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Teenager dies at Serpentine Falls

INQUEST: The coroner will investigate how a young man fell to his death at Serpentine Falls yesterday. Source: PerthNow

POPULAR SPOT: The Serpentine Valley is on the southern fringe of Perth. Source: PerthNow

A 19-YEAR-OLD man has died after slipping on rocks at popular picnic spot Serpentine Falls, on the southern outskirts of Perth.

The teenager, whose name has not yet been released, died about 2.15pm yesterday when he climbed onto some rocks at Serpentine Falls before slipping and falling on to the rocks and the water below.

His friends tried desperately to resuscitate him, as did several onlookers, but it is understood the man died at the scene.

Police will prepare a report for the coroner.

In January 2011, a 21-year-old woman died after plunging 20m from a cliff at the falls.

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Living hell: our worst address

NT News journalist Sarah Crawford spent a week staying at the notorious Kurringal Flats in Darwin's north - here is what she found.

NT NEWS journalist SARAH CRAWFORD spent a week staying at the notorious Kurringal Flats in Darwin's north - here is what she found.

TORRES Strait Islander Angie Mareko has a booming voice which echoes off the grimy walls of Kurringal Flats.

Right now her frightening bellow is directed at dopey-eyed Whitney Brinjen who has plonked herself down in the corridor with a dirty, big bong in her lap.

''F*** what are you doing? Take the c*** inside or I will tip it over the balcony," Angie, 38, roars.

Even in her supremely stoned state, Ms Brinjen does not need to be asked twice.

Lots of things are lobbed over the balconies of Kurringal Flats.

Lounge suites, mattresses, clothes and blades from pedestal fans.

Resident Fabian Yovich, 33, saw someone tip a heavy, analogue TV off the balcony of block four. It exploded on the steps near his front door.

A sign posted to a door at Kurringal Flats in Darwin. Picture: Daniel Hartley-Allen

"After that I stopped allowing my little nephews to stay over," he said.

Kurringal Flats are three, four-storey buildings of poverty, dysfunction and entrenched disadvantage dumped in the middle of one of Darwin's poshest suburbs, Fannie Bay.

Walking through the back gate past the no alcohol sign feels like you are stepping into an alternative universe.

The contrast between the leafy, picture-perfect townhouses of Fannie Bay and the grim, dirty white blocks of the Territory Housing complex is so extreme you feel disorientated.

Dozens of abandoned vehicles are in the car parks. Some vehicles have had their windows smashed or number plates removed. One car has had its engine and all the seats ripped out.

People sit on the stairs or in the corridors drinking port from plastic bottles all day - even though drinking in common areas carries a $500 fine.

Transvestite Ziggy Wilhelmsen, 50, believes people on the outside think he and all the residents of Kurringal Flats are creeps.

Gilbert Shaw, who lives at at Kurringal Flats in Darwin. Picture: Daniel Hartley-allen

''The society around here thinks we are a big waste of time,'' he says sitting cross-legged on his couch in a shiny, dark brown wig.

''Sure we are poor and not much of us had a lot of education but we are a real mixed group here.''

A 58-year-old disability pensioner who wants me to call her Mary tells me there is only one way to find out what Kurringal Flats is really like.

''You need to see it at night,'' she says.

Mary offers to let me stay on her couch in her one-bedroom flat in block eight for a couple of nights.

I take up her offer and move in.

The Best Block

A man waits outside a bus stop at Kurringal Flats in Darwin. Picture: Daniel Hartley-Allen

"Most of the people in this block are elderly, Christian and non-drinkers," Mary's friend Neil Williams, 53, tells me.

This block is pretty quiet. It is the best block by far.

Mr Williams, also a disability pensioner, live upstairs from Mary in a two-bedroom apartment which he pays $160 a fortnight to rent. Both have been here for over a decade.

Block eight backs onto a quiet suburban street and Waratah oval where Kurringal residents regularly drink.

Some block eight residents have put pot plants on their balconies. One woman has hung Chinese lanterns.

Kurringal Flats was built by the federal government in 1966. At its peak there were eight blocks which housed 350 people. Two blocks were demolished in 2001.

Another three were bulldozed two years later and Kurringal Court retirement village, for Territory Housing tenants aged over 55, was built on the land.

Gilbert Shaw in his apartment at Kurringal Flats in Darwin. Picture: Daniel Hartley-Allen

Now there are 91 tenants living in 78 units. A further six are empty. Everyone agrees the worst building is block six in the middle.

Mary's neighbour, John Mu, whose screen door was recently broken down in a police raid, tells me that block six is not safe.

"When you are going in there be careful. They can punch you or stab you. You can see the blood on the ground. Police go there all the time," he says.

Block four, on Dick Ward Drive, is considered to be somewhere in-between not as safe as eight but far better than six.

I sleep on Mary's couch for two nights - the fans buzzing full blast in the build-up heat.

I can't hear the screams that residents complain keep them up at night.

I have an offer to stay for three nights at someone else's refurbished flat at the top of block six. So I move my sleeping bag to the middle block from where the nightly shouts emanate.

John O'Brien at his home at Kurringal Flats in Darwin. Picture: Daniel Hartley-Allen

The Worst Block

Gilbert Shaw, 58, gives an animal-like scream that only years of hard-drinking can achieve.

Someone has stuck a fire hose through a hole in the flyscreen of his kitchen window and flooded his block six apartment.

It is the second time in 18 months he has been flooded out.

Hosing the apartment down was probably a good thing - it looks like it has not been cleaned since the last fire hose attack. Cockroaches crawl around the living room without fear.

There is still a large blood stain in the hallway where Mr Shaw was bashed with a metal broom handle during a robbery a month earlier.

He sits on a dirty mattress and sucks on a bong.

Daily life at Kurringal Flats Picture: Daniel Hartley-Allen

"I am sick of this," he says. "Where are security? This is bulls***."

People in block six say jealous men target Mr Shaw because they don't like their women coming over to his house when his disability pension arrives.

Other times the enfeebled alcoholic - who has a large scar on his chest from a heart operation - is attacked because he is an easy target from which to steal money and food.

Mr Shaw denies enticing women to his flat with money, gunja and booze.

"Girls just come over here and have a bit of fun - the dark girls love me," he says.

Mr Shaw was put in Kurringal Flats after he underwent the heart operation in Adelaide. Before that he was homeless.

But after 18 months at Kurringal he has been given a final warning to clean up or get out.

Transvestite Ziggy Wilhelmsen at home at Kurringal Flats in Darwin. Picture: Daniel Hartley-Allen

"I am trying to start a new life but it is all going wrong," he says.

Block six is certainly far grimmer than eight. People openly smoke bongs on the balconies, empty deal bags litter the floor and there are frequent eruptions of rage between tenants day and night.

The residents blame the violence and anti-social behaviour on visitors.

"The biggest problem is not the people living here all the time, it is their relatives that come here and take over the place," retiree John O'Brien, 85, of block eight tells me. I found that was not true.

The incidents of violence and anti-social behaviour that I saw were mostly caused by people who live at Kurringal Flats.

After talking to Mr Shaw, I sit in the stairwell with a Torres Strait island family who are visiting relatives that live in block six.

They chat and laugh drinking alcohol from plastic bottles as the fights and drama caused by the Kurringal residents ebb and flow around them.

Residents living at Kurringal Flats in Darwin. Picture: Daniel Hartley-Allen

A grandmother in the group sings me a lullaby she wrote for her three-year-old grandson.

Her daughter has moved to Sydney with the little boy and she misses him.

"Look to the sky. For Jetstar, Fly him back to me, Tears I cry, Narima, You broke my heart, Bring him back to me."

It is beautiful. We ask her to sing it again.

Cops and Grog

Old man Ezra Young is sitting at a picnic table in the common area when his girlfriend cracks him over the head with an almost empty bottle of rum.

She has just had a case of VB tipped out by police and she is furious.

Gilbert Shaw has two pieces of steel at his bedside to use in self defence. Picture: Daniel Hartley-Allen

Mr Young, 68, is unsympathetic. He is telling the rest of her drinking party that they got what they deserved.

"That is their law. They are public servants. That is their law and it is right," he says.

His girlfriend runs up behind screaming his name before crashing the bottle on the back of his head.

It does not break, so she throws it at his feet where it smashes.

I clear off as all hell breaks loose.

It is pension week at Kurringal Flats and the booze and gunja are flowing freely.

Some drinkers managed to run into the darkness when the police turned up, but the people at the picnic table were too slow.

The daily life at Kurringal Flats in Darwin. Picture: Daniel Hartley-Allen

An officer lobbed a wine skin into the car park where it split.

Mr Young's girlfriend drunkenly scolds the officers as they pour her cans into the grass.

"You steal my drinks," she shouts.

"It does not worry me, I can just buy more - I drink in moderation."

"Shut up," a police officer replies.

"Don't spend your money on grog, buy food instead," he tells the group.

Darkened figures, who have been watching the grog bust silently from block four, yell "f*** off, mother f*****" as the police drive off.

A woman is taken into custody at Kurringal Flats. Picture: Daniel Hartley-Allen

Residents of Kurringal voted to ban drinking in common areas in 2008.

Many residents support the ban while slyly drinking in public at the same time.

I see Mr Young an hour-and-a-half later staggering back to his ground floor flat in block six.

He says he is OK, touching the back of his head.

"She was jealous of another woman," he grins, "I am going to bed now."

St John Ambulance is called to block six three times that night.

The next morning rum and coke bottles, wine boxes and beer cans are scattered throughout the grass.

Angie Mareko sitting outside the Kurringal Flats. Picture: Daniel Hartley-Allen

Security

A Territory Housing worker and a public housing safety officer knock on Mr Williams' screen door.

"We are doing a blitz on Kurringal to clear up the anti-social behaviour," one of the women tells Mr Williams.

"We need to get on top of it. This is our major problem. If there are issues we need to be made aware of it."

They hand Mr Williams a card with numbers he can call if there is trouble.

He is pleased. "In the past we have begged for security here but they have just driven in and out.

"Since this lot have started they have cleared it up a bit because they walk around."

Last hour of sunlight at Kurringal Flats in Darwin. Picture:: Daniel Hartley-allen

Public housing safety officers were introduced to manage anti-social behaviour in Territory Housing complexes in June last year.

They can ban people from Territory Housing complexes for up to 12 months and have authority to tip out alcohol.

The officers patrol the grounds of Kurringal Flats about 7 o'clock every evening chatting with residents and sometimes at night.

Mental illness

Mr Williams and Mary have seen many failed attempts at placing mentally ill people at Kurringal Flats.

There was big Al who sometimes walked around naked covered in faeces.

Mary had a neighbour who would sit on a crate in the corridor with a mirror stuck to her forehead.

Children play in the evening around the flats. Picture: Daniel Hartley-Allen

And another woman would try to kung fu her every time she left her unit.

Many are treated by the Tamarind Centre, an outpatient service for people with serious mental illness.

"Some had to be carted away - they did not make it," Mr Williams said.

"But there is this guy in the front block who dresses up as a woman. He has been there for years."

That is Ziggy Wilhelmsen.

He moved into Kurringal Flats with a wife, who suffered from schizophrenia in 2003.

Two years later, his wife divorced him and moved out.

After that he became a she.

"I became aware of my body and that I am a hermaphrodite," Ms Wilhelmsen said.

She says police have broken down her door several times and taken her to hospital.

But she denies she is a schizophrenic.

"Possibly bi-polar," she said.

"But I don't hear voices."

She pays $148 a fortnight for her two-bedroom unit.

A psychiatric nurse comes every 28 days to give her an injection.

She does not go out much.

"Some people are friendly with me here. There is a guy downstairs - he says I look pretty with make-up. But there is others that say 'ugly old hermaphrodite'."

Instead, Ms Wilhelmsen spends most of her time nutting out Einstein's theory of relativity.

"I am very lonely," she said.

"I have not had any sort of contact with people for a long time."

Fannie Bay shops

Over the road at Fannie Bay shops, Tim Copping from Captain's Seafood has been serving up chips to Kurringal Flats residents for 20 years.

At $2 a small serve he believes he has the cheapest chips in Darwin.

"I reckon I have about 15 regulars that come from there," he said.

"A few ladies I have known for 20 years. They are always nice even if they have had a few."

He thinks Kurringal Flats needs a major overhaul.

"Clean it up, downsize the blocks and check the people that go in there regularly," he says.

"Let's face it, we are the ones that are paying for it."

Paul O'Brien at North Coast Stereo a few doors up from the flats is far less generous.

"They should demolish the wildlife park," he says.

His wife Julie says she knows very little about Kurringal Flats, even though she and her husband have run the electronic entertainment store for 20 years.

They have only ever had one customer from Kurringal Flats.

"I only notice them crossing the road to the service station because they run out into traffic without looking - but that is endemic in Darwin," she says.

BP service station attendant Susie Niempromlee said she likes serving people from Kurringal Flats as long as they are not drunk and have the money to pay for the items.

"Sometimes they grab too many things and don't have enough money on their BasicsCard. I ask them to put things back but they throw them around," she said.

She said large groups of teenagers at night can be intimidating and hard to manage.

"The manager said that we are allowed to lock the door when they come," she said.

The future of Kurringal Flats

The CLP government's first Minister for Housing, Pete Chandler, described Kurringal Flats and other old Territory Housing stock as "basket cases."

"The $1.8 billion of taxpayer-owned assets have been neglected," he said.

"Seventy-eight per cent of all urban stock is over 23 years old, creating a massive maintenance bill. Many houses are in such a bad way they are vacant.

"The overall condition of housing does not paint a pretty picture," he added.

Back in 2003, then Chief Minister Clare Martin gave the three remaining blocks at Kurringal a used-by date of this year.

Labor pledged during the August election campaign to tear down Kurringal Flats and build a mix of private, affordable and public dwellings.

The site is zoned to provide up to 160 homes in a mix of one, two and three bedroom units in buildings four storeys high.

Mr Chandler made similar suggestions to redevelop Territory Housings old stock at Kurringal, The Narrows (Shiers Street) and Coconut Grove (Runge Street) in November.

"We want to see inclusive communities and eliminate enclaves of disadvantage," he said.

The 15,000sq m block at Kurringal is ripe for building new properties to address Darwin's housing shortage and sky-rocketing rent.

But what about the residents of Kurringal?

Many would not and could not live in a mixed development of public and private housing.

They would not be tolerated.

That is why many of them are here in the first place.

John O'Brien, who refused to remove into Kurringal Court retirement village a decade ago, knows the flats' days are numbered but is indifferent about the future.

"I don't care, as long as I have a roof over my head," he said.

For more see the Northern Territory News

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Tech-savvy get a taste for Mai Tai in WA

Entrepreneurs from the world's largest technology brands are in WA for the oZAPP Awards and a kite surfing camp. Source: News Limited

Kite surfing has been used to lure the world's brightest tech minds to WA Source: AdelaideNow

SOME of the world's top tech experts have descended on Perth this week to enjoy our natural beauty and get involved in WA's growing innovation sector.

Our state's famous Fremantle Doctor is helping draw a slew of mainly American-based developers, investors and entrepreneurs - many closely linked with the famous Silicon Valley.

And it's not just 'Valley' residents coming to Perth, but tech-related business people from across the globe and country.

For some, like Othman Laraki - who helped grow Twitter to the household-name it is today - it's the first time they've ever visited the country.

As well as being at judge at the oZAPP Awards (a competition to find the country's best app) today, Mr Laraki will also take part in Mai Tai - a kite surfing camp for entrepreneurs and innovators in Margaret River.

He'll be joined by entrepreneurs from the world's largest technology brands such as Apple, Google and Facebook as they take to the water in Margaret River as part of the invite-only event, as well as the state's inaugural Emergence Creative Festival.

Though keen to check out Australia, after his curiosity was sparked when helping grow Twitter, Mr Laraki said it was kitesurfing that "tipped him over the edge''.

"The Australian market is very interesting... a lot of companies don't tend to put any effort in early on because it's a relatively small population but financially it's massive.'' he said.

"I'm half French and we have this expression that is 'joining the useful with the pleasant' and this is one of those.''

Mai Tai organiser Bill Tai, who is also venture capitalist and Curtin University innovator-in-residence, said the first time he was invited to speak in Perth it was the kitesurfing that sold him.

"If it was an invitation to fly in, speak at the conference, and go home there is no way I would have ever done it, but Margaret River and Perth they're legendary in the windsurfing and kitesurfing communities.

"I had never been there before and I wanted to check it out and kite, and it happened to be windy season, so I said okay I'll do it.''

Mr Tai said Californian entrepreneurs and innovators often had the type of attitude that was also attracted to kite boarding so it made the trip Down Under worthwhile.

"It's not worth your time to come to Australia for three days, because you spend as much time flying as you would being there, so the only way to get someone to go is if the stay is going to be long enough and interesting enough to make it worthwhile to travel,'' he said.

"I think the developer contest and the emergence conference make it intellectually stimulating and the people drawn to those contest make it a worthy networking event and the kiteboarding just makes it completely worth it.''

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New recruit bounces out of pre-season

Eagle Sharrod Wellingham in action on Saturday night before he hurt his ankle on a trampoline. Picture: Daniel Wilkins Source: PerthNow

GUN West Coast recruit Sharrod Wellingham will miss the rest of the NAB Cup and could be in doubt for his new club's first game of the season proper after he injured an ankle in an off-field incident.

Wellingham damaged ligaments in his ankle after he landed awkwardly bouncing on a trampoline.

He will wear a moon boot for the next couple of weeks.

The former Collingwood midfielder won't require surgery but will miss the rest of the pre-season with West Coast, and is in doubt for the blockbuster round one Western Derby on March 23.

Which Eagles and Dockers to pick for your SuperFooty side

Wellingham starred in West Coast's win over Fremantle on Saturday night at Subiaco, finishing with eight disposals and two clearances in the shortened match.

The club has this weekend off before playing Collingwood on March 3.

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Deportation 'a big mistake': Xenophon

Independent Senator Nick Xenophon is facing deportation from Malaysia after being refused entry.

UPDATE: A RELIEVED Senator Nick Xenophon says he was told he posed "some form of security threat" and had to be deported immediately from Malaysia.

Senator Xenophon, who was forced to sleep on a plane in economy class for two nights, was leading a group of Australian MPs for a series of meetings about Malaysia's electoral system.

He was meeting with the country's Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and a senior Government minister.

"My information is this (deportation) order was made at the highest levels of the Malaysian Government."

Senator Xenophon said initially he was taken to an interrogation area  where there were holding cells and detainees.

"I was told that I was going to be deported immediately because I posed some form of security threat which I think is both laughable and tragic that the allegation was made and no reason was given. I was only handed this notice as I was leaving last night, as I was being escorted back onto the plane."

He said he did not believe the drama would harm Australia's relation with Malaysia, saying the two countries were the "greatest of friends".

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she was also disappointed with treatment of Senator Xenophon, and is glad he is back, "safe and well".

She said they would continue to work with the Malaysian goverment  over the incident.

Senator Nick Xenaphon returns to Australia after being deported from Malaysia. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

A tired Senator Xenophon arrived in Melbourne this morning saying he was still scratching his head trying to work out what Malaysian authorities were thinking.

"I think they have made a big mistake, that they have miscalculated " Senator Xenophon said.

Senator Xenophon said it was meant to be a low-key visit which probably would have received little media coverage.

"It is very good to be back."

Senator Xenophon said while the upcoming Malaysian elections had the "veneer of democracy", Australia had a moral obligation to intervene to ensure they were clean and fair.

He urged Foreign Minister Bob Carr and Prime Minister Julia Gillard to raise the Malaysian elections with the Commonwealth Secretary in London as a matter of urgency.

"Millions of Malaysians see Australia as a shining beacon of democracy in the region and seek our help for independent election observers."

Senator Xenophon said he may challenge the deportation notice in the Malaysian courts.

Foreign Minister Bob Carr says Malaysia's detention of independent senator Nick Xenophon is a surprising act

He said he understood he was the first Australian MP to be deported from any country.

"It was unexpected. I was quite gobsmacked when I was taken away early on."

"I have been told I'm now on the watch list, which is fairly ominous and that I'm on a do not enter list for an  indefinite period, so I don't know how many years or decades it will be before I'm allowed to step foot on Malaysian soil, which is a great pity."

Senator Xenophon said the only risk he posed was to embarrassing the Malaysian Government through his advocacy for clean elections."

The independent Senator was stopped immediately on arrival in Malaysia, held in custody for 16 hours and put under security detail.

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd told Sky News today that: "detaining any member of an Australian parliament is just unacceptable".

"I'm sure Bob Carr has the matter well in hand."

While he said that he would disagree with Senator Xenophon on a range of matters, he said Australia should be "robust" with Malaysia over the incident.

Senator Nick Xenophon being detained at Kuala Lumpur's International Airport in Malaysia. Picture: Office of Nick Xenophon

"I think we should be appropriately robust," he said.

"It is absolutely laughable - I was due to have a meeting with a senior Government Minister among others," Senator Xenophon said from an interrogation room where he was being held.

"The people detaining me have been polite but they told me the orders to get me out of the country immediately came from 'high up'.

"They told me I am being deported under Section 81 of the Immigration Act, which says I pose a threat to the security of the country.

"This was supposed to be a low-key visit by members of the major parties but now it has blown up into an international incident. It confirms all the concerns that have been raised about people being opposed to any kind of electoral reform."

His detainment triggered a diplomatic incident, with Foreign Minister Bob Carr demanding his immediate release.

"We are seeking a full explanation of this," he said. "We think it is sad for a friendly country to deport an Australian member of Parliament, who was up there for peaceful purposes."

Australia's concerns were immediately raised with Malaysia's Foreign Minister, the Minister for Home Affairs and the Malaysian High Commissioner to Australia.

Senator Nick Xenaphon talks to reporters at Melbourne Airport. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Austalian High Commissioner Miles Kupa was allowed to see Senator Xenophon late yesterday - bringing him a takaway meal to supplement the biscuits he was fed - and he was moved from an interrogation room adjoining female prison cells to an office area before being taken to an airport lounge.

Senator Xenophon co-authored an international observers' group report released last year on the Malaysian electoral system that was critical of gerrymanders and that called for significant electoral reform.

His deportation caused an Australian delegation of MPs to cancel their planned visit to the country.

Liberal MP Mal Washer, Nationals Senator John Williams and ALP MP Steve Georganas were to join Senator Xenophon to meet Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, as well as Malaysia's minister in charge of parliamentary affairs Mohammed Nazri ahead of Malaysia's elections.

Senator Xenophon joined the Customs queue on arrival at Kuala Lumpur but was told there were "irregularities" with his passport and was taken to an interrogation room.

He was told he was not allowed to make calls but managed to make a call to the Sunday Mail when he was briefly left unattended and send a photograph of himself.

Senator Xenophon, who paid for his own trip, had planned to stay in Malaysia until Tuesday night. He says he will frame his deportation notice.

Nick Xenophon's deportation notice 

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Bizarre fireball hits after meteor

HOURS after a meteor exploded over Russia and injured more than 1000 people and an asteroid passed relatively close to Earth, residents in California reported seeing an unusual flash of light over the San Francisco Bay area that left many startled and thrilled.

Based on reports, the light streaking in the Northern California sky was a sporadic meteor, or fireball, and not a major event, said Mike Hankey, operations manager for the American Meteor Society in Genesee, New York. The group recorded at least 35 reports of the event, he said.

"Fireballs happen every single night, all around the world," he said.

Experts say smaller meteorites hit Earth five to 10 times a year but chances of a large meteor passing, such as the one that streaked over Chelyabinsk, Russia, are much rarer. Another meteor landed in the Bay Area in October and caused a loud sonic boom, a sound that could have been from the meteor travelling faster than the speed of sound, officials said at the time.

A fireball is spotted in North California after a meteor shower hits Russia. Photo: YouTube still Source: Supplied

Another meteor that exploded April 22 was seen over a large part of Northern California and Nevada.

On Friday, the Chabot Space and Science Centre in Oakland also reported receiving calls describing what appeared to be a fireball flying west around 8pm local time.

Jonathan Braidman, an instructor at the centre, described the object based off reports as likely being a small piece of an asteroid that "somehow" got on a collision course with Earth.

"This is a very common occurrence," Braidman said. "What is uncommon is that it's so close to where people are living."

Bay Area media outlets reported the fireball was reported seen from an area stretching from Gilroy, about 130 kilometres south of San Francisco, to Sacramento, about 145 kilometres to the northeast.

One viewer told television station NBC11 the object was bluish in colour and appeared to be heading straight to the ground.

San Leandro resident Krizstofer Loid told KTVU-TV that he was sitting on a lawn chair in the backyard of his home when he saw the object.

A meteor streaks through the sky over Chelyabinsk, about 1500km east of Moscow. Picture: AP Photo/AP Video Source: AP

"I saw, like, a blue streak from the sky coming down. I thought it was fireworks, but I didn't hear any sounds," he said.

The centre's large telescopes did not pick up the object during a stargazing event, astronomer Gerald McKeegan told KGO-TV.

"The media attention on the Russian thing got people's attention, so they're more likely to notice things in the sky," Hankey said.

While Friday night's fireball received a lot of attention in the San Francisco Bay area, Braidman notes that about 15,000 tons of debris from asteroids enter the earth's atmosphere every year.

"Usually these things break up into small pieces and are difficult to find," he said.

The news of North America seeing lights comes as Cuba also apparently experienced a phenomenon similar to but smaller than the meteorite that hit Russia.

In this frame grab made from dashboard camera video, a meteor, upper left, streaks through the sky over Chelyabinsk, about 1500km east of Moscow. With a blinding flash and a booming shock wave, the meteor blazed across the western Siberian sky and exploded with the force of 20 atomic bombs, injuring more than 1000 people as it blasted out windows and spread panic in a city of 1 million. (AP Photo/AP Video) Source: AP

Residents described a bright light in the sky and a loud explosion that shook windows and walls.

There were no reports of any injuries or damage such as those caused by the Russia meteorite.

In a video from a state TV newscast posted on the website CubaSi late Friday, unidentified residents of the central city of Rodas, near Cienfuegos, said the explosion was impressive.

"On Tuesday we left home to fish around five in the afternoon, and around 8:00 we saw a light in the heavens and then a big ball of fire, bigger than the sun," one local man said in the video.

"My home shook completely," said a woman. "I had never heard such a strange thing."

Marcos Rodriguez, whom the video identified as a specialist in anthropology, said all signs point to a meteorite.
 

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'For years, I felt like no one believed me'

Christ Church Grammar School, where the victim attended. Picture: Richard Polden Source: PerthNow

THE WA man who was sexually abused by a former Christ Church Grammar School teacher when he was a boy says he feels relieved his abuser will be behind bars.

In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Times the father, who cannot be identified, almost broke down several times as he revealed the anguish he suffered at the hands of Lindsay William Hutchinson, who was this week found guilty of the horrific crimes and will be sentenced on April 5.

He said for decades he felt ashamed, but this week finally felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders when a District Court jury unanimously found Hutchinson guilty.

The married former student, now in his 40s, was repeatedly raped and sexually abused by Hutchinson, the former musical director at the prestigious school, in the 1980s.

He said Hutchinson robbed him of his childhood, destroyed his love of music, affected his relationship with his parents and shattered his confidence.

He turned to drink and drugs in his late teens, then found the courage to come forward about his ordeal when he was 21, revealing his story to the school's chaplain and director of ethics, Canon Frank Sheehan.

While the man said he was able to build a loving relationship with his wife and children, the torture he endured as a boy had left some deep scars.

He said also he felt let down by the school and Canon Sheehan.

During the trial last week, the victim told the court that when he approached Canon Sheehan for advice he was told to "forget about it and put it behind me and...that I need to get on with my life".

This week Canon Sheehan released a statement saying he never said or inferred the man should forget about what had happened.

"During the meeting it was obvious he was in great mental anguish and understandably, extremely angry about his treatment by Hutchinson," he said in his statement.

"My firm recollection is telling him first and foremost that I believed he was telling the truth and reassuring him that he had done the right thing in speaking out.

"I was especially conscious of the need to offer a listening ear and do whatever I could to help this stricken young man regain his dignity and sense of worth.

"We talked about the fact that, given the horrific nature of his ordeal, his mental recovery would take time and I anticipated the need to be available to provide ongoing support."

Canon Sheehan said he never went to police with the allegations because he understood the father of another former student, who has also pressed charges against Hutchinson and had organised the meeting between the victim and himself, was doing so.

"That was all I heard of the matter until three years ago, when the police came to see me and asked for my assistance in their investigation of complaints made by this former student about Lindsay Hutchinson," he said.

Canon Sheehan said he had tried to contact the victim numerous times after the initial meeting.

 "I had a phone number by which to set up another meeting but despite repeated attempts thereafter, I was unable to speak again to the young man," he stated.

"Over the next two months, I made repeated attempts to call the number with no success. Attempts via other avenues also failed to draw any response."

The victim said he was not trying to "denigrate" Canon Sheehan, but was disappointed by his statement.

"I know he has done some good things in the community, but he did not call me after that meeting," he said. "My parents lived in the same house for 48 years, their phone number was the same in all that time."

The man said he hoped the result this week would encourage others to come forward.

"I am ecstatic he (Hutchinson) is in jail," he said.

"For years I felt like no one believed me but on Thursday, 12 others believed me. I now hope that other victims will now be able to come forward."

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First strike, hoon cars gone

High Wycombe residents Kevin Fitzgerald, Roma Giovinazzo and Pas Fitzgerald with Nathan Morton, Police Minister Liza Harvey and Premier Colin Barnett to announce new hoon laws. Picture: Matthew Poon Source: PerthNow

WA'S worst hoons will have their cars taken off them for good on their first strike under tough new penalties promised by Premier Colin Barnett if his Government is re-elected.

Mr Barnett will announce the proposed changes today as part of an election commitment to crack down on hoons who hold suburban streets to ransom.

Meanwhile, trail-bike riders will also lose their vehicles for good if they are caught riding them unlicensed on the road.

Under Mr Barnett's plan:

* Hoon drivers who "cause distress" to neighbours or damage to property, even tyre marks on the road, will have their cars permanently confiscated on their first strike;

* Vehicles will also be permanently confiscated on a second hoon offence, no matter whether or not the driver causes any damage; and

* $1.6 million will be spent over four years on an "anti-hoon" police campaign that includes 24 additional CCTV cameras for hot spots.

Police Minister Liza Harvey said confiscated vehicles would be auctioned and unroadworthy vehicles destroyed.

"It's unfortunate that we've come to this point," Ms Harvey told The Sunday Times.

"But I've listened to hundreds of people right across WA. People in Carnarvon and Kalgoorlie are as fed up with hoons as people in suburban High Wycombe and Forrestfield.

"We want this to be a deterrent to people and we want people to think again. If we take away the tool that's being used to cause the damage, we're halfway there."

The announcement of tough new penalties comes as figures reveal the true extent of dangerous driving on WA roads.

Police received more than 7200 complaints about "anti-social" road behaviour, including burn-outs, excessive speed and street racing, in 2012.

About 2000 complaints were made about unlicensed trail bikes on WA roads.

"We're talking about 138 complaints to police a week  that is a lot of people doing the wrong thing on our roads," Ms Harvey said.

"We've seen the tragic circumstances that can occur when people speed on local roads. Children have been killed, innocent bystanders have been killed and people have had vehicles plough into their homes.

"We need it to end."

Hoon legislation was introduced by the previous Labor Government in 2004 to target organised street racing and reckless driving. In 2010, amendments were made by former police minister Rob Johnson, ordering police to impound vehicles for 28 days for a first offence, three months for a second offence and possibly permanent confiscate them for a third.

The latest penalties, if introduced, will give police the power to seize a vehicle on the spot, and apply to the courts to have it confiscated permanently on the first offence.

Pas and Kevin Fitzgerald, who have lived in High Wycombe for 24 years, said they hoped tougher penalties would bring an end to hooning in their neighbourhood.

"We live opposite Norling Rd and they use that as a launching place," Ms Fitzgerald said.

"We have had someone end up in a tree out the front of our place. And it's such a shame because it used to be such a beautiful place to live."

Mr Fitzgerald said: "These people don't seem to have any concern about their vehicle, their tyres or people's lives."

LABOR REACTION

Labor Leader Mark McGowan today responded to the announcement, saying that the Liberals had waited until the eve of the State election to finally take an interest in the issue.

"Its last attempt at laws to combat hoons was a complete embarrassment and contained loopholes that resulted in innocent members of the public being punished," he said.

"Western Australians will remember the injustice caused to a Perth doctor, who had his yellow Lamborghini seized despite the fact a mechanic was driving the vehicle when hoon offences were committed.

"The Barnett Government was left red-faced and forced to address its half-baked laws.

"The so-called 'tough' laws resulted in few people being charged with hoon offences, a clear sign that the broken promise to deliver 500 additional police officers allowed hoons to escape punishment.

"Offenders can't be charged if there are not enough police to catch them, and the Barnett Government's broken police promise was one of its biggest failures in four and-a-half years in Government."

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Australians owe a debt to WA

Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says the nation is in debt to WA as he helped launch the Liberals state election campaign.

Premier of WA Colin Barnett launches the Liberal's WA election campaign at the Campaign Rall at Octagon Theatre, UWA. Wife Lyn Barnett and Colin leave the function. Picture: Colin Murty Source: PerthNow

Tony Abbott, Leader of the Federal Opposition talks to the crowd at the launch. Picture: Colin Murty Source: PerthNow

FEDERAL Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says he would model his government on Colin Barnett's administration as he launched the WA Liberals state election campaign.

Mr Abbott and deputy opposition leader Julie Bishop were among those who joined Mr Barnett at the Octagon Theatre at the University of WA for the official launch of the WA Liberal election campaign.

The Opposition Leader was given an enormous reception by the crowd of about 300 before a speech in which he described West Australians as "the best Australians."

"How much I respect the premier of this state, how much I have learnt from him, how much I wish to model myself on him, should I get the opportunity to lead our country,'' Mr Abbott said.

"The Barnett government has become a model for all the governments that we run or hope to run. That's the kind of government that I wish to run in Canberra.''

Making a clear appeal to the parochial WA electorate ahead of the federal poll in September, Mr Abbott said the rest of Australia owed the state for driving the nation's economy.

"All of us owe a debt to you. Every Australian owes a debt to Western Australia and in an important sense, West Australians are the best Australians,'' Mr Abbott said.

Mr Abbott heaped praise on the Premier, whom he described as a friend and a person he modelled himself on, especially after the 2007 federal election.

"We were out of power (in 2007) in every state...some wondered whether our party had a future," he said.

"Then along came Colin Barnett and one by one the bad government's started to fall...there is one bad government yet to go.

"That's the big one in Canberra which must fall if our country is one more to flourish.

"I want to thank Colin for the beacon of hope that he has been to the Liberals right around our country."

Mr Abbott also threw down a challenge to Prime Minister Julia Gillard to visit WA in the lead up to the election.

"I do challenge the prime minister - come west, Prime Minister, come west. Don't be shy of coming to Western Australia,'' he said.

"Justify the carbon tax. Justify the mining tax. Because the first person it seems you have to persuade is your very own state leader.''

Colin Barnett used part of his 30-minute address to make several election promises.

He announced the science education centre Scitech will be rebuilt on the Burswood peninsula at a cost of $15 million, while $57 million will be spent over four years to employ 155 school health nurses.

Mr Barnett also trumpeted a plan to "bring back the family holiday" by building camping areas and chalets at a cost of $20 million in the state's national parks and added that an announcement on funding for medical research was coming later in the week.

The WA Liberal leader warned that changing the government on March 9 will mean a change of direction for WA.

"If you change the government, you change the state," he said. "And I urge you not to risk (voting) Labor and not risk our future.

"This government has been a good government, we have been ethical, we've been taken good and strong positions.

"We have been a government that makes decisions for the good of the people and for the good of the state."

This afternoon, WA Labor Treasury spokesman Ben Wyatt criticised the Liberals for what he called a 'focus on pet inner city projects' and he said the party had run out of ideas.

He said Mr Barnett showed little vision for Western Australia at the campaign launch.

"It's clear Mr Barnett has run out of ideas," Mr Wyatt said.

"We still haven't seen any tough decisions from Mr Barnett or any trace of how he will identify cost savings to pay for his promises, including the plan to move Scitech to Burswood Peninsula," he said.

"WA Labor supports science, but the best place to encourage it is in the classroom.

"That's our focus and that's why we announced a commitment to establish a selective Gifted and Talented program at South Fremantle Senior High School and the State's first Future Science Centre."

with AAP

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