Assange film premieres in Toronto

THE new Hollywood thriller about Julian Assange and how he built WikiLeaks into an online powerhouse that has exposed governments and corporations around the globe has received a long ovation at its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.

Assange originally described The Fifth Estate as "a mass propaganda attack" against WikiLeaks after reading a leaked script, but he softened his stance against the film before Thursday's debut in Toronto.

The 42-year-old Townsville-born former computer hacker is masterfully played by English actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who speaks with an authentic Australian accent and will likely firm as a favourite for an Oscar nomination.

The film received a 15-second ovation at the premiere.

"I've wanted to make a political movie for a very long time and I thought this was a very rich area to explore," the film's US director, Bill Condon, whose past credits include Chicago, Kinsey and two Twilight films, said before the premiere.

"We are trying very hard to present all sides of a very complicated subject."

The Fifth Estate offers insight into Assange's childhood and teenage years in Australia and follows him as he builds WikiLeaks into a website designed to protect whistleblowers.

Assange took issue with an earlier draft of the script dealing with Iran, but on August 27 during an interview with AAP at the Ecuadorean embassy in London where he has been holed up since June 2012, he said the publicity surrounding the DreamWorks film will benefit WikiLeaks.

"Cumberbatch has been personally supportive of me and the struggles that WikiLeaks is going through".

"Our view is that a $US40 million advertising budget promoting WikiLeaks around the world, and actors like Cumberbatch speaking about it, is a good thing for the popularisation of WikiLeaks," Assange said.

"But people need to understand that this is a Hollywood movie and it has sections which are fictitious in order to increase the drama."

While Assange is played by an Englishman, there are plenty of A-List Australian actors in Toronto for the festival, including Hugh Jackman who is promoting his thriller Prisoners, Nicole Kidman for her drama The Railway Man and Chris Hemsworth in Rush.

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Nine charged over NSW drug syndicate

A LARGE-SCALE drug syndicate has been busted after police charged several people, seizing heroin and nearly $800,000 in cash in homes across Sydney.

A 39-year-old man was arrested on Friday in Campsie for being involved in the street supply of drugs.

It follows the arrests of four other men this week over the alleged crime ring that has been operating in southern Sydney, the CBD and Eastern Suburbs.

On Monday, police arrested a 45-year-old man at a house in Cronulla after finding heroin on the premises.

They also arrested a 66-year-old man at a motel in the same suburb.

He had $70,000 in cash on him and was getting ready to leave the country, police allege.

In the nearby suburb of Miranda, police discovered $650,000 hidden under the floor of a house and subsequently charged a 40-year-old woman.

Over at a Randwick house, a 51-year-old man was also caught in possession of more than 80 deals of heroin and more than $45,000 cash.

An additional four men were charged earlier this year after police seized 19 kilograms of the drug ice, 1000 ecstasy tablets, a gun and $25,000.

Two of the men are due to appear in Sutherland Local Court and Waverley Local Court on Friday.

A further two are on bail and will front Sutherland Local Court on September 26, while another will appear at a later date.

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Labor's MacTiernan thanks Liberal Barnett

ALANNAH MacTiernan, Labor's leading light in a likely election wipe-out in Western Australia, has thanked the state's beleaguered Liberal Premier Colin Barnett for making her campaign easier.

As Ms MacTiernan has been battling to win the federal seat of Perth, Mr Barnett has been under fire for a series of broken election promises and budget cuts, which is set to result in a strike by school workers on Tuesday.

While polling suggests the Liberals could almost sweep the board in WA in Saturday's poll, the outspoken Ms MacTiernan appears set to successfully succeed Labor MP Stephen Smith.

She has joked that it feels like Mr Barnett has been on her campaign team, given the number of free kicks the state Liberals have given her in recent weeks.

"People have accused me of putting Mr Barnett on my campaign team because everywhere you go people want to talk about him," Ms MacTiernan said.

"I'd like to think it is my energetic representation, but he has not made my job any harder."

Cuts to education, a backflip on solar panel tariffs, failure to secure a treasured gas hub in the Kimberley and a massive loss on a bungled power station upgrade have dogged the Barnett government recently.

And despite distancing themselves from federal issues during March's state election, Ms MacTiernan and WA Labor leader Mark McGowan said WA voters should now choose Labor on Saturday to send a message to Mr Barnett.

"There are a lot of Liberal members that have been putting pressure on Mr Barnett," she said.

"They are very concerned about an attitude that just transcends arrogance."

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Women worse off under coalition: ACTU

AUSTRALIAN women will be worse off in the workplace if a coalition government is elected on Saturday, the ACTU says.

ACTU president Ged Kearney says women will not be given access to flexible workplace arrangements if Tony Abbott becomes prime minister.

Ms Kearney said Mr Abbott and the coalition did not represent the rights of women in the workplace.

"We will be concerned for the advancement of women's rights in the workplace under a coalition government," Ms Kearney said at a Melbourne press conference on women's pay.

"We would be worried about work rights generally."

She said the coalition's paid parental leave scheme was fragile and "built like a house of cards".

"Tony Abbott's industrial relations policy gives us a lot of things to be concerned about generally, and for women who are already behind the eight ball in things like pay and access to decent jobs because of caring responsibilities, it will make things even worse."

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New Vatican PM "deep interest" in Asia

Former deputy PM Tim Fischer says the Vatican's new secretary of state has a deep interest in Asia. Source: AAP

FORMER Australian ambassador to the Holy See Tim Fischer says the Vatican's new secretary of state is a man with a deep interest in Asia and indicative of the change under way in the organisation.

Mr Fischer, Australia's deputy prime minister under John Howard, says Archbishop Pietro Parolin has direct experience of working in Africa and the Americas as a senior Vatican diplomat.

He is currently envoy to Venezuela and has worked on improving ties with communist China.

The position of secretary of state is widely considered the Vatican's number two position.

He will replace Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, regarded as a divisive and controversial figure.

"It is terrific that the new Pope Francis has appointed as prime minister, or secretary of state of the Holy See, a person with deep interest in Asia," Mr Fischer told AAP.

"This shows that Pope Francis continues to fan the winds of change at the very top. I salute the decision and wish the outgoing Cardinal Bertone all the best."

At 58, Archbishop Parolin is regarded as young for this senior position. He takes on his new role from mid-October.

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NSW bans misleading petrol prices

Laws banning petrol stations from displaying misleading fuel prises have come into effect in NSW. Source: AAP

NSW has banned service stations from misleading drivers by giving priority to displays of shopper docket discount prices.

As of September 1, petrol stations must display the full cost of petrol on their price boards, and not the price after discounts from shopper dockets and other deals.

Any discounts must be displayed separately.

"Motorists wanted truth in fuel pricing," the minister for fair trading, Anthony Roberts, said on Sunday.

"The days of service stations enticing customers by advertising the discounted price for regular unleaded petrol that only holders of shopper docket vouchers were entitled to are over."

Petrol retailers are also required to display the prices per litre of their top two selling fuels by volume, as well as diesel and LPG.

Previously, only regular unleaded prices had to be displayed.

"Motorists will no longer be confused about the real cost of fuel as they approach a service station," Mr Roberts said.

NRMA president Wendy Machin said the changes were a win for motorists.

"Too many motorists were caught out by price boards that didn't display prices for popular fuels or included discounts from shopper dockets," she said.

The ban on misleading roadside price promotions follows a review by Fair Trading, which found petrol retailers were confusing customers by advertising special offers.

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