusiast party's Muir on winning the sixth spot.

Meanwhile, in South Australia, the Family First candidate Bob Day grabbed the last spot.

After the distribution of preferences on Tuesday, the Australian Electoral Commission said SA voters had also elected the two Liberal senators Corey Bernardi and Simon Birmingham and Labor's Penny Wong, along with Sarah Hanson-Young from the Greens and popular independent Nick Xenophon.

The big loser from the poll was the sitting Labor senator Don Farrell, who joins Kroger on the way out when the new Senate comes into effect in July.

Tony Abbott tells hosts Australia is 'barracking for a stronger Indonesia'

Posted: 30 Sep 2013 11:01 PM PDT

Prime minister describes northern neighbour as an emerging economic superpower whose GDP will soon 'dwarf ours'

Tony Abbott used the second day of his visit to Indonesia to push for a strengthening of trade ties with his host country, whose economic clout, he said, would soon "dwarf" that of Australia.

Abbott told business and government delegates that Australia was "barracking for a stronger Indonesia", describing the northern neighbour as an "emerging economic superpower".

"It may be many years before individual Indonesians' standard of living equals that of Australia, but it probably won't be very long at all before Indonesia's total GDP dwarfs ours," he said in a gathering at the Four Seasons hotel in Jakarta.

Indonesia has clocked steady economic growth rates of more than 6% over recent years and with more than half of its 240 million people under the age of 30, it has a significant demographic dividend.

"From Australia's perspective, there should be an urgency, a real urgency to building this relationship while there is still so much that Australia has to give and that Indonesia is keen to receive," Abbott said.

The prime minister admitted Australia had more significant economic partnerships with other countries, but due to Indonesia's size, proximity and potential, it was the most important relationship overall.

Accompanied by a delegation of business representatives from, among others, the agriculture, energy, health, infrastructure and telecommunications sectors, Abbott said there was plenty of room to boost bilateral trade and capitalise on Indonesia's burgeoning middle class.

The prime minister echoed his previous statements that Australia is "open for business" and is "under new management", stating that his government would take a "consultative, no surprises" approach to bilateral trade.

Abbott stressed that "panicked" decisions such as the former Labor government's ban on live cattle exports would never be allowed to happen again.

Joking first about a shared love for protein and beaches, the Indonesian trade minister, Gita Wirjawan, emphasised there "shouldn't be any surprises".

Wirjawan argued that bilateral trade between Indonesia and Australia should be 1% of combined GDP. Indonesia, he said, was aspiring to become a global player and to achieve its goal would need Australia's help.

"It is impossible for Indonesia to be bigger and better and more relevant without a much more robust partnership with Australia," he said.

Wirjawan, a former investment banker and possible presidential candidate, was also joined by the Indonesian agriculture and finance ministers at the breakfast meeting.

Acknowledging that thousands of Indonesian students were studying in Australian universities and colleges, Abbott said only a few hundred Australians were returning the compliment and studying in Indonesia.

Abbott said he was targeting an "Asia-literate" community and under his Colombo plan not only would Indonesia's bright sparks study in Australia, but Australia's best and brightest would also study in the Asia Pacific region.

"This new Colombo plan could provide us with a new and more contemporary version of Rhodes scholars and Fulbright fellows, this time with a strong Asia Pacific orientation," he said.

On Monday night, Abbott said one Australian scholar would be selected to study in Indonesia each year under a "Yudhoyono fellowship", named after the Indonesian president.

The Indonesian businessman Sofyan Wanadi welcomed the broader commitment from Australia, calling for long-term investment in education and infrastructure.

"This commitment, especially in education as part of the new Colombo plan, is what we need for education in Indonesia," said Wanadi, "and also so that Australians know more about Indonesia, how complex we are."

Kate Lamb

Project Guardian: making public transport safer for women

Posted: 30 Sep 2013 11:00 PM PDT

A week-long police crackdown leads to 15 arrests for sexual offences on public transport in London. How else can we encourage more victims to report abuse?

A multi-agency operation designed to crack down on sexual offences on London's public transport has resulted in 15 arrests in a single week.

The operation, held from 23-28 September, was part of Project Guardian, a collaborative effort by the British Transport police, Metropolitan police, City of London police and Transport for London. It involved 120 plain-clothed and uniformed officers carrying out daily patrols.

Project Guardian was formed in April, after a TfL survey revealed that 15% of women and girls had experienced unwanted sexual behaviour on the transport network, but 90% of them had not reported it. The aim of the initiative was to improve levels of reporting of sexual offences, and to create an environment on public transport that does not tolerate intimidation and sexual harassment.

The Everyday Sexism Project, the End Violence Against Women coalition and Hollaback London have been advising the police on the project. About 2,000 officers have now been trained to deal with these types of cases.

Since the public launch of Project Guardian earlier this year, there has been a 20% increase in the reporting of sexual offences on the transport network compared with the same period last year. From 1 April to 31 August there was a 32% increase in the detection of sexual offences, with 170 detections. (Detections occur when an offender is charged or summonsed, or receives a caution, reprimand or warning.)

Supt Nicki Watson of the British Transport police said: "It's very encouraging to see that since the launch of Project Guardian, more victims are coming forward to report what's happened to them, and more offenders are being caught. Despite these good results we must not become complacent, and will be working hard to further tackle inappropriate sexual behaviour on London's transport network.

"We want victims to know that all reports are taken seriously, and we'll do everything we can to bring offenders to justice. If someone has made you feel uncomfortable on your tube, rail or bus journey – however minor it may seem to you – reporting it to police can help us target the perpetrator and prevent it happening to another passenger."

An online awareness-raising campaign was carried out on Twitter by the British Transport police and the Everyday Sexism Project during the week of action. Experiences reported by Twitter users included:

@EverydaySexism Had a middle-aged man caress my bum on the tube when I was eight months pregnant! #violated #ProjGuardian
— alexandra p (@Mila_Bean) September 25, 2013

@EverydaySexism #ProjGuardian @least once a week: saw man film up skirts on escalator, man squeezed my chest in lift, called effing bitch.
— Sara Parry (@saraparry_) September 26, 2013

once man sat opposite me on train pinned my legs between his, kept moving higher and rubbing leg, couldn't get away #ProjGuardian
— kariss ainsworth (@kariss_leigh) September 26, 2013

@EverydaySexism #ProjGuardian 25, 7am, train so crowded had to hold rail low down - felt something rubbing my hand - businessman's erection
— Caroline I (@CarolineAIng) September 26, 2013

Not on bus but when I was 16 sat at station man in 40s forced hug on me & ran hand up my leg, was huge so couldnt confront #ProjGuardian
— Amzie (@Openyoureyes89) September 26, 2013

Ch Supt Sultan Taylor from the Met's safer transport command said: "Our primary aim is to safeguard the travelling public and we will be tirelessly carrying out patrols and investigations, using all manner of policing tactics at our disposal, to disrupt sexual offenders operating on the transport network in London.

"We want to make sure that any kind of sexual offence that occurs on the transport network is investigated, and I would urge people to immediately come forward and report their concerns to the police to enable us to bring offenders to justice."

Anne Medlycott, assistant DI for the City of London police's public protection unit, said: "Project Guardian continues to do an excellent job promoting prevention and the detection of sexual offences that would have otherwise gone unreported. The week of action has shown how successful a joint approach can be, and the City of London police is proud to be a part of it."

• To report an incident of a sexual nature to British Transport police, call 0800 40 50 40 or text 61016 with details of what happened. For an incident that has occurred away from the railway network, call 101. In an emergency, always dial 999.

Laura Bates

Badger cull: the police and NFU are losing the battle

Posted: 30 Sep 2013 11:00 PM PDT

With possible civil liberty infringements adding to heavy policing costs, a failure to shoot enough badgers and disputed science, isn't it time to stop the cull?

Policing the controversial badger culls in England is undoubtedly a tough job, with two bitterly opposed sides colliding each night in the dark lanes and fields of Gloucestershire and Somerset. But are the police getting the balance right? I'd ask you to consider the new evidence below.

When I revealed recently that police in Gloucestershire had told an anti-cull protester that his details would be passed on to the National Farmers Union, which represents the culling companies, a lawyer from civil liberties experts Bindmans told me this was "highly questionable". Gwendolen Morgan said: "Since when did the police become the enforcers of the NFU's civil injunction?"

Gloucestershire police told me that the officer should have said "we can pass information on to the NFU", rather than "we will". But I can now confirm that details are indeed being passed on because I have seen a letter from the NFU's lawyers Foot Anstey to a protester arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass, but "de-arrested" shortly afterwards.

The two-page letter warns the protester about the injunction's prohibitions on flashing torches and blowing vuvuzelas and adds "any person in breach may face commital for contempt of court, a criminal offence, and suffer a fine or a custodial sentence".

Police officers in Gloucestershire were also handing out NFU-produced leaflets warning protesters about the civil injunction, but Somerset police told me they were not doing this. Instead, it turns out, in Somerset they are reading the leaflet out, as the video above shows. The officer says he is issuing a "warning" of the civil injunction's existence.

A spokesman for Avon and Somerset police told me: "As part of our no-surprises approach, if someone's activities may breach the injunction we may briefly explain about the injunction to help people protest responsibly."

On the passing of protester details to the NFU, a Gloucestershire police spokesman said: "We make our judgment based on whether there is a pressing social need. The NFU has been granted this injunction at the high court because it is believed that those carrying out the cull are at risk of harassment. Therefore if we review an incident and suspect a breach of the injunction has taken place we will pass details to the NFU." I have asked how many times details have been passed on and am awaiting the answer.

Are the police simply helping people protest responsibly, as the vast majority already do, or are they acting, as some protesters allege, as a "private security force" for the NFU? It's a tricky question and I will let you decide for yourself.

The NFU is also being criticised over its role in the sacking of a worker at the Rural Payments Agency, after the NFU reported comments made by the employee to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which runs the RPA. Another criticism being made is that Defra and the NFU are too close, after the department refused to release communications with the NFU on the grounds that it was "internal communication".

Let me be clear on one point: intimidation or harassment by anyone is completely unacceptable and I condemn it without reservation. I have no doubt that some farmers have been victims of this disgusting behaviour. I am also sure that some law-abiding protesters have suffered rough treatment from cull supporters.

But what does all this mean for the big picture: the curbing of rising tuberculosis in cattle, which is an undoubted problem. Most scientific experts in this area say the cull is a "costly distraction" from the true solutions of vaccination and tighter control of cattle movements and farm biosecurity.

High policing costs already mean that the cull is more expensive than a badger vaccination programme, according to one expert analysis. Then there is the possible cost to civil liberties being incurred by the cull, as outlined above. Finally, the pilot culls are failing even on their own terms, as far too few badgers are being shot.

All this leads to an obvious question: when the costs outweigh the benefits, isn't it time to stop?

Damian Carrington

Badger cull police officer reads NFU injunction warning to protesters – video

Posted: 30 Sep 2013 10:55 PM PDT

A police officer in Somerset issues a warning of an NFU civil legal injunction to badger cull protesters

Schapelle Corby's family pay her fine in hope of November parole

Posted: 30 Sep 2013 10:27 PM PDT

Prison governor has signed off on the application but even if she is successful Corby will have to stay in Indonesia until 2018

Schapelle Corby's family have paid the $10,000 fine she received when she was sentenced to 20 years in prison as they prepare for her to be granted parole.

Corby was fined when she was found guilty of smuggling 4.2kg of marijuana into Indonesia in 2004.

The fine remained unpaid until a few weeks ago, when it was paid in cash, a Bali Corrections Board official has confirmed.

It is understood Schapelle's brother-in-law, Wayan Widiartha, made the payment.

The payment was one of the last in a string of preparations Corby made before lodging her application for parole, with estimates she could be out in November.

Corby has been eligible for 16 months but a complicated bureaucratic process has contributed to the almost glacial pace of putting together and lodging the application. If she is granted parole it will be on condition she does not return to Australia until 2018. Until then she will live with her sister Mercedes and her husband, Widiartha, in their family compound in Kuta and work for their surfwear business.

The governor of Kerobokan jail, where Corby is being held, has signed off on her parole application and Interpol has advised the Indonesian government that Corby is not wanted internationally on any other charges.

The application will now be passed to the Balinese provincial corrections department before being sent to Jakarta, where the justice minister will have to approve it.

The immigration department will need to grant permission to Corby to stay in Indonesia without the usual visas, as she will technically still be a prisoner.

An official from the corrections board, who did not want to be named, said Corby would probably not be released for a couple of months but that Bali officials had begun considering her application.

He said there were concerns about Corby's mental state but her family had made assurances they would look after her.

Corby was sentenced to 20 years in jail and fined about $10,000 in May 2005. She is due for release in 2016 after receiving a five-year prison reduction granted by the president of Indonesia, as well as a series of remissions.

Bridie Jabour

On equal marriage, Gillard can't have her cake and eat it | Senthorun Raj

Posted: 30 Sep 2013 10:13 PM PDT

Julia Gillard explained her opposition to gay marriage by arguing that the institution of marriage is anachronistic. Fine, but then she needs to make the case for abolishing it for everyone

Former prime minister Julia Gillard is no stranger to unyielding questions about her personal opposition to marriage equality. Her interview with writer Anne Summers last night was no different when a child in the audience asked simply: "How come you didn't let gay people get married?"

Gillard justified her position with a critique: marriage is an anachronistic institution. Gillard's view on marriage is hardly new. In fact, as she pointed out, feminists in past decades have put forward a robust critique of marriage, given that it treated women as objects of exchange moving from their fathers' hands to their new husbands'. This is not some distant history. For example, it was not until the 1990s – well after Gillard had begun her feminist activism – that women across Australia were afforded explicit legal protections against all forms of sexual assault in marriage.

Why then do we still bother with marriage at all? Gillard argues that we need to think beyond marriage to develop alternative institutions to value intimacy: "We could come up with other institutions that value partnerships, value love, value lifetime commitment."

Her argument is an important one. After all, not everyone wants a certificate to prove just how much they love their partner. No one should have to get married to access legal benefits and responsibilities, either. Feminists led the way on this issue when they lobbied for de facto relationship recognition in Australia back in the 1980s. Now, couples who live together for a significant period of time (including same-sex couples since 2008) but who are not married are treated virtually the same as married ones when it comes to tax, superannuation, Medicare, property disputes, veteran's affairs, and immigration. Gillard's point also resonates with many queer activists and academics who argue that focusing on marriage as the only legitimate/valuable institution for recognising relationships disqualifies many other forms of kinship.

Wedged in between these thoughtful statements, however, is an extremely confusing one. Gillard says, "I think that marriage in our society could play its traditional role."

Say what? It's rather odd that after reminiscing on fathers literally "giving away" their daughters and demonstrating more than a little palpable distaste for wearing a white dress (given its association with virginity), Gillard should think this version of traditional marriage has any role to play in contemporary society. If "traditional" marriage subjugates women, then like any form of oppression, the logical approach would be to end it. Gillard even points out that we should not be sentimental about something just because it is a part of our culture or history. After all, land dispossession, forced removal of children, and racist immigration restrictions are part of our history too.

So, what then was the problem with Gillard not supporting marriage equality?

It's not the "marriage" critique that's at issue – the feminist critique is quite apt on that front. Rather, it's the "equality" bit that she skips over.

In a liberal democracy – one that values equality before the law – public institutions should not be able to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex status. While Gillard was able to choose whether or not she would get married, many couples are denied the individual right to make that decision for themselves. Gillard's argument also ignores the fact that the current definition of marriage excludes intersex people. It also requires that an individual who transitions sex during their marriage must divorce before they can have their preferred identity legally recognised. Who knew divorce could be a key part of maintaining this "traditional" institution! If Gillard wanted to see new institutions replace old ones, then why not abolish secular state interest in marriage and create something new altogether?

Gillard concludes by noting that whether marriage equality becomes law will be a matter for the "conscience" of each individual MP. While she is right to note that the current state of politics is best suited to this strategy, it is troubling that the principle of equality has become subject to the whims of personal feeling.

Most of the public opposition we see to marriage equality frequently claims that homosexuality is a threat to family and social morality. So, it is somewhat refreshing to see an argument against marriage equality that turns its attention to the institution itself rather than the individuals who wish to access it.

Homophobia remains a systemic problem in Australia. No single legislative act will eradicate it. But having laws that entrench discrimination on the basis of arbitrary biological or social differences sends a powerful message that the state is willing to tolerate it. Unless we develop an urge to abolish marriage entirely, our legislation should not discriminate against minorities who seek it out for both legal recognition and social visibility. That's the point of equality.

Senthorun Raj

US shutdown: hundreds of thousands of workers forced into unpaid leave

Posted: 30 Sep 2013 09:53 PM PDT

Parts of US government grind to a halt after Congress stalemate, with immediate financial pain for many

Gina Rinehart appears to end bitter feud with children by quitting as trustee

Posted: 30 Sep 2013 09:34 PM PDT

Mining billionaire's family dispute was about to go to court, now she is seeking mediation on who will replace her as trustee

The bitter family dispute between Gina Rinehart and two of her children looks to be over, after the billionaire mining magnate told a Sydney court she wants to give up her role as trustee of the family's multibillion-dollar trust.

The battle over the much-disputed trust between Rinehart and two of her children, John Hancock and Bianca Hope Rinehart, had been due to play out over a seven-day hearing in the Supreme Court this month.

But on Tuesday Rinehart's barrister Bruce McClintock SC told the court she no longer wished to be trustee and was seeking to be discharged.

He said that when Rinehart had become trustee, the beneficiaries were "young adults and adolescents" and through her hard work the trust had "grown enormously".

However, due to the effect the legal dispute had had on her family and her time, she no longer wished to act as trustee, he said.

Rinehart is now seeking mediation to finalise who will replace her and says the new trustee should be a "lineal descendant" of hers.

The announcement comes two years after her children filed a claim alleging their mother acted "deceitfully" and with "gross dishonesty" in her dealings with the trust, which was set up in 1988 by her father, Lang Hancock, with her children as beneficiaries.

John Hancock and Bianca Rinehart were previously supported by their sister Hope Welker, but she withdrew from the case earlier this year.

Gina Rinehart, who is supported by her youngest daughter Ginia, has always denied the claims.

Christopher Withers, who is representing Hancock and Bianca Rinehart, said on Tuesday there was a question mark over whether their mother should be "heard at all" over the appointment of a new trustee.

He accused Gina Rinehart and her company of having "unclean hands".

He said her resignation came on the eve of the civil trial and after the production of documents surrounding the trust showed her position was untenable and that there was "a deliberate attempt to mislead the beneficiaries of the trust".

Withers said they would be seeking indemnity costs for the whole of the proceedings.

The hearing continues.

Australian officials visit Greenpeace activist Colin Russell in Russian prison

Posted: 30 Sep 2013 09:29 PM PDT

Consular staff have passed on family messages and set up an account for him to buy essentials from the jail's store

Consular officers have met with an Australian Greenpeace activist detained in Russia, passing on messages from his family and checking on his welfare.

Colin Russell is among 30 people from various countries who have been detained for two months while Russian authorities investigate the protest on 19 September by the Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise.

Activists boarded an oil platform in protest at Russian oil drilling in the Arctic Circle, prompting Russian authorities to seize the vessel and detain the 30 people on board in the port city of Murmansk, pending possible charges of piracy.

Among them are Russell and a British citizen who lives in Sydney, Alexandra Harris.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) says staff from the Australian embassy in Moscow have been in Murmansk since September 26 seeking access to the detention centre.

After gaining approval they met Russell on Monday, passing on care packs and also meeting prison authorities to set up an account so he can buy what he needs from the prison store.

Dfat says the consular officers have confirmed that Russell has legal representation provided by Greenpeace, and that they met with his lawyer, who confirmed that an appeal against his detention had been lodged.

"The department expects Mr Russell to be afforded due legal process throughout the investigation and any subsequent legal proceedings, and the Australian embassy in Moscow is liaising with other foreign missions to ensure co-ordinated messaging to Russian authorities as regards the conduct of the case," a statement said.

"A senior official from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is travelling to Russia this week and will register Australia's interest in this case, underscoring our consular responsibility for Mr Russell."

The department says it is maintaining regular contact with Russell's family in Australia to ensure they are kept informed of developments.