Govt to ditch backlog of tax proposals

THE federal government is about to ditch a host of unlegislated tax proposals that have been stuck in the pending tray dating back to 2001.

Since the September election, Treasurer Joe Hockey and Assistant Treasurer Arthur Sinodinos have been sifting through close to 100 tax and superannuation proposals.

They believe this backlog has created massive operational uncertainty for businesses and consumers.

The government is determined to resolve all policies by December 1 for the inclusion in the mid-year economic and fiscal outlook that the treasurer has promised to hand down before Christmas.

Any legislation stemming from this review should be passed by parliament by July 1, 2014.

Of the 92 unlegislated and unresolved tax and superannuation changes outstanding, the government will proceed with just 18, while a further three initiatives will be significantly amended.

The government will "definitely not" proceed with seven initiatives including the former Labor government's $1.8 billion change to the fringe benefit tax on cars, a pledge made during the election campaign, because of the impact it will have on the car industry.

It will also definitely scrap a proposed tax on people's superannuation pension earnings above $100,000.

Senator Sinodinos will lead consultations on the remaining 64 measures with a disposition not to proceed with them.

Mr Hockey and Senator Sinodinos will announce further details of their review in Sydney on Wednesday.

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Bold and the beautiful play at the Cup

Sunset hues of red, tangerines and bright yellows ruled the fashion stakes on Melbourne Cup Day. Source: AAP

THE bold and the beautiful lit up Flemington in the fashion stakes on Melbourne Cup day, with American swimwear model Kate Upton and AFL star Lance ''Buddy'' Franklin causing a stir.

Reds, tangerines and bright yellows popped in a crowd of about 100,000 people, who enjoyed a summery Cup.

Upton and Australian beauty Jennifer Hawkins chose fiery red numbers by Antonio Berardi and Yeojin Bae, respectively.

Franklin sat next to Upton on the Emirates balcony, and the pair set tongues wagging as they chatted and laughed.

The Sports Illustrated cover girl, who showed off her figure in a plunging red dress, said it was her first Melbourne Cup.

"I have been enjoying myself. It's so great here with the fashion and the horses," Upton said.

Former Spice Girl and Australia's Got Talent judge Geri Halliwell selected a vintage cream lacy dress for her outfit.

She won about $3500 after betting $500 on Fiorente, vowing to give the money to a Melbourne charity rather than splash out on a new pair of shoes.

"The only reason why I went for this one is because the lady that I'm staying at her house is Gai Waterhouse.

"Apparently she is the girl power of horse training."

US burlesque star Dita Von Teese and Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora were also among celebrity guests to enjoy the Birdcage.

The crowd at the track was relatively well behaved, with only three arrests and 86 evictions by late afternoon.

Ciara Wallace, of Dublin, enjoyed her second Melbourne Cup with a picnic on the lawn.

"It's a brilliant day. The sun is shining and we are all having a crack," she said.

"The whole of Victoria gets into the buzz of the Melbourne Cup - that's what makes the Melbourne Cup."

Cleaner Emma Brasser, who was working a 13-hour shift, said the crowd was generally well behaved - so far.

"I haven't had any calls for throw ups yet, so I'm doing pretty well."

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Family of shot Sydney girl talk to police

The family of a teenage girl who was shot in her western Sydney home are now talking to police.

A schoolgirl has been shot at a home in Sydney's west, in what police say is a targeted attack. Source: AAP

AFTER a day of being condemned for their silence, the family of a teenage girl who was shot in her western Sydney home are talking to police.

On Tuesday morning, as the girl lay injured in hospital, NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell and the state's top officers vented their frustration at the family of the 13-year-old, who was shot by gunmen at her Blacktown home late on Monday night.

The men were reportedly looking to settle a score with the girl's brother, who is suspected of having links to the notorious Brothers 4 Life gang.

After having the door slammed in their faces, the men allegedly opened fire, hitting the girl in the back.

On Tuesday morning, Mr O'Farrell expressed outrage at the parents' lack of co-operation.

"What sort of parents, whose daughter's been injured in an attack like this, will not co-operate with police?" he asked.

Deputy Police Commissioner Nick Kaldas called on the family to take responsibility.

"This poor girl had nothing to do with anything, but someone in her family did," he said.

Late on Tuesday afternoon, it appeared the family's silence had been broken, with the premier issuing a statement saying family members were talking to police.

The girl's father told media on Tuesday his daughter was "settled", adding he was disappointed by the gunmen's actions.

"Everyone's disappointed in the community; they do the wrong thing," he said.

Inspector Dave Lagats said what police feared had become a reality after a string of recent shootings.

"Our greatest fears have now been reached ... an innocent person, a 13-year-old girl, has now become the victim of this type of senseless activity," he said.

Neighbours woken by the fracas thought they were hearing thunder or fireworks until the screaming began.

Father-of-three Sarn Pulefele lives two doors away on Sunnyholt Road and said he was woken by a loud bang.

"At first I thought it was thunder because I'd never heard guns before," Mr Pulefele told AAP.

"Then I got up and I could hear screaming. And then I realised someone's been shot."

A neighbour said police had been to the house before.

The latest incident comes after one man was killed and two were injured in shootings linked to Brothers 4 Life.

On Sunday, a 27-year-old man, named by media as suspected Brothers 4 Life gang member Michael Odisho, was found with multiple gunshot wounds at Winston Hills.

A man, believed to be the cousin of Brothers 4 Life boss Bassam Hamzy, was shot dead in Revesby a week ago and another man, Omar Ajaj, suffered multiple bullet wounds in the attack.

Police said it was too early to tell whether Monday's shooting was a revenge attack.

Mr Kaldas would not rule out that Hamzy might have influenced recent shootings from jail. He also refused to say whether the intended shooting target had been interviewed, or whether he was even at home during the attack.

However, Mr O'Farrell said a man had "fled out the back door" seconds before the shooting began.

The NSW opposition accused Mr O'Farrell of allowing gun crime to spiral out of control.

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Aung San Suu Kyi to visit Australia

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (R) will make her first visit to Australia this month. Source: AAP

AUNG San Suu Kyi will make her first visit to Australia in late November.

The Burmese opposition leader will attend public events in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne and meet members of the Burmese community from November 27 to December 2.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop first met Ms Suu Kyi in 1995 and said she was delighted to be able to welcome her to Australia.

"Australia has long been a staunch supporter of Aung San Suu Kyi's efforts to bring democracy to the Burmese people," she said in a statement on Tuesday.

Australia and other nations have been gradually easing their sanctions against Myanmar (Burma) as the country has allowed greater political and media freedoms in past few of years.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate accepted the invitation from former foreign minister Bob Carr back in June and remarked that she fondly remember growing up with the song Kookaburra Sat In The Old Gum Tree.

The former political prisoner won a parliamentary seat in April 2012 and she became opposition leader of the National League for Democracy.

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COAG report says reform pace is slowing

THE pace of reform to federal-state relations has slowed and needs new momentum to improve the economy and vital public services, a report says.

COAG Reform Council (CRC) chairman John Brumby on Wednesday released a report charting the progress of co-operation between federal, state and territory leaders from 2008 to 2013.

The CRC was set up to monitor the Council of Australian Government's reform agenda, especially the 2008 Intergovernmental Agreement on Federal Financial Relations (IGA).

In its broad findings, the five-year report card concluded: "The pace of reform under the IGA has slowed over time."

"COAG was successful in developing and agreeing an ambitious reform agenda.

"However, not enough focus was given to ... establishing the processes, responsibilities and accountabilities needed to successfully implement reforms."

The report recommended COAG should routinely meet at least twice a year, agree on a medium-term agenda and put in place meaningful indicators to track progress on agreements.

Federal, state and territory leaders should come to a new agreement on their "roles, responsibilities and accountabilities".

Lessons learned by governments in rolling out innovative policies and programs should be shared.

Examining specific policy areas, such as education, the national economy, health and indigenous disadvantage, the report found mixed progress over five years.

In education, there had been an improvement in reading in primary years and an increase in Year 12 attainment.

But the proportion of young people engaging in work or study after high school has dropped.

Indigenous employment and labour force participation has fallen over the past five years, while more indigenous children are attaining a Year 12 qualification.

The homelessness rate has risen from 45.2 per 10,000 to 48.9 per 10,000.

In terms of economic policy, productivity has fallen, while real income per capita has risen.

While there have been strong inroads in cutting the rate of cigarette smoking, the rate of adult obesity has risen.

The report found that in the education bureaucracy, as more agreements and partnerships were added over the past five years it had become "less clear which level of government was responsible for outcomes".

The health system was "fragmented with a complex division of funding responsibilities and performance accountabilities between different levels of government".

Only half of the targets set by the ambitious Closing the Gap indigenous strategy appeared likely to be met.

CRC chairman John Brumby will talk about the report in a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday.

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Search scaled back for swimmer at Bondi

The search for a man feared drowned off Sydney's Bondi Beach has been suspended due to fading light. Source: AAP

THE search for a man feared drowned off Sydney's Bondi Beach has been suspended.

A man, believed to be in his 20s, went missing off Bondi Beach sometime after 5pm (AEDT) on Monday.

His disappearance sparked a search and rescue operation that included surf lifesavers, an ambulance helicopter and police.

But a police spokeswoman told AAP that the operation was suspended just before 8pm due to dangerous sea conditions and fading light.

There has been no sign of the man, she said.

Police will continue to patrol the beach on foot overnight, with the full search to resume at first light on Tuesday.

The man is believed to have gone swimming with another person when the pair found themselves in difficulty.

One of the swimmers was rescued but the man hasn't been seen since.

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'Illusion' distorts dentists' work: study

A new study has found dentists are drilling bigger holes than necessary when performing root canals. Source: AAP

AN optical illusion that can make the area of tooth decay appear larger tricks dentists into drilling bigger holes than necessary, a study has found.

An Australian visual perception expert teamed up with New Zealand dentistry researchers to determine whether visual illusions affect dental treatment.

The study, published in the journal Plos One, involved eight New Zealand dentists preparing 21 teeth for root canals by drilling cavities in each.

Professor Robert O'Shea, a psychology expert in visual perception from Southern Cross University, says all of the dentists drilled larger holes than necessary.

He said this was due to an optical illusion which makes a small enclosed area (the decay) appear larger when surrounded by a larger area (the tooth).

"We do not know if dentists are aware of this," Prof O'Shea said.

"The critical aspect for the illusion is the ratio between the size of the tooth and the size of the small area.

"We think that dentists think, either consciously or unconsciously, after they have made a hole of a particular size: 'That looks rather small - I need to make that hole bigger'."

Dental researcher Nicholas Chandler, an associate professor at New Zealand's University of Otago, says removing more of the tooth than required can lead to the tooth splitting or cracking.

Prof O'Shea says in light of the new research dentists should consider measuring the area that needs to be drilled, rather than relying on their eyes to determine how big the hole needs to be.

The study could be helpful to other healthcare providers, such as doctors, to ensure as much healthy tissue is saved as possible when carrying out treatment, he says.

"It is important for them to know that their eyes can deceive them into removing more healthy tissue than necessary," he said.

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Skype sex victim lashes out at Defence

The female army cadet at the centre of the Skype sex scandal is suing the Department of Defence. Source: AAP

A FEMALE army cadet secretly filmed having sex with a colleague claims Defence degraded her following the incident and hopes suing the department will force it to change its attitude towards women.

The woman known as Kate is taking legal action over the incident, in which a fellow army cadet filmed himself having sex with her on a webcam and streamed it live to friends in a nearby room.

Kate alleges Defence not only failed to support her but actively tried to discredit her name, including most seriously by leaking her personal medical records to the press.

"It was just yet another invasion of my privacy," she told ABC's 7:30 program on Monday.

"The only place that it could come from is the defence force."

Defence has vehemently denied the claims, with a spokesperson telling AAP the department never provided her medical information to the media.

"Defence has only provided records to official investigators, in accordance with the Privacy Act," Defence said in a statement.

"Defence has provided extensive support including logistics, medical, administrative and legal support to assist the member and will continue to do so."

The department said complaints from Officer Cadet Kate had been investigated with the highest priority and it had not yet received a legal claim.

But Kate is expected to take her complaint to the Human Rights Commission within days in a bid to seek compensation over the March 2011 incident.

Kate had entered a "friends with benefits" arrangement with fellow cadet Daniel McDonald, with rules including that no one should know about their sexual relationship.

She stipulated in advance the sex would remain secret but later learned another cadet Dylan Deblaquiere had streamed the act via Skype to a room of friends.

She said her privacy was invaded but Defence started degrading her further, with colleagues labelling her "that Skype slut" at every base she went to.

"It follows you everywhere you go," she said.

McDonald and Deblaquiere, both 21, were found guilty over the incident in an ACT Supreme Court and last month received 12-month good behaviour bonds.

Kate lashed out at the sentencing and urged the Department of Public Prosecution to appeal, saying it set a "scary example" and would deter other victims of sexual assault from coming forward.

She didn't regret speaking out about the incident, but was at "ground zero" after losing her career, health and livelihood.

Kate said she was about to be discharged from the army on medical grounds but hoped her legal case would spark cultural reform within the Australian Defence Force.

"It's about bringing about cultural change within the defence force and it's also about getting me the resources I need to start my life again," she said.

"When are we going to see victims better protected and supported?"

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Brooks 'told PA to move notebooks'

FORMER News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks instructed her personal assistant to remove seven boxes of notebooks from the company's archive that have "never been seen again", a UK jury has heard.

Brooks, 45, is accused of conspiring with Cheryl Carter to pervert the course of justice by taking the documents while the police were investigating allegations of phone hacking and payments to public officials.

Prosecutor Andrew Edis QC told jurors at the Old Bailey that the material, said to be Brooks' notebooks from 1995 to 2007, has never been recovered.

He told the nine women and three men: "Nothing like that has ever been recovered in the course of this inquiry."

Earlier the court was told that in 2011 the situation for News International became "more fevered" as the firm came under investigation by police after it handed over three emails linked to phone hacking and payment claims, and amid renewed media interest in the allegations.

"This was a huge business for News International and for her (Brooks)," Edis said.

"There were inquiries ongoing. At all times she was of course aware that there was a police inquiry, Operation Weeting, which had in fact started when News International handed over these three emails.

"So there was always a course of justice in existence that could be perverted by hiding evidence.

"Hiding evidence was not acceptable at any time that year.

"The atmosphere, we would suggest, became even more fevered as time went on."

He added: "You can imagine the extremely anxious, if not panic-stricken approach to what was going on."

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Gen Y have the best saving habits: survey

GENERATION Y have come out on top when it comes to saving money, with better saving habits than generation X and baby boomers.

When it comes to saving a regular amount every month, Gen Y are the best at it, with 29 per cent saving regularly compared with 19 per cent of baby boomers, according to the RaboDirect annual Savings and Debt Barometer.

Among those who save nothing at all - or even spend more than they earn - 24 per cent were baby boomers, compared with 11 per cent of Gen Ys.

"People often give Gen Y a bad rap when it comes to finances but we've been running this survey since 2009 and Gen Y tend to be a lot more savvy than people give them credit for," RaboDirect Australia executive general manager Greg McAweeney said.

"A deposit for a house is something they would be aspiring towards. It's still the great Australian dream to have your own property.

"Boomers have a different attitude - they're probably more focused on retirement strategies."

Internet savvy Gen Y are generally better at researching savings strategies and looking for a better deal than the boomers, who are less likely to switch banks for higher interest rates but are the best at budgeting and would be putting money toward superannuation rather than savings, Mr McAweeney said.

But there's a large gap between the superannuation many boomers have and the amount they need for retirement, he said.

"There's quite a large proportion of boomers - 29 per cent - who have not yet retired and think they will retire with a mortgage, which is an awful lot, nearly a third, which is a bit scary," Mr McAweeney said.

"Often they'll say: 'I'm going to use some of my superannuation to pay it off', which is the worst thing you can do."

Overall, Australians have become better at saving since the global financial crisis and have felt more optimistic about their finances this year than they did last year, Mr McAweeney said.

And those with healthy finances led healthier, happier lives.

"We do see a link between savings and happiness. Your financial health equates to your physical and mental wellbeing," he said.

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