PRESS DIGEST: Australian General News: Dec 11
06:59, Monday, 11 December 2006
(Compiled for Reuters by Media Monitors)
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW (www.afr.com)
-- The Australian Securities and Investments Commission
(ASIC) will build a new A$30 million surveillance system to
better monitor share trading on the stockmarket. The system will
provide a third means of scrutinising suspect trading on the
Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), following the establishment of
an independent enforcement unit earlier this year. Up until
recently, the ASX had been solely responsible for market
monitoring, investigations and referrals to the ASIC. Page 1.
-- Federal Finance Minister, Nick Minchin, has dismissed calls
from the Nationals for extra spending on infrastructure in next
year's budget, saying a 'disciplined fiscal position' is required
due to inflationary pressures. Senator Minchin said the states
were rushing into public-private partnerships to fund their
infrastructure after 'years of neglect.' This was 'pushing up
prices in that area substantially,' he said. Nationals leader,
Mark Vaile, is pushing for a A$3 billion inland freight link
between Melbourne and Brisbane, among other projects. Page 1.
-- Federal Opposition Leader, Kevin Rudd, has retained Wayne
Swan as shadow treasurer in a new-look front bench unveiled
yesterday. Six days after ousting Kim Beazley as leader, Mr Rudd
promoted former Midnight Oil singer, Peter Garrett, to
environment spokesman, Joel Fitzgibbon to defence and Victorian
Left senator, Kim Carr, to the industry portfolio. However, he
assured business groups 'there will be no lurch to the left on
economic policy with Kevin Rudd as leader.' Page 1.
-- New South Wales (NSW) Opposition Leader, Peter Debnam, will
offer tax concessions for first-home buyers and a A$1 billion
infrastructure fund to combat the drought under new Liberal Party
policies for next year's state election. Mr Debnam yesterday
criticised the government for a series of advertisements
highlighting his past dealings with failed businesses. 'The
campaign is very much underway with the [Australian] Labor Party
running negative ads,' Mr Debnam said. NSW goes to the polls on
March 24. Page 4.
THE AUSTRALIAN (www.theaustralian.news.com.au)
-- Bushfires continued to burn out of control in regional
Victoria over the weekend, razing an estimated 220,000 hectares
in the northeast and Gippsland. Fires also broke out in the
state's southwest at Stonyford, near Camperdown, destroying one
home. Last night, more than a dozen fronts in the northeast were
described by authorities as 'very active,' with a dangerous wind
shift forecast for today. Firefighters are concerned this could
cause the fires to merge into an inferno, increasing the threat
to several towns in the region. Page 1.
-- Prime Minister, John Howard, yesterday acknowledged the
Opposition's newly announced shadow ministry by talking up the
political careers of Treasurer, Peter Costello, and Foreign
Minister, Alexander Downer. 'They build a record of experience
and responsibility with difficult issues over a period of years,'
Mr Howard said. He warned that an Australian Labor Party
government under Kevin Rudd would scr ap a million Australian
Workplace Agreements, reversing 'deals which suit both you and
your boss.' Page 2.
-- A letter published today in the Medical Journal of Australia
questions the endorsement of over-the-counter drugs on television
by doctors, amid claims the advertisements undermine the public's
trust in the profession. An increasing number of advertisements
have appeared featuring doctors since a ban on the practice was
overturned last year, promoting products such as Nurofen and
Children's Panadol. Last month, the Australian Medical
Association changed its non-binding code of ethics to voice its
disapproval of the advertisements. Page 3.
-- A 79-year-old woman was allegedly beaten to death by an
Australian sailor in Noumea at the weekend, only hours after the
man had arrived in the New Caledonian capital on survey ship,
HMAS Melville. Noumea police were holding the 29-year-old sailor
in temporary detention yesterday for 'aggravated deadly assault
on a particularly vulnerable person.' The sailor, who was
reportedly drunk at the time of the incident, faces up to 20
years in prison if convicted. Page 3.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (www.smh.com.au)
-- A New South Wales (NSW) Coalition government would sell NSW
Lotteries to help fund its A$1 billion water strategy while
preserving payout levels to lottery winners, Opposition Leader,
Peter Debnam, said yesterday. Mr Debnam said the sale was
necessary because the economy was sliding into recession and 'we
are in the middle of a water crisis. Mr Debnam will announce
today a plan to sell the company, possibly by public float, if it
wins the state election in March. Page 1.
-- Students' performance can excel under the influence of a good
teacher, but school principals are just as important in getting
results, a Wollongong University study has found. Page 2.
-- A New South Wales Government plan to build a A$500 million
desalination plant has been endorsed by a six-member advisory
panel, who said construction should proceed as soon as Sydney dam
levels fell to 30 per cent capacity. 'Sydney's water security
could be significantly eroded if the plan is not implemented,'
the panel warned. The government has planning approval for a
desalination plant at Kurnell in Sydney's south, and has invited
tenders to construct it within 26 months of commencement. Page 3.
-- Infrequent drinkers rather than alcohol abusers take most
alcohol-related sick-leave due to hangovers, a study has
revealed. More than 2.6 million workdays each year are lost to
hangovers, at an annual cost of A$473 million, according to the
Flinders University study. 'Low-risk drinkers and infrequent or
occasionally risky...drinkers accounted for 49 to 66 per cent of
alcohol-related absenteeism,' reported head researcher, Kenneth
Pidd. Dr Pidd's study appears in today's Medical Journal of
Australia. Page 3.
THE AGE (www.theage.com.au)
-- The Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne is seeking regulatory
approval to prescribe the abortion drug, RU-486, for women with
special medical needs. This includes women who have fibroids -
where there are benign tumours in the womb - making surgical
abortion difficult and more likely to fail. Page 3.
-- Victoria Police will monitor recently released prisoners and
identify crime hot spots using an intelligence system trialled in
the state over the past 18 months. Under Project Nimbus, 58
tactical intelligence officers will identify urgent problems that
have previously been under-investigated, including road-rage
incidents. Victoria Police may also employ university-trained
staff as strategic analysts. 'We are really set for a radical
change of culture,' said head of Nimbus, Commander David Sprague.
Page 3.
-- It is likely smoke pollution in Melbourne reached its highest
level on record due to the weekend bushfires, the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) said yesterday. The authority said
levels of airborne particles were higher than those recorded
during the 2003 bushfires, which destroyed 1.3 million hectares.
At worst, on Saturday afternoon, the number of airborne
particles were 10 times normal levels. The EPA downgraded its
smoke advisory for Melbourne from high to moderate after a wind
change last night. Page 4.
-- Fires continued to push towards the Thomson Dam in Victoria's
east yesterday, threatening to contaminate Melbourne's waters
supply with ash and debris. The fires jumped containment lines
and were bearing down on the reservoir, which supplies 60 per
cent of Melbourne's water. Last night, they were within 12
kilometres of the catchment area. Authorities warned the dam
could be taken out of service it ash or silt contaminated the
supply. Page 5.
--
Looking for more information from local sources? Factiva.com
has 112 Australian sources including The Australian, Sydney
Morning Herald and The Age.
((Reuters Sydney Newsroom, 61-2 9373 1800,
[email protected]))
Keywords: DIGEST AUSTRALIA GENERAL
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